Marked for Love

by Hannah West

  “Access in the database is restricted, and his partner’s come to terms with that,” Loryn said practically. “They’re happy with what they have.”

  “But,” Noelle said, then hesitated. “They’re soulmates. Their happily ever after.”

  The corner of Loryn’s lips curved up the smallest amount. “There are no guarantees in life, Noelle.” She stretched her arms, shook out her limbs. Noelle stretched one arm in front of her body. “I’ll see you next week, if you’re not working.”

  Noelle nodded, still musing over Loryn’s words, and watched her leave in silence.

  Noelle strode back into work, relieved. It had been a long, painful weekend. She had resorted to watching sitcoms and anything even vaguely interesting she could find on the television. There weren't any local dojos with flexible schedules, so she wasn't able to practice her krav maga or any other sort of martial art until the police academy held another training the night after next. They were twice weekly, but sometimes even that wasn't enough. "Welcome back," Riley said, smiling.

  "Hello, Riley," she said, grinning widely. She pulled him into a hug and he patted her on the back.

  "That bored, were you?" He smoothed out the file that had gotten squished between them.

  "Yes," she said fervently. It had been years since she had had an entire week off, and she hadn't liked it. She preferred to keep busy. "Have you been working my cases?"

  "Yup," Riley said cheerfully. "Aaron and I worked a couple of the leads you had. I think we've got the Eridanes case cracked, finally."

  Noelle's insides clenched in glee. Finally. She had been working that case for six months. "Will we be able to prosecute?" she asked.

  "You are technically still lead detective on that," Riley said, smiling at her. "It was the cousin, by the way. We just got forensic confirmation yesterday."

  "Thought so." Noelle felt lighter than she had in months. The case was twenty years old, and finally being able to crack was a feeling like none other.

  "I'll contact the prosecution," Riley assured her, and then his face turned slightly softer. "How are you doing?"

  "Okay," she said slowly, considering the question. How was she doing? She felt like she was back at home after being gone for over a week. Work was always comforting to her, the familiar hum of the police department as the various detectives went about their various tasks for the day. The numbness had subsided, replaced by a warm contentment to do what she was excited to do. "Happy to be back," she added.

  "You don't like time off, do you?" Riley asked, amused. Noelle shook her head. "Good," he said, "Because there's not much of it. Right after roll call, we've got a scene to go check out. Hope you're ready to jump in the deep end." He winked and went back to his office, sorting out the files.

  Noelle headed to her small cubicle, glad to see that nothing had been disturbed in her time off. She grimaced as she checked the three files left in her desk. Riley's reaction had been expected; he had actually been on the crime scene with her. However, Noelle was concerned at how far the story had gotten. Would she have to deal with concerned glances and questions her entire first day back?

  Not that she didn't understand their concern, but it wasn't wanted or necessary, not to her. She hadn't even known Lydia, not until after her death. She tightened her grasp on the first file she had pulled out. It was a copy of Lydia's case file.

  "I thought you might want that," Riley said, his voice quiet. He glanced around, his square face solemn. "Keep it hidden," he advised. "No one else knows you have it, and I'll keep it updated." He chuckled. "After you leave."

  "You're not even here after I leave," Noelle said, glancing at Riley with mild amusement in her eyes.

  "Sometimes I am," Riley replied, grinning. "I was when you were gone."

  "That's because I wasn't here." Noelle snorted and tucked the file neatly back in her cabinet, ensuring that it wasn't going to be immediately seen by anyone walking around.

  "Time for role call," he chided as everyone started to gather.

  "Alright, alright," Noelle said, standing and following him to line up so they could officially start their duty.

  This time Riley drove to the scene, Noelle on the passenger side. It was normally the other way around - Riley had a policy that the junior member drove in order to further familiarize themselves with the geography of their city and its surrounding areas. Especially in Noelle’s case since her geography was terrible. This time, however, Riley had decided to spare her that chore. Noelle was grateful, she had to admit. It was oddly difficult to go to a crime scene in a way that it hadn't been before.

  She knew it was illogical, being worried. She wasn't going to run across another scene like Lydia's. Lydia was dead and gone and her world continued to move. But still her stomach churned and her fingers shook the slightest amount. It was disconcerting. Instead she read the summary in the file she was holding. They were picking up a case that had been called in earlier in the morning. It was a replacement for the case Noelle had lost, when Lydia's identity was revealed.

  "At least it's a double homicide," Riley said pragmatically.

  Noelle didn't wince, but part of her wanted to. It sounded horrible, but it was true. At least both the couple were dead. It would have been even worse if it had been a domestic crime, if one significant other had killed the other. She wasn't certain if she could have handled that. "Staged as a suicide, right?" she asked, glancing at the notes.

  "Yup," Riley confirmed. "Attempted, rather. It was very poorly done." He looked sideways at Noelle, teasing. "Not sure you would have caught it."

  She rolled her eyes, relaxing. "At least it's good that Hara was on duty, eh?" She closed the file and watched the buildings go by.

  "Indeed." Riley smiled. Hara was one of the two other female detectives in their department, and tough as nails. She was smart as a whip and older than Riley. Hara had been the first female police officer in their department, nearly thirty years ago. Noelle wanted to be just like Hara, further in her career. "Loryn's on scene, by the way," he added.

  "Oh." Noelle tensed for a moment, her breathing accelerating and her heart racing. She focused on taking slow, deep breaths. Loryn wasn't any danger, no matter what their last conversation had been about. The crime scene manager had been nothing but friendly to her, practically maternal. It was a nice thing, Noelle thought, since she had moved so far from home.

  "You okay?" Riley asked, his voice light but concerned.

  Noelle smiled. "Yeah, thanks," she said. Riley cared, she knew he did, and that helped. "How's Elsy?" she asked as the car turned into a nearby driveway.

  Riley rolled his eyes dramatically as he parked the car and turned it off. "As nagging as ever," he said. "You should drop by for dinner sometime," he suggested as they got out of the car.

  "I might take you up on that," Noelle said with a smile. "Thanks."

  Riley nodded, smiling briefly at Noelle before he turned to glance at Loryn. The tall, brown-haired woman was standing with her arms crossed and her grey eyes narrowed in their general direction. Noelle felt like a child in trouble, and she handed the file off to Riley as they got closer. "You're late," she told them, her voice crisp.

  "Roll call ran late," Riley said, not intimidated. Loryn huffed and then looked at Noelle, looking her up and down. She nodded slightly, her eyes softening, and then turned around on her heel and headed towards the door. "You passed inspection," Riley whispered conspiratorily.

  Noelle glared at him, mock-offended, and followed Loryn inside.

  "Coroner's okayed the body and photographs have been taken. The Marks are being run through the database just in case," Loryn said, stepping into the living room and looking down at the large pool of dried blood. "The first female was found here with a gun in her hand. Records show that she was left handed but the gun was in her right. That was Hara's first clue."

  "Amateur mistake. Means it probably wasn't premeditated," Riley said, taking notes as Loryn talked.

  "An
y sign of breaking or entering?" Noelle asked, pulling out the notepad she kept in her pocket and jotting down a few notes. She trusted Riley’s notetaking, but it was easiest to remember things when she took her own notes.

  "None. There are some unidentified fingerprints on the desk, but so far there's no match in the database. Our techs will be on those as soon as everything's back to the lab, however." Loryn gestured for them to follow and headed upstairs. "Hara went straight home, didn't she?" she asked conversationally.

  "I think so," Riley said from behind Noelle.

  "It's brutal," Loryn warned them. "The second body's been removed, but the spatter is still there."

  "Everything's been photographed?" Noelle asked.

  "Yes," Loryn said, nodding. "This is the second female victim. She was bludgeoned to death. The coroner believes that she was killed first, and then the victim downstairs."

  "Why didn't the downstairs victim hear the first one?" Noelle asked, scribbling down notes.

  "We're not sure." Loryn grimaced. "We don't think the first victim - the one that died first - had time to scream. But we do think, based on the timeline that Hara got from the neighbors, that both victims were probably home at the time the first victim was killed."

  "Do we have names?" Riley asked. Noelle agreed, she was tired of writing V1 and V2 in her notebook. Names made it more personal - which was a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the person.

  "The victim downstairs is Claire Dawkins. Her wife, who was killed first, is Aria Dawkins, nee Saen." Loryn consulted the notes in her hand. "Married six years, late twenties. Anything else relevant will be in the files for you back at the department. Hara just wanted to make sure you saw what had been done in person."

  "Nothing like inspiring work through anger," Riley remarked as Loryn opened the door to the bedroom. Noelle followed Loryn inside and had to swallow down bile. The master bedroom was a bloodbath, with blood spatter everywhere and a bloody hammer tossed off to the side. "God," Riley said vehemently.

  "I don't think there's any deities here," Noelle muttered, surveying the room. There was a larger pool of blood where the victim had eventually settled, off to the far side of the bed. "Any idea what happened here?" she asked.

  "Blood spatter techs are still arguing over the final interpretation of the later blows, but their best guess is that Aria was standing with her back to the killer when they whacked her the first time. She went down, tried to crawl, but the killer went after her and eventually she stopped. She managed to make it far enough to cause her killer to spread the spatter farther," Loryn answered promptly.

  "Thanks," Noelle said warmly. She surveyed the room, getting a feel for it. She would come back after she had a decent chance to look over the full file, but for now, this was enough. Half-turning, she glanced at Riley, pleased to see a slight smile. It was going far better than she had expected. She no longer felt nauseated or worried. Instead she was entirely focused on her work and what needed to get done. "I think that's it. Anything else, Loryn?"

  "I found something." One of the crime scene techs, a young man named Carlos, poked his head in the door. "It's important."

  "What is it?" Noelle asked, heading towards him.

  "It's a bill from the Children's Hospital. They have a child," Carlos said, handing the bill over to her. She skimmed the text, showing it to Riley and Loryn as she did so.

  "Why didn't this come up in the search?" Loryn asked sharply. She would be the one dealing with the negligent techs, Noelle knew.

  "It was buried," Carlos replied helplessly. "It's relatively recent, but it was at the bottom, like they didn't want to think about it."

  "Why didn't it show up in the database?" Noelle leaned towards Riley, keeping her voice low.

  "Sometimes if there's no biological link, the records don't connect properly," he said, his voice equally quiet. "The government's working on fixing that, but it's slow, as is everything else."

  "Their child's at the critical care unit at Teller Children’s Hospital," Loryn said, reading the name off of the envelope. "Who's going to go to the hospital?" She looked between Noelle and Riley, her face even darker than normal.

  "I'll do it," Noelle said with a heavy heart. It was her responsibility as the lead detective on the case.

  “I’ll come with." It wasn’t asking, not really, but it wasn’t an assumption either. It was Riley offering his support.

  Noelle swallowed, then nodded. "Alright."

  Chapter Three

  Noelle followed Riley as they entered the hospital. It wasn't quite as institutional as she had feared it would be - the walls were a welcoming yellow, a bright and cheery color that didn't say anything about what could be found here. They headed towards the welcome desk, the woman behind it standing up and extending a hand in welcome.

  “Detective Hanson, PD,” Riley said, showing her his badge and then shaking her hand. “This is my partner, Detective Richards. We’re here for Julia Dawkins.”

  The woman sat down and tapped on her keyboard, searching through the hospital database. “Fourth floor, intensive care unit. Her doctor is Sara McClaire. I’ll have her meet you at the elevator since she’s working today.”

  Noelle stopped for a moment, startled, and then followed after Riley as he headed for the elevator.

  "Recognize the name?" he asked casually.

  "She - " Noelle wasn't sure if it was okay to say. It probably wasn't.

  "As long as it's not a conflict of interest, I don't have to know," he said, pressing the button for the fourth floor.

  "Thanks," Noelle said gratefully, flashing him a quick smile.

  "The state will become the child's new legal guardian," Riley said. "She'll be put into foster care."

  "She'll wonder why her parents didn't visit." Noelle swallowed. Shit. Was she prepared for this? The mere thought of it was tearing her up inside. How did you tell a child that her parents were gone forever?

  The door pinged and opened. Riley led the way out of the elevator, Noelle close behind. Sara was standing just a few feet away, most of her attention focused on the computer cart she was standing in front of. She glanced over to see both Noelle and Riley. Noelle was mildly gratified to see Sara's expression linger on her for a beat more - a slight hint of shock, recognition.

  "Dr. McClaire?" Riley asked, extending his hand in greeting.

  "Yes. You must be Detective Hanson?" Sara shook his hand, then extended hers towards Noelle. "Detective Richards, then?"

  Noelle was startled, but not enough to prevent her from reaching out and clasping Sara's hand. "Hi."

  Sara smiled faintly at her, and then turned to Riley. "I was told you have important information for me about Julia's care?"

  "Yes, we do," Riley said, nodding. "It would be best if we could talk privately." He cast his gaze around the unit. It was centralized, with a nursing station in the middle where several women and men sat typing at computers. There were glass-walled rooms surrounding the station, and another hallway that led to a second, similar pod.

  "This way." Sara logged off the computer and pushed it against the wall. She led the way to a small meeting room the opposite way from the unit.

  "Thanks." Riley nodded as they stepped inside the meeting room, Sara closing the door behind them. They took a spot at the table, Sara sitting across from both of the detectives. "We were called into a case this morning, in which two women were found dead in their homes." He took a deep breath, folded his hands, and continued. "Julia's parents were murdered in their home this morning. Her aunt has been found, and she is her new legal guardian. She will be here tomorrow. In the case that the person who was after Julia's parents is after Julia, as well, we would like to place some protection around her."

  "Will it interfere with medical care?" Sara inquired.

  "No, not at all." Riley shook his head. "We'll simply have an officer stationed in front of her door twenty four-seven until the killer is caught." Noelle glanced at him, startled. Did they have the r
esources for that?

  Catching her glance, Riley leaned towards her. "Hara's concerned about the case," he murmured to her. "The fact that there was no sign of the child there, the fact it was searched - we can't tell if they were after the parents or the child. It's best to keep her safe."

  Noelle nodded, understanding. Then she turned to face Sara. "Can you give us an overview of her condition?"

  "Julia is a four year old female who was struck by a car approximately three weeks ago. She sustained few fractures, but one of them ended up getting infected and leading to severe sepsis. We've finally gotten her condition under control with antibiotics, but she's still too sick to be moved to the regular unit or to go home," Sara said, her voice sharp and crisp. She leaned back in her chair, watching Noelle and Riley with cool eyes. "So her aunt has agreed to adopt her?"

  Noelle looked expectantly at Riley. He had been the one in charge of finding the next of kin, and in her view, it was a reasonable expectation. Who wouldn't go to the end of the earth for their siblings' offspring? Although Noelle was an only child, her mother had a brother and she had done everything she could to help out his family when he was sick.

  "We're not sure she'll be willing to take full custody," he said. "Her partner's fighting cancer and with an understanding of Julia's condition, they're afraid that they wouldn't have the resources or the time to give her the care that she needs."

  Noelle turned her gaze back to Sara, mildly surprised to see contempt in the doctor's eyes. "She'll go up for adoption, then?" Sara asked.

  "Likely after the case is closed, yes." Riley inclined his head slightly. "We are hoping to find a local family."

  "As per the usual protocol," Sara said.

  Riley shifted in his chair. "You've had dealings with the police before, then?"

  "Once." Sara smiled thinly. "I had a child removed from custody and dealt with the adoption proceedings for his new family."

  Noelle winced, and Sara turned to look at her. "We've seen the parents for a couple of those cases," she admitted. Sara nodded. "This is the first time I've run into a child here, though."