Mistletoe

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Lilly Rush was walking back to office from the coffee shop when she saw a familiar figure waiting for the bus. Images of the little girl from four years ago flashed into her mind. "Lisa?" she asked. The girl looked up at her. "Lisa Hazelton?"

The girl smiled as she seemed to recognize Lilly. "Lilly Rush," Lisa replied. "Long time, no see-" she got a dark mischievous look in her eye- "no talk."

Lilly laughed. "Well, I've been busy,"

"Doin' what?"

"My job."

"Uh-huh," Lisa said, not really believing her. "You know it's been two years, and you haven't responded to any letters, texts or phone calls."

"You text now?"

"Duh. Everyone does these days."

"New hair style?" Lilly asked, indicating the little bit of hair over Lisa's left eye.

"Yeah," Lisa said with a smile that seemed a little forced. "A lot of people wear their hair like this. I actually like it. Helps give me an intimidating appearance sometimes. " She looked to her right, and suddenly got nervous. "Uh, look I have to go. It was nice seeing you. We should hang out sometime."

Lilly was about to call her back over when her phone rang. She sighed. It was time to get back to work.

CC

"What's up boss?" Lilly asked as she came in.

Scotty looked up from a not he was reading. "Where have you been?"

"Ran into an old friend."

"This old friend got a name?"

Lilly smiled. "Yes, but I'm not tellin'."

"Oh, c'mon, Lil," Scotty begged."

"Is there something I should know about?" Stillman asked.

"No."

"Good, because we have new direction. Christmas Eve, 1989; quadruple homicide; four teenagers, all stabbed; the girls were raped-"

"That must've been a merry christmas for them," Scotty commented, earning him a glare from Lilly.

"So, what's this new direction?" Kat asked.

"Someone sent us a note," Stillman replied.

Lilly picked up the note from her desk where Scotty had put it. "'They deserved to die," she read. "'They ruled the school, and terrorized anyone who opposed. Their houses were their thrones. Checkmate."

"What's with the checkmate?" Scotty asked.

"Chess term," Vera said.

"I know what it is," Scotty said. "But what does it mean?"

"Checkmate happens when you can't move the king," Lilly said. "Usually the queen is a variable in that. There are times, though, where you can win without one."

"They said the kids were terrors," Kat added. "And that they ruled the school."

"Until someone decided to take them out," Lilly said.

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Lilly and Scotty headed for the school where the kids went. "Charles, Amy, Tina, and Leslie were all good kids," Principal Guthrie said.

"We have a note that says otherwise," Scotty said.

"In fact," Lilly said, "it said that those kids were terrors of the school. Ruled over them."

"It's highschool, what do you expect?" Guthrie asked.

Guthrie was hanging out in the halls when he saw the small group. Charles and Tina headed for a boy at his locker. "Hey, Justin," Charles said. "What's up?"

"N-nothing," Justin stuttered.

"You're on the chess team, right?" Tina asked.

Justin stayed silent for a moment. Charles shoved his shoulder. "Hey, she's talking to you."

"Yeah," Justin replied.

Tina laughed. Charles joined. "Better watch yourself." He left as the bell rang.

"They were teenagers," Guthrie said.

"And you did nothing to stop it," Lilly said in disgust.

"Like I said, there was nothing I could do."

Lisa Hazelton came in then. "Oh," she said backing away. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, Lisa," Guthrie said, "they were just leaving."

Lilly and Scotty left the office. Before they reached their car, though, Lisa came running out. "Lilly!"

"Hey, Lisa, why aren't you in class?"

"I'm late as it is. Class can wait a few more minutes."

"What's up?"

"Can you meet me by the starbucks on the corner of PPD?"

"I'll try."

"Great. I have to go now. See ya."

As she raced off, Lilly turned back to the car. "What?" she asked when she saw Scotty looking at her.

"Nothing," he said.

M

Kat and Nick walked into a gymnasium where they saw a thirty-something year old man helping one of the boys with a game of chess. "Justin Blake?" Kat called.

The man looked up. "I am Justin Blake."

"Detectives Vera and Miller," Kat said. "Philly PD. Homicide."

"Homicide?" Justin asked.

"What do you know about Amy Lynn, Tina Miller, Charles Bird, and Leslie Heinston?" Vera asked.

"Not much," Justin said. " They ruled the high school that I went to, but that's about it."

"We heard that you had a run in with them about a week before they died," Kat said.

"No big deal," Justin said. "It was high school."

"Are you sure?" Kat inquired. "Are you sure you didn't try to even things with them?"

"You know," Vera added, "put them into checkmate?"

"If you mean kill them," Justin said. "I had nothing to do with it."

"So what happened after that?" Kat asked.

"I made up with them..."

Amy and Leslie walked up to Justin with Charles and Tina behind them. "Hey," Amy said.

Justin looked up at them. "What do you guys want?"

"Just wanted to invite you to a party we're having at Tina's tonight," Amy replied.

"What's the catch?"

"There isn't any," Tina replied.

"We wanted to make up for earlier," Charles replied.

Justin nodded. "Okay. I'll be there."

"I went to the party, and that was that," Justin finished.

Kat nodded. "Okay." She took out her card and handed it over to Justin. "Call us if you remember anything."

"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Kat askes Vera as they exited.

"Party went south," Vera said.

"And maybe Justin put them into checkmate afterall."

M

Lilly managed to let Scotty head back to the PPD while she went to meet Lisa. She had just finished ordering her coffee when someone came up behind her. "Be sure they put a Rush on my frap."

Lilly turned to see Lisa behind her. "Where did you come from?"

"PPD?" Lisa joked. "Not really. Hitched a ride with my friend Danielle."

"Are you getting anything?"

"Yeah, my strawberry and Creams frap."

"Okay, well, I'll go get a table while you get that."

"And, Lilly," Lisa called.

"Yeah?"

"Put a Rush on it."

Lilly chuckled as she went to get a table. Five minutes later, Lisa was at the table. "So, what's been happening?" Lisa asked.

"Cases," Lilly said. "Working on another one right now. You play chess, right?"

"Yeah. Love that game."

"Do you think you can help us out?"

"Sure."

They chatted about Lilly's relationships for a few minutes; Lisa cracking up about the gun that Eddie gave her. "Oh, man. I wish I could've been there for that. Rumor is that you're an aunt now. True or false?"

"True. And who've you been talking to?"

"While I may not have kept in contact with you, which is no one's fault-" she coughed mockingly- "but Scotty and Kat have kept me updated."

Lilly nodded. "So, where have you been these last four years?"

"Well, had you been keeping up with the letters and not just your cases," Lisa said, her southern accent coming out, "you'd know that I was in Florida for awhile."

"Weather nice?"

"Hot. Like you wouldn't believe. Heard you had a hot summer at one point, that's nothing comapred to what I went through."

"What about your foster parents?" Lilly asked, remembering that she was the one who had to pull Lisa out of an abusive Foster Care Center until some nice people took her in. "Are they treating you well?"

"They're dead," Lisa mumbled.

"I'm sorry," Lilly said.

"Car accident. But, some nice people took me in. Surprisingly, they moved back here." Suddenly, her cell phone rang. "Oh, c'mon, not now." She reached down to her satchel, and some of her hair moved. Lilly could see an outline of purple and blue around her eye. Lisa didn't notice. "Shoot," she said, once she had her phone. "I have to go."

"Lisa," Lilly said, placing her hand on the teenager's. "Are they hurting you?"

"No," Lisa replied. A little too quickly.

"Lisa," Lilly replied a little more sternly. Lisa looked at her. "Look at me in the eye and tell me the truth: are they hurting you?"

Lisa had to look away. Lilly moved Lisa's hair to the side to reveal a bruise that was mostly healed. Lisa moved out of her reach. "Please, if they know you're a cop, they'll kill me."

"Are they watching us right now?"

"Yes." She looked at the corner where someone was watching them. "Meet me at PPD tomorrow after school. I'll tell you everything."

M

"Where were you?" Scotty asked.

"Starbucks with Lisa," Lilly replied. "What have you got?"

"Turns out, our victim's were having a party at one of their houses."

"Really?"

"Yup," Jeffries said. "Pretty much the whole school was invited."

Lilly sighed. "Great, that leaves us about a thousand suspects."

"It gets worse," Kat said. "I re-ran the DNA on the rape kit, there was more than one doner."

"How many?"

"Three."

"So, now we have a gang rape on our hands as well."

"Hey," Vera said. "At least that narrows down our suspect pool to about three hundred."

"Or maybe the gang rape was a seperate event."

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Lisa came in the next day, while Scotty, Vera, Kat, and Jeffries were out. Stillman was in his office. "Hey, Lilly."

"Hey, Lisa, "Lilly said taking her into one of the interrogation rooms. "I'm guessin' I'm not in trouble, right?"

"No," Lilly replied. "You're not in trouble. Before we start with our case, I want to know what's going on with you. When did this abuse begin?"

"About two months ago. Three months after we moved to Philly."

"Do you know why?"

"My 'dad' has a bit of a gambling and drinking problem. He's been losing his bets, and when that happens, he gets drunk. He comes home, and the slightest thing will tick him off. I usually have to run, but he catches up and starts using me as a punching bag. This is the first time he's hit my face."

"Why haven't you reported it?"

"Same deal as the FCC. Who's going to believe a teenager?"

"What about your 'mother'?" Lilly asked.

"My mom and brothers hide behind me. They always look the other way." Lisa started messing with her hair. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Okay," Lilly said after a minute. "What can you tell me about this note."

"Well," Lisa said, studying the note. "It seems like this person played Chess, but has very little knowledge."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, what are your theories about it?"

"Two kings and two queens."

"Doesn't look like that. It looks to me like two rooks, a king and a queen."

"Why do you say that?"

"There's a move in chess called Castle."

"Where you move the king two spaces and the rook takes his place."

"Right. You play chess?"

"Let's get back to the main topic," Lilly said.

"Personal," Lisa said, it wasn't a question.

Lilly looked at Lisa for a second, then got back to business. "So, you're basically saying that two people were up in the top and the other two were like their protectors."

"Right."

Lisa's cell phone rang. "Oh boy." She leaned down to pick up her phone, and Lilly could see a fresh cut on her cheek. "Hello?" There was a pause as she waited for a response. "I'm at a bookstore- how the heck should I know? I don't pay attention to the street signs." She moved her phone away from her and turned to Lilly. "Where's the nearest bookstore?" she asked in a low tone.

"Around the corner."

"Coincidentally it's by PPD," Lisa responded. Then she sighed. "Fine see you in ten." She hung up. "Oh crud, if I don't get there in ten I'm dead meat."

"Luckily it's only a five minute walk," Lilly said.

Lisa gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Lilly. Call me if you need any help."

"You do the same."

M

"Who was that?" Kat asked as Scotty hung up the phone.

"Lil," Scotty replied with a slight smile on his face. "She said that we could be wrong that all four could be the top rulers. Lilly said that she had a friend help her out and the friend said that the other two were Rooks, the level before Queen."

"I'd like to meet this friend of hers," Kat said.

Scotty laughed. "Doubt she's gonna let you."

"Well, I got some good news," Kat said. "I told one of the lab technicians to run the DNA through aphis-ow!" she said as someone bumped into her.

"Sorry," the girl mumbled, keeping her head down. The only thing either detective could see was the satchel that she carried, the black coat that she wore with a black cap and slightly curly brown hair as she quickly walked away.

Kat instinctively checked her pockets, making sure nothing was missing.

"Still check your pockets every time that happens?" Scotty asked.

"Gotta make sure the badge wasn't stolen," Kat said. "Anyway, turns out the DNA's in codis. Phillip Raymond and George Lingo are both in the system. Want to guess what for?"

"Surprise me," Scotty said.

"Rape, petti theft, and my favorite, peeping."

"Quite a record. Looks good for our murders."

"Problem is, they're out, but they didn't leave an address for their Parole Officer."

"So basically we hit a dead end."

Kat nodded.

Scotty sighed. "Lil's not gonna like this."

"That's an understatement," Kat said.

M

"So, where are we now?" Lilly asked.

"No where close to finding the killer," Scotty said.

The mail came and people got all their letters. "Hey, check this out," Vera said. "I got a christmas card from that Hazelton kid."

"So did I," Jefrries said.

"That goes triple for me," Kat said.

"Even I got one," Stillman said.

"Don't we get one from her every year?" Scotty asked.

"Not at the same time," Vera said.

Lilly looked at her mail. One was from Lisa. There was also another one from someone else that she didn't recognize. She opened it, and frowned at what it said.

STAY AWAY FROM THE GIRL OR DIE.

"What's wrong, Lil?" Scotty asked, looking at her.

"Nothing," Lilly replied. "Someone just sent me someone else's mail on accident. I'll resend it later." She placed the note in her desk drawer. "Let's focus on the case."

M

By the end of the day, no one had found anything, so they all went home. There was a knock at her door. She opened it and her partner was standing right there. "Scotty?" she asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came by here to check on you," Scotty asked. "Found this sticking out of your desk drawer." He held up the threatening note.

"You're going through my stuff now?" Lilly asked, her famous Ice Queen mask going up.

"Curiosity got a hold of me."

Lilly sighed, trying to keep herself calmed. Sometimes Scotty infuriated her with what he did; other times, she was just grateful to have him around. "Want to come in?"she asked.

"Thanks," he said.

"Want anything to drink? Soda or something?"

"I'm good."

Lilly went to the fridge and got herself a cream soda and came back out into the living room. The cats were already crawling all over him. Snowfur- aka, tripod- was rolling on her back, while Olivia was gently rubbing her head against Scotty's. Lilly smiled. "Loving the attention?"

"Never thought I'd be so loved."

"And they're girls."

"Really?"

"Must be the ladies man."

Scotty smiled. Lilly picked up Snowfur, who mewed, and placed her on her lap as she sat down next to Scotty. "So, who's the note from?" Scotty asked.

"I have no idea, Scotty," Lilly said. Scotty looked at her in the eye, and knew she was telling the truth. "If I had to guess, though," she contiuned. "I can probably guess it was Lisa's guardian."

"As in the Hazelton kid?" Scotty asked in shock. "I thought she was down south."

"Her original guardians were killed in a car accident. Two other people took her in, and came back up here to Philly. Apparently the 'dad' has a gambling and drinking problem. I don't know about her brothers though."

"But, apparently someone knows that you've been meeting her."

"Yeah, and I don't think they know that I don't scare easily."

"Where's the Christmas tree?" Scotty asked looking at the corner.

"Haven't had time to put it up," Lilly said.

"Why not now?"

"What?"

"How about we put it up now?" Scotty repeated.

"We?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah. You and me. You use a fake one, right?"

"Yeah. Not worth all that money to buy one every year."

"Shouldn't take long to put the decorations up. We should be finished by eleven."

Lilly smiled. "It's nine o'clock Scotty."

"Even better," Scotty replied smiling. "Please?"

"Okay."

It only took an hour to put up the tree and ornaments and another hour to decorate the apartment. When they were done, Scotty felt like he had seen a whole new side of Lilly Rush. A side that he had rarely seen, but also a side that he had never seen before. They had laughed together, and Lilly had been smiling all through out. That was what he liked to see. Her smile. He had heard bits and pieces about what happened to Lilly thirty-something years ago, and how she lost her number one smile; but to him, he always saw that smile.

Scotty had just finished putting up the wreath on her front door, when he came back inside. The house was finished, and he could tell that Lilly was exhausted. She was asleep on the couch; the cats were around her; the orange one under her arm, and the white one on the head rest, as if she was guarding her owner. Scotty knew she must've not been sleeping well as much lately. Those nightmares were coming to her on and off. Before he left, he went to the closet and grabbed a blanket. He gently placed it over her. He took one last look at her face; it was so serene, which was rare for him to see. He couldn't resist giving her a light kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Lil."

"Good night, Scotty," she mumbled tiredly. Scotty was afraid that she was really still awake, but when he hadn't heard anything else from her, he relaxed and left. He knew where she kept her spare key, so he locked the door with it. Better than leaving the door open.

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Lilly woke up the next morning feeling a little refreshed. Then she realized that it was six o'clock in the morning, about the time she was supposed to get up. She raised her hand to her cheek, which felt numb; obviously she wasn't dreaming about Scotty kissing her. She looked at the clock again, and got up. It was time to get to ready for work.

M

"Hey, Lil," Scotty said, running into her in the lobby of PPD.

"Hey, Scotty," Lilly said, smiling.

"Listen, about last night-"

"It's fine, Scotty," Lilly interrupted.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"We still need to talk about it."

"Not here, though."

"Okay."

After taking the elevator up, they put their guns in their lockers. "Are you doing anything tonight?" Scotty asked.

"Unless this case is solved tonight, working," Lilly replied. "Why?"

"Just curious."

Lilly smiled as she closed the locker door.

"Good news," Jeffries said as the two walked into the bull pen.

"What?" Lilly asked.

"We found George and Phillip," Vera said. "Tracked them through their credit cards and found out where they lived. Somewhere in North Kensington."

"Let's go," Scotty said, heading back to the locker for his gun. "I'm taking the Kensington guide."

M

Lilly and Scotty watched as SWAT knocked down the door. Everyone rushed in, checking the rooms for the suspects. "Clear," the swat officers said.

"Clear," Lilly heard Scotty say. Lilly was in a different room, and she was checking every inch of it. "Lil, what about you?" Lilly was looking behind a couch, and in a closet. When she didn't respond, he called again. "Lil?"

"Clear," Lilly sighed. Scotty came into the room a minute later. It was a wreck; not as if there was a struggle or anything, but trashed. Pizza boxes open with leftover pizza still in them, bugs crawling all over the place; worn t-shirts just thrown on the floor; the bed unmade. "Typical lifestyle for these guys," Scotty said.

"Must be," Lilly agreed. There was a scream outside, startling Lilly.

"What was that?" Scotty asked.

"I don't know," Lilly replied heading for a window. Two adult males matching the description of their suspects were cornering a teenaged girl in the alley. She swung her satchel at them, catching one of them in the jaw.

"Ouch," Scotty said. "That must've hurt."

"He's not the only one who's going to be hurt if we don't get down there," Lilly said, rushing out of the apartment.

Down in the alley, the girl had cursed the men out, hoping someone had heard, but that only made the grown men even more enthusiastic. "Back off!" she yelled at them.

"Come on," the brunette man said with a twisted smile. "We just want to play.

"I said, back off," the girl repeated herself. She grabbed a knife from her pocket. She knew she should've bought the pepper spray, but if it didn't work on her father, she wasn't quite sure that it would work on other people. She wished she had a gun or something more effective, but the knife was going to have to make do.

"Ooooh," the hispanic said. "So scary."

The girl swung her satchel again, catching him in the jaw for the second time. "Darn, Chica," he said. "What do you have in there?"

"My cell phone and a pretty heavy wallet."

The brunette lunged for her, and she caught him in the arm with her knife as she dodged. He gasped in pain, and she smirked, but then the hispanic caught her. She used the SING technique to get out of his grasp, but by then, the brunette had caught her, holding her in such a way that she couldn't repeat the technique. He laughed as she struggled to get free. "Who has control of the situation now?"

A gun was cocked behind him, and he turned to see Lilly Rush holding her gun at his temple. "I believe I do," she said darkly. "Now let her go before I blow your brains out."

"I would listen to her if I were you," Scotty said, pointing his gun at the other person.

Seeing as he had no choice, the brunette released the girl. Lilly kept her gun trained on the both of them as Scotty hooked them up. When she was sure Scotty had the situation under control she turned to the girl. "Are you alright, Lisa?"

"Fine," she replied.

"Man," the hispanic said. "You ain't got nothin' on us."

"I don't know," Scotty said. "Attempted rape looks good from my perspective."

"Along with abduction," Lilly added.

"Sounds good to me," Lisa replied. She turned to Lilly. "Don't tell Scotty who I really am yet, please."

"What's your name, kid?" Scotty asked.

"Lelila Livingston," Lisa replied.

"I'll take her statement, Scotty," Lilly said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Scotty said.

"What are you doing here?" Lilly asked.

"I cut through here sometimes to get home."

"You shouldn't," Lilly warned, "this area is pretty dangerous."

"You would know, wouldn't you?"

"I grew up here."

Lisa nodded. "I'll be more careful next time. And, don't bother putting down Lelila Livingston on the papers. Just put my real name."

"Okay."

M

Lilly walked into homicide as George and Phillip were walking out of the office, smug looks on their faces. "Boss said to let them go," Scotty said.

"What?" Lilly asked.

"We don't have enough on them for the attempted rape; nor did we see them try to take her," Scotty said.

Lilly sighed. "Did they say anything about the gang rape of Amy and Tina?"

"Yeah, they were proud of it too; but..."

"The statute of limitations is up."

Scotty nodded. "But they swore they left with the girls alive."

"Did they tell you who their friend was?"

"Clayton Potts," Scotty said. "He was one of the runners on the football team, and Charles best friend."

"At least it's not a complete dead end."

"Problem is that Clayton is a big shot lawyer, who's out of town. He'll be back tomorrow."

Lilly sighed again. "So until then, we have nothing."

"Right." Scotty studied her for a moment. The Ice Queen mask was back on as she tried to control her emotions. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Lilly said. "I'll be fine." There was a silent pause between them. "Want to head over to McGuin's tavern?"

"Yeah."

M

"Bye, Scotty," Lilly said, as she waved good bye. She walked the few yards it took to get to her front door, and walked in. She gasped when she saw someone standing in her living room. It took her a moment to realize it was Lisa; but, she was hardly recognizable from earlier that day. Her face was battered with several bruises, and she was favoring her arm, as if she had broken it.

"I-I didn't know where else to go," Lisa stammered.

"What happened?" Lilly gently asked, walking to her side.

"He was drunk again. This time he had lost over fifty thousand dollars, and he was already in deep as it was. He lost it when he saw me coming home a minute late."

Lilly took her to the kitchen, and soaked a towel in warm water. She walked back to the table where Lisa was, and gently rubbed her face. Lisa flinched a couple of times, but seemed to be fine otherwise. Lilly knew the girl was in pain, but there was no way Lisa was going to admit it openly. Even to Lilly. Instead, Lilly looked at Lisa's arm, which she was still favoring. "Is your arm broken?"

Lisa shook her head. "Just a sprain. I can move it. It just hurts."

Lilly got up and grabbed her keys. "I'm taking you to the ER."

Lisa knew better than to argue. "Hope your ready for a long night. We're probably going to be there for several hours."

M

They waited for about three hours, as Lisa had predicted. It wasn't crowded, but it took awhile for the doctor's to get to everyone before them. When they finally called her name, Lilly called Christina.

"Hello?" Christina answered.

"Hey, Chris."

"Hi, Lil," Christina said happily. "I just put Ellie down for the night."

"How is she?"

"She's doing fine- she's a handful, but other than that she's fine."

"What about you?"

Christina sighed. "I'm tired a lot, but I'm making it. How are you doing?"

"Fine I guess. I'm working on a case that's not easy to solve. Then I have some personal issues to deal with on the side. I'm actually at the hospital right now because of it."

"At the hospital?" Christina asked, concern in her voice. "Why? It's not Scotty is it?"

"No, no, Scotty's fine. It's this girl I know. She's in a tight spot with one of her guardians."

"Guardians? You make it sound like she's in the system."

"That's because she is. She's an orphan in Foster Care; I worked her parents case. The guardian she has currently gambling drunk, if you know my meaning."

"Yeah. So, what's going on between you and Scotty?"

"What?"

"You and Scotty," Christina repeated. "What's going on between you two?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. There's nothing going on between me and Scotty."

"Come on, Lil, I see the way you two look at each other."

"Lisa Hazelton?" a doctor called.

"Chris, I have to go, I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

Lilly hung up the phone and turned to the doctor whose tag read Samson. "I'm with Lisa Hazelton."

"Are you her mother?"

"No, I'm just a friend."

"Where are her parents?"

Lilly looked over the doctors shoulders to see Lisa on one of the beds looking around, while swinging her legs back and forth. "They're dead," she said quietly. "She's in the Foster Care system."

Samson nodded. "Where are her Foster Parents then?"

"I believe they're at their house."

"Why did you bring her in then?"

"She came to me like that- she was favoring her arm, I thought it needed to be checked."

"Well, she's lucky," Samson said. "The worst of her injuries is a sprain wrist. Other than that, she has several cuts and bruises on her face. They will heal with time, but X-rays show that this abuse has been happening for awhile. Do you know how long this has been going on?"

"You'll have to ask her," Lilly replied.

"Lilly," Lisa called.

"Yes?" Lilly asked when she reached Lisa's bed.

"Can we go, I have school in the morning."

"Sure."

It only took a few minutes to make sure that Lisa was okay, Lilly took Lisa back to her apartment. There was no way she letting Lisa go back to her guardians at this point. Who knows what that 'father' would do to her when she came back this late.

M

Lilly woke Lisa up early the next morning. "Lisa," she whispered, gently shaking her shoulder.

Lisa moaned tiredly as she looked up at Lilly. "Lilly? What time is it."

"Five-thirty."

"Shoot, I'm late," Lisa said, shooting up.

"Lisa," Lilly said. "Can you go to Christina's after school? Just to check up on her?"

"Sure," Lisa replied, grabbing her robe to head for the showers.

"Thanks."

M

Scotty and Lilly walked into Clayton Potts' office later that day. "Detectives," he said with a broad smile, particularly at Lilly, as he put out his cigarette. Lilly and Scotty glanced briefly at each other, they had seen all of this before, and were quite used to these pleasantries, until they arrested the person; still, they kept their faces pleasant. "What can I do for you today?"

"We actually want to talk to you about a murder we're investigating," Scotty said.

"Murder?" Clayton asked.

"Amy Lynn, Tina Miller, Charles Bird and Leslie Heinston," Lilly said. "We heard you were the last to see them alive."

"Maybe I was, I don't know."

"You were invited to their christmas eve party," Lilly said.

"As was half the school. I did see them that night, though..."

Clayton walked over to Charles with a beer in his hand. "Hey, Charles."

Charles looked up when he heard his friend. "Hey."

"So, what are you planning on doing after school?"

"College, football, and whole bunch of partying."

"I'll cheer to that," Clayton said as he clanked his red solo cup to Charles'.

"Hello, Clayton," Amy said, coming up to them. "Do you mind if I borrow Charles for a minute?"

"Go ahead," Claytone said. Amy took Charles by the arm, and headed upstairs.

"That was the last time I saw them," Clayton said.

Scotty circled behind Clayton and picked up his cigarette. Lilly had his attention. "If you think of anything else, let us know," she said, handing him her card.

As they left, Scotty held up a plastic bag. "I'll get this to the lab, ASAP and see if we compare DNA to the fourth person."

"Okay," Lilly said. "Do you want to stop by the coffee vender first?"

"Sure."

M

When Lilly reached Headquarters, she was surprised to see Christina there. "Christina?"

"Lil," Christina said, relieved. She had Ellie with her as well as a bag of clothes for her and the baby.

"What's going on?"

"He's back."

"Who's back."

"Cliff. He's back, Lil. I saw him at the grocery store that's by my apartment."

Lilly remembered that she had sent Lisa to her apartment; if Cliff was back, Lisa was going to be in trouble. "Chris, where's Lisa?"

"Who?"

"Lisa. The girl I was telling you about. I sent her to your place after school to check up on you."

"I didn't see her."

"What time did you leave?"

"About an hour ago, why?"

Lilly looked at her watch, it was two-thirty. Lisa didn't get out of school until about two o'clock. "Okay, the spare key to my apartment is under a pot. I want you to go there until we get this situation settled. Don't open the door for anyone unless you hear 'flower'. "

"Okay."

Scotty came out of the building then. "Hey, Chris."

"Hi, Scotty."

Lilly turned to Scotty. "I need your help."

"What is it?" Scotty asked.

"Cliff's back; I sent Lisa to her apartment earlier to check on her, but now that Chris is here, Lisa won't know about it and Cliff could be there right now. She's in danger, Scotty."

M

Lisa walked into Christina's apartment, putting the key back where it belonged. "Hello?" she called. "Chris?" She walked into the kitchen, slowly. "Chrissie? My name's Lisa. Lilly sent me over to check up on you. To see how you were doing." She continued to walk through the apartment until she reached Christina's room, which was a wreck. Then she heard a baby crying from the ceiling. It was obviously Ellie, but why would Chris hide her in the airvent? Her answer came a minute later when she heard someone breaking down the front door.

"Chris!" A man called. That was when Ellie stopped crying. Either that was one smart kid or she had her aunts instincts. The intruder was probably Cliff- Christina's abusive ex-boyfriend, who had recieved a pretty bad beating from Lilly awhile back. She smiled at the image in her head of Lilly taking him out.

She heard the footsteps coming closer to her, and knew she had to hide quickly. There was a closet nearby, and that was going to have to do it for now. Cliff came closer to the closet door. Lisa picked up her phone and quickly dialed Lilly's number after sending her a quick text. She just hoped Lilly picked up...

TO BE CONTINUED.

[beautifulcoldstorm]

A/N: Definitely going to be edited somewhat. Don't know when... keep an eye out for it.