Mistletoe part II

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Previously on Cold Case...

"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."

"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. "Car accident. But, some nice people took me in. Surprisingly, they moved back here."

"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.

"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."

"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."

STAY AWAY FROM THE GIRL OR DIE.

"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."

"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.

"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.

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. "He's back."

"Chris, where's Lisa?"

"I didn't see her."

"What time did you leave?"

"About an hour ago, why?"

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."

"Chris!" A man called. 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...

Lilly's phone began to ring. It first vibrated to tell her that there was a text message; then, almost instantaneously, it started to ring. She looked down at the number, and realized it was Lisa.

MII

"Come on, Lilly," Lisa said quietly. "Pick up."

"Hello?" Lilly said. A wave of relief washed over Lisa.

"Help me," Lisa said.

"Lisa? Where are you?"

"In Chris' apartment." Suddenly, the door to the closet opened, causing Lisa to gasp. Cliff was standing right in front of her with a dangerous look in his eye.

"Lisa?" Lilly asked, alarm rising in her voice. "Lisa, what's wrong?"

"What the he-" Cliff began, but was cut off when Lisa rushed at him. It stunned him for a moment, but that moment was all Lisa needed to get the heck out of there. She ran out the door- literally racing on adrenaline- and tripped over something that made her drop her phone and disconnect the call; but, she recovered easily, started running again. and didn't stop until she reached an alley.

MII

"Lisa?" Lilly asked, alarm rising in her voice. Scotty was looking at her with concern. "Lisa, what's wrong?"

"What the he-" she heard Cliff begin, but he was cut off by a loud thump, then nothing.

"Lisa? Lisa are you still there?" She looked at her phone to see that the call had been disconnected. "Darn it," she muttered under her breath.

"What's wrong?" Scotty asked.

"Cliff found Lisa. I don't know what's going on, but we have to find her."

"Did she tell you where she was?"

"Chris' apartment."

Scotty nodded and hurried to his car, Lilly on his heels.

MII

Lisa hid in the alley, and stayed there, trying to catch her breath. She was about to call Lilly again, when she heard someone coming toward her hiding spot. She peered around the corner, and saw Cliff heading her direction. If she was lucky, he would just run right past her, and then she could call Lilly. Unfortunately, the wind blew her hair past the wall. Cliff spotted it, and started yelling something at her as he charged. Lisa darted off again.

She felt like her lungs were going to collapse a few minutes later, as her sprints became slower. She looked over her shoulder to see that Cliff was gaining on her. She had only two options: either jaywalk, and hope that she didn't get hit by a car, and delay Cliff; or, keep running, eventually collapse, and hope Cliff doesn't do anything stupid. She was about to chose the former, when she spotted a familiar car heading her direction. She waved wildly to get their attention.

MII

"If Cliff does anything to her, I'll never forgive myself," Lilly said as they turned onto Christina's street, remembering what Christina looked like after Cliff beat her up.

"Easy, Lil," Scotty said, taking her hand. "Lisa's a smart girl. She'll be alright. Besides, she's been through worse."

Lilly looked at Scotty briefly before turning her attention back to the streets. Apparently, Scotty also remembered when they worked those dozen colds at Golden Valley Gates. A figure waving wildly as she ran towards them caught her attention. Lilly knew it was Lisa. "Scotty, stop," Lilly said.

Scotty stopped and unlocked the car as Lisa grabbed the back door. There was a figure not too far from Lisa that was still running at her. When he saw the car, he stopped and pulled out something from his pants band. "Gun!" Lilly cried.

By this time, Lisa had already opened the back door; she ducked behind it when the gun shots sounded, followed by a scream. Lilly grabbed her own weapon as she rolled down a window to fire back, giving Lisa time to get in. As soon as she was in, Scotty started the car and drove off. Gun shots followed the car, but luckily they didn't hit anything serious. Scotty just kept on driving, while Lilly looked behind them to make sure they weren't followed, and Lisa was lying on the backseat, covering her ears, trembling.

A/N: I'm not exactly sure if this chapter should be this long. I was trying to figure out a place to cue the music; but, since is the next part of Mistletoe, I wasn't exactly sure where to end.

[beautifulcoldstorm]

There was a tense silence on the ride back to headquarters. No one spoke of what just happened; the only sound was Lisa's heavy breathing from her run, and the radio. When they reached headquarters, Scotty parked the car and inspected the damage. A few bullet holes in the trunk, but other than that, nothing serious. "D'you think that the boss is going to notice?" Scotty asked, getting a smile and a stifled giggle from Lisa.

"I'm sure he'll understand," Lilly said.

"Let's hope so," Scotty said. "Otherwise, she's paying for it." He pointed at Lisa for good measure.

"I think Cliff should pay for it," Lisa said. "He's probably got a nice load of cash somewhere."

When they reached the lobby, Scotty went ahead upstairs to tell the boss what had happened. Lilly sat down with Lisa on a bench, putting a comforting arm around the teenager. "Are you alright?"

Lisa sat still for a moment, fiddling with her gloves. For a moment, Lilly thought she wasn't going to answer, but then she heard Lisa sigh. "Fine. That was a bit scary though. I'm just glad Cliff wasn't able to get a swing in."

Lilly looked at Lisa curiously. "How did you know that was Cliff?"

Lisa smiled. "I have been keeping in contact with Scotty. He's also the one who told me that you were an aunt."

"I'm going to have a few words with him," Lilly grumbled, making Lisa giggle.

"Where's Chris?"

"She's at my apartment with Ellie. Why?"

"What? I thought that Ellie was in... an air vent..." Lisa trailed off, as something came to mind.

"Lisa?" Lilly asked.

Lisa was silent for a moment longer before she turned back to Lilly. "When I entered the house, I heard Ellie crying through the ceiling; figured she was in an air vent. I was wondering why she would have Ellie in there, and that's when Cliff came in. But, as soon as he came busting in, Ellie's crying stopped. It bugged me that she would stop that quickly; now I think I know why- Chris must've placed a tape-recorder up there to make Cliff think that they were home."

That would've surprised Lilly, but she couldn't put anything past her sister. Scotty down a minute later. "Boss wants to see you," he said. "There's someone up there claiming you took his kid."

"What?" Lilly asked.

"Great," Lisa muttered at the same time.

"What?" Scotty asked curiously.

"That's probably my guardian," Lisa said, avoiding eye contact with him. She instead looked at Lilly, who met her eye. They both knew they were going to have to deal with this at some point. This was the first time Scotty noticed the splint on Lisa's right wrist. He knew that Lisa's guardian had a gambling and drinking problem, but Lilly hadn't told him that he was more than likely taking it out on his foster daughter.

"It's going to be okay," Lilly said reassuringly, as they walked to the elevator. Scotty joined them, curious to see what this guy was going to do when he saw them.

When the elevator's door opened, a guy in his late forties with a grey beard and mustache was standing there yelling at Stillman. "I want this woman's badge," Mr. Falcon said. "She took my daughter; she's also been hanging around her alot also."

"Is there a slight chance that your daughter ran away?" John asked. "What's her name?"

"Boss," Scotty called as he walked in, Lisa and Lilly behind him.

"That's her," Mr. Falcon said.

"Li?" Jessica Falcon said, rushing forward to hug her lost child. There two boys in their late teens standing there also. Scotty guessed that those were the two brothers that Lilly mentioned.

Lisa just stood there, not bothering to return the hug. "Where have you been? We've been so worried about you."

"You could care less, and you know it," Lisa muttered.

Jessica looked down and saw the splint on Lisa's wrist. "What happened to your wrist?"

"You know darn well what happened. I was just lucky that it wasn't broken."

While Lisa and Jessica were exchanging words, James Falcon, the father, glared at Lilly. "That's the woman who's been hanging around, Li."

"So?" Lisa said. "She didn't snatch me or anything."

Jessica looked at her two boys, Tom and Jason. Lilly thought they looked a little guilty. "She doesn't know what she's saying," James said. "Obviously, this woman's threatened her."

"At least she can say my name," Lisa said. "Unlike you. And Lilly would never do such a thing."

"Lil, can I see you in my office, please," John said.

"Sure," Lilly said, following him into the office, and closing the door behind her.

"I don't know what the heck is going on right now, but I want them out of here, now."

"Okay," Lilly said, turning to leave.

"I wasn't finished," Stillman said. Lilly stopped and turned back to him. "I also want you to stop seeing the kid."

"Boss-" Lilly began, but was cut off when Stillman raised his hand.

"I don't want to hear it, Lil. You've jeopardized us far too many times to risk losing your job over a Foster care incident. The last thing we need is a law suit."

"She's being abused by them, John," Lilly said coldly. "That's why she has the splint on her right wrist. She wears her hair over her left eye to keep people from seeing the bruises on her face."

"Why do you care, Lil? I know what you're feeling when you hear about things like that; but for heaven sakes, we can't care for every kid that's been abused."

"This is not just any kid, John."

"Then who is she?"

"Lisa Hazelton."

[beautifulcoldstorm]

John looked at her stunned. "The Hazelton kid?" He walked back to the window and took another look at Lisa. "She looks so different."

"She's sixteen now," Lilly said, joining him. "Her other foster parents were killed in a car accident, and these took her in. Now, tell me, John, after everything she's been through, why I shouldn't care about this one?"

John sighed. "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive."

"But, do you have evidence?"

Lilly sighed. "No. But, if I could get some-"

"There's no time for that, Lil. You need the evidence now. Her word is not going to cut it."

MII

"Alright, now, let's go," James said a few minutes after Lilly and Stillman went into the office, taking a sip out of his tumbler. It didn't surprise Lisa that it was vodka; she could smell the alcohol on him from the moment she entered the bull pen.

"I'm not going anywhere," Lisa said.

"Li," Tom whispered urgently.

"Stop calling me that! It's Lisa or Lis; not Li."

"Alright," Jessica said. "Lisa, please, listen to your father."

"He's not my father."

James slapped Lisa across the face; she stifled a cry of pain. People looked up at the sound, but no one did anything. Jessica and the boys took it as their cue to leave; leaving Lisa and James alone in the bull pen. "Now you listen to me, wench," James said menacingly. "You and I are going to leave quietly. You will never see your cop friend again, and you won't be leaving the house without an escort, unless it's to school."

"You can't do that," Lisa said.

"Watch me," James said, grabbing her arm. "Now let's go."

"Let go of me!" Lisa struggled to get out of his vice. She eventually stomped on his foot, but all that earned her was another slap in the face; this one, however, was hard enough to knock her down. Before she could recover, James grabbed a gun off the closest desk.

"You little, wench," he said angrily. "I should've done this long ago..."

MII

Lilly and John turned toward the window when a loud crash sounded from the bull pen. Lisa was on the floor, a fresh cut across her face, and James was saying something at her as he grabbed a gun from a desk. She was about to walk out there when John stopped her. "It's too dangerous," he said sympathetically.

"That man is going to kill her if we don't do something," Lilly said.

John sighed, knowing he was defeated; he wasn't going to have Lisa's blood on his hands. "If he raises that gun to you, I want you out, understand?"

Lilly nodded as she walked out the door. "Stop!" she called to James. The gun was cocked and ready to fire; Lisa was sitting on the floor helplessly looking down at the barrel of a gun, crying. "You don't want to do that."

"Oh, I don't do I?" James asked, spreading his arms out carelessly. Lilly could see his eyes were bloodshot, and that he was staggering slightly. She guessed that he had been drinking; probably something he smuggled in. "She-" he pointed the gun at Lisa again, "is the reason why all of this is happening."

"Your debt?" Lilly asked, noticing Scotty coming in from somewhere. When he saw what was happening, he automatically reached for his locker; Lilly moved her arm slightly, urging him not to. If they were going to win this, they shouldn't do it with guns drawn. "How did she cause that?"

James looked down at Lisa, a maniac look coming to his eye. "You told her? You told her about what's going on in our family?"

"How else was I supposed to explain these injuries you inflicted upon me?" Lisa demanded angrily.

"You little wench," he said furiously, raising the gun and hitting her with it. "I'm going to kill you." He continued to pistol whip her two more times- it was all she could do to shield her face before each blow- before Jeffries and Vera came in, guns drawn.

"Put it down!" Vera ordered. "Put it down and get on the ground, now!"

"You put yours down," James said, pointing the gun at Lisa again. "Or else she dies." When no one did anything, James shot the roof; Lisa screamed, everyone else jumped. "That was just a warning. I will do it this time."

Seeing no other choice, Vera and Jeffries backed off. Most of the people ran out of the office; only the team stayed. "Listen to me, James," Lilly said calmly. "You're not going to walk out of here if you kill Lisa. Your best chance at walking out of here alive is to talk to me."

"Why should I talk to you?" James demanded. "Huh?"

"Because I'm your best shot at getting out of here."

"Oh really?"

"Yes," Lilly said. "SWAT is probably already here and taking position right now to shoot you down." James looked around nervously, lowering the gun. "What is it you want?"

"I need a million dollars by today," James said.

Lilly looked to John, who nodded as he picked up the phone in his office.

"I thought you sold my animals to pay off that debt," Lisa demanded.

"I did, but then I lost it all."

"So you sold my horses and my dog for no reason?" Lisa started to tremble, more out of anger than fear now. "You know how much they were worth? Especially since they were pure-breds?"

"Shut up!" James ordered, raising the gun again. "I don't need you to tell me what I've done wrong or right." Directly behind him, Lilly saw someone come with a taser.

"I think your million dollars is here," Lilly said. James turned around- Lilly indicated to Lisa to get out of the line of fire- and recieved a low voltage shot, causing him to pull the trigger. When he was on the ground Vera and Jeffries came over and took him to booking.

[beautifulcoldstorm]

Jessica Falcon came up stairs, worried when her husband and Foster Child didn't come down. "James?" she asked when he saw him being led away with handcuffs.

"Call our lawyer," he said, before being dragged off into the elevator.

Jessica turned back to the bull pen, and saw Lisa and Lilly talking again. There were some fresh abrasions on Lisa's face again, and Jessica was shocked to see that her husband had lost his temper out in public. It was one thing to do it in private where no one could tell; but this drew the line. She knew now that she was going to have to tell the detectives everything.

"I want you to go back to my apartment, okay?" Lilly said.

Lisa nodded sedately.

"That won't be necessary, Detective," Jessica said. "I'll take her home."

Lilly looked at her warily. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea..."

"It's alright," Lisa mumbled. "I need to get my things from there anyway."

Lilly sighed. "Alright, but, call me if there's any trouble." She turned to Jessica for a moment. "Can I have a word?"

"Sure," Jessica said, walking to a corner of the room where they could talk privately. "What is it?"

"You knew what was happening, but you did nothing about it," Lilly said in a low voice. "Why?"

"I'm sorry," Jessica said. "I didn't realize that I have to tell you about what was going on in my private life." She started to walk away, but Lilly stopped her.

"I know what happened," she called.

Jessica stopped in her footsteps and looked at Lilly. "What?"

"You had another daughter, Melissa, right? She died under mysterious circumstances." Lilly knew she had the woman's attention now. "She would've been... what? Twenty now?" Jessica remained silent. Lilly made her look at her directly in the eye. "He hit her, didn't he?"

"You don't know anything," Jessica said, turning to leave again, but when Lilly spoke again, her steps faltered.

"Broken nose; fat lip; her arm as fractured in two places at one point also. You and I both know those weren't accidents."

Jessica trembled at the memory of her husband beating their twelve year old daughter. She had been beaten earlier, and was too weak to try and stop him. The boys were at a birthday party, thank goodness; but, when James had come home that day, he was drunk, and Melissa had heard her mother's cries, and was trying to stop him from beating her. That had gotten her killed. James became sober after that, and they moved to Florida, hoping that maybe a change in climate would help with his moods. It did for about two years, then he started drinking again. It slowly increased until they had adopted Lisa. He stopped for awhile, and got into gambling. When they moved back to Philly, the two habits collided; unleashing a monster.

She looked back up at Lilly. "There's no where I can go that he won't find me."

Lilly looked at her sympathetically. "We can protect you."

"No you can't," Jessica said. "He'll find me no matter what."

"There are ways that we can make sure he can't find you," Lilly said. Jessica shook her head, and Lilly sighed. "Come here tomorrow, and we can talk some more about this."

Jessica nodded, then came toward Lisa and they both left. Scotty came toward Lilly. "You're just going to let her go?"

"Lisa's going to be leaving her care no matter what," Lilly said. "It's the least I could do."

Scotty nodded. "Well, I've got good news."

"What?"

"The DNA off the cigarette was a match to the unknown sample."

"Let's go pick him up."

MII

When Lilly and Scotty reached Clayton's office though, he wasn't there. The receptionist said that he had called in sick. Lilly and Scotty automatically went to his house. It was vacant. As they searched the place, they noticed that all of Clayton's clothes were gone, along with most of his belongings. "This guy certainly left in a hurry," Scotty commented.

"No kidding," Lilly said, looking at the emaculate counter. She sighed. "We had him."

Scotty looked up at her with concern. He knew she got upset when they didn't catch the killer. It looked like she was about to reach that point right now. "Take it easy, Lil," he said placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him.

"But, we had him," she said.

"I know, Lil, and I feel bad about it too. But we can't know who's the killer and who's not right away."

Lilly sighed and looked away. "You're right. It's just that... ever since George..."

"You've been wanting to prove yourself. Thing is, Lil, you already have." He tilted her chin up so that she would look at him. Darn, I've never seen her eyes this close before. They're like sapphires. "You already have," he repeated, not really knowing what else to say.

Lilly blushed slightly, turning her head away from him again. "I- uh... guess we should tell Stillman."

Scotty coughed, suddenly feeling slightly uncomfortable. "Sure."

They walked out to the car, leaving the apartment once again abandoned. "Scotty," Lilly said a few minutes into their drive.

"Yeah?" Scotty asked, briefly glancing at her before turning his eyes back on the road.

"Thanks. For everything. It... it means alot."

"Any time, Lil," Scotty said, placing his hand on Lilly's.

MII

Scotty put the boxes for the kids back on the shelves where they belonged. Since they didn't catch the killer, he didn't put the 'CLOSED' mark on them. Even though they knew who did it, they didn't catch him, therefore closing the case. He sighed as he put the boxes in their spots, then looked up and saw the four teens there. They looked at him, before taking each other's hands and then fading away.

Christina went to live at her father's place with his family. At least until she knew it was safe to return to her apartment.

Lilly finished signing some paper work, handing it in to a social worker. Then she picked up Lisa from Jessica's, taking her back to the office. Jessica, Tom and Jason followed them. Kat met them and took Jessica into one of the interview rooms, leaving the door open. Lisa and the boys waited outside. Lilly met up with them just as Jeffries brought James by them. Jessica and the kids glared at him.

Lilly sighed and put her arm around Lisa, taking her home.

[beautifulcoldstorm]

I was looking at my summary for Mistletoe II, and I bet y'all are wondering where that kiss scene I promised is. Well, I had it down, but I forgot to save it before logging on a different computer, and then it disappeared. It also didn't fit in the story, as I had hoped it would, but I will post here in the Author's Notes whenever I get the chance. It was actually the reason why I called this story Mistletoe; so no worries, the scene is coming. Hopefully before or after exams are over.