opposite side of the house to afford Lou privacy, but keep her close to her mother which was one of the most important things to Shevaun, and also to Joe.
Lou barely remembered her birth father since she was only two when he was killed in the line of duty. Joe McAllister had been her father ever since she could remember. He had fallen madly in love with Lou’s mother the minute he laid eyes on her and subsequently with Lou, as if she was his own daughter. Lou’s mother, however, was not so easily swayed. She had resigned herself to being a widow and it had taken Joe nearly three years to win her over. But the second he did, they were as tight as any family could possibly get and perhaps even more so. To Lou, Joe and her mother were her best friends and the most important people in the world. As she rounded the drive and headed for the garages in back, she saw the soft glow of lights from the magnificent house that was filled with so much love. Her crankiness seemed to melt away in remembering how truly lucky she was and how much Angela Talbott was not.
Lou’s mother was cozied up with a book in the sitting area of Lou’s room when she finally made it inside. As she often did, Shevaun had a steamy cup of tea waiting for Lou along with that brilliant reassuring smile.
“Hey Momma.†Lou kissed her mother hello before anything else. “How are you?â€
“I am terrific! Thanks for asking.†Shevaun watched her daughter sigh as she tossed a large envelope on the coffee table then disappear into the walk-in closet. “But the more important question is, how are you? Any break in your case yet?†By Lou’s lack of immediate response, she knew that her daughter was not a happy camper. She closed her book and set it down on the table then retrieved her cup of tea, sipped slowly and waited until her daughter was good and ready to vent about her day. It was a ritual they shared regularly.
Lou emerged from the closet a few moments later wearing gray sweatpants, a ratty old Los Angeles Kings hockey jersey that was about four sizes too big for her and fuzzy black and white convict style striped socks.
“Uh oh.†Her mother groaned.
“What?†Lou asked while she placed her holstered gun in the drawer of her bedside table.
“It was a bad day. You’re wearing the socks.†Her mother eyeballed her over the rim of her cup and sipped slowly.
“It wasn’t that bad. Ok, it was bad enough.†Lou plopped into the chair across from her mother and picked up the cup of tea that was waiting for her. “I got nothing. We got nothing.†She paused to take a sip and savored the warm comfort as it flowed over her tongue. “The captain gave us today only to find a legitimate reason to keep her, which we didn’t. So now we have to pass it back to LAPD since she was their jurisdiction to begin with.â€
“You know my feelings about the LAPD. No offense to the officers, but the bureaucrats there, well never mind.†Shevaun was clearly disgruntled. “I understand the socks now.â€
Lou chuckled and looked at the manila envelope that she had put on the coffee table. The message she had gotten from Caroline that evening had been a little vague. Caroline had said that the degraded saliva on Angela Talbott had been annoying her so she ran some searches to see if she could find anything to help explain things. Caroline had indicated that she found something odd and would leave a copy of her findings for Lou on her desk since she herself was leaving early because she had an engagement that evening.
“Caroline called me while I was in with the captain. Left a message saying she might have something but it was already too late. I picked this up from her office on my way home.†Lou set her cup down, grabbed the manila folder and pulled out the file.
“Oh coroner stuff! You know how much
Lou barely remembered her birth father since she was only two when he was killed in the line of duty. Joe McAllister had been her father ever since she could remember. He had fallen madly in love with Lou’s mother the minute he laid eyes on her and subsequently with Lou, as if she was his own daughter. Lou’s mother, however, was not so easily swayed. She had resigned herself to being a widow and it had taken Joe nearly three years to win her over. But the second he did, they were as tight as any family could possibly get and perhaps even more so. To Lou, Joe and her mother were her best friends and the most important people in the world. As she rounded the drive and headed for the garages in back, she saw the soft glow of lights from the magnificent house that was filled with so much love. Her crankiness seemed to melt away in remembering how truly lucky she was and how much Angela Talbott was not.
Lou’s mother was cozied up with a book in the sitting area of Lou’s room when she finally made it inside. As she often did, Shevaun had a steamy cup of tea waiting for Lou along with that brilliant reassuring smile.
“Hey Momma.†Lou kissed her mother hello before anything else. “How are you?â€
“I am terrific! Thanks for asking.†Shevaun watched her daughter sigh as she tossed a large envelope on the coffee table then disappear into the walk-in closet. “But the more important question is, how are you? Any break in your case yet?†By Lou’s lack of immediate response, she knew that her daughter was not a happy camper. She closed her book and set it down on the table then retrieved her cup of tea, sipped slowly and waited until her daughter was good and ready to vent about her day. It was a ritual they shared regularly.
Lou emerged from the closet a few moments later wearing gray sweatpants, a ratty old Los Angeles Kings hockey jersey that was about four sizes too big for her and fuzzy black and white convict style striped socks.
“Uh oh.†Her mother groaned.
“What?†Lou asked while she placed her holstered gun in the drawer of her bedside table.
“It was a bad day. You’re wearing the socks.†Her mother eyeballed her over the rim of her cup and sipped slowly.
“It wasn’t that bad. Ok, it was bad enough.†Lou plopped into the chair across from her mother and picked up the cup of tea that was waiting for her. “I got nothing. We got nothing.†She paused to take a sip and savored the warm comfort as it flowed over her tongue. “The captain gave us today only to find a legitimate reason to keep her, which we didn’t. So now we have to pass it back to LAPD since she was their jurisdiction to begin with.â€
“You know my feelings about the LAPD. No offense to the officers, but the bureaucrats there, well never mind.†Shevaun was clearly disgruntled. “I understand the socks now.â€
Lou chuckled and looked at the manila envelope that she had put on the coffee table. The message she had gotten from Caroline that evening had been a little vague. Caroline had said that the degraded saliva on Angela Talbott had been annoying her so she ran some searches to see if she could find anything to help explain things. Caroline had indicated that she found something odd and would leave a copy of her findings for Lou on her desk since she herself was leaving early because she had an engagement that evening.
“Caroline called me while I was in with the captain. Left a message saying she might have something but it was already too late. I picked this up from her office on my way home.†Lou set her cup down, grabbed the manila folder and pulled out the file.
“Oh coroner stuff! You know how much
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