Truth and Lie
"Are you sure that you wanna do this?" her grandfather says and she knows his fear.
He is afraid. Very afraid, to be clear.
But she's made her decision and he knows that. And her grandmother too.
Nora Rae Howard sighs: "Please, Grandpa, don't make it so hard for me. I have to do this. I have to find out the truth. I have to close that case!"
Willie Rae lays her hand on her shoulder and smiles sadly: "Yeah, Sweetie, we know and it's okay. Go if you want to."
Nora kisses her and says: "I'm so incredibly grateful for everything you did for me. You gave me a home. Atlanta always will be my home. But...I have to go back. I have to."
- "Do what you have to do. But I want you to avoid HIM. He's not good for you."
She has expected that statement. She knows who HE is. She knows that Clay hates HIM.
He blames him and believes he is responsible for his daughter's death.
But she disagrees with him. And she knows that she would NOT avoid him.
Because HIM is her father - Fritz Howard.
But her grandfather does not need to know that for now. The only one who knows that is Willie Rae and Nora desperately hopes that she'll not tell Clay.
Cause that will ruin her plans. She has two tasks to do in L.A.: to make peace with her father and to find the killer of Brenda Leigh Johnson.
The guy who destroyed her childhood fifteen years ago...
The day started as usual and there was nothing significant that indicated
something was wrong. But through the eyes of an eight year old problems were
always invisible. She remembers that her mother picked her up from school and
ate an ice with her in her favorite café. The sun was shining brightly but it
wasn't too hot. Nothing significant. It was like usual. They drove home. Her
mother helped her with schoolwork. They watched a Disney movie. In the evening
her dad came home. They had dinner like a family used to have. She went to bed
and her father told her a fairytale. Something about a duck and a flower. Her
mother had been called to a crime scene. But it didn't matter to Nora, she was
used to it. She couldn't know that she would never see her again. Cause while
she was sleeping peaceful, with her teddy bear lying next to her, someone
killed her mother, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson…
They found her dead body the next morning in a forest, buried but not very
careful. She got shot. Two bullets. One in the brain. And one in the chest.
She was instantly dead. Major Crimes worked hard to find her killer…but it
didn't work.
After two weeks it had been declared as a "Cold case".
Nora remembers the day of her mother's funeral like it had been just two weeks
ago. There had been so many people. From the LAPD. Her grandparents. All her
aunts, uncles and cousins. She remembers Charlie who always had a look for
her. And she remembers a woman with beautiful brown hair who made an amazing
speech. She recognized her deep grief. Her eyes were red like she'd cried. The
thing was just that Nora didn't know her…
The time after her mother's death was mysterious because she wasn't able to
feel anything. She felt nothing like emptiness. She was frozen. Not able to
cry. And her father…well, his world had broken down. He wallowed in
self-pity, started drinking again. He didn't care about her and how she was
grieving for her mother. He was always angry and aggressive Willie Rae and
Clay Johnson realized that Fritz wasn't able to take care for her. They were
very determined to get the custody for their granddaughter – successfully.
So the little girl moved to Atlanta. Nora is thankful for that because of the
great time she spent here. Here are all her friends. Here she made her exams.
Here she found her first love. If somebody would ask her where she comes from,
she would answer: "From Atlanta." For many years Los Angeles had been just a
dark memory.
It's not easy to go back but she has to do it. For her mother. For herself.
Nora takes a deep breath before she turns around, searching for the right
gate. She looks at her watch: her flight goes in less than one hour. "Okay
Miss Howard, you'll make it. It's going to be okay. Positive."
But she's scared to death.