It was Christmas Eve. For Jim Brass it was just another day at work…or night. After his marriage had gone south so many years ago, he'd started volunteering to work Christmas Eve and Christmas to give others a chance to have the holiday with their family. Other than that small gesture, he was bah - humbug about Christmas. It was no surprise to him when a call came in for a 419. What did surprise him was the location, the local Walmart.
He arrived at the scene, several uniforms already present. The carnage they found shocked even the seasoned veteran. A shooter had entered the store fifteen minutes before closing and opened fire, sweeping the store, spreading death as he went. An associate had made his way to the sporting good section, secured a pistol and ammunition. Then he'd worked his way around behind the shooter and opened fire, ending the shooter's spree. The associate was in the manager's office, shocked.
Jim walked through the store, stepping around the dead. Paramedics were busy stabilizing the wounded and loading them onto stretchers for transport. Others lingered in the lawn and garden section, the only place the shooter hadn't visited. Jim was struck by the irony of these emotionally wounded standing around the various Christmas trees displayed in the area. Christmas wouldn't be a good memory for these people either.
He continued surveying the store. He moved through the toys, many of the shelves now empty after the last minute shoppers had cleaned them out during the day. Walking one of the aisles, he thought he heard a whimper. He glanced at a DB at the end of the aisle. It appeared to be a young woman. There was not doubt that she was dead, however, so she couldn't be making the sound.
Movement caught his eyes. He stepped closer to the DB and leaned over her. There covered partially by the body and partially by the shelf, was a small child. "I need a Paramedic over here," Jim yelled as he rolled the body off the child.
Her small, frightened face looked up at him. Tears had run down her face and dried, leaving streaks. The child was covered in the woman's blood; at least Jim hoped it was the woman's blood. She shrank back from him as he tried to decide how to approach her.
"Hi," he said simply, smiling at her.
Her eyes grew wider, filled with fear. Just then a paramedic arrived. The little girl panicked and started crying. She climbed onto the shelf, knocking toys onto the floor. The Paramedic hesitated. Jim held his hand up to her, her name tag read Stiles. "Take it slow," he warned.
Turning back to the little girl, Jim held out his hand but didn't move closer. Speaking in a quiet, gentle voice, "My name is Jim. What's your name?"
Whimpering again, the little one cried, "My mommy says I'm not s'posed to talk to strangers."
Jim thought for a moment. "Did she tell you about policemen?"
She nodded, "Yeah…."
"Well," he said as he lifted his badge out of his pocket, "I'm a policeman. See, this is my badge." He held it out to her. "Did Mommy say it is okay to talk to policemen?"
"Uh-huh," she said as she took his badge. "You're not wearing the police suit," she stated.
Jim could tell he was winning her over, but he knew he had to take it slow. "The suit? Oh, you mean the uniform like that officer over there is wearing…" he said as he pointed to a uniformed officer near the bikes. "Well, I'm a different kind of policeman. I'm a detective."
"A dective?"
Jim smiled, "yeah, I find things out…like what happened here, for instance."
The little girl looked at her mother. Tears rolled out of her eyes. "Mommy went to sleep."
"Yeah," sighed Jim. "Hey honey, you never told me your name…"
Her big blue eyes looked apprehensive. Finally she spoke, "Angie, short for Angela."
"Well Angie short for Angela, why don't you come out of there? Let's let this nice lady take a look at you. She's kind of like a doctor, you know…."
Angie studied his face carefully. Then she looked at Stiles. Slowly she began to climb down. She stepped in front of Jim and reaching out, handed him his badge. Jim took it carefully, not wanting to spook her. "Thank you," he said tenderly.
Angie glanced over at her mother again and then suddenly climbed into Jim's arms. She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and glued herself to him. Surprised, Jim hesitated but then put his arms around her, hugging her. Then he relaxed his grip a little and told her, "Okay, we need to let Stiles take a look at you."
Angie gripped him harder. "Don't want Stiles," she said.
"Hey, tell ya what, you sit in my lap and Stiles can check you out. It'll just take a minute."
Reluctantly she loosened her grip and turned toward Stiles. She was propped on Jim's leg with him still squatting. His legs were really beginning to hurt from being in that position for so long, but he was determined not to move. Stiles worked quickly, looking the child over. She nodded to Jim, "she's okay, physically." Stiles stepped away, looking for more patients. "Okay Angie short for Angela, I need to stand up. Hop down so I can get up."
She slid to the floor and then grabbed Jim's leg as soon as he was standing. He looked down at the top of her tiny red head and smiled. Bending over he picked her up, holding her in his arms. Again, her arms went around his neck. They walked out of the aisle, Jim heading for the offices in the back. He spotted Gil Grissom standing near the double doors leading to the back. Gil looked at him quizzically.
"You have a friend?" he said.
"Yeah," responded Jim. "This is Angie, short for Angela." He felt Angie's giggle as he spoke. "Angie, this is Mr. Grissom. He's going to help me find out what happened."
Angie looked up briefly at Gil, but wasn't interested. Her head returned to Jim's shoulder. "Guess you've lost your touch," Jim chuckled as he spoke to Gil.
"My touch?" Gil looked confused.
"With women."
"Oh," Gil said as his eyebrow shot up. "We've got 14 dead, so far. Nine wounded."
"Yeah, including her mom. Did you find the shooter?"
"Over by the furniture department," Gil responded. "His name is Chad Jenkins."
"Any idea why?"
"Not yet. Have you called Child Services?" Gil said as he nodded at Angie.
"No. That's next."
Jim continued back to one of the offices. He sat in a chair and Angie turned to sit in his lap, her head resting against his chest. He pulled his phone out and called the number. A Mrs. Wilson assured him that she would be there in just a few minutes.
"Hey Angie short for Angela," she giggled again, "what's your other name?"
"Douglas. What's your other name?"
"Brass," he smiled. She giggled again. "That's a funny name," she said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, Brass is all shiny. You're not shiny, except for maybe that spot on your head."
Jim grinned. "Yeah, and that spot gets bigger every year. So Angie, do you know where your Daddy is?"
"I don't have a Daddy," she replied. "Mommy said he died. But I don't remember."
"How about an aunt or uncle…or your grandparents?"
"Nope. Mommy said it was just us. That was after Granny told us to leave. Granny doesn't like Mommy."
"Where does Granny live?"
"In her house." Angie snuggled into Jim, demonstrating that she was tired of talking. Jim patted her back, wondering what to do next. He needed to be out on the floor, helping with the investigation. But a part of him was enjoying holding a little girl again. And she seemed to be comforted by his hold on her. He wasn't sure how she would act if he put her down and he didn't think he could bear to hear her cry.
Mrs. Wilson found them like that; Angie curled up in his lap and him stroking her back. "Captain Brass?"
"Yes," he answered.
"Nita Wilson. Is this the little girl?"
"Yeah, Angie Douglas. We found her under her mother. A Paramedic checked her out, says she's okay."
"We'll need to locate her family."
"Sure. Um, she says there isn't any…a grandmother maybe but she doesn't know much about the woman. Says the grandmother kicked her mother out."
"Well, this will take some time. In the meantime, we'll take custody of her. I checked before coming over, all the temporary homes are full. She'll have to go to a shelter."
"A shelter?"
"Yeah, like a group home. She'll be taken care of."
"Oh," Jim was disappointed. "That's a hell of a way to spend Christmas."
"I agree, but we don't have any choice. There's no place else for her to go. So, if you'll put her down, I'll take custody."
Jim started to set Angie on the floor. She tightened her drip on his neck. "Come on, honey….you need to get down."
"No," she cried.
Mrs. Wilson put her hands on Angie's back, "Come on, Angie. I'm going to take you to a special place until we find your family."
"No," she yelled as she fought to hold onto Jim. Mrs. Wilson pulled her away from him. "No, screamed Angie. "I want Jim. I want my Jim," she said, reaching toward him.
Her anguish was breaking his heart. He wanted to take her back, away from the Child Services woman. "It's okay Angie," he said. "Mrs. Wilson is going to take care of you."
"No," she cried. "My Jim. I want my Jim to take care of me." Mrs. Wilson started out of the room.
"Wait," called out Jim. "Since its Christmas Eve and all….well, what I mean is this; couldn't I take her until you find her family?"
Mrs. Wilson stopped and looked at the detective. "Captain, you've not been properly checked out. Foster parents must pass a screening."
"Foster….uh, I don't want to be a foster parent, except temporarily for her. And I am a Police Captain. How much more screening do I need? My job is to protect people. "
"How will you care for her? You do have a job. And what will Mrs. Brass think of your idea?"
"Ah, well….there is no Mrs. Brass. And I'll get someone to stay with her while I am at work. Don't worry, it'll be someone trustworthy." Jim flashed his best smile. He could see that the woman was thinking abut his idea.
Finally she relented and put the girl down. Angie immediately ran to Jim. Picking her up, he asked her," hey, how would you like to stay with me for a few days?"
She hugged him in response. Looking at Mrs. Wilson, he smiled. "Thank you. And I'll get you the information on her mother as soon as I get it. I can even make the trip to her home, if you want me to."
"Thank you, Captain Brass. And…in spite of what happened here, I hope you have a merry Christmas."
"Thanks, you too."
She smiled and then left.
Jim looked at his new little companion. "Now what am I going to so with you while I do my job?" he asked.
She clung to him as he headed for the manager's office, a tiny cubicle at the other end of the hall. He spotted a female uniform and called her over. "Listen, there's something that I need you to do……"
----------------------------------------------------------
Please review and let me know what you think:-) Really...reviews instead of Christmas cards this year?