Longer than a Scottish Summer
They watched as his face lit up with a grin, the first that had graced his features since it happened. He seemed content, giggling gleefully as he ran in and out with the tide, letting the waves chase him back onto the beach. He was completely oblivious to the weather which had taken another turn for the worst in the last hour, the rain lashing down with enough force to drench you in seconds. They were supposed to be in the middle of a heatwave, only last night the weather had declared that they were in for another scorcher, all bright sun and tropical heat if a little cloudy, they had got the clouds right at least. It had started out OK, just the way it had been predicted, but then, just as they were in the car on their way down here the clouds had became thicker overhead and a light, continuous drizzle had started up. They had almost decided to turn back then, but his face had been hopeful and he was chatting with them in a way he hadn't before, changing their minds.
No matter his happiness at that moment, they would have to leave soon before he caught a cold. They were just reluctant to break the news to him, preferring instead to see him acting like a child his age, carefree and innocent, a state he unfortunately hadn't been in for the last few days. Regrettably though, ice-cream and sandcastles made on a deserted, rainy beach wasn't going to erase what had already happened. They could only hope it would overshadow some of his sadness from the day before.
It was a day Robbie was sure he would never forget. It had started out normal enough; another boring morning of paperwork and arguments fuelled by the last vestiges of that weekends hangovers, not to mention irritation as everyone tried to deal with the recent heatwave coupled with a broken air conditioner. But then they had been sent to interview an informant of his over information that could potentially lead to the demise of a local cardboard gangster, one that was a particular thorn in Burke's side. The house they had visited was average enough from the outside, blending in with the rest in the scheme. It was slightly run down but that too only added to it's normality here where most of the buildings were council owned. The first sign of anything untoward going on presented itself as they got to the front door and to their surprise found it lying open. It hadn't been obvious, not something you could have seen from the street, it wasn't until you were right in front of it that you noticed that the latch was broken, preventing the door from shutting fully.
From then on, everything had seemed to move in slow motion. Jackie had called for back-up as he made his way through the lower levels of the house, clearing the area. Finding nothing but evidence of a struggle, he had then began the long trek up the stairs, his heart heavy with trepidation. He could hear nothing but the rapid beating of his own heart as he reached the top landing and headed through the nearest door. Pausing at the threshold he knew somewhere deep inside of him what he would find before he even entered. It still came as a shock though. No-one in their right mind could see that amount of carnage and not feel something.
The first thing he had noticed was the blood; it was everywhere. On the walls, over the furniture, even on the ceiling. The second thing he registered was the stench, it almost knocked him backwards causing the fleeting thought of how he hadn't noticed it before to cross his mind before it was pushed aside by the horror of seeing their broken bodies. It was so unnatural, their limbs lying at angles he never thought possible and their faces beaten to such an extent that it was hard to discern who was who, only their clothing gave him a clue. He took an involuntary step backwards, away from the atrocity, his back colliding with the door frame with a force that took his breath away. The collision had at least one advantage though, it brought his mind away from the scene in front of him, bringing enough clarity for him to realise that the room they were in was not the couple's own, but their young son's.
The fact was made evident by the colourfully decorated walls, covered in posters representing various sport stars and cartoon characters. Not to mention the abundance of children's toys that littered the room, most of them now made sinister by a fine splattering of blood that shone in the little light entering through the window. It took him a moment to pinpoint the significance of his new discovery, but once he did it was like an electric shock through his body. It was relatively early in the morning, in the middle of the summer holidays; so where was the boy? Panicking now more than ever, he turned tail and prepared to tear the rest of the upper storey of the house apart in order to find him. He hadn't gotten very far before he ran into Jackie, almost knocking both of them to the floor.
"Whoa, Robbie! Watch out," Any reprimand on the tip of her tongue was lost the moment she saw the look on his face. "what's wrong?"
"They're both dead, beaten severely. But the boy's not there, we've got to find David!." His speech was rapid, almost fragmented but he could tell she understood by the look of shock that passed over her face.
"He's not up here Robbie I've already checked." He heard what she said but didn't believe it. The boy had to be up here somewhere. Pushing by his partner, he rushed down the corridor, ignoring her protests as he went. His movements were frantic, uncoordinated. He was aiming to cover all the ground he could at the one time, an unlikely task but one he was determined to accomplish. His breathing became more erratic as he came to the last room, Jackie not very far behind him but coming up fast. He barely had time to register the fact that they were in the victims bedroom when Jackie grabbed his arm, holding him back.
"Robbie! Calm down."
"I can't Jacks, we have to find him," his voice was a higher pitch than normal showing his alarm. "what if he's still alive?"
"Then all your banging about is just going to scare him even more. You have to calm down." He seemed to deflate at her words, all the bluster disintegrating as he recognised the truth behind them.
"So, what's your plan then?" Her arm was still holding him in place, preventing him from moving.
"We look for him, just not in the way you were doing it. OK?" He nodded, defeated.
"OK." At his agreement, she slowly let her grip on him go, glaring at him a little to make sure her point stuck. She was about to speak once more, possibly to give out some more orders or so Robbie thought, when a snuffling noise from the cupboard behind them drew their attention. Acting quickly, Robbie brought a finger to his lips, silently asking for quiet before motioning for Jackie to take up a position on the other side of the cupboard. Pausing long enough for the both of them to get to a point where they would be able to move quickly, he signalled to Jackie once more, letting her know that he was ready to go. On a count of three signified by Robbie holding up one finger after another, they pounced; Jackie opening the door for Robbie to deal with whoever was inside, then moving so that she was in a location whereby she could provide back-up.
When the door opened it revealed a more comforting and shocking picture than he was expecting. Crouched in the furthest corner of the cupboard and folded into himself as much as possible was the object of their search. He was splotched in blood and had heavily red rimmed eyes, clearly indicating that he had been crying. The snuffling noise they had heard had become louder as they found the source, revealing itself to be whimpers coming from the unfortunate boy. Before he could act, Jackie had moved in front of the child, kneeling down so that she was at eye level with him and would appear less frightening. He could only watch as his partner painstakingly chipped away at the boy's defences until he felt safe enough to come away from his corner towards her. Some of the tightness in his body melted away as he saw him reach out and cling to Jackie, his face less blank than it had been when they first saw him.
Once they had managed to get him checked out by a doctor – a feat made difficult by the boy's overall reluctance to be parted from Jackie - they were immediately set upon by Burke. He had impressed upon the importance of getting any and all information out of the boy about the attacker, convinced that it was a hired hand of the man they were looking for. They had to tried to explain that he was traumatised, that he needed severe and immediate counselling to recuperate, but Burke had been uncharacteristically uncompromising in regards to the matter, obviously under pressure for results from the higher-ups. He had charged them with the task of getting through to him, a task that he had known would be inescapable once he noticed how attached David had become to Jackie – a fact emphasised by his screaming every time the doctors or the police had tried to separate the two.
In the end, they had decided to take him to the beach in the hopes that he would open up more if he felt safe and relaxed. He had come up with the idea himself after recalling seeing a picture of David at a beach with his parents in his room. It had been one of the only objects not touched by the bloodbath causing it to catch his attention. On the drive down they had told him that it was a kind of vacation from work and Maryhill in general, that they needed him with them as an excuse to build sandcastles and eat ice-cream. The conversation had been kept light and vague, totally unrelated to recent events, at some point he had started to talk back to them. One word answers mostly, but it was a vast improvement to his silence.
By the time they arrived the weather had completely taken a turn for the worst, but they decided to go for the full experience starting with ice-cream from the small café situated close to the the actual beach. It wasn't long after he had expressed an interest in playing in the waves, and they had agreed to let him despite the weather, pleased that he was showing an interest in anything.
"You know I've been thinking," her voice broke the silence that had pervaded since they had started watching David enjoy himself, a silence neither of them had been quite aware of until she had spoken. "it's a good thing the weather changed when it did."
"Why's that?" His voice was laced with mirth, a sign that he knew she was clearly about to try and lighten the mood.
"Any more exposure to the sun and I would've started to burn. Lobster isn't that good a look on most people." She had said it with such a straight face that he had to fight with himself to not burst out laughing. Any comments he thought about making though were unfortunately cut short by the ringing of her mobile. Excusing herself, she walked away a foot or two to gain a little privacy, although not that much as Robbie could still make out what was happening. The little he heard only served to confuse him more however, snippets of arguments about an affair and whether or not to report it. Despite the circumstances, he couldn't stop his mind from going straight to wondering if his partner was a having an affair. Not that he would ever ask her, he liked his face unbroken. But he was a trained detective, and so had ways to find out.
He barely gave her a chance to put by her phone before quizzing her about the call. "So, what was that all about?" Unfortunately his question didn't get the desired effect. She was frowning, the wrinkles across her forehead that he always thought were kind of cute in full evidence.
"That was Stuart. Apparently they found out that the mother was having an affair and he doesn't know whether or not to include it in the report. He's leaving it up to us since it's our case."
"So what's the problem?" He honestly couldn't see what was wrong. If it had nothing to do with the actual case then what was the harm in keeping it quiet, for David's sake if nothing else.
"It's an official report Robbie we have to include everything!" Her voice had risen a little as she spoke, giving way to her conviction.
Robbie was altogether baffled. He knew that she always stuck to the rules as much as she could, but this was different; the happiness of a small boy was possibly at stake. "Does it have anything to do with the murders?"
"No, but -"
"Then leave it Jacks. Do you really want to take the chance of it getting back to him?" He took some comfort from the fact that she seemed to be more willing to listen to him now, and stepped closer towards her to get his point across more forcefully. "It's truth or happiness Jacks, never both."
She huffed lightly in response, the small puff of she released clearly visible in the cold air. "I suppose your right, for once. He has been through enough as it is."
"I'm glad you agree with me." He teased, his infamous grin out in full.
"Well it had to happen eventually. Infinite monkey's and all that," He only snorted in reply, pleased that she was cheered up once more. "we'll just have to hope that David's happiness lasts longer than a Scottish summer." She commented, looking from David to the sky in quiet contemplation. Thankfully, he was saved from responding as David chose that moment to cease his games and come running towards them, his face becoming more sombre the closer he got. Feeling apprehensive at his sudden change in demeanour, Robbie turned his full attention to the young boy, deeply aware of how unprepared he was for what he might say.
He felt Jackie step closer towards him and took encouragement from it, knowing that she would take over the responsibility of talking to him, a fact he was overly glad of. He watched, rather proudly, as she once more bent down to his level, smiling in encouragement at the sombre faced boy who looked up at them in complete confidence.
"I think, I think I'm ready to tell you what happened now."
A/N: But why's all the fluff gone? No idea where this one came from, it just sorta happened despite all the possible scenarios running through my head from the 'ice' prompt.
What's the verdict?