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Mary's Drawn In

"I told you this would be an earlier day," Daphne Turner told her deputy as the walked from the courtroom towards the parking lot. "You'll be able to get home to your babies before dinner."

"I'm always home before dinner, Judge," Mary shot back. "It's one of the perks of this job; no action and home by dinner."

Daphne laughed. "Mary, you've been working for me for how long now?"

Mary eyes slid briefly down. "About fifteen months."

"Don't you think it's time to start calling me Daphne?"

"Not a chance, Judge," Mary replied, causing Daphne to titter.

Daphne turned when another person walked up to them. "Oh, good, Todd, you're here. Are we ready to go?"

Todd, a tall, burly looking deputy, nodded once. "The car is secure. We're waiting on you, Daphne."

"You see, Mary, not everyone has a hard time calling me by my first name," Daphne said, handing her briefcase over to Todd.

"Yeah, well, I've always said those DC boys weren't worth much," Mary teased, silently chuckling to herself when she saw Todd bristle. "It's why I chose a post in Baltimore." She looked at Todd and shrugged an apology. Her days were spent watching over the judge in the courtroom only to hand her off to Todd and his partner in the evenings. They had built a rapport over the last year so Mary knew he wouldn't really be insulted by the things that came out of her mouth.

"Anything we should know about?" Todd asked, slipping into his all business tone. Mary shook her head. "Okay, then. Are you ready, Daphne?"

Daphne nodded. "Good night, Mary. See you bright and early on Monday."

Mary watched, her eyes alert for any suspicious activity, as Todd escorted Daphne out of the building. As far as marshaling jobs went, this one wasn't bad. It lacked the excitement of her previous positions, and in particular, she missed the interaction with her witnesses, but the stability of being home every night and having weekends off was something she couldn't pass up, not with having two little girls at home. Besides, other than being a bit perky, the judge wasn't bad to work for.

Turning at the sound of her name being called, Mary was surprised to see her former boss walking toward her. Mary smiled, widely. "Stan! What are you doing here?"

"Mary, it's good to see you," Stan replied, grabbing her in an uncharacteristic hug. "I was in the area and thought I would try to catch you for a visit." He shifted, nervously. "How are things? How are the kids? They must be getting bigger. How old are they now?"

"Norah's a month shy of her third birthday and Teagan has... about three until her second. They're doing good," Mary told him. "Norah has really taken to being a big sister."

Stan nodded. "Have you heard from Brandi?"

Mary frowned, becoming stiff. "Not a word." She sighed. "I'm sure you didn't come all the way down here just to check up on me. You could have done that on the phone. What's going on, Stan?"

Stan looked around before pulling her into a small, empty room. "You're being reassigned." Stan threw his hands up when she began to protest. "Temporarily! It should only be for about a week."

"For what?"

Stan ran his hand over his balding head. "I need you to escort a witness to a trial."

She huffed, putting her own hands on her hips. "I don't do that anymore, Stan. I'm no longer an inspector."

"I know, I know," Stan placated, "but this witness refuses to testify unless you're her marshal."

"Who is it?" Mary demanded.

"Ellen Davis."

Mary groaned. Ellen David was a particularly clingy witness that managed to get herself into scrape after scrape. In the short seven months that Mary was her marshal, she had had to move her to three time and find her a new job twice. Though she wished it had been under different circumstances, Mary could not say that was saddened to see Ellen go in the least.

"She's insisting that you and Marshall be the ones to protect her while she's in Albuquerque," Stan explained further. He continued to talk, ignoring her paling face. "She's threatened to not testify at all if you don't. You know how important this trial is."

"Yeah, I know," Mary replied, quietly.

Stan massaged the back of his neck. "I hate to pull you away from the kids, but it's only for a few days, a week at the tops. I-" He stumbled over his words here. "I arranged it so that you and Marshall will only be responsible for her during the day at the courtroom. Her regular marshals will watch over her at night."

Mary studied her fingernails as if she was inspecting them for dirt. "Have you talked to Marshall about this? Is he on board?"

"Yes. He says that he will do his job."

"Of course." Mary closed her eyes, briefly. She could almost hear him telling Stan that. Her heart filled with dread over the thought of returning to Albuquerque. She hadn't stepped foot back there since she left; hadn't talk to anyone from there. She hadn't even let Stan provide her any updates on anyone there. Mary wanted that part of her life to be over and done with. Still, she was never one to shuck her duty. "When do I leave?"

Breathing out an audible sigh of relief, Stan answered, "Monday morning. I'll stop over tomorrow with all of the details."

Mary shook her head. "You don't have to do that."

"I want to. Besides, it'll be nice to see Jinx and the girls. It's been a long time," Stan pressed.

"In that case, why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow night? Jinx has been taking a cooking class and she'll be happy to have someone new to experiment on." Mary nearly laughed at the startled look on Stan's face. "Don't worry. As long as she stays away from Indian and Mexican, she's actually pretty good."

Stan grinned. A more positive Mary was something that he had had to get used to, but she really did seem to be making an effort to stay upbeat for the girls, which included being kinder to her mother. "I would love to."

Mary firmed up their plans before heading home. Her entire drive consisted on flashes of memories of her time spent in Albuquerque. She thought of diners and rings, of baseball games and deserts. She was nearly crippled by remembrances of Marshall. She found that she could not think of a single flaw in his character as so often happens when time goes on, but it only served to make her angry.

"Mommy's home!" Jinx exclaimed when Mary walked into the house. The smell of roast filled the air.

"Mommy!" Norah squealed. She raced towards Mary at top speed, her dark blond hair in pigtails.

Mary picked her up and covered her in kisses. "Hi, Bug. Did you have fun today?"

Norah nodded. "Gramma took us to the pool today with Mr. Bill."

"Wow, Mom," Mary whistled, "that's like twice in the last week. This must be getting serious."

"Oh, stop!" Jinx waved her off and headed toward the kitchen with a decidedly red tinge to her cheeks.

Mary put Norah down and craned her neck, looking for Teagan. The little girl stood just around the wall in the hallway, peeking out with her rich, brown eyes. She had her thumb in her mouth, a habit that neither Jinx nor Mary had been able to break her of. Mary held her arms open. "Come here, Angel."

Teagan toddled to her. Despite her dark brown hair and brown eyes, she was the spitting image of Brandi. Mary felt the familiar ache in her chest as she looked at her niece. Teagan sighed as Mary hugged her. "Mama."

"How's my girl?" Mary asked, kissing her forehead.

"Teagan wouldn't go in the big pool," Norah tattled, trailing after Mary as she made her way to the kitchen for dinner. "She cried."

Mary was quiet as Norah and Jinx blabbered on about their day during dinner. Only Teagan remained quiet, sitting in her boaster. Mary was so preoccupied with thoughts of Albuquerque that the other three were done before she even had a quarter of her plate gone.

"Okay, what's going on with you?" Jinx asked, clearing away plates. "You're a million miles away tonight."

"I know," Mary apologized. "I just... I have a little announcement. I have to go on a special assignment on Monday. It'll only be about a week, but I'll be out of town," she took a deep breath, "back to Albuquerque."

Jinx gasped. "Oh, Sweet Pea. What are you going to do?"