AN/ Hey! Hope everyone had/having wonderful holidays. I know I have! Been busy of course. Have some plans soon. You will be excited and nervous for these characters. Pls be patient with me. I know I haven't been getting chapters out like I should, but will work on that. Onward! ~Eisac

Chapter Eight

Alice stared at the beautiful sliver casket with intricate metal rods down either side for the pallbearers grasp, a criss cross metal stand held it up from the ground, and white and pink roses, chrysanthemums, and other type flowers rested atop the closed lid like a fresh mountain. Of course it would be close lid. Not necessarily because her mother's body was too gruesome; it was more for her wishes in life.

Carol always believed after someone died, their body was nothing more than an empty shell of the person and therefore, didn't feel comfortable letting everyone see her empty shell. "It's like having people stare at you in your panties," Carol would have laughed. Alice wasn't laughing now. She wanted too, but she just couldn't. The memories hurt too much, knowing there wouldn't be any more to add to them.

Her whole body felt numb, including her brain. Alice moved through life in a fog that hovered around her head at all times. The only thing she could do was hold on tightly to the three white crumpled tissues people kept handing her, expecting her to bust out crying any second. The truth was…Alice had cried so much over the last couple days; her tear ducts were as dry as an Arizona desert in the summer.

Hatter stood close to her right, quiet and staring at the coffin as well. They'd actually spoken to each other the night before when he returned home from work, to Alice's amazement. He'd given her some credit for her fears, but there was still an unspoken distance between them, as if something was bothering him. Alice asked Hatter multiple times what was wrong, but he would merely shake his head and go about his business. She wasn't certain if it had something to do with the killer or not. Had he left Hatter a warning too?

Alice didn't know, but she wished he'd just come out and say what thorn was stuck in his side already. She had a mind to shake his neck and yell and demand he tell her, but now was not the appropriate time for that kind of meltdown.

She had friends and neighbors to greet and chat with; reminiscing the good times. Alice would rather eat slugs than talk about "good times" with her mother, but she pasted a fake smile and did her daughterly duty one last time.

A good thirty people had shown up to the church and grave site, including Mr. Ortiz, Detective McCarthy and even Officer Burk that looked rather uncomfortable with his surroundings. Huh, something she finally agreed with him about.

She knew Ortiz would be there, because he had been a close friend of the family, but the detective Alice wasn't sure about. She'd greeted him once when he'd first arrived, but it was brief and the thought of going up to him now to actually speak about killers and such was too nerve-racking. Alice would just have to talk later.

She never really moved further than a few feet from her mother's coffin and neither did Hatter, she thought thankfully. He stuck by her despite his hesitation. And it wasn't until the number of people dwindled from thirty to five, including Hatter and herself, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "There is a dinner at Olivia's Café afterwards if you want to go. Everyone will understand if you'd rather just go home."

They might be in a discord, but there was no mistake the sincere love and concern written all over Hatter's expression. He still wanted to do all he could for her and if that meant jumping from a bridge to save her he would; or just missing a simple dinner, he would do that too.

Her body instinctively leaned into his. "We'll go soon. I'm hungry anyways."

Alice pressed her fingers to her lips and kissed them lightly before placing her hand down next to the mountain of flowers. They watched patiently as Carol's coffin was lowered into the ground. Alice couldn't contain the single tear that slipped down her cheek as she thought how this was the last sight of her mother she'd ever have and her final goodbye.

As they slowly walked over the uneven grass with stones half buried around the roots of an old Port Jackson Fig to the car, Alice noticed McCarthy half sitting on the hood of Hatter's car, waiting for her. He nodded his head at Hatter and glanced back to Alice. He had obviously waited to speak to them about something other than the funeral and wanted to give her the time deserving of burring her mother without interruption from reality. Alice straightened her shoulders and marched towards the man to face that reality. She would need all the strength she could muster.

oo

McCarthy pushed off the warm metal hood that had been baking under the crisp sun all morning, where he had sat for the last thirty minutes, waiting for the daughter of the victim and her boyfriend to final leave the grave site. It wasn't the ideal time to speak with them, but he had an itch he'd say, or a tickle almost to address the issue with haste.

Whenever a homicide occurred—and he did believe this was with personal interests—you can bet your ass the killer would return to gloat upon his success. One of the real reasons McCarthy had shown up to the funeral, to get a scope of the attendees. It'd been mostly distant relatives, neighbors and co-workers of Carol Hamilton's, but no one that jarred his cop instincts to vigilant.

He watched the crowd closely throughout the ceremony until many dwindled to just the pair now traipsing down the hill stepping out from underneath the shadow of the trees, into the sunlight. Alice had her hair back in a tight pony tail, no make-up, and chin in the air as though not even a detective crashing the funeral could break her spirit. The woman practically screamed tough as steel, firecracker and McCarthy wished half the men on the force, including himself, had that type of personality. They might get more work done that way, but in truth…he wouldn't trade his men for anything. They were hard workers, every last one of them and to do what they do day in and out with the city docking their pay every chance it got on the account of the sucky economy; it was enough constantly stretching their conscious's to the max than demanding more eagerness.

If you asked him, McCarthy would say the man walking next to Alice, David, looked a bit pale and ready to leap in front of a speeding bullet if he had too. After speaking with him over phone two hours the previous night, McCarthy had come to the conclusion David couldn't have been involved in the killing itself, but there was no doubt in his mind David was as much a part of this as Alice. The fact the man has no background still puts McCarthy on edge, but if he understood himself at all, there was no mistaking the honesty he heard in David's voice and not to mention the man's overwhelming urge to protect the vic's daughter.

It had been one of the disagreements they'd had last night. McCarthy made it clear as the vodka in his drink that night they weren't out of this yet; he and Alice were still in danger and it would be in both their interests if they laid low for awhile. McCarthy even went so far as to suggest a safe house for the couple, but David wouldn't hear of it and that was actually pretty lucky for McCarthy because he didn't think he could get the funding for it without proof there was need of such a drastic measure of protection. He could hear the commissioner now, "What in Sam hell do you think you need a safe house for? A robbery gone sour does not advocate a need to protect the rest of the family from this kid or drug addict or whoever obviously just needed some quick cash. Finish this up and sack the killer, McCarthy."

McCarthy understood the pressure the man was under, but there was no quick fix when it came to solving murders. In fact a good half, if not more, remained unsolved. Not that the SFPD couldn't do their job, only life wasn't like the movies. All bad guys aren't hauled to jail while the good guys celebrate and drive off into the sunset. This was reality and McCarthy hated admitting this, but some of the really bad guys, who know their shit and cover their tracks well, generally get away. It's a bitch, but if they play it smart, stay away from the crime scene and maybe even change up their MO once in awhile, they could guarantee a smooth sailing of slashing throats.

"McCarthy," David nodded, but didn't hold out his hand for a shake. So it was going to be like that.

He shrugged his shoulders and responded, "David. Alice."

They stood a moment staring each other down. McCarthy wasn't about to do small talk and ask how they were feeling. He knew damn well how they were feeling. Alice was most likely devastated from her loss. David was worried as hell and anxious that this killer was in fact coming after Alice also. Well, McCarthy wasn't about to play games with them. They needed to be prepared.

"My condolences for your loss, but I'm sure you are aware why I'm here."

Alice spoke up before David could. "Yes, I assume you've come to update us on the investigation."

He made a grunt of acknowledgment. "I've come to warn you," McCarthy clearly addressed David, "to take precautions. I think this killer has only begun to sing and we haven't even reached the chorus yet."

"What do mean?" she asked nervously.

"It means," he said focusing on her, "that you need to watch your step. Don't go anywhere alone; only leave your house if absolutely necessary until this killer is caught. We don't want any more deaths on our hands."

"We understand, Detective," David said wrapping his arm tighter around Alice's waist. The man was practically ready to jump from his skin. McCarthy could see the hives breaking out across his skin. Poor guy. If he had a woman like Alice, McCarthy would be acting the same way. But that would never happen. He'd had his chance at marriage and blew it to Kingdom come. Along with everything he'd ever worked for, house and boat included. Tracey McCarthy (now Tracey Hudson) had taken it all. At the present his life revolved around the job, paycheck to paycheck.

"I'll let you know if we find anything on the guy, but in the mean time watch yourselves."

They nodded their heads and McCarthy turned to leave them to their grievances. He didn't want to intrude more than necessary, but he had a feeling his warnings were necessary.

As soon as he slipped into his own vehicle, Burks didn't give him time to enjoy the warm fresh scent of leather and the cool breeze from the vents. "Did they believe you?" he said, popping a small loud bubble between his cracked wet lips.

"Of course they did," McCarthy said rolling his eyes. "Someone is out to get them and they need to be ready."

"Whatever you say, boss." Burks smacked his gum and leaned back into the seat. McCarthy knew some of the men on his team didn't think this murder was more than exactly what it seemed, a robbery gone sour, but McCarthy knew different. His gut says so.