Chapter 9

Bobby held his finger to his lips as he opened the door for his partner. "She's asleep," he explained quietly, pointing to his little girl on the couch.

"Wow, she's tiny," Battista observed.

"She's only 7," Bobby said.

His partner pulled out an envelope full of photographs. "I picked these up on the way," he said, shaking the package in the air.

"We'll uhm… we'll go in here." Goren led the way to his study. "I do my work in here, so Katie doesn't see…" He opened the door for the younger man. "J-just… spread them out on the desk in there. You wanna beer or something?"

"N-no," Battista said, thinking the question was some kind of trap. "I'm on duty, you know."

Bobby checked the time. He smiled. "It's almost closing time, just thought I'd offer. Something else? Iced Tea? Soda?"

"Nah, I'm good," Battista said, laying the pictures out one by one until the desktop was covered with them.

"Okay, I'm gonna…" Bobby disappeared and reappeared a few minutes later. He moved toward the desk and studied each picture carefully. It was a gruesome crime. The woman, what was left of her, had been naked in the bed when she was killed.

"What's your take?" Bobby asked him, still searching the pictures.

"Looks like a crime of passion. Only…"

Without turning to his partner, Bobby smiled. He waited for Battista to reveal his observations.

"Only the room was a little too together, for my taste."

Bobby nodded.

"I mean, you'd think he would have knocked something over when he reached for that leaded glass statuette he beat her with. Look at the shelf. It was the third thing back on the shelf. In a fit of passion, the other knick-knacks should have fallen over."

Bobby grinned. He had noticed the same thing.

"And there's no sign of remorse. The body wasn't cleaned or coddled in any way once she was dead. He just beat her and left."

It was nice to see that his new partner had skills. Bobby finally spoke. "I agree. I'd say it was a hit designed to look like a crime of passion. Good job, Freddie."

Bobby's phone rang. He'd left it on the end table, and he hurried out to catch it before Katie woke up. Battista picked up one of the crime scene photos and wandered out of the study, looking at it.

"No, that's okay, Mike. She's sleeping, and I'm already called off for tomorrow. We're okay tonight, thanks. Andy didn't, he's not sick, is he?" Bobby asked, suddenly worried that his daughter may have spread her illness to the boy before they caught it. Mike assured him Andy was fine. "Oh, good," Bobby said. He saw Battista wander down the hall, looking for the John. Goren wrapped up his phone conversation and put the phone in his pocket.

"Daddy?" Katie asked. "What's this? Is that blood?" She had the photo in her hand. He couldn't get it away fast enough.

"Y-yeah, it's—it's nothing, honey. Just forget about it." Inside, he was raging. He held the photo behind his back and placed a gentle hand in her curls. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled. "I'm hungry, Daddy."

"I'll get you something to eat," he promised. "Soup? Or toast?"

"I want a sandwich."

"We'll start with toast," he said, "and maybe if you keep it down, we'll have a sandwich for dinner."

Battista returned, and Bobby shoved the photo in his hand. "Put this, in there," he said angrily. "And shut the damn door!" He added.

Bewildered, Freddie did as he was told. When he came back out, Katie was standing in the hall, staring at him. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm your Dad's partner, Detective Battista."

"Did you bring the picture over?"

Battista's cheeks colored. "Oh, uh… you saw that?"

"Some bad guys hurt her, didn't they?"

"Look, uhm, I think you should probably talk to your Dad about this kind of thing. I mean, I'm… I'm… uh… sorry you saw that, and…"

"Her ring is missing," Katie said.

Bobby had just returned to the room and was about to lash out at his partner, but Katie threw him for a loop. Both Detectives stared at the little girl. "What?" Bobby said.

"She has a little white line on her finger. You know, Daddy, the same one you wear your ring on. Her ring is missing."

"Oh, uh… we… we'll look for it, honey."

"Somebody was mad she lost her ring."

Bobby was increasingly uncomfortable. Just how much had she seen in that photograph?! "I, uh, I've got your toast, baby," he coaxed. While he led his little girl to the table, Battista disappeared into the study again. Bobby sat with her a few minutes to make sure eating was a good idea. Then he said, "I'll be right back, Katie."

He stepped inside and closed the door to the study.

"I'm sorry," Freddie said, and he really seemed to mean it. "She was asleep and I went to the John and I never once thought—"

"We do everything we can around here to protect her from… that," Bobby said, jerking a finger at the photographs on the desk.

"Goren, I'm sorry. I really am."

"Do you have kids, Battista?"

He reddened a little. "One. My ex got full custody and I haven't seen him since he was 3. They live in Alaska, now." He wrung his hands a moment. "I guess she couldn't get far enough away from me."

In spite of his anger, Bobby felt a pang of compassion. He couldn't imagine how painful it would be not to have Katie in his life. He took a deep breath. "Well, we'll just do… damage control and hope for the best."

"Pretty amazing she noticed that about the ring. Did you get that? I totally missed it."

Bobby was proud of her. "I hadn't seen it yet, either," he said quietly. He went back to the kitchen and sat with Katie until she finished eating.

By the time she was done, Alex was coming in the front door. "Momma!" She squealed, and ran to her.

Alex dropped her leather briefcase and the shopping bag on the floor and took her child into her arms. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"I was sick before, but I just ate some toast! It was really good."

Alex reached for the bag. "I brought you some popsicles. Would you like one?"

Katie nodded eagerly, and Alex tore open the box and got her one of her choosing. "Take it to the kitchen, honey, I don't want sticky all over the furniture."

"Okay, Mommy." She slurped and licked the purple treat all the way back to the kitchen table. Alex stuffed the box into the freezer and went back to put her briefcase on the desk in the corner of the dining room. Bobby emerged from the study, with a stranger following behind on his heels.

"Alex, this is my partner, Freddie Battista," Bobby said.

"Hello, Mrs. Goren," Freddie said.

Bobby leaned over and spoke softly into his ear. "Actually, it's Eames." Freddie recognized the name and blanched. Bobby leaned over again. "Captain Eames."

Alex could see Bobby was enjoying the torment of his young partner. She gave him a welcoming smile and shook his hand. "Hi, Freddie. You've got a tough job, keeping this one out of trouble. I should know. I did it for years."

He smiled politely and Bobby leaned over once more. "She loved the job so much, she signed on for life!" he joked.

"Momma, Daddy and Detective Battista are going to find the bad men that stole the pretty lady's ring."

"Oh?" Alex asked, somewhat suspicious.

Battista said a quick goodbye and ducked out the door while Katie continued, "Yeah, I saw it in the picture."

Alex threw Bobby a look of alarm.