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Sharon covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes studied the body in front of her. There were bruises around the girl's neck but that's all she could see without touching the body so anything further would have to seen at the morgue. God, she was so little. So young.
It's always hard when it's a kid. It's hard before you have kids, it's harder when you have kids, and there's always this certain dread that lives in the pit of your stomach at the idea of having to tell the parents. Sometimes it's difficult not to get caught up in the empathy. What if one day a police officer knocked on the door to your home.
But right then, that wasn't even the hardest thing for Sharon to think about. She knew she was going to have to tell Riley.
Riley was going to be completely broken by this. Sharon had come to realize just how important Layla was to Riley. Riley wanted to protect the girl from something that no one ever protected her from.
Now all Sharon wanted to do was protect Riley from the hurt that she knew she couldn't. She was going to have to tell Riley that the little girl she tried so hard to protect was murdered. As much as she didn't want to be the one to break the girl's heart, Sharon knew it had to be her. She was going to be the one that told Riley as gently as possible about the little girl she thought of like a sister.
She squeezed her eyes closed and rubbed her face.
"Captain, did Riley eat with Layla last night?" Provenza asked her as she pulled herself together and stood up.
"Yes, she does every Wednesday," Sharon replied uneasily. She knew where this was headed and she honestly didn't know if she was up for this line of questioning.
Provenza nodded. "When did she get home?"
"About ten-ish. She went to the school to practice for the recital afterward and stayed late," she replied knowing that this didn't sound good.
"Was her director there? Or any other students?"
"Not that I know of. All the soloist or serious music students have keys to the music building for extra after school practice." She bit her lip. She knew what he was insinuating and even though she understood she didn't like it. "You know Riley didn't do this. For God's sake, she carries spiders out to the balcony because she can't kill them."
Andy smirked at that, but Provenza just looked a little upset. "You know I have to ask, Captain."
She sighed and shook her head. "What am I going to do?" she muttered weakly.
No one had an answer for her. "Did she seem upset or anything when she got home, Captain? Was she acting normal?"
Sharon rubbed her face and threw her hand into the air. "She just went straight to bed. Ten o'clock is bedtime on school night. She hugged me and went to bed. I reminded her to take her medicine like always and she took that and her bottle water into her room."
Provenza looked at her. He seemed like he honestly didn't want to go this route either, but it wasn't a matter of want. "You know we're going to have to question her," he told her sadly.
She knew it was inevitable, but she wasn't sure Riley would ever forgive her. She looked at her watch. By the time they made it back to her apartment the kids would be getting ready to leave for school.
"Then we'll do it now," Sharon said decidedly. "I'm not pulling her out of school, we're going to talk to her now."
Andy and Provenza both nodded. It was going to be easiest for them if one of them did the questioning. There was no way Sharon could. Sharon would be the parent, holding Riley's hand through all of it. That was her job in all of this now, to be Riley's parent first.
Guilt flooded Sharon as Riley and Rusty beamed at her when she walked through the door, but their expressions quickly changed to confusion when Provenza and Flynn came in behind her.
Rusty took a bite of his cereal as he carried it around the kitchen. "Uh, I didn't make breakfast this morning. Should I have?" he asked Sharon who had one of those bad news smiles on her face. Both twins were uneasy, recognizing the expression quickly.
"Riley, I need you to come sit over here," she told her. "Rusty why don't you go to your room for a bit."
Both twins looked concerned and suddenly Rusty stood very close to his sister. "What's going on?" he demanded as Riley furrowed her brow.
Provenza was especially gentle as he put his hand on Rusty's shoulder. "We just have to ask Riley a few questions."
"Well then I'm staying. There's no reason for me to have to leave if you're just asking her questions," Rusty fired back as Riley continued to look more afraid.
Everyone turned to Sharon who just shrugged. The kids sat on the couch, Riley between Rusty and Sharon, and both lieutenants took the chairs on either side. Riley looked at Sharon, seeming more like a small child by the second. "What's going on?"
But Sharon didn't say anything, instead she just put an arm around her shoulders and held her close, her other hand on top of Riley's. "Riley, when did you and Layla finish eating last night?" Flynn asked her gently as Sharon squeezed her hand.
"Like, five. I walked her to the bus stop before I headed back to school," Riley told them holding tightly to Sharon's hand now. She wasn't stupid. She knew something terrible had to have happened last night for these people that were in her trusted circle to be questioning her like a suspect. "What's going on? Did something happen to Layla?"
Both lieutenants ignored the question. "And was anyone else in the building while you were there?"
Riley shook her head. "No, but I signed in on Mr. Arnold's clip board. I signed out too." She turned to Sharon who already wanted to hold her. "Sharon, what happened?"
Sharon glanced at the two men in front of her before turning to Riley and talking her other hand too. Rusty watched her just as worried as Riley as tears started building in Sharon's eyes. "Sweetie, that call this morning-" Riley was already shaking her head, knowing what was coming next. "-it was Layla."
Riley was on her feet, shaking her head viciously as she paced back and forth. Sharon was also on her feet, tears barely at bay in her own eyes. "No-no-no-no-no," Riley kept repeating, each time the word making her closer to tears. "No!" She turned to Sharon as tears rolled down her cheeks. "He did it, Sharon. He killed her."
"Who's he?" Provenza pressed as Sharon took Riley into her arms and kissed the top of her head.
"Wesley Kilburn," Riley choked into Sharon's chest. "He killed her."
Rusty looked at Flynn. "What if he tries to hurt Riley too?" he snapped, only because he was scared. Flynn felt bad for the kid. Riley was probably the only person he would admit flat out that he cared about. They all knew he cared about Sharon and maybe even the rest of them, but Riley was his sister.
"No one is going to hurt anyone," Sharon promised him, reaching out to him and catching his hand.
"Sharon won't let anything happen to your sister or you, Rusty. Neither will we," Flynn told him, resting a hand on his should as Sharon continued to gently rock Riley. "It's going to be okay," he promised all of them, meeting Sharon's eyes over the top of Riley's head.
It took a lot to calm Riley enough to get her to go back to sleep, but there was no way that she was going to school and Sharon wasn't going to make Rusty either. It was nearly ten o'clock by the time she was able to pry herself away from Riley's side, her place taken by Rusty.
Sharon knew she had to remove herself from the case, there was no way for her to be impartial when he daughter, be it foster or not, was a suspect and she was almost as certain that the man Riley was so afraid of was responsible for Layla's death. She knew this was one that she had to stay away from.
Flynn kept her updated, letting her know that they had informed the parents. Yes, parents, not foster parents. Apparently Layla was actually Wesley and Amanda Kilburn's biological daughter. They had three other foster children, thirteen, seven, and five, but Layla was the only biological child they had. Amanda was a nurse, working a twelve hour shift starting at seven AM and Wesley usually got off at five, but on Wednesdays he got off at seven like his wife. It was his one late night and the neighbor checked on the kids.
They seemed heartbroken and shocked enough, but he couldn't get himself to trust a word they said. Riley had a reason to be afraid of this man, she firmly believed that Wesley was the one that killed Layla.
Flynn picked up some food on the way back to Sharon's apartment. She was sitting at her table with her head in her hands, her hair covering her face, guarding her features. Tears were so close to falling that she felt weak.
He went to her and kissed the top of her head, letting his lips linger.
"How's our girl?" he asked her softly as she sighed.
"Devastated. Terrified. How do you think she is?" Sharon replied a little more bitterly than she wanted it to come out. She sighed as she pushed her hair out of her face and stood up. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little-"
"You just a little bit of a mother bear?" Andy offered as he set down the bags of food. "We have video footage of Riley entering the practice room last night so she's no longer a suspect. You can come back to this case."
It was tempting, but she still shook her head. "Right now, Riley needs me a whole lot more than you all. You all are good at what you do. I have faith in you."
Andy nodded but he looked a bit nervous still. "We need to question Riley about what happened in that house, Sharon."
Sharon sighed and looked out the window. She knew he was right, but still.
"I don't know if she can do this, Andy. I don't know if I can ask her to." She looked at him, standing there, completely open to her. Finally she moved to him, allowing him to wrap her in his embrace and hold her. "She does not deserve this."
"They never do," Andy replied simply.
Rusty closed the door behind him to Riley's room and saw Flynn holding Sharon. He didn't find it awkward, not like he thought he would. He actually like them together. They respected the twins enough to keep their romance mostly hidden from them. Not that it was a secret from them, but they never really displayed their affection in front of the twins.
Even this hug was minimal to what Rusty was used to from his mother and her boyfriends.
"Riley wants you," Rusty announced trying not to seem uncomfortable.
Sharon nearly jumped away from Flynn and wiped her cheeks before turning around to face Rusty. She forced a smile and held her head up high as she moved to through the apartment to Riley's room.
The girl was walking around her room, fully dressed in her jeans and a fitted blue t-shirt and canvas shoes. She grabbed her coat out of her closet and pulled it on. "I need to leave, I need fresh air."
Sharon nodded. "Okay, where do you want to go?"
Riley went frigid. "Where do people go?"
It was an innocent enough question but it still broke her heart.
"I'll get my coat and car keys. We'll go somewhere," Sharon promised watching the girl's eyes get watery again, but the determination on her features wouldn't allow them to fall.
"Just you and me. I don't want Rusty or Flynn. I have to talk to just you," Riley said decisively.
Sharon knew where this was going, at least she thought she did.
They left less than five minutes later. Andy didn't ask where they were going, but agreed to stay with Rusty until they got back. Rusty also didn't seem bothered by Riley going off without him and took a seat on the couch.
Flynn looked at him and moved into the kitchen where the large bags of food still sat. "You hungry?"
Rusty turned around. "Depends. Is there beef lomein in there?"
Flynn patted one of the food containers. "Sharon said it was your favorite."
It always surprised him how often Sharon actually heard what he said. He lived with his mother for most of his life, but she probably didn't even know he hated diet sodas or that he absolutely loved peanut butter. Sharon knew. She knew without even being told sometimes.
Rusty accepted the whole box of lomein and the chopsticks and let Flynn crash down in the couch next to them. They both were very aware that Sharon was very against eating directly out of take out containers and eating anything with rice on the couch, but she wasn't there right then and neither were going to say anything.
"Are you mad that Riley wanted you to stay here?" Flynn probed gently, not taking his eyes off of the odd show Rusty seemed to be watching.
Rusty thought about this. "Not really. Me and Riley get that life sucks, ya know? But sharing how bad life's been for one of us will only hurt the other more. What happened to her while she was in that house is something she doesn't want to share with me, just like we don't share stories of being whores or what happened at Brenda's house."
Flynn found this very interesting. In a way it was like they were self sacrificing for each other, but before he could comment Rusty continued. "But if Riley or Sharon or anyone knew what I did, they wouldn't... they couldn't look at me anymore."
"And you don't think Riley feels the same way?"
Whether she did or not, Rusty didn't want to think about it. "She wants to tell Sharon."
"I don't think she wants to tell Sharon anything. I think she wants to do right by that little girl and if that means telling a story that she doesn't want to tell, she's brave enough to do it. Be proud of her." Flynn took a large bite of sweet and sour chicken.
Rusty didn't dignify that with a response, especially because he knew he was right.
There was a place that Sharon used to go to think when she first moved to LA, when the kids were young and Jack had started drinking again. It was on the beach but it was further out than most people bother to venture. She discovered it after a particularly horrible day and she decided to take a walk while the kids were in pre-school and school. She just kept walking until she found this beautiful spot.
Riley watched as Sharon let the professional side of her falter and instead become the type of person that she was at home. She was in her jeans and light coat, swaying lightly to the sound of the waves rolling off the shore.
The sound of the waves were so loud and it was so weird to be walking alone on a beach in LA. Riley stopped and looked out at the waves.
"I was pretty used to the whole idea of getting smacked around," Riley halfway called out Sharon who was a few steps in front of her.
Sharon turned to give the girl her full attention, watching as Riley's long dirty blonde hair blew with ocean wind. Her eyes were piercing blue, bluer than the sky or the ocean as she looked at Sharon.
"I can take that. I handle being pushed around," she continued, softer now as Sharon pushed a piece of her own hair behind her ear and let the girl move closer. "But those little kids. They were so scared. He'd raise his hand to them and they would cry like I used to. They didn't know better. I couldn't stand it, so I stepped up."
She bit her lip. "I stood up and I got in front of Layla one day after she woke him up by accident. I stood in front of her while he screamed at her and then when he reached for her I pushed him back. He looked at me. He didn't say anything at first, just looked at me. I could feel him staring at me, studying me. He said that I wasn't a kid. I didn't get punished like a kid. I got punished like a lady.
"So he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the back room. I had seen that look in men's eyes before. He pulled off my clothes and said that if I made him happy he wouldn't make it hurt so bad. He knew I was a whore. The social worker told him..."
Riley's eyes fell as she kicked at the sand. "He told me that once a whore always a whore. He would pick fights with the kids just so I'd stand up for them and then he'd take me into the back bedroom. I was just a whore, and I was always going to be a whore."
Sharon stepped forward and put her hands on Riley's shoulders. "Riley, you didn't deserve that. What he did was wrong-"
"But what I did was wrong too," she said tearfully.
Sharon shushed the girl and pulled her into her arms. "You did what you had to do. No one can judge you for something they never experience."
"That doesn't stop them from doing it anyway. No one will believe a whore was raped by her foster father. Even if there are cigarette burns down her back from it. I was a whore. I have no creditability." Riley clung onto Sharon as she was rocked back and forth.
"Riley, you are a kid, as much as you think you're all grown up," Sharon told her.
"Twenty-one times." Sharon pulled back and looked at Riley with a confused look. But then Riley turned around and pulled at the back of her shirt. "Twenty-one times. Every time he had sex with me he would smoke a cigarette and well..."
Twenty-one small circular burns on Riley's back. Twenty-one reminders of what Wesley Kilburn did to her. When the bruises went away and the pain stopped, she would still have to feel the smooth scar tissue over her back.
Sharon was furious as she stared at the burns.
"But I don't care, what he's done to me," Riley said as she turned back around to face her foster mother. "But Layla didn't deserve what he did to her."
Sharon didn't want to let go as Riley went back into her arms. "Riley, if I need you to file charges against Wesley Kilburn..."
"Then I'd do it for Layla."
There was no way to protect Riley from everything she was about to go through. Sharon couldn't have prepared her for what was to come, mostly because the victim side of law enforcement was not a side she was extremely familiar with. She knew how to work with victims as a detective or as a law enforcement agent, but all she wanted to do was hold Riley.
Sharon knew all too well that sometimes the victims of crimes were put through a lot once they stepped forward and spoke about what happened to them. Riley was brave, she was strong, but some people prey on weaknesses and Riley's age and size made her a target already.
Provenza stared at the man who held his wife as she cried. The little girl had strong similarities to her mother; dark curls, dark skin, it was very obvious she was Italian or Greek. Beautiful either way.
Wesley Kilburn's hair was dark hair by eyes that were more grey. His skin was fair and he held himself with a certain pompous heir that a father who lost his daughter should never hold. Provenza very frankly hated him.
Sanchez had sat with the other children of the home for over an hour and all of them seemed too afraid to say much of anything. The thirteen year old was extremely snippy about why they were hear and the moment the door opened all three kids would flinch. The only thing they really had to say about Layla was that she was spirited. Not that they used that word. They were more or less saying Layla was the problem child. She challenged everything.
Sharon appeared behind him as Flynn came in behind her. The twins were probably either in Sharon's office or in their cubicle and Mother Bear was pretty much radiating heat from her anger.
"I need you to ask about Riley. To both the kids and parents," Sharon told Provenza over his shoulder.
He looked at her. "I thought you were taking yourself off this?"
She never took her eyes off the screen as she shrugged. "Then I'm not here."
Provenza shot a look at Flynn who was standing extremely close to the captain and he rolled his eyes. They thought they were so smooth, but it was obvious there was something going on between those two. Anytime he would say something about it to Flynn he would reflect the question to something about the twins or that he respects what the captain is trying to do. Either way, some of the looks Flynn gave the captain were not all that respectful.
But this time he didn't say anything, in fact he decided to let the captain do her usual coaching from the booth while Provenza joined Toa in asking the questions.
He walked through the door and took a seat next to Toa without so much as introducing his presence. "Riley Beck, she was in your custody at one time, correct?" Provenza asked as his usual grumpy self.
Toa didn't say anything, just watched as Amanda Kilburn looked confused by this question while Wesley looked irritated.
"Yes, Riley was one of the quietest foster kids we've had," Amanda said not hiding her confusion. "I never had many problems with her, but Wesley-"
"She could be challenging. She caused problems with the other kids and she didn't like doing her part of the chores," Wesley cut in making Sharon snort in disgust. "She used foul language and was aggressive at times. Typical foster kid with a rough history, couldn't tell the truth if she tried."
Sharon gritted her teeth as Buzz rolled his eyes. They all knew better, and they recognized a man trying to point the finger at someone else.
"She was jealous of Layla," he went on. "Pick fights with her and push her around. I didn't let her get away with it, though."
Amanda looked at her husband. "I knew you had some problems with Riley, but I didn't realize how bad..."
"Oh God," Flynn muttered rolling his eyes as Wesley put and arm around his wife.
"I just didn't want to bother you with it all."
"Can I punch him?" Flynn grumbled making Sharon smile.
Provenza leaned forward and looked at Wesley. "Have you seen Riley Beck since she was removed from your custody?"
Wesley Kilburn's eyes narrowed. "I know she's going to some uppity private school."
Everyone listening leaned closer to the screen. "And how would he know that?" Sharon asked softly, her hands now planted firmly on the table waiting for her answer.
"I think I saw her name on some flyer or something," he grumbled. "Something about a recital."
Several people turned to Sharon who shrugged. She had heard nothing about a flyer and normally the school asked for a sign release to allow a minor's name on anything that would leave the school, which she did not sign. Was it possible that something slipped through the cracks? Sure, but she didn't see it likely.
"What did Layla do on her Wednesdays after school?" Provenza kept going.
"Usually she spent several hours at the library until she decided to come home," Amanda answered this time.
"Last night I got off a little early and Layla still wasn't back. I decided I'd surprise her and pick her up from the library but she wasn't there. I spent the next several hours looking for her. I even called Amanda to come home early," Wesley was working himself up for tears again and it was really beginning to annoy Provenza.
"He didn't get in until nearly midnight. We decided we'd call the police in the morning. Sometimes Layla worked herself up and she'd run off for a while, we just thought it was one of those times," Amanda finished for them.
"Do you know where she goes? Most kids have a certain spot," Toa offered , noticing that gaps in their story. "My son goes to the park near our old house."
"I don't know where Layla would go, she just always came home," Amanda replied, tears rolling down her cheeks again. "She just always came home."
Sharon had seen enough. She spun around and walked out the door. Riley would know if what they were saying was true.
Both Rusty and Riley were sitting in Sharon's office with Phantom. She could tell by the odd silence that she must have interrupted an important conversation. The large German Shepherd stood up and stretched, moving over to Sharon and seeming completely exhausted by the two teenagers that she was stuck in a room with.
"Riley, where did Layla go when she ran away?" Sharon asked quickly and to the point.
"Uhh," she stood up and rubbed the back of her neck. "It's a place near the shore. A foster kid how to have showed it to her because it's a pretty rough area."
"Can you show me? On a map?" Sharon moved aside and let Riley step into the murder room.
The map was already laid out on Flynn's desk and she pointed to an area a little too close to where they found Layla's body. "It's somewhere in there. There's like a boxcar that she'd sit on."
Sharon nodded as Riley looked back up at her. "Are we going home soon?"
Guilt hit Sharon as she noticed Riley looked extremely tired. She had a long day and it wouldn't surprise her if Riley didn't sleep tonight. It was going to be way too long of a night and Sharon knew that the poor thing probably did just want to get back to her safe place.
"We'll leave as soon as I talk to Lieutenant Provenza, alright?"
Riley nodded and rested her head against Sharon's shoulder.
"You did this!" The sound of shouting made both of them jump as Phantom's growl rumbled.
Wesley Kilburn was storming at Riley, his fists clench, his teeth gritted. Flynn moved in front of him. "You need to take your wife home."
"You did this, you-you street whore!" he snapped at her, pushing past Flynn as Sharon held Riley behind her and Phantom continued to growl. "You killed my little girl! You killed her!"
Riley was stunned to silence, but it didn't last long as Sanchez grabbed Wesley's arm and pulled him back. "Sir, take your wife home!" This time it wasn't a suggestion.
"You killed her!" he shouted again. "You killed my Layla! You monster!"
Riley pushed pasted Sharon, despite Sharon trying to pull her back. "No!" she snapped, her voice low and dangerous. "You're the monster."
Wesley leaned past Sanchez and spit in Riley's face. Sanchez tossed the man backward with a little extra force as Provenza pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to Riley.
"Bastard," she muttered wiping her face.
Sharon shook her head at the man still glaring at them over his shoulder as Riley refused to cry. Sometimes she wished she wasn't a police officer. Sometime she wished she could just let whatever happened to people like Wesley Kilburn happen.
But that night, she took the twins home and no one went to their own beds. Instead the three of them stayed together in the family room. Riley tucked against Sharon on the couch and Rusty on the floor in front of them.
Riley wept silent tears against Sharon's robe and Rusty put on movie after movie hoping his sister would fall asleep to some of the classics they watched as children. It took a while but she did eventually sleep, it was Sharon that could convince herself to close her eyes. Rusty's trial hadn't even began, Riley hadn't even told anyone else what happened to her at that house, but they already deserved a break. These kids deserved a break.
And they would take one. A real Christmas break. Because the kids definitely deserved it. And maybe Sharon deserved it a little too.