Chapter 9:

His eyes shone, and he grinned ear to ear, his words coming out fast and excited, "Are you serious, Mom? I am going to get to meet Detective Taylor this week? Me, Cayden Bryan? Meeting Detective Taylor? No way? That's awesome, Mom!"

"He's really excited about it, too." Allie gave a motherly smile to Cayden, as she stood at the sink doing dishes and watched him do homework at the kitchen table.

"No way!" Cayden practically screamed. "Detective Mac Taylor? The Detective Taylor, excited to meet me?!" Allie nodded, "Oh Mom, what is he like? I need to know. I need to make him like me!" Cayden dropped the pencil he was doing his English homework with, and smacked his hands down on the table, "I need to know everything? What does he like? Dislike? Does he have kids? Why'd he go into the police force after leaving the Marines? Why'd he become a Marine in the first place? What does he like about being a cop? What doesn't he like about it? Oh, Mom, there's so much I need to know? When do I get to meet him?" His voice was more of an excited whine than a voice by this point.

"Cade, I don't know anything, he's my boss. He's a good guy, but I've not known him but a week… I don't know that much. You don't need to do anything, just be yourself."

"Okay fine," Cayden rushed her, "But when do I get to meet him?" Allie glanced to a calendar on the wall and found the day,

"Well, we're going to the Messer's house Sunday for dinner, you should meet him before then… How about tomorrow?" She smirked, knowing how Cayden would love to hear that, sure enough, he was out of his seat in no time and his arms wrapped around his mother.

"I'd love that!" He squeezed his mother around her waist and back, and rested his head on atop her head, "You're the best mom ever!" Allie had her arms around Cayden, I'm so glad we're so close. I don't know how mamas can let their babies? I'm going to be a wreck when he graduates.

"Thanks, Cade, but I have the best kid I could ever ask for, that makes my job as a mom a lot easier."

"I love you, Mom." He nuzzled his chin on her head,

"I love you too, Kiddo."

"Can we watch some Forensic Files or something tonight, Mom?" Cayden asked, shoving his English book into his backpack and zipping it up.

"Yeah, you done with homework?" He nodded, "Have you showered yet?" He grinned a guilty look,
"That's how I'm going to be able to tell if criminals are lying or not, my experience as a mom, go take a shower Cade! I'll finish up the dishes and take the dogs out, then we'll meet and watch some TV before bed."

"Sounds nice, Mom." With that Cade was already pulling his shirt off as he made his way down the hall and to the bathroom,

"Remember to throw your clothes in the laundry, and not leave a trail down the hall." Allie called, and she heard a sigh come from down the little hall, before she saw Cayden come out of the bathroom and pick up his shit and socks he'd left in the hall.

Allie stared up at the New York skyline-buildings as far as the eye could see. The Statue of Liberty was visible from where she stood and she found herself recalling events from earlier in the day. Mac and I found the same contradicting blood spatter markings in the Statue of Liberty. That means the killer is both stabbing and shooting his victims. Why? Why do both? Why not one or the other? These men have quite a few things in common, so the killer probably runs in the same circles of both Shin Yang and Spencer Yeats. According to Danny and Flack, the killer was sloppy and left evidence all over. This should be relatively open and shut. Danny was running the fingerprints when I left the lab… He should know who they belong to by morning… Maybe tomorrow we'll get a suspect. She glanced at her watch, it was 7:30 at night, and beneath the city lights could easily pass for afternoon, despite the darkness that came with the season. The air was getting chilly, this is nothing like home. She inwardly complained, I got a good job, I have a place for Cade and I to live, I have Cade, and we're healthy and happy… But this isn't home. I'm not a city girl… I need to get back to the country. "Come on," She yanked the leashes of the two dogs. The brown and white bulldog-Buddy- was seated beside her. He was 7 years old and very lazy, so much so that sometimes they couldn't get him to move off the couch to get a treat. The year old dog-a chocolate lab called Ducky- was jumping around and playing with a moth. Allie yanked the leash and led the two dogs back inside, where Cayden was already sitting on the couch waiting for her. "That was fast." She remarked, and Cayden laughed,

"I already miss watching TV together all night, Mom." Allie unhooked the dogs from their leashes and sat down beside her son, grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch to cover up with. Cayden turned the TV on," Hey, Mom, it's what you do!" He exclaimed, seeing that the tv was on an episode of CSI:Miami. Allie rolled her eyes,

"I told you,Cade, my job is very different than Horatio and them. So much is dramatized and inaccurate to interest viewers."

"I know, Mom, but still…" His voice trailed off, and both the dogs jumped on the couch. Ducky licked Cayden and settled across his lap and the couch, and Buddy plopped down half on the couch and half on Allie's legs. "So… Is Detective Taylor going to be able to tell me about his education, life, and job, so that I can understand what my future may look like…." Allie sighed, and patted Buddy's head,

"I'm sure her could…"

A/N So there is another chapter! I am having such a great time writing this, and I just am loving writing it more and more as it gets further into the story! As always, let me know what you think if you're inclined. I always appreciate it very much. :)