Hello there. I'm sorry I haven't been updating very fast, but here's a chapter now!
"John and Sherlock broke in and searched the apartment." Lila said, as Maggie paced, chewing her thumbnail down to the bed.
"Did they find you?" Maggie said, looking alarmed.
Lila cracked her gum and smiled. "Nope. I hid under the bed."
Maggie smiled for a split section then resumed her grim look of thoughtfulness. She continued pacing over the worn space of carpet where she had obviously paced many times before.
"They didn't find nothing." Lila said, trying to sound reassuring, something Sister Josiah was a master at, but Lila could get the hang of. "We're safe."
"For now." Maggie said. "But not for long. Sherlock suspects something, even if John doesn't. We have to figure this out fast, before Sherlock figures out what's going on. I'm surprised he hasn't already."
She threw herself down into the squashy armchair and rubbed her temples.
"We need to find this Silver."
Lila furrowed her brow.
"Have you tried Pug August?" She asked.
"Yes!" Maggie moaned. "There isn't an entire criminal in the whole U.K. that goes by Silver! Not a single damn one!"
Lila sighed through her nose. "Poor Gracie. It's been, what? Three days since she got kidnapped?"
"72 whole hours!" Maggie said. Her breath hitched. "My poor baby." She pinched the bridge of her nose, and, at least it appeared this way to Lila, held back her tears through sheer force of will.
Lila sat, silently watching and admiring Maggie for her strength.
Finally, Maggie looked up. "Have I shown you Gracie's baby pictures?"
Lila shook her head no.
Maggie stood and grabbed a small pink photo album off of the bookshelf before sinking down onto the couch next to Lila. The cover said, BABY PICTURES. The book was clean and well preserved, although it was obviously badly made and said MADE IN CHINA on the back.
Maggie laughed sadly. "I got this at the dollar store after Gracie was born. When Gracie's father didn't show up for the wedding and Daddy disowned me, I went to live with my big sister in France. I worked two jobs, and once I saved up enough money I got an apartment. I got another job to feed Gracie and me. Sondra looked after Gracie most of the time." She opened the album to the first page.
"That's Sondra and Gracie."
The picture showed a young woman, maybe 23, with long black hair and a sharp, pointed face, like Maggie's and Gracie's, holding a tiny baby. The caption, written in Maggie's nice handwriting, read My savior Sondra and Baby Grace- 6 months.
The next picture showed a small flat, furnished with the same rug (although considerable less worn and more dirty), patched overstuffed armchair, coffee table with the scratched glass, and stained, yellow couch with split upholstery that were in Maggie's flat today. She only had one bookshelf then, and no piano. She did have a violin on the table and a saxophone and clarinet in the corner. Off to the side was a kitchen table with bricks stuck under two legs because they were two short, and a beat up fridge, stove, oven and sink. There was a door leading off to a tiny bathroom and a scratched and beat up wardrobe. Lila's sharp eyes found a cockroach in the corner of the photo. The only remotely new looking things in the room were a crib, high chair, and changing table.
Maggie smiled a sad smile. "That was where Gracie and I lived. As you can see, I bought most of my furniture at second hand stores, and everything Gracie needed new. I didn't want my baby to get sick from or fall out of an old, rickety second hand high chair."
Lila stared at the dumpy flat. Maggie quickly turned the page.
A picture slipped out from between the pages. Lila, trying to be helpful, bent down and retrieved the photo.
It showed an 18-year-old Maggie, her red hair longer, her figure more defined, her hand on her hip. Her belly was just starting to show. She wore an expensive looking summer dress. Her other arm was around a man's waist. His arm was around her shoulders. He had slicked back black hair and stubble on his chin. He wore a cream colored suit. On her other side, his hands in his grey suit pockets, was a man with short blonde hair and a deep tan. He had a warm, easy going smile. Maggie looked simply radiant and her fiancée, he looked far too much like Gracie to be anyone else, was giving a happy, if smaller, smile. The trio was in Trafalgar Square, where Lila and Maggie had shared a bag of crisps just two days before.
"Oh!" Maggie blushed when Lila showed her the picture. "Well that's me with Jim Moriarty, Gracie's father, and that's Jim's best friend who was going to be our best man, George…"
Her phone, not an iPhone or a Blackberry, just a normal phone for calling and texting, gave a loud Ping! to let Maggie know she had a text. She grabbed the phone and went pasty white.
Lila felt a surge of excitement and fear. "Is it Moriarty?" She asked, whispering, although she didn't know why.
Maggie shook her head and handed Lila the phone.
"This is going to complicate things." Maggie said.
Lila lightly took the phone, her stomach twisting itself into knots.
Meet me at Scotland Yard. Need your help on a case ASAP. It's a big one.
SH