Chapitre

Kristin came home from the tattoo shop, her back hurting, but she was glad she took the plunge. Ingrid being at her father's, she had the evening alone, and that suited her after today's investigation and the face to face with Oscar. She took out a glass before pulling herself together and putting the bottle away. Not today. A knock on the door startled her. Cautiously, the brunette went to open it to find Sheryll and Hana.

"What are you doing here?"

"Come on, after the day you had, the investigation that touched you closely, we weren't going to leave you alone!" Hana exclaimed.

"Remy told you about it."

"Not him, but the woman you found. When we transferred him told us about your scars." Hana explained.

"So we thought we were going to come see you, have a girl's night and cheer you up." Sheryl smiled.

"Thank you" whispered Kristin touched.

"We're a team. We're here for each other."

The trio settled on the couch, a glass of wine in hand and plenty of snacks on the coffee table.

"Why do you look sad when you can turn the page? Put your past behind you." Sheryll pointed out.

"Because there will always be something that will haunt me. But this case, Oscar's death, it's a big part that I'm going to put behind me already." Kristin said.

She took off her top revealing the tattoo under the plastic protecting it.

"He's gorgeous, but it must have hurt you with the scars." Hana whispered.

"No more than when I got them."

"Why a little owl?" Sheryll asked, looking at the details.

Kristin lowered her top, her face closing a little more.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry." she whispered.

"What? Tell us. Maybe we can help you."

"You...you won't see me like this again." Kristin breathed, taking a sip from her glass.

"But no" Sheryll breathed, putting a hand on her partner's to show her courage.

"I was young, I...I got pregnant, and I kept the baby. A little girl. It was just her and me, and then I was deployed, my parents kept her despite that they had been against me keeping her. And then I met my ex-husband. And... It didn't go over with my daughter, he didn't like her. Things were going badly when I I was on deployment and he was keeping her. So...I never should have listened to her...I put my daughter in boarding school, she preferred. And then life went on, she refused to come back during the holidays, once, twice... I had my two children and that only separated us a little more. She loved owls; it's for her that I integrated it to my tattoo."

"You have no news at all? But she's underage..."

"She was placed in a recovery center after a fight, and a behavior problem. She had to ask for her emancipation afterwards, and I have no trace of her. A card for my birthday, that's all. " Kristin explained.

"What is her name?" Hana asked.

"Katsa. She must be 18."

Sheryll hugged Kristin showing her support, not imagining how hard it must be for her friend.

Kristin took out an old photo of herself with a little brunette on the beach; the child had her head resting on the shoulder of a smiling, dazzling Kristin, her chubby little arms around her neck.

"A mini you" smiled Sheryll.

"Ingrid and Jack know about her?" Hana asked.

"A simpler version, and less harsh than the truth. Go tell yours children's that their father didn't want their half-sister, that their mother decided to put her in boarding school even if Katsa agreed to escape from him when I was on deployment. And then...she just left, and I didn't do anything to catch her because… because of that, life took her somewhere else."

Hana waited for Kristin to slip away to confide in Sheryll.

"Do you remember that case about the judge who applied heavy sentences to young people? In the centers where they were tortured?"

"Yes, it was a young man who escaped from it who avenged the death of his girlfriend who committed suicide."

"Well, I just ran a search for Kristin's daughter, and she shows up in the group of survivors." Hana whispered.

The two women looked at each other dumbfounded, knowing what that meant.

"Do we have to tell Kristin?"

"Tell me what?"