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Chapter 3: Intruder of the Night

"Mommy! Mommy!" Piper heard Laurie's cry.

Piper quickly untangled herself from the covers of the bed. Laurie never cried out unless something was really wrong.

She sprinted to Laurie's room. She threw open the door and saw a man in black grabbing Laurie by the arm. Laurie was sobbing openly, calling for her mommy.

Piper reacted quickly. She grabbed the lamp from the dresser by the door. She swung it hard and hit the man in black hard on the back of the head. He staggered and let go of Laurie.

Piper didn't bother to see how bad she had injured the man. She just grabbed her daughter's hand and ran. Laurie stumbled going down the stairs, so Piper picked her up and ran down the stairs carrying her.

She flew down the stairs and out the front door, only pausing long enough to grab her car keys. She ran out to her SUV and hopped in the driver's seat. She didn't even take the time to put Laurie in the passenger seat. She sat on her lap as Piper sped off down the street.

Piper didn't stop until she was a good two or three miles away from the house. She pulled off to the side of the road and parked the car. She placed Laurie into her car seat in the back of the SUV.

"Everything's fine, Sunshine," she said to her as she wiped her tear stained face.

"Where's the bad man?" Laurie asked, fear in her young voice.

Piper's heart twisted. "He's not coming back. I promise."

Laurie just nodded her head and Piper got into the driver's seat. She put the SUV in drive and drove to the police station. Once there, she asked to see Inspector Wyatt.

But to her surprise, she was told he had gone home for the night. Piper couldn't believe it. That had to be a first. Leo Wyatt, actually home?

Piper was instead seen by another officer that had been present at her questioning, Inspector Darryl Morris. He was a darker skinned man, and he listened patiently as she explained what happened at the manor.

He took immediate action. He called for a unit to search the manor for the mystery man and took Piper and Laurie to a room in the back of the station house where they would be safe.

As Piper and Laurie waited for news of the mystery man to be reported, someone must have called Leo because he showed up, looking hassled. Piper was actually relieved her was ere. Maybe he could make some sense of the situation. None of the inspectors were tell her anything. They just told her to sit tight, be patient. But she was done being patient. Nobody tries to attack her daughter and gets away with it.

Leo walked into the room. "Piper, are you and Laurie all right?"

"Yes. Leo, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," he replied honestly. "I just got here."

Piper gave him the cliff notes version of the attack. After she was done, he crouched down and looked at Laurie who was sitting in Piper's lap. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Laurie just nodded her head.

"Did the man hurt you?"

She shook her head.

Leo looked questioningly at Piper. "Why isn't she talking?"

Piper shrugged her shoulders. "She hasn't said a word to me since we were in the car."

Leo looked closer at Laurie. The little girl was looking at him, but it seemed as if she didn't see him. Her pupils were dilated and her skin was pale. "I think she's in shock."

"What?" Piper asked, her voice filled with worry. "What do you mean?"

Leo didn't answer her. Instead, he left the room. After talking to an officer outside of the doorway, he came back with a glass of water. He handed it to Piper. "Here. Have her drink it. A doctor is going to come look at her in a moment."

Piper held the glass to Laurie. She just looked past her mother. It took some cajoling from Piper for her to finally drink the water.

Piper looked at Leo with fear in her eyes. "Will she be alright?"

"I'm sure she will be. There's the doctor."

A dark haired man, wearing a white lab coat, walked through the door. Piper immediately liked him. He had a nice smile on his face and he talked nicely to Laurie, carefully asking her questions, but not bombarding her.

He looked at her pupils, checked her pulse, blood pressure, and listened to her breathing. Piper held her hand the whole time.

When he was done, he stood up. "She's in shock." Seeing Piper's worried expression, he said, "Sometimes when children see something so traumatic their bodies don't know how to deal with it. They become withdrawn and unresponsive. But it's treatable, don't worry. I'm going to give her a mild sedative, one safe for young children. My best suggestion would be to let her sleep and make her feel comfortable. Try to get her to interact when she wakes up."

"Thank you, doctor," Piper said and he left. Then she turned to Leo. "Do you have anywhere she could sleep?"

"Yeah. Let's take her into the break room."

Before Piper could protest, he gently lifted Laurie and took her to the break room where he laid her on the couch. Piper sat on the edge of the couch, smoothing Laurie's hair.

"Where are we going to stay?" she asked Leo, voicing the question that had been on her mind for quite some time. "We can't go back to the manor."

"I know. We have guys checking the house to see if the guy is still there."

"And if he's not? I don't want to go back home."

"Don't worry. We have guys trying to figure out what to do with you."

"You make it sound so enjoyable."

"Sorry," he said.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. I know you're only doing your job. It's just frustrating. I don't know what to do. I hate being out of control."

"I know. We'll-" there was a knock on the door, interrupting him. "Come in," he said.

Darryl Morris walked into the room. "Wyatt, can I have a word with you?"

Feeling like a child about to be scolded, Leo sheepishly followed him out of the room.

"What do you think you're doing, Wyatt?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You took a witness out of the interrogation room, that's what. Civilians are not allowed in the break room either. What's gotten into you?"

"The little girl needed a place to lie down. She's in shock and the doctor just gave her a sleeping pill. Why are you being so strict?"

Morris grabbed his arm and looked around. He lowered his voice and whispered, "We went to the house and we found the lamp Halliwell claimed to hit him with. Apparently she did, because we found the lamp in pieces. But we found blood on one of the pieces. I put a rush on it and the results just came back."

He pushed the files under Leo's nose. He opened it and took a look. Scott McGunther. "I don't get it. The name sounds vaguely familiar."

"Turn the page."

Leo did as he was told. The next page was a criminal report. Leo's jaw dropped open when he saw it. Scott McGunther. Now he remembered why the name sounded so familiar. McGunther had been charged with three counts of felony rape and murder, but had gotten off on a technicality. "It looks as if Mr. McGunther has resurfaced."

Morris looked dead at him. "And I think he wants Ms. Halliwell."