CJ and I soon discovered that it was necessary to get along with out any sleep at all. Bernadette I think was born with a sick sense of humor, because she took no greater joy than waking us up in the middle of the night and crying until one of us picked her up and held her.
The only thing that seemed to make her stay asleep was my voice. If I sang to her, she usually slipped into a deep slumber which she did not wake from until morning. Therefore, when it was CJ's turn to rock the baby back to sleep I usually felt a tap on my shoulder and was woken up anyway in order to sing the baby back to sleep.
We were exhausted, and it was about to get worse. Since I had to work all day CJ usually did most of the work with the baby. However, two weeks after she was born CJ returned to the station.
I was glad she was back, even though we had had little time working together as detectives, we had had quite a bit working together as assassins and I missed her company. However, it left us both all the more exhausted.
It was difficult at first for us to leave Bernadette at home with Marie; although she was perfectly capable, it made us both nervous. The first day CJ came back; greeted by warm congratulations although some were a bit skeptical about the appropriateness of her return, all she thought about was if Bernadette was alright. Was she cold? Was she sleeping? Did she miss her mother?
When we came home, CJ ran straight to our daughter and held her for an hour straight; I was left to fix dinner. As difficult as this routine was, we adapted to it. Marie was a great help, and I could not help but notice that she and CJ, though quite different, were now able to tolerate each other. They still had arguments and often spoke rudely to each other, but it was my suspicion the deep down they held a great respect for each other.
With in weeks of CJ coming back to the station house, she had fit into the normal swing of things. She was quite talented, and despite the fact that she was now a mother, she had no problem running after someone and pulling them to the ground. The only awkward moment was the first confrontation between CJ and Leo Denton, three weeks after her return.
Denton had stayed out of her way as much as possible, and when he did talk to her it was in a tone which suggested that nothing had ever happened between them. I thought he was going to pretend the whole incident had never happened and not say another word about it. This was fine with me. Every time I saw him go near her I would tense up a bit. Even though I knew CJ had turned him down flat and I was in no danger of losing her; I would always hate him for trying to take what was mine.
I was fairly certain the Denton was going to go on with out acknowledging what had happened between them when I saw him follow her to the back of the station house. Using every technique of following and listening with out being heard or noticed, I made after him,
"CJ," He said by way of greeting,
"Leo," She said shortly back, and she turned to go back to the desk we still shared, but Denton grabbed her by the arm,
"CJ I think we need to talk,"
"About what?" she asked mildly,
"About what happened the last time I saw you," he said seriously,
"What do you want to say?"
Denton cleared his throat, "I want to…apologize, CJ," CJ silently regarded him, her arms folded in front of her, "If I had known…the way you felt, I never would have tried to convince you to leave with me,"
"It's alright, Leo, I should have been honest with you from the beginning,"
"Well…good then," Denton said awkwardly, "I was happy to hear that you and the baby were doing well,"
"Thank you,"
"I…ah…I think you look magnificent," at these words I tensed up and I noticed CJ raise her eyebrows, "I mean…for just having a baby; some women get rather fat and bloated, but you look wonderful,"
"Thank you," CJ said, and she started laughing, "But before you say another word I think you should know my husband is standing right over there and he is listening to every word you say,"
Denton whipped around and I had a brief though of turning away and pretending I had not heard a thing but I knew that was futile, so I just glared back at Denton. CJ was laughing hysterically now,
"Well, now that I have created this little awkward moment, I think I am just going to walk out of it; you two can duel or play cards or whatever it is you men do to assert yourselves," And with this CJ walked back to the desk, laughing and throwing me a sly look as she passed.
After a moment I cleared my throat, "I have work to do," and with this I turned on my heel and walked back to the desk.
"Did you have to so that?" I whispered to CJ,
"No, I didn't have to, but it was so amusing," She smiled as she looked over a paper in her hands,
"It was not amusing," I hissed,
"Really? Well you should have been standing where I was, it was very amusing from there," she responded, still smiling,
"Do you take pleasure in this?" I growled,
"So much,"
It was at this moment that the doors of the station house burst open. Two men, one of them Tom, were struggling to control a large, dirty looking man who was thrashing wildly to escape their grasp.
I hurried over, attempting to help, but just as I reached them the man freed one arm and thrashed out with it, which would have been alright, had he not been holding a knife.
The large blade sliced my stomach and for a moment I did not even realize I had been cut; I just saw the knife and grabbed his arm, twisting the knife out of his hand and slamming my fist into his jaw. This action served to stop the man from struggling so much and Tom regained a hold on his arm. The man was dragged back to interrogation room and I followed.
"Erik," CJ stopped me dead with her terrified voice, and I saw she was looking down at my stomach; red blood was blooming out from my stomach from one side to the other.
CJ threw all the papers off of our desk, "Lay down," she hit the top of the desk,
I was about to say I was fine but Dumas never gave me the chance, "Do it, Phann, CJ, go in my office, call a doctor,"
I lay on the top of the desk; I put my hand over my stomach and then looked at it; it was covered with glistening red blood and I groaned. It had been an incredibly stupid idea to run over to the man; but I knew who he was. I did not know his name, but by the way everyone had stared at him when he came in I knew who the man was.
For weeks we had been getting reports of missing children. A couple would come in to report their child missing, and about a week later the child would be found; dead and horribly tortured. Everyone was looking for the culprit, and Tom had gone out on a lead to investigate, and I knew the man he had brought in was the one we had been looking for.
I wanted to kill him; I wanted to slit his sick throat and I would, given the chance I knew I would. His crimes were despicable regardless, but I had a child now; when I thought about Bernadette and how devastating it would be if she was ever taken…I wanted to kill this man.
However, it seemed it might be the other way around. I felt the blood spill out of me and I wondered how bad the knife wound was. It would be just like my tortured fate to kill me know; know that I was finally happy.
I closed my eyes and wondered where CJ was. My stomach was hurting now, the pain of the cut registering in my mind. I must have closed my eyes for a much longer time then I realized, because when I opened them again I was looking at a man I did not recognize.
"Welcome back," The man said, and I noticed my shirt was open and I felt a sharp prick in my stomach, "I am just closing the wound here, luckily it was not very deep; superficial wounds like this bleed like hell,"
"So I am alright?" I asked hopefully,
"For now sure, you just have to take care that these stitches do not open up again, so no night time escapades for awhile; I saw that blond wife of yours and I know it will be difficult; but you don't want anymore stitches than you really need; there," He finished,
"It's not going to be too much of a problem, we just had a baby," I said, and I have to admit it was odd to tell someone that we had had a child,
"Oh! Than you won't be having any night time fun for another year or so," the doctor said good naturedly, "My wife had a child last summer; still haven't had another go at making another one,"
"Can I sit up?" I asked,
"Yes, just be careful,"
I sat up and looked around; the whole station house was deserted, "I think everyone is back at the interrogation room, or at least that is where your wife headed after I told her you would be alright,"
I nodded and shook the doctors hand, "Thank you,"
"Not at all, and good luck with the new baby," he tipped his hat to me and walked out of the police station.
I re buttoned my shirt and walked toward the interrogation room where I saw the whole police station was gathered; no doubt watching the man be questioned. I pushed my way to the front, and when I looked through the two way mirror into the room my mouth fell open;
CJ was in there; alone with the man.
"What the hell…?" I shouted, and Dumas found his way to my side,
"Some others tried to get him talking, and when that didn't work she wanted a chance at him," he spoke mildly,
"So you let her go in there!" I yelled; I was infuriated; if he had cut me than what would he do to CJ?
"It's her job," Dumas said sternly, "And we need him to talk; he still had victims somewhere and we can't help them unless he tells us where they are; so quiet down so I can hear what they are saying,"
I turned my eyes to the room and I felt like a ghost again; watching another world and being powerless to have any affect on it. The man was sitting quietly now, his hands folded above the table,
"Tell me where your other victims are," CJ said lightly, and I saw she had the knife the man had cut me with in her hand; she was turning it around and around.
The man said nothing, he did not even blink, "I do have all day," CJ said, "I can wait here until you talk," her tone was indifferent, but by the glowing in her eyes I could tell it was taking every ounce of her willpower not to kill the man then and there.
He still did not say anything, "We found your other victims, after you had stabbed them to death, you sick idiot," CJ said coldly,
"I am not an idiot," the man spoke for the first time,
"Yes you are," CJ said in the same icy tone, and she kept turning the knife around in her hands,
"I am more intelligent than everyone in this station; that is why you will never find the others," he smiled, satisfied with himself,
"If you are so smart," CJ said slowly, "than why are you in here? Weren't you smart enough not to get caught?"
The man was silent, "Oh yes, you are a smart man," CJ said sarcastically, "It takes a real criminal mastermind to kill a child," and with this she stabbed the knife down hard into the wooden table,
"Don't do that," the man said, and he sounded a bit frantic, as if the noise knife hitting the table and the down ward motion of the stab,
"What this?" CJ asked coolly and brought the knife down again,
"Stop! It's not made for that!" he shouted,
"Than what is it made for!" CJ yelled back, "Killing innocent children!"
"They had to die! I had to punish their parents!" the man shouted wildly, "they were all revolutionaries! I had to stop them!"
The man was clearly mad, and I could see the wheels in CJ's head spinning as she wondered what the hell to say next,
"How did you know?" She breathed, and I blinked, bewildered,
"What do you mean?" the man sounded as confused as I was,
"All the victims of the parents were revolutionaries; we have been trying to eliminate them, but how did you know what to do?" She was going to play along,
"The voice of God told me,"
CJ nodded, "We have to finish God's work, I will help you, just tell me what to do," she knelt next to him and stared into his eyes with an innocent look on her face,
"Go to the Rue Brute, the blue house, go to the basement, punish them!"
"You heard him! Get moving!" Dumas shouted and I heard people behind me run; no doubt headed for the Rue Brute, but I stayed with my eyes on CJ,
CJ stood and I watched her eyes go from a look of innocence to a look of malevolent triumph, "You are a sick man; I hope you liked your life, because it is going to be over soon," and with this she left the room,
"Erik! How does your stomach feel?" she asked when she saw me,
"My stomach is fine, but I don't know about my nerves! What the hell were you thinking, going in there alone?" I was half yelling,
"I am not afraid of doing things Erik," CJ said coolly, and then she dropped her voice, "and don't you dare try to reprimand me in front of everyone," she was glaring at me,
"Oh Christ CJ! You're my wife!" I growled,
"And what? That means you can control the things I do?" she said angrily, "I just got a man to tell us where his victims where and possibly saved some lives and what do I get from you?"
"CJ, you could have died in there, he could have hurt you!"
"Why? Because he already hurt you? Or don't you remember, you rushed over to help and you ended up getting stabbed! You, not me!"
"Hey!" Dumas yelled, "Keep the marital squabble out of the workplace!"
CJ and I were in a bad mood with each other the rest of the day; we hardly spoke. We were at our door when I stopped her,
"I wasn't trying to control you," I said exasperatedly, "I just meant I was worried about your safety,"
"I know," she turned to me, "How do you think I felt when I saw that knife cut through you?"
I sighed, "Alright, just…be careful,"
"I think it is a bit hypocritical that you tell me to be careful when you are the one who needed stitches to day," CJ shook her head at me,
"I am just concerned; I can't lose you," I stepped closer to her, and she rolled her eyes and let herself fall into my arms,
"Do you understand why I was angry with you?" CJ asked, lifting her head to look at me,
"Yes,"
"And you are sorry?"
"Yes,"
"Alright then," and she leaned forward and kiss my lips lightly, "Let's go inside; it's freezing out here,"
We entered the house;
"Where is my little girl?" CJ smiled as she met Marie and took Bernadette out of her arms,
"She had been right here all day," Marie said crossly, "And if you were any kind of a mother than you would know that you should be right here with her,"
With out missing a beat or changing her voice from the light, happy tone she spoke to our daughter in, CJ fired back, "And you should realize you should be on a broom somewhere; riding over the city,"
I laughed; they often had exchanges like this; and I thought they rather liked them,
"Oh, I think I need to change her," she when upstairs; I turned and when into the kitchen, looking for something to eat and Marie followed me,
"How was your day?" Marie asked me, and this was a bit odd; usually she packed up and left the minute we returned home,
"Oh…ah…" I was distracted as I looked into a cupboard, "They caught the guy in the papers; the one who was…hurting all the children,"
"That's good," Marie said,
"ERIK!" I heard CJ yell from upstairs, "Where did I put the clean clothes!"
"In the chest by the door!" I yelled back,
"There aren't in there!" She yelled,
"Did you check the chest in the baby's room or in our room!"
"Our room!"
"Check the baby's room!"
There was a pause... "I found them!"
I shook my head and smiled, I believed that CJ could lose her head if it was not attached,
"You two really love each other, don't you?" I looked up surprised to see Marie staring at me,
"Yes, we do," I said slowly,
"It's just, some couples don't…act that way,"
I did not know what she was talking about, or who she was talking about, so I just stayed silent,
"You both love that little girl too, don't you?"
I stared at her, "Of course we do, Marie, what has gotten into you all of a sudden?"
She opened and closed her mouths several times, then she spoke, "I got another job offer,"
I froze, we could not do with out her, "From who?" I tried to remain calm,
"Well…you know, Christine just had her baby and she asked me if I wanted to help her with it,"
I swallowed hard; I had not know Christine had had her baby, in fact I had forgotten she was even pregnant. I was sure Marie was going to leave us, and I could not really blame her; she would have better wages and be able to work in a better house,
"Marie…" I began, trying to think of what I could say to her to make her stay,
"I am not going to take the job," Marie said, and I stared, "I don't want to leave this family; and I don't think I could leave your little girl,"
At this moment CJ came back into the kitchen, holding a fresh Bernadette in her arms, "Oh!" she said when she saw Marie, "Your still here," CJ walked over to me and handed me the baby while she picked up the bread I had been eating,
"I just wanted to speak to you two about something," Marie said, "I was wondering if maybe I should move in here; I could help more with Bernadette and I could cook and clean…"
We stared at her, "We can't…pay you any more than we already are," CJ said slowly,
"I know, I just thought…it would be better for you two,"
"That would be wonderful Marie," I said,
She brightened, "Well then I will bring my things to tomorrow,"
I nodded, "Good,"
Marie turned to leave, but to my surprise CJ stopped her, "Wait, Marie,"
"Yes?"
"Would you like to stay for dinner?"
She smiled and nodded,
"Good, what are you making?" CJ laughed, and Marie's eyes narrowed, "Oh I'm not serious! Sit down and stop pouting!"
In this way the four of us became a kind of family. We all got on quite well, we had our arguments but they were generally resolved easily. Over the next three years, we became quite comfortable with each other.
Bernadette grew quickly; she became a curious and adventurous toddler who delighted us to no end. Everything about her; her first word, first steps, were absolutely fascinating. However, the thing that thrilled me the most was when she was still very little and had barely started talking I went into her room at night because I heard her crying. However, when I went into her room, I realized she was not crying, she was singing.
Since that moment I had coxed her musical skill and by the age of three she could play several small tunes on the piano. However she enjoyed simply pounding on the keys until her mother pulled her away much more.
CJ remained the most remarkable woman I had ever met and I still felt a thrill every time she kissed me. We had our fights, and there was even a night where we did not sleep in the same room. That had been terrible, but when I saw her the next morning she pulled me into our room and shoved me into our bed. Each time we slept together after the birth of our daughter we took precaution against CJ becoming pregnant again. We could not afford another child, nor did I want to again take the risk of the child being born with a deformity.
Work improved; CJ and I were becoming respected as detectives and we were trusted with more and more.
For these three years all went smoothly, and then Dumas called us into his office; his face grim.
"I have to talk to you two about something,"
"What?" I asked him,
"Richard Cromwell," and I felt my wife tense beside me.
