13 Big Steps and Little Ones

Amanda had come into the hospital on the Sunday to do the autopsy on Albert Hardy. She had taken fingerprints and sent them off as soon as he had arrived at her lab, and identification had been confirmed against ID found on the body. She had been extremely busy ever since though and as she knew that the family were coming in the next day she had no choice but to work the weekend if she wanted everything to be completed before they arrived.

Her first job of the day, however, had been to visit with Jo for a little while, and they had enjoyed their time together. Steve had arrived just as she was leaving and so together they had made their way to the NICU, Amanda pushing the wheelchair just in case Jo needed it. Being a member of staff she had been able to have a little time with Jayden before going back to work and Steve had given her a Polaroid picture to take with her.

Now though, that pleasant interlude was over and Amanda was scrubbed up and ready for work. Switching on her tape recorder she smiled at the rather green looking Rabbi sitting in the hallway just outside her lab and began to talk.

"Ok, Mr. Hardy, I know who you are, I have a pretty good idea what killed you, so let's get to work and see if we can't nail the guy who did this to you.

"The body is that of a Caucasian male in his late seventies, he is …" she paused, and then carefully measured the body. "Five foot ten inches tall, in reasonable physical condition for a man of his age, by eye only. The victim has a deep laceration, probably made by a knife extending from just below the left ear across the throat to an almost identical position under the right ear. The difference in depth beneath the lobes is …" again she paused to take a measurement, "just over a quarter of an inch. All main blood vessels have been severed.

"There are no other wounds on the front of the body, but there is a stab wound, inflicted first, in the victim's back. There is edema and considerable blood loss from this wound.

"So, when were you hurt? You were found on Friday, but I think you were killed on Thursday. All rigor mortis has gone, and had gone by the time I first saw you, which leads me to think that you were killed early on in the day and then discovered the following day." Amanda had checked the weather reports for the area where Albert Hardy had been located before she began and had noted down that the night hadn't been that much cooler than the day.

Amanda knew that the severity of the throat injury meant that death would have been almost instantaneous, with Mr. Hardy going into shock almost immediately and dying soon afterwards. She picked up a new comb from the metal tray beside her and carefully ran it through the white hair, collecting quite a large amount of loose and broken strands from the front part of the head.

"The hair collected would indicate that the victim was pulled up and then had his throat slashed having been disabled by the blow to the back first." She carefully put the hair into an evidence bag so that she could check for roots later, under the microscope, and then carried on talking.

"The probable cause of death is massive haemorrhage and shock brought about by the injury to the throat. The position of this wound and the one on the back of the body indicates that this was not self inflicted, Mr. Hardy was killed by someone else."

Amanda switched the machine off for a moment, she had done all she could just by looking at her victim, now she had to begin the full autopsy and for that, at the request of the family, she needed the rabbi to come into the room. The patrolmen who had responded to the initial call were now also waiting in the hallway and so Amanda went to ask them in, hoping that she would be able to do her job and help the police as well as keep true to Mr. Hardy's religious beliefs.

ooo

By the time Monday rolled around, and Rae found herself at Community General Hospital, the pleasantness of the weekend was already becoming a memory. The weather on the Sunday had been so glorious that they had just packed up a picnic and spent the day on the beach at Malibu. Alex, Shannon and Daniel had joined them for a little while but the young man had seemed distracted and not in the mood for company. Eliana had tried to get him to build sand castles with her but, in the end, even she had given up and moved on to her Uncle Alex instead, while Anneya had spent a contented afternoon collecting shells and lining them up along the sand or drawing pictures with her fingers helped happily by Shannon.

Rae had tried to talk to Daniel, but he hadn't wanted to listen and so she had left him alone, making a mental note to mention it to Steve when she saw him next. It was another worry to add to his load, but she wasn't sure what else to do.

Now though, as she sat in Amanda's pathology lab, drinking a cup of coffee, she was totally focused on the day ahead. Albert Hardy's children had requested that they be allowed to see the body and so, instead of identifying their father via a photo, the deceased had been made ready for them to view at the hospital.

Rae had, so far, only spoken to the daughter, whose name was Havi Browning, who told her that her brothers, Aaron and Ben would be coming with her and would like to speak with the detectives dealing with their father's case while they were in town. All three of Albert's children lived in San Diego and she had wondered idly why Albert hadn't moved there also.

Amanda had been paged just five minutes before to say that the Hardys had arrived and were waiting in the main reception area. She had gone off to meet them and explain a little of what would happen, and Rae was going to keep quietly to herself until the traumatic moments were over. Draining her coffee cup Rae picked up her jacket and moved out of Amanda's lab and, as she made herself comfortable in the hallway, she heard her friend speaking softly as she turned the corner and walked towards her.

"Mrs Browning, I can assure you that the autopsy was carried out in accordance with the doctrines of your faith. A rabbi was present, as you requested, and he was happy with everything I did. I know that usually a body is buried the same day as the person dies, but that wasn't possible in this case."

"What about the pouch, did you take him out of the pouch?" The male voice was strained and full of emotion as he spoke.

"Mr. Hardy, the body had to be cleaned, it was important to ascertain that no other wounds were hidden. But, once he was washed, I put your father in the pouch and did all the work there."

"Thank you. He was very devout, he didn't show his faith in any outward way, too scared I think, but he was proud to be Jewish." It was the daughter who spoke again, and Amanda could hear the emotion in her voice as well.

"Your father is in here, and then Detective Yeager is waiting to take you back to North Hollywood police station, but you can spend all the time you need, she will wait for you."

This time there was no reply and gently Amanda directed the three adults into the room and closed the door behind her.

ooo

Steve and Jo had spent almost the entire weekend with their son, and were both exhausted. Although they did very little, the sitting there, watching monitors, staring at Jayden to make sure he was ok, not being able to talk above a very quiet whisper, the overall worry of the situation, all these things were taking their toll, and by the Sunday night Jo had sent Steve home, telling him that he needed an uninterrupted night's sleep and so did she.

He hadn't wanted to go, but now, on the Monday morning he was glad he had. The house had seemed both enormous and far too quiet when he had arrived, but as soon as he had climbed into bed he had fallen asleep and not stirred until Juan woke him to take a phone call just after nine.

"Steve Sloan … David, hi, no another two days I think and then Dad said she would be able to come home … Not for at least six weeks, probably nearer eight or nine … we've had a few scares, the main thing seems to be that he gets over stimulated, but so far he's righted himself again each time … no, we've touched him though, but it's not enough, y'know …? Thanks. How's Damita …? That's great … Ok, I'm listening."

Steve didn't speak for over ten minutes except to either murmur assent or dissent, or ask David to repeat something, but he made notes on the tablet of paper next to him, and listened with a heavy heart to what his brother-in-law had to say. Finally, when he knew that David was finished he began to speak properly again.

"Have you been in touch with the local police …? You know you really need to. In LA it would be the Financial Crimes division, but if you contact your nearest station they'll point you in the right direction … No, I'll tell her, and I'll get her to call you when she's home … yeah, ok, you too, bye."

Steve put the phone down and stood looking at his notes for a long while before picking up the pad and making his way into the morning room. The table was set for breakfast and as he sat down and picked up the newspaper he saw a picture of the Red Rose Killer staring up at him. The photo referred to an article inside the newspaper showing women how to fight back against an assailant. Steve read the piece and then shook his head. The information was good, and against someone trying to grab your purse it might work, but against Dominic, Steve knew that none of the women had stood a chance, and he also knew that items such as this could give people a false sense of security.

His breakfast, a plate of eggs and bacon with toast on the side, was put in front of him just as he finished reading and the coffee pot was replaced with a fresh one.

"Thank you, Juan, is there anything we need to discuss before I go back to the hospital?"

"Si, Signor, the firm called about the playhouse, they want to come and begin construction work next week, and Mrs Sloan's designer called about the nursery fabric."

Steve realised that although there were only two messages he didn't actually have a clue about either of them, and so he wrote the details down next to the note from David and then nodded his head.

"Ok, thanks."

He flicked through the paper as he ate, stopping at the editorial page when his eye was caught by a headline condemning the LAPD.

Sir,

It seems that, yet again, the local police force is unable to keep its citizens safe from the murderous rampage of a lunatic.

Millions of dollars are wasted each year on a service that isn't keeping up its end of the bargain. Aren't they supposed to 'protect and serve'? One wonders why the case of the Red Rose Killer is still in the hands of a local force when there is a specialised homicide division, and the FBI to call on, but I suppose that Chief of Police Masters has his hand in those pies as well or doesn't realise that he isn't God, and so does need to ask for assistance now and again.

I wish I could be certain that the homicide detectives 'working', and I use the term loosely, this case will read this and get their act together, but that would mean not only putting themselves out and thinking about the citizens of this fair city, but also having to actually care about those of us still waiting to be protected and cared for. Thank God I'm not blonde.

As hate mail went Steve knew it was pretty tame. But, considering the amount of man-hours and off duty time that he and Rae had spent on the case, not to mention all the other officers who were doing the legwork, or the fact that they had involved the FBI, he found that it had gotten beneath his defences and annoyed the hell out of him. An enormous amount of time had been spent interviewing victims' friends and family, going over old files, employment details, anything to try and find a link between the dead girls and Dominic other than their hair colour, but he knew that as much as he would like to tell his side of the story, he wouldn't, he would instead just sit and quietly stew.

The signature, or name, at the end of the letter was R. Black, not that it meant anything, he could send in a letter and sign himself R. Black if he wanted to. Still he guessed that it was another avenue that would have to be checked out. He knew that the perp would try to insinuate himself into the investigation, as of yet that had just been a visit to the station, which Steve tried very hard not to think about too often, and the photos taken at the Reds nightclub. This could be him too, though, and so, no longer interested in his cold and congealing breakfast, he made his way back to the hallway and picked up the phone.

ooo

The morning sun shone through the blinds of her room, but Jo, fast asleep in her bed, didn't notice it. The soft warmth of a hand over her wrist though did disturb her and she moved a little to get more comfortable before opening her eyes to see a young nurse carefully taking her vital signs.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Sloan, I've let you sleep as long as I could, but it is almost ten o'clock and I thought you would want to be back with your son soon." The nurse was bright and smiling and, despite the discomfort she felt, Jo was unable to do anything other than smile sleepily back at her.

"Yes, I do, thank you. Am I too late for breakfast?" The last word disappeared into a yawn and Jo raked her fingers through her hair, pushing it back off her shoulders and deciding right then to have a shower as soon as she could.

"No, I kept some for you. I'll go get it. It's just cereal and orange juice, but it's not that long until lunch." The young woman left the room with a smile, and Jo, now almost fully awake, leant back against her pillow and let herself think over what had happened to her in the night, half of her still not able to believe that it was real.

Jo had woken up at two in the morning and been unable to get back to sleep. Her thoughts, as they always did now, had rested on Jayden and she realised that she wanted to go and see him, wanted to know what happened to him when the rest of the hospital was asleep, or most of it anyway. A smile crossed her face as she delved into the memory, looking forward to being able to share it with Steve a little later in the day.

Pressing the buzzer next to her bed she was extremely surprised when it was Tabitha herself who answered the call.

"Oh, hi, I … um, I didn't expect it to be you!"

"Well, that makes two of us then, because I didn't either!" Tabitha smiled, but Jo could see the tiredness in her eyes. "So, what can I do for you, Mrs Sloan?"

Jo had given up asking the woman to call her by her first name all the time. Sometimes she did, sometimes she didn't, and Jo guessed that it had more to do with her mood than the patient she was addressing.

"I wanted to go see Jayden, to see what is happenin' to him at night when I'm supposedly dreamin'. That way, when I am lyin' here, like tonight, not bein' able to get off to sleep, I can spend my time imaginin' what he is doin'." Jo felt a blush run up her face and suddenly felt that her request was at best silly and at worst likely to be denied.

"Ok, that isn't a problem. I'll get a wheelchair for you though, then with your robe on you won't get chilled."

Five minutes later Jo was gowned, masked and washing her hands and arms as well as looking around a totally hushed NICU. There were no other parents there, all of them were catching up on the sleep they would so desperately need to help them get through the next day, and the next and the next until they could take their precious babies home with them.

Tabitha washed up as well and then together they moved across to where the tiny form of her son was lying, wrapped up in his swaddling and, to Jo's delight, wide awake. The pads, which covered his eyes, had been removed, he only had them on now when he received treatment from the Billi Lamp, and he was lying looking up at the ceiling, or whatever it was he saw in that general direction.

Jo was entranced all over again by the little boy, but still so scared of the future and what it held for him, for her, for all of them, and the tears which seemed to be a constant companion these days fought for a minute for supremacy before she beat them back.

Doctor Isherwood had been checking on Jayden's progress and now she came over smiling. "He's doing very well. His weight is still down, but I'm not worried about that, he should start to slowly gain soon. As he is awake, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't hold him for a minute or two, if you would like to that is."

Jo couldn't believe her ears, she had thought that touching was all that was allowed, to hold him, to actually feel him in her arms, that would be; she stopped thinking, she had no idea what it would feel like and mutely she nodded her head, hoping that the loud beating of her heart wouldn't scare her child.

Tabitha spoke briefly to one of the staff members on duty and the young lady came across. "Hi, my name is Diana, I'm the nurse assigned to Jayden's care at night. If you put this blanket across your lap then you can have a little cuddle."

Jo knew that she should speak, should say something to the woman in front of her, but the signals needed to make words out of thoughts didn't seem to be working and so instead she just nodded her head and kept her hands up and out of the way so that they stayed clean enough to touch her baby. She watched as her child was picked up carefully, and then placed in her arms, and she felt her loudly beating heart fill with love, even more love than she already had for her son. The display on the monitor beside her began to flash, but Tabitha pressed a few buttons and then smiled as the numbers obviously began to behave themselves again.

Jo wanted to remember every second, to take in every tiny inch of her baby's face and memorize it. She heard her name being called very softly and looked up to see Diana with a digital camera in her hands. The shutter clicked and then with a smile the nurse and the doctor backed off a little bit and left Jo and Jayden together, each exploring the other in their own way.

The door opened again at that moment and the nurse returned with her breakfast. Brushing hastily at the tears that had slid down her cheek Jo smiled, knowing that the memories she had made in the early hours of the morning would be visited again and again.

ooo

Rae had booked the nicest of the interview rooms to speak with the children of Albert Hardy. She wished that there was a room similar to the one used in the sexual crimes division, calming and not at all official looking, but in homicide it was regulation décor everywhere you turned. The room that she was now sitting in though had been painted just the previous month and so was clean if nothing else. It also had a window that gave a view out onto the parking lot, not exciting but at least there was an extra dimension given by the cars moving in and out.

The visit to Amanda's path lab had obviously taken its toll on all three of Albert's children, and they were very quiet and subdued. Rae put her head around the door, saw a young uniformed officer walking by and asked him if he could get her some coffees. Then, knowing that her companions were having to get used to totally alien surroundings and happenings, she sat for a moment or two in silence before she cleared her throat and began to speak.

"I know that this is very hard for you, and I'm sorry that I have to add to your distress, but I need some questions answered, and the sooner I have those answers the sooner I can get on with the investigation."

"Why would anyone want to kill an old man?" It was the eldest child who spoke; the man Rae knew was called Aaron. "He came here to start a new life after the war; he never hurt anyone in his life. Not even flies or bees, he would shoo them out of the house and then tell them not to come back in because his wife wasn't so kind."

"She was though, she would let them out too, and tell me not to say anything. 'Abba mustn't know, he will laugh at me', she would say." Havi smiled, but it was a sad smile. "They are reunited, but I will miss him."

"Abba?" Rae looked up from her pad where she had been making a quick note.

"Father, it is the Hebrew for father. Ima is what he called her, that is Hebrew too, for mother." Havi explained the words in a way that made Rae realise she was used to telling people what they meant.

"How long ago did your mother pass away?" It wasn't vital to the investigation but Rae wanted to know how long Albert had been on his own.

"She died three years ago, I wanted him to come and live with me, but he wouldn't. 'My tenants,' he said, 'they will miss me. I have to stay.'"

"He didn't mind still working then? Or living alone?"

"No, he was always a solitary man. Preferring the company of his pigeons and his dog to any people."

"He has birds and a dog?" Rae looked worried as she heard Ben speak for the first time. "I checked his apartment; I didn't see any indication of pets."

"No, no, after his last dog died in the spring he said he wasn't getting another one. He was the only person allowed to have an animal, and it was supposed to be a guard dog. Stupid mutt, couldn't guard a fire and the pigeons, he gradually stopped breeding them and then sold his stuff off. I know he missed them but he said he was happy to read in the evenings and not have the responsibility." Ben shook his head and his eyes filled with tears. It was clear that the man was caught in his memories and Rae, feeling for him, turned her attention to Aaron and Havi.

"How often did you see your father?"

"I have business that brings me into Los Angeles at least two or three times a month. I always saw him once or twice that way and Havi, she would call him each week, try to get him to move to San Diego, but as she said, he wouldn't." Aaron's voice was almost totally devoid of any expression, as if by doing so he could keep his emotions in check.

"Did your father have many friends that he mentioned?"

"No, not many any more. There was Bernie; they came to America together at the end of the war. He owned the apartment block that father worked in, and where we all lived as children. Bernie died a few years back; his son runs the business now."

Rae nodded; she had spoken with Samuel Goldstein on the Saturday, and he had said that he kept Albert Hardy working as the custodian of the building because of loyalty to his own father. He had explained the links between Albert Hardy and Bernard Goldstein, and how the friendship had lasted almost sixty years.

He had mentioned Aaron, Benjamin and Havi, and told Rae they had played together as children, but he hadn't seen them since they had all moved out of town. As Rae had left Samuel had asked if she could let him know when the funeral would be as he wished to pay his last respects.

Rae made a quick note to mention it at the end of the meeting and then began a line of questioning which she knew would cause upset and probably anger.

"Do you know of anyone who would want to harm your father?"

"Of course not!" The reply was sharp and instant and Rae locked eyes with Aaron.

"Sir, someone harmed him, it wasn't a robbery gone bad, his wallet was still in his pants, his watch on his wrist, even the loose change was still in a small coin purse. I don't believe that he was killed for no reason, and so I need to know whether there was anyone who would harm him." Rae deliberately kept her voice low and even. She didn't want to upset the family any more than they were already, but she needed information, information she had a feeling only they could provide her with.

ooo

Steve had called his brother-in-law back before leaving the house, and had suggested that maybe David should come to LA once he had contacted the police so that they could discuss things face to face. The suggestion had been gratefully accepted, and Steve had told Juan that they would be having guests from the following morning.

Once that was done he had driven to the hospital, stopping off at a drug store to pick up a few items that Jo had asked him to buy, and while he was in there he saw a small incredibly soft looking stuffed elephant. With a smile on his face he took it up to the counter, happily handed over his money and, as he left the store, wondered when he would be able to go and pick out the first train set.

The parking lot at the hospital was extremely busy, and as Steve drove through to the doctor's part he realised that Community General had become vitally important to a third generation of Sloans and knowing that somehow made him feel much more positive about the future.

ooo

Alex had spent the morning working, but now, at a little after twelve thirty, he was finished and heading off for what Shannon would call a little retail therapy. He was always amazed at how much his girlfriend seemed to enjoy going from store to store, looking through rack after rack of clothes or shoes, and then going back to the first place they tried to get something that hadn't been quite right, about four hours earlier.

He, on the other hand, had three stores where he would go to buy clothes; he did it in bulk about once every six to nine months, and found no pleasure in it at all. This however, was different, he wouldn't be buying another one of these in six months time, at least he hoped he wouldn't. This was a once only deal and, with his heart beating loudly in his chest, Alex made his way from the doctors' locker room and down the hallway, through the ER, towards the elevator and his car.

Shannon watched Alex walk past the trauma suite she was working in and smiled. She wondered whether she would ever lose the little thrill she got when she saw him around the hospital. They worked together now and then, but since she had transferred full time to Obstetrics their time together had been short. She was only in the ER because a very young baby had been brought in with breathing problems and the doctor on duty had called up for a nurse to come and wait with the parents.

The little girl had been born prematurely and only released from the hospital the week before. Shannon couldn't help but compare her to Jayden Sloan, and wonder how he was doing. The NICU had a full compliment of nurses at the moment, but Shannon would get a turn to work there in the near future. At the moment she was glad that it hadn't been necessary to ask to be moved while Jo and Steve were visiting parents, but she knew that she would have been unable to keep her personal involvement with the family out of her professional life, and so a move would have been the only option.

Shannon still well remembered the first time she had met all of Alex's friends at, as she had been then, Jo Walters's house. To say it had been daunting would be an understatement, but since that night, they had all become friends and she and Alex enjoyed the company of all of them socially on a regular basis.

The doctor working on the baby straightened his back and she heard him tell the worried parents that he would admit their child. She put all her thoughts to the back of her mind and moved across so that she would be able to comfort them and help them deal with a situation which to them would be one that nightmares were made of.

As Shannon began to do her best to comfort the parents Alex had drawn up in a very expensive looking area of town not far from the hospital and was about to go and do his shopping. For a moment though he sat in the car, he knew that what he was about to do was right, but he also knew that after this there were only three other things left to do before he would be well and truly grown up and responsible for not only his own destiny but for that of other people too. He had always taken his responsibilities seriously, his dad had taught him that, and so now, thinking about the man he missed far more than he would have ever thought when he had been alive, he got out of his car, slammed the door and took the first steps towards a future which filled him with excitement and apprehension, hoping that his dad was smiling down on him as he did so.