CHAPTER NINE

Dr. Albert Robbins greeted them as they entered the autopsy room. He was quite surprised to see Ellie in the company of her father, even more so to see Iris walk in after them.

"Jim, what's this all about?" the coroner asked, "I don't get many requests like this".

"She asked, Albert, I'm flying by the seat of my pants right now as it is," said Brass in a low voice for the doctor to hear alone.

"Is that her?" Ellie asked, her voice cracking a bit, as she faced the pale girl laid out before her on the cold table, covered only in a sheet.

"This is Kaylee Parker," Iris said. "When we first saw her she'd been tied hand and foot. She was strangled…beaten…and raped. Her body was dumped by a trash dumpster in an alley behind a casino. We suspect someone tried to force her to do tricks and when she resisted this is how it ended for her. Nick and Sara are continuing to investigate with my help as needed."

Ellie began to tremble and then shake violently and whispered to Iris, "She looks like me. She looks like me…SHE LOOKS LIKE ME!" Her voice ended in a terrified wail of despair. She turned sobbing into her father's arms. Brass held her as she wept uncontrollably.

Iris stood by quietly with Dr. Robbins beside her. The room was silent save for Ellie's weeping and her father holding her tightly. She motioned to Dr. Robbins to step outside into the hall with her.

"Dr. Robbins, the stepfather refused to claim the girl's body, so what happens to her now?" Iris asked.

"The body will be treated as a pauper and buried at the city's expense. Why?" Dr. Robbins replied, curious.

"I'd like to do something for her then and I need your help on how to accomplish it," Iris answered.

Jim Brass continued to hold Ellie. He still could not believe how this day had gone. Ellie was here and was letting him be her dad in being able to just simply hug her while she cried. Finally, Ellie's sobs subsided and she looked up not knowing what to say or how to begin. "What did Iris tell you earlier today, honey," Jim finally managed to say. "How is it you were willing to come back? I never even got the chance to wish you happy birthday."

Ellie thought carefully and then told Brass of how Iris had called her cell phone and asked simply to talk. She said they had things in common and just wanted to speak to her. They had talked for nearly two hours (Brass now knew it was he had slept) about their childhoods and growing up. They both had basically absent fathers. Iris' parents split up when she was eight years old and when Iris had tried to reconnect with her father after she graduated high school, the distance was too great between them and a close relationship never materialized. Her father died suddenly of a heart attack and the next time she saw him was at his funeral. Iris also told Ellie the heartbreak of losing a close friend to a drug overdose. It came down to choices Iris had said to her. You choose each day how you're going to try to live it. She had told Ellie that she was unique, precious, one of a kind, invested with talents. There won't be another Ellie when you leave this earth, Iris had challenged. 'No one can choose for you, no matter how much they love you, no matter that they would willingly lay down their life for you. You have to want it more than drugs or alcohol or sex, but it has to be you to take that first step out from the dark. Your dad is still here in spite of everything and his love for you can be your rock. You need to carpe diem, seize the day, while you can'. Iris said she would always regret that she didn't try harder to make that leap of faith toward her own father and then it was too late; don't let what-ifs dictate the rest of your life.

Brass didn't know what to say, didn't know what to think. He had longed for this moment for so long that he'd feared it never would come. They had both given a chance to try to start mending the rift between them. They had to do it together. Time is precious, a gift not be wasted. He walked Ellie out holding her arm.

Iris walked past without a word, her expression one of determination.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where's the fire?" Jim said to her, reaching out to stop her.

"I have a funeral to plan," she said simply. "Here's a key to the house if Ellie opts to stay there. I'll be home later. Just hang on to it. Catherine's giving me a ride to the funeral home. Please take Ellie on with you. You two have had quite a day and it's not over yet so make a go of it. I've got faith in you two." She gave his hand a squeeze, patted Ellie on the shoulder, and walked away quickly.

"Is she for real, Dad?" asked Ellie, "I don't get her. She goes all out for people she doesn't even know but cares just the same."

"Yeah, she does," answered Brass, thoughtfully, as he and Ellie headed out to his car.