Chapter XIII
Hey Stranger
An irritated Catherine answered her ringing cell phone with a gruff "What?" She'd fallen asleep on the couch after Sara and Lindsey had settled down to dividing their time between doing Algebra, something she was hopeless at, and watching music videos, something that bored her to death. The voice on the other end of the line was enough to get her aggravated. Sofia had worked nightshift, she knew the sleep pattern. Was it too much to ask for, a little sleep? "This better be good, Curtis, I was having a very nice dream that involved myself, Brad Pitt and nothing but sweat between us." That was far from the truth, but the little moment of silence, where she knew Sofia was just a little bit uncomfortable made the lie worth it.
"That was too-much-information, Willows, but that's beside the point. I have a Janet Burgundy here, she says that you called her." That made Catherine sit up. "She's here? In Vegas?" She'd been expecting the woman to call Sara, or something, not come all the way from San Francisco. "Yes, she's here and she'd like to see Sara. So where did you stash her?" Catherine pushed the light blanket off of her and swung her feet around and placed them on the floor. She's here, with me." There was a moment of silence. "Oh get your mind out of the gutter, Curtis. She's off messing around with Lindsey somewhere." Sofia's voice came back, slightly harder. Was it jealousy Catherine heard? "Fine. Look, Janet wants to see Sara…and I'm inclined to allow it." A smile spread over Catherine's face. "You'll allow it? My, my, detective, aren't we protective?" She could almost see the other woman scowl. "Listen, Willows, I'm bringing her over there." Catherine stood and stretched and started to look around, "Fine, fine, do you know where I live?" There was a gruff, "I'll find it." Then there was only a dial tone. She closed the cell phone and heard Lindsey laughing.
Last night had been…trying, at best, but today was looking up. She wandered into the kitchen and was immediately greeted with the vision of Sara covered in flour. She looked up and blushed. "Oh…hey Catherine." The shadows were still there, deep and dark in her eyes, but there was also a smile on her face. Lindsey snickered, "Busted." Catherine looked at the teenager. She too wore a smile, it was a novel and very appreciated thing. "So what did I stumble on to?" Sara blushed harder and Lindsey grinned. "Sara was trying to make dinner, but things got a little bit…messy." Catherine cocked one fair eyebrow, "I noticed."
By the time they got the kitchen cleaned up, and the late-lunch eaten, Catherine heard a car pull into the drive. She saw Sara stiffen and her eyes, that had been alight with humor only a moment before, went cold and unreadable.
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She was embarrassed. It was amusing. There was really nothing to be embarrassed about. She had just stood up for Sara. That alone got Sofia Curtis into her good graces. Of course, there was still the matter of Laura to deal with. The woman should have never been let out of prison, not after everything she'd done to Sara.
San Francisco, California
1988
She laid the file on her desk and wiped a tear from her eye. 'Barely Legal' and Ethan Rogers were only an epilogue to what had been a hellish early life for Sara Sidle.
Working in the SFPD's Special Victims Unit had put her in contact with many broken children. The abused, the needy, but never had a single child grabbed at her like Sara did. Across from her, her partner sighed, "You okay, Jan?" She shook her head and handed him the thick file. "Christ, Harv, how much can one kid take?" She watched him leaf through the file.
Alexander Harvey was a big man, one Sara had kept her distance from, and now she understood why. He was about the same size Thomas Sidle had been. Harv was, though, the polar opposite of Sara's father. He was a gentle giant with sandy blonde hair and a warm heart. They had worked together for four years - two in uniform, two in plain clothes - and he was like the brother she'd never had.
She pushed a strand of her unruly red hair back and regarded him. His face, complete with a two-day-old stubble was hard and fixed in a furious glare at the pages before him. She knew it wasn't the actual crimes that got to him, though they'd seen far too much of that sort of thing. It was the handling after Sara had been absorbed into the system. She'd been lost... no, she had been shunned. It didn't matter now; she was in their city now and here and she wouldn't be lost. Janet wouldn't allow it.
Harv looked up, "Well?" She knew that he knew her too well. "I'm thinking of having my 'Foster Parent' certification pushed through." She saw it, instantly, on his face. "Now Janet, I know you feel for this kid, I do too, but this isn't the time to get…attached." She threw a glare at him. "When will it be? She's almost an adult now, and all she knows is violence and grief. She could bounce from placement to placement until she turns eighteen and then she's out on her ass. When would be the correct time to get attached?"
He sighed, "It won't be easy." Janet grinned, "It never is."
She called in favors and cut corners, but within two weeks she was picking Sara up from the group home that she'd been placed in. She'd gone to see Sara several times since everything had went down. The ball was in motion and the ADA and Feds were pushing the trials through. Washington was finally taking notice, working to stop kiddie-porn. She'd heard that a new bill would be pushed through Congress within the next few years, targeting the new cyber land of porn. All of that, though, was inconsequential at the moment. Right now, she had a scared sixteen year old to help. She'd greeted Sara, who only had a small bag of possessions; most of them school books, at the door. "Hey Stranger." They got to her apartment building and Sara looked it up and down, warily. "Isn't the social worker supposed to deliver me to the next placement?" Janet maneuvered the car into the tiny Resident's Parking Lot and cut the engine. "Usually, but they prefer to have the new guardian take them home, you know that." Sara nodded and her eyes darted around. "So where are they?" Janet smiled, "Well, she's a cop, so she won't be around 24-7, but she expects you'll be all right by yourself from time to time." She watched the realization settle over the girl's face. "You?" Janet nodded, "Me." For the first time since they'd met, she saw Sara Sidle smile.
The house was suburban and nicely kept. Janet very much wanted to meet this Catherine Willows. It was a strange leap, from Sara's archrival, to her best friend in only a few weeks. More importantly, though, she wanted to see Sara. The door opened and Janet eyed it. The woman in the doorway was about her size, strawberry blonde hair. This was Catherine, so where was Sara?
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Catherine wasn't sure what she had expected; Sara hadn't ever showed her a picture. The woman was older than herself, but no more then fifty, and she had fire red hair that only had small touches of gray here and there. Her gray eyes flashed as she looked around. She had Sara's walk, Catherine noted, and this was where Sara had probably gotten her glare from as well. She came up to the porch and for a moment, they squared off. "You must be Catherine." Catherine nodded her head, "Captain Burgundy." The woman nodded, "Janet, please. Now, where's my girl?" Her words brought a smile to Catherine's face. "She's in the den."
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She was full and drowsy, but she didn't want to sleep. She knew that the moment she gave in to Morpheus's pull, the nightmares would come. Oh, they would come: vivid bloody nightmares of her mother and her father. Of his death and her return. At the moment, she and Lindsey were caught up in a video game marathon. A quirky little game where the controller was a guitar that you had to hit the correct notes on to 'sort of' play a song on the screen. She was hopeless at it, but it was fun and distracting. Catherine had been watching, and Sara had a sneaking suspicion she'd been taking pictures with her camera-phone when a car pulled up. Sara felt her blood run cold. Then the most wonderful sound she'd heard in a long time met her ears.
"Hello, Stranger." She whipped around and rubbed her eyes, afraid that she was hallucinating. She was not. Standing there, in the doorway to the den was Janet Burgundy. "Janet!"