The sunny Saturday on the third week of November was a good time for many people to get their Christmas shopping done. Since it was their day off, Sharon and Andy were about to leave the house to go shopping at The Grove when their phones started ringing. Knowing what it meant, they both answered, not thinking much about their ruined plans.
Sharon has seen many crime scenes and many bodies in her many years as a police officer, but this was different. This crime scene looked like a horror film set, with some bodies gutted, one decapitated, and two that were mutilated beyond recognition. Sharon felt the content of her stomach climbing up her throat. Fighting the urge to run outside of the crime scene and throw up, she noticed Detective Nolan was doing the same. Their eyes met, acknowledging each other's situation with a mere gaze.
"You okay, Detective?" Sharon asked.
"I've been better," Nolan replied. The ends of his mouth curved upwards in a bitter smile. "You?"
"I'll be fine," Sharon replied. She patted his shoulder before heading towards Provenza to get the initial report.
"Meet the Ross family," Provenza started with his usual sarcastic tone.
Sharon looked at the bodies that were strewn on the floor. Most of them were children. A couple of them seemed to be in their early teens. From the information Provenza provided her, it appeared that the Ross family had eleven children. The oldest was sixteen and the youngest eight months old. The beheaded body was the father, and gutted body was the mother.
"One of the bodies, the daughter, Quinn has a gunshot to the head, which is not consistent with the wounds of her parents and siblings," Tao said.
"How old was she?" Sharon asked.
"Thirteen," Tao responded.
"So she could be the murderer," Sharon assumed. She walked to Quinn's body and took a closer look at the girl's face, or what's remained of it. "Did we find the gun?"
"Yes, ballistics picked it up. She was holding it," Tao said.
Sharon wondered what led this young girl to brutally murder and mutilate her entire family. As she walked between the bodies, trying to find clues about what happened in this house, she heard a faint noise coming from upstairs. Motioning for Sanchez and Andy to join her, she removed her gun from its holster, and the three of them went to the second floor.
The noise came from the master bedroom, and the three officers stepped down the hall quietly. Sharon noticed traces of blood on the walls and floor, but it wasn't as gory as the scene downstairs.
As the three of them peeked into the room, Andy motioned towards the walk-in closet. With their weapons drawn, they entered the room and opened the closet doors.
"What the hell?" Andy muttered.
Inside the closet, there was a girl who looked about five or six. She was holding a baby in one arm and covering her mouth with the other. Sharon put her gun back in its holster and kneeled. The girl had a terrified look on her face.
"Hi there," Sharon spoke softly. "My name is Sharon; I'm a cop. You are safe."
A strong odor attacked her nose, and Sharon noticed a puddle that began spreading around the girl.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Gracie." the girl's voice was barely above a whisper.
"What a beautiful name. Gracie, is this your baby sister?" Sharon motioned towards the baby.
Gracie nodded.
"What's her name?"
"Tessa," Gracie said.
"Can I look at her closely?" Sharon asked.
Gracie removed her hand from Tessa's mouth and let Sharon take the baby from her arms. The baby didn't seem to be injured.
"These are Andy and Julio; they are also cops and good men," Sharon said to Gracie. "They are going to take Tessa to a doctor." Sharon transferred the baby to Andy's arms and asked him to take her out of the house and have the paramedics check her. "I see you had a little accident. Do you want to change your pants?"
Sharon knew that she was not supposed to contaminate the crime scene, but she couldn't bear the thought that this child would have to spend the next several hours with wet pants and underwear as they waited for DCFS to take her. She helped Gracie out of the closet and asked her to show her where her room was. She helped the girl change into clean clothes and asked Julio to bag the dirty ones.
"Julio, please ask them to cover everyone downstairs so I can get her out of the house," Sharon said.
Julio went downstairs and returned a few minutes later to let Sharon know that the child could be taken out of the house.
"Okay, Gracie. We're going to play a game now," Sharon said as she lifted the girl in her arms. "What you need to do is close your eyes tight and not open until I say you can, okay?"
A few moments later, Sharon and Gracie were out of the house, and Sharon told the girl that she could open her eyes. She led her towards an ambulance and introduced her to the paramedics. She knew the girl had seen some of the murders before she took the baby and hid in the closet, and making sure that the girl felt safe and knew that the paramedics were there to help her was important to Sharon. After the paramedics made sure Gracie was not injured, Sharon gently asked her questions about what happened in the house. The information Gracie was able to provide helped Sharon get a clearer picture of what had happened when the murders occurred.
After Gracie was taken to the hospital for a more thorough checkup, Sharon relayed the information she gained from the child to the team. According to Gracie's statement, Quinn was fighting with her parents during breakfast, and after leaving the table, she returned with a knife and began to attack her parents and siblings. Gracie's older brother, Kenneth, handed her the baby and told her to hide upstairs. It appeared that Gracie did not witness her family's murders.
Sharon assumed that with their murderer dead, the team would be able to close the case rather swiftly, but they still needed to tie all the loose ends before they could do that.
When they returned home that evening, Sharon was in what could best be described as a foul mood due to the day's events. When she and Andy went through the door, they did not expect to face a furious Rainie, who was sitting on the couch and glaring at them.
"Where the hell have you been today?" Rainie asked
"We got called to investigate a murder," Sharon replied, not noticing Rainie's anger at first.
"You didn't show up to my appointment," Rainie said. "And you didn't even think to call."
"I'm so sorry, sweetie. This case is horrendous. How did it go?"
Rainie looked at her mother and seemed to be considering whether or not she should unleash her fury at her.
Sharon sighed and took a seat on the couch next to her daughter. She placed her palm on Rainie's knee and looked into her daughter's eyes. "I really am sorry for missing your appointment and not calling. We've had one of the worst cases we ever dealt with, and I am really upset about it. I know you're angry, but –"
Rainie surprised her by wrapping her arms around Sharon's neck and pulling her down to a tight hug. "It's a girl, and she's developing well, and the heartbeat is strong, and she's about the size of a banana."
"I'm so relieved to hear that everything is going well," Sharon said. "A girl, huh?"
Rainie hummed. "Is the hug helpful? Are you feeling better?"
Sharon smiled against her daughter's shoulder. The hug and the information about the baby improved her mood. "Yes, I am. Thank you, honey."
Rainie pulled out her phone and scrolled for a moment before handing it to Sharon.
Sharon immediately recognized the photo on the screen. It was a 3D sonogram. "She looks like you," she teased.
"Or, you know, she might look like the sperm donor, who knows?" Rainie shrugged.
Sharon smiled. "I'm sure she will be beautiful, no matter who she resembles."
"As long as she's healthy, I don't care all that much," Rainie said.
"You're right." Sharon smiled and patted Rainie's knee. "I'm exhausted, so I'll go get ready for bed, but why don't you go show Andy? I'm sure he'll be ecstatic."
Sharon was right. When she crawled into bed shortly later, Andy's eyes shone, and a smile tugged at the ends of his lips. After the terrible day they had at work, it felt nice to return home to exciting news. Even though there were still more than twenty weeks until they would get to meet their second granddaughter, they couldn't wait. This thought made Sharon smile. She loved babies, and her maternal instinct has always been well-developed, but she was almost as excited to see Andy with their new grandchild. Seeing him with Nicole's step-children when they were little and later with Lily always made a warm and fuzzy feeling spread in Sharon's body. He was so good with babies, probably even better than she was, and that was a gift.
-TBC-
