She was sitting, rocking back and forth in the floor by the sofa. Her porcelain cheeks were flushed with fear, and tears shone in her pale blue eyes. Valentine rushed to her side taking her into his arms.

"What is it? What's wrong?" The panic rising in his voice did nothing to calm the situation.

Her broken sobs filled his ears as she climbed onto his lap on the floor. He smoothed her hair, and dried her tears.

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"Yes," she sobbed.

As his heart rate slowly returned to normal he assessed the door and windows. Everything appeared to be as it should. Still locked up tightly. Checking his watch he realized it was only an hour until sun up. He pulled the blanket down over the two of them and leaned his head back onto the couch with her still curled up on his lap.

"Nothing can hurt you. I'm here. You're safe."

"Elodie," She said out of the blue.

He raised his head. "Hmm?"

"My names Elodie,"

Valentine grinned. "That's a lovely name,"

She laid her head back against his chest and soon he felt her breathing calm. He thought he could maybe get used to this. It took having someone there with him to make him realize just how alone he was. That was nonsense, of course. He'd officially finish the case, and the girl- Elodie would be gone from his life for forever.

He didn't even realize, but at the thought of her leaving...he'd held her tighter.

The next morning they went about their day together much as they had previously. Valentine had tracked down Elodie's babysitter, and she was coming in for an interview. She was a girl of about sixteen with crimson hair and a generous dusting of freckles across her cheeks and when Elodie saw her she ran to hug her before Valentine escorted the teen into his office.

"What can you tell me about the Greene's?"

She shrugged.

Valentine sighed, "Please,"

"They'd been fighting recently. A lot more than usual. The rumor was that Mr. Greene had shell shock." She shook her head, unsure if that was helpful.

"Rumor?"

"Well, my da said..."

"He said what?"

"Well, I told him how much they'd been fighting. He was worried about me going over there because he said Mr. Greene had a bad war..."

Valentine shook his head. That explained how things took such a devastating turn, but he still couldn't quite piece together why it happened. What drove a husband and father to take his own life, and that of his wife?

After he'd finished his routine questions, he had one more.

"Would your family be willing to keep Elodie for a few days until Social Services can find her a placement? It might help her to be with someone she knows,"

She gave him a sad smile, "It's just me and my da, and he wouldn't like taking on another mouth to feed,"

"I understand. Well, thank you for coming in,"

So he was back at square one with finding someone to keep the littlest victim of this crime. It was scarcely noon when Valentine decided to pack up for the day. Elodie didn't need to be stuck inside a stuffy police station all day. He sorted his paperwork, collected Elodie and told his sergeant he was talking the rest of the day.

On the walk to get ice-cream he remembered that he wanted to file an official note about the car that was across from the house. He made a mental note to do it tomorrow.

"What's your favorite flavor?" Valentine asked as they approached the shop.

Elodie smiled, "Strawberry,"

He grinned, "Well, strawberry it is, then."

"What sort are you going to get?"

The question suprised him.

"Erm, vanilla, I think."

They ordered their cones and continued their walk. They went to the park where he watched as she played on the swings, and then was persuaded to spin her on the merry-go-round. She let out a little squeal of joy and it seized hold of his heart.

It wasn't supposed to be like this...a child without a family. He wasn't supposed to be gaining an attachment to her. He wasn't supposed to be picturing himself as her parent. She couldn't keep coming to work with him everyday. Perhaps he would ask Mandy, the babysitter, if she would be willing to watch her.

From the corner of his eye Valentine spotted a familair vehicle. It looked similar to the car that was parked across from his house the night before. In fatc, he was sure that it was the very same.

"Elodie," he called.

Her blonde head turned at the sound of his voice.

"Let's go, love."

He reached out his hand and she took it with a smile. Blissfully unaware of the uneasy situation. No more forgetting. First thing tomorrow he was going to file an official report about this suspicious vehicle. He looked behind them several times, now paranoid about being watched. However, thankfully no one was behind.

That night, he put Elodie in his room with his bed, and he took the couch. He felt safer having her in a bedroom and not out in the open in the living room. He hoped that seeing the car twice was just a coincidence, but if it wasn't he wanted to be prepared.