Emilia kept true to her word and did not return to work for a while after the last victim. She was far too guilty to face everyone there, especially the son. She needed some days to calm herself down before she could face anyone. Alice had tried getting in contact with her but even she wasn't privy to a conversation with Emilia. No one really was.
In the meantime, Olivia had re-tasked the squad with interviewing people at the school again. They had to be missing something.
Alice had kept an eye out the entire day for each of the detectives roaming the school. They hadn't talked to her yet and she assumed that being Emilia's closest co-worker, she would probably be last in order to have more time with her. True enough, as soon as she said goodbye to her last student, Sonny approached her.
"I was wondering when it'd be my turn," she remarked as they started their way back to the class. "Have you found anything this time?" Despite not being able to answer her for ethical reasons, the frown marking Sonny's face was all Alice needed to know.
It was frustrating enough going through the interviews another time but still not having anything concrete was absolutely killing him. Sonny felt like he was letting Emilia down all over again.
"Have you talked to Emilia since, you know, the last homicide?" Alice asked. They'd stopped in front of the classroom.
"No," Sonny shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't want to. It was that he didn't know what to do if he did. As a detective, it was his job to inform her that they weren't any closer to finding a suspect. As someone who really liked Emilia, wasn't it his obligation to make her feel better? And to do that...he had to have something for her. And he didn't. He had absolutely nothing.
"You should talk to her." Alice headed inside the classroom, prompting Sonny to follow her. "I think it would do her some good."
"Why?"
Alice stopped to give him a look that Sonny didn't quite like. It was a similar one that Amanda often gave him when she thought he was being an idiot.
In the end, Alice said nothing of the sort and went up to the cabinets for cleaning supplies. "So, what are you going to ask me?"
"Umm…" It took Sonny a moment to get himself back together. He shook his head and followed her to the first table she would clean. "Detective Amaro told us in detail about the argument the victim had with Emilia. Do you remember anyone who was still around at that hour?"
Alice snorted. "It was pick-up hour, there were a lot of people. Lots of parents, most of the staff. Isn't this stuff for the cameras?"
Sonny rolled his eyes. "You would think. They're not working right now."
"Of course they're not."
"Let's focus on the staff since your class' parents were gone anyways. Who's typically outside with you during pick up?"
"The other teachers, obviously, but not all of their assistants."
"Why not?"
"Some of the lead teachers leave the assistants to get a headstart on the cleaning. It's a pain." She made a wave of the cleaning bottle and rag in her hands. "I know for a fact that Miss Lisa and Mr. Carlos have their assistants stay behind."
Sonny took a quick note of that then asked about any other people who might have been out.
"Umm, the principal was out. He and Mr. Henley, our maintenance guy, were going over the garbage disposal. I think something wasn't working. I think that's it, honestly."
"Okay. Now, the usual, wasn't anything unusual that day before pick up?"
Alice pondered if only to think of something but the day had been pretty ordinary. "Nothing out of place outside the normal kindergarten parameters."
"Yeah," Sonny sighed lightly. This was going nowhere.
"You don't have to look so guilty, you know?" Alice muttered under her breath. As it turned out, Sonny didn't even hear her. He was too busy being lost in his thoughts, or guilt. Alice stopped cleaning and stared at him for a few seconds. Then, suddenly, she left the cleaning bottle and rag on the table and headed for the desks. "Hey detective Carisi? Can you do me a favor?"
Sonny looked over to see her dumping a pile of paper into a paper bag. "Um, sure?"
"The kids did this for Emilia and I really want to give these to her today but I'm sure that she's not going to be answering my calls or opening the door for me…" Alice walked back to him and held the bag to him. "Could you deliver these to her, please?"
"What?" Sonny blinked.
Alice waved the bag. "This—it's for Emilia. I told the kids she was sick so they made some cards for her. Could you give them to her for me? I know that it'll help her."
Sonny had no idea why his hand was already taking the bag from her. The odd instinct was just too strong. "Umm...yeah, I guess?" Technically speaking, somebody did have to go see Emilia to let her know how the case was going. With the bad news coming her way, bringing her the cards would hopefully help with the blow.
So, he promised Alice that he would hand deliver the cards later that afternoon. With the pretense of the case, he was able to stop by Emilia without any questions from the others.
He knocked several times and in the end had to identify himself for Emilia to open the door for him.
"What are you doing here?" Emilia was unimpressed with his presence and that honestly hurt Sonny a little. She didn't even open the door entirely for him.
"Uh, we...the case…?" He was stumbling over his words and he was usually a very good talker. A charmer, even. That's what several people had told him, anyways.
Emilia shook her head. "I would rather not hear anything unless the words 'we caught him' are going to be the first things you say."
"I want nothing more to say that, believe me," sighed Sonny. "But it's not going to be today, Emilia, I'm sorry."
Emilia swallowed hard. She couldn't blame him. "It's fine. Is that all?"
Once again, her shortness hurt Sonny. "Not exactly. I come with a delivery." Emilia raised an eyebrow at him. He pulled the paper bag around from his back and presented it to her with a smug smile. "I bet you want to see these."
"What's inside?" she asked curiously.
"Can I come in?"
Emilia nodded and opened the door completely. She watched him walk in with suspicion, almost wondering if another detective was coming in just to 'talk' to her in detail again. Fortunately, it was just him and whatever was in that paper bag.
"I talked to Alice today and she wanted you to have these." Sonny dropped the bag on the coffee table. "She said you weren't answering her calls…"
Emilia folded her arms over her chest. She said nothing because of course it was true. She had tons of missed calls from her, even from her sister. "I didn't feel like talking to anyone."
Sonny smiled knowingly, his head tilting one way.
"Oh, shut up," Emilia sighed. Yes, she was talking to him but that didn't count! "You're the detective on my case, I have to talk to you."
Sonny chuckled. "Why don't you come see these."
"Did you take a peek or something?"
"Well, one of them fell out on the drive here but I didn't see anything else." Sonny raised his hands in front of him. "I promise." Emilia chuckled very slightly, very slightly, but it still made Sonny's heart flutter. "C'mon, Em...Emilia…" Emilia paused at his abrupt use of the nickname. For a second, Sonny panicked that his imprudence had just cost him his way in. "S-sorry. I didn't—"
"No, I like it," Emilia said, smiling. "I mean, of course others call me that too. That's-that's what I meant." She felt a surge of heat rush up to her face.
"Of course," Sonny nodded fast. "So, um, do you want to see the cards?"
Emilia didn't think twice about it anymore. She hurried up to him and sat down on the couch with him. He handed her the bag and watched her eagerly plunge a hand inside it for a card. It warmed his heart to see a teacher so grateful for her students...and, maybe because it wasn't often that he saw her smiling.
And she even laughed.
She brought her hand to her mouth as she read the card. "Liliana—she's the little artist of the class." She turned the card around for Sonny to see.
Liliana had drawn, to the best of her ability, Emilia with long hair that reached to the bottom of the paper. There was a recognizable teacher badge in a necklace around Emilia's neck. Liliana had even drawn a miniature picture of Emilia inside the badge. The words 'Get better, Miss Emilia' was written in big letters at the top. Of course it wasn't completely spelled right and there were several capital letters sprinkled throughout the words.
It was a heartwarming card indeed.
"That is adorable," Sonny remarked, laughing with Emilia afterwards. "It looks like it belongs on the fridge."
"Doesn't it?" Emilia closed the card. "Lily's always drawing things for Alice and I."
"It's probably because she loves you guys so much." Sonny used the word 'probably' very loosely because as far as he knew, that little girl adored both of her teachers. "I bet she misses you."
Emilia said nothing in return. Her expression turned grim, however, outing her feelings. She looked through the bag for a few more cards. As she went through them, it was impossible to stay grim.
"Oh god, I don't know why Aron always thinks I have blonde hair," she laughed. She turned the card over for Sonny to see the drawing.
Aron had drawn Emilia with long strands of blonde hair indeed.
"I cannot pull that color off," Emilia said, shrugging her shoulders in resignation.
"Have you tried it?" Sonny asked, if only to keep her humor going.
She snorted. "No! What did I just say? I don't pull that color off."
"I think you could pull of any color," Sonny remarked. He winced as soon as the words registered in his head. Had he really just said that?
Fortunately, Emilia chuckled. She was biting her bottom lip while she fought a decent blush trying to make its way to her face. "I thank you for your faith, detective. You and Aron might have something to talk about in the future."
Sonny relaxed with her words. He really liked how light hearted she was, even more so knowing he had a hand in it. Get ahold of yourself, he reprimanded himself. He was falling and with no restraints.
"Would you like something to drink, detective?" Emilia suddenly asked, already getting up from the couch.
She was not helping him right now. And yet, with that big smile on her face, how could he tell her 'no'?
"Water, thanks," the words slipped out of him.
"You sure that's it?"
"Still on the job…"
Emilia nodded then. She moved around the couch to head for the kitchen. A short minute later, she was back with his glass.
"So, the case," she started once they were sitting together again, "Have you guys found anything yet? Any suspects?"
Sonny shook his head. The light in Emilia's eyes died so quickly. "I'm sorry," he said.
"How long can these cases last?" Emilia looked at him sharply, leaving no room for him to even try to lie to her.
"They're all over the place," he said. "Some are quick, some are long...some are really long…"
"And some don't ever get closed," Emilia said quietly. Sonny hated that he had to nod. Emilia's gaze fell to the sofa cushions. "I don't know what I'm going to do if this case lasts years. I mean, will I just have to move?"
Even the idea of her moving away managed to hurt Sonny. It was shocking, really. At what point did she gain that effect on him now?
"Who am I kidding? My whole life is here," Emilia sighed. "My parents and my sister live here. I've lived here my entire life. I can't see myself just getting up and leaving."
"Emilia, believe me, I'm so sorry." Sonny felt like a broken record. He would lose count if he got to thinking how many times he said the same words to Emilia.
The brunette seemed to take it all with a smile. "You say that like it's your fault."
"I am the detective here," he reminded her.
"Yeah but you're not God. I expect there are some cases that you and your team have trouble with." Unfortunately her case was the one they couldn't solve so quickly. And maybe she wasn't helping being such a downer and a grump. She stared at Sonny for a moment. He had come all the way to her apartment to give her some cards that her students made. Sure he also came for the case but he didn't have to stick around to go through some of the cards with her. As much as she told herself not to look so much into it, she could feel her heart swell.
"Are you thinking of going back to work?" Sonny asked, pulling her back to the present.
"Umm, I don't know. I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me but then...I don't suppose I'll make it easier for you guys to catch this man if I don't leave the house?"
"Hold on there, you are not bait," Sonny clarified. "You need to go about your life like you usually do."
"But you can't say that it wouldn't be easier if I did use myself as bait," Emilia countered. She was smiling like she was waiting for Sonny to admit she had a point.
And unfortunately, she did.
Sonny shook his head. "No. Absolutely not. If you want to leave the house it'll be because you want to, not because you're going to put yourself in danger. I wouldn't let you otherwise."
Emilia's eyebrows raised in surprise and Frank bemusement. "You wouldn't let me?"
Sonny heard what she said and therefore what he had said. He groaned inside. "I didn't mean it like that," he said fast and defensively. "I-I didn't…"
"So how did you mean it?" Emilia curiously wondered. It was rather cute the way he stammered.
"I-I meant...obviously I meant-well, I'm a detective right?" He asked. It was a stupid question but he supposed he had to start somewhere.
"Yeah," Emilia nodded. It was hard not to laugh at him. His face was so red!
"Well, then it's my-my job to...to, you know, protect you." Sonny felt like he was digging himself a deeper hole. "That-that would include keeping you from, you know, using yourself as bait."
"Ah," Emilia nodded slowly. It was terribly hard for Sonny to decipher whether or not she was upset.
"Did I...was that a good explanation? Are you...are you mad?" He had to ask in the end because all she did was stare at him. He has three sisters to know that a stare could be dangerous.
But, finally, Emilia's lips twitched. Ultimately, she went into a fit of giggles. "You should see your face right now," she laughed like she never had before.
Sonny was dumbfounded for a good minute. At the same time, he was fascinated. This was a version of Emilia that he had yet to see and it only made him want to see more.
"Sorry, sorry," Emilia said once she started sobering up. "It was just funny—you were funny."
Sonny would gladly be more funny in the future if it made her laugh like that. "Okay then…"
Emilia bit on her bottom lip, both to hold back another laugh and to control the level of embarrassment she was beginning to feel now that it struck her about what she'd just done. "Thank you for coming, detective," she decided to say instead of anything else related to her fit of laughter. "And for bringing these cards. It all definitely helped me."
Sonny was beyond happy to hear that. He had no idea how he managed to keep it under wraps.
He then remembered that he had a job he was still clocked in for. Olivia's texts helped with that. He was sad to go but he could at least leave with the knowledge that, for the first time since they met, he had made Emilia Hartley laugh like he'd never seen her do. That was enough to brighten up the rest of his day.
Author's Note:
As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"
For the reviews:
SweetKittyCat: Wouldn't that be nice right? ;) We'll have to wait and see what happens!
