Chapter 6

Olivia opened her mouth slightly but no words came out at first. It was as if her mind was still attempting to process the information. She tried to take in Melinda's revelation but it caught her completely by surprise. She was beginning to understand why the medical examiner wanted her to come in rather than give her this confidential information over the phone. The woman didn't know how to react.

"My niece?" Olivia repeated as she waited on the other line for confirmation that she heard the woman correctly.

"Yes. Now, you can understand why I didn't want to divulge this information to you this way," Melinda admitted.

Olivia ignored her comment. It would've came out as a surprise no matter where or how she said it. "And you said that there was a maternal match?" she asked in disbelief.

"That's correct," Melinda answered. "It appears you and the victim's mother, have the same biological mother."

Olivia shook her head. "That's not possible. My mother would've told me if she had another kid out there…"

"Liv, I ran the test twice just to be certain," the medical examiner informed her. "You are her aunt," she repeated. "You are the only match in the system. I just thought you should know."

A thousand thoughts were running through Detective Benson's mind.

Her mother had another daughter?

Why hadn't she ever told her?

Was she older than her or younger?

She had to have been older.

When did this happen?

Was that the reason her mother drank so much?

Olivia had always assumed it was the rape that caused her mom to become an alcoholic, but what if it was this?

Amanda walked outside and looked over at her boss, who was staring out at absolutely nothing with her phone still in hand. She knew something was off.

"Pete's an idiot but he agreed to contact us as soon as Jackie gets in contact with him. We're still going to call it in, right? I mean, who knows how many underage girls he has working for him…"

"Yeah," Olivia answered simply as she stared back at her phone. It was a short answer. Now, Amanda definitely knew that something was going on.

"Captain, are you okay?" the blonde questioned out of curiosity.

"That was Melinda," Olivia finally voiced out in a calm tone. "Uuuuhhhh..." she stopped to think about what she should actually say. "She ran the girl's DNA. The one at the hospital."

"Uhuh?" Amanda urged her to continue. It was obvious she didn't understand what caused Olivia to act this way.

"And… I came up as a match," she said out loud for the first time. "Turns out my mother had a kid I didn't know about andddd… I have a niece."

"Your niece?" Amanda repeated in disbelief. "That girl… wait a minute… She's your niece?"

"Apparently," Olivia answered as she reached for the file in Amanda's hand.

"The address that she gave on her application. We should head there first."

"The girl's smart. Do you really think she'd use her real address on the application? I mean, she lied about the license. She probably made up everything in that file," the blonde answered without thinking. When she saw the worried expression on her boss's face, she changed her tone. "I mean… no, you're right. We should try there first. It looks like a real address so that's a good sign. She might just be there."

Olivia stared at Amanda with a blank expression before she answered. "Let's go."

Jackie felt dizzy and a freezing sensation go through her entire body. She had just taken a few OxyContin pills to numb the pain she felt in her abdomen from the broken ribs. She could barely walk at first and the pain was only getting worse.

She got the pills from her best friend, Jason. He wouldn't tell her how he got them, but she was sure he stole them for her somehow.

Jackie meant to take one, but then she took another when she couldn't feel that it was working.

And then another.

She crushed a forth one and snorted it knowing that she would feel the effects of it faster that way. She felt a sharp pain in her nostril at first but now she couldn't feel a single thing which is what she wanted. She worried about what would happen when she ran out since there were only six more pills left.

Jackie laid down on the bed next to Jason, who was smoking a joint. He took that as his queue to put it out on the ashtray on the bedside table. He ran his fingers through her hair and moved them in circular motions on her head. Something he always had done to soothe her since they were kids. To Jackie they were best friends but to Jason it was different. He loved her more than that but he'd never tell her.

"Jackie?" he asked.

"Hm?" Jackie answered simply. She was barely there and he knew it.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked.

She laid her head on his chest and nodded softly.

"You gotta be more careful whose car you get into," he told her even though he knew she could barely comprehend what he was saying at this point. "I coulda lost you out there."

He waited for her to respond but she didn't. "We both gotta be careful. But you especially. We have to get you a gun or something."

"A gun?" she laughed. "So I can get arrested next time?" she joked as she looked up at him.

"When I find him, he's dead," Jason threatened.

"You won't," Jackie answered. "He's long gone by now."

"How do you know?" Jason asked.

The truth was Jackie didn't know. She only hoped. She had no idea who he was and she had only seen him once. What real chance did she have of running into him again?

"Because I know," she said simply. "And I'm okay, Jason. Really. You worry about me too much."

"Someone has to," he answered.

"Shut up," she said as she closed her eyes. "I'm tired."

"How many of those pills did you take?" he asked her.

"Two or three," she answered before they came to an abrupt stop after hearing someone knocking on the front door.

To be continued…