Rifiuto: Non Mirena

"You okay?" Carter looked up. Zane leaned against the wall of Fargo's office, hands in his pockets. "That bad?"

"This case... she was just a child when she and her brother disappeared. It... gripped the nation's attention for months- every lead was followed, every dead end documented. If this girl is who she says she is, then we've solved at least part of one of the greatest missing children cases in American history." Zane nodded, watching Carter lean his head on his knuckles. The older man glanced down at the photograph of Jo, before grabbing the box that housed her case file. Her case had haunted his dreams, his life, his career for the past twenty years- a small part of him hoped that she was telling the truth. Zoe had been two months old when the Lupo children disappeared, and he remembered holding her tight, thanking God he had his daughter in his arms. He had prayed they'd find them alive, but nothing had ever come of it-

Now, maybe something finally had.

"Where are you going?" Zane asked, as Carter moved past him, the box and photograph in his hands. Carter turned to him.

"If she really is this girl, then I need to get her back to her family, and find her brother. It was my job, to find them, and I failed; if I can make some sort of amends- even twenty years later- if I can give her back some semblence of her life, I'm going to." Zane sighed, following.

She looked up, her fingers finally stopping their relentless picking of her arms. The sheriff stood at her bedside, a young man with him. A moment passed, before the sheriff took a seat and set the box on the floor. He pulled something out of it, setting it down beside her on the blankets. "Jo, can you tell me anything else? Anything you remember?" She glanced at the things he'd laid out before her.

"What's all this?"

"This... is your case file." She looked up at him.

"Case file?" He nodded.

"Yes. You... you were... missing for... twenty years, Jo. This... is everything we collected in the search for you and your brother." Slowly, she reached out, picking up an evidence bag. On closer inspection, she saw a bracelet- green and blue sea glass beads on a brown leather strap. Even through the plastic of the evidence bag, the feel of the beads was familiar.

"Dad picked this up for me in Spain. He said he bought it from a woman who owned a little hole-in-the-wall shop."

"It's so pretty, Josie!"

"Did you wish you could have gone with him?"

"Da... my... my dad... brought this... back for me from... from Barcelona. He... bought it from a... a lady who... who owned a... a hole-in-the-wall shop. He... came back from... Spain two weeks before... before Easter... and.. gave it to me..." She looked up at them. "I... I haven't seen this in... in years..." Carter nodded. He glanced down at the notepad in his hands.

"Your... older brother Davie said that... when he dropped you and Luca off at the movie theater, you were wearing that bracelet. Do you... have any idea how you came to lose it?" She shook her head.

"It... it must have... slipped off..."

"We found it in the... lobby of the movie theater." Jo nodded, handing it back to him and laying her head back on the pillow. Zane watched her; she glanced at him, her dark eyes alighting briefly with curiosity before turning back to Carter. "Do you... remember what happened that day? After the movie? What did you and Luca do?" She swallowed, glancing at Zane again, her eyes locking with his. Her eyes closed briefly, and she took a deep breath.

"We... we left the movie and... went out into the lobby... we'd gone to see... Terminator Two." She swallowed, her dark eyes shifting briefly to Carter before going back to Zane. "I like action movies." Carter nodded, catching the small smile Zane gave her, that she returned.

"Can we go get ice cream, Luca?" He shook his head.

"No, Josie, Dad said that we have to go walk straight home from the movies. No shortcuts and no ice cream. But we can do ice cream tomorrow." She sighed, reaching up to brush away a loose strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail. She didn't notice how loose her bracelet had been tied, or that it had fallen to the red carpet, as they moved through the lobby.

"But I want ice cream. Don't you, Luc?" He sighed, rolling his eyes. "We pass right by Mr. Kinney's Ice Cream Parlor on our walk home? Can't we? Please?" He thought a moment, then sighed.

"All right. I won't tell Dad if you won't." She grinned.

"Thank you, Luca!" Then, she grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the doors, and they disappeared out into the night.

She took a deep breath. "We... I... I convinced Luca to... to stop at... at Mr. Kinney's for ice cream..."

"And it was on your way home?" She nodded. Carter quickly jotted down the name, determined to locate the man who'd owned the parlor back in 'ninety-one and talk to him. "Jo, do you remember anything else from that night?" She shook her head.

"Not right now, sorry." He nodded.

"Carter, she's tired. Let her rest for a while. You can finish your questioning later." He looked up to see Allison at his other side. A moment passed, before he nodded and took the bracelet and returning it to the evidence box. Then, he packed up the rest of the evidence and put it in the box before getting up.

"I'll let you get some rest, come back later." She nodded.

"Sheriff?" He turned back; she looked so small, a child, frightened and alone. "When can I go home to my dad?" His heart dropped into his toes.

He watched her; before taking a seat in the the chair Carter had vacated earlier. Slowly, she turned to him, her dark eyes slowly opening. He held out the coffee cup, and she took it. "Picked this up at Cafe Diem. Vincent makes the best vinspresso in town." She took a sip.

"Thank you." He nodded. "Who are you?"

"Zane Donovan. I work here... particle phsycist." They sat in silence for several minutes. "So... do you really not remember what happened to you?" She shook her head. "So... what do you want to do with you life?" She shrugged.

"I... I don't know. I... I would like to... hopefully... fall in love and... start my own family. After returning to mine, first. I want to see my dad and my brothers."

"And then start a new life?" She nodded.

"Yeah. And then start a new life."