Chapter six: Help

Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone, help.
(The Beatles)

Both of them drove back in silence, they didn't even talk a word when they reached Stillman's office to meet Jeffries, Vera and Stillman himself there. The former have had a meeting with Hope's best friend Julia.

"What's up with you?" asked Vera when they entered without a word.
"Nothing, just another freak we met." answered Scotty to leave the topic.
"I hate people like that." said Lilly deeply.
"As bad?" Jeffries asked incredulously.
"Another one of the sort: 'wanting to merry the blonde cop'! I think Lil could have a fan club by this time. And he had nothing that could help us except that she hooked up with the whole high school. And you?" Scotty replied.
Jeffries heard a tone of jealousy in Scotty's voice so he decided to answer his question. "She told us that Hope was going to meet her boyfriend the night she was murdered, but it wasn't the brother of Mike Green. She gave us a few names, but I'm not sure if these people exist. I suppose she was on drugs."
"Only freaks on this case." claimed Nick.

Stillman decided that there was nothing they could do that evening, so he dismissed his people. Nick asked if they wanted to go to a pub, but Lilly had enough of pubs at the moment and Scotty hadn't the right mood.

When they have met the next morning Scotty and Lilly were supposed to meet the doctor who had discovered Hope's pregnancy twelve years ago. Therefore they were sitting in a waiting room at the moment, waiting for this Dr. Franklin to have time. Lilly hated doctors in general, all this smells. Every time she met a doctor she felt awful and ill, so she just closed her eyes and tried to tell herself that she wasn't there while Scotty chatted with a boy aged eight.

"Lillian is this you?" she heard someone asking and opened her eyes.
"O Dr Franklin." Lilly left her seat and shake hands with the tall doctor, his face and his grey hair showed his age of about fifty-five, but the most striking feature of his face were the eyes of an amazing light blue, so blue that you always had to think that he knew all of you when he once looked at you. "I haven't thought that you were the one we have to question. How are you and Mrs Franklin?"
"We are divorced…" he said. "…, but both of us are well. And how are you? Haven't thought that I meet my little, old patient Lillian Rush again. Oh sorry, it isn't Rush anymore, is it? How is Patrick?"
Lilly shuddered; she hated the name Lillian and even more to be remembered of her former fiancée. "It is Rush. Patrick and I haven't married… someone was in the way."

Scotty has left as well and has waited for Lilly to introduce him, but she hasn't done, so he cleared his throat.

Lilly blushed; she had forgotten Scotty. "I'm sorry. Dr Franklin, this is my partner Scott Valens."
Dr Franklin shook Scotty's hand. "Lillian, I'm sorry either because I've forgotten this stuff of Christina and Patrick, I suppose I become old." He paused. "So what can I do for you?"
"We are reinvestigating the case of Hope Collins. We need some background information to her pregnancy."

Dr Franklin led them into an empty room to talk without curious mothers listening. Scotty was embarrassed for a moment because he was reminded of Christina which was still a hard topic between Lil and him.

"Hope was one of those cases you never forget, you know, like yours even though you were very different…"

Lilly prayed that Dr Franklin wouldn't start talking about her case when he looked at her and for god's sake he didn't start.

"… She was terrified when she came here because she supposed that she was pregnant. Her mother was very strict, but Mrs Collins thought that Hope was a little angel and the news of Hope's pregnancy broke her heart. In her opinion it was Hope's boyfriend Eddie's fault even though Eddie wasn't her boyfriend anymore…"
"He wasn't?" asked Lilly.
"No, she broke up with him after Mike raped her, but he isn't the father either…"
"Why do you think this?" questioned Scotty.
"She was raped in April and when she came to me it was August, that means four months and it was her eight week when I discovered her pregnancy so Gwen's father isn't Mike…"
"Do you know Gwen's father?"
"No, but she mentioned a guy namedFrank. He seemed to be a friend of Eddie's. Both of them were two or three years older than her."

"I think we should interrogate this Eddie Green, don't you?" asked Lilly when she sat down in Scotty's car.
"Get the address." Answered he smiling and gave her his cell phone.

Lilly called the department and after several minutes she quitted the call with an expression on her face that was really dissatisfied.

"He isn't in town this month," said she.
"Gee, we need him to go on with this stupid case… that means paperwork for another month," whispered Scotty in anger.
"Perhaps we find some other useful information or another suspect…"

Scotty nodded disappointed and started the car when he saw a little map on the left that showed a little lake and a forest.

"Hey, the forest in which Hope was murdered is only five minutes away," he mentioned. "Let's visit the forest, I suppose it can inspire us and it's better than some stupid paper work!"

He watched the blonde detective nodding and turned his car left. As Scotty has said they arrived five minutes later at the forest. The two of them left the car and entered the unusual dark forest, but against all odds they found their way to the place where Hope was found without any problems because of crosses and 'In loving memory of Hope Collins' plates on those. They finally reached their destination at the lake within the forest. The scenery was kind of magical as if they'd visit some place in a fairytale. Lilly's first thought when she saw the place was weird because she thought that it was the most wonderful place for a little child to die. She was ashamed for that idea, but she couldn't help to see the little girl in a glass coffin like Snow white. It was Hope Collins' dark version of a fairytale.

Lilly saw that Scotty shook his head when he saw a statue of Hope. "Freaks," said he while Lilly headed to the little lake. She watched the reflections of some trees in the water. Scotty was thinking that it was a wonderful picture of her in front of some blossom trees of spring when a female scream got him back to reality. There was his blonde partner who fell back of the tree. With a few steps he reached her and pulled her by his chest.

"Lil, what've you seen?" he asked her.

She caught her breath. She has seen him: George. She has seen him in the water. Now, he came to see her even in daytime. She suffered for fear in her body that let her emotions, breath and heartbeat freeze.

Suddenly she felt Scotty's warm skin and realized that he had talked to her.

"Nothin'. I was just thinking and haven't seen the frog at my shoe who croaked without warning," replied she, forming a weak smile and free herself from him.
"Are you sure?"

She nodded and mentioned that it was time to leave. Her knees were shaking and she wanted Scotty to forget the entire situation. Scotty didn't believe her, but there was nothing he could do as long as she wouldn't decide to tell him; therefore he had to leave her alone with her problems. It was certain that she didn't want him to know what happened.

A/N Thank you for all the nice reviews. Please let me know if they act too much ooc and review further. I hope I'll be able to write the next chapter sooner.