Out of the Blue

"Your sister?" Mike asked Carolyn. You said you didn't have any family."

"Half sister." Carolyn spat out angrily. "She's part of my fathers second family. The one he left us for."

Mike glared at the woman, defensive over the pain he heard in his partners voice.

"Is that true?"

"Yes."

"What the hell do you want?" Carolyn asked tensely. She really did wish she had her gun.

"Relax. If you ask him nicely, I'd bet your partner here would shoot me if you really want him to. He looks like he's ready to anyway."

"She asked you a question. What the hell do you want?" Mike snarled at the woman.

"Actually, I need to talk to you, Carolyn. Preferrably without fear of being shot on the street."

"We don't have anything to say to one another. Go back to where you came from." Carolyn barked.

"Such stubbornness. Just like him, except he was completely unreasonable. I had hoped that you'd at least have a touch of sanity about you. You have to be a logical person to have come as far as you have in your job. And stop clutching that carrier like I'm going to hurt your daughter. I don't eat babies. I never have." The woman snapped in irritation.

"Look, lady, just….." Mike said angrily.

"Detective Logan, I'm only here to pass on some information to your soon to be wife that she deserves to have. I don't want anything except that then I'll leave and you will never see me again unless it's her choice."

"What information?" Mike asked at the same time Carolyn said "You don't have anything to say I want to hear."

Mike glanced at her and shrugged. "You heard her. She's not interested. So leave and don't bother us again."

The young woman raised her hands. "Fine."

Carolyn passed behind Mike and he edged sideways to keep the woman between him and his family.

"He's dead, Carolyn." The woman said suddenly.

Carolyn stopped. She didn't turn around. "Good." And continued on toward the vehicle.

The woman shook her head. "He was an ass and he hurt her so much because that's who he was." She was talking to Mike now. "But what she needs to do is get a hold of the lawyer. She needs to talk to her. I had hoped to talk to her just once as a sister, but I guess that isn't going to happen. Here is the name and number of the lawyer. It's to settle the estate. At least, for her sake, ask her to look it over. Then maybe she can put closure to the whole mess." The woman put a sheaf of papers on a brick ledge and turned away.

"Wait. What's your name? How do I get in touch with you?"

"Ask her my name. And you can't get a hold of me. I told you that was all I wanted. I only want her to be happy. If she is now, then I'm pleased for her. Good night."

Mike eased forward and picked up the papers and hurried back to the car. Carolyn was sitting still as a statue in the passengers seat. Mike got in and turned on the dome light. "What are those?" Carolyn demanded.

"These are papers she wanted to give you." He replied.

Carolyn hissed angrily and pulled away as though they were poisonous. Mike was puzzled by his partners unusually illogical actions.

Mike opened them and read them. He wasn't going to tell her what they said. He folded them up and put them on the floor between his feet and the door, put on his seatbelt and started the car. He had pulled out of the parking lot, watching for the woman and headed in the opposite direction of home. He intended to drive around awhile in case the woman followed him.

Carolyn sat still and silent. Finally she asked in a strangled voice. "What are those papers for?"

"Let me concentrate on driving. We'll talk about it when we get home." He reached over and took her tense hand. "She won't bother us again. She said she won't and I'll make sure of it." He told her.

"I can't believe she's here after so many years." Carolyn said, miserably.

"What can she…. Never mind. We'll get this all straightened out at home and that will be the end of it. Just relax and enjoy the ride. We'll be home in a bit."

"I can't believe I wanted to shoot her. I was wishing for my gun."

Mike reached down by his ankle and handed her his extra gun. "If you see her again, fire away. I'll back you up."

Carolyn gave him a brief smile, but she took the gun. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They didn't see the woman when they got home. Mike made sure everything was locked up tight while Carolyn put the baby in her crib and joined him on the couch. She had changed back into her comfortable clothes and snuggled close to him on the couch. He had put the papers away in the wall safe so they weren't in evidence.

He turned on the television but wasn't watching it. He was waiting for her to open the topic. "Did…Did she tell you her name?"

"No."

"It's the same as mine. Basically. Lynn Carol. A play on mine."

"That was cruel."

"He was cruel. He was a lying, cheating, scumbag. He left my mother when she wouldn't even try to give him a son."

"That's biology. It's the man who determines the sex of the child."

"He knew that. He just knew he had to keep trying. My mom said no and he left her the next day. I heard them arguing about it."

Mike wanted to pound the man for hurting her even before he'd ever known her. "Sounds like you were better off without him."

"After awhile we were. It was hard going there for a while. He even denied that I was his daughter so he could get out of child support."

"If I could kill him for you again, I would." He squeezed her to him.

"My hero." She teased and kissed him.

"So how did this all come about with the other family?"

Carolyn didn't speak for the longest time and he waited. Finally she began to speak low and sadly. "He was sure that some younger woman would give him the son he wanted so he went out and found one. And she was born. He never came back or even wrote. He sent money when he had to by court order but he never contacted us again. We lost track of him and then we had moved beyond him."

"So she's your half sister. From what I can see is you don't share many physical characteristics."

"We're both stubborn. We've run into each other from time to time. I can't get rid of the resentment toward her. I know it's not her fault that she was born, she couldn't pick her parents any more than I could choose mine, but I just can't get past it."

"You don't have to talk to her ever again if you don't want to."

"But what about those papers?"

"I locked them away. You don't even have to respond if you don't want to."

"I should at least look at them."

"Let's let a lawyer look at them then we'll decide. Are you ready? For bed, I mean?"

Carolyn laughed at the change of subject and the eagerness in her husband. "I'm ready for you anytime." She told him.

TBC