Six: 1982 and 2009

New York City

"Turns out Emma wasn't headed to her parents' after all, Jason." Flack slid the old family photo they'd found across the table to him. In the picture, a two year old Emma was smiling out at them from her father's arms.

Jason frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Her father walked out on her when she was three years old, and her mother's in a residential facility in Manhattan…"

The frown only deepened. "I knew about her mother… but I… I've met her father before."

"His name?"

"Albert Smart, he lives in Philadelphia… Emma's mother is very sick, you see, and I don't think their marriage held out very long after the Alzheimers was diagnosed… but Emma and I go and stay with her father often…"

Flack sat in the chair opposite him, and slid another photograph over to Jason. "Do you know this man?"

Jason studied the photo for a moment, and then shook his head. "There's something about his face that's familiar, but I don't think I've ever seen him before."

"That's Emma's father, Jason. Edward Harris. Left Emma and her mother in 1985 and claims never to have been back to New York since."

Jason shook his head. "That's not her father. That's not Albert."

*

Stella stood in the observation room as Flack walked through.

"You believe him?" he asked, eyebrows raised. Stella shrugged.

"He seems believable… but how can Emma Kranz have had two fathers?"

There was a small knock on the door, and Danny poked his head round. "We've got something on Albert Smart." He said, handing Flack a file. "He does live in Philly, and he married Anna Beaumont three years after her divorce. Their marriage was ended when Anna was diagnosed with early onset rapid Alzheimers and she was taken into a facility…"

"A step father, then. He's who Emma treated as her real father her whole life."

"I'll make a call." Flack said, "We can release Jason for now, I guess."

*

The facility that had become Anna Beaumont's home made even Mac uncomfortable, with the white washed walls and the extreme disinfectant smell. But a smiling nurse led them into Emma's mother's room, with a sympathetic glance.

"You won't get anything much out of her, Detectives. She hasn't been lucid in years."

Mac gave a small nod and allowed Lindsay through the door first. The woman sat in the armchair in the corner wasn't, all in all, that old. She wasn't in any way frail looking, and even the wrinkles on her face were only that of someone just reaching the end of their best years, not someone crumbling away slowly. Lindsay sat down close to the woman, trying an encouraging smile. She glanced across at them, and it was her eyes that aged her. Blank, tired, haunted.

"Ms Beaumont, I'm Detective Monroe and this is Detective Taylor… we're here about your daughter."

Anna shook her head. "I've told the doctors, I don't have a daughter." He voice was cold and blank. Lindsay sighed.

"I have a daughter." She said slowly, "She's just a few months old, her name's Lucy. What's your daughter's name?"

Anna shook her head slowly, with almost the air of a defiant child. "I don't have a daughter." Mac put a calming hand on Lindsay's shoulder, stepping forward towards Anna, and crouching down in front of her. "What about a sister, Anna, do you have a sister?"

Anna stared at him blankly for a moment, and he thought he was going to have to accept that anything they might have got out of Anna Beaumont was long gone. But a small smile touched her lips.

"Mary." She whispered, "She's such a bad girl… Daddy gets mad, and she just does it again… she's having a baby now, she's only sixteen, Mark won't have anything to do with it and I can't seem to make her see…"

Mac was nodding slowly, and Lindsay squeezed her hand. "That's really good, Anna. What happened to Mary?"

Suddenly, everything shifted. Anna's eyes started darting, her movements were nervous, almost like twitches, and she drew her hands away from the detectives, face contorted in fear.

"Attacked… attacked… he came for me… he came for me and my baby…"

Tainted Love - Soft Cell

August 30th 1982

She had to keep running, stumbling, stumbling, but it was hard when you were eight months pregnant and the baby weighed a tonne. She had to keep running, get home to Edward, get away from this monster…

His footsteps were closing in on her, her heart was racing. She wasn't gonna be able to keep going like this much longer…

And then she felt, face first on the ground, feeling her chin scrape along the sidewalk. As she scrabbled to get up, a hand caught her and held her down.

"I'm sorry, Anna…" the voice said, and she struggled and fought, kicking back, making her attacker grunt in pain. He laughed slightly. "You'll calm down in the end, just like Mary…"

At that moment she heard a dog barking, the light padding sound of running animal, followed by the heavy human boots.

"Who's there?"

The hand on her clothes loosened and the torch light came closer.

March 20th 2009

"Just… just like Mary… I was…" Anna's face was decorated now with silent tear tracks. She swallowed, and then looked at Lindsay, a small smile touching her mouth.

"Emma… you look so beautiful… you make sure you're in before midnight, you understand?"

Lindsay pulled back slowly, patting the older woman's hand. "Thank you, Ms Beaumont. You've been very helpful."

Anna nodded blankly, and returned to staring out of the window, tears still spilling from her eyes.

"I think it'd be best if you left now." One of the nurses said, and Mac stood up, Lindsay following, as they headed for the door. As they were about to walk out in the bright white corridor, a voice snaked after them.

"It couldn't have been Dean." Anna said, never looking away from the window. "Dean was in prison."

*

Stella's phone buzzed, and she answered immediately. "Bonasera."

"Detective, this is Will Jeffries from Philly Homicide."

"I'm listening."

"We've talked to the guy who went down for the Mary Beaumont job in 1976. He's put the father up as a suspect, and two of ours are going down to check him out now. The only thing is… he couldn't be good for you murder. He's been in an old people's home in Philadelphia since 2006."

Mac poked his head around the door.

"Can you hold for two seconds, Detective Jeffries?"

"Sure."

She turned to Mac, who had a grim expression on his face as he sat down opposite her. "Looks like we had a third attempt to kill… the mother, Anna Beaumont – in August 1982 when she was pregnant with Emma. The perp held her down and said something about Mary, but he'd chased her onto someone's land, and it was broken up by the owner, trying to catch trespassers. She didn't get a good look at the guy, and if she did, it's long gone now. Her mind's riddled with Alzheimer's, Stell, and-"

She gave him a little smile. "Hold that thought for one second, Mac…. Jeffries?"

"Here."

"My colleague has just informed me that we had another possible attack… August 1982, in NYC, on Anna Beaumont. Mary's sister, and Emma's mother."

"Right. I'll call when we have anything else."

"Thanks."

After she'd hung up the phone, she looked over to Mac, who was staring down at his hands in his lap, looking thoughtful.

"What is it?" she asked. He gave her a small smile.

"Got anything to drink in here?"

She laughed a little. "You're my boss, Mac, I wouldn't tell you if I did…"

He raised his eyebrows, and leant down to open the bottom drawer of her desk, pulling out a whisky bottle and two glasses, and pouring them two small measures.

"What's going on, Mac?"

He shrugged. "Seeing Anna Beaumont like that… she's not that far off my age, Stell… and she's… she's gone. She's not who she used to be… just a jumble of memories she can't make sense of… I guess it's got me thinking…"

She didn't say anything, but leant forward, leaning on her elbow on the desk, taking a sip from her glass.

"Life's short, you know that?" he whispered, "Claire, Aiden, Angell… it's sometimes shorter than we think… I guess I was thinking that sometimes we don't make the most of it…"

Neither of them said another word, but the air hung thick with unsaid things.

A touch of SMacked there ;)

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