The rest of the team arrived at the tail-end of catching Ray Denza. As hard as it was knowing we had a dirty cop in our midst, it was better knowing we could put a name to a face; the mastermind behind all the stolen drugs, the secrecy, and death piling up all around him.

Jay dropped me off back at the office just a little after six-thirty so I could go pick up Eva, while he and Kim delivered the news to the little boy's mother. I arrived at the school about fifteen minutes later, showing my ID to the security guard who allowed me entry into the school. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect when I got there. My mind was trying to put all the pieces together with everything that happened today.

"Hailey, right?" The security guard opened the door for me, which caused me to snap out of my thoughts. He looked down at his clipboard then back up at me. "Your little girl is Eva?"

"Right," I told him, before handing me back my ID. "Thank you."

"No, thank you. You have a good night."

"You too." Pulling the door open, the muted chatter of children became louder as I made my way across the hall towards the gym. As I walked into the gym, I was relieved to see there were still a handful of kids waiting to be picked up. It made me not feel so bad I was picking her up later than usual.

"Eva," I called out after scanning the room and finding her sitting in the same place I had found her yesterday. While the other kids were running around burning all their energy, she sat against the wall with her knees tucked up against her chest. It took her a few seconds to register my voice as she finally stood up, dragging her backpack across the floor. "Hey, you. Ready to go home?"

"Mhm." Was all she offered as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, her eyes heavy from all the time she had at school. "What took you so long?"

"I was working on a difficult case." I continued, trying to ignore the fact she was still dragging her backpack on the floor. Instead, I focused on the fact that she looked like she was going to fall asleep while walking. Now might not be the time to have this conversation with her, but I was willing to try and I made a split decision to lead her towards the bench where I had calmed her down earlier in the week. "Come here for a minute. I want to know how the rest of your day went."

"Fine, I guess." Shrugging her shoulders up and down a few times, she rubbed at her eyes again. "It was a long day. Hailey, can we do something fun tonight, just you and me?"

"We can. First I wanted to talk to you about something before we go home." Patting the seat next to me, she instead surprised me and climbed into my lap, resting her cheek against my shoulder. "I want to know how you're feeling about coming to live with me."

"I like it." Her head raised before she picked at the sleeve of my jacket, pulling the leather up and down. "It's different than my home in Michigan."

"Different how?"

"I don't know." This time she shrugged with one shoulder as she continued the motion of pulling on my sleeve again before letting her arms resting heavily against her body. "I think my room is a little smaller than my old one, and you do things different than my mom and dad did. That's all I can think of."

"What about here at this school? Do you have anybody who you sit with when you eat lunch?"

"Well, I don't have any friends yet. I had friends at my old one." The tone of her voice grew sadder, almost a longing as she placed her hands in her lap. "I kind of wish Paige was here."

"Paige? Is she one of your friends from your old school?"

"No. I met her on the playground when I met you." My stomach dropped, hearing her voice rise and fall. It held such excitement but yet such sadness that I wished I could take it all away. Jay was right though, I couldn't do that. What I could do was focus on fitting in more. "We played make-believe and it was so much fun."

"I bet it was," I reassured her, feeling her snuggle into my shoulder more. "From what I remember, you two looked like you were having a lot of fun."

"We were. Hailey?"

"Hmm."

"Do you think we could maybe go back to the park sometime?" Giving a yawn at the end of sometime, I could already tell it was going to be an early night for both of us. "Paige said she plays there a lot and I would really like to see her again."

"I think we can arrange something. Is that why one reason you've been down lately because you miss her?"

"Kind of. I just wish she went to my school so I had a friend to play with. I really liked playing with her."

"I know you did. I know you really want to see her again, and you might, but you have to realize that sometimes we don't always see the people again that we want to see." I didn't say that to bring her spirit down, but as her mother, I wanted her to know that things don't always go as we planned it, even when we were really hoping our dreams would come true.

"I know. I just wish she was going to the same school as me."

"When you were talking to her, did Paige say where she lived?" I asked, secretly hoping the little girl had said something about where she lived. If the two of them had hit it off as well as she said they had, it would be nice if Eva could make a friend. Even if they didn't end up going to the same school, at least they could still hang out.

"She said they always walk there when they want to play. They have to go with her mommy or daddy though because Paige and her brother aren't old enough to walk there."

"They probably live nearby if they can walk."

"Does that mean she might go to this school after all?"

"I don't know for sure. Until we can find out, is there anybody else you could sit with at lunch?"

"Not really. We have to sit in order by our last names when we're eating at the lunch table." She sounded less than thrilled at that rule. "I think that's why the kid next to me eats so fast."

"This the same kid you were telling me about earlier on the phone?"

"Yeah. His friend sits at the end of the table and hardly eats anything. He runs away from the table before the cafeteria lady can check his tray." I thought I heard a little giggle in there as I imagined a boy her age running away from the table.

"What do you do when you're outside?"

"I play in the grass."

"By yourself or with someone else?"

"By myself. I build houses with sticks and grass." Sitting up, she wriggled a little away from grasp before placing her feet down on the carpet. "Can we go home now? I'm tired. And hungry. What are we having tonight?"

"I was thinking we could have some stir-fry." Standing up, she walked beside me as we said goodnight to the security guard and walked down the sidewalk towards the parking lot.

"What's stir-fry?"

"Basically chicken with vegetables."

"Oh. What kind of vegetables?"

"Green and red peppers, broccoli. Maybe some mushrooms and carrots."

"Yum! I love broccoli!"