Molly's Story Continued

Because the story seemed to be liked and because KB is requesting the next installment I have written a little bit more for your reading pleasure. Comments and criticism is always appreciated. Enjoy the story:



Molly's laughter joined his as he pulled the cruiser into traffic. The rest of the trip was made with Ray filling Molly in on the latest gossip around the office.

She was still laughing as they walked through the door of the squad room. Molly stopped for a moment to absorb the smells. There wasn't any other smell like a police station. Ray rested his hand on top of hers and squeezed it for a moment. Molly looked up and smiled at Deputy Sanchez.

“How is my favorite boy doing, Sam?”

Sam grinned back at her, “Molly, you need to come over for dinner and see for yourself. Marc misses you.”

“Have Carol call me and we will set something up.”

“Talk to you soon, Molly,” Sam replied.

Ray led Molly through the reception area, while she said hi to the men gathered around. Ray stopped outside the Captain's door and briefly knocked before entering the room. He led Molly over to a chair in front of the large oak desk and went back to shut the door.

Captain Manchester had been on the police force for over fifty years. He had been the captain for the last twenty years. His eyes twinkled as he looked at Molly, “Hi darling, how is my favorite girl?”

“I'm good Daddy. I was working on a murder scene when Chris called. Where is he?”

“He will be along shortly, but we can get you started with the basics. Angel had spent the night at a girlfriend's, which we have confirmed with the girl's parents. At 10:30 this morning she left her friends house and headed home. She lived two blocks away. At 2:00 the friend call her house to let her know she forgot something, but she had never made it home. The mother got as much detail out of the girl that she could and then talked to the girl's parents to let them know what was happening.”

“Jill then called all of Angel's friends to see if they had seen her. Then she called us on her cell phone as she walked the route angel would have taken. She found her knapsack but nothing else. I have teams combing the area. They will be coming in 30 minutes to debried and the next crew will go out.”

“Captain, it seems like you have it under control, why did you call me in?”

“First off, you know Angel better than any of us. You know how she thinks, her reactions to situations and know more about her home life than we do. Secondly, you also have worked more missing person cases than any of us. We could really use your input on this case.”

“Captain, I could fill you in on her home life and how I think she would react to different scenarios, but for how many cases I have worked, Chris has worked just as many as I have.”

The Captain stared at her a moment. “Molly, Chris and I discussed it and we would both like you in on this case. Also depending on how well you and Chris mesh again, I would like to bring you back on staff as a part time consultant. Just because you can't see well enough to work in the field doesn't mean you can't consult on cases, but we will sit down and discuss it after we find Angel.

Molly was silent for a moment as she looked at her father. “I will help you find Angel, but that is all I am committing to at this time. We would have quite a bit to discuss before I agree to come back even part-time. Where is Jill? Where is the photo board?

Molly felt him just before Chris laid his hand on her shoulder, “One of the officers took Jill to get something to eat and the photo board is in the conference room. Are you ready to finally start working again?”

Molly felt her spine stiffen even as chris slid his hand down to her elbow to help her get up from the chair. Molly knew her father was watching them with interest, even though she couldn't see his face clearly. She forced herself to relax in Chris' grip. Molly did not want the gossip mill starting again over them. Why Chris wanted to work with her on this case was anyone's guess, he had made it clear after her incident that he couldn't handle touching her. After she stood up and moved around the chair, Molly shrugged off Chris' hand. “Daddy is it clear?”

“Yes, Molly, you have a straight shot to the door. The hallway to the conference room hasn't changed either, so you should be clear the entire way.”

“Thank you Daddy.”

Your Welcome, Molly.”

Molly walked straight for the door quickly, grabbed the handle before Chris could open the door for her. She heard his sigh of frustration as she turned into the hallway for the conference room. As she focused on the corridor, she felt the darkness closing in around her. In the office and squad room, there had been windows, so it lessened the impact of the blindness, but in the hallway where it was already dark it drastically enhanced the blindness to the point where Molly couldn't see. Molly felt herself starting to hyperventilate.