It was almost three the next afternoon before Sydney finally stopped by the SBPD. Enjoying the feeling of jeans and a t-shirt, she slipped inside, nodding to the Officer Jessie Miller who was behind the front desk.
“When did you get back?”
“Late last night.” Sydney stopped at the window. “How are the kids?”
Jessie’s face lit up in a far away smile. “They’re great. All over the place.”
Sydney let out a laugh. “I bet.”
Eyeing the line of people who needed Jessie’s attention. She stepped to the side. “Talk to you later.”
“Later, Sydney.”
Sydney made her way into the station, stopping to talk to officers along the way. Finally, she made her way to the desk of her favorite head detective only to find he wasn’t at his desk.
Not that that had ever stopped her.
Sitting in his chair, she propped her feet on his desk, pulling her phone out of her pocket and opening the iBooks app. Something about a Vince Flynn novel settled her. He wasn’t that far off from how it really was and she appreciated that in his writing.
Shame he’d passed away.
The clearing of a throat brought her away from the case Mitch Rapp was working on and back to the present day. Looking up, she saw Lassie standing there, two cups of coffee in his hands, eyebrows raised at her. “Last I checked, that was my desk.”
“That’s a real technicality.” Sydney pulled her chair out of the corner and took the cup of coffee. “But I guess I’ll let you have it.”
She sat down the coffee cup and pulled him into a hug. “I see you kept the station from imploding while I was gone.”
“You were only gone a month.”
“Felt like longer.” She plopped down in the chair, feet back up on the desk.
“Hard case?”
She shrugged. “Not too hard, just not used to it anymore. I’ve learned I’m happier here. Well, didn’t learn that, just realized it more.”
“Going to take any more.” Lassie sat down at his desk and started checking his emails.
“Probably. It’s hard to give it up completely. But I told them I’m not going back full time.”
“Ever?”
“Probably not. After all, someone has to keep my father in line.”
She picked the moment where Lassie was taking a sip of his coffee and then enjoyed a laugh as he almost snorted it right back out. Taking a minute to compose himself, he turned to her. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“Me?” She felt a smile grow on her face.
With a sigh, he started typing a response, Sydney took a second to look around. People were at work, but it almost looked like they had been right the night before.
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
The door to the chief’s office slammed open. “Detective Lassiter.”
His head snapped up. “Yes, Chief?”
“Get, Ohara, I mean Spencer and head down to Willow Park. There’s been a murder and this one looks like it’s going to be a doozy. Miss Collins, when did you get back?”
“Late last night.”
“Are you okay with being back on duty this quick?” The concern in her eyes was genuine and Sydney couldn’t help at smile at the woman who couldn’t help but mother her now and then.
“I’m fine, Chief.” Sydney jumped up, sliding her chair back into it’s corner. “Jules!”
The woman in question came up the stairs. “Sydney! When did you get here?”
“A few minutes ago. But we’ve got a case.” Grabbing Lassie’s car keys, she tossed them to him when he came after them. “So, are we carpooling?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If Sydney had known what was waiting for her, she would have taken her time getting to the crime scene. When the chief had said it was a doozy, she wasn’t kidding.
In front of her, lay the body of what had been a sixteen year old girl with her whole future ahead of her. Her head was split open, revealing an empty brain cavity, and there was a gaping wound in the chest where the heart had been.
“What kind of sicko takes the heart and brain?” Sydney slid on her gloves and began examining the body, ignoring the smell that was already coming off the body. It was a warm day and that wasn’t helping matters.
“A special kind of sicko.” Lassie was looking through the wallet of the victim. “We’ve got an Olivia Carden, 16, lives about a mile from here.”
“She was only 16?” Sydney felt a feeling in her gut at the idea of only being a few years older than the girl.
Lassie grunted confirmation. “Are you getting anything?”
“Well, she was running. Listening to music. She’s been dead for at least 16 hours.” Looking around the little used section of the park, she knew why it had taken someone so long to find her. “It could be as simple as wrong place wrong time. Something tells me not to make a profile out of this.”
“Will the killer strike again?” Jules sounded worried.
Sydney looked around the scene. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
The examination continued, and Sydney decided she could have gone the rest of her life without knowing what the inside of a human head looks like when it’s missing its brain — or with it’s brain for that matter. Sadly, both ships had officially sailed.
“What’s this?” A small mark was on the neck, just behind the right ear. “It looks like the victim was injected with something.”
“Something tells me the heart and brain were removed post-mortem.” With a sigh, she continued the psychic act. “I’m sensing that the cause of death will be due to something that was injected into the bloodstream.”
Moving down to the arms, Sydney noticed a tattoo. At first, she thought it was a poem or something, it was four lines of what looked like writing. But, she realized she didn’t recognize it.
Granted, that didn’t say much, she didn’t know all the languages of the world. But she had thought she knew enough to at least recognize most of them. But this one looked like something she’d never seen before.
Waving over the photographer, she nodded to the writing. “I want this photographed and the image analyzed. I want to know what it says and what language it is in ASAP.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What have I said about calling me ma’am. I’m at least ten years too young for that.”
The man laughed as Sydney positioned the arm so he could get a good photo. “Sorry, Sydney.”
“It’s okay.”
Photos taken, Sydney continued her examination but found nothing else that was over suspicious. “I’m sensing that writing holds the key.”
Stepping away from the body, Sydney finally allowed it to be loaded into a bag before it was placed on a gurney. “Tell Woody I want a text as soon as he’s done with the autopsy.”
“Sure thing, Sydney.”
Looking over her shoulder, she saw Lassie and Jules waiting for her. “If you guys are ready, I say we head back to the station. I want a background check on the girl.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The TARDIS was quiet, minus the constant warm hum of her presence as the Doctor roamed the halls. After the light show, which had been better than the original in his book, Donna had retired to her room and according to his guess, which was really never wrong, she wouldn’t be up for at least another four hours.
He walked down the hall, past the familiar door with a rose on it, pausing to lay his hand on it. “I’m sorry.”
With a sigh, he walked down the hall, past the pool, past the garden, and into the library where there was already a fire burning, a cup of tea waiting, and his book sitting in a chair not too far from the fire.
“Thanks, old girl.”
A hum was his answer and he felt a smile fill his face. Sitting down, he opened his book and continued to read through the 51st century sci-fi story.
Something about making fun of everything they got wrong relaxed him.
Granted it was fiction and they were allowed to think what they wanted but seriously?
Lost in the world of the story, he didn’t hear the beeping that came from down the hall right away.
“Doctor?”
Looking up, he saw Donna in the doorway, her eyes still full of sleep.
“Everything okay?”
“Where is that beeping coming from?”
The beeping registered then and he sat his book down and followed the sound. Behind him, he could hear Donna following.
“Sounds like the TARDIS picked up one something.” He reached the console room and the beeping grew louder. “What did you find?”
The screen lit up with what looked to be a news story. “Body of Teenaged Girl Found in Park.”
“The TARDIS is going nuts over a murder? Those happen all the time?”
“Nice way to put it.” The Doctor tilted the screen. “You sound like you’ve been around me too long.”
He felt Donna next to him and saw her reading the screen. “Doctor, what’s that on her arm?”
“Her arm?”
A picture of the body lay at the park and one of the pictures was of an arm. Then he noticed who else was in the shot. “Sydney!! Oh, oh!”
“What? Who’s Sydney?”
“We met, once. Well, I met her. She hasn’t met me.”
“What?”
The Doctor turned away from the console. “I’m a time traveler.”
“Duh.”
The Doctor let out a sigh. “I travel through time, sometimes crossing the same spot within a couple years of a visit.”
“Yeah, like we go to visit Gramps.”
“Right.”
“So, a few years ago, Rose…” He let out a sigh. “Rose and I followed a signal to Santa Barbara, California. There, we met a group of people who work for the police department there. Though how that arrangement works, I’ll never know.”
“You know, you have this habit of rambling.”
“Well, they knew me, but I didn’t know them. Plus, I should have realized that something was up when they didn’t recognize Rose…”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Donna put a hand on his shoulder.
He let out a sigh. “Anyways, I knew I’d have to go back someday.”
“What does this have to do with the writing?”
“That writing. That’s not possible.” He turned a couple knobs and had the shoot zoom in. Unfortunately, the picture blurred as he got closer to the writing.
“What’s not possible?”
“That’s Trojan.”
“Like Troy? Like the Iliad and the Odessy?”
“No, like the planet. It’s a couple galaxies away from Earth. But you were close. Rumor has it a Trojan crash landed on Earth when Homer was just a little boy. Stayed with his family for a few months and told him stories of his homeland. Must have stuck and he wrote two of the most famous works that Earth will ever produce. When word got back, well Homer is a saint back on Troy.”
“So what? Another one crash landed on Earth and murdered the girl?”
“I don’t know Donna. But how do you feel about a trip to California?”
“California? As in the United States? Sunny beaches, superstars, did I mention the beach?”
“Beach yes. Stars, not so much. We’re headed for two hours north of Los Angeles.”
“Where?”
“Santa Barbara.” The Doctor started setting the coordinates. “And I’d suggest you hold on.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Two chapters in one weekend? I had a productive day so I decided to give you guys the next bit.
Thanks, skylucy, for the review! I really appreciate it!
Enjoy!
Thanks, skylucy, for the review! I really appreciate it!
Enjoy!
Chapter End Notes:
I feel like, in that first section, Sydney was channeling Shawn. She likes to do that every so often and I find it funny so I can't delete it.
But that's it for now.
Til next time...
But that's it for now.
Til next time...