Don't Cage The Birdie (Book 2)(rough first draft)

Prologue

Prologue

New York, 1996.

~

The black unmarked police SUV rolled down the deserted highway of upstate New York. There were four occupants, the driver in the driver's seat. In the back sat a young nine year old girl in a pretty pink dress clutching a soft toy teddy bear with a matching pink bow, seated beside her was a female officer in uniform smiling reassuringly at the pale, shaking little girl. In the front passenger, gazing out the window at the brown landscape flashing by, dark sunglasses covering tired eyes sat James Holland. He was 28 years with thick, dark hair, fine features and tanned skin. He was the only adult occupant not dressed in a police uniform, instead he wore dark blue stripped pants, a white paisley patterned shirt and matching blue waistcoat. His jacket sat on the floor by his feet where he had thrown it when they had climbed into the car half an hour before.

The country landscape changed to built up community housing and the SUV turned at a set of lights and drove into a residential estate. A couple of twists and turns later they pulled into a street and the car crawled slowly along. Glancing behind him, James saw the child was peering excitedly out the passenger window at the houses, counting the numbers on the mailboxes. They reached their destination and the car pulled into the driveway.

Before either of them could react, the girl squealed and opened the door, diving out of the car before it had come to a complete stop. James unbuckled his seat belt quickly and was out of the car at the same time as the female officer.

'Mommy!' screamed the little girl as she ran up the small path to the door where two adults stood, arms wrapped around each other. At the sight of the girl the woman burst into tears and ran forwards to grapple the girl into a hug, the male a second behind them, dropping to his knees and embracing both of them.

Out of the car, James stood awkwardly by the open door, the support officer by his side.She glanced at him for direction and he nodded, eyes hidden behind his dark glasses not wavering from the happy family before him.

The support officer walked up the path and the father rose, holding out a hand to shake hers. The little girl hugged the officer and James watched their lips moving as they talked but he heard nothing, his mind blocking out the cheerful sounds. The small family invited the support officer in and she followed them into the house, holding onto the little girl's hand. As they disappeared inside James slipped back into his seat and removed his glasses. He squinted at the change in light until his eyes adjusted.

'You're not joining them?' asked the driver beside him, puzzled.

James shook his head. 'No. I don't think so.'

'How come? You led the investigation. You found her and got her back.'

'Mmm,' grunted James, agreeing. He had done that. The girl had been reported missing from her room a week ago, the window open and a note telling the parents instructions on a ransom would come later. The police department had called him and he took over the investigation. The woman's brother bet his half of his inheritance away and got caught up with dangerous people. The sister refused to loan him anything from the vast amount that she had just come into possession of. The brother got desperate and kidnapped his niece. He had been sloppy and left a paper trail of A4 size sheets across the place. The girl was safe and the brother was in jail and would be for a short period of time. At no time had the girl been in any actual danger, except if the loan sharks had caught up with the brother but they hadn't and so there was no need to think about that.

'I don't like happy reunions,' said James. He liked to do his job and move on to the next. Focus on the work and not get caught up in the emotion of the cases. He had to stay separate from them otherwise he might break down. That wasn't wise. Had to keep emotions repressed in these cases.

A short time later he watched the support officer leave the house and walked down the garden path. She slipped into the back seat and buckled up before leaning forwards, poking her head between the two front car seats. 'They're really grateful, James,' she said. 'They couldn't understand why you didn't want to come in but respected the wish to not thank you in person. But they do thank you.'

James nodded, smiling weakly. 'Thanks.' He pulled his glasses back on and suppressed a yawn. 'Alright. Let's roll this car around and get back,' he ordered.