Psychopathy

Chapter 51- The Old Garda

Isabel finally pushed herself off the ground. The explosion in the rift had knocked her off her feet, disorienting her for a few beats of her heart. When she finally got back onto her feet, the four figures on the other side of the ravine were gone. They were replaced by one solitary figure, an old man that Isabel hadn't thought of in forever. He looked across the rift at her and smiled, reaching out to her. Isabel took a step towards the rift, wanting to see the man close up again. She wanted to see how he'd changed, and she wanted him to see how she'd changed. Maybe he could help her. He'd saved her once before, maybe he could do it again.

But before she could get any closer, the ground opened up beneath him and swallowed the man whole. Isabel was alone once again.

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"I'm sorry, did you just say murdered?" Teresa asked. The color had drained from her face and was awash with shock. Most everyone in the room had the same look. Ciara's birth parents had been murdered? Did Ciara know? Or had she been too young at the time? The simple fact that Ciara had been adopted had opened a can of worms that no one had been prepared for, Teresa least of all.

Over the course of this whole case, they'd learned practically everything there was to know about Ciara's past, and none of it was pretty. But yet, there was always another twist to throw them off. There was always another plot hole to fill, holes that they didn't even know existed. Some of them had a theory that Ciara may have been adopted, but it was just a theory. It was everything that came after that that was shocking.

The fact that Ciara had been born and adopted in Ireland had been shocking at first, but after a little thought, it made a lot of sense. The fact that Ciara had a stillborn twin? That was a surprise. But Reid could understand why she wouldn't talk about that. If her twin was stillborn, then Ciara had never known her. There was no reason to bring that up- Reid wasn't even sure it could be considered a trauma. After all, Ciara had never even known her twin and had lost her before any real memories could form.

But yet, the argument could be made that Ciara had known Marie. It could be argued that Ciara had known Marie more intimately than anyone she'd ever known. More intimately than Alexandria Ashe had known them. After all, they had grown and developed in the same womb. They had shared the same space for ten months. If they were identical twins, they had even come from the same egg. Even if Ciara hadn't known about her twin, Ciara might have gone through her whole life knowing that something was missing.

And then, after the death of her twin, her birth parents had been murdered. She had lost everyone she had a biological connection to. And when all hope seemed lost, she'd been adopted by the Byrnes. Hope had been restored, only to be dashed when the Byrne parents turned abusive. How was it that so much tragedy could befall one person? Had there ever been a time in Ciara's life when she was happy? Or had it simply been one horrible tragedy after the other? Had the life of Ciara Byrne been nothing but 27 years of pain and fear?

When they got her back, Reid was going to do everything he could to make sure the next 27 years of her life were filled with happiness and safety.

"Yeah, I got the police file right here, and... oh, boy. Garcia, I'm going to send this to you real quick so you guys can look at it instead of me explaining all of this," Prentiss said, nodding to her tech analyst. Everyone waited for a few moments, and Garcia nodded, saying that she had the file. She started typing rapidly, before gasping in horror.

"Oh, my God!" she screamed, a hand over her mouth.

"Yeah, it's... it's not pretty," Prentiss agreed.

"What happened?" Teresa asked, and Garcia sighed. A few more strokes of the keyboard and the file appeared on the big screen side-by-side with Prentiss on the other side of the video call. Garcia sighed, and she pulled up a picture. The picture was of a couple and a young child. The man had thick red hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. The woman had long, dark-brown hair, pale skin, and brown eyes that were so light they were almost amber. Reid barely had to take a glance to know. The couple in the picture was Alexandria and Blake Ashe. The resemblance Ciara had to her parents was uncanny.