About Time

Chapter Thirty Three - Serial Rapist

You guys, I promised you a super long chapter so here it is. This chapter is so damn long, it could stand on it's own as a four chapter fanfic.

"Hey, Cal, do you know what today is?" Gillian asked as they laid in the bed before getting ready for work.
"Wednesday, February third?"
"No, well, yes, but I'm 20 weeks today."
"Halfway there."
"The farther along I get the less scared about something going wrong I feel."
"I know, love. But you've made it this far, you can manage another 20 weeks."
"I-"
Gillian stopped as the doorbell rang.
"Don't worry, I'll get it." Cal told her and got up. Gillian went and got Sophie up and held her hand as they went downstairs. Cal was talking to a crying teenage girl at the door.
Uh oh. This couldn't be good.
"Come here, sweetheart. Don't worry, I'll find your mum."
Cal wasn't one to just invite people in, especially not teenage girls that showed up crying at the front door. He usually asked them how they found him since his address wasn't listed. But Gillian could tell that this was different.

"It's okay, Taegan. Just tell them what you told me. These are my colleagues, they can help."
Gillian had never seen Cal be so gentle with anyone. The girl was no more than fourteen and Cal was treating her like his daughter. She knew cases involving children hit close to home with him because of Emily, but this was beyond that. There was something else. Sophie was sitting in front of the computer playing some game Loker had pulled up. Cal said they didn't have time to drop her off at daycare.
"My mom just wrote a note and left two days ago. But she didn't have any reason to leave. She's happy and loved, she's a teacher, she loves her job. She loves us. I tried to tell the police that something happened to her but they either don't believe me or know something they aren't telling me. I just want my mom back. She's pregnant with my little brother."
Suddenly everyone in the room knew exactly why Cal was behaving the way he was.
"Taegan, when was the last time you saw your mother?" Ria asked.
"Two nights ago. I told her goodnight and went to bed. The next morning when I woke up, she was gone and the note was on the kitchen table. She wrote it, it's in her handwriting but she wouldn't do this to me. I'm all she has besides the baby. My dad died four months ago in Afghanistan."
"Where have you been staying?"
"At a friend's."
"Taegan, we're going to do everything we can to find your mum. You're going to go back to my house and stay with Gillian."
"Okay." Taegan nodded.
Everyone cleared the lab and Taegan went to wait in the lobby with Sophie while Cal talked to Gillian.
"I want you to just take her home and stay with her. I'll call you when we find anything."
"Okay. Be careful?"
"I make no promises on that."
"I knew that was too much to ask."
Cal paused for a moment.
"You know I'm going to have to talk to Shazzers right?"
Gillian shifted uncomfortably.
"Yeah, I know. It's fine."
"Gill-"
"You have to. It's for the case. You have to find Taegan's mom. It's fine. You don't have a choice."
"I won't talk to her anymore than I have to."
"I know."
Cal kissed her.
"You know I love you, right, darling?"
Gillian couldn't help but smile.
"Of course I do. I love you too."

Cal walked into the precinct and looked around. There she was, barking orders over the phone while she stood at the desk. He walked over to her and stood behind her until she hung up.
"Oi, Shazzers!"
The woman jumped and turned around.
"Lightman, what the hell are you doing here?"
"I need your help on a case."
"And why would I help you? You and your partner kicked me out of your office last time we saw each other."
"You were being an arse."
"Does she know you're here?"
"Of course she does. We don't keep secrets. Gillian sends her regards."
"I'm sure she does."
"Look, a teenage girl showed up at my house this morning."
"Let me guess, it was Taegan Hart. Blonde, skinny, blue-eyed fourteen year old."
"So you know why I'm here."
"She's been here for practically the last two days."
"You're hiding something."
"From her, yes. But I'll tell you if you give me the chance."
"I'll be waiting then."
"In the last two weeks, three other pregnant women have gone missing. All of them had no reason to leave, but there were notes in their handwriting claiming that they needed to go. But then three days later, they turn up dead. Autopsies say they were raped multiple times, then asphyxiated."
"What kind of sick bastard rapes pregnant women?"
"That's the thing. Judging by the evidence, it looks like it's a woman."