Chapter 6: Emma

Alex’s P.O.V

I woke to my alarm it was thursay meaning I had my ultra sound. David was already at work and Josie was at school. David was going to pick me up just before the ultrasound.

David got home he turned up just as I finished my breakfast. We arrived at the hospital and David’s phone rang even with only half of the conversation I knew he had a case. “Alex you’re going to have to catch the bus home is that okay,” It wasn’t really a question but I nodded any way I got out of the car and waved as he drove out of the parking lot. Only Josie and I at home tonight it meant movies popcorn and blankets.

I went in and told the nurse about my appointment. The doctor came out. And we went into a small room she asked me to roll up my shirt and she squeezed a cool blue gel onto my bare stomach she rolled the monitor closer to the bed she used the wand and rolled it over my stomach. “Everything seems to be good your stomach has almost tripled in size and is back to its normal size,” she said before getting a weird expression on her face “have you ever considered child birth?” she asked

“Maybe in the future when I’m about 20 or something,” I replied kind of confused

“I’m afraid that your plans are going to happen a lot sooner than you expected,” she paused but then continued “your 5 weeks pregnant,”

“I can’t be I’m a vir…. Oh. OH NO, your positive?” I started to freak out

“yes see this pulse here that’s your heart beat and this one over here is the baby’s,” she indicated to the screen and handed me a towel to clean the gel of my stomach.  I grabbed my bag and the things from the front desk and found a bus that would take me home.

I’m pregnant with his child. Howard Epps’ child was inside of me.

I reached the house and a small girl was sitting on the front steps at first I thought it was Josie but the girl’s hair was to light. As I got closer I recognized her. It was Emma Jenkins from our last case.

“Emma? What are you doing here?”I asked as I opened the door to let us both into the house. I told her to sit on the couch in the front room she had tears brimming in her eyes

“I didn’t know who else to go to,” she said closing her eyes to push back the tears “ I had to leave he was going to kill us,”

“who was going to kill who? ”

“one of the older boys in the foster home he broke Gracie’s arm and held a knife to my throat,” she choked out “he wants us to die, so that he is the only child,”

“what’s his name?”

she looked at me I didn’t want to be the one who was asking all the questions “Eric, please Alex don’t send me back there, I can’t stand it,”

“so let me see if I have this straight you left your brother and sister with a person who wants them dead. So that you could come here to a completely different state on pretty much the opposite side of the continent, to tell me that your life and the lives of your siblings are in danger. What were you thinking? And how did you even get here?”  I asked I wasn’t angry I was more disappointed that she hadn’t called me or told me about this Eric guy sooner.

“He’s on a school camp for the next week and the oldest of the boys bought me a plane ticket and drove me to the airport he said that if Eric gets sent home from camp early he will look after the twins,” she looked tired and Josie wasn’t due home for another couple of hours.

“Let’s get some lunch then you can go clean up and have a sleep if you want,” she nodded and followed me into the kitchen. I looked in the fridge. David, Josie and I really did have multicultural taste buds. Spices herbs and curry pastes filled the top of the fridge door. I pulled out the ham cheese and bread. Ham and cheese toasties. It sounded good to me. I pulled the sandwich press out of the cupboard and Emma’s eyes lit up. She probably made them with her mother and father and hasn’t had them since.

We ate at the breakfast bar and I showed Emma to one of the spare bedrooms. She showered and I made up the bed for her. She slept until the time Josie arrived home from school.

During the time Emma was sleeping, I called Garcia. “What is it I can do for my fine furry sister, today?” she answered reading the caller ID.

“Garcia I need your help can you find the foster family emmer Jenkins was placed in?” I could here he fingers taping on the keys of her keyboard

“oh wow. Um there are 7 kids in this foster family,” she kept tapping although I was half expecting what she would say next. “Three boys including little Kyle, and four girls Gracie being the youngest, several complaints have been made against the oldest of the three boys known as Eric for allegedly peeping on the girls whilst they shower and oh he has given Gracie a spiral fractured to her arm. But whenever child services has stepped in the parents have denied t all and no proof has ever been found. This guy is a serial creep in the making,” she was astounded that someone so young could be so creepy

“can you contact the parents and ask about Emma? She turned up at my house this morning,” I said glancing up the stairs to make sure she had not woken.

“Okay it will have to be later though I got a call coming through from Morgan I will call you if I find anything, Garcia out,” she hung up and I was left hanging to take in everything I had learnt today.

Josie came home from school just as Emma came down the stairs rubbing her eyes to wake herself. The two girls stared at each other in confusion “Emma this is my little sister Josie, Josie this is Emma Jenkins her mother was one of the victims in the last case we had.” I was trying not to remind Emma about her mother I knew after my mother died I didn’t want to talk about her death even now I try to avoid the subject and she was murdered just over 11 years ago.

Josie gave a small smile. “I’m sorry about your mother, are you staying here tonight?”

“I guess so,” Emma replied in a small voice.

“okay then, I shall give you the grand tour of this place we call home, if that’s okay with Lexie,” Josie raised an eyebrow towards me and smiled

“okay but don’t hurt her, I do believe she has a brother and sister who would like her returned in one piece,” I smiled and both the girls giggled

I guess I have always envied Josie’s innocence. There is not one person on this planet that Josie could not make smile. I would give anything so that she could keep her Innocence. I guess we envy each other, Josie is jealous of me because I have memories of our mother and I know the name of my father. I’m jealous of her because she looks like our mother and she is so innocent.

Emma’s P.O.V

Josie Stedler showed me around the massive house I was to spend the next couple of days in. she showed me to her bedroom and flopped onto her bed. I stood there like a stunned mullet, admiring the room there was a massive closet a desk and a small bookshelf. Above her bed was a shelf full of nothing but music and a CD player she stood up on her bed and ran her finger along the many CDs.

“What do you want to listen to?” she asked making room for me to stand on her bed beside her. I looked over the CD’s I knew most of the bands or artist but I was confused by some of the bands I had never heard of.

“I don’t think I have heard music by we the kings,” I said pulling out a well played CD.

She put the disk into the CD player and hit play. She jumped of the bed and grabbed my hands I jumped down as well and we both started to dance along with the music. Josie sang along with the words but I could only catch the chorus most of the time.

We feel to the ground laughing and leant against her bed. Something was poking me in the back of the neck and when I moved the sheets to see what it was I found a photo, of a woman who looked a lot like Josie only older. “That’s my mother,” she whispered

“She looks like you, or I guess you look like her,” I replied handing her the photo.

“That’s what Alex and David say but I can’t see it,” Josie mumbled

“It’s true, your both really pretty same hair color, eyes and nose,” I knew I was extending a painful conversation.

“Maybe I can’t see it because I never knew her and all I have is a photo,” she thought aloud, before adding, “she was killed a couple of weeks after I was born sometimes I envy Alex because she has memories of her,”

I knew how she felt my real dad died while my mother was pregnant with me. So I never knew him but Gracie’s and Kyle’s dad raised me as his own.

“Josie, Emma can you come down stairs,” Alex’s voice echoed into the room Josie jumped up onto her bed and stopped the music and we walked down stairs together.

Josie’s P.O.V

Alex called Emma and I down stairs into the lounge room where she sat video chatting with Aunt Penelope. We sat either side of Alex so that we could both been seen by Penelope. “Okay, well, earlier today the lovely miss Alex called me and asked me about Miss Emma’s foster family. Several complaints had been made against the not so lovely Eric Stewart as you two would know,” she started indicating Emma and Alex. “Alex you asked me to contact Emma’s foster parents and I did this,”

“ I’m not going back there you can’t allow me to,” Emma stood and was almost screaming

“well if you hadn’t of cut me off I would of said I contacted them. And because your foster parents did not notice that you were gone so it then becomes a case of neglect and you are allowed to remain in federal custody until other arrangements can be made, your siblings are on a plane to dc at the moment,” Penelope sounded offended that she was cut off.

“Garcia can you pick us up and take us to the airport,” Alex asked.

“Ummm. My little bug only fits four in comfort, and 5 in a very squishy fashion. I can take one,” she replied

“can you take Emma they are her siblings after all,” Alex replied.

“I shall be there momentarily my little sister,” she stood from her seat in the little tech cave she called her lair. “See you soon,” with that the screen went black and Alex closed her laptop and put it back in her bag.

Aunt Penelope turned up within 15minutes and she and Emma drove away. While the others were gone Alex and I started cooking dinner. Pappardelle with roasted pumpkin and spicy sausage, of cause Alex set aside a vegetarian portion for Penelope. The 4 arrived and Garcia’s phone was buzzing.

“Hello. Sorry I can’t right at this moment I’m not in my lair. At your house. People need to eat Rossi. I’ll call you back when I have something. Okay bye. Goodbye my liege.” She said with long gaps between each sentence.

“Let me guess, you have to go,” Alex said pouring the vegetarian pasta into a container. “You know I don’t mind if you tell David about these three,”

“I know he told me to tell you not to use the stove, or grill, or oven, so I told him that people need to eat,” Penelope replied taking the container “but I do need to go, see you tomorrow,” she walked out of the house and Gracie, Kyle Emma and Alex sat around the table while I served them.

“Alex, are we still having our movie night?” I asked sliding into the seat opposite her.

“Don’t see why not we have enough blankets and popcorn to go around, do you guys have any movies that you really like or want to see?” she replied getting a fork full of pasta. Everyone rattled off the names of their favorite movies. In a way Kyle had pulled the short straw being the only boy in the house and some of the movies we had picked were fairly girly.

We were about half way through our second movie ‘cars’ when Alex’s phone started ringing. She kept the movie playing but left the room. She was gone for a really long time. I could never tell who it was who had called. But it was late. She came back to the living room just as the credits started rolling. “Time for bed,” she announced stopping the movie and turning off the TV.

“But Alex you missed half of that movie,” I complained looking backwards over the edge of the couch.

“yes I did but Kyle and Gracie are about to fall asleep Emma spent the day traveling or in tears and you have school tomorrow,” she said lightly kissing me on the forehead “now come on bed all of you,” everyone dragged themselves of the couch and Alex showed Gracie and Kyle to separate spare rooms on either side of the hall to the spare room Emma was staying in. she went to her room waited for the lights to turn off in the house before saying in a loud voice. “Goodnight guys,”

 Alex’s P.O.V

I said goodnight to Josie and the Jenkins and closed my bedroom door. I was left alone to absorb the things that today has brought to life. I’m pregnant. A friend who is barely older than 11 has been bashed and beaten by her foster brother. And the same friend has been wrongly placed within the foster care system.  Tomorrow I am to meet with the god parents of said friend. But one good thing has come of today I had finally found the topic for the book I had been planning to write for ages. I was going to write a novel based on the events that I have gone through over the past month and a half. A semi-true story.  Dave and I spoke about getting me into writing for a long time. He was my inspiration. Everything I have been through it has been David who has helped through it. Josie has always been there when I need her but it is David who helps me to realize that there are not only horrible people in this world but there are also those who care about me. He also helps me to be the person who puts those horrible people behind bars before they can hurt others.