Inner And Outer Demons

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Tris's POV

It's the first time I've gotten to drive, and the entire ride back to the precinct I catch glimpses of Four and the young girl in the back seat. She wouldn't let go of him, not even for ten minutes so he could drive us back. She clung to him like she was glued to him. With each glance, Four is sitting there with the little girl safe on his lap, and I can't quite determine the expression he wears. I know it's not annoyance or irritation, for I know those looks. This one is softer and more... human.

Arriving back at the precinct, Four carries the girl who has yet to say anything up to our floor, and without saying anything to me takes her into one of the small break rooms. Getting back to my desk, Zeke comes strolling over.

"Where's Four at?" He asks, sitting on the edge of my desk. A habit I find slightly annoying.

I point at the break room off behind me, and Zeke looks.

"Cute kid." He comments, and I look up at him. She's adorable, which makes thinking about what happened to her all the more hard. Who would want to harm a little girl like that and her sister?

"He's good with kids." I say and look myself, through the glass windows of the room I spot him handing the girl some crayons to color with. He's sitting in a chair pulled closely next to her own, and he's talking softly to her. Coloring with her.

"He takes all his cases seriously, obviously. But when children are involved," Zeke shakes his head, standing up. "I don't know, it's more close to home."

Close to home?

I want to ask him what he means, but Zeke walks off before I can, and arriving from the elevators is Eric.

"Where's your partner at?" He asks me, folders tucked under his arm.

"He's with Paisley. She won't let him leave." I tell him and nodding, he pulls up a chair.

"So you've been working this for four months, any leads?" I question and he sighs.

"No. There's an obvious M.O, but other than that, there's no pattern. No type he goes for, except young girls."

"The kids don't know each other? Weren't in classes together or lived in the same neighborhoods?"

"Nope. We checked schools, we checked daycares, we even checked to see if the parents would've known each other. Nothing. We have nothing on this guy, no DNA, no fingerprints, no nothing. We can't even trace who bought the chemicals."

"No DNA what so ever? What about the rape kits? You ran those on the victims didn't you?" I ask him, leaning back in my seat.

"Yes. Nothing, some bodies were too decomposed and others there just weren't any traces."

"Sounds like a very skilled, very meticulous perp." Eric nods, agreeing with me and looks over my shoulder when Four steps out of the break room. I'm surprised, turning my head to look at him, that Paisley let him go.

"What do we have so far?" Four asks, moving to his desk.

"I was just telling your partner that we have nothing."

There's an odd tension that fills the air between Four and Eric, I felt it at the scene but I thought it was the severity of the case. But it's here too. There's obviously history, and the looks and tension I can feel hints towards not a good one.

"Did you get anything from Paisley?" I ask Four, and he finally breaks eye contact with Eric.

He shakes his head, "Hasn't said anything to me yet, I'm still trying."