Callie's Shadow Ch. 06

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Callie hissed out the side of her mouth as Shadow walked up in front of them.

The briefing was short and concise. They were heading back to the crime scene to see if they could sniff out the girl and find out where she was. If she was home and safe, then they would find her and find out what she'd seen. If she wasn't, well, Shadow already had their liaison with the police looking for missing children in the cops' database.

Callie was in the back with Angel, her eyes on Shadow as Marcus drove toward the crime scene. Her nerves were jumping and she kept squirming in the seat, unable to be still.

"What's your deal?" Angel asked. "Get rid of the ants in your pants girl or I'm gonna find me a bedpan with your name on it."

"Ha ha, very funny. I can't help it. I just have this feeling."

"What kind of feeling?"

"Something big is going to happen today."

"Well let's just hope it's that we find this child and she's safe at home with her mommy and daddy. Maybe while you're at it, you can figure out where my father is as well."

"We will," Callie said, stroking Angel's arm and then patting her hand. "I don't think he could be involved in this. My father knows yours pretty well and always spoke well of him."

"I know he wouldn't do this. If there's an Old One involved, it's not my father." Angel spoke the words loud enough that both Marcus and Shadow heard them.

"Angel, no one doubts you," Marcus said.

"But we have to keep our eyes on the facts. If you father wasn't involved than where is he and why were those vampires waiting for us at his club?" Shadow turned slightly in his seat, looking back at Angel while trying to keep from looking at Callie.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out."

"We all do, Angel, you aren't alone in this. Right now though, we have to see if we can find the girl." Shadow glanced out the windshield. "It's right up here."

"Yeah, I see the crime scene tape." Marcus pulled to a stop behind a row of houses that looked as if one good strong wind would take them all down. Somewhere down the street a dog began barking and a light turned on. A window was thrown open and a man shouted down at the dog to be quiet.

Callie stepped out, her eyes taking in the familiar aspects of the scene. There was still a dark stain from where what little blood that had been left in the victim had bled out onto the pavement. She could smell it and the scent of violence that still pervaded the place.

"Callie?"

She jerked, looking up surprised to see Shadow staring down at her. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she said. "There's a lot of violence, a lot of hatred here."

"You can scent that?" Angel asked.

"Breathe deep, I bet you catch some of it as well."

Angel did. "Nope, all I smell is blood."

"It's there, it's just under the scent of blood." She shook herself, walking past Shadow and over to the garbage cans where she'd found the girl in the picture. A small bundle of blankets was laying there, the figure inside unmoving. "Shadow," she called, not wanting to see the girl's dead body.

He followed her to the cans, pushing them aside as he saw the small bundle. "Shit," he growled.

"I can't," Callie said. "I-I just can't."

Shadow touched her shoulder, rubbing gently before using it to turn her away. "I'll do it," he said.

Callie handed him her flashlight and turned away.

Shadow moved the trash can a bit more, crouching down next to the small figure wrapped in the blankets. With a deep breath and a steady hand, he reached for the edge of the blanket.