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"She’s so beautiful Dude, you’ll be bloay She still has thenow Almost to the middle of her back"

"Should I I don’t know should I say so up and down in excite its fists in pure joy, but my body was clearly still in shock

"I don’t think that’s a good idea, you just need to ht now She hasn’t heard anything I’uys?"

"On a plane back to New York I picked her up five hours ago in San Diego," he stated

"San Diego?! I’o You mean she was only a few ht Was it possible she was always that close to o?

"Before you start thinking what I know your thinking, she didn’t live there She was south of the border like we thought Look it’s a long story Get your ass to New York I’ht now We’ll talk once you get there"

"Wait, how are you talking to et with the times The sky is not the liht about Kate sitting right next to him on the other end of this line Kate My beautiful Kate I wanted to keep Charlie on the phone just so I could maintain the only connection I’ve had with her in years I was so da

"How does she look?" I whispered

"Good, et it for her Anything at all I don’t care if it’s a fking chocolate bar dipped in gold, you get it for her"

"I think I’ve got it covered, Lane," he chuckled

My sigh of relief was enough of a response for him and he sounded off quickly I placed the phone in ed to turn e of plans I won’t be in on Monday

Jace: Dude, call Audrey I can’t continue to keep this fro soon enough

Jace: What do you irl

Jace: Are you serious? HELL YEAH!!!!

- FOUR -

My hands shook and a familiar smell perh countless times since I was a kid My dad was currently an officer, randfather had been on the force The 72nd precinct in Brooklyn would always feel like a small piece of home to me

The place quieted down as I marched in and heads rose to double-check that they were seeing things correctly Yeah, assholes it’s me

"Parker?" I heard old Frank’s voice question from across the room

"Yes, sir" I nodded my head in his direction and continued toward the back, where I kneould find the peeling, tiled stairs All of the offices and interrogation, or "interview," rooht bulb directly in front of the ladies’ restrooht to change that da?

My shoulder hurt like a bitch and the pills I could hear rattling inmy name, but they would have to wait The taxi ride from JFK had taken about forty-five minutes and the entire ti before I saw her I was pretty sure I smelled like I had been on an airplane all day, but I didn’t care She was here Kate was in the building and I was only moments away froasp fro up the stairwell "We are not prisoners We WILL NOT go into your little interrogation chah your stupid tay rily

My feet pushed forward up the last two steps and I rounded the corner into a packed hallway Officers were leaning up against every wall; ones that I had worked with before and a fe ones as well I tried to take in all the faces staring back atfor one

I heard a tiny intake of breath and then what sounded like a little boy whisper, "Superh all of the bodies, but I couldn’t see where the pint-sized voice was co from There were too many people in such a close proximity I decided to look for Charlie first He would knohere she was

"That’s not Superman That’s Daddy!" the sweetest little voice called out

My body shot raht and all my attention was focused solely on that voice My knees buckled and hit the ground with a loud thud, but now directly in el She barreled down the hall and through the crowd, running directly toward me

Every tiine it happening like this I watched her long, blonde hair trail behind her and heard her little pink shoes slap the tile loudly Right before she launched her body at me, she came to an abrupt halt only inches in front of me We both stared at one another She looked at le inch of her that had changed in the past four years She was four now Four years old Four years that I had ht?" she whispered for only me to hear, as if it were a secret between just the two of us Her eyes were the deepest blue I had ever seen Her hair was the exact same shade as mine, but soht hint of tan…same as mine Her nose sloped down and turned up just a fraction, identical to her mother’s Her ears were the same shape as mine, only a much sirl I had ever laid eyes on, and I couldn’t believe she was already four years old

I tried to speak but I couldn’t get anything to come out, so I just nodded my head like a dumbass Her entire face lit up with joy that could only parallel mine and she threw her ar and, despite the pain--which felt like absolutely nothing right then--I huggedI had