A Special Gift

by Alice Brown

  Marshall’s Mercedes was sitting right in front of the sidewalk. He gave a gentle, reassuring smile to his guest as he opened the door for Deloris and her daughter to get in the back seat. As little Maria slid into the car, she glanced up at Stephanie, more for reassurance than anything else.

  Stephanie gave her a smile of encouragement, and waited until Deloris had followed her daughter in the car. Marshall then opened the front passenger door for Stephanie.

  The police station was only fifteen minutes away from the house, and Stephanie reached back and took hold of Maria’s hand as they pulled out into traffic. After taking a quick peek in the back seat, Stephanie noticed Deloris held onto Maria’s other hand. The young mother seemed to be a little out of her element at the moment. Just wait until Mom gets hold of you. She will have you feeling right at home in no time.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kevin’s bike was sitting in the driveway when Marshall pulled in. Stephanie spotted her parents sitting on the front porch swing waiting for them. As they exited out of the car, Stephanie took hold of Maria’s hand and gave her a gentle smile. Things were going to be okay for both her and her mother, they just didn’t realize that once Erica O’Rourke sunk her teeth into a project, she didn’t let go until it was done to the very best of her ability. Deloris and her young daughter were about to become her next project.

  Kevin and Erica stood and began walking toward the group as they piled out of the car. Kevin quickly introduced everyone, and as soon as he was finished, Erica turned to face Deloris. Reaching out to wrap the woman in a gentle hug, Erica commented. “Oh, you poor thing; I can’t imagine what horrible nightmares you have gone through today. Come, let’s go inside and get everyone comfortable.”

  Maria held tightly to Stephanie’s hand as they headed toward the house. Her eyes were large as she attempted to take everything in. “What is your favorite color, Maria?”

  “I have two. I like both pink and purple,” she replied, smiling.

  “Okay, and what is your favorite food?” Stephanie figured a little game of twenty questions would help her get to know the young girl, and better help take care of her. She wanted this small child to be comfortable, to feel at home. She and her mother had gone through enough; it was time they were given the chance to heal.

  “Pizza and spaghetti,” she replied with a smile, but then placed her hand on her stomach.

  Stephanie noticed immediately. “Does your stomach hurt, sweetie?” After the ordeal she had been through today, it wouldn’t be any big surprise.

  She shook her head no, and then glanced up to Stephanie. In a voice just above a whisper, she said, “I'm hungry.” Uh-oh…unless Mom was able to send someone out for some food, the kitchen cabinets are pretty much empty. There were probably some steaks up in the freezer, and a jar of pickles in the refrigerator, but that was about it. None of them ate anything except for her, and she mainly lived off blood, raw meat, and the occasional dill pickle.

  Unless her mother had already made arrangements, a trip to the grocery store was on the high list of priorities. What could she offer little Maria to eat quickly? Then another thought hit her. This mother and daughter had showed up here with absolutely nothing, except the clothes on their back. They didn’t even have a change of undergarments. The woman looked to be about Erica’s size, so they could probably come up with something for her to wear, the little girl; well, that one Stephanie wasn’t so sure on.

  Erica chatted with Deloris as the family climbed the stairs. They stopped at the top of the stairs once they reached the third floor. “There are two apartments here,” Erica began and then glanced down to Maria. “I think the two of you might be more comfortable in this one, on the left. The bedroom has been decorated in pink, purple, and blues.” Erica led the way into the small apartment. The tiny living room had a couch that folded out into a bed, two comfy chairs, and a television. The apartment also offered a small kitchenette, a bathroom, and one bedroom with a king size bed and dresser.

  Deloris looked around the small apartment as if she had just stepped into a castle. “This is beautiful. I don’t know how to thank you for your kindness.”

  Stephanie watched her mother give their guest a warm smile. “No need, we are happy to help. You’ve been through quite an ordeal. Why don’t the two of you rest for a little while? The bathroom has toiletry items in the cabinet along with fresh towels. Unfortunately, there’s only a few staples in the kitchen cupboards, but little else. After your rest, we will take a trip to the store and see if we can get the two of you set up for a few days until your belongings arrive.”

  “Hey, did I overhear a little girl say that she was hungry when we first walked in? I am thinking about ordering a pizza. Anyone interested?” Kevin asked as if this was something he did every day. Stephanie barely withheld her chuckle. Her dad eating pizza? The very idea was laughable. She was surprised he even knew pizza was a food.

  Maria’s little face lit up with a huge smile as she excitedly chattered, “Yes! I love pizza with lots of cheese and pepperoni!”

  Kevin glanced down at the small child and smiled. “Extra cheese and pepperoni it is then. Boy, that sounds good,” he stated as he rubbed his own stomach. Stephanie’s grin broke through as she watched her father; he could go for an Academy Award at the rate he was going. I wonder how he is going to pull this one off? I guess he could always plant in their minds that he and Erica had eaten the pizza. And Stephanie could eat a little bit of human food, even though she found most of it revolting.

  Marshall spoke, “I’ll take care of ordering if you would like.” Then, looking down at Maria, he continued, “I’m going to order two pizzas to make sure there is enough for everyone. It isn’t often the boss man will buy me dinner.” Stephanie covered her mouth on a cough at that outlandish statement. She thought back to a comment her mother had made just a few weeks ago. “If we were all human, Marshall would be showing up two minutes prior to dinner and inviting himself to stay and eat.”

  Marshall turned to go downstairs to order the pizza, and grabbed Stephanie’s hand as he walked past her, pulling her along. That was fine with her; she needed to remind him to order drinks anyway, and wanted to stop by her room to get a few stuffed animals from her closet. She called over her shoulder on the way out, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go make sure Marshall doesn’t mess up the pizza order.” She gave Maria a wink before following her fiancé down the stairs.

  When Marshall and Stephanie returned to the little apartment a half hour later, they were weighed down with a pizza, soda, and stuffed animals Stephanie had brought up for Maria.

  As soon as they walked in the door, Maria skipped happily over to Stephanie, her eyes glued on the stuffed animals. Stephanie smiled, dropping a couple of teddy bears, a stuffed dog, and a stuffed horse onto the couch. Maria picked up one of the teddy bears and hugged it. “I used to have one just like him.” She looked at her mother, wistful. “Remember, Mommy? I named him Mr. Bear.” She hugged the stuffed animal tight as if it were a lifeline.

  Stephanie smiled. At least she could provide a bit of comfort to the small child. “Well, this can be your new Mr. Bear, Maria. Take good care of him, okay?” Maria flashed her a beaming smile and nodded. As her family began to leave so mother and daughter could eat, Stephanie looked back down at Maria.

  “Go get your pizza while it is still hot. I’ll see you in a little while.” She gave the child a hug before following her family out the door.

  As they walked downstairs, Stephanie was deep in thought. She wanted to help Maria. The little girl was precious, and the way she acted over the stuffed animals made Stephanie wonder how long had it been since she had received a new toy or a new outfit. A plan started to take form. She had a hefty savings account, because her father made sure she was compensated each time she helped the VCTF with a case. And she had an aunt that was well-known for being the shopping guru of the family. A quick call to her aunt should be the answer to her dilemma.

>   “Hey, Mom, did we save any of my clothes from when I was younger?”

  “No, I gave them all away to charity, but I am about to fix that problem with a call to our resident expert shopper. I’d like to see if she’s free to accompany me on a shopping trip.” Erica looked back at her daughter. “Would you like to add anything to the list? It is only about two pages long as is.”

  “Well, I was just thinking of doing the same thing. I want to get Maria a few new things.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, maybe a few new outfits, or a couple of Barbie dolls…” She dropped off and glanced back at her mother. “I’ll help pay,” she added, but one glance at her father told her she had just said the wrong thing.

  “Stephanie O’Rourke, when have we ever asked you for money?” If the frown on his face and the arms crossed over his chest was anything to go by, he was not happy with her.

  She was quick to try to make amends. “Never, I just kind of feel responsible since I’m the one who asked if they could come here. I just feel so sorry for that little girl. She deserves a chance in life.”

  Her father’s features immediately softened. “I know, and we are going to make sure she gets that chance.”

  Marshall walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. Turning back to Kevin and Erica, he said, “I’m going to move your stash of blood to the deep freezer in Erica’s office for the time being.”

  Kevin turned to his wife. “You might want to pick up a small refrigerator that we can put in your office.”

  “I’ll add it to the list.”

  *****

  Once Erica knew her guests were settled for a while, she and Jennifer took off on a major shopping adventure. Kevin and Marshall stayed in Erica’s office so Kevin could get his second-in-command caught up on the day’s adventures, since Marshall had been off. He had read over the preliminary report, which made no sense to him whatsoever.

  “So, what exactly happened out there today? The report states that the car was stopped and that the driver was passed out over next to a tree, with the kidnapped child sitting in the trunk,” Marshall summarized.

  Kevin looked at him and grinned. “I can’t give you the exact answers at this very second, because I don’t know what exactly happened out there yet myself.”

  Marshall sat up in his chair, puzzled. “Really? Was Steph out there?”

  “Yes, and I think we will both get some answers in just a few minutes. I know she wanted to make sure Maria was settled down for the night. She sure is attached to that little girl, reminds me of her mama. She’ll make a good mother someday.”

  They heard footsteps coming down the stairs a moment later, and Kevin said, “It looks like we will have our answers in just a minute.”

  Stephanie tapped lightly on the door and let herself in. “Deloris and Maria are both down for the night.”

  “Good. Why don’t you take a seat and fill your old man in on exactly what you did out there today? Curiosity is about to kill me,” Kevin said.

  Stephanie chuckled as she took a seat in a nearby chair. “Well, when I first spotted the car, I couldn’t believe that he had put the little girl in the trunk, but I could hear her whimpering. I tried to project myself into the trunk, but I must have come at it from the wrong angle or something, because I didn’t succeed and ended up making the car lurch forward, like it had been hit from behind.

  “The driver regained control of the car and continued. I got in on my second attempt, and saw that Maria was gagged and crying. He had also tied her feet together, and her hands behind her back. I remembered that Peter had called me his guardian angel a few weeks ago in the park. As scared as Maria was, I didn’t think I should try to help her when she couldn’t see me, so I tried to get my form to appear as an angel. I concentrated on creating an image of myself, but with a long white robe and I added a pair of wings.” She glanced at Marshall. “You know, you can’t go around being an angel without wings.” She then turned her attention back to her father. “I made light radiate from my angel form so she could see. Oh, I also shrank myself down to about eighteen inches tall. I was trying to do everything I could not to scare her any more than she already was. I concentrated on this form with my mind’s eye, and you know, it was weird, because I could almost see a separate eye in my mind, focusing on the image.” She stopped and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know if that is normal, but it worked.”

  “Well, sweetheart, I am not saying this in a derogatory way whatsoever. But with your gifts, I think you’re too unique to worry about what’s normal or abnormal. You have a good head on your shoulders and a caring heart, and you’re learning to use your talents to help those in need. Normal can take care of itself,” Kevin replied.

  “Thanks, Dad,” Stephanie smiled, and continued with her story. “After I took off her gag and released her feet and hands, the car started to speed up. I was afraid he was going to outrun you guys, so I decided to try to buy you a few minutes. I put a protective bubble around Maria, and told her to stay quiet. I released the angel image of myself from my mind and projected back out of the trunk to fly out in front. I was really ticked when I flew by and noticed the driver was drinking and driving.

  “I flew on up ahead a couple of miles and put the image of an angel back in my head, only this time about seven feet tall. The car was coming straight at me and as soon as he was close enough to see my face, I put a dragon’s face on the angel’s body. I changed my hands to claws and stopped the car cold when it got to me. I wrapped the huge long dragon tongue around his neck, yanked him out of the car, and threw him up against the tree. I made sure I didn’t kill the piece of trash; I just wanted him out cold until backup arrived. He was still in the same spot when Joshua hauled him over.”

  Both her father and fiancé sat in stunned silence. “I changed back into full angel before I popped the trunk open for Maria to get some fresh air. We were sitting there talking when the three of you showed up.”

  There was a moment of silence as both men processed this information. Finally, Marshall spoke. “Damn, I wish I could have been there. So, you can change your projected form into something solid and visible?” As far as he knew, this had been the first time she had even tried something like this.

  “Evidently I can. I hadn’t tried it before today, but it seemed to work well. Hang on a minute.” Both men watched as her body became deathly still, and they knew she had projected out of her body. Across the room, a beautiful angel appeared with Stephanie’s face. Her wingspan was close to five feet wide. Marshall had to force his mouth shut, stunned at her beauty. His girl in angel form was too beautiful for words to describe. Her father sat dumbfounded, trying to wrap his brain around it. She glided between the two men and decided to show them more of what she could do. They watched as she changed from the beautiful angel to a huge mountain lion, and then to a tiger, then to a hideous, beastly-looking creature, and finally back to an angel. As she became the angel again, she smiled and said, “Pretty cool, hey?”

  Before the men could answer, the angel disappeared and her own body seemed to come back alive. Marshall shook his head. “Baby, cool doesn’t even begin to describe it.” As she came to sit in Marshall’s lap, he chuckled. “You know I’m jealous.”

  She laughed lightly and snuggled in closer to him. She glanced over to her dad, who had been silent the whole time. “Does your grandfather know what all you can do now?”

  “Oh, yes! He was impressed. He hooked me up so everything was being fed back to the computer through my body.” Stephanie laughed.

  “So, Maria already knew what you looked like when you showed up at the police department today?” Marshall inquired.

  “Yes, I had told her if she was good that she would see me again soon. After getting home and talking to Grandpa, I was scared DSS would get involved and put her in a foster home. That little girl has been through enough. She and her mom need a chance to live life, that’s all. They’ve been dealt a bad hand, and I wanted to see if there
was any way I could help give them another chance.”

  She turned to face her father. “Thanks, Dad, for stepping in and offering them a place to stay.”

  “So, what did Maria say when you showed up at the police department in human form?” Marshall continued. He was fascinated with her abilities, and internally grumbling that the most action-packed case they had seen in a while happened on his day off.

  “Oh, her eyes got as big as saucers,” Stephanie chuckled. “I think she was ready to say something, but I gave her the “sh” signal, and she hasn’t questioned me since. I know she will, though; it’s just a matter of time.”

  “What are you going to tell her?” Kevin asked.

  “I think I am going to tell her that I really am an angel, but no one knows this for sure except the children that I help, and that it is a secret that she has to help me keep.”

  He nodded. “That will work while she is young. I don’t know about when she is older, but we can cross that bridge when the time comes.”

  Kevin looked over to Marshall. “Are you going with the crew tomorrow to clean the house out?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “While you are there, see if you can find anything as to why this guy did what he did. I suspect drug dealing or something. DSS said rent hadn’t been paid in several months; the child and mother are in rags, and I’ll bet the place is in shambles.” Kevin paused. “I want to make sure there is no one else likely to come after these two. If the creep owed money for drugs or something like that, then they may not be completely out of danger yet. That is something we need to know about.”

  “I’ll see what I can find,” Marshall replied smoothly. He was good at his job. If there were something to be found while cleaning the house out, Marshall would find it.