Page 25 of Girl, Empty
Ripley climbed out of the car without another word.Something had gotten into that woman in since Christmas, and Ella wasn’t complaining about it because right now she felt like a statue in this investigation.She watched her partner cross the parking lot and interrupt the family as they reached their car.
Confusion first – who was this strange woman hurrying towards them?Then Ripley's hand went to her jacket, pulled out the badge.Sarah's expression dropped.
Then Ella changed her mind.If she could offer even the most minor of comfort to the young girl, she had to do so.She couldn’t let Mia deliver that news with Emma standing right there.
Ella's door slammed open before she realized she'd moved.Her feet hit the ground running.She made a beeline for the daughter.
‘Hey,’ Ella said to Emma, ‘want to come sit with me for a minute while my partner talks to your mom?’
Emma looked at her mother.Sarah managed something that might have been a nod.Ella put her hand on Emma’s back.‘Come on.Tell me about your medal.’
***
Up ahead, Ella could see that Ripley had taken Sarah Rankin to a bench.Beside her, a nine-year-old girl dangled legs that were too short to reach the floor.
‘Silver medal.That’s real good.Congratulations.’
‘I thought I was going to win,’ Emma said.
‘Second place is good, because it means you can get better.Justknowingyou can be better means you’ll push yourself to make it happen.’
Emma looked unimpressed.‘Is that true?’
‘Sure.It’s called the Bannister Effect.When a barrier that people thought couldn’t be brokenisbroken, it causes a mental shift.It’s like when someone breaks a world record.Other people start breaking it too.’
‘That’s funny.’
Ella wondered if this conversation path was appropriate given what was about to go down, but she decided that Emma might remember this conversation and use it as inspiration one day.Or maybe she was deluding herself that a child would have any idea what she was talking about.
‘My name’s Ella, by the way.’
‘Cool.That’s kind of like mine, but with anLinstead of anM.’
‘Very true.We’ve got the same vowels.’
Emma placed her silver medal around her neck and fidgeted with the medallion.‘Is it fun being a cop?I see you guys on TV sometimes.’
‘Some days are more fun than others.What’s it like being a swimmer?’
‘Do you work for the police around here?’Emma asked, clearly preferring cop talk over swimming talk.
‘I’m actually with the FBI, not the police.Do you know what that is?’
‘Are you the ones who do the alien stuff?’
Ella couldn’t help but smile, despite the circumstances.‘Sort of.We work with the CIA on that.’
‘Have you ever seen one?An alien?’
‘Not yet.We actually just monitor things that are in the skies, and that can be anything.Planes, balloons, missiles.There are no records of aliens ever visiting us.’Ella leaned in a little closer.‘And believe me, I’ve looked.’
Emma laughed, and it made Ella’s heart sink.How could she tell this girl she wasn’t going to see her dad again?
‘I thought you did stuff with aliens.I saw it on the X-Files.’
‘Aren’t you a bit young to watch the X-Files?’
‘Nope.It’s not scary.Have you ever seen anything like that?’
