Open Case File [COMPLETED]

The Past

Carter stumbled up from her barstool. She headed for the door but paused briefly next to her mother's table. Her mother looked up and they locked eyes.

Hurt. Abandonment. Anger. Grief. It all slammed into Carter like she was a fourteen-year-old.

"Carter?" her mother breathed.

"Carter! MOVE!"

Carter forced her feet to carry her forward even when all she wanted to do was turn around, shake her mother, and demand why she wanted a daughter now and not seven years ago?

But she didn't. She kept walking until she entered the chaos of the New York City streets. Training kept her on the tail of her target. But as she walked the sidewalk felt uneven like she wasn't fully sure whether her foot would land on solid ground or sink through.

"Carter, what is going on?" Mason ordered.

"Nothing."

"That's not true," Mason said. "Tell me."

Carter didn't respond, she couldn't. Everything hurt. She felt like her heart bled from the inside. Over and over again she saw the way her mother had tucked the strands of hair out of the girl's face, smiling with true affection the whole time.

Carter followed her target but emotions clouded her mind so much that she didn't realize how obvious she was being. Not until she turned the corner and a pair of hands snatched her and slammed her against the side of the building.

"Why the hell are you following?" the man demanded.

The collision of her head and the building jolted Carter out of her thoughts. Her mission: tail and tag this man.

Though Carter could have taken out the man with a couple of swift moves, she held herself back. She was reeling and she played into that. Why not tell the truth. Or at least part of it.

"I'm sorry," she said, letting her overwhelmed emotions fill her voice. She pressed her fingers into the bridge of her nose. "I feel so stupid. I see her for the first time in three years and I lose my head and make an idiot of myself." She blinked, willing her eyes to fill. "I had to get out of there. Had to leave or I would have...I don't know."

The man stared at her, still cautious but less defensive. Carter continued, leaning her head back as if the man wasn't still gripping her arms.

"Why are families awful?" she asked. "She left and that was it but now, now she's a mom again, and what? I don't matter?"

She closed her eyes, slipping her fingers into her pocket as she did and removing a small listening device. She sniffed and lifted her head, meeting the man's eyes.

"Are you ever tired of things being so complicated?" she said, edging forward, keeping his gaze locked on hers.

He paused as if considering her words. In that moment of distraction, she tucked the device into his suit pocket.

"I'm sorry," Carter said, pulling back. "I didn't mean to startle you. I didn't know where I was going."

The man let go of her. "I apologize for being so rash."

Carter shrugged like almost being attacked wasn't a big deal. When she turned away from him, he spoke.

"I'm sorry about your mother. That's rough."

Carter stuffed her hands into her pockets. "Thanks. Have a nice night."

"You too."

They headed off in opposite directions, the man none the wiser.