The Little Shop

The Missing Lady

The Missing Lady, in which we spend (what feels like) half an hour (but is really only a few minutes) on the porch of an elderly woman.

SASSMASTER

When we pulled up to the police station, we all shared a look. It was a look of pure dread, and as AJ slept in Niall's arms, we all watched her breathing. It was weird, and we all knew it, but I think we all took a stronger liking to AJ than we intended to. 

"Let's go then," Liam says. Our driver has opened the door, which is the only reason we left the van in the first place. I think we all preferred the van to that flashy limo, and all our jumpers and missing books and socks were in here. It was like our moving home, the place we always come back to, and much more personal than a rented out limo. 

"Wake up, little lady," I whisper, gently shaking AJ's arm. Her eyes flutter open and she looks at us, confused for a moment, but then a bit happier, like she remembered us suddenly. 

"What we doing now?" AJ asks, sounding excited.

"Going to find your mum," I tell her. Her smile wavers, but she follows us out of the car and across the street to the police station. With a slight frown, she slipped her hand into mine and held tightly, like she didn't want to let go. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, yawning slightly as we all walked, and I heard at least three sighs from around me. I tried to hold my own in, but it was hard. I didn't want to leave AJ, especially after what I'd seen in her today. She was a little fighter, I could tell.

Liam opened the door for us and AJ and I lead the way inside. My stomach was starting to hurt, which told me my annoying attachment issues weren't quite settled. My mum had a hard time dropping me off on my first day of school, but once I was inside, I was myself again. As soon as the police station is out of sight, I'll be fine.

Behind the front desk stood a woman with bright pink hair and a bit too much make up. She looked almost like a raccoon, with the black circling her eyes like that, but I decided to keep my composure as I bent over and leaned to pick AJ up. She buried her face in my shoulder, like she might fall asleep again.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked in a bored voice, looking at us as if we were all rowdy teenagers here to make her job harder.

"Yes, actually, have there been any kids reported missing lately, because we found this one and I-" Harry began to say.

"She's not a set of keys, Haz," I said with a light chuckle. I could feel my grip getting tighter on AJ's little body. I felt like someone was going to come scoop her up and whisk her away at any moment. Any second now, she could leave my arms and enter someone else's. That wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't gotten so damn attached to her. She shut her eyes and leaned against my neck, which only made things worse.

"Sorry, I mean if anyone is looking for their daughter, we may have found her," Harry said, laughing at his own choice of words. 

"Sure, what's the full name?" the woman asks. She sounds like she's forcing a good mood now, which is better than sounding like she wished we'd leave.

"What's your surname, little lady?" I ask AJ.

"Burrows," AJ tells me, playing with the collar of my shirt. 

"AJ Burrows," Harry informs the woman. She nods and types the name into the computer, pressing the enter key. AJ's eyes start to get droopy again, so I bounce up and down a bit to keep her away. Her little thumb has entered her mouth now, and she's cuddling up to me. I'm pretty sure she's also sniffing me, not that I mind. 

"Uh... one moment," the woman tells us. She shoots up from her chair and races into the back. I wish I could lean over the desk and peek at the screen, but there's a barrier that's only got a small window, so I'd have to stand back about a meter or two, and that would give me away. The woman races back with someone important-looking and points at the screen. "Says that  Sienna Burrows is her mother," the woman says, sounding frantic.