Patrick had not been able to get any sleep, so he had taken to sitting out on the balcony of the CBI building, just outside his attic room. Around four am, he slinks down to the bullpen he knows so well in search of tea. Just after the kettle whistles, he hears two faint sets of footsteps racing up the stairs. One is extremely lighter than the other. He shrugs it off as his mind playing with him and carries his drink to his couch.
Before he reaches his destination, he feels a piercing set of eyes watching his every move. He puts the cup on his desk and spins around. Looking at the figure before him, he starts to reminisce. He thinks back seven years ago, at his daughter's birthday party. He had allowed Charlotte to invite five of her friends, plus family. She invited her 'boyfriend' Travis, BFF Maria and friends Jetta, Kim and Amanda. Her cousins, Quinn and Zarina, had made a surprise visit with their mom - who had been missing half a year. Quinn was a year older than Charlie; Zarina six years younger.
Now, here stands a fifteen-year-old strawberry blonde girl with an eight-year-old version with jet-black streaks. The older girl slowly walks toward Patrick, who is frozen in memory. The younger girl shrugs off her backpack and begins rummaging through it. She stops at a photograph and studies it.
"Uncle Pat?" The older one finally speaks.
"Quinn." A small smile tugs on his face. "You've grown up."
"Winnie." She politely corrects him. "And it's been six long years. Mom said."
"Mom said what?" His grin falters.
"That you live in Heaven now." Zarina walks over. "With Daddy."
Patrick walks to his seat and falls. Winnie and Zarina join him. There had been a lot of family barbeques between the Janes and the Carlsons. Their dad was Hayden, a close friend of Patrick. To think of him gone, along with Angela and Charlotte causes a flow of emotions to revisit his mind. Zarina pulls him out of it.
"Gigi told us where to find you."
Gigi had been a pet name for a woman with a traveling diner, Madge. She is Neva's mother, and these girls' grandma. Neva is also Patrick's half-sister. Gigi had been the only one to stand up to Alex, Patrick's dad, when he was after his kids.
"Where's your mommy?"
"She got tooked."
Winnie helps Zarina find the kitchen to make some chocolate milk. She instructs her sister to stay there until she finishes while Winnie goes back to her uncle.
"Mom left with this guy she didn't trust too well. I didn't catch too much of it, but me and Zari were playing in that fold in the wall, you know?"
Of course, he did. The fold was just under the back staircase. There's a false wall you can use to get to other areas of the house. That was Madge's house originally. Patrick and Neva used to play in that fold when they were kids. He nods.
"And we heard them talking in the front way. She said I was out with Jetta and Zari was with our dad. His voice got real low and I think he threatened to hurt us if she didn't go with him."
"Have you ever seen him before?"
"A few times." She admits. "Most recent was just two weeks ago. Zari, Annie and I were out swimming and we saw this guy watching us from the woods out back. First I thought I was just seeing things, but Zari saw him too. She doesn't know what's happening. And, honestly, I'm not too sure either."
"Your friend, Annie." Patrick sighs. "Was she with you any other times you've seen him?"
"Yeah. We saw him out by the busses at school, actually."
"We need to get her and her family to a safe place. You all can stay at the motel."
"Motel? What happened to the beach house?"
"I. don't go there anymore." He pauses. "I stay at a motel now. Hardly anyone is staying there. I rent two rooms."
"Okay." Winnie nods. "Should I call Annie?"
"It might just be easier to go to her house. Do you have her address?"
"I know where she lives from my house."
He shakes his head and walks over to van Pelt's desk. He signs onto her computer, using the password 'gracerigsby' and logs onto the persons search database. Patrick types in 'Annie' then looks back to his niece.
"Annie's last name?"
"Lisbon."
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