Missing
Chapter One
8:32 a.m.
"Take all the time you need, Spinelli. They are fine. Georgie and Danny are snuggled up and sound asleep." Sam smiled at Damien's protectiveness as she made her way through her penthouse apartment slipping her shoes off her feet on her way to her dresser. She'd been out all night working a case of infidelity during an ongoing divorce battle. Spinelli had been with the babies all night but popped out to get breakfast when Sam finally got in that morning. He ran into Maxie at Kelly's and had called to see if she minded watching the little ones for a bit while he and Maxie talked.
It had been a long road for two of her best friends but Maxie was finally getting visitation with her daughter and Damien had moved back to Port Charles and in with Sam to facilitate it. He and Ellie were trying to maintain a long distant relationship but Sam was positive it wasn't going to last, especially after witnessing how Maxie and Spinelli had reconnected. "Take as long as you want. I'm going to grab a shower while they're still asleep and then call my client and pile up on the couch with a good magazine." Sam unbuttoned her skin tight jeans and began to peel them off as she hugged the phone between her shoulder and chin.
"Alright – see you soon." Sam was about to get off the phone when she remembered that Silas was coming over that night and she wondered if Maxie might want to join them. Silas was bringing Rafe and Spinelli and the babies were going to be there so what was one more mouth to feed. "Oh! Oh - ask Maxie if she wants to come to dinner tonight."
Sam shed her earrings onto the top of the dresser as she hears Damien asking Maxie in the background and then began to unbutton her blouse. "Great." She smirked so happy that they could all get together. "k – bye." Sam clicked her phone off and placed it next to her earrings on the dresser then made her way towards the bathroom with a tired sigh.
She paused in the doorway listening for Danny and Georgie before she breathed out in relief that they were still asleep and slinked into the bathroom ready to enjoy a nice hot shower.
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8:45 a.m.
Silas Clay flinched as a stream of light assaulted his senses from the on call room door being suddenly pushed open. He raised his head, hand instinctively covering his eyes as he blinked in the shadow form of Epiphany standing in the doorway. "Mr. Peters?" Silas asked realizing that his septic colon cancer patient must have been in crisis again.
"Yes, Sir. The round of antibiotics are and we've pushed the other meds but his pulse just started to drop again." Epiphany informed him as Silas shoved the blanket off him and sat up in his cot. He rubbed a single hand down his face and rose to his feet yanking his scrub top over his bare stomach before grabbing his lab coat an stethoscope from the coat hanger behind the door.
He immediately fell in step with Epiphany rattling off his new set of orders on their way to evaluate the situation. Silas had been on call for the better part of the last 24 hours and he was ready to meet Sam for breakfast at her apartment and then head home to check on Rafe and grab a few hours of sleep before they all met over at Sam's later for a nice dinner.
A crash cart and a pulse later and Silas walked out of the room leaning tiredly against the wall beyond just in time to feel his phone begin to give a short shock of vibration to signify a text message. He wasn't going to check it – he was just going to give report to the physician coming on and was going to go but after a blink and breath he let out a sigh as he realized that it might be someone other than the staff at General Hospital.
Silas palmed his phone inside his coat pocket and pulled it out lighting the screen with a single click as he gave a peer to see who was sending him a message. He narrowed his eyes though a he saw that it was Sam that had sent him something and that the text made absolutely no sense.
Silas quickly dialed her number and brought the phone to his ear hoping that kiddo chaos was playing some factor in the text as he pushed off the wall and paced nervously waiting for her to answer. Two rings later he was listening to her voice mail message and frowned deeper.
It was another twenty minutes before he could escape the clutch of the hospital and was en route to her pent house. He tried to call her from the parking deck – from the car – half a minute down the road and still nothing in fact the calls were now going straight to voice mail.
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9:02 a.m.
Spinelli knocked the door wide open with the swing of his hip as he mumbled curses under his breath against the keys that he had slipped into his mouth so that he could hold the bag and drink carrier full of coffee that took the attention of both his hands. He dropped the keys on the desk on the desk just past the front door – Jason's former work desk. He'd mostly let his friend – Sam's dead husband go, but Spinelli still felt a hitch in his chest when he looked at the desk.
He shook it off though and set the coffee down as the sound of the shower running greeted him and there were no babies crying or even stirring. Spinelli headed to the kitchen with breakfast in tow thinking with an edge of guilt on his conversation with Maxie over breakfast at Kelly's. Ellie was moving up in the world and while he was proud of her and loved her, Maxie was back in his life in a big way and he couldn't deny the draw.
A few minutes later saw Spinelli making his way up stairs to check on the sleeping pair that had taken over Danny's oversized crib. He smiled as he looked watched their little chests rise and fall, their little hands so close to touching. They were destined to be best friends.
Spinelli adjusted their blankets quietly and watched apprehensively as they shivered under the subtly movement and then settled back to sound sleep. He sighed in relief and looked back to the bathroom, wondering what was taking Sam so long. He knew she liked her showers but he had expected her to be snuggled up on the couch by the time he came in.
He was about to call to her from the doorway when a knock downstairs caught his attention. Must be Silas on his way home from work. Spinelli headed downstairs to get the door instead. "The little ones are asleep." he said with a shush of a whisper as he greeted the good Doctor.
"Got it." Silas looked to the stairs to the sound of the shower upstairs and let out a sigh in relief.
"Long night?" Spinelli asked as he noted that Silas hadn't yet changed out of his scrubs.
"You could say that." Silas scoffed. "And a bit of a jittery morning." He confessed. "Sam sent me some weird text a little bit ago and I tried to call her back but she must have been in the shower. She had a long night too?"
"Yeah." Spinelli nodded with a smile as he motioned Silas in. "She was out snapping pictures in an upscale hotel lobby."
"What?" Silas smirked. "No condemning shot?"
"The client just wants confirmation that the two have been seen together so far. It's going to take a little more than that to get the shot they really want for court." Spinelli explained.
"Gotcha." Silas headed with Spinelli towards the kitchen after the both of them paused for a listen to hear that the shower was still running and now babies were crying.
A whole conversation, set table, and few minutes later and Spinelli was looking up the stairs with worry in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Silas caught it instantly.
"I'm sure it's nothing, but the shower was running when I got in twenty minutes ago...it's just... Sam I thought she's be out when I got home...she said..."
Silas arched both eyebrows and took the lead as both of them headed up the stairs to make sure that Sam was alright. Silas stopped just outside the slightly ajar bathroom door and gave a gentle call. "Sam?"
"Samantha?" Spinelli called a moment later when there was no answer.
"Sam?!" Silas called louder. Still nothing...and while their calls woke the sleeping infants whose cries and coos soon joined in with the plethora of falling water and worried voices Spinelli and Silas both remained at the bathroom door as Silas slowly pushed it open.
Silas drew in a shaky breath as both pair of eyes fell upon the shower – the door slid open, towels and clothes scattered around the room in disarray – frantic – shards from the mirror glinted against the tile framing tiny droplets of blood.
Sam was gone...leaving behind a vacant crime scene of muffled violence – mitigated scuffling that hadn't roused the sleeping babes only a few doors down.
