This story is in memory of all the earthquake victims in Christchurch.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Only original characters are mine.
"Mr Rankin can you think of anyone who would want to kidnap your daughter?" Don asked, the worried man before him.
"No," he said confidently.
"Noone? Noone at all?" he asked again, making sure the politician really thought about it.
"Well…maybe that Colin Minnon," said Mr Rankin, "I had to knock down his house a couple of months back. It was old and falling down and we got rid of it to make room for a carpark."
"Okay. Thank you Mr Rankin," he said standing up. He left Mr Rankin on the couch and walked over to the War Room. All over the screens was a picture of a six-year-old girl, Hayley Rankin, who had been kidnapped less than eight hours ago from her school. It had taken her father three hours to remember his daughter and two hours to realize he wasn't going to turn up. The team had been working pretty much non-stop since. She was short and cute, her wide brown eyes and long black hair giving her the look of a small puppy.
Also up on the board was CCTV footage of the outside of the school. There was noone there; the girl was just waiting for her dad to come pick her up. Then a black van pulls up and then the girl climbs into the van.
"Have we found the van yet?" Don asked the room.
"Found it abandoned in an alleyway. Forensics are going through it as we speak, but they don't think they'll find anything," said David, looking up from a folder, "Someone doused it with bleach."
"We got a suspect," Don told him, "Colin Minnon. Rankin had his house knocked down to make room for a parking lot. Colby-"
"Yep. On it Boss," said Colby, striding out of the room.
"Hey Don," said Liz walking over and handing him a coffee, "I've been looking into Rankin's history. He has an ex-wife, named Alice Rankin, maiden name Maslen. She's Hayley's mother. She lost custody three years ago when the judge deemed her unfit to raise her child. She's a drug addict."
"Okay, take Megan and go check her out," he said.
Don went to his computer and sat down and sipped his coffee. When he looked up from his desk it was to find Colby coming over and telling him he'd found Minnon's address.
"Take David and go," he said and they walked off.
Don took another sip of his coffee and stood up. He walked into the War Room once more and found himself just staring at the picture of the little girl. Why did she get into the car? Did she know the person? Or were they just simply not seeing something?
He heard a click and turned to see Megan walk into the room.
"Hey. I thought you were going with Liz?" he asked.
"She can handle herself. I'm needed here," she said.
"Who died and made you boss?"
"By the look of you…you. When was the last time you slept?" she asked. Don stifled a smile. She'd had just about as much sleep as he had. They'd only just finished their last case and then they get the call to come back into work.
"I thought so," she said, getting her answer from the silence.
"Well I can't go home now. You know the time frame we're in. Besides I was thinking, why did the girl get in the car?" he asked.
Megan walked over to him and leaned on the desk next to him. Both were looking at the picture.
"She probably knew the kidnapper," said Megan, stating the obvious.
"But if that's right that rules out Minnon," pointed out Don, "And makes the mum the prime suspect."
"Not necessarily," said Megan cryptically.
"What? You think the dad did it?" he asked.
"Maybe. After all there's been no ransom demand, there was a five hour gap between the kidnapping and him reporting it and you said yourself; she got in the car without a fight," listed off Megan.
"You could be right…" said Don, thinking, "Hey, do you reckon we could a partial face from the side view mirror?"
Megan walked over to the CCTV footage and paused it. Looking right up and close she shook her head.
"There's no way the tech's could get anything off that. The footage is dodgy and bad quality," she said.
"Charlie?" asked Don.
"Maybe."
Don stood and began to walk out the room.
"I'll get the pictures to him," he said.
"Don!" Megan called out.
"Yeah?" he asked peering around the door.
"On your way back, go home, take a shower, change. You stink."
He grinned and walked out of the room towards the elevator.
N_U_M_B_3_R_SDon walked down the halls of Cal Sci, USB in hand. He turned a corner and ran straight into Larry, who fell and dropped all his books.
"Larry! Sorry, here let me give you a hand," he said bending down to pick up the books.
"No need to be sorry, the fault was mine. I should have been paying attention to my surroundings rather than my thoughts," he said, "Where are you off to?"
"Charlie. Need help on a case," he said.
"Well he's in his office with Amita, so you might want to knock," advised Larry and he took his books back.
"Thanks Larry, I'll see you later," Don said.
"Indeed, I think we will," he said and walked off.
Don walked in the opposite direction and upon finding Charlie's office took Larry's advice and knocked.
"Yeah," came Charlie's voice from behind the door.
"Hey buddy. You busy?" he asked.
"Not at all," answered Amita for him, "What do you need help with?"
"I need this section of the photo," he said plugging the USB in and pulling up the image, "Enhanced so we can see in the side view mirror."
"Sure. No problem. We're going to need access to the super computer though," said Charlie, looking at Amita.
"I'm booked in for the afternoon," she said.
"Cool. So what's up with Larry?" he asked them.
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.
"Well I ran into him in the corridor and he seemed distracted. And normally he says something profound when you talk to him and he just told me I should knock before I enter."
"Well, I dunno. He hasn't said anything," said Amita.
"Well, anyway, I'd better get back to work."
"I'll call about the photo, yeah?"
"Yeah. See ya."
"Yep, see ya bro."
"Goodbye Don."
N_U_M_B_3_R_S"So do you reckon Minnon's our guy?" Colby asked his partner.
"Minnon? Have you seen his picture? No way would that girl have gotten in a van with him. But he might have some information," said David in reply.
They walked up the old and worn steps of the apartment block. When they reached 5B David knocked on the door and called out, "Mr Minnon? Colin Minnon? FBI! Open up!"
They heard a click and another noise and Colby sighed.
"He's climbing down the fire escape isn't he?" he said.
"Yep," was David's reply and they immediately sprang into action. Colby began running back down the stairs and David kicked down the door, his gun up.
"FBI freeze!" he yelled at the scrawny middle-aged man halfway out the window, but naturally he kept running.
David followed him down the fire escape and ran after him. He was vaguely aware of Colby joining him in pursuit and soon they chasing him into an old factory and up some stairs.
N_U_M_B_3_R_SLiz walked up the steps of the old and rickety house and knocked.
A boy no older than 17 answered, obviously stoned.
"Hello, beautiful. You our entertainment?" he asked.
"I'm looking for Alice Rankin?" she asked.
"Whoo! Who ordered the lezbo hooker!" he shouted into the house.
"What the fuck are you going on about Jacob?" yelled someone back.
Liz thought this was a good time to pull out her badge.
"F-B-I! Party's over guys," she said walking in and counting the people. Three including Jacob. They must share the house, she thought.
She walked over to the only woman in the room, "Are you Alice Rankin?" she asked her.
"Yeah. What's this about," the woman asked.
"It's about your daughter Ms Rankin."
"Hayley? What's happened to my Hayley?" she asked instantly alert.
N_U_M_B_3_R_SIt was then as Don walked into his apartment, Amita and Charlie worked on the photo on the super computer, as David and Colby stopped running in the old factory because Minnon had come to a dead end, as Liz told the distraught mother about her daughter, as Megan sat at her desk at the FBI, as Larry paced a hole in the ground at Cal Sci that the tectonic plates under Los Angeles slipped and the ground under them began to shake.