This is a standalone story, not a sequel, but I hope you'll like it just the same. The sequel is on the back burner for now while I get this one off my mind, but it may still happen.

Once again, I randomly picked a Bon Jovi song title that does not reflect what the story's about. I just love their songs. It's a Babecake story so far, but I don't know if it'll stay that way, I have to see where it takes me. Anything's possible.

A special thank you to my wonderful friends Stayce and Jeannie for their support, friendship, help and suggestions. I couldn't have done it without you guys!

I would love to hear from you to let me know what you think, all comments and suggestions are welcome. And, OK, they also make my inner review whore very happy…

Disclaimer: I keep checking, but all characters still belong to JE

These Days

Chapter 1

The way I see it, you always have at least two choices in life. Sometimes you get more than two, but it's always at least two. Usually do or don't. At least that's how it is for me. Every day, I get to choose. Lately I realized I always go for the 'do'. That leaves me covered in garbage when I choose to run after a skip, full to the point of bursting when I do have that second piece of pineapple upside-down cake, and smack in the middle of two men I never say 'don't' to. Yup, 'Do' could easily be the one word that sums up my life.

It was 3 AM and my phone was ringing. And right there, I knew it was bad news. No one ever calls with good news at 3 AM. For one, Publisher's Clearing House would wait until it was business hours to tell me I was a millionaire. I wouldn't know from personal experience, but it was always daylight out when people got their big checks, right?

I woke up with the first ring, but I was still debating whether to answer it or not at the third.

Oh, fuck it, my curiosity was too strong. "Hello?"

"Stephanie, this is your mother," my mother greeted me as if I wouldn't recognize her voice after over thirty years. My stomach dropped. This was definitely the worst kind of news, my mother never called past 9 PM or before 8 AM.

"Is Grandma okay?" I asked. Grandma was over 70, I knew from my neighbors that anything could happen at any time at that age.

"Your grandmother is fine, she's standing right next to me," Mom said and paused. Standing right next to her? Wasn't anybody in my family sleeping tonight? "Can you come over right away please?"

Please. She'd said please. My mom never says 'please' when she wants me to do something. Sometimes she asked if I could do her a favor, but 'please' was for special occasions. This was serious, and from one second to the next, I was wide awake.

"What is it?" I asked, already out of bed.

"It's your father," my mother said.

Black dots started dancing across my vision and I had to sit back down on the bed. I put my head between my knees until my vision cleared, while my mind was already trying to paint pictures of worst case scenarios.

"Is he okay?" I finally brought out.

"We don't know," my seemed to press out. "We can't find him."

Mom sounded like she was ringing her hands. At this rate, it could take hours to get everything she knew out of her, and I had no patience to wait for it on the phone, I needed to know everything right away. "I'll be right there," I said and hung up, the t-shirt I'd slept in already halfway off as I rushed into the bathroom.

I was dressed and ready in less than 15 minutes, grabbed my shoulder bag and my jacket and rushed out the door. Since it was the middle of the night, there was no traffic and I made it to my parents' house in record time.

The porch light was on, but other than that, the neighborhood was dark. I realized I couldn't remember the last time I was at my parents' house at 3:30 in the morning after I'd gone away to college. It was a sort of unreal feeling and just added to the overall weariness I'd been feeling since the phone woke me up.

I let myself in and went to the kitchen, knowing that's where I'd find my mom. Sure enough, Grandma Mazur and Mom were sitting at the kitchen table and my mother got up as soon as she saw me. The fact that they were both in their robes added to the unreal feeling. Of course I knew that's what they wore at night, but I hadn't seen it for so long.

Over the years since she'd moved in with my parents, Grandma Mazur had worn so many skimpy or shocking outfits that any of them would have been less disturbing now than her simple white robe that opened to reveal a granny nightgown underneath. Of course there's a possibility I was just trying to distract myself because I was so confused at even being there in the first place.

"Thank God you're here," Mom said, her hands clasped in front of her.

'Yeah," Grandma Mazur said. "You wouldn't want to miss this. It's a pip! Can't wait to tell the girls at the beauty parlor about this!"

"Mother!" my mom said. "This is serious." She sat back down again and picked up her coffee cup. Without taking a sip, she put it back down and got up again. She was in a state.

"So tell me what's going on," I said, grabbing my own mug and filling it up. "Where's Dad? And why are you up in the middle of the night?"

"It's just like Fred," Grandma Mazur said, and I could tell how excited she was about the idea. Not that she would wish my dad to be murdered and end up in a ditch somewhere; I didn't think she was considering that part of the story. She was thinking of how she was going to be the center of attention because she'd be the one with the most information once the story hit the Burg grapevine.

"Bite your tongue," my mother said and she stopped wiping the counter that hadn't needed cleaning in the first place. "I'm sure it's nothing like that. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for it all."

"For what?" I tried again. "What is going on?"

I wasn't sure what I'd expected; I'd been too frazzled on my way over to start worrying what had happened. But now it looked to me like my mom had called me for help, and I really needed to find out what had happened.

I took my mom's elbow and led her back to the kitchen table. "Let's all sit down and then you can tell me exactly what happened," I suggested.

My mom took a deep breath. "I woke up and your father wasn't there," she said.

"What woke you up?" I asked.

My mom gave me a look that said it should be obvious. "Your father wasn't there."

To be honest, I'd never thought much about my parents' life. They were of a generation that didn't get divorced, if there were problems in the marriage; they were worked out or glossed over. But I'd never noticed any problems. My whole family wasn't very touchy-feely, and my parents were no exception. So I'd never thought about them as a couple, just as my parents.

And now my mom was telling me that my dad's empty side of the bed had woken her up. It took me a moment to digest that information.

Morelli often got calls in the middle of the night, sometimes I woke up when the phone rang or his pager buzzed, but mostly I didn't. I just woke up alone the next morning or when he crawled back into bed next to me. So I wondered if that said anything about our relationship or if it just meant that my mom was a control freak.

It was obvious to me that Grandma Mazur wouldn't be much help; if anything, I had to keep her from disturbing my mom even more, I had to be the level head. The irony would have had me laughing if I hadn't been so confused. So I went into detecting mode, the way I'd seen on TV at least.

"When was the last time you saw him?" I asked.

Mom slid her eyes to the pantry where I knew she kept her booze. I would have gotten the bottle for her this time, hell, I would have joined her, except I needed us both sober.

"He went out to the Lodge last night," she said.

"To play cards," Grandma added.

I nodded. Since Dad had retired from the post office, he drove a cab part time, and he didn't hide the fact that most of his tours ended up at the Lodge. On Friday nights, he usually met his friends there for cards or whatever it is guys his age do with their friends.

"Then what?" I wanted to know.

Mom slumped in her chair. I looked at Grandma Mazur and she shrugged. "He wasn't home by the time I went to bed."

I had no idea when my dad usually got home, since I'd moved out, I hadn't paid much attention to my parents' schedule apart from meal times. I knew they always got up early, so I guessed they didn't go to bed late.

"I thought he was just running later than usual," Mom said. "So I went to bed."

I finished my coffee and got up. Maybe Mom was right, maybe Dad was just pulling an all-nighter.

"I'll drive over to the Lodge," I said. "Maybe they're just having a poker marathon."

To my knowledge, there had never been an all-night card game at the lodge before, but hey, it could happen, right?

I rinsed my cup in the sink and put it in the dishwasher my dad had given my mom for Christmas last year. "Or maybe they were drinking and decided to stay there instead of driving home drunk," I suggested. "Why don't you guys go back to bed and I'll check it out."

I knew I was grasping at straws, since my father didn't drink much and would have called if he was staying somewhere else, but at the same time, it was a possibility.

My mom seemed to think so, too, she smiled weakly. "Yes," she said. "Go check it out."

I doubted either one of them would go back to bed, so I promised I'd check in with them soon and left the kitchen.

Grandma Mazur followed me out. "So what do you think, Steph? You think Frank just split? Come on, you can tell me."

"I don't know." Boy, was that ever the truth. I was totally confused. My parents were my parents, they were supposed to be, well, boring, but my anchor when my life got too hectic, they were supposed to be predictable.

"You remember when Fred disappeared?" Grandma asked. "The same way, he just didn't come home one day."

"Dad will come home though," I said, more to myself than to Grandma Mazur. I needed to believe that.

"Sure, sure," Grandma said. "But it's still a pip. I bet by nine, the phone won't start ringing."

I couldn't tell if Grandma was excited about that prospect or dreaded it, I chose to believe the latter.

"How would anyone know, if you don't tell them? I asked.

"They'll know when they don't see his car in the driveway first thing in the morning," Grandma said, and I knew she was right. The Burg would know.

"Not if he comes home before they wake up," I said and hoisted my purse up on my shoulder as I opened the front door. "I'll call."

I got back into my car and sat for a minute, trying to gather my thoughts. I looked at my parents' house and then at the empty driveway. The phone had woken me up in the middle of the night before, but I'd never gotten more disturbing news. While I was hoping I'd find my dad sleeping it off at a friend's house, I had a funny feeling in my stomach that I wouldn't. And a small voice in my head spoke up and told me I might never see my dad ever again.

But it couldn't be right. Last time I saw Dad, two nights ago at dinner, I'd hardly spoken a word to him. I'd been busy defending my lifestyle to my mom and telling Grandma Mazur why she couldn't ride shotgun with me when I went after my next FTA, I hadn't really noticed Dad. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember the last time I'd really talked to him. So really, I had to find him. Alive.

I started the car and checked my watch. It wasn't quite five yet. Since I really needed a doughnut, I pointed the car in the direction of the nearest 24-hour Dunkin' Doughnuts. With caffeine and sugar in me, I was more likely to appear calm when I felt anything but. There was a chance the squishy feeling in my stomach was just hunger.

I went into Dunkin' Donuts and got a large coffee and half a dozen doughnuts, but when I sat down at one of the tables, my appetite was gone. My stomach was in knots and I couldn't bring myself to take a single bite, a first for me. I was used to worrying, even worrying for loved ones' lives, but not used to worrying about my parents. They were my worry-free zone.

I sighed and packed up my breakfast, off to do what I'd promised to do.

The Elk's Lodge sat on the corner of Ashmore Avenue and Chambers, on the edge of the Burg. It was a grey, two-story concrete block, built in the 70's, and didn't look like much from the outside. A lot of Burg weddings, christenings and funerals ended up here after church, there wasn't anyone who grew up in the Burg that had never been inside. I couldn't count the times I've come here, usually on a happy occasion, as far back as I can remember.

Today though, I sat in the parking lot for a minute, hesitating. There were a couple cars in the lot, a beat up Chevy Malibu and a Ford Econovan, but not my dad's Buick. Not very encouraging. This was my only stop, if Dad wasn't here, I had no other options. And it was still too early to call anyone for more ideas, I was on my own.

It was kind of funny, and not funny ha-ha, I realized, how much I'd come to depend on my friends for help in the past few years. When I'd started out as a bounty hunter, I did everything by myself. Now, I had Joe, Ranger and Lula, along with a lot of Ranger's men to help me out. Maybe the fact that I was alone contributed to my panicky feeling. I took a deep breath and told myself I could do this, with or without help.

Slamming the car door shut, I straightened my shoulders and walked up to the Lodge's back door. It had a front door, too, but I'd never used it, everyone always came and went through the back door. But the doorknob wouldn't turn, the door was locked. No matter how hard I rattled, the door didn't budge. I even rang the doorbell for good measure, not expecting an answer, and gave up after the third time. There was no one inside.

"Now what?" I asked out loud, racking my brain to come up with the names of my dad's friends. There was still the theory he'd gone home with one of them, I reminded myself.

The sun was just rising, bathing the parking lot in somewhat of an eerie light that strangely matched my mood. I got back to my car and almost jumped when my cell phone started ringing from inside my shoulder bag.

I fished it out and hit the talk button without reading the display. "You're up early," Ranger said before I had a chance to say anything.

I didn't have to ask how he knew, there was a GPS tracker somewhere on or in my car that sent its little signal back to RangeMan. But it was a little early for him to know my location. "So are you," I said.

"Just got back from a takedown in Newark," Ranger said. "Noticed your car far away from home. Everything okay?"

I sighed. Probably Ranger had been up all night and was exhausted now. No need to bother him with my family problems. I was sure if I asked him, he'd come and help me, but then I'd feel guilty for keeping him up for what might turn out to be nothing.

"Yep, everything's a-okay. Just running an errand for my mom." That wasn't a lie after all; my Mom had asked me to find my dad.

"At 5:30 in the morning?" Ranger asked.

"Yes," I replied, unable to come up with a better reply.

"Need help?" Ranger asked and I knew I just had to say the word.

"No, I got it," I lied.

There was a slight pause and I knew Ranger was trying to decide if he should prod, but then he just said "Call me if you need anything," and disconnected.

"I will," I said to the dead line, more as a promise to myself. If I needed help, I'd let him know.

Right now, I didn't even know what I needed help with, and I didn't want to waste his time. Going to the cops was not an option either. First of all, all of Trenton would know within the hour that Dad hadn't come home the night before because cops could never keep anything to themselves. And second of all, I knew one had to be missing for 24 hours to be declared a missing person, so there was nothing they could do until then.

But there was one cop who didn't fall into that category, and he could help me make the phone calls I dreaded. I didn't want to, but I realized checking the local hospitals could help me find Dad. I knew from past experience that it was much easier for a Trenton PD detective to get information on recent arrivals than it was for a family member.

I sighed again and started the car, driving back to Dunkin' Donuts to pick up fresh coffee, and then I headed over to Morelli's house on Slater.

I let myself in and held the doughnut bag over my head, out of Bob's reach. He could smell food miles away and sure enough, came trotting out of the living room where he'd been sleeping just as I closed the door with my butt.

"One for you," I told him, trying to keep my balance as he pressed himself against me. "The rest are for the humans."

Bob devoured the doughnut with one gulp and wagged his tail, ready for more. I patted his side and told him what a good boy he was, then I made my way to the kitchen to place the bag up on the fridge, taking the coffee with me to wake Morelli.

Joe's car hadn't been outside, but I hadn't checked the garage he'd recently rebuilt, and just assumed his SUV was parked inside. At the sight of the neatly made bed, I realized I'd assumed wrong. Morelli was still at work. Shit.

I put the two Styrofoam cups down on the nightstand and dug out my cell phone, hitting his number on the speed dial. His voicemail picked up after a couple rings and I tried to remember what case he was working on, I knew he had told me. Was he even in Trenton? He'd told me while his hands were wandering over my body and I'd found it kind of hard to concentrate.

"Call me," I said after the beep and hung up.

It was time to regroup. I got the coffee off the nightstand and trudged back downstairs. I got the pen and pad from the counter and sat down at the kitchen table, and after a half hour, I was still staring at the blank page. The empty coffee cup was my only progress.

I sighed and dialed my parents' number, a promise was a promise. "Did you find him?" Mom asked right away.

"He wasn't at the lodge," I told her. "But I need your help with his friends, I don't know their names or where they live."

"Not at the lodge? But that's where he went…" Oh boy.

"Let me talk to Grandma," I said, sensing there was no use asking my mom for information, she sounded like she was about to start tippling.

"Did you find him?" Grandma wanted to know when she came on the line.

"Nobody was at the Lodge," I said. "Now I need some of Dad's friends' addresses so I can drive by their houses."

Probably I should know the names of my dad's friends, but I couldn't dwell on that now. As long as I knew where to get the information, I was okay.

Grandma gave ma a few names I recognized and I thanked her. "I'm going to take a shower now and then I'm on my way," I said.

"Oh they'll be up," Grandma Mazur said. "In case you want to wait until they wake up? They're early risers."

I didn't know if she was just saying that to wake up half the Burg, so I was still going to wait. "Are these three all of his friends?" I asked.

"Those are the ones that come to mind. I can ask your mother if…"

"No, that's okay," I said. I didn't want my mom to have a nervous breakdown. "I'll try them first and let you know."

Really, I'd meant to take a quick shower and be on my way, but once I was back up in Morelli's bedroom and the bed looked way too warm and comfortable, I put the remaining coffee on the nightstand and threw back the comforter. Maybe just a quick nap, I thought and lay down. It had been an exhausting morning and the lack of sleep was catching up with me, I'd had maybe three hours the night before.

Slobbery kisses woke me, and I was momentarily disoriented until I recognized Bob's excited huffing and pushed him off of me.

"Yeah Dog, off my territory," Morelli said, pushing himself off the doorjamb as he smiled and when he sat down on the bed, I noticed how tired he looked. His clothes were the same I remembered him wearing the day before, like he hadn't slept yet. Had anybody slept last night?

"Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

He ran his hand over the blanket that was covering me. "I'm not heref," I said and squinted to see the alarm clock on the nightstand.

"And you brought coffee," Morelli said and picked up the cup, then grimaced. "Cold coffee." He put the cup back down and looked at me. "Everything alright?"

I struggled to sit up. "I meant I shouldn't be here. I'm supposed to look for my dad."

Morelli raised his eyebrows. "I'm gonna nuke up the coffee and wake you with it up so you can tell me the whole story." He got up and took the coffee cups with him downstairs.

I groaned groggily and managed to push my legs out of bed. It was 9:30, I hadn't slept all that long, but I felt like I had a hangover. Deciding a shower would help, I dragged myself into the bathroom and stripped out of my clothes.

Twenty minutes later, I joined Morelli at the kitchen table feeling somewhat refreshed and wearing clean clothes. He'd spread the doughnuts on the bag, and I finally found my appetite and hungrily bit into a Boston Crème.

"So Cupcake, you want to tell me what's going on? I got your message, but you didn't answer your cell." He jerked his head over to my purse on the counter. "Now I know why."

I told him the story so far. That didn't take me long, I hadn't found out anything.

"Frank is missing?" he asked.

I nodded. "And I know you can't do anything official, but I was hoping you could call the hospitals for me?"

"You don't think…"

I held up my hand to stop him. "No. But I want to be sure."

Joe just nodded and took another sip of his coffee, grimacing at the warmed-up taste, then he pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'll see what I can find out," he said and grabbed his cell phone off his belt as he walked out of the kitchen.

I lobbed a doughnut to Bob and gathered up the empty cups and bag, pouring the rest of the coffee into the sink before tossing everything in the trash. No way could I sit around and wait until Morelli had called all the hospitals, I didn't even know what I was hoping for. Did I want Dad to be at a hospital and at least know where he was, or was I hoping no ER had heard of him and he could be anywhere?

I grabbed my bag and gave Bob a hug. Joe was on the phone when I walked past, so I just made the universal 'call me' gesture and let myself out. Morelli held up his index finger, signaling '1 minute', but I shook my head and motioned towards the outside. "I have to go," I mouthed and left. I didn't even know why it was so important that I left right that minute, I felt like I was driven by a motor, I had to go, go ,go, be on the move. It may have been a surge from the sugar, or just panic.

Armed with the list of names and address Grandma Mazur gave me, I took off. All of my dad's friends that she could think of lived in the Burg. By now, I was pretty sure my dad's disappearance was no longer a secret. He always parked his car in the driveway, since Big Blue took up the garage when I wasn't using it, and the absence of his Buick would have been noted. So I wasn't really surprised when Carolyn Roland, Dick Roland's wife, opened the door with a pitiful expression on her face.

"You're looking for Frank, aren't you?" she greeted me. I just nodded.

"Have you seen him this morning? Is your husband…"

Dick Roland appeared from behind his wife and stood beside her. "We played cards last night," he said without preamble. "Then we both went home. Well, I went home…" he looked down at his shoes and I was wondering if he was hiding something.

"Did my dad leave in his car?" I asked.

He nodded. "Same as always. We left at the same time and walked to the parking lot together."
"What time was this?" I felt like a cop now and wondered if this was how Morelli's every day went.

"Ten-ish," Roland said.

"More like 10:30," his wife said. "You weren't home until 11."

"Right," Roland agreed. "The usual time."

"Did my dad say where he was going?" I asked.

"No. But neither did I. We always go home after the game, where else would we go?" He looked confused. If he was hiding something, I was pretty sure he was hiding it from his wife as well, so it wouldn't do any good to pry. Probably I'd get the same confused look if I asked if he'd noticed anything out of the ordinary.

I could tell this wouldn't get me anywhere. I thanked them and said goodbye, mentally checking Dick Roland off my list. This would be a long day, if my first stop was any indication.

My phone rang just as I was on my way to the second friend, Eddie Palmera.

"Good news," Morelli said when I answered. "Your dad wasn't admitted to any of Trenton's hospitals, and there aren't any John Does left unidentified either."

I sighed, and despite my earlier confusion, I had to agree it was good news. "Now what?" I asked Morelli.

"Where was he last seen?" Morelli wanted to know.

"In the parking lot of the Lodge," I said. "I told you."

"Somebody must have seen him leave."

"I'm at his friend's house now," I said. "He left with Dad, and this was at 10:30." I let out a long frustrated breath. "I have two more names, but I don't think I'm gonna get anything more. It's like he vanished from the parking lot."

"I'm gonna check with the guys from the night shift," Morelli said. "And I'll check the logs as soon as I get in today. We'll find him, Cupcake."

"You can't know that." Okay, that was unfair since I knew Morelli was just trying to make me feel better, but I couldn't help it, I was frustrated.

"I know your dad," Morelli said, ignoring my snark. "He'll turn up."

"I'm at Eddie Palmera's house now," I told him, parking my Escort at the curb. If I stayed on the phone with him any longer, I would let my frustration out on him, I just knew it. "I'll call you later."

I put my phone back into my shoulder bag and stared at the Palmeras' row house, as if it could give me any answers. "Where are you Dad?" I asked out loud. I didn't think Palmera would know any more than Roland had, or if he did, he wouldn't admit it in front of his wife. And at 10:30 on Saturday, all Burg wives were home preparing lunch. Probably it was false hope that there anyone knew more than Dick Roland had told me. Dad's friends weren't the right direction, I needed a better plan.

I took my phone out and called my mom again, hoping for something like 'Guess what, he just walked in the door, he pulled an all-nighter in Atlantic City' or something. But no such luck, as it turned out, my mom was hoping for a similar message from me. "I'll keep looking," I told her before we disconnected.

But I had a different kind of looking in mind; I wasn't going to drive from one friend's house to the next just to get the same non-information. I started the car back up and was on my way to RangeMan on Haywood Avenue without a second thought. I'd done enough researches on people there to know that RangeMan had the best programs, and although I wasn't sure I was ready to find out if my dad had any secrets, I thought doing a search on him would be the shortcut to discover them.

The control room on the 5th floor was quiet when I got there. Ram and Woody were at the monitors, Hal and Junior were at their desks working on the computer. They'd known I was there as soon as my car had pulled into the underground garage, so they weren't surprised to see me.

Ram looked up first. "Stephanie! To what do we owe the honor?" Woody snorted at that and gave me a wave.

"I just need to check on a skip," I said. I wasn't ready to share my dad's disappearance just yet. "Can I run a background check?"

"Sure," Junior said from behind me. "I'll go and reactivate your login."

If they were curious why all of a sudden Connie's programs weren't enough to tell me what I needed to know about an FTA, they didn't let it show. They acted as if I showed up every day asking favors, when the last time I used any computer in the building was when I had looked for more information on Ranger's doppelganger and had used his personal laptop.

I sat down in the cube I'd used when I'd worked at RangeMan and booted up the computer, hoping I'd remember enough about the search programs to not have to ask for help.

It felt totally weird to be doing a search on a family member. I felt like I was rooting through his closet or something, like I was invading his privacy. It was wrong, and I was praying I wouldn't find any skeletons in this 'closet', but I was desperate, my dad's missing had me in a state, I couldn't focus on anything but the search.

Dad had graduated from high school and had joined the Army, but he didn't talk much about it. There was a lot about it in the report, but if it turned out to be important, I'd need an interpreter to understand it. It went on to the parts I was familiar with, the wedding to my mom, his job at the post office, his cab driver license. My name was underscored, indicating there was a longish report on me as well, not surprisingly. The friends Grandma had mentioned appeared as well, but not underscored. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found nothing I didn't already know, like the deed to the house, his car buying history and such.

The program only marked 'persons of interest', as in there were a few police reports or something. That made me go back to the Army stuff again, as several names had been marked there, four in all. This would take longer than I'd anticipated.

But since it was the only thing that could possibly turn into a lead, I had to check them all. It was almost noon and I had nothing else, as if Dad had just vanished off the face of the Earth.

I was beginning to get scared. What had I missed? Where could he possibly be? Why hadn't he called?

TBC

A/N: OK peeps, here I go again. So where do you think Frank could possibly be? Kidnapped? In the arms of another woman? Does he lead a secret life Steph can't even imagine?? And who could help Steph find him if she can't rely on her family?? Tell me where you think he could be and maybe I'll use your suggestion and your name is in one of the future chapters...