Part three of the series is finally here! Sorry for taking so long, but real life went a little mad. Anyway, here it is. I hope you like it. Special shout out to lilymoonlight for reading this & giving me lovely feedback.

Christina x

XOXOXOX

Mac stared at the board in his office, a small frown furrowing his forehead, concentrating hard. This case, like every other, was a puzzle. And he simply had to rearrange the pieces to solve the puzzle. Unfortunately the pieces in this puzzle did not want to be rearranged. Cameron Shell had left home two days prior, telling his wife he was going to the gym, and had not been seem since.

The door of his office banged open as Danny strode in.

"Mac, we got a hit on Cameron's credit card," he said. "A bar in the Bronx."

Mac grabbed his coat.

"Let's go."

Despite only being three in the afternoon, the party was in full swing in The Phoenix. Mac and Danny negotiated their way through the crowd towards the bar, hoping the bartender could point them in the right direction. As Danny shouted over the music to the bartender, Mac scanned the room, glancing at the picture of Cameron Shell his wife had provided. He frowned in the direction of the bachelor party in the corner, tapping Danny's elbow to get his attention.

"Cameron Shell?" Mac called.

"Yo!" Cameron replied, looking round, grinning wildly.

"NYPD, get up," Danny snapped. Being in a loud club in the middle of the day chasing a clearly not in danger and well inebriated missing person made him irritable.

"Wow, what's this about?" Cameron asked.

"Your wife reported you missing," Mac explained. "You told her you were going to the gym two days ago then never came back."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't sure if I was gonna come along or not," Cameron shrugged. "It was a last minute thing."

"Wait so, you knew you were coming to a bachelor party, but you told your wife you were going to the gym?" Danny asked, certain he'd misunderstood. Cameron grinned.

"Yeah."

"Mac, can we arrest him? Seriously?" Danny pleaded. Mac gave him an understanding look. Danny shook his head.

"You should call your wife, let her know you're okay," Mac said.

"No way. I'll see her tomorrow. What's one more day?" Cameron replied.

"So what exactly do we tell Mrs Shell?" Danny asked as they returned to the car. Mac exhaled slowly. Two days wasted.

"The truth," he replied eventually. "That her husband is fine, and he'll be home tomorrow."

"You sure we can't arrest him for wasting police time? Or for being a shit husband?"

"It's not a crime."

"Should be," Danny muttered. "We're gonna be hitting rush hour traffic soon. Tell you what, you go back to the lab, I'll take the subway. I'll call Linds, get her to pick me up on the way home."

"You sure?" Mac asked.

"Yeah. No point in us both sitting in traffic for hours. I'll talk to you later."

XOXOXOX

Mac was working on his report when Danny called.

"Hey Mac, I spoke to Alice Shell," he said. "I felt pretty bad. She's a nice lady. Doesn't deserve an idiot like that as a husband."

"You didn't say anything did you?"

"No, but I wanted to. Would it be wrong if anonymously sent her a note telling her where her husband really was?"

"Yes," Mac smiled. "Even though your heart's in the right place. Lindsay on her way?"

"Nah, traffic's crazy. Told her I'd get the subway. See you tomorrow Mac."

"Bye Danny."

He hung up, continuing to fine tune his report. Twenty minutes later, he was preparing to submit it when the phone rang again.

"Taylor."

"Detective Taylor, this is Karen Davis from Los Ninos. I was just wondering who was picking Mackenzie up today?"

"Her mother." Mac frowned, glancing at the clock. "Isn't she there yet?"

"No. And we can't get through to her phone either." She hesitated. "Mackenzie's getting a little worried, do you think you could...?"

"I'm on my way."

In the car Mac tried to call Stella, but as Karen Davis said, there was no answer. If he'd been worried before, he definitely was now. The thought of Stella not turning up for her daughter was unthinkable, but especially since Kenzie's kidnapping nearly a year ago. There was no way she wouldn't be there for Kenzie; unless she couldn't. He turned on the radio, both the police scanner and a city commercial station, hoping for some indication if Stella'd been involved in a car accident. But both were focused on an accident at a building site, something involving the subway from what he heard.

Arriving at the daycare centre, Mac ran up the front steps. Kenzie was sitting by the door wearing her backpack, looking worried.

"Hey Kenz," he said.

"Daddy!" She threw her arms around his neck.

"Hey, it's okay," he soothed, rubbing her back.

"Where's mom?"

"She had to stay late at work, so you're coming home with me," he lied.

XOXOXOX

"Come on Kenzie, time for bed," Mac said, trying to keep his worry for Stella out of his voice. His daughter was curled up on the couch watching cartoons, her arms wrapped around her favourite soft toy. Her eyebrows met in a frown, her lower lip stuck out.

"No," she pouted.

"Kenzie..."

"I want mommy."

"Mommy has to work. But you'll see her tomorrow," Mac replied, crouching down in front of her. Kenzie shook her head, leaning back into the leather of the couch.

"No!" she retorted. "Now!"

"You can't see her now Kenzie. Tomorrow. Come on, bed."

"No!" Kenzie shouted. Tears bubbled in her eyes.

Mac's cell phone burst into life on the table before he could reply. He shot to his feet, wincing at the strain in his knees, grabbing it, hoping beyond hope that it was Stella on the line.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mac, I checked out Stella's apartment, but I don't think she's been back since going to work this morning," Flack said. "I swung by NYU, and they said she left on time. But there was no sign of her car in the parking lot. Any answer on her phone yet?"

"No," Mac replied, glancing towards Kenzie. "I'm really worried."

"Me too. Look Mac, I gotta go. City's gone crazy with that subway collapse."

"Okay. See you later Don."

Mac tried checking the news for any accidents he hadn't heard of through work, but it was preoccupied with the collapse of a subway tunnel. Normally Mac would've been straight down there to help. But today, he was far too worried about Stella. Where was she?