Elliot gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He could feel the anger coursing through him, despite his attempts to calm down. Kathy had called him earlier that day and started belittling him after she found out he would be having a late night at the office again. It was 3 in the morning, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Elliot knew, however, she would be waiting up for him, wanting a fight. What the hell did she expect when she married me? Elliot thought, as he got out of the car and walked to his door.

He let out a sigh, as he opened the door and saw Kathy sitting at the kitchen bar. Her face was streaked with tears and she was clutching the house phone, holding it to her chest.

"Kathy, I had to stay late," Elliot protested as he took off his coat and wiped at his dry eyes. "The case we're working on-" His sentence cut short by Kathy sobbing. He could see she was shaking from across the room, and he ached to see her in so much pain.

"Kathy," he muttered as he walked towards her. He couldn't understand why she was being this way. It's not like this is the first time he stayed out late because of the job.

"No. Don't," She cried out as he reached out for her. She got up from the bar stool and turned his back on him. "It's Dickie. He never came back from his friends house. He should have been back before bedtime," she whispered. Elliot could hardly hear her, so he walked in front of her. He grabbed her shoulders and bent down so they were eye level. "What? Did you say Dickie-"

"Yes!" she screamed out. Another set of tears rolled down her face as she pushed him away. "Dickie's gone! I called his friends mom and she said he left at 10 to walk home! That was 5 hours ago!"

"And why didn't you call me? The cops? Why are you just now telling me this?" He could feel the anger rising again. He leaned against the counter and rubbed his forehead.

"I...didn't notice until 2 hours ago," she whispered, more to herself than Elliot. "I'm a bad mom. I shouldn't have let him stay out so late. I should have checked to see if he was home before I went to bed. I should have-" Elliot silently agreed with each statement she made, but he put his arms around her and whispered, "It's okay. We'll find him."

Elliot went into their room and closed the door. He had to let this anger go. It wasn't going to help them find their son. He grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. Elliot didn't want Kathy feeling even more guilty than she already had. He will never forgive her for this, though. He couldn't. He knew how valuable each second was, and she waited 5 hours?

Elliot's anger was replaced by fear the moment he released the pillow. He could still hear Kathy sobbing from the other room, and it started to sink in. Their boy was missing.

TBC...