Prelude

Sleepyside, 27th May 1992

Sargent Molinson tucked his cap under his left arm and raked his long fingers through his thinning black hair. This would have to be one of the most trying duties he had had to preform in his twenty years as a police officer. With a sinking heart he approached the white washed farm house. Nervously he rang the bell as he waited for the approaching footsteps to open the door before him, and Pandora's Box.

'Sargent,' hope sprung to the woman's blue eyes when she realised who had come at this late hour. It was tempered by anxiety.

'Ma'am,' he nodded politely, trying once again to straighten his thoughts.

'Do…do you have any news?' she was holding her breath, not sure wether to be frightened or comforted by the officers sudden, if expected appearance.

'I'm sorry, Mrs Belden,' he managed through gritted teeth, 'we're scaling down the search. I'll keep the case active as long as I can…'

'Thank you, Sargent,' Helen nodded briefly, closing the door in his face.

Molinson heard her slip to the floor on the other side of the heavy wooden panel and her heart ranching sobs cut the air. Cursing under his breath and feeling helpless, Molinson returned to his police cruiser.

Tomorrow's been 4 weeks, 28 days since she disappeared, the sergeant silently considered the statistics, the chances of finding her alive…

Chapter One

Sleepyside Town Limits, Sunday Afternoon in mid July 2004

Sarah was sleepy.

They had been driving since early morning, meandering their way through the country side, in no great rush to get home. The week in Boston had been a wonderful vacation from her high paced life in New York. She had revisited Harvard, where she and Callum had once attended College. Together, they had reminisced on the years they had spent there as students. This time out from her life had culminated in a five year reunion with her classmates last evening.

'Can we stop for a break?' Sarah turned to her companion.

'We're only an hour or so from home,' Callum complained. 'Do we really need to stop, again?' Softening his rebuke with a warm smile, he continued, 'I though you had seen all the quintessential American small towns you could handle on this trip.'

'This one reminds me of…oh it doesn't matter.' Sarah's frown turned into a smile as her blue eyes twinkled with mischief. 'I need the bathroom.'

'I should have guessed,' Callum rolled his eyes. 'What's wrong with that bladder of your's anyway? This is the fifth time we have had to stop for a bathroom break since this morning.'

'A coffee at that quaint little diner I saw wouldn't go astray either,' Sarah hinted, unable to meet his enquiring stare.

'Decaf,' he stated in a proprietary manner.

'If you insist,' she laughed, not giving anything away.

'A full shot of caffeine at this hour of the day will have you bouncing off the walls until midnight,' Callum grinned wickedly. 'Not that I don't like you bouncing off the walls until midnight, only it always got a little trying on Mother's nerves.'

'Our Mother is entirely correct,' Sarah sighed at the byplay between them, 'when she calls you a cad Callum Cavanaugh.'

Parking the car outside of Wimpies, Sarah rushed into the dinner asking, 'Could you please point me in the direction of the restrooms?'

The man behind the counter did a double take, before directing her with a finger and open mouth.

'Thanks,' Sarah threw him a smile but was intrigued by the man's reaction to her appearance. Well they say everyone has a double, she laughed at the thought, and mine must live in this town.

Callum had pre-empted Sarah, and ordered coffee to go. He was anxious to be on the road. Smiling at the man in her life, Sarah wondered how she had ever been lucky enough to find him and his family. Callum had taken to her like a long lost sister, while his parents learnt to love her as the daughter they never had, in the long months of convalescence after the car accident which claimed the life of her father and some of her memories. Later they had talked adoption, but Sarah felt bemused at the though of becoming a Cavanaugh when she was almost 17. Her foster mother was not a woman to be gainsaid, and eventually Mary had had her way.

'In a rush to get home,' Sarah laughed, picking up the cardboard cup her adopted brother held out for her.

Some of the mirth left her expression as she realised the byplay between Callum and herself was intently noticed by the tall, thin man behind the counter. His eyes followed her progress out into the parking lot.

'You bet yar,' Callum's baby blue's clouded over with emotion he rarely allowed to show. Opening the car door, he stoped Sarah. 'You maybe my not-real-blood-related-sister, but that doesn't mean I don't like spending quality time with you. And then there is the little matter of me going back to work tomorrow, even if you have another week off.'

'I'm working evenings at the women's shelter,' she reminded. 'Louise is taking some down time, so I said I'd cover her shifts and mine this week.'

'So,' he commented dryly, 'that means I have even more of a reason to get you home before you throw yourself into your volunteer work not less. Besides we have a dinner engagement with the parents in a little over an hour.'

'I didn't forget,' Sarah's mouth turned down in a frown, 'I was just hoping to delay the inevitable!'

'I don't know how you find the time Sarah, honestly I don't,' shaking his head, Callum wondered where this woman got all her enthusiasm and energy. She had been a dynamo since their first meeting twelve years ago. 'I come home from the hospital after a thirteen or fourteen hour shift and just want to eat and sleep. But you, you and Louise manage to provide free medical care to those battered women after a gruelling day.'

'What can I say,' she grinned up at her tall, auburn haired companion in an attempt to bring closure to the conversation they constantly rehashed.

'That your past demands you give something back,' the answer from his lips was more a worried sigh than a statement. 'I'm just concerned you're overextending yourself, Sarah.'

'Excuse me,' an elderly lady broke into their private conversation, 'you look just like…I could have sworn…I'm sorry dear, its just that you remind me of someone I once knew.'

'I seem to be getting that a lot,' Sarah grinned at the woman and the thought of home made oatmeal cookies and Dutch windmills flashed across her mind. 'I must have a secret twin who lives in this town.'

Callum watched his companion climb into the car with a curious expression covering his freckled face. Sighing, he continued on to the driver's door and wondered if Sarah would ever give up searching.