Disclaimer: I don't own "Lie to Me."

Author's Note: Hey, everybody... Yay! Another new story! :D Hopefully you guys like this one...Of course, it will only improve after this chapter. :)

1. Drama

Cal munched groggily on his toast. He didn't hate mornings; he just disliked them…a lot. Although, it was mostly because he would linger at the office until late, and then expect himself to get up at a reasonable hour. Now he would have to face the stubborn Torres and ridiculous Eli. Of course, he could never blame Foster for the pointless office shenanigans. Well, except for eating chocolate pudding in the morning and drinking massive slushies. Alright, so they were all a little taste of annoying adventure…including himself.

His phone buzzed against the kitchen counter, starting his day with an unwelcome lurch. Now who wanted his precious attention? He picked up the phone and opened the text message, hoping it was either Emily or Gillian

He didn't expect this.

Hello, Dr. Lightman. How is your toast?

Cal stared at the message, shock washing his brain. His toast slipped from his fingers, landing on the counter with a soft plop. He anxiously glanced around, out the windows and in nearby rooms; Cal couldn't be sure if the stranger was in or out of his house. If this was a joke, it was a bloody bad one.

He was about to reply to the message, but another buzz pulsed through his phone. Cal didn't waste time in opening the second message.

Good to see I've got your attention. Open your front door.

He hesitated where he stood, taking another look around before he sprinted towards the door. Cautiously, he looked over his shoulder, then carefully twisted the knob and pulled the door open. A neatly wrapped, brown-paper package sat on the doorstep, waiting to be snatched and ripped open eagerly.

Cal obliged.

He tore the brown paper into confetti in his haste, unveiling a white box. Cal didn't care if his neighbors were staring, or their families, or their freakin' pooches. He was focused on that white box.

What did it mean?

Sinking further into the house, he pulled the box open to reveal a note and a manila envelope. He retrieved the note and held it closer to read.

Dr. Lightman,

Let's play a game. I like to act and I want to test my skills. You are an expert at reading people and I'd love your critical eye. I'll approach you each day with one or two new roles and I want you to try and figure out who I am. I won't make it easy and I've arranged incredible incentive to motivate you.

I know about your "toolbox" of people. The longer it takes for you to find me…let's just say your team will migrate to a certain medical center. When you run out of "tools," I win! Doesn't this sound exciting?

Put forth some real effort.

P.S. Let's start with the small fry.

Cal took a shaky breath as he pulled the glossy paper out of the manila envelope. What met his gaze was a photo…

Of Eli.

He was walking to his car with a phone to his ear, clearly clueless to the fact he was being photographed. In metallic, silver pen, a small message was written:

Bye bye, Eli.

Cal's heart was beating quickly as he stared at the image. He had to get to work; he had to see for himself if Eli was okay. He'd have to keep his worry and his one-sided communication with a psychopath from Torres and Foster. Ignoring his toast and forgetting his suit jacket, he rushed out of the house and towards the car.

Right now he just had to get to the office.

Gillian took a sip of her tea and sat down daintily in her office chair. Eli wasn't here yet, but she didn't let it bother her; he'd probably come in with some extremely honest excuse which didn't really justify his tardiness but somehow passed it off as okay. For all she knew, he could've possibly tripped and spilled coffee all over his sweater vest and went home to change. It was either that or he would say he didn't feel like coming in, but went anyway. At least Torres was here.

Her phone buzzed loudly on her desk, nearly causing her to choke on her tea from surprise. She chuckled to herself as she proceeded to open the text, the name reading 'Eli.'

"There we go." she muttered quietly, sipping a little tea.

I won't be in today.

The tires screamed as Cal eagerly pulled into his usual parking spot. He sighed in an attempt to alleviate some of the stress, but wasn't surprised when he found himself panicking still. Cal pushed the door open and got out of the car immediately, slamming the car door just as he spun around. He found himself jogging towards the workplace, glancing warily around him. Lightman slowed just as he came to the door, just so he wouldn't raise any suspicion. He stepped through the threshold, trying to suppress his heavy breathing.

"Dr. Lightman!"

Cal turned to see a woman walking quickly towards him, held back by her heels. She had shimmery chestnut hair and a neat, pinstriped women's suit on.

"Yeah?" he breathed, hiding his attempts to catch his breath.

"Hi…I'm Stacy." she introduced, holding out her hand. He ignored it, eyeing her impatiently. She caught the drift and nervously lowered her hand. "Uh…um…I'm doing a paper on micro expressions and I was hoping I could get an interview with you. I mean, you are an expert and all…" Cal sighed heavily, irritated at this interruption in his urgent task of finding Eli.

"Sorry, but I don't do interviews." he said quickly, hoping it was a good enough excuse. "Now, I'm a bit busy, so if you could just run along, that'd be great." She look horrified, but he didn't care. Cal turned away from her and headed to the analysis room, fully aware that the company secretary was giving him a shocked stare. It shouldn't have been new to her that he had a mean streak anyway.

Ria emerged from the analysis room, casually looking at a case file.

"Oi!" She turned to look at him immediately, waiting for him to give her some sort of order. "Is Loker in today?" Ria looked confused, but she didn't question his intentions.

"No…He sent Foster a text that he wasn't coming in today." she replied, closing the file slowly.

"Why is that?" he probed. "The bloke sick?" Ria smiled nervously and Cal could see her wondering if Eli had done something wrong.

"I don't know; Foster didn't say."

Cal stood pondering this for a moment, tilting his head to the side as he thought. Was there something more to this? Ria was motionless as she watched Lightman and his seemingly relaxed, thoughtful look.

"Get back to work!" he yelled, walking past her. She hesitantly stood still, unsure of what to think of this encounter. "Go on, get!" She shrugged and moved on, reopening the folder and continuing in her analysis of the information. Cal was headed in a new direction: Gillian's office. It wasn't like Loker not to gush on why he wasn't coming in or why he was late. He had to be sure of what that text said. He rounded straight into Gillian's office, not bothering to slow until he pressed his hands against the desktop.

"Where's Loker?" he inquired, wanting to get straight to the point instead of all this dawdling. It was agonizing.

"Oh, he won't be in today. He sent me a text." she explained, scribbling something on a paper. "Why? What'd he do now?"

"Nothin', just curious." Cal replied abruptly, plopping into a chair. "Did he happen to say why?"

"Nope; it was pretty much straight to the point." she muttered, continuing in whatever she was doing.

"What exactly did it say?" he asked. She sighed and pulled out her phone.

"Look for yourself." she told him irritably. He took the phone from her and went to the last text, opening it up and reading the simple message inside. Definitely not like Loker. But, maybe he was being paranoid. Maybe Loker was embarrassed, for once, of the reason why. Or maybe he was just too tired or sick to care. Yeah, that had to be it. It was an explainable anomaly.

"Alright…" he mumbled, handing Gillian her phone. She smirked as she returned to her work and Cal exited her office. He strolled down the hallway, observing the tasks of his employees as ideas ran through her head.

He just couldn't shake away the bad feeling.

Maybe Eli wasn't sick. Maybe that wasn't even his fingers that wrote out that text.

"Dr. Lightman!"

Cal turned, seeing a desperate old man, clutching his cap in his hands. Cal remembered the note he read this morning. …one or two new roles… He looked the old man over, trying to find some reason to name him as the psycho. No, his brain was just drawing insane conclusions. He was old, innocent, honest man.

"I fear…I fear my son is stealing from me; I just want to know if it's the truth." the man muttered. Cal narrowed his gaze looking for the correct signs that this man was, in fact, troubled. He was.

"Um..I'm just a little busy right now, but one of my employees is just as capable to handle your case." Cal informed the man, looking around for Ria. Just as she came from the break room, he was quick to nab her.

"Torres! I have a case for you!" he called. Her eyebrows knit together in irritation and puzzlement, but she approached Lightman and the elderly man anyway.

"This man wants to know if his son is stealing from him or not." he explained, glancing around in an attempt to find anyone that even remotely looked like a psycho. Ria paused to examine Cal's strange behavior, looking worried that he finally cracked.

"Uh…right this way, sir. We can talk about it in the conference room." she said politely, sending concerned glances in Lightman's direction. Cal took a deep breath as he turned and headed for his own office, needing some place to hide out and think for awhile. He still hadn't decided whether or not Eli was actually abducted, or if he was just using up a sick day. Cal pulled out his phone and proceeded to call Loker, making it just inside his office when the ringing on the other end started. He closed the door as he waited for someone to pick up, praying silently that it was all a misunderstanding.

Nobody answered.

Cal's heart steadily beat faster, his insides curling inwards. Immediately, he tried to convince himself that there was a completely logical answer for this lack of activity on Eli's end. A text message vibrated his cell phone. He took a deep breath as he opened it, fearing every horrible possibility and giving in to the very logical paranoia that ailed him. It was from Eli, but his heart sunk as he read the words.

Just wait for it, Dr. Lightman.

Wait for what? What did that mean?

"Dr. Lightman? This just came for you."

The company secretary was peeking through the door, holding out a manila envelope with his name on it. He was reluctant to take it, but he slowly retrieved it from her fingers and quickly excused her from his office. Cal stared at the envelope, afraid of what was contained inside. His shaky fingers found themselves within the envelope, pulling the papers out. A note was covering a large photo and his eyes skimmed right through the note, eager to know what become of Eli Loker.

Hopefully, you've realized by now that Mr. Loker is missing.

Cal's brow stitched together in fear while the note slid from the photo and fluttered to the floor.

"Bloody hell, Loker. What did I get you into?"

Author's Note: How was it? Please review! .