"Did you get any fingerprints off the gate?"

"A few. What about the buggy?"

"I collected more than a dozen. According to Mrs. Lester half of the family was here yesterday, most of them touched the buggy. I got the fingerprints and DNA the two of them, also from Adam and will get the fingerprints of the rest of the family. Which will take some time. Any word on the cameras?"

"Kyle found no traffic cameras on this road, he talked to various neighbors, if they had seen anything. Most times he speaks to house staff. They all saw cars passing by, nobody noticed a specific car."

"It was an expensive model, shiny, to fit into the neighborhood. Parked the car close to the house, got into the garden, took the baby and was gone. Or he was already in the garden, called an accessory when Mrs. Lester went into the house, took the baby and his helper waited outside for them."

"What about the father?"

"Was in the office, didn't hear or see anything. Before you ask, he has an alibi. He was on the phone when the baby was abducted."

"Which doesn't mean he has nothing to do with the disappearance of his son, we have no proof Adam really vanished at eight thirty-seven. It could have been earlier."

"Only when the parents have something to do with his disappearance. Which I haven't ruled out yet." Sofia stopped for a moment. "We had a case like this over two years ago."

"I read about it. The baby kidnapper, they even killed a pregnant woman."

"Yes and one father killed his own daughter, tried to blame it on the baby kidnapper."

"Right. You think this might be the same?"

"From what I saw in the house, the room, the way the parents talk about their son, I don't think so. But without any evidence we have to keep it in mind. Back then the father didn't strike me as a killer when I talked to him first. They know how to act without attracting attention, know what they're supposed to show and say."

"Of course."

"I'm off to see the rest of the family, get the fingerprints, some information how happy the Lesters are to be parents. Brandon is on his way to help you."

"Okay. You look after yourself? The twins?"

"Yes, I will. Lunch and water is with me, don't worry."

"Good. Give me a call when you need some help."

"I'm pregnant and not disabled. Okay, I'm disabled, but it doesn't interfere with my job."

"You're a hell of a CSI because of your brilliant mind."

"Thanks, you're not too bad neither, former housemate."

"I learnt from the best. See you later."

"Later." Juana stayed for three months at Sofia's place until she found an apartment in a good neighborhood and for a price, she could afford. Also very good money for Sofia and Sara, they needed after the IV and for the new room.

Sofia entered the addresses of the family members into her GPS and let it find the best way for her to see them all without driving around in circles. Seven addresses to go to. She had called them in advance to make sure, they were at home or she got the addresses, where they were now.

Her cell phone rang.

"Hi Darling."

"Hey, I got the Amber alert…"

"It's my case."

"Are you fine?"

"Better than the parents."

"The baby boy is abducted?"

"Yes, there is a ransom note."

"So not like the case over two years ago."

"No. And yes, I do look after myself, I have lunch with me, will take a break and did only the easy work."

"Good. Who works with you?"

"Our former housemate. She gets better every day, one day she might be better than I am."

"Not better, only almost as good as you."

"I love you. What are you up to?"

"Taking care of some very curious children, we are having our lunch break before we continue to look for bears."

"Yogi?

"Exactly. Susan is with your mother, they're playing on the playground in their garden."

"You called them?"

"Of course, I had to know she was fine when I got the Amber alert. Marie got it as well. Susan is safe with her."

"I know. Nevertheless it's good to know she's fine."

"Definitely."

"Thanks for telling me, I worried about it too."

"Okay, I let you go back to work, call me when you miss me."

"Then I don't have to hang up."

Sara laughed. "I love you."

"Love you too. See you tonight."

"Can't wait. Barbecue?"

"What else would we have in summer?"

"Picnic on the beach?"

"Nice idea too. Unfortunately I doubt we'll have the time for it."

"We won't, I like the idea anyway. Bye Honey."

"Take care of my ranger." Sofia ended the call. How did Sara always know when Sofia was in need for a boost of love? To listen to the voice of her wife made her feel better all the time.


Two hours later Sofia was back in the lab with a collection of fingerprints and DNA.

"Curtis, office!"

With a sigh she put the evidence aside and went to her bosses office. "What can I do for you, William?"

"Sit down."

It was never good when your boss told you to sit down. It was the first part of telling you something, you didn't like. Slowly she sat down, realizing her back hurt. Maybe she needed a longer break.

"So?"

"How are you?"

"Very pregnant with all side-effects."

"Can you work the case?"

"Of course."

"Are you sure?"

"Why would I not be able to work it?"

"You are pregnant, it's about babies."

"At the moment my twins are very close to me, hard to abduct. And physically I might not be able to do all the work, my brain on the other side, is fit."

"I know. I worry about your health."

"You don't have to. I go to my doctor appointments, eat my vitamins, take breaks."

"Still you have pain."

"You try to walk around with a constantly growing medicine ball, you'd be in pain too."

"Okay, tell me what you've found out so far."

"A lot of fingerprints from the buggy, the boy was abducted from. I collected fingerprints from his parents and the family and friends, who were over yesterday. The parents posted a photo of them back home with their son on Facebook. It was a public post, so the whole world could see it. Juana found traces of a break-in at the garden gate lock, the kidnapper must have come in from there. We're not very sure if they came in when the mother went inside to get coffee or if he was there the whole time and waited for her to leave. It's…" Her cell phone was ringing. "Sorry." She took the call. "Hi Juana, what's up?"

"Some more information. I checked the garden area, the grass next to the corner of the house showed evidence of a person standing there for a while. "

"So he waited there for the best chance to take the baby. Any other trace?"

"No, I double-checked the area, no cigarette butts, no paper, no chewing gum. I even checked the wall of the house with a magnifying glass, no traces of clothes."

"Did you find anything helpful?"

"No traces, except for the lock. The surveillance people are set up, waiting for the kidnapper to call. I talked to Kyle, he went to the place, the Lesters are supposed to leave the money. Remember, they got only coordinates. It's Union Station. They're supposed to leave a black backpack there."

"All information are on the ransom note, do you believe, the kidnapper will also call?"

"The note says, they might call with further instructions."

"I don't think they will, they left all information."

"Better safe than sorry."

"Right. Kyle found the next traffic cameras to the house, unfortunately they're on Hollywood Boulevard."

"A lot of cars, we can narrow down the time, but the kidnapper could have gone the other way. Up or down Highland."

"He gets the videos from there too. Are you ready for some hours in front of the TV screens? Brandon wants to stay a little bit longer here, we haven't finished the garden. He says, the kidnapper might have installed a little camera to see, when the baby was alone."

"Possible. Let him help him, I do the video work." This way she could sit on a comfortable chair, something her back would like.

"Okay, I call you when there's something new. Do you have news?"

"No, nothing. Sorry."

"Time is running. Child abduction section is informed."

"All right. See you later." Sofia ended the call. "You heard everything?" She put her cell phone on speakers so William could listen.

"Yes. Hollywood and Highland are busy roads, it won't be easy to spot the right car. Do you have any information how the car looked?"

"No. It's a good area, it has to be a new car, an old one would raise suspicion. I hope Kyle finds a neighbor, who saw a car, that didn't belong there. It's not a tourist route."

"The Hollywood Bowl isn't that far away."

"There are a lot of signs to the Bowl, nobody, who can read, would end up in this street and the house is too far away from Hollywood or Highland for somebody, who just wants to turn around. I think, they came from west, stopped, got the baby inside the car, drove on. Only a short stop."

"How about a parcel service? A faked UPS, DHL or USPS van? They always stop for a few seconds, leave something behind when nobody opens the door and some of them also pick up parcels. Hard to tell from a distance if the thing, the man has in his arms, is a small parcel or a baby."

"A van makes too much noise, Mister Lester's office is to the front, he might have heard something. I think it's a car. Parked close by, the man in the garden calls, gets the baby, leaves the garden, the car stops and off they go. When you walk past a man in a car, who is on the phone, you don't give it a second thought. The perfect cover. Number one is in the garden, number two pretends to be on the phone while he waits for the call."

"There could have been a person walking by when he and the baby came out of the garden."

"I'm afraid in this case, number two had taken care of this person. In a not healthy way." When they abducted a baby, they surely had no problems hurting people. Or killing them. They expected a lot of money and people got killed for less money every day. Nowadays the life of a person wasn't worth a lot.


"Any news?" Shane asked in a silent minute.

"No. I haven't talked to Sofia since the one call earlier."

"Do you believe the men from over two years ago are back?"

"I don't hope so."

"It would be stupid, LAPD almost caught them."

"Almost? Well, it wasn't almost, but there are a lot of cities, to come back to the place, where had been less than three years ago, doesn't look smart to me. Then again, these people seem to work with orders, when they have clients ordering babies from a specific city, they deliver."

"How can you prove the baby is from Los Angeles?"

"The newspaper. The Amber alert. Adam Lester's picture is all over the city, the TV. When somebody ordered a baby from Los Angeles and gets him, they know, the baby is really from there. Although I have no idea what might be special about babies from this city. Or any other city."

"Maybe they're fans of Los Angeles."

"A very special souvenir."

"Human trafficking must be a lucrative business."

"It is." Sara remembered various cases from Las Vegas, that involved human trafficking. Most times people from Mexico or South America coming into the United States, hoping for a better life. She doubt that most of them got a better life.

"Is there like a list of children, who are most likely to be abducted?"

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"Just wondering. Sofia keeps you updated?"

"As far as she's allowed. She can't discuss an ongoing investigation with me."

"Oh please, baby kidnapping? She needs to talk to you, you both worry about Susan."

"Susan is with her grandmother. Do you believe somebody comes close to our daughter without the captain noticing? Or that she lets anybody takes Susan away?"

"Not without killing this person first."

"Exactly." It was good other people thought the same. Helped her to relax. "Besides, it's a case with ransom."

"Does it make sense to go out in public when there's a ransom note?"

"It's in the eye of the beholder. It can add some danger, the kidnapper might get nervous. The problem is, when the baby doesn't get returned to the parents, the police lost the hours between the abduction and the not picked-up ransom money."

"Or the money is picked-up and the kid stays away."

"Another possibility. I assume the police had good reasons to do what they did."

"Yeah. When is the ransom delivery?"

"I have no idea and if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because if Sofia tells me anything, it's confidential."

"So she did tell you something."

"No." Sara got up. "Time to go back to the kids. We haven't found Yogi yet."

"I get you all a date with Bambi."

"Nice idea." They found a fawn, that was injured and kept it in a safe area close to the ranger's office. In a few weeks it should be strong enough to go back to the forest. For today, it could make some children very happy when they were allowed to look at it. Maybe feed it.