Wow, I am really amazed how many readers I got on last chapters and how many positive reactions you gave me. As promised, here is the next chapter. P.s. this story was written a while ago, so Brandon was still with Lou.
It was lunch time when he sat outside eating his lunch while enjoying the sunlight on his face. He came here regularly and it was one his favorite places. It was always quiet here, even though he wasn't alone and there were more people in the park. He took another bite of his sandwich while he thought back to his morning. He had known it was going to be a good day and so far he wasn't disappointed. Only an hour after he had arrived his boss came over to compliment him on his recent work. His boss didn't easily give out compliments, so he had a big smile on his face the entire morning. He had been so happy about it that he called his wife immediately after his boss left his desk. But how good the morning had been, it was nothing compared to how great his afternoon and evening would be. Tonight, when he would step into his bed and give his wife a goodnight kiss he knew his life couldn't be better. After so long, he couldn't believe it was finally going to happen.
"Brandon, you need to tell us what's going on!" Stef practically screamed."Why didn't you take her and where is she?" She continued.
"Stef calm down." Lena cut in. "Why don't you just start at the beginning Brandon?" Lena asked Brandon.
"Well, after school when we took off to therapy we were a bit early. So I thought it would be nice to go for ice cream on the way there." Brandon started. He looked up to his mom with an apologetic look.
"Okay, go on." Lena encouraged him.
"So we were at the ice cream place and just talking about I don't know what and suddenly we were arguing about something stupid." Brandon continued while staring at his hands.
"What were you arguing about?" Stef asked her eldest son.
"I don't really know how we came to the subject, but it landed on Lou. At first she was teasing me a bit, but then it became an uncomfortable conversation and I said something stupid." Brandon was still looking at his hands.
"Well, what did you say?" Stef said while she impatiently looked at the clock. It was nearing seven now and Callie still wasn't home. As Brandon didn't continue immediately Stef wanted to jump back in, however Lena lay a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. But Stef felt from Lena's hand that she was just as tensed.
"I said that it was okay if she felt jealous. That I would understand it if she was envy of our relationship." Brandon said with clear regret in his voice.
"Okay…" Stef said, she understood it would have pissed Callie off, but didn't explain why she wasn't home yet.
"But that's not it. Callie was taken aback by my comment and told me that she thought I knew that she wasn't feeling like that at all anymore. I just couldn't keep my mouth shut, I didn't thought about it and I surely didn't mean it." Brandon took a pause before he spilled the last bit.
"I told her that it was okay if she still felt like that because we were not really family." Brandon lay his face in his hands. He had known right away that these words were the worst for Callie to hear from him.
"She jumped up and asked me to leave her alone." He ended his confession.
"And that was the last you heard or saw from her?" Lena asked him while she lay her hand on his. "Yes, after a couple of minutes I decided to go after her, but I couldn't find her anymore. I didn't knew which way she had chosen to walk to therapy." Brandon replied.
Stef turned around to their other children.
"Well, if Callie would be upset, where do you think she would turn to?" Stef asked them.
"The drop-inn centre!" Jude almost yells.
Lena, who had her phone still on the table grabbed it and dialed Rafael's number. However with only a few words spoken they found out that he hadn't heard from Callie either.
"Alright, Brandon, you and I will take a drive in the direction of the therapy center. Lena, you can take Jude and maybe check the beach?" Stef asked her wife, who jumped immediately in action.
"Mariana, Jesus, I want you two to stay home and keep calling Callie. If you hear anything call me." Stef ordered them.
"Maybe we should call Wyatt, I know they aren't really speaking, but you never know." Mariana said, she was now worried as well.
"Good honey, you do that. I will call Mike and ask if he can pass by Girls United. He lives close by." Stef continued as she grabbed her phone and keys.
"Call if you hear anything." Stef reminded her family once more before closing the door behind them.
Just as Stef wanted to step into the drivers seat her eye fell on a big dent on her side of the car.
"Brandon…" She started while looking over the car into her sons eyes.
"That's a story for later." He said defeatedly. He had confessed enough for now.
Lena was driving around for what felt like hours. She and Jude had checked the beach thoroughly, but except for some joggers and a few couples holding hands, the beach was empty. She then drove to the drop-in centre to make sure Callie really hadn't shown up, but just as Rafael had told her on the phone he hadn't heard from her. Mariana had also called in to tell that Wyatt hadn't seen her. However he was willing to help and was now driving around as well.
"Hey buddy, can you think of a place where Callie would be?" Lena asked while she stopped the car at the side of the road, not knowing what to do next. He silently shook his head while staring out of the window.
"Jude, I know you are worried, but everything will be…" Lena told him, but couldn't finish her sentence as Jude intervened.
"Everything will be what? Fine? Don't give out a promise like that. I can see how worried you are, so don't say it unless you believe it yourself." Jude started his sentence yelling, but ended defeatedly with his head against the window again, staring outside. Before Lena could reply to him her phone started to ring and she saw Stef's picture on the screen. With a lump in her throat she answered the phone.
"Hey Stef, do you have anything?" Lena said quickly, both eager and scared of what she would hear. It was getting dark outside now and the thought of her daughter on the streets was scaring her.
"No nothing. Her phone is still off. Mike talked to Rita, but she has no clue either. I also called Daphne, but no luck there as well. I'm going to meet Mike at the station, I have asked some guys there to the check her phone, they are on it now. Maybe you should go home to the twins." Stef informed Lena. Her voice sounded so off that Lena just wanted to cry.
"Alright honey, call me when you need or hear anything." Lena replied to her wife before hanging up. She looked over at Jude when she turned the key in the ignition. Jude was now looking right at her.
"There is no news. Mom is going to the police station. From there they can trace Callie's phone." Lena told him. Her voice was a bit shaking and as soon as she had said it Jude's shoulders slumped down and he let himself fall back against the window without saying a word. Lena looked into her rearview mirror and drove off in the direction of home.
Mariana looked out of the window with her phone in her hand. She was scanning the streets for Callie to come home or her mothers to return with Callie.
"Do you think she ran away?" She asked her twin brother.
"Why else wouldn't she be home by now. I mean it's a school night and Callie usually doesn't break curfew." Jesus answered her. He was trying to be nonchalant, however he was pacing nervously up and down the living room.
"I think running away is also breaking curfew." Mariana replied back, frowning at him.
"But I don't believe that she would run away, not again. She knows the impact it had, plus there is simply no reason for her to run away. At least not over a stupid comment from Brandon" She said, while she turned her face back to the streets.
"Well, if I have learned anything from girls the last year, it is that they don't need a reason to behave irrational at all." He said, receiving a frown from his sister again.
"Besides, if she didn't ran away, then where is she?" Jesus said, not so much to Mariana but more to himself.
"I don't know." Mariana sighed. "But I have a bad feeling about this." she added. They stayed quiet for a while. Suddenly the phone rang and within seconds Mariana answered.
"Hey mama, any news?" Mariana asked instantly.
"Okay, right. No nothing. See you in a minute then." Mariana finished off her conversation with Lena in a matter of seconds.
"Mama and Jude are on their way home. They haven't found anything." Mariana said while she let herself fall into a chair. To tired to stand any longer at the windows.
"What about Mom and Brandon?" Jesus asked his sister.
"I don't know." Mariana sighed and they both sat quietly waiting for their mother to return home.
Stef parked her car in the parking lot of the police station where she worked. As soon as the car stood still she turned the ignition off and jumped out of the car.
"Come and stay with me B." Stef said while she marched to the entrance.
Brandon was running after his mom to keep up. She knew he was scared and that he felt guilty for what he had said and for not driving Callie to therapy, but she didn't had time to comfort him or talk to him about what else was bothering him. For example the dent in the car. She just couldn't deal with that now. She needed to know her daughter was fine and feel her safe in her arms. And after that she would probably ground her for life. Maybe even put a leash on her.
Once when she and Lena had taken Brandon, Jesus and Mariana to Disneyland she saw two small children who were on a special kiddy leash and while everyone looked at the parents and judging them, she had only looked at them in envy and wishing Jesus was young enough to wear a leash like that. They had already lost him twice and it was only 11.30 in the morning. She had learned really quickly into motherhood that the scariest thing is not knowing where your children are.
As soon as Stef and Brandon stepped into the station everyone looked over at Stef with pity on their faces. Stef ignored them and scanned around looking for Mike. It didn't take long for her to spot him. He was on the other side of the room talking to Captain Roberts while drinking a coffee. Stef quickly grabbed Brandon by his arm and walked across the room towards her partner and boss.
"Mike, please tell me you've got something." Stef pleaded while she was approaching him. Mike looked a bit uncomfortable and before he could say anything Captain Roberts intervened.
"Let's find a more private room to talk, Stef. Brandon can wait here by your desk." She said while pointing Stef into the direction she wanted to go.
"No, I can't leave him." Stef begged. She wasn't keen on leaving her son out of her sight.
"He'll be fine Stef. He won't be alone." Captain Roberts said sternly and together with Mike they walked into the Captains office.
"Stef, as soon as we heard what was going on I put some guys on tracking your daughter." Captain Roberts said while they all took a seat. Mike sat next to Stef and took her hand. From his face Stef could tell that he already new what she was now going to hear.
"They wanted to turn her phone back on since that is the easiest way of tracking the phone, however they weren't successful. Which could mean that the phone is broken or that battery has been taken out." Captain Roberts continued while she looked straight at Stef.
"They have now traced Callie's cell phone to the point where it went down. I send two detective, with back up, to check the neighborhood. I'm waiting for them to report in." Captain Roberts finished her update.
"Where are they?" Stef asked immediately. "I want to go over there to." She pleaded when she saw from the Captains face that she was going to say no.
"That's not a good idea Stef. You and Mike should wait here with Brandon . They are good detectives and we will know more soon." Captain Roberts said with sympathy.
"Detective Brody and Detective Miller are on it Stef." Mike said to comfort her.
"You know their reputation, they will find her. Probably soon and you can give Callie a lecture for the rest of her teenage years." Mike said. He was still holding her hand.
"I know it is hard, but we can only wait now." Roberts said while she stood up.
"You stay here, I will get Brandon to stay with you. Use my phone to call your wife if you want. Maybe it's better if your phone stays available for Callie to call." Roberts said while walking out of her office to find Brandon. Stef looked at the clock and saw it was 21.45 already. It had been almost 5 hours since she felt that something was wrong. 5 hours and they still hadn't heard anything from Callie. Her throat was dry and she felt the tears prickle in her eyes and took a deep breath to stay calm. Brandon joined them and looked up at her and Mike with questions in his eyes. Stef shook her head.
"Nothing yet, Love." She said while she took his hands.
Twenty minutes later Captain Roberts walked back into her office.
"Brandon, can you get some water for us from the canteen?" Roberts said to Brandon. Brandon got up slowly and walked out of the office giving his parents a worried glance.
"Yeah, I'll be right back." He said and Roberts closed the door behind him. Stef felt cold and warm at the same time. She wanted to scream to her boss to just tell her the news, but she knew no sound would come out of her. Roberts took place behind her desk again and looked very serious, first at Mike and then at Stef.
"Detective Miller just called me." She started before she took a deep breath and continued.
"They have found Callie's backpack, her phone was in it. They told me to proceed this investigation as a criminal case." Roberts said.
Stef closed her eyes as soon as the words hit her. Her biggest nightmare just became reality.
I know, I know, another cliffhanger. This story just can't be without cliffhangers. Next update will be tomorrow hopefully. If you will, let me know your thoughts. I am always curious about them :)