Ah, lovely minions of mine! Kidding, but I do want to thank each and every one of you that have left feedback. As promised here's the next chapter in the long line for this one. Glad you're all enjoying it.

Chapter 1:

If Keith Mars was an expert at anything it wasn't being a single parent. He had installed a GPS tracking device on his daughters car the day before he gave it to her as a gift. When she took off and said she was just going for a drive, he pulled up the site on his laptop and punched in a code, a password, and voila, he could see just where she was driving to. She'd found it a few months ago and though she'd pretended to understand his need to violate her privacy for his own well-being, she'd been hurt. He'd been hurt to see her hurt. He'd turned it off and she'd turned it back on, telling him in her own way that she did have an inkling as to why he felt compelled to keep track of her, especially after the whole Aaron Echolls thing.

A while back when he'd noticed her driving to Logan's more often than not he put a wireless tap on her cell phone. She'd figured it out and debugged it and left him a note telling him the car was one thing, her personal calls were another. He'd looked at it from her point of view and knew that if she'd tried to pull a stunt like that he'd have been angrier than hell. Instead of being upset at her for finding out about the tap, he was more relieved and more proud than he probably should have been that he had raised a street-smart young woman.

Due to both the instances she more often than not left him a note explaining to him why she went out, who she was with, where they were going and an estimated time of when she'd be back home.

So what did he do when he came home to a quiet house and no note? He immediately went to her room and peeked in on her. Because no matter how much she'd grown up and tried to convince him that she could take care of herself, she was still his little girl. But tonight was different. He could tell right off the bat. There was a sickening ball lodged in his gut that seemed to grow bigger as he let himself into their two bedroom apartment. Back-Up was normally curious enough to see who it was and he'd hear a welcoming bark as soon as he locked the door behind him.

Tonight there was no Back-Up. Keith frowned and quietly placed his keys back in his pocket, leaned down and removed the gun from his ankle holster. He moved stealthily down the hall, opening the doors of each room as he went. His room first, then the closet where they kept their winter coats, then the bathroom they shared reluctantly. As he neared Veronica's room he noticed her door was shut, which was not normally the case. When he was off on an assignment she'd leave her bedroom door open to hear him when he came in at all hours of the night.

Keith's breathing was shallowed and controlled as he leaned the side of his head against the door. The last thing he really wanted was to find his daughter in bed with someone. There were just some things his heart couldn't take and he really didn't want to leave his only daughter an orphan. When he heard no noise on the other side of the door he took a deep breath and turned the knob and gun poised at his side he shoved into the room, keeping his back to the wall, and sweeping his gaze along with his right hand, ready to discharge the bullets.

Instead he found an unmade bed and was walking over to it when a loud knock made him jump and almost caused him to fire off a random shot. Keith put his hands on his hips and his head down and took a few deep breaths before cursing under his breath and walking back through the apartment to the front door.

He peeked out the peep hole and recognized the teen as a girl who lived on the first floor of their building.

He opened the door and smiled. "Aren't you breaking curfew?"

The girl smiled and winked. "I turned 18 last month. Why, sherriff, you gonna arrest me?"

Keith laughed and shook his head. "Nah, I don't concern myself with enforcing bed times as much anymore."

The girl nodded and whistled shrilly. Keith winced at the high pitch and looked confused for a moment before something nudged his calf. He looked down to find Back-Up panting up at him. "Where-"

"He was just wondering around. I tried to call first but all I got was a busy signal. He wasn't far, just over there where the dumpsters hit the fence." She motioned with a hand over her shoulder.

Keith stepped aside for the dog to get past him into the house and he looked back up at the young girl. "Thanks, Lisa, really I appreciate it."

She smiled softly, making her look years younger than her makeup and birthdate implied and shrugged. "It's not a problem Mr. M. I'm just glad I found him before the evil landlord did."

Keith looked over his shoulder at the dog who made quick work of lapping up every last drop of water in his dish. "Well, again, thanks." The girl waved it off and turned to go and Keith stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. He dropped his hand as she turned around again. "Did you happen to see Veronica leave?"

Lisa thought for a moment and shook her head. "Nope. I left here around 9 and didn't get back until about ten minutes ago."

Keith nodded. "Thanks, Lisa."

She smiled and turned around, loping down the steps to her apartment.

Keith shut and locked the door and turned around and stared at the dog sitting in the middle of the kitchen, staring right back at him. "Well now what, boy? Where'd the little lady run off to?"

He spent the next half hour looking for a note and calling her cell phone.

He changed into sweats and an old worn shirt of his and plopped down on the couch with a cup of coffee. He sat there, staring into space and rehearsing his dad speech that he'd punish her with when she walked in the door.

Minutes passed that seemed like hours and when the sun came up and the rays came through the window to spread across the carpet he was past angry. Something was wrong. He'd known it the minute he'd stepped foot in the house and now he'd had 2 hours to sit alone and think about all the possibilities.

He ran through what might have happened in his mind. Veronica had obviously gone to sleep since her bed was unmade and she made it every morning. Her car was still outside, so it was possible that someone had called and asked her to accompany them somewhere. But then why wouldn't she leave a note? Why wasn't she answering her cell phone? Why had Back-Up been let out? Something was really off with this whole situation.

Keith stood and went to the kitchen, grabbed the small address book they kept in the junk drawer beside the silverware and flipped the pages until he reached the F's. He picked up the phone to call Wallace at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning and heard complete silence. He tapped his finger against the receiver button. Nothing. He remembered Lisa saying that the line had been busy when she'd tried to call about Back-Up. Cold fingers of dread followed down his spine and his breathing became choppier with every step he took to his front door and out to his car.

And that's how Keith Mars came to be standing in front of Sherriff Lamb early on a Saturday morning.

TBC...