A/N: Thanks to everyone for your reviews! I love it that you're asking questions; lets me know that I'm keeping you guessing which is what I want to do with this kind of story.

WELCOME BACK: amal-rukia, Invader Johnny, Jay aka Jordan, Lushcoltrane, Quitting Time, S.K. Rowling, Timeless Reader. Always great to have you aboard.

Shout-out to new followers, CatHeartsU and Sea-green 93. The more the merrier! Hope to hear more from you.

Special shout-out to NonieBee for patching communications with FuckTheReaper who has been having Internet trouble lately.

As always, enjoy and review

;-)

Logging into the bar's Wi-Fi, Tori accessed The Slap. She scrolled through the archives and a lot of memories came back. Finally, she landed on a good enough picture from Jade's senior year. It was probably the last one ever taken of her before she mysteriously disappeared. It would have to do.

Tori shopped around the bar and asked the patrons and employees if they have ever seen her before. Most said no. When Tori got to the owner, she told the cop that the girl in question was very nervous. The businesswoman didn't understand the level of anonymity she was demanding. Tori shook the entrepreneur's hand and thanked her. She also gave her a card with her number. If Jade comes into the bar again, she needs to be notified.

When Jade came to, the shock of the icy bathroom floor was over. It wasn't any warmer. She had just gotten used to it. Eventually, she gets numb to things. Her vision was hazy but she could make out that she was alone. Grabbing the toilet and eventually the door knob, Jade managed to bring herself to her feet.

Staggering out of the lavatory, the cataclysmic pain in her backside became more apparent with every step.

Bastard, she thought. Why does he always give me the freaks?

Looking down at the table in the room, she noticed a folded piece of yellow paper from a legal pad. It read simply "Jade." Unfolding it, she saw several fifty dollar bills. Pocketing the cash, she saw that the other side of the paper had a note scribbled on it.

Tonight was very nice. You were a real good sport. Looking forward to our next meeting when I come back to town.

Jade spat on the note and was taken aback when bright red landed on the page. Sticking her finger in her mouth, she came up with some blood. She shrugged, thinking about whether or not the free clinic gave tetanus shots.

Checking the clock on the nightstand, she saw that it would be several hours until checkout. From the seedier motels to the higher end places like this one, they usually shooed you out around ten or eleven in the morning.

Jade contemplated ordering a shit ton of food and other amenities to rack up the son of a bitch's bill. Served him right but the thought of eating made her sick to her guts. Instead, she just left with her stuff.

Tori sipped her second cup of coffee, waiting for the computer at the station to check the pattern of the tire tracks from the alley. Luckily, her phone automatically took pictures at ten megapixels.

She almost dropped her increasingly less warm beverage when the monitor beeped with a result. Based on the pictures, the tracks appear to be consistent with a Ford Escalade. Years ago, it was the hottest vehicle for carjackings and similar crimes. Nowadays, with more people going green, such eyesores are becoming less frequent but they remain big targets. Its considered a status vehicle to many.

Armed with this new information, Tori typed into her statewide search engine exclusive to law enforcement and begun searching for registered Escalades with a plate beginning in "83C."

After coming up with fourteen results, Tori narrowed her search to Los Angeles. One was up in the Hollywood Hills. And the other was downtown. Printing out the hits, Officer Vega set forth to investigate Jade West's whereabouts.

Sinjin Van Cleef left his last IT job of the evening. He was always happy to help other people with their technical problems but they were usually so elementary he found it embarrassing to explain. This last job was about hooking up a hard wired printer. These days, such personal computers and accessories are so dummy-proof; he is confused why this is the majority of the action he sees in the field.

It would be nice to have a challenge for a change; a real test of his abilities.

While some have said that in high school he was awkward, and most of us would agree, but nobody could deny that there was an intelligence that was just otherworldly when you placed a keyboard and a mouse before him. One time, an up and coming band sought after the upperclassman to create a website for them and the musicians were stunned when he got to work immediately and within fifteen minutes had a published website with working graphics and photos. The next day it had audio clips and an extensive fan message board.

Watching Sinjin do anything with computers was like watching an old master wrestle acrylic paints into submission to produce a masterpiece.

He was so tired that he didn't regard the creeping black van.

The last thing he would say he remembered before everything got dark was that he was about to unlock his car.

The less than gentle vibrations of the vehicle wake Sinjin up. Wiping the blood from his head, he sees three masked men standing over him.

"Where am I?" he asked scared to death.

"We have a job for you," one of them said.

"I don't know what…"

The man who spoke drew a gun and pointed down at his face.

"It wasn't a request."

Jade walked into her apartment, almost falling in when the door swung open.

She started the shower, waiting for the water to be boiling hot. Not a trace of that bastard was to remain on her flesh.

While the shower was going, Jade untacks a calendar near the tiny kitchen. Behind it is a square carved into the wall. Fiddling with it, the section comes off and she reached inside. Her hand produced a shoebox. Jade takes out her cut of the money from last night. Half of one half, the usual.

It was a tumultuous journey but seeing the cash of countless nights filled with regret made her heart brighten. Jade tossed the new green into the pile. Last time she counted, it was about four grand.

Jade sighed and returned her savings to the hiding space in the wall.

Getting into the steamy bathroom, she was ready to wash another nightmare off of her.