Note: Thank you to everyone who has read and "Favorited" this story. A special thanks goes to those of you who left reviews on the last chapter, which made my day: Paulina Ann, hlahabibty, sm2003495, EvergreenDreamweaver, Caranath, Drumboy100, BMSH, hbndgirl, max2013, ErinJordan, and ChrisCorso.

Relative Fortune

Chapter 4

Joe arrived at his brother's house close to 10:00 that night. Frank had called an hour ago wanting to discuss the Santitori case with him, and knowing that he should probably be focused and on alert, he'd decided to come over and spend the night. He didn't feel like dragging Vanessa and Evan out in the cold weather. It had worked out, since Vanessa wanted to speak to her mother in person about her father and their plans, and Andrea had agreed to come over.

Callie answered the door, holding Laurie, who was still wide awake. Joe couldn't help but smile; that little girl was adorable.

"Come in," Callie said, ushering him inside."It's freezing!"

"I hear you just got back today," he told her, leaning down to kiss her cheek as he dropped his bag by the grandfather clock and took Laurie from Callie's arms. He kissed Laurie's neck, making her erupt in giggles as she kicked in his arms, excited. "And hi, little girl," he told her, kissing her head again before handing her back to Callie.

Callie nodded. "I did, indeed," she said with a yawn, taking Laurissa. "Nothing like a few days to settle in before you two get involved in a complex case." She smiled at him as she bounced Laurie on her hip. "Come in. I made some cookies when I found out you were coming over. They're cooling in the kitchen."

"Awesome!" he agreed. "Please tell me they're not some ginger root alfalfa lemon curd seed or whatever else you might interpret as a cookie," he told her following her inside. Callie was an exemplary cook and baker, but she, herself, was an extremely healthy eater and had managed to convert Frank… a good 80% of the time. He'd seen Frank give into the occasional steak and potatoes meal after a nice appetizer of nachos.

Callie looked at Laurie, kissing her nose as she laughed. "Uncle Joe is such a silly-head," she said to her. Turning to Joe, she rolled her eyes. "No, Joseph. I'm complicit in clogging your arteries and raising your insulin levels. Chocolate chip cookies and chocolate raspberry graham cracker bars."

Joe crossed his arms. "Please. You know my brother loves this stuff as much as I do! You've even been known to partake once in a while if memory serves me correct."

"You're welcome," Callie replied, scrunching her nose at him.

"Thank you," he dutifully replied, rushing ahead of her into the kitchen to grab three cookies from the tray. "So where's my brother? And JJ? And why is Laur still up?" he asked, breaking off a piece of the cookie and handing it to her, as Callie shook her head disdainfully at the gesture.

"Really, Joe?" she asked.

"Absolutely!" he replied, eyes twinkling. "Gotta make my favorite niece happy!"

Callie fought a smile, pretending she was more offended than she actually was. She had seen how distracted Frank had been this evening and had insisted he call Joe to work on the case of the missing child. At first, he'd refused, wanting to spend the night alone with her, but she knew that his mind wouldn't totally be with her and that he needed to work to feel useful. Finally, he'd agreed and had called Joe, who, of course, had come over, no questions asked, to work beside his brother. How could she be mad at him for that?

"To answer your question," she replied after a minute, "your brother should be down in about 20 minutes, since JJ has been a beast trying to get to bed lately and it's way past his bedtime. Little Miss Laurie over here is overtired because she spent too much time playing with her father today, so I'll take her up when Frank comes down. Oh- and I made up the guest room for you. Thank you for coming. I know you'll help Frank settle down."

Joe chuckled. "A little role reversal, huh?" he joked.

Callie smiled at last. "You know your brother relies on you, Joe. How're Van and Evan?"

"Good," Joe said, avoiding any details. "Andrea is staying over."

"Oh- well, that's good," Callie replied. "I'll call Van tomorrow since I'll be home and see if she wants to come over. I assume you and Frank will be out."

"That'd be nice, sis," he told her. "I'm sure she would like that."

"Go relax inside. Let me get Laurie settled," she told him, and Joe ventured into the expansive, tastefully decorated family room. He remained in awe of how Frank and Callie could still keep their large colonial home so freaking neat with two little ones, though they did have a playroom/ nursery downstairs as well that served to hide a lot of the toys. Still…

A few minutes later, Callie emerged without Laurie but with a large cup of coffee, which she handed to him. At his puzzled expression, she smiled. "I told Frank that you're here. JJ is asleep, and Laurie wanted daddy. He apologized. Give him another half hour and he will be down. In the meantime, I have a whole pot brewing and this to get you started. Fair?"

Joe took a long, slow sip of the coffee, made exactly as Callie knew he liked it. It felt good after the coldness of the night. "Fair," he replied.

As she sat on the couch opposite him, he saw her idly looking out the window. He knew that look and quickly put his coffee on the end table.

"Okay- spill it," he told her. "What's on your mind?"

"What- I…" she began, and he could tell he'd caught her off guard.

"You never sit with me and don't talk," he told her. "And you get this weird fidgety thing you do with your hands."

"A weird fidgety thing?!" she repeated with a small laugh. "I wish you wouldn't play Mr. Detective with me."

Joe sat forward, elbows on knees, hands crossed under his chin. "I'm not wrong."

Callie finally sat straight as well. "Okay, you're not wrong," she admitted. "But you have a ton to discuss with Frank and I…"

"Shaw!" he told her, exasperated, using her maiden name affectionately. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're never a bother to me? Well, at least half the time anyway," he teased her, and felt better as he watched her relax. In a sense, she was right. This case was going to be a nightmare; he had the case he was working with Pat as well that was just getting started; he also had to get Vanessa some answers soon, his top priority, and he would need to speak with Biff by tomorrow. Still he would always make time for Callie, no matter what.

Finally, she relented. "I mean, it's not bad, Joey," she said with a small grin.

"That's a good start," he encouraged her.

She sighed before continuing. "I don't know," she began. "This past month I've felt… off… a little. I've been thinking a lot about Johnny, remembering a lot. I… I FEEL him," she said quietly. "It's so strong at times I almost sense him beside me. That's really all." She looked up and met his eyes. "I knew you'd understand. We've talked a lot about Iola. I just wanted your opinion." She bit her lip, and he could see that his voice really mattered to her. He was touched.

He paused a minute before answering. Before he did, he got up and sat next to her, reaching for her hand, which she took. "I don't think it's strange," he told her, honestly. "You know, I felt Iola the most in moments of uncertainty or when something or some place reminded me of her. Of course, anniversaries and birthdays and things like that sometimes bring it up, or… you know, fire… bombs…" His voice trailed off.

She squeezed his hand. "I know."

He nodded. "I know you do," he replied, squeezing it back. "But I think you need to figure out if it is something that reminds you of him or if you actually know he's here. Look, you are surrounded everyday by him. You head his Foundation and talk about him all day long. And next month… that's going to be hard for you."

Callie took a deep breath and looked down, and he could tell that she really was unsettled. He released her hand and put an arm around her slim shoulders, kissing her temple.

"No… I definitely sense him. It's not just an anniversary thing," she said in a low voice.

"Bad memories or good?" he questioned further.

She smiled softly as she looked down at her hands. "There really aren't bad memories with him," she said softly. "There were bad times and circumstances, certainly… but he helped make them better, you know?"

"I understand," he told her, leaning his head against hers for a brief moment.

She nodded, silent.

"My advice to you is, then," he replied quietly as well, "to think about why it might be happening. And… I mean, talk to him. Ask him."

Callie turned to face him, surprised. "What?" she asked.

He didn't back down. This bonding over the supernatural was another special connection between them that no one else would ever understand, and he loved that he was no longer embarrassed to discuss it with her and that she was so open with him.

"I guess I could do that," she said at last. "Maybe it would help to clear my mind."

"Exactly," he told her. "Just be open and unafraid. Johnny would never hurt you. If he's reaching out, it could only be for good, right? Iola and Johnny are our guardian angels; I believe that. We have to trust our instincts and let them know we feel them. Far be it for me to try to explain why. All I can tell you is that any time I have ever really felt Iola with me, nothing bad ever happened and I ultimately ended up more at peace."

"Joe?! Sorry!" Frank was bounding down the stairs and calling into the room. "I'm grabbing coffee. Be right in!"

Callie and Joe stood, and she smiled up at him. "Thank you," she told him. "You helped me. You always do."

"You're welcome," he replied, being serious for once. He knew it wasn't the time to tease her.

"I'm going to say good night to Frank and leave you two to your case," she told him, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "Good luck. Love you."

"Love you, too," he told her. "Remember that if all the cookies are gone in the morning."

She sighed but smiled as she headed to Frank, waving goodbye to him. Joe waved back. If only the cases could be so easy to solve.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Frank strode into the family room with his own cup of coffee almost ten minutes later.

Joe raised his brow. "Took you long enough to say goodnight to your wife," he joked, making his brother blush. He did enjoy getting under Frank's skin once in a while.

"Thanks for coming over," Frank replied, ignoring him. "Seriously. I know it's late and you probably were settled in."

"Nah," Joe replied, finishing the third cookie. "The night is young. The coffee is brewing. Your wife made some kick ass cookies. Life doesn't get better than this!"

Frank let out a laugh. "You need more of a life then," he replied.

Joe stared right at him before leaping to the other couch to grab Frank's arms and begin a wrestling match that lasted a good five minutes before Frank finally gave in. "Sneak attack," Frank huffed. "Not fair, or I would've taken you down."

Joe smiled as he huffed back, releasing him. "Right. Cause the bad guys always announce they're coming."

Frank stood up and stretched, but smiled at his brother. "You're ridiculous, you know that? It's 11:00 at night, we've both had a long day… and you're 27 years old!"

"Your point?" Joe joked. Before his brother could reply, he sauntered into the kitchen and returned with both plates of cookies. He found Frank at his computer, with a second laptop fully charged for his own use.

He placed the trays down on the end table, but not before he handed Frank two separate cookies, which his brother reached for with no hesitation. Ha- he knew it. Callie would never convert him fully to the dark side.

"All right, bro," Joe began, as he propped up his feet and grabbed the laptop. "Fill me in. What do you want me to look for?"

"I met with Jessica Santitori today," he began. "I told you all the details. I just… I feel terrible for her. It's like people were dismissing her fear- almost blaming her- for the baby's absence, just because she lives in poverty."

"Okay," Joe nodded. He saw how the case was affecting his brother, and he knew he had to balance him out. To those who didn't know him, Frank could come off as serious and almost cold, because he was quiet and analytical, and he internalized a lot. But Joe knew better than anyone that Frank wasn't totally like that. He was funny and sweet and, though he was physically and mentally very strong, he was a deeply compassionate person who sometimes needed to take a step back from a case. He fondly reflected that so many people thought that it was he who was emotional and distractible, but that was only partly true. He and Frank were alike in many ways; they just demonstrated those characteristics differently. "I know, Frank, but you can't worry about that now. What's bothering you?"

Frank swiveled the chair around to meet Joe's eyes. "She's lying," he said quietly. "I feel for her, but she knows something that she's not saying. I also smelled pot as soon as I walked in. She swore to me that she's clean, and that her boyfriend, Josh, is a recovering alcoholic, but does nothing else. I told Collig and he called when you were on the way over. They both agreed to a drug test. Weird, huh?"

Joe shrugged. "Why is it weird? They'll fail it, but at least they look like they're cooperating with the authorities, right? Maybe they don't know know how long marijuana stays in the system if they've never taken a test before, and if they didn't hit a joint in the last day or so, then they think they're clear."

"Maybe," Frank agreed, though Joe could tell he was still uncertain.

"Is anyone digging into Josh's past?" Joe asked. "How long have they been together? How about the biological father? Her parents? The brother? The…"

"Whoa!" Frank cut in, and he chuckled a bit. "I guess WE are looking into his past. Why don't you do that? I have his info: everything, from jobs worked to social security. I'll look into hers. I think they've been together only a few months, according to her brother, Lorenzo- he's the one who called me. I explained all this to you," he reminded him. "Their parents are dead, and she said she had no idea who would want to take the baby."

"What about the ex?" Joe questioned.

"Out of the picture," Frank replied quickly.

Joe squinted at him. "What aren't you telling me?" he pressed. "You know damned well that we have to look into family members first. What does 'out of the picture' mean? Is he dead? Is he…"

Frank's face took on a serious expression and his eyes became cloudy. "He's out of the picture," Frank replied. "She was... raped."

Joe sucked in a breath. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. He knew the horror that word brought up for his brother, though they had never spoken of what had happened to Callie. He only knew that he would be there for his brother if he ever did want to talk. "Okay then," he said at last. "So the ex is out of the picture… as you said."

Frank gave the palest of smiles. "Yup."

"Send me the info on Josh Flagstone," Joe told him. "Let me get on it. You work on Jessica Santitori. Any word yet on the baby?" he asked again.

Frank shook his head. "No. The APB is up; the Amber Alert's been issued."

"I know," Joe replied. "That loud beep scared the crap out of me before. I almost spilled my hot chocolate. Would've given 'hot pants' a whole new meaning."

Frank snorted. "Glad I brought that up. Anyway, Collig has a huge part of the PD on it and the neighboring towns and counties are on it as well and have set up counterpoints all over the city."

"Good," Joe replied simply, and opened his laptop. He saw Frank turn to his computer screen as well. About forty-minutes into digging, he had uncovered some interesting facts about the guy. Before he could start making sense of it, his phone rang. Frank was so in the zone he didn't even appear to hear it.

Joe stood and stretched and walked into the kitchen to fix another cup of coffee. "Whaddup?" he said into the phone, recognizing Pat's number. "Are you still on duty, bro?"

He heard Pat laugh at the other end. "Pulling a double. The overtime pay doesn't suck and I have a wedding to plan for. Besides, Collig switched my whole schedule around and has a trooper from upstate to cover me while we're on the case full time."

"Nothing like a relaxing Saturday night," Joe agreed. "So what's happening?"

"I just got the call on Tanya Griffin," Pat went on. "Collig expedited everything. Turns out the cause of death was the ten bullet holes and not being run over."

"Well, that would do it," Joe replied, dryly.

"Yeah," Pat went on, chuckling a bit. "But she apparently was also run over postmortem as well; could have been accidental hits since her body was in the road, or part of the murder. We're waiting for the CSI to get back to us about that. But two odd things I wanted to run by you."

"Go ahead," Joe said, focusing now.

"This woman had a ton of drugs in her system, plus her B.A.C. was over two times past the legal limit. And it turns out that she was involved in a drive by shooting last year. She wasn't the shooter, but she was booked as the driver. I'm going to read up more and fill you in."

'Okay," Joe noted. "She was hitting the town with her girlfriends… we think… so she probably got wasted. Maybe we should look and see if she's involved in the gang, itself. It might be a place to start."

"Probably," Pat concurred, 'but here's the thing I can't figure out. Based on the ME's report… she was NOT sexually assaulted."

"What?" Joe asked, surprised. "But her underwear was around her ankles."

"Riddle me that," Pat answered. "I know. Phone records are coming in tonight, so we need to meet up tomorrow. I'll text you when they come in. That good?"

Joe sighed. "I'll be there," he promised his friend before hanging up. He was glad that he was used to working on relatively little sleep from years of partying too much when he was younger to working this crazy job to now being a dad. For a moment, he contemplated donating his body to science if he died from a lack of sleep just to see how much the human body could endure. Tomorrow was going to be a hell of a long day.

"Joe! Come here!" he heard Frank call, and, forgetting his coffee, he ran into the other room.

"What's up?" he asked, standing behind his brother, who remained sitting at the screen.

"Look-" Frank pointed at the screen.

Joe stared at the screen, but all he saw were numbers and accounts, and that Frank had multiple tabs open. "Um…" he began.

"Look," Frank repeated. "Here." He pointed to a large deposit. "I was able to hack into Jessica's accounts and there's a CD. How the hell did this girl get $20,000 …. Two weeks ago? She supposedly has no money."

Joe gasped. "Wait-" he began as he finally realized what he had been trying to piece together. "Josh Flagstone was booked for minor trafficking and possession offenses multiple times over the past few years," he noted. "The last time he got out of jail was only six weeks ago, and that was for…" Joe turned to the couch and picked up the laptop. "Collusion. With an Angelo Tanzini, on a trafficking charge again. Why does that name ring a bell?"

Frank's brow furrowed. "I don't know, but it does seem familiar," he agreed. He turned to the computer in front of him and Google'd the name.

At the same time, both brothers grew silent as the weight of what they saw descended on them.

"That's not good," Joe said at last.

"No, it's not," Frank replied, picking up his phone and ushering Joe to follow him. "We have to go now."

Joe heard Frank speaking to Detective Kirk as he reached for his jacket, and he did the same. Josh Flagstone and Jessica Santitori were somehow mixed up with Angelo Tanzini, of the Tanzini crime family, known for murder, extortion, and the drug cartel. And now a baby girl had been kidnapped.

They had to be connected. And that did not bode well for finding this little girl alive.