WHATEVER IT TAKES

Disclaimer: The characters are from the show close to home, they are not mine! I wish they were!

Rating: pretty tame chapter really.

ME WANTS MORE REVIEWS!

CHAPTER THREE

Maureen entered Steve's office, looking concerned. "Steve, have you seen Annabeth this morning?"

"No, why?" asked Steve looking up from his computer.

"Well, she hasn't called in and she hasn't been to her office yet. And," she looked at her watch, "it's almost—"

"8:30," Steve said, "Did you try calling home or maybe her husband?"

"Yes," Maureen answered, no one picked up at the house or on her cell and Jack said he left the house before her."

"Was she going to drop Haley off at day care? We could try to call there, see if she made it that far," reasoned Steve.

"Well it's a start. I just have this really bad feeling for some reason."

Steve went to a file cabinet and pulled out Annabeth's employee file. He flicked through it for a minute until he found a page of numbers that included the one to Haley's day care. Maureen sat in a chair opposite Steve's desk and watched him work, thinking all the while that this was really nothing and that this feeling of dread would go away.

After dialing the number, Steve brought the phone up to his ear. "Hi, this is Steve Rosenberg from the District Attorney's office, I work with Annabeth Chase. Has Haley Chase been dropped off at day care yet?"

Pause.

"Ok, thank you. Yes, we'll check on them." Steve put the phone down. "She said that Annabeth still hasn't dropped Haley off and she didn't call in and say that she was sick or anything. They haven't been able to reach her anywhere either."

The both looked at each other for a moment, each wondering how to handle the situation. There was always the possibility that Annabeth simply had car trouble and forgot her cell phone. Then there was the possibility that something had happened. You didn't work in the DA's office every day and not get a little paranoid.

"Let's see if we can get Lou to drive over to her house. Just to check. It wouldn't hurt," conceded Steve.

"I'll go ask him," said Maureen, getting up from her seat.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Maureen and Lou pulled up to Annabeth's house and were anxious to see that her car was still parked in the drive way.

"This doesn't feel right," stated Lou simply. He had worked a lot of cases, been on the job for many years, and he knew when something was off.

They walked to the door and Maureen rang the door bell. After a minute or so of waiting Maureen tried the handle and found that the door unlocked. Maureen and Lou looked at each other and Lou reached back and placed his hand on the gun in its holster just in case. Signaling Maureen to wait outside, he cautiously entered the house.

"Annabeth!" he called out. The name echoed through the house, but received no answer. He entered the house even further, his senses on full alert. He reached the kitchen and walked around the island and his heart sank at what he found on the floor.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

MUWAHAHAHAHA! I know I know, but I really need to go and do some real work for a test I have tonight. And I need to get on the treadmill, but I wanted to give BlackTulip and NightMage something else! Thanks for the reviews, they really do make me want to write more!