The 6:30 a.m. alarm split the air with an ear-piercing scream. Tom, fresh from less than three hours of actual sleep, slapped the alarm off and reached for his glasses on the bedside table.

"Bloody women." He mumbled, remembering one of the causes of his lack of zed's. He'd only been away for about an hour, but his adrenaline levels had still been way too high to get to sleep right away when he'd returned. That turned into watching four episodes of "Bar Rescue" with Dean before his eyes were heavy enough to let him doze off.

"Those cops better be jailbait or I am going to be really pissed off." He mumbled, swinging his legs off the bed and immediately hitting his feet against the wall. "Fuck! Shit! Goddamn!" The lack of sleep had made him momentarily forget that he'd slept on the opposite side of the bed he usually used. That side was taken by a sleeping sexy beast by the name of Dean Ambrose.

Tom tiptoed around the room, getting dressed. He wore the same clothes that he'd changed into six hours earlier. As he was putting on his belt, he noticed several light spots near the buckle. He licked his finger and dabbed the spots, but even after several rubbings, the markings were still visible.

"Damnit." He mumbled, tossing the belt aside. It hit the side of the dresser and fell with a clang.

Dean rolled over and mumbled something like "There's no school today, mom, it's a holiday." before his deep breathing resumed.

"For you, maybe." Tom crept out of the bedroom before putting on his shoes… no sense both of them being cranky all day.

Sara was busy going over the long list of notes she had taken from the long night of investigating Emma's disappearance. She took a sip of her eighth cup of coffee and looked at the time. Six forty five in the morning and she hadn't slept at all. She couldn't. Something didn't feel right about this case, she felt off and couldn't place a finger on what was wrong. She decided to go shower in an attempt to wake herself up. When she emerged, she noticed her phone blinking. She picked it up and swiped the screen to unlock it then raised an eyebrow. She opened the dial pad and hit speed dial 3.

"Hello?" the voice of her partner answered after two rings.

"Tom? What the hell man? 13 missed calls. What's wrong?" Sara put the phone on speaker and placed it on her dresser and began digging through a laundry basket

"Good you're awake. I have a question."

"I haven't slept." Sara said, pulling a t-shirt over her head.

"Well, that's unfortunate. You taking the day off?"

"No, I'm gonna get some coffee and head over to Emma's boyfriend's body shop. I want to talk to him again; maybe I missed something the first time."

"Ok. Be careful, though. You need sleep." Tom reminded her

"Yes daddy." Sara said in a mocking tone, and Tom knew she was rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, your question?"

"Oh right! Do you know how to get cum off leather?"

Tom's question stunned Sara and she ended up face planting on the floor as she was putting her jeans on.

"Sara?" Tom asked as he heard the thud.

"I'm fine." Sara pulled herself back up. "You called me this early for that?"

"Well...it's my favorite belt and there was an accident."

"Accident, my ass." Sara grumbled "Coconut oil. Take a small amount and rub it on the stain then use a cloth to rub it off. And don't buy three hundred dollar belts, dumbass."

Tom chuckled at her response but noted the advice, knowing she was an expert in leather and certain stains.

"If that's all, I have to get going."

"That's it, thank you. Will I see you later?"

"We'll see. Later, babe."

Sara hung up and finished getting herself ready. She locked up her house before hopping on her bike and riding to the outskirt of town.

AJ and Renee sat quietly in their shared office, each busy with their own work, when AJ sighed and ran his hand through his long soccer-mom hair.

"Problem?" Renee looked up from the computer

"This case is frustrating me." AJ rubbed his temple with his finger tips.

"I've never known you to get frustrated with a case. What's going on?"

"I think I'm taking it too personally. You know, the similarities. I don't know what to do. Tom and Cesaro are swamped, Sara's still on that missing girl's case…" AJ trailed off as he turned his empty coffee mug upside down and sighed again

"Well, Bayley and I don't have a whole lot going on right now. Would you like me to help you?"

"I can't ask you to do that."

"I don't mind, and it'd help the rookie get some more experience. What point in the case are you at right now?" Renee slid her chair over to AJ's desk

"Well, I've interviewed the brother. I have a list of contacts the suspect hangs out with and I need to interview them, and eventually the suspect himself." AJ held up the list of names

"We can definitely help you with interviews and trailing. Here, let me see." Renee took the sheet of paper from AJ's hand and scanned the names.

"Hey, Bayley?" Renee called toward the door.

"Yeah?" Bayley poked her head in.

"Here, see if you can get some contact information on any of these guys and set up an interview with them."

"Sure thing!" Bayley bounced off down the hallway.

"Thanks, Renee. I appreciate it." AJ smiled softly

"That's what we're here for." Renee patted his shoulder before taking his coffee cup from his desk "I'll get you a refill."

Later that afternoon, Bayley bounded into Renee-slash-AJ's office. "I found one of the guys on that list." She squealed.

"Yeah?" Renee replied "Who and how?"

"That Neville guy… I found him on a Green Arrow fanboard. His handle is 'themanthatgravityforgot'."

"Cheesy." AJ answered

"I've arranged a meeting with him in half-an-hour." She added "But it's at this comic book shop over on Flamingo road. He won't come here; we have to come to him."

AJ and Renee glanced at each other. From experience, they knew that usually meant one of two things: either a set-up or a set-up.

"Good job, kid, but next time talk to someone before you start setting up meetings, 'kay?" Renee replied

"Okies." Bayley skipped away.

"The girl's good, but you're gunna need to rein her in before she oversteps herself and puts us all on alert." AJ replied

"Don't worry, I will." Renee stood. "I'll be back before we close. If he's as nerdy as I think he is, we'll have what we need from him in less than an hour."

"You were right… total nerd. All that's missing is the taped glasses and a pocket protector."

Renee and Bayley had arrived ten minutes early to the rendez-vous point in front of Cosmic Comics.

"Totally." Bayley replied

"He's all yours." Renee parked the van.

"Me?" Bayley's voice cracked. "I thought you would…"

"You made the meeting, you take it. It'll be good training for you." Renee answered

"But c-can I? I mean, legally?" Bayley stuttered a little.

"I won't tell Tom if you don't." Renee rubbed Bayley's thigh. "Just pretend it's an old high school friend you haven't seen for years. I'll be recording everything."

Bayley swallowed; her nerves finally starting to get the better of her. "I'll do my best."

"I know you will." Renee smiled, and that made some of the butterflies go to sleep.

Bayley exited the van and hurriedly crossed the road.

Her subject was waiting in front of the store, as he said he would. "Neville?"

He looked up and immediately looked back down at his shoes. Total nerd, she thought.

"We talked earlier...? I'm Bayley."

Neville looked at her again. She was quite sure that this was the first time that a girl was this forward with him. Under other circumstances, Bayley would almost find his awkwardness amusing.

"You said this was important." Neville continued to stare at the pavement.

"Is there somewhere private we can talk?" She asked

Neville motioned to the alley beside the store.

"Works for me." Bayley followed Neville. He stopped in the rear door jamb for the comic store and leaned against the concrete side.

"Whaddaya want to know?"

"First, you can relax. I'm not a cop; I'm not here to bust your balls for anything. I'm just here to get a little information."

"Yeah, you said that on the PM. What kind of info are you looking for?"

"First question… you know Jeff Hardy?"

"I might." Neville's eyes narrowed slightly. "What'd he do?"

"Nothing that I know of." Bayley replied. Rule number one… do not divulge confidential information. Lie if you have to, but always keep the reasons for your questions private.

"Then why are you buggin' me about him? I haven't seen him in weeks." Neville lit a cigarette and took a puff.

"Neither has his family… that's why I'm asking. They hired my firm to find him." Bayley answered

"You a dick?" Neville took a deep drag on the cancer stick, and then coughed harshly. Obviously smoking was a new vice for him.

"Even though I don't have one, yeah, I am." Bayley answered

Neville's attention momentarily shifted to between her legs before he found the earth interesting again. Bayley laughed to herself. Kid was obviously still living in virgin land, or his mother's basement. She didn't care which, as long as she got something usable out of him.

"Look, we think he's fallen in with a bad crowd. Have you seen Jeff with any of these people?" Bayley showed him photos of the Uso's as well as some totally random

people.

Neville quickly flipped through the photos. "No." He said curtly and made to hand them back.

"You sure?" Bayley had been watching his body language and saw how he'd tensed up at least twice.

"Positive." He responded in that same curt tone. "Now if you'll excuse me, I got other things to do."

Bayley grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Now listen, kid, I can tell when someone is lyin' to me."

"I'm not." Neville protested

"Just look again, okay? Please?"

Neville sighed and leafed through the photos again. Again, Bayley studied his body language and again she noticed the reaction.

"Sorry, I wish I could help ya." He said

"If you remember anything, please call my boss." Bayley gave him one of Tom's business cards. "His number is on the bottom."

"Yeah, sure." Obviously that was the last thing on his mind, judging from his tone.

"Okay then." Bayley returned to where Renee was waiting, still listening in.

"I got nothin'." She sighed

"I heard." Renee tapped the mic. "But you did alright for your first interview. Next step, start taking your notes for the file."

"I was always terrible at notes at school." Bayley answered

"Write down everything and make sure it can be read. Ms. Fox hates it when she has to guess what happened."

Bayley nodded and began to scribble a record of what had just transpired. Idly, she wondered if she'd get in trouble if she used words like "geek", "dweeb", and "nerd" in her description of the meeting.

Only one way to find out…