For as long as she lived, Casey would never forget the look on Beverly Archer's face when she was brought up to speed on the developments in the search for Maddie. A mixture of grief, guilt, and failure clouded her eyes, and as she glanced sideways at her husband, it was obvious that she was questioning her entire approach with the little girl. Wondering where she went wrong. "I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," Casey had assured her. Though how Maddie could have arrived at such a misunderstanding, Casey had no idea.

Luckily she had hailed a cab just outside the Archers' building. At least now she wouldn't have to waste even more time walking to the subway. Once inside the cab with nothing to do but wait, she mentally traced the route Maddie would have taken from the school.

Had she walked? No. It was too far a walk for an eight-year-old laden with a backpack stuffed with a couple of textbooks and who knew what else for clothes and necessities. At least, she assumed that Maddie's backpack was doubling as her overnight bag. Beverly obviously hadn't noticed that the girl was carrying any extra baggage with her before she put her on the school bus that morning.

She fervently hoped that Maddie hadn't thought to get on the subway. Casey herself was a touch nervous on the subway sometimes, never mind an eight-year-old girl. Best case scenario, Maddie had hopped a bus, though how she would have known how to figure out the route was beyond Casey. Going by city blockage, Maddie would have had to transfer buses twice.

The thought of Maddie all by herself in the middle of the city was turning Casey's stomach. She hoped that the little girl had the street smarts not to talk to anyone or otherwise make it obvious that she was traveling alone.

Oh God, Casey thought as something new occurred to her.

What if something happened to Maddie while she was en route? What if someone realized that she was by herself and thus completely vulnerable? Someone … unsavory, to put it politely. God, working Special Victims had seriously screwed with Casey's head if she was now automatically assuming that potential child molesters were lurking in every corner.

By the time the taxi finally pulled up to her building, her hands were trembling and the knots in her stomach had twisted and tightened. For some reason, she had been expecting to see Maddie waiting in the lobby for her, but she could see through the glass doors that the lobby was empty.

And then another new thought occurred to her. What if Maddie had already been here and Casey missed her? Would she have gone somewhere else if she didn't get an answer at the apartment? Casey didn't think Maddie knew where her office was, but she supposed that all the kid would have had to do was get on another bus and ask the driver how to get to the DA's office.

Panicking now, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Olivia. "She's not here," she cried as soon as the detective answered. "I mean, she's not downstairs. I haven't gotten all the way upstairs yet."

"Regardless, you need to stay at home, Casey."

Casey rolled her eyes as she began climbing the stairs. Not only would she have dropped the call if she had taken the elevator, she didn't want to take the chance of missing Maddie if she was indeed already here. "I know that, Olivia. I'm not an idiot."

Mid-step, she realized that she was being needlessly snippy. "I'm sorry, Liv, I didn't mean to snap at you. What I'm saying is, what if she's already been here and went somewhere else looking for me?"

Olivia inhaled sharply. Clearly they'd been working under the assumption that Maddie was still en route to Casey's apartment. "Cap's still at the station, so we'll be all set if she shows up there. I'll have someone sent out to cover your office. Do you think she'd go to the courthouse?"

"No," Casey said, panting slightly from her dash up the stairs. She was on her own floor now but as her frantic eyes swept the corridor, her heart dropped into the stomach. There was no sign of the little girl at all. "She knows I'd be out of court by now."

"Okay. Let me get the reinforcements out on the road. I promise you, Casey, we'll find her."

Casey nodded, though she was aware that Olivia couldn't see her do so. "I know you will," she said, her voice trembling with emotion.

"Just … try to stay calm okay?"

"Yeah," Casey replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Bye, Liv."

She flipped her phone closed with one hand while turning the key in the deadbolt with the other. Once inside her apartment, she leaned back against her door and let out a heavy breath. She was home and now there was nothing she could do but wait.

Fifteen minutes passed. Casey lost count of the number of times she'd paced the perimeter of her apartment. She turned on music only to turn it off a minute or so later. Then she repeated the process with the television.

What the hell am I thinking? she asked herself disgustedly. It wasn't as if she was home to relax. She was home in the thin hope that an eight-year-old girl would just walk up to her door and knock on it, announcing her arrival like a drum roll.

Half an hour. Forty-five minutes. The longest hour of Casey's life passed without incident and by now, her nerves were completely shot. Every single sound in the hallway sent her running to the peephole, but the little girl never appeared in her line of vision. She couldn't believe that Maddie was out there somewhere and that she was just pacing the length of her apartment and not doing a goddamn thing to help look for her. Finally she sank into her easy chair, if only because hovering at the door was only making her more nervous.

After another tense and seemingly endless fifteen minutes, she heard another sound in the hallway. She jumped up from her seat, dashed to the door, and peeked through the peephole. A strong wave of relief washed over her as she saw Maddie jogging up to her door, an overstuffed backpack hooked over her shoulders. "Oh, thank God," Casey whispered, resting her forehead against the cool wood.

When she heard the quiet but insistent knock on the door, she waited a moment before opening it. Maybe then it wouldn't be as obvious that she had been anxiously awaiting the girl's arrival. She longed to pull Maddie into a tight hug, but she managed to control herself and simply smile down at her. "Hey, Maddie!"

"Hi, Casey!" she said with a wide grin, her dark eyes shining.

"Come on in," Casey said, pulling the door open further. Once Maddie was inside, she dropped her backpack onto the floor and wrapped her arms tightly around Casey's stomach. Casey crouched down and hugged the girl back, inhaling the sweet scent of her strawberry shampoo, then held her at arm's length.

A thousand things were tumbling through her head, all at once. Thank God you're safe but what the hell were you thinking and don't you ever disappear like that again but come here and I'll make it all better.

"I bet you're thirsty," was all she actually said aloud. Maddie nodded with a tiny smile but held tightly onto the ADA's hand as Casey led her to the sofa. "Sit tight and I'll get you something to drink, okay?"

Maddie nodded again, reluctanly letting go of Casey's hand. The ADA handed Maddie the remote control so that she could pick something to watch on the television and surreptitiously pocketed her cell phone from the end table on her way into the kitchen.

Once Casey heard the television turn on, she flipped her phone open and again dialed Olivia's number. Luckily for her, it was the first one on her speed dial. "She just got here," she said breathlessly when she heard Olivia's greeting. "She's perfectly fine."

"Oh, thank God," Olivia whispered, letting out a huge sigh of relief. "We'll be right down--"

"No, wait," Casey interrupted. "Can I talk to her first? I want to get to the bottom of this once and for all."

Olivia hesitated, then Casey heard muffled whispering. She gave a slight roll of her eyes as she realized that Olivia was conferring with Elliot. "Are you sure, Casey? We could have Huang come--"

"No. She won't talk to Huang," Casey insisted. "She won't open up to him, not enough to really figure this out. But she will with me, I know it." She sighed. "Just … give me an hour? Please?"

Another long pause. Finally Olivia said, "Yeah, all right. Elliot's already on the phone with the Archers, letting them know she's safe. You've got sixty minutes before we come pick the two of you up."

"Thank you," Casey whispered. This was not in any way, shape, or form protocol, and she knew that if things didn't go smoothly, everyone involved could be in a heap of trouble. Everyone was taking a chance on her.

"Good luck, Case."

"Thanks," Casey repeated. She disconnected the call, filled her tea kettle with water, and returned it to the stove, turning on the burner underneath it. Then she took a deep breath before heading back into the living room. She was going to need every bit of the luck that Olivia had wished her, she could tell.