By 3:30pm Jennifer and Nick were practically beside themselves. Jennifer sat at the kitchen table numbly, a cup of tea thrust into her trembling hands by the neighbours as they sat with her and kept an eye on Liam. Nick continued to search the property and the area around it, and had been joined by several men from the neighbouring properties. They'd all piled into a ute and driven off to search all the places the local kids visited.

Jennifer ran her hand over the polished wood finish of the table and thought back to the previous night. The memory of their daring little tryst in this very spot now meant nothing, and now seemed ill timed and immature. The entire game had changed now that Noah was missing. Her little boy consumed her every thought and tore at the fabric of her mind endlessly.

There was a knock at the door and Jennifer and one of the neighbours both got up to answer it excitedly, but the neighbour placed a reassuring hand on Jennifer's arm and insisted she relax and stay where she was. Jennifer relented, and allowed her to answer the door, but she couldn't sit down again. It felt so useless. She needed to stand up, do something.

A moment later she heard a familiar voice from the direction of the door and she turned her head towards it. Behind her the back door opened and Nick walked in as from the front Stanley and Duncan entered behind the neighbour. Jennifer's brain squealed – she had no idea why they were there and wondered if it was for a good reason – moral support perhaps – or a bad reason – the unthinkable. Either way she was over the moon to see them.

"Sarge," she breathed, forcing a smile. It didn't matter how long she'd been away from the force, he was still her sargeant and she could call him nothing else. He returned her forced smile and then stepped aside slightly to let her see Duncan.

With Duncan the greeting was different. Duncan Freeman was a passionate and intensely serious man, who held many things, and many people, close to his heart. Right then he didn't offer a smile, instead going in for an embrace before he'd even said hello. Jennifer sagged into his hold despairingly. He squeezed her tight and whispered into her shoulder. "Hey Jen. I'm here to do whatever needs to be done." She appreciated the sentiment and remained close to him when they parted, keeping her arm around his waist as he did the same around hers, displaying the ease with which their friendship lived. They both looked worriedly at Nick as he came towards them and Stanley like a hunter returning from the gathering.

But Nick had no words. He simply shrugged his shoulders sadly, looking like a broken man, and shook his head. The other searchers looked equally crestfallen behind him.

As they spread throughout the house again, talking about the search, organising more people, debating perimeters and lays of the land Stanley turned to Jennifer. He spoke quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked at it, then back up to his eyes and felt true fear for the first time that day. Nick hovered behind Jennifer, knowing what Stanley was going to say.

"Jennifer," Stanley began, his lips pursed in regret, his eyebrows framing his whole concerned expression. "There've been some kidnappings – "

"What?" she whispered. She turned to look at Nick to see if he knew, and just one look informed her that he did. She looked back to Stanley.

He nodded sadly at her. "It's not nice to have to tell you. But some of the kidnappings have resulted in homicides." He didn't want to reveal too much. The less she knew the better. For now at least.

It was then that a constable stuck his head into the room and interrupted their conversation, beckoning Stanley and Duncan out of the kitchen and into the living room. As they walked out Jennifer again turned to Nick.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked hotly. "I didn't even know they were coming, and now this!" She wanted to strangle him.

Nick's expression was pained. "I called them. I didn't know what else to do Jen!"

"And the homicides?" she asked, shocked to her core.

Nick shrugged. "They've mostly been confined to the city, but there has been one outside the metro area." He winced telling her. "We've only been working on it a week. I didn't want to tell you and worry you."

Jennifer couldn't think of a thing to say as her eyes welled with tears. As a cop she knew nothing was for certain until it was proven. There was no proof of anything yet, except that Noah couldn't be found. She looked up as both Stanley and Duncan re-entered the kitchen. "So what's the story?" Jennifer pushed. "Do you have leads? Evidence?"

Nick reached out to Jennifer's hip, easing her back down into a chair, but she slapped his hand away roughly, not looking at him, instead keeping her eyes focussed on Duncan and Stanley. "We've got the whole team working on it Jen," Duncan said softly, shooting a sympathetic glance over at Nick. "We don't want you and Nick to worry."

Jennifer huffed out an annoyed sigh. Little chance of that Dunny she thought. She finally sat down and Nick and Duncan joined her as their boss reigned over them from standing.

The mother shook her head in a daze and then spoke. "Before I was worried about him falling down a slope or drowning in a creek. But now…this is much, much worse."

"We do have a photo of who we're looking for…" Duncan revealed, pulling a facefit out of his folder. He held it out for Nick and Jen to see, and studied their reactions. But both shook their heads. "But I'm positive Noah is fine. You've both said he loves being independent. I'm sure he's just run off and is playing somewhere."

"He's still all by himself," Nick whispered. He and Jennifer gripped hands suddenly, the whites of both their knuckles obvious for all to see.

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe

By sundown the search was scaled back, but Nick doggedly refused to stop looking. Duncan trotted along beside him as he got into his ute again, not letting him search in the dark alone. Jennifer remained at the house, forced down food that was given to her and took a shower when it was suggested to her. It was when she was alone in the shower that she first felt pain in her abdomen, but a moment later it had disappeared, so she forced herself to forget about it.

Duncan and Nick returned at eleven, exhausted and in poor spirits. The house had emptied of the neighbours, and only Stanley remained. When Duncan and Nick walked through the front door he looked at them and didn't need a de brief. It was clear their search had turned up nothing. He took Duncan aside as Nick joined Jen in the bedroom, equal parts eager as well as not eager, to sleep. How could he sleep when his son was missing? He couldn't, but he knew he ought to try.

Jennifer was pacing by the window when he walked in, her feet bare, her hair loose. The night was so stiflingly hot that she was wearing just her underwear, her bra and a tank top, and her skin glistened like it was oiled, such was the temperature in the house. He closed the bedroom door and walked up to her.

"I'm sorry Jen," he said quietly. "I couldn't find him."

She looked over at him, her face a crumpled mess, her eyes so dark and deliberating. She whispered her words back to him. "How could you have just let him walk up to the house by himself Nick?" she asked, distraught.

He shook his head, wishing with everything he had that he could turn back time and not let the boy walk alone. It was such a short distance, and he'd thought nothing of it. And look what had happened. He felt like a terrible parent. "I know," he whispered back, ashamed.

She walked right up to him and shoved him in the chest. "Kids don't just run away Nick. They don't just disappear. People lose them." Her voice was rising.

"I know Jen. You don't think I don't regret it?" he tried to keep his voice down.

"I blame you for this!" she yelled as she sobbed, her chest heaving up and down at a fast pace. She swiped angrily at her eyes and cheeks, wiping away the tears there.

"Well that's fine because I blame myself too okay! I should never have let him walk by himself!" he plopped down dejectedly on the double bed and put his head in his hands, his fingers splicing through his thick brown hair.

Jennifer sat down beside him and held onto his upper arm tightly, resting her cheek on his shoulder and crossing her right leg over her left so close to him that her right foot brushed his shin.

Nick looked up forlornly at her and laced his right hand through her left as they rested on his thigh. "I watched him run Jen," he admitted. "I watched him run twenty, thirty metres back up towards the house. He was practically there. Then I turned back to Liam." He knew it would be a move he'd regret for the rest of his life if Noah was never found. Or even if he was. He wondered if Jennifer would ever forgive him, or if he'd ever forgive himself.