Here you go, next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts, everyone.

We were at the MDPD, no way was I waiting at home while the prints were processed and the tread was being matched to a car. We still weren't allowed to work the case, so Ryan and I were in the break room.

For the first time in my life I felt like a mother. I was worried sick about Emily. It'd been 3 hours since I figured out she was gone. A lot could happen in three hours.

Ryan was again, pacing. It seemed like he couldn't stop moving, when all I wanted to do was sit there and not move.

"Do you want a coffee or something?" he asked suddenly.

"No thank you."

"Pepsi? Something to eat? Please give me something to do, Cassandra," he said.

I shrugged. "We could worry together."

He sat down beside me. "No, let's be positive about this okay?"

"But it's so hard."

"It's not that hard. Emily will be fine, we'll find her, put this guy away. Now you say it."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why?"

"Just do it."

I sighed. "Emily will be fine; we'll find her and put the guy away forever."

"Hey you added forever, that's good."

I rolled my eyes.

...

Eric was in the lab with Calleigh. She was running AFIS while he searched through a book of tire treads.

"Hey Cal?" Eric said.

"Yes Eric?"

"Do you think they noticed that we were fully awake and dressed?"

"I think Ryan did, after all he said he could ask us a few questions himself," she responded.

"Do you think Horatio will care that four of his CSI's are in a relationship with another?"

Calleigh smiled. "I hope not, but as far as he knows, only two are in a relationship right now. You were right about Cassandra and Ryan; I wonder how long he'd been staying with her."

Eric got up. "Not in the lab Eric! Remember Natalia...?" Calleigh said.

Eric rolled his eyes and sat back down. "Fine, we'll save it for private. Anyways, I don't know, the way he seemed perfectly comfortable opening her door and pacing the living room shows it's probably been a while."

"Not to mention that I doubt he was sleeping on the couch," Calleigh said.

Eric laughed. "True." The machine beeped. "Got a hit?"

Calleigh sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "Yea, the print belonged to Cassandra. Damn."

"Well it is her house, her prints must be everywhere."

"Well we still have that hair; I brought it to Natalia earlier, thank goodness she came in. It's probably Emily's but we still have a chance. You find a tire that's a match to the tread Cassandra found yet?" Calleigh asked, leaning over the table to get a better look.

"Not yet..." Eric said, flipping the page again. "The metal I found was chrome though, so it's expensive, probably from a customization. When I find the tire we'll know what kind of car to look for."

...

"So, I was wondering why you said 'I could ask you a few questions myself,' to Eric, Ryan," I said.

"Didn't you notice?"

"I guess not."

"They were both wide awake; they didn't seem at all like they were just woken up at 2 in the morning. Not to mention Calleigh lives far away from your house, but got there at the same time, and in the same vehicle as Eric."

I blinked. "Oh! You think they're? Oh, man I didn't even notice... that's why Eric was so embarrassed that one day."

"Which day?"

"The day after we... you know, got together. We had a scene - the scene we found Emily at - so I went before you. Eric came in late and I asked who the lucky lady was. He actually blushed and said no one. I bet it was Calleigh!"

"Nothing like lab gossip to keep your spirits up," he said. "I'm happy for them if they are together."

"Me too, I always thought they looked cute together," I said.

...

"Got it!" Eric shouted, startling Calleigh. "Tire treads are from tires sold at Max Wheels. They're mostly used on SUV's. Says here they make custom rims though..."

"So an SUV with custom rims in Miami? Well that narrows it down," Calleigh said sarcastically.

"It might help more than you think; find out if there have been any SUV's reported stolen lately. We have a better chance of finding it if it's stolen. And if it's got custom rims made of chrome, that's even better. "

"I'm on it, call Horatio and tell him about this, and the results from AFIS, I'll meet up with you later and we can go to Max Wheels, see if anyone has bought some custom rims lately," Calleigh told him.

...

"I wish there was some way we could help," I said. I was sinking lower and lower into the couch. Ryan was still sitting beside me.

"You have no idea how horrible this feels for me, just sitting here not doing anything when I could be doing so much," he replied.

"I'm sure Calleigh and Eric are working their butts off for us though," I said, smiling.

"They'd better be," he said. We sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"Ryan?"

"Yea?"

"I was thinking about something, and wanted to know what you thought about it."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I've been thinking, very seriously, about adopting Emily."

Ryan stared at me for a moment. "What?"

"I know it's only been a couple of months, but I'm too attached to her now to let her go. I really don't think she'll mind. And even if we don't work out, I'd really love to take care of her."

Ryan looked down. "I think it's a good idea." I could tell he was thinking something else.

"If we find her, right? If she's not already gone! She could be dead!" Whoa, where was this coming from?

Ryan looked alarmed at my sudden change of emotion. He put his hands around mine. "Whoa, whoa, come on, we will find her, don't say that stuff."

"You were the one thinking it!" I said before leaning forward and dropping my face into my hands.

"I wasn't thinking anything like that! At all!"

"You weren't?" I asked looking up.

"No!"

"What then? I could tell you were thinking something!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'what about me?'"

"Huh?"

"You going to adopt her alone? I mean you don't have to be married to adopt or anything, but you know, I'm kind of attached now myself."

"Oh, you mean... Wait did you just propose?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "No, just suggested it."

"Well, uhm... I don't know. We've only been together a few months, and – stuff."

"It's okay to say no if you're not ready. You're right, we haven't been together that long. You won't hurt my feelings or anything. I'm willing to wait."

"Thanks... sorry for kind of freaking out."

"It's okay," he said, settling back into the couch.

...

"H!" Eric raised his voice so Horatio could hear him from down the hall. Horatio turned his head towards Eric, who was coming towards him at a quick pace.

"What is it Eric?"

"Two things, that print we found on the windowsill, it belonged to Cassandra."

Horatio nodded. "It's her house, her prints would be everywhere."

"Yea, but the treads from the street match these tires mainly for SUV's; they sell them at a place called Max Wheels."

"Good work, what about the metal you found on the curb?"

"Chrome. Now the information we have on this Max Wheels place says they make custom rims. If we can get a list of the last few buyers we'll have something to go on. Calleigh's also checking to see if there have been any stolen SUV's recently, just in case these guys stole a car instead of using one of their own."

Horatio nodded again. "Good, get over there as soon as possible Eric."

"Sure H." After talking with Horatio Eric went to find Calleigh, whom he met up with down the hall; she seemed to also be looking for him.

"Got something?"

"Unfortunately no. There haven't been any missing cars matching our description lately. There weren't even any with any sort of customization."

"Well, that doesn't help us much does it?"

"No, but maybe the guys at this Max Wheels place can tell us the names of recent buyers."

Calleigh looked at her watch. "Well we've got about 2 hours to burn, it's currently 6 am and the place doesn't open until 8 am."

"Want to join me for breakfast then? I'll buy," Eric asked.

"Sure," Calleigh smiled then leaned in. "I'd love to."