A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"Ana?" I hear Christian say my name, but I keep my eyes transfixed straight ahead at the living room tv. When he sits down next to me, the light from the tv allows me to see his eyes narrowing. "Baby, I thought you were going back to bed." He and I were up almost an hour ago with Aidan and Teddy, but unlike Christian, my return to bed was short lived. I found myself unable to sleep as thoughts and worries about Barbara consume me.
"I couldn't go back to sleep.", I eventually murmur.
"We're going to find Barbara." Despite the police telling Greg they couldn't do anything until after the twenty-four mark, Christian went down to the police department and lit a fire under them, making them know they do not want to upset Christian Grey. Detective Branson who agreed to take the case went to Barbara's house and looked around. He also spoke with Helen Collins, Barbara's neighbor across the street. Mrs. Collins said she saw Barbara go outside earlier in the day to get the mail, but that was the one and only time she saw her. Barbara's other neighbor William Hanes has been in the hospital following heart surgery so he hasn't been home. Christian has also called Welch and Barney and had them start looking into any possible hint of where she Barbara might be.
"She's like a mom to me. Heck, she's been more of a mom to me than my actual mother was. I'm praying that she's just going to show back up and be ok, but the circumstances surrounding what happened are suspicious. Where could she have gone without her car or purse?"
"I don't know. Even though her credit card and phone were left at the house, the records might provide a clue. Welch should have those first thing in the morning." He opens his mouth to speak, but he doesn't say anything. I sense he's holding back from me.
"What are you not saying?", I ask. He gulps and places his hand on my knee.
"We need to be prepared for the possibility that Barbara's disappearance could be connected to you. I'm not saying it is, but it could be. Someone might know you're close to Barbara and be using her to get to you." The fear raging through my body erupts to an entire new level, sendng me to my feet. Christian is immediately on his own feet and trying to grab hold of me. "Hey, calm down."
"Calm down? Really? I'm not worried about me but the kids and you."
"Well, I'm terrified about you and the kids, but I promise you that I'm going to make sure you and our four little angels are safe just like I promise that Barbara is going to be found." He reaches for the remote and turns the tv off before turning back to me. "Let's go back to bed."
"I'll go, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep."
"Me want bite.", Raygan says. She's pointing to the blueberry muffin on my plate. I tear off a piece and start to feed it to her, but she grabs it from my hand and shoves it in her mouth. "Tank you Mama."
"You're welcome." I smile as Janie places another muffin in my plate. "Thank you." Georgia stares at the muffin and then gives Janie her puppy dog eyes.
"How about I take a muffin and split it for you and Raygan?", Janie asks Georgia who claps her hands in response. Sitting at the table with the sweet peas is a great distraction from what's been going on. Janie gives each girl a small plate with half a muffin as Christian walks from the study and into the kitchen. He smiles softly at the girls and then looks at me with a more serious expression.
"Janie, will you watch the girls for a bit?"
"Of course.", she answers. I get up and follow Christian into the study, preparing myself for what he has to say.
"You've heard some news?"
"Barney was able to get into Barbara's computer to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, but he didn't find anything. Welch also got a her credit card and phone records. Nothing out of the ordinary showed up with the credit card until a week ago when a room was reserved in her name at Best Western downtown. A full week was paid for with the card."
"Do you think it's possible she was using it for something? She and Greg seemed happy, but what if she was seeing someone else?", I ask even though the biggest part of me doesn't think Barbara would cheat on Greg. "Why am I even asking that? If things weren't working with Greg or if she had met someone else, she'd tell Greg before doing anything."
"Welch faxed the info to Detective Branson who said he'd go to the motel to see what he could find. Welch is also going to look into Greg's records. He genuinely seemed upset last night, but looks can be deceiving at times."
"It seems the questions are piling up by the second. I'm going to go and check on the boys and then go back to the kitchen with the girls." I pad out of the study, closing the door behind me and then resting my head against its surface. Standing there, I mentally tell myself that all is going to be ok. I move away from the door just as Christian opens it. "I needed a minute."
"I understand. I came out here to tell you some good news. Would you like to hear it?"
"I'd love to hear some good news. What is it?"
"The Logan house is officially finished. I got the call from Jerry Preston about ten minutes before I talked with Welch. I was going to tell you, but then my mind went to what's happening with Barbara. He said we could move in whenever we wanted, but of course we still need to furnish the place. We also should wait to travel there when the boys are a little older." The fire at my dad's house left me in mentally exhausted, miuch like I feel now with Barbara's disappearance, but learning the new house is finished gives me hope. I feel a smile spread across my face as my arms instinctively find their way around Christian.
"That is news that I more than needed."
"All right Detective, you said you found some things. What did you find?", Greg asks Detective Branson. Following the call from the detective in regards to what he's found, Christian and I drove over to Greg's. We're literally sitting on their edges of our seats, waiting to hear what Detective Branson has to say.
"The room at the Best Western was indeed registered to Barbara, but she wasn't the occupant of the room. The desk clerk said Barbara came into the motel with a young blonde haired woman in her early twenties. It was raining cats and dogs outside that day, but the young woman had on sunglasses. She also kept looking behind her and was fidgety."
"Did the clerk get her name?", I ask.
"No. She only got Barbara's name. Barbara was given the key and then went to the room with the woman. She stayed there for about an hour and left around the same time the desk clerk's shift ended. Even though Barbara wasn't staying in the room, she stopped by the motel at least once a day. The last time she was there was the day before yesterday." I write down everything we were just told.
"When was the last time the woman was seen?"
"She left on foot yesteray around four. What belongings she had were in a backpack which she carried with her.", Detective Branson answers. "Something the desk clerk said has stuck with me. She said the mystery woman reminded her of her sister who was abused by her ex. She more certain the sunglasses shielded her black eye. Another hint was her being antsy. The clerk's sister used to act that way while she feared her abusive ex showing up."
"Barbara could have been helping the woman escape an abusive relationship.", I say. "Greg, did she say anything to you about helping someone?"
"Not at all. She never mentioned anything or anyone.", he replies. "Detective, did the motel have cameras that might show the woman?"
"We've already got the tapes and are looking over them. Now for the big news I have. One of the officers spoke with Barbara's coworkers who said Barbara never brought anything up about helping someone. One thing did happen though. The receptionist got a call early yesterday morning. It was a guy asking for Barbara by her first name, but she had taken the day off from work. He said he was supposed to be delivering a new stove to Barbara's house but needed directions."
"Barbara wasn't getting a new stove."
"The receptionist said the guy sounded genuine so she gave him the address."
"Unbelievable.", I scoff. "Just because he sounded genuine she told him where Barbara lives. How ironic that happened on the same day she went missing? I should go and have a few words with the receptionist."
"You're not going anywhere.", Christian murmurs as Detective Branson's phone rings. After he answers it and begins speaking to the person on the other end, his face tightens. Something is up.
"Ok. I'll be right there.", Detective Branson says, ending his call. "Barbara's been found. She's at the hospital."
"Hospital? What happened?", I ask.
"The details are sketchy, but we'll know more once we've talked to her."
"When can we see her?" I blow out a breath and stare ahead at the closed hospital door. Detective Branson and another detective have been speaking with Barbara for almost an hour. We've only seen glimpses of her when the nurses and doctors have went in or out of the room. One thing that caught my eye during one of the times was the large bruise on Barbara's right cheek.
"Soon I hope.", Greg replies. He runs his hands along his face in frustration.
"We should be told what's going on.", Christian growls. "No one has said a thing, not the doctor or the detectives." The room door opens once again with the detectives stepping out into the hallway. "Well?"
"You can go in and see her.", Detective Branson answers. Christian, Greg, and I nod and slowly walk into the room. Barbara turns towards us with a faint smile. In addition to the bruise on her cheek, she has a small cut on her lower lip and bruises on her arms. I mentally resolve to try and be strong for her while going to the side of the bed and taking her hand.
"Hey. We were so scared."
"I was scared too, but I'm here and ok." Greg's on her other side with tears. "I knew we'd be together again. I suppose I should tell you what happened."
"You don't have to tell us what happened right now.", I say.
"No. I want to. The Simpleton Cafe is a place where I'd go during my lunch break from work. It's a small place which serves healthy dishes without a lot additives. The owners of the cafe are Todd and Krystal Stallings. Krystal was always so sweet and lovely when I'd go into the cafe. Todd was cordial. One of the things about the cafe was it didn't get a lot of business so there were days in which Krystal and sometimes even Todd would join me. I began noticing that Todd was short tempered. Krystal accidentally dropped a plate one day, and he came unglued. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the kitchen where I heard him verbally lashing out at her. She came back out and tried to act like everything was ok, but I could see it wasn't. That incident was the beginning of the bad things to come. A few days later, I went in and saw a bruise on her arm. She insisted it was nothing. I didn't believe her. The bruises became more and more frequent. I finally decided to confront her one day when Todd wasn't at the cafe. She admitted that he had been under a lot of stress and had hit her a few times. That was unacceptable for me. I offered to give her a place to stay, but she said no. Things changed last week when I was leaving work. She was crouched down on a bench near my car and was sporting a black eye. Todd had been angry about the cafe's electric bill and had punched her in the eye before shoving her to the floor. It was the last straw for her."
"Why didn't you say something to me?", Greg asks. "I could have helped."
"She asked me not to. I honestly thought getting others involved would only make things worse for not only her but whoever else. Looking back, I guess I was foolish. I took her to a Best Western and checked her in there. I also got both of us prepaid phones to use to contact each other. Things were going ok until yesterday when I heard a knock at the back door. When I opened it, there was Todd. He demanded to know where Krystal was, but I refused to tell him. The next thing I knew, he was rearing his fist back at me. I next remember waking up tied to a chair. He was smirking and talking about how I was just as bad as Krystal. He asked for me to call her, but I refused. I was then slapped repeatedly. He finally said it didn't matter if I called her or not because he had grabbed my prepaid phone out of my pocket and pressed send to the only dialed number on there. I asked why he had asked me to dial the number and then hit me afterwards. He laughed and said that it made things more interesting. The guy was crazy. He called Krystal and told her to come to back to their house or he was going to kill me." All restraint on the tears I've been holding back fades as I hear Barbara's recollection of the events. "I screamed for her not to listen, but he kicked my chair back, sending me backwards on to the floor. When she showed up, he started hitting her before she barely got in the door."
"Why didn't she call the police and tell them he had you?", Christian asks.
"He told her he'd kill me if she called the police. From the way he sounded and looked, he was serious. After hitting her, he tied her up in a chair next to mine. Over the next several hours, I wondered if I was ever going to get out of there and back home. I worked on trying to get untied. Just as it seemed like I wasn't, I got the rope loosened. I waited until he fell asleep, and then I eased my hands to Krystal's rope and untied her. We were almost out of there when he woke up and started after us. He had his hands around my throat, but then Krystal grabbed a lamp and hit him. We didn't wait around to see if he was ok. We took off out of the door and ran until we came upon a police officer who brought us here."
"Where is Krystal now?"
"Detective Branson said she's in a room down the hall." Christian and I look at each other and then towards the door. We feel the need to meet the woman who was in the same hell as Barbara. "He also said some officers were going after Todd. They have to get him behind bars."
"They will sweetheart.", Greg says. "You've been through so much. How about you try and get somr rest?"
"Ok.", she replies. We hug her and then step back into the hallway where Detective Branson is waiting on us.
"Barbara told us what happened and that Krystal Stallings is down the hall.", I say.
"She just finished giving her statement and is now resting. We sent a car to pick up Mr. Stallings. He was stumbling around his living room and complaining that someone had broken in and attacked him. Needless to say, the guy's story is an utter lie. He's been arrested."
"If only Barbara had said something or Krystal had gone to the police, none of this might of happened.", Greg sighs. "I understand the not wanting others to get hurt aspect, but a lot of this might have been avoided."
"I've worked many abuse cases, and even though they've been different, one thing has been present in all of them, fear."
"I hope that fear is over now that Todd Stallings is behind bars.", I mutter.