A/N Hey Haleb fans! Here is our next Chapter... trying to get back into the groove of more frequent updates, thank you for being patient and sticking with us. Thank you for your reviews, hope you like...
xoxo Halebfan4lyf and Jmcncrlsd
Toby was finally settling into a deep slumber. It had been a long, trying night.
Ever since the baby was born, Spencer had been having a rough time dealing with her anxiety. Add the stress of a preemie still in the hospital fighting to get home to his parents, and the fluctuation of her hormones, and you have the recipe for disaster.
After hours of tears, shaking, pacing the floor and Toby having to physically wrestle down his wife in an attempt to comfort her, Spencer finally crashed, and she crashed hard. Had she not refused to take her meds, it would've been a lot easier, but Spencer was worried that because she was now breastfeeding, it was not safe for the baby.
Toby was rightfully frustrated when he heard that familiar ringtone. It could only mean one thing. Work.
He didn't even have to open his eyes, he extended his left arm and quickly snatched his cell phone off the nightstand, hitting "Accept" to answer the call as he brought the phone to his ear.
"Yeah…. Cavanaugh" he said sleepily as he cleared his throat.
A voice began talking quickly on the other end. His eyes snapped open, and he sat up quickly. Spencer stirred, but not enough to wake.
Toby looked back at his sleeping wife as he continued to listen to the person on the other end. She looked so peaceful, he decided not to wake her and said "Give me thirty minutes" before hanging up the phone.
Toby made his way downstairs and tossed a K-Cup into the Keurig, sliding his travel mug under the spout and powering on the machine. The smell of fresh brewed coffee quickly filled the air as the machine hummed and began brewing his coffee.
Toby headed back upstairs to change into his uniform while his coffee brewed, finally taking notice that the time displayed 3:45am on the alarm clock that sat on the night stand on Spencer's side of the bed.
Spencer hadn't moved an inch from where he'd left her. Once he was dressed, Toby whispered softly into Spencer's ear "Duty calls, sleep well beautiful" and made his way back down to the kitchen to grab his cup of coffee before he headed off for work.
…
Toby arrived to the scene about 30 minutes later. He pulled up behind all the other squad cars and hopped out, slowly approaching the crowd of detectives, reporters and onlookers that began to gather around.
"Hey! Cavanaugh, over here" Lorenzo called out. Toby approached his partner as he continued to look around, taking in the scene.
He noticed a body draped under a white sheet lying on the ground off in the distance.
"Man…. Sorry to call you in so early, but since this is technically your family's property, I thought you'd want in on this case, or at least be here…" Lorenzo said.
Toby nodded and said "Yeah, no worries, thank you!"
"I…. I just don't understand, what's going on?" Toby added as he followed his partner towards the body.
"Jane Doe. Female, late 20s, early thirties? Red hair. Couple of scratches and bruises, looks like this property may have just been a drop off spot…" Lorenzo said as he knelt down and pulled back the sheet.
"Oh My God…." Toby said as he stared down at the body. He slowly gulped as he processed the face and where he's seen her before.
"You know this girl?" Lorenzo looked up and asked suspiciously.
"Oh No, no…I just…. I think I've seen her around once or twice. Small town Rosewood, you know?!" Toby said quickly, as he turned to get a once over of the property.
"So there was no damage or disturbance to the property?" Toby asked.
"Nah, not at all. I checked every inch of this place, nothing looks out of the ordinary. Some kids called it in. Apparently they sneak up here to make out, they were the ones who found the body. From the looks of it, it's been here a couple of days" Lorenzo said as he pulled back the sheet to re-cover the body before standing.
…
Caleb woke earlier than usual planning on fixing breakfast for his wife and son. Hanna usually took breakfast duty, but today he decided to give her a day off. After all, he had a hard time sleeping last night, and decided it was a great way to kill time while Hanna and Nathan slept.
As part of his kitchen routine when he cooked, he turned on the small TV that sat on the counter in the kitchen and turned up the volume some before heading over to the fridge to grab the ingredients he'd need to prepare breakfast for his family.
As he listened to the Rosewood Morning News Show, he cooked then plated breakfast, placing their plates on the table before heading back inside the kitchen. Caleb grabbed cups out of the cabinet, and opened the refrigerator to grab the orange juice.
"Breaking News, the body of a young woman was found early this morning at a family lake house just outside of Rosewood. The 20 something year old red-haired woman, pictured here in her driver's license photo is said to have been new to Rosewood, and dead about 3 days."
Caleb froze and slowly closed the refrigerator door, turning to look at the television. He immediately darted upstairs into his bedroom and went to his side of the bed to grab his cellphone.
It wasn't in it's usual place on the nightstand, so he opened the drawer and began and ruffling around papers trying to feel for his phone.
Nothing.
He got on his knees and looked under the bed.
As he put his weight on one arm on his side of the bed trying to stand, Hanna stirred and mumbled "Caleb, must you make all that noise so early in the morning?! Gosh, now I know where Nathan gets it!"
Caleb left the room turning off the lights and heading out into the garage. As he opened the door leading into the garage, he could hear his phone ringing.
Suddenly it stopped.
He went over to his car, opened the door, and grabbed his phone out of the cup holder, noticing that the display was still lit from having just missed the last call.
The display read: 7 missed calls, Toby. 3 new text messages, Toby.
Caleb unlocked his phone and read the last text.
Call me as soon as you get this…. - Toby
Caleb immediately began dialing Toby's number as he walked back into the house. Toby picked up on the second ring.
"Caleb, we need to meet up….now! I have some bad news…" Toby said quickly.
"I already know….where's Kayleigh?" Caleb said, still in shock.
"Social Services, they picked her u-" Toby replied.
"Oh God, NO!" Caleb yelled as he hung up the phone.
"Caleb? Babe…. Is everything okay?" Hanna asked as she slowly made her way downstairs holding their daughter Amy. She looked at him questioningly as she approached.
Caleb pulled his wife who still held their daughter in her arms into a tight hug, and kissed her on the forehead.
Hanna pulled away looking at Caleb and asked again "Caleb, please tell me what's going on?"
Caleb sighed, not wanting to waste any time on answering questions and said "Please get dressed, we're going down to Social Services."
Hanna comforted a whiny Amy, rubbing her back as she said "Why? What's going on?"
"I'll tell you in the car on the way there, just get the kids dressed, and please hurry" Caleb said as he headed up the stairs to get dressed.
"Hey Veronica, I'm sorry to call so early, but I need you to please meet us at Social Services…." Hanna could faintly hear her husband say before he entered their bedroom.
…
Hanna looked back at her two sleeping children strapped into their car seats. She smiled to herself as she noticed Nathan's shirt on inside out. She was in such a rush to get them dressed, she also put two different colored socks on his feet.
As she turned back around to face forward, she decided she couldn't take the silence any longer. She softly placed her hand on Caleb's lap and said "Babe, you're worrying me, what's going on?"
"Tia is dead!" Caleb blurted quickly, taking his eyes off the road for a second to look at his wife. Hanna went pale. She swallowed hard and quickly looked down at her hands. Caleb looked back at the road, raising one eyebrow at his wife's strange reaction as he mumbled "What the fuck?!"
Realizing that her husband noticed her odd behavior, Hanna tried to compose herself and said "Wha…what do you mean she's dead Caleb?"
"What do you think I mean? She's dead Hanna, as is no longer alive. She was killed, it's all over the news" Caleb snapped.
"Do they know who did it?" Hanna asked nervously, now picking at her cuticles and red nail polish.
"No, no one has come forward yet. They just found her early this morning" Caleb replied, quickly glancing over at his wife, who was nervously playing with her fingers.
Hanna looked away out of the passenger's side window.
Caleb pulled the car over to the side of the road and stared at his wife.
Hanna slowly turned to look at him and said "What? Why'd you stop?"
Caleb squinted suspiciously at his wife as he said "Okay, what's with you lately?"
"Nothing, I'm fine!" Hanna said.
"You're a horrible liar. Are you not okay with going to see about Kayleigh?" Caleb said
"There's nothing wrong!" Hanna said quickly.
"Whatever Han, that's a whole new argument, you've been acting weird for days! Look, we better get going " Caleb said as he put the car into gear and checked the mirrors before pulling back onto the road.
"So….how long has the body been there Caleb? Like…. Do they know the exact date she died?" Hanna asked nervously.
Caleb sighed. He was growing annoyed with her questions and behavior, and was trying not to argue in front of the kids.
"They haven't figured all that out yet Hanna. Does that even matter? A little girl is without her mother, her only parent in a city where they knew no one." Caleb spat.
"She might not be the only child to end up motherless…" Hanna mumbled to herself, hoping Caleb didn't hear.
Caleb looked at his wife out the corner of his eye, but said nothing. He kept driving, picking up speed.
Hanna sat in silence running over the information she'd just received. Tia was dead. She cleared her throat and closed her eyes, resting her head on the headrest as she worked out the math.
Suddenly her eyes flew open, and she sat up with a start.
"Please stop the car, I need some air" Hanna said as she grabbed the door handle.
Caleb pulled over again, and Hanna leapt out the car before he'd come to a complete stop, running a couple of feet away from the door that she'd left wide open. She began pacing back and forth along the dirt trying to catch her breath.
Suddenly Caleb appeared, startling her out of her thoughts.
"What's going on with you Han?" he asked as he gently placed his hand at the small of her back.
Hanna shook her head and said "I'm fine now, I just needed some air."
"Are you sure? Can we get back in the car and get going now?" Caleb asked, hugging his wife.
Hanna nodded and they headed back to the car. They were about 15 minutes away from Social Services. Caleb held the door open for his wife, closing it behind her. He jumped back into the driver's seat and got back on the road.
He was eager to see little Kayleigh and at least make sure she was okay. Although he'd proven that he wasn't her father and he was unsure about what they planned to do with her given her situation, the least he could do was go make sure she was taken care of until her mother's family was notified and came to get her.
After all, he and Tia had once been friends. Part of him felt guilty, like he owed it to her to look after her baby girl for her, since she no longer could...
Dun Dun Dunnnnn...Do you think Caleb has a clue what Hanna's problem is? How will he react if/when he finds out? What's gonna happen with Kayleigh?Most importantly...who killed Tia, and what happened to her? Do you hate or love that she's finally GONE...we know you all couldn't stand her lol Please leave a review and let us know what you think. If you have any ideas for the story, we'd love to hear those too...
