CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"So, got any plans for tonight?" Hank asked Nick as he straightened the folders scattered on his desk. "Actually, scratch that… you don't have to say anything."

"Is it that obvious?" Nick said, a smirk on his face.

"Kinda. Nick, I really meant what I said the other day" Hank whispered. "I trust your instincts about the captain… and Adalind."

"Thanks Hank, it means a great deal to know I've got you on my side."

"I have to admit I've never seen you this happy… so in love."

"I am… she's just… I can't even put it into words. She's my everything."

"So why are you still hanging out with me? Get out of here!"

"All right, you don't have to tell me twice. I'll see you tomorrow" Nick replied with a large grin as he grabbed his jacket.

"Not so fast" he heard Wu say behind him. "You're not done yet."

"What, why?" Nick asked, a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"Your perp struck again; we've got another victim."

'That damn Skalengeck' Nick thought to himself.

"Nick, if you need to go, I've got this" Hank said.

"No that's ok, I'll go with you. So where are we headed?" Nick asked, turning his attention back to Wu.

"Washington Park."

"All right, let's go."

The murder had been so brutal that it had taken them longer than expected to clear out the crime scene, leaving Nick no opportunity to step aside, even for just a short moment, so he could call Adalind to let her know he'd be late for their dinner date at her house. However, he knew she was extremely busy with work lately, so he figured she probably wouldn't notice what time it was until he'd actually get there.

Hours later, when Nick was finally done with work, he rushed over to Adalind's house and parked his truck a few blocks away, a precaution that had now become routine. His day had been excruciatingly long and he desperately craved her beautiful face. With a smile spread wide across his lips, he hurried out of his truck and ran all the way to her house. When he reached her porch, he knocked on the door and patiently waited for Adalind to greet him. A minute went by, but there was still no answer. He knocked again, but the end result was the same. Impatient to see her, he fished his keys out of his pocket and selected the spare key she had given him. He inserted it in the lock and immediately noticed the door was already unlocked. 'That's odd' he thought, furrowing his eyebrows. He cautiously turned the knob, opened the door to let himself in, and closed it shut behind him. He slowly walked into the living room and then crossed over to the kitchen, but they were both empty.

"Adalind?" he called out.

No answer. It was unlike her to ignore him calling out her name. As an eerie sensation slowly began to build in the pit of his stomach, he made his way to her bedroom; but she wasn't there either.

"Adalind?" he shouted.

Once again, there was no answer. 'Maybe she's still working' he thought. He ran to her office and noticed the light was still on in the room; but Adalind was nowhere to be found. Her desk was in perfect order, so she had obviously been done with work.

"Adalind!" he yelled one last time, dreading his voice would only be met with a deafening silence.

Nick grabbed his cellphone and dialed her number, but he was quickly disappointed when the call went straight to her voicemail. Something was wrong, he could feel it. Where could she possibly be?

He started to pace around the room, trying to remember if she'd mentioned anything about an errand she needed to run after work. And then, in a flash, he remembered how the front door had been unlocked upon his arrival. Adalind wouldn't have forgotten to lock up if she'd left her house… but an intruder without a key most certainly would have. Nick's heart stopped as he finally put the puzzle pieces together and realized where Adalind was.

"He has her…" he breathed, his voice a mere whisper. "The bastard took her."

Nick felt the ground slip from under his feet as the realization that Adalind was gone started to sink in. Not knowing where she had been taken was agonizing. But wondering is she was hurt, or worse, was absolutely frightening. He simply could not bear to think about the love of his life being in any kind of distress.

He was suddenly overcome by a feeling of immense guilt. If only he hadn't gotten held up at work, he could've been there to fight for her, to protect her. But then he remembered who he was dealing with; a Zauberbiest with a lot of Wesen friends willing to carry out his dirty work. This pack of ruthless minions probably included a vile Skalengeck who had earlier brutally attacked and killed a poor defenceless woman in Washington Park. The thought of it was absolutely loathsome, but nevertheless, it all made sense: Renard had planned it all. But there was no way in hell Nick would let him get away with it. As worried as he was about Adalind, he couldn't afford to wait around anymore; he had a very important meeting to get to.

In his rush to run out the door, Nick knocked over the trashcan that was laying on the floor by Adalind's desk. He bent down to put it back in its place and noticed a crumpled piece of paper had fallen out. He hadn't known Adalind for long, but he was aware of just how careful she was. Working for a law firm, she constantly dealt with highly sensitive information. She always made sure to shred any document she didn't need anymore, just in case it contained data that could potentially become compromising if it was ever leaked. Nick retrieved the ball of paper as he got back up. He uncrumpled the sheet and flattened it on the desk, leaning over it to get a closer look. As he started to read its content, he quickly realized that this was no legal document. His eyes ran over the words until a specific expression caught his attention. But it wasn't the expression itself that made his heart leap in his chest; it was the numbers indicated right next to it. Nick wasn't a medical expert, but he knew exactly what these numbers meant.

Adalind was pregnant… with his child.