A/N - As always, a big thank you to my beta for the help and advice :)

.oOo. Chapter Six .oOo.

Three Years, Seven Months Later

Chloe sat on one of her garden chairs, sipping the remains of a tall glass of fresh lemonade, watching her two daughters, Kate and Alex, play in the sand box in their backyard when her phone rang with the phone call that would change her life forever. It wasn't a particularly warm day, and the late afternoon sun was shining, casting long shadows over their backyard but the girls were enjoying themselves.

She picked up her phone, saw it was David, placed her glass on the small table to her left and swiped to answer.

"Hi, we're just-"

"-Chloe! Where's Katie? What's happened?" David spoke quickly, cutting her off.

"David? What's-"

"-Where is she?" David demanded.

"What do you mean?"

"Is she missing?"

Chloe's eyebrows furrowed and her head snapped back around to the sandbox. Her two girls were giggling as they scooped sand into each other's laps.

"No, Kate's right here. They both are. What's going on?"

"Are you sure she's there?" David asked, breathlessly. It sounded like he was running.

"I'm positive, I'm looking at her right now. She's playing with Alex not more than ten feet away from me. What's going on?"

"Call. I call. I just got a call. A call. Phone call." David hissed out, stumbling over his words.

"Take a breath D, what's happened?"

"I'm coming back to the house."

"Okay but I swear to you, she's right here. I can send a picture."

"No, I'm coming now. Call Aubrey and get her to the house. She'll know if something is wrong. I'll be home in ten minutes." David said and hung up the phone before Chloe had a chance to say anything else.

Concerned, Chloe stared at the phone for a moment before scrolling through her contacts and calling her best friend.

"Aubrey Posen." Aubrey's clear and concise greeting rang out.

"Okay, good, you're okay."

"Yes, I'm okay. Are you? Everything-"

"-David just called. Sounding really weird. Kept asking me if Kate was with me. Then told me to call you and ask you to come to ours."

"Me?"

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on but he's on his way home."

"That is indeed odd. Do you need me to come over?"

"Are you busy? I hate to ask."

"Nothing that can't wait until a little later. I'm only at the club so…" There was a pause for a second and then Aubrey carried on. "… I can be with you in ten minutes, fifteen max."

"Okay, great. Thanks Bree."

"No problem. Bye for now."

"Bye."

Chloe placed her phone back on the small table and drained the last of her lemonade. She wasn't overly confused about the phone call, knowing David occasionally got slightly erratic over nothing. It was something that had developed in the last few years since the accident, the smallest thing could snowball into a huge problem.

Looking at her watch, she decided to make use of the girls playing together quietly and start on their dinner. Standing, she called out to the girls that she would just be inside and they turned their heads in unison to wave at her.

Dumping her glass in the sink, she slipped her phone into her back pocket and hummed as she walked over to the fridge, smiling, as she always did, when she saw the crudely drawn pictures that the girls had made stuck to the front of the fridge, with whimsical magnets. There wasn't much out of place in their entire home, knickknacks tended to be kept behind glass cupboard doors and clutter was tidied away quite well, but Chloe liked the crazy mismatch on the fridge. It made it feel homely.

"Hmmm." She said out loud to no one in particular as she pulled on the fridge door. As always, she pondered what to make for dinner. "Hmmm. Homemade pizza it is. And we'll do it heart shaped for Valentine's Day."

Chloe liked to cook. She enjoyed the time it took to prepare something; she made an effort with presentation and was always willing to try something new. If David was working on a late night project or had flown back to Atlanta to visit his family, Chloe would invite Aubrey or Stacie over for the evening and use them as guinea pigs for a recipe she'd not yet tried.

Most of the time it worked.

And if it didn't, she'd just kept topping up their wine until it didn't matter.

She tried to include the girls when she cooked, teaching them the very basics if nothing else. Kate was more amenable to it than Alex. She loved to stir ingredients or mix together a salad. Alex, less so. It wasn't as if she didn't try, her bowl never looked as blended together and most of the salad she was combining usually ended up on the floor.

"Pizza stuff, pizza stuff… pizza…" Chloe said, reaching into the fridge for some dough she'd made the day before, tomatoes, peppers and cheese. "… stuff."

"Mommy?"

"Whoa!" Chloe said, jumping and turning sharply with her arms full, juggling two bells peppers as she almost dropped them.

"Can we-" Kate started to say.

"-Outside! Outside!" Chloe exclaimed, hurriedly laying down her arm full of ingredients onto the kitchen island. "Outside, with your sandy toes and clothes!"

The two girls giggled as Chloe grabbed their hands and rushed them out to the deck to dust off the pound of sand they'd squirreled away in their pockets and creases in their clothes. Their giggles bounced around the deck as Chloe brushed them down.

"Well, that didn't quite work, did it?" Chloe laughed as Alex began swirling the sand around with her foot. "Never mind, we can sweep it up later. Go wash your hands and come help me roll out the dough."

Chloe was unwrapping everything, having warmed up the oven and laid out some garlic in there to roast, when the girls joined her a minute later. She wasn't entirely sure how clean their hands were but decided not to worry too much as they began to poke the pizza dough and help knock some of the puffy holes out.

"Okay, so that's the dough loosened up. Shall we start getting the vegetables ready?" Chloe asked, dusting a little flour from Alex's face. She was about to assign each of the girls a small job to do when she heard the front gate start to roll back. Casting her eye over to the screen on the kitchen counter that showed the front driveway, she saw Aubrey's car pull in. "Auntie Bee Bee is here!"

"Yay!" Kate yelled, clapping her hands together, sending small puffs of flour in all directions.

"Wash your hands again. Quick." Chloe said, pointing to the kitchen sink. She knew Aubrey would be wearing something expensive and while she said she didn't mind getting covered in her Goddaughter's sticky messes, Chloe always noticed the smallest of twitches in her eye when she spotted the glittery fingers coming towards her.

Crossing to the front door, Chloe pulled it open and watched as Aubrey finishing backing up her Lexus in front of the garage, squared up and neat as always. She was quickly joined by Kate and Alex and they watched Aubrey collect her briefcase from the front seat, pick up her purse, lock her car, and walk with purpose towards the front door.

"Hey ladies!" She said, smiling broadly as she approached them.

"We's making pizza." Kate announced as Aubrey bent down to give her a one armed hug and kiss. She did the same to Alex.

"Sounds good Kate. That's a pretty shirt you have on Alex." Aubrey said, making the effort as she usually did with the quieter of the twins. Alex looked down at her tee shirt.

"Kitties." She said simply.

"I see that." Aubrey said before looking up to Chloe. "Hi, you okay?"

"Yes, yes. David's not back yet and we're just making some homemade pizza for dinner. You're staying, aren't you?"

"Hmm, rain check. I've got a client who's just made the eleventh change to their kitchen… which starts installing on Monday."

"Oh sure, no problem. Sorry to pull you away from that."

"Honestly, I'm not." Aubrey said, following Chloe into the house. "Oh, something smells good."

"Just roasting some garlic." Chloe said, shutting the front door. "Are you sure I can't change your mind?"

"I'm tempted now!" Aubrey said, setting her briefcase down by the front door and shrugging off her jacket. "I could maybe do an hour's work here…"

"That's settled then!" Chloe said, clapping her hands together.

Aubrey and Chloe had been friends since middle school. They'd met at the first recess and by lunchtime they were firm friends. Not everyone understood Aubrey, but Chloe did. They remained best friends through the whole of school and when college saw them separated for the first time, they promised each other they wouldn't drift apart.

Chloe had gone to Barden University in Atlanta, majoring in history with a minor in English and Aubrey attended the Savannah College of Art and Design, majoring in Interior Design and minoring in business. She'd interned with a small firm in Savannah and had shown real potential in her time there. After she'd left college and moved back home to Los Angeles, the company, Kingston Interiors, had offered for her to work under their name in California.

She'd jumped at the chance and was gaining new clients regularly. She was known for her no nonsense approach to practical design and wouldn't allow a 'plastic, fake looking granny chair next to the rustic, natural stone of a fireplace because a leather smoking chair would be more appropriate and aesthetically pleasing', as told to one of her more famous clients, a young up and coming actor by the name of Tom Holland.

He had loved it.

Aubrey liked being her own boss. She liked making her own hours, turning down work that she didn't feel was her forte and having free range to try out her own bespoke designs for her wealthy clients. She also took on some charity projects, inspired by Chloe's philanthropic enterprise and donated pieces to raise money for the local children's hospital.

She was currently dating Bentley James III who she'd met at her tennis club. He was running for Congress and was a nice guy but as Chloe would often wistfully say, he didn't stoke Aubrey's fire. She disagreed of course, citing various reasons that he was in fact very decent and they worked well together. Chloe knew she was lying but kept her mouth shut, hoping that Aubrey would one day meet her white knight. Bentley was always on time, held the door open for Aubrey and invited her to book signing

"Drink?" Chloe asked as they crossed the hallway to the kitchen. "I've got a bottle of the Godfather wine you like so much, chilling in the fridge."

"I'd better not." Aubrey said. "I've got an early start in the morning, over towards Henderson."

"You can stay over, if you want to. You'll only be ten minutes from here." Chloe said, setting Kate and Alex up with the task of tearing salad leaves.

"Thanks, but I've got to swing by the office for their portfolio first. This is the stable and equestrian refit I was telling you about."

"Oh! I remember. I didn't think you'd got that project." Chloe said, her head buried back in the fridge. She pulled out a large bottle of sparkling water and two juice boxes.

"Me neither. But Frank Folly put a recommendation in for me, so they took a second look at my collection and with a little tweaking, we came up with a basic plan. I'm back there in the morning to discuss the final colour scheme."

"Sounds great." Chloe said, reaching for a glass for Aubrey and beginning to fill it with water.

"You got anything new coming up?"

"My agent put me forward for a supporting role in a new sci-fi feature with DreamWorks." Chloe pushed the glass towards Aubrey and began unwrapping the straws for the girls' juice boxes. They were currently batting each other with pieces of rocket. "Girls, that's good food. Please don't mess around with it."

"Vegables are not good Mommy." Alex said.

Chloe turned her head slightly so the twins wouldn't see her stifling a laugh as Alex used two pieces of rocket as eyebrows. She turned back to Aubrey and schooled her face.

"Spielberg is directing and asked for me to read. Waiting on a date for a screen test."

"Wow!"

"Yeah, kinda excited about this." Chloe grinned. She reached for the salad ingredients and began throwing them into the bowl of leaves that they twins were still busy tearing up. She handed Kate a spoon to start missing it together. "He's supposed to be great to work with. Joss Whedon wrote the script. Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are evidently signed up already. The script looks good so yeah, we'll see."

"It does soun-"

"-Chloe!" David's voice echoed through the whole house as the front door slammed, reverberating around the walls, and making the glass chandelier in the hallway shake and jingle.

"David?" Chloe called back, reaching for a towel to wipe her hands on.

He entered the kitchen, his tie askew and his shirt half untucked, looking like he'd run from his school, three miles away. It wasn't like him to look unkempt; his pressed shirt, his matching tie and suit were always immaculate even though the teachers dress code allowed jeans and running shoes.

"David, what on earth-"

"-She's here!" He yelled.

Ignoring Chloe and Aubrey, he skidded around the kitchen island and pulled Kate off of the barstool, scooping her into his arms, hugging her to his chest. He let her go after a few moments, holding her out at arm's length to look at her properly. Kate looked a little afraid and peered around his shoulder for Chloe's reassurance. Alex, sat bewildered, watching for Aubrey's reaction.

"What happened?" David said, breathlessly. He kissed the top of Kate's head as he set her back on the stool. She immediately scooted closer to Alex, side eyeing her dad. David bent down and lovingly ruffled Alex's hair. He looked over to Chloe. "Where did you find her?"

"Find her?" Chloe said, glancing at Aubrey.

"Yeah." David hissed out. "How did she get out?"

"Get out? I have no idea what you are talking about?"

"She was reported missing."

"She's literally been here the whole time."

"But I got a call. A call." David breathed out, trying to quell his racing heart.

"Who called you?" Aubrey asked, watching as Chloe stood behind the bemused girls.

"I got a call from police station. Said a woman had reported a missing child. No Amber Alert yet as she was high profile. Can you grab me a water?"

Aubrey, being closest to the fridge, pulled on the door and reached in for a bottle of water. She handed it to him and he nodded his thanks as he uncapped the bottle and took a large glug of water.

"They said it was a possible kidnapping."

"Of Kate?" Chloe asked, looking confused.

"Maybe, we could pop the television on for the girls in the living room?" Aubrey suggested, noting the girls were listening to their parents quite intently and looking concerned. "Girls, come with me."

Aubrey held out her hands for Kate and Alex and they slid off the barstools with minimal fuss. They adored their Auntie Aubrey but knew her no nonsense approach well. David watched the girls leave the kitchen, unable to take his eyes off of Kate. Chloe began straightening up the spilled food as she heard the television being switched on in the living room, followed by a high pitched cartoon character giggling about not doing their homework.

Aubrey walked back into the kitchen with purpose, her sensible heels clacking on the highly polished tile.

"Sit down David and start from the beginning." She said and David took a seat. In another time and place, Chloe would have laughed. Aubrey had a certain knack about her; people always seemed to do as she told them to.

"I was at work." He said slowly. "Finishing up my office hours for my eight graders when my phone rang. Usually, I ignore it. You know, can't tell the kids to leave their phones alone if I'm answering mine. Anyway, it rang again a minute or so later and then a third time. I thought something had happened to Chloe so I answered it, prepared to knock out the 'I'll have to call you back speech' when the voice said, 'It's Officer Jack Abraham with the LAPD'."

"Jack Abraham? Isn't he-" Chloe asked.

"-Yeah, the guy from the kids soccer team." David said in response. "He then went on to explain that they'd had a call from a concerned parent at a park over in Hollywood. At this point, I'm thinking he'd called the wrong number. He said the woman was reporting a kidnapping. I asked who had been kidnapped, my mind going overtime thinking someone had taken Chloe and was holding her to ransom or something. He said it was possibly one of my kids."

Chloe looked towards Aubrey who shrugged her shoulders slightly.

"I asked which one and he said the red head."

"Kate."

"Yeah, and I said that she was probably home with my wife and I would have heard if there was a problem." David explained further. "I mean, you'd call. I know you'd call. So I wasn't worried too much at this point. Officer Abraham recognised her from the kids career day we did in school before Christmas, when the girls came with me. You remember how infatuated the girls were with him and followed him around all day. Luckily, they went to his precinct or we might not have found out what was going on."

"I remember." Chloe said, picking up the salad bowl.

"This woman, in the park, was so convinced this little girl was our Katie, that she called the Police. There was a woman with her, claiming to be her mother but the kid was crying and saying she didn't want to go with her. But they took her and the kid downtown to the 8th Precinct for questioning."

"Why'd they do that? Surely the little girl knew who her mother was." Chloe asked, nestling the bowl she was holding into the crook of her arm.

"You know how crazed some of your fans are though Chloe. They know every single detail about you and your kids. If the kid was crying, then they had a right to be concerned. Maybe not calling the Police concerned but still." Aubrey said.

"But we keep the girls off of social media, aside from the picture on the beach..." Chloe was puzzled.

"Doesn't mean that people don't know what they look like though. Kate looks just like you. She probably made such a fuss about the little girl, and if tensions were high… the Police probably needed to act on it." Aubrey said.

"I thought so too." David said. "And then the officer said he send me a photo of the little girl to confirm she wasn't Katharine. And that's why I called you."

"Okay, but I still don't understand your panic…" Chloe said shaking her head slightly in confusion as she picked at the salad.

"Look at this then." David said, slipping his phone out from his jacket pocket. He quickly unlocked his phone and scrolled to his messages, clicking on the picture that the police officer had sent to him earlier. He turned the phone around and showed his wife the screen.

Chloe gasped and immediately dropped the bowl of salad that Kate had so lovingly mixed.

.oOo.