Disclaimer: I do not own any of the "In a Heartbeat" characters except for the ones I make up because The Disney Channel or Atlantis Alliance or whoever do

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the "In a Heartbeat" characters except for the ones I make up because The Disney Channel or Atlantis Alliance or whoever do. Also, I am not making any profit on any of my fanfiction.net stories.

Author's Note: Okay, after my last story, "Behind the Scenes" bombed as I thought it would, I thought it was time to make a comeback. I am still working on my story "Witness" but I figured I should put out another story in case people don't like how I chose to continue the story. Anyway, I know the first chapter is kind of short, but that's what other chapters are for, right? I have ideas to continue the story if you like it and I have ideas for other stories as well in case you don't like this one either. Hope you enjoy! ~ Chilly Penguin

"Cries For Help"

Chapter 1: "Jealousy"

He had always wanted a child. Not a baby, but a child. Babies were messy; too much work for him. You had to buy and change poopy diapers, buy special formulas and jars and jars of Gerber baby food. Plus, they always threw up and spittled all over the place. And worst of all, they would keep on wailing until they got exactly what they wanted, which was almost never guessed right the first time around. So, he wanted a child. A potty-trained, well-mannered child. At first, he thought the only way for him to get a child – minus the baby stage – was to adopt one from an orphanage or foster home. But, not one single orphanage or foster home would allow him to adopt, he knew. Not in a million years. He had a foot-long police record. He sat down in the old rocking chair that stood in the corner of his tiny living room, and a brilliant idea came to him. He had a perfect, foolproof plan that would allow him to get a child of his own, and no one would be the wiser…

Four-year-old Val Lanier slammed the front door and stomped down the steps that let to the front lawn.

"If Mommy doesn't love me anymore, them I'm just gonna leave," Val muttered angrily under her breath as she lifted one leg over her tricycle. "She prob'ly won't miss me anyway."

Val's mother had just brought home Baby Brooke, the new baby, and with her dad gone to work, and her mom always doing things to please the baby, Val got no attention whatsoever. And children need attention. They practically thrive on attention. Anyway, only when Val's mother asked her to grab her something for the baby, then Val received praise. Other than that, her mom was way too busy for her.

"If Mommy loves Baby Brooke more than she loves me, then I'm gonna run away," Val fumed as she pedaled down the sidewalk. She pedaled until her house was almost completely out of view.

He drove down the tree-canopied streets of Kingsport, searching the sidewalks for any sign of life, his eyes narrowed.

All of a sudden, he spotted a figure slowly coming toward him. He speeded up a little bit and saw that it was an adorable blonde-haired blue-eyed little girl in a pair of blue jean overalls and a pink flower-pattern shirt. She looked angry about something, but he figured she was cute enough to be his child anyway.

He slowed his car to a halt as the little girl on the tricycle became only feet away from him. He slowly took a step out of his car and plastered a friendly smile on his face.


He walked up to the child and said, "Hello, little girl."

Little Val Lanier looked up at the man standing in front of her uncertainly and said, "Hello," in a voice barely above a whisper.

"What's your name, Little Girl?" he asked.

She pursed her lips for a moment and replied politely, "I'm sorry, mister, but I'm not s'possed to give strangers my name." Then she added, "Um, mister? Could you move out of the way so I can ride my tricycle?"

His short temper flared for a minute, then cooled. Okay, that's enough of my "I'm Mister Nice Guy" games, he thought to himself. In one quick sweeping motion, he had one of his hairy, muscular arms around Little Val's waist and the other hand over her mouth as she tried to scream out in terror. His hand slipped off her mouth as he plopped her down in the passenger seat of his car long enough for her to yell out a blood curdling scream. "MOMMY!" He slammed the door as she was in mid-scream and she began to cry.

"Val? Val-l-l-l…" Mrs. Lanier called. "Val, honey, where are you?"

"Whaaaaaaaa!" came Baby Brooke's wail.

"Sshh, baby, don't cry," her mother said. "Val?" She searched the house inside out and still she couldn't find Val. She hadn't seen her for almost half an hour now, and she was getting extremely frantic with worry. "VAL!?" she called again.

She went out to the garage, Baby Brooke still in her arms and searched the garage for her. Hmmm…I wonder where her trike is… her mother pondered. Oh no! She went on the trike by herself! Her mother was sobbing uncontrollably by now. Val could be anywhere. She ran into the house and carefully – but hurriedly – put Baby Brooke into her crib. She dashed into the kitchen and dialed her husband's work phone number quickly. "Hello, Nick?" she panted.

"Yeah, honey, what's wrong?"

"VAL'S MISSING!" she sobbed.

"Huh? VAL'S MISSING?!" he said, horrified. "I'm on my way home, honey. Keep looking for her!"

~ So, what do you guys think? I know it's kinda short but I wanted to see if you like the idea before I kept on going for pages and pages and pages. Anyway, (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, chuckle, chuckle – I think you get the idea) PLEASE REVIEW! ~ Chilly P