"Hi, we're looking for a student named Ella?" Sarah asked the receptionist at the school office as Bobby showed her his badge.

"Uh, we have a few students with that name. Do you have a last name?" She asked, typing something into her computer.

The two looked at each other. "Er, no, but she's in 7th grade, more or less." Bobby answered.

The receptionist nodded, looking at he computer. "Ella Franklin. Her class is in room 204."

"Thank you." Sarah said, then followed Bobby out to find the classroom. Once they found it, they knocked on the door.

"Can I help you?" The teacher asked as she opened her classroom door halfway and popped her head out into the hall.

"Do you mind if Ella Franklin comes out here to talk to us for a minute?" Bobby asked, showing her his badge.

She suspiciously looked at him. "What did she do?"

"Nothing, ma'am." Sarah quickly replied. "Her friend is missing and we were just wondering if she knew anything."

"Who, Mallory?" The teacher worriedly asked. "I just thought her parents kept her home today! She was complaining she wasn't feeling good yesterday."

"You are her teacher as well?" Sarah asked.

She nodded. "Sweet girl, but I'm always scolding those two. They're thick as thieves. If anyone would know anything about Mallory, it's Ella. I'll go get her." With that, the teacher retreated into her classroom. Within a few seconds, what was presumed to be Ella appeared at the door.

"Ella?" Sarah asked, holding the door for the girl as she walked into the hallway.

"Yes?" She nervously replied as Sarah closed the door.

"We need to talk to you about Mallory. Do you know a quiet place where we can talk?" Bobby asked.

Nervously nodding, she led them to an empty classroom down the hall. "Is everything alright?" She nervously asked when all were inside.

"Well, no." Bobby started, then looked to Sarah to continue.

Seeing his cue, she nodded. "Mallory is missing."

"What?" The girl cried, looking from one to the other with wide eyes. "What happened?"

"We don't know. That's why we're asking you." Bobby replied. "When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday afternoon! She was fine!"

"So you didn't see her at or near the school bus this morning?" Sarah confirmed.

Ella shook her head. "No. How could she go missing?"

"That's exactly what we're going to figure out." Sarah comforted as Bobby walked a few steps away as he took out his phone. "Hey." He said when the recipient answered the phone. "The friend didn't see her. That means she went missing between home and the bus stop."

"That's all fine and good," Jack said through the phone." But we have a bigger problem now. You better get here quick."

?-?

"What happened? What's wrong?" Melvin asked as he, Jack and Mya ran down the stairs.

"He-he called." Moria stuttered, holding her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

"Who called?" Mya asked.

"The man who stole my girl." She hoarsely replied.

Jack looked to his assistants, silently telling them to get to work, then looked to the woman. "What exactly did he say?"

She frowned as her husband helped her to a chair. "He, he said that if we didn't pay him a million dollars in an hour, that she would be gone forever. That's when I shrieked and fainted."

"Did he tell you where, when or how he wanted his money?" Mya anticipatedly asked, already typing something on her phone.

She shook her head, keeping her eyes closed. "If he did, I didn't hear it."

She nodded. "OK, I can work with that. For now."

"What do we do?" Melvin worriedly asked, looking at Jack.

"Let's see if my techs can track the call. If they can, maybe we can get an idea where Mallory is."

"And if not?" Moria asked.

He sighed. "Then we try to play along. Hopefully he makes a mistake and we will be able to catch it."

"What if he never makes a mistake?" She worriedly ranted.

"In my experience," he replied, kneeling down to be close to eye level with her. "Perps almost always make a mistake somewhere. It might not be in the place we think it might, but there's almost always somewhere we can get to them."

"What if it's one of those rare times where you can't?"

Jack sadly smiled at her. "How about we think about the present? Let's see what the techs say. After their prognosis, we'll talk about that, OK?"

Melvin nodded, holding his wife's hand in his. "OK."