That evening Logan excused himself early. Max could tell that the shock sat deep and he probably needed some time for himself to work things out. So she stayed on the terrace with Peter and Anna. It was a nice evening, the sun had been shining all day and it still was warm now.

The three of them gossiped for a few minutes before Peter came back to the events of the day.
"Max, was that dangerous for him today?"
"Not much more than for anybody else. He is strong and he learnt to deal with it." And he has a genetically enhanced friend by his side.
"Yeah, it's just, you know, we're worried. We haven't seen him a lot since his parents died, and when we learnt about the accident it was just terrible. We couldn't be there for him, he wouldn't even talk to us on the phone for more than two months, and when he finally did he told us not to come to Seattle, that he'd have to deal with that alone- like always."
"He doesn't talk about his past, I hardly know anything."
"Yeah, he's never been able to express his emotions very well."
"But if you cared for him that much, why didn't you take him to your place after what had happened to his parents?"
"We tried, believe me. But the Cale family has influence, and we already lived in Europe. Courts decided it would be best for him to live with them, we weren't even allowed to visit." Peter sighed heavily.
"And we knew how he hated living there. He's so much like his mother, he could never relate to the Cale's way of seeing things. He had a hard time growing up, and with Daphne and Val, he wasn't lucky either. Those women were catastrophes."
"Yeah, I've heard that much."
"Max, I know that we might seem over protective, I mean he is an adult, but we never had the chance to be there for him when he needed us, and we never really saw himgrow up, so on some level he is still the little boy."
"I'm sure it's ok with him, he knows that you love him."
"He can count himself so lucky now, finding you is the bestthing that ever happened to him." Anna took her hand. "Please, promise me you won't give up on him, even when he pulls his crap. He earns some happiness, finally."
"I swear. I'll stick by him." And she meant it.

They sat together until long past midnight and Max was told some nice childhood anecdotes.
But even in bed she couldn't forget about what Peter had said. Logan hadn't been very lucky in his life. He'd lost his parents, was raised by people who didn't love him at all, the woman he'd married betrayed him, and then he's lost his legs...he'd in fact been through more than could be good for one person. Maybe that was part of why they got along so perfectly fine, they both had been through more than could be good. "Soulmates." She smiled down at her sleeping boyfriend before she cuddled close and fell asleep herself.


The next two days passed by uneventful, it was on Friday morning that Anna called from Arlington House.
"I won't be home for lunch today, three of the babies are missing. Apparently they were kidnapped."
Max had used her enhanced abilities to overhear Anna talk to Peter. Her expression showed Logan that something was wrong.
After hanging up, Peter let them in.
"We need to do something." Max got up.
"There's nothing we can do, the police is already over there." Peter sat down with a heavy sigh.
"Max's right. We'll go over, maybe we can help." Logan unset his brakes and grabbed his jacket.

When they arrived police cars were parked in front of the entrance, dogs were waiting with their masters and Logan could feel Max tense. "We're not in Seattle, you're perfeclty safe." He whispered, knowing Max could hear him anyway.

"What do you want?" A bully officer blocked their way."Help. My Grandma is working here, we thought they might need some help babysittting, whatever."
"What's your name? And your grandma's?"
"Logan Cale, Max Guevara, and my Grandma's Anna Fowler."

Five minutes later they were allowed to enter, so Max followed Logan through the backyard again.
"Oh my God, Logan! It's awful, nobody knows what happened." Anna looked pale and shaken.
"Shh, they are gonna find them." Logan held her tight for a few seconds
"Would you mind showing Max the rooms where the babies were in when they disappared?"
"The police was there already, and I don't think it makes sense when..."
"Could you still? Please."
"Ok, come with me."
Logan stayed in the kitchen and in order to be a little useful,he started to make coffee. It wasn't as easy as the desks were much higher than those he was used to, but by sitting on one, he managed.

Max looked around in the first room, scanning it throughly. Then she saw something that caughther attention. "Was the mother of the baby smoking?" She bent down and held up a cigarette.
"No, not to my knowledge. We can ask Laura to make sure."

Max returned to the kitchen and made Logan a sign to follow her, not even bothering to help him down from the desk. She knew he was fully capable of that.
She waited for him in the huge garden, far enough from the house so nobody could overhear them.
"Have you seen that Melissa? You know, the girl who brought you a sweater."
"No, but I've only been in the kitchen. Why?"
"The cigarette I found in the room," she held it up for him to see. "It's the sort she smoked."
"She can have lost it there days ago."
"I asked Anna. Nobody is allowed to enter those rooms, and Melissa is responsible for the older kids anyway."
"I don't know Max. This is a huge thing, we need to be 100% sure."
"Logan, it's our only clue. We've nothing to lose."
"Ok, what do you have in mind?"
"At first, find out where she lives and pay her a visit."
"I guess they have her addressin the computer." Logan already was on his way back to the house.
"So let's say she has something to do with it. Why? Three babies!"
"I don't know." Max leaned over his shoulder, watching him search.