Chapter 5

"Come on, Mike, where are you?"

Sam stood anxiously in front of the large plate glass window in the lobby as her charge sat at the table reading magazines. Lunch went relatively fine, Jasmine didn't say much and Samantha really didn't coax her to. She sighed in relief as she saw the limo pull into the parking lot and pull up in front of the lobby doors. Sam turned around to check on Jasmine as Mike got out and walked in.

He glanced over and saw Sam with a child and assumed that that was the Cline kid. Walking over to them, he spoke softly, "You talk to Ed?"

Sam shook her head as she tucked a lock of hair behind an ear, "I can't find him. I've tried his office, tried the floor, tried out by the pool and he's not answering his cell."

Mike sighed, "Alright, let's take her up to Danny, maybe he can tell us where to find Ed."

"Danny, your porn star is back."

Danny sighed as he walked over to the desk with the monitor displaying a color image of two people going at it in an elevator. Picking up a mic, he said, "You guys are aware that we are watching you, right?"

In the elevator, the woman just looked up at the camera and grinned. Danny rolled his eyes, people making out in Vegas elevators were not uncommon. Everybody tried to push the buttons of the security team, whether that be making out in elevators, flipping off the obvious cameras, or making ridiculous faces, everybody wanted their fifteen minutes of fame, even if it was closed captioned.

"Ed says that as long as no clothes come off than just let them go at it for a few minutes, but if they start jamming the cars and preventing other guests from using the elevator, than bump them up to the nearest floor and get them out of there."

The young woman nodded as she watched a few more minutes, "Where is Mr. D anyway?"

Danny walked over to his desk to start some paperwork, "He left for the night. He'll be back in a few days maybe."

It was as if Danny had said that Ed moved to Rome with no forwarding address. Everybody stopped in their tracks and looked at him in surprise. "A few days off? Big Ed?"

Danny rolled his eyes, "Yes, Dave, he's taking some time off."

"Is he okay? He isn't sick or anything is he? Cause I saw him looking a little squeamish out by the pool a few days ago..."

He couldn't help but chuckle, however, he knew that had Ed just told him he was taking time off, he would have had the same reaction. "No, Emma, he's fine, just wanted to spend some time with the wife and have some down time."

After a few more minutes of playing the "What's wrong with Ed" game, Danny silenced them all with one line, "Of course, if everybody really misses him, I'm sure I can talk him into coming in and giving everybody pep talks."

Danny just watched as everybody quickly got back to work.

Jillian got home within a few hours. After stopping by the dry cleaners to pick up Ed's suits, running to Blockbuster to get few DVDs and going to the market for some Ben and Jerry's, she realized that she didn't want to go home just yet.

Knowing the ice cream was packed solid and frozen, she decided to drive around a bit, a drive out in the desert always calmed her. Yet as soon as she got out of Vegas city limits, Jillian realized that all she wanted was to go home and she quickly turned her car around and headed back.

Bringing the bags of groceries in, she noticed the blinking light on the answering machine and hit the button. She smiled softly when she heard her husband's voice, "Hey baby, it's me. I just wanted to tell you that I've told Nessa and she's promised not to say a word to anybody. She seemed to take it okay, she said to tell you that she loved you and she'd stop by in a day or so. I also told Danny that I'm taking some time off, half days, and I just told him it was a family emergency," Jillian shook her head as she put the ice cream in the freezer, muttering softly, "Liar."

"Okay, so I lied. I told him. But that's it, I promise. He needed to know what was going on. I've got a few things to tie up here and then I'm coming home, I should be there around ten or so. I love you."

The machine beeped and Jillian glanced at the clock and saw that it was already a quarter to ten. Sighing, she put everything away and folded the bags and put them under the sink. "Why the hell did I get movies so late? We'll both be out like lights in an hour anyway."

"Wishful thinking, perhaps?"

Jillian spun around and smiled at her husband. "When did you get in?"

Ed smiled back at her and walked over and kissed her, hugging her close to him, "Just now. How are you?"

His wife nodded as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, "Better now that you are here."

Ed smiled as he gave his wife's rear a pat and headed over to the fridge, loosening his tie. He glanced over and saw the bagged suits from the dry cleaning, "I thought we got our stuff boxed?"

Jillian's azure eyes rolled as she walked over and picked them up and put them in the hall closet, "They still don't come boxed, Mr. President."

Ed reached into the ice box, grabbing a cold beer and some left over lasagna, muttering softly, "Smart ass."

"That's 'Miss Smart Ass' to you."

Laughing softly, he took the Tupperware lid off and popped it into the microwave. "I'm gonna nuke this while I shower, can you let me know when it's ready?"

Jillian nodded as she toed out of her shoes, "Yeah, I will, but don't hog all the hot water, I have my heart set on a nice, steaming hot bubble bath."

Shaking his head as he made his way up the stairs, Ed stopped briefly to straighten a picture on the wall. Smiling to himself as he reached for it, he sat down on a step and looked at it. Depicted in the image was a younger couple standing on a white beach with a startling red sunset behind them. The man was dressed in white pants with a white open shirt and the woman had on a baby blue dress. Because they had been there for over a week, she had gotten a tan and the color of the dress almost seemed to glow, her blonde hair was piled high on her head and she held her blue wedge sandals by the strings in her hands. Both of them were barefoot and he had his head right by her ear, as if he were whispering a dirty joke, and she was caught in mid-laugh by the camera. Ed closed his eyes and allowed his mind to take him back, he could smell the salt in the air, smell the luaus, the pork, the fruits, he could hear the surf crashing against the rocks as they slept in their hotel room, the sheer white curtain blowing in the salty breeze. Ed took a deep breath as he remembered more... Remembering waking her up at one in the morning and convincing her to go skinny dipping with him and both of them running into the water wearing nothing but their birthday suits and the look of horror on her face as the flashlight shone on them and the officer demanding answers. They laughed about it now but back then she was quite mad at him and it was the reason of their first real fight.

Ed opened his eyes and looked at his reflection on the glass and sighed in defeat. Standing up, he hung the picture back in its place and made the rest of the way back upstairs.

"Danny said Ed is taking some time off."

Sam nodded as she watched the sleeping child in her office on the couch, whispering, "I don't know what to do, Mike. I've tried calling the Clines but they don't answer."

Mike sighed as he watched the little girl as well, "We need to call the police, Sam, get CPS involved."

Samantha looked at him, "CPS?"

"Child Protective Services."

Samantha Jane sighed deeply as she stood up. "God, Mike, that's going to scare her to death."

Mike watched her as she paced, "Well what do you suggest? Raising her as your own child and then saying 'Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys something'."

"No, of course not."

"Than what?"

Samantha turned and looked out the window, softly, "You are right, Mike. We need to call the police and report a child abandonment. Hopefully, we can convince them not to come tonight and just let Jasmine sleep here. I'll take her up to my place and fix her a spot on the couch and she can sleep there. I'll bathe her in the morning and make sure she has breakfast."

"Something other than coffee and a Twix, okay?"

Sam spun around and glared at him, "Jesus, Mike, do you want to do this?"

Mike held his hands up in surrender as he stood up, "Hell no. But I know you don't either. We'll follow your plan. Why don't you take her up now and I'll call the police from in here. I may just wait and talk to Mary, I think she's still dating that cop."

Sam nodded, "Yeah, good idea, maybe Mary can convince Luis not to come tonight but to wait till morning."

Mike nodded as he helped Sam pick the child up. Once he was sure she had her, he went over and placed the call.