"Good morning Mrs. Ramsey," Garret smiled as he left his apartment building. The sun was bursting through the clouds so he left his car in its space, deciding instead to walk to work. It was good distance away, but on a morning like this, he didn't mind in the least. Walking would give him time to think. He didn't especially want to think about the things clouding his mind, but nonetheless, Renee and her son had been on his mind for the last six weeks. Since she'd come crying to him the night her mother died. Of all the people she knew, why had she come to him? This question had plagued him since she'd driven off that night. After years of virtually no contact, she had come to him. What did that mean? In the simplest sense, Garret thought, it meant she had made enemies of every other person she had ever met and truly had no where else to turn. But, for her sake, he hoped this wasn't true. When he'd seen her that night, his heart stopped. Feelings he thought he had dealt with long ago came bubbling up to the surface, and as much as he had tried in the past six weeks, he was powerless to bury them again. He wracked his brain, trying to determine if his feelings were real and if perhaps Renee had the same feelings for him. As he walked, he scolded himself for being such a damn fool. It was ridiculous to think that things could ever go back to the way they were. She had another man's baby; nothing could ever be the same.

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Jake finally pulled himself out of bed.

"Mom?" he called.

"Yeah baby?" Renee called back.

"Where's my cereal?" he asked coming into the bathroom where she was putting her make-up.

"Kitchen table," she laughed, "where else?" He sometimes asked ridiculous questions when he was sleepy, the way his father always did. He turned away from her to find his cereal and she was silently glad that had left her alone. She hated it when he stared at her the way he did that morning. He had the same chocolate eyes as his father, and when she looked into them, all she could see was his father staring back.

She finished in the bathroom and joined Jake at the kitchen table, with her second coffee of the morning.

"Guess where I'm going today?" she said, reaching across the table and wiping milk off his chin.

"Where?" he asked, although he was obviously uninterested.

"I'm going to lunch with a friend of yours…" she said coyly, trying to get him to guess who she was going to see.

"Who?" he asked, staring into his breakfast.

"Abby." Jake was suddenly all ears. He adored Abby and always excited when he knew she was coming over.

"Can I come?" he asked.

"No way." Renee laughed.

"C'mon mom."

"Tell ya what," she reasoned, "you be good all week, and I'll see if Abby wants to come over on Friday." He sighed dramatically as he moved to brush his teeth. "Deal?" she asked.

"Deal," he called form the bathroom.

Abby and Renee had lunch every couple of weeks. She liked the girl and even though seeing Abby reminded her of Garret and how they had left things, it was nice to have someone to talk to other than Jake. They kept these luncheons a secret from her father. It wasn't that they were uncomfortable, with it; it was just that they knew he would be. Renee was always a bit selfish at these lunches. She used them to inquire about Garret. She didn't pry in any overt way. In the same breath that she would ask after Maggie, she would ask Abby how her father was doing. She was never certain of what she expected Abby say. Whether it was that her father had moved on to some leggy blonde or that he spent his nights pining for her. She wasn't sure which scenario she wanted.

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"Jordan," Garret called as she passed his office. Jordan popped her head through the open door.

"What?" she asked impatiently. He held a file up for her to see.

"You order a CT for Mr. Yamagoshi?" Jordan looked at the floor before answering him.

"Yeah," she said without offering and explanation.

"What for?" Garret asked with more harshness than was absolutely necessary. "He was supposed to have a standard autopsy."

"While I don't think he died a standard death, okay?"

"Not okay," he told her. "If you're going to order expensive tests for open and shut cases, you clear it with me before, not after. Got it?" She saluted him as if he were a sergeant in the army.

"Yes Sir," she laughed and left him alone with the ever growing mountain of files on his desk.

It was getting close to seven o'clock. He'd been in at six that morning and had no intention of leaving anytime soon. It wasn't as if he had anything to go home to. It was just him; everyday in his lonely apartment.

Some two hours later, Lily came into his office.

"Good night, Dr. Macy," she said quietly.

"See ya tomorrow Lily." he said without looking up. She lingered in front of his desk for a moment longer.

"You know, what Dr. Macy?" she asked. "You should go home. You've been working really hard lately and, to be honest, you're not looking so good. You look like you could use a break." She was absolutely right, but Garret wasn't about to admit it.

"Thanks, Lily, but I'm fine. I promise," he lied. He hadn't slept properly in days. Working was the only thing that was keeping him sane since Renee had been to see him.

"Well, good night then, Garret," she said again.

"Good night Lily." As she turned and left his office, the phone on his desk rang. Its sound piercing his sleep deprived brain like a needle.

"Macy," he announced into the receiver.

"Dr. Macy," said a shy voice on the other end of the line, "my name is Patty Davis. I run the Rainbow Daycare Center."

"Yes," Garret said slowly, not having the slightest idea of where this conversation might be leading.

"I have a Jake Wallcot here," she continued. The name hit him like a ton of bricks. He knew instantly that something was wrong. "His mother, Renee, listed you as an emergency contact." The call was starting to make sense now. "As you probably know, Dr. Macy, it's getting rather late. Ms. Wallcot is sometimes late picking up Jake, but never this late. We have called her at all the numbers she gave us and talked to someone at her office, but no one knows where she is." Garret's heart stopped for a protracted second. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong. Patty Davis just kept talking. "Dr. Macy, I'm going to need you to come down here and pick up Jake," she said, finally getting to the point of her call.

Suddenly he was propelled into action. He got quick directions from Patty and ran to his car. He drove like a madman to the daycare center. The whole time he was on his cell phone, calling every number he could think of that might lead him to Renee.

xxxxxxxxxx

When Garret got to the daycare center, a tiny little boy and a heavyset woman were standing in the window. Patty Davis introduced herself and placed Jake's hand in Garret's. Little did she know, he had never seen this child before in his life. He knelt down before the boy.

"Hey, buddy," he said quietly, "I'm going to take you home, okay?" Jake nodded his head. Garret had thought that perhaps he would put up a fight. But he seemed okay with going home with a stranger. Garret put him in the backseat of his car. He worried that he didn't have a car seat for him. He drove carefully, with such precious cargo on board. He looked back at Jake often, and every time, found that he was staring back, as if he knew something Garret didn't. He flipped on the radio. The news was just starting. The reporter had a high, whiny voice, but something in it compelled Garret listen to her report.

"And now more on the hostage situation at a downtown restaurant," she said, "an armed gunman has been holding about twenty restaurant patrons and staff inside Venchenzo's, an Italian restaurant on Fourth Avenue. We have been told that the gunman, a disgruntled former employee, entered the restaurant at about twelve thirty this afternoon and demanded his job back. We have learned that the gunman is refusing to let people out of the building until all his demands are met. It is unclear just what those demands are right now, but we have received unconfirmed reports that one or more of the hostages may have been injured or killed. Stay tuned for more as this story develops."

Garret knew then why Jake was in the back of his car. Renee was in that restaurant. It was her favourite. He had been right in thinking something was wrong, but he had never imagined it would be this bad. He had to get down there. He had to do something.

Garret took Jake to the morgue. He knew it was no place for a child, but he had nowhere else to leave him.

"Nigel, this is Jake," Garret said, placing the boy on the edge of his desk.

"Hi, Jake," Nigel said, taking an immediate shine to the boy, as Garret knew he would.

"You been listening to the news?" he asked.

"No."

"Hostage situation downtown," Garret explained, "I think R-E-N-E-E might be there," he said, spelling out her name so Jake wouldn't worry about his mother. Finally, Nigel made the connection. He looked at Jake and then back at Garret. He pointed at Jake.

"This is…"

"Yeah, I gotta go down there Nige, will you watch him?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, go," Nigel stammered, "go, do what you need to."

"Thanks, Nigel."