Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with "Without a Trace". I make no profit from this!

A/N: Another exposition chapter, I'm afraid – and a little later than intended as life just kept getting in the way! Don't know about you, but just had to get out of that law firm for a little while. And anyway, there's nothing wrong with stretching out a little intrigue before I pick up the pace… So, read, enjoy and, as always, let me know what you think;)

Chapter Four

Wednesday 26th January. 9.30am

Home of Adam and Laura Walker, Hempstead, NY.

As they pulled their car up in front of the Walker residence, Vivian Johnson and Martin Fitzgerald both paused to take in their surroundings. The neighbourhood which played host to the home of Adam and Laura Walker was a model of suburban utopia. In place of a white picket fence, a row of neatly trimmed shrubbery, still green even on such a grey morning, marked the front of the property. Beyond this, extended an immaculate stretch of lawn, identical in size, shape and cultivated appearance, to its neighbours'. The garden led the way to an equally well maintained two-storey, family abode. The only feature that differentiated this house from any of the others within immediate view was the scattering of sports equipment and remnants of other outdoor activities approaching the entrance. Vivian got the distinct impression that the child who lived here would, at least materially, be in want of very little.

Gathering her coat firmly around her, she stepped out of the vehicle to join Martin who was now standing on the side-walk. "Nice neighbourhood," she observed. "Very middle-class. Wealthy, but not too wealthy. Neat, but not too grand."

Martin nodded. "We're definitely in 'American Dream' territory here. If it weren't for the lawn decorations, I'd say maybe, Stepford?"

Viv gave him a sly look. "Nostalgic?" She smiled as she headed up the driveway ahead of him.

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Just as Vivian reached her hand to push the questionably tasteful novelty baseball bell, the door in front of them swung open. Behind it was an exhausted looking, but naturally attractive blonde woman wearing jeans and a thick navy sweater. Her naturally curly hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and a cordless phone was clutched in her free hand. The agents instinctively reached for their IDs, but without waiting to inspect them, their host smiled tiredly and ushered them inside.

With the front door shut firmly behind them, Vivian looked up kindly.

"I'm Agent Johnson and this is Agent Fitzgerald, with the missing person's unit. You must be Mrs Walker?"

"Laura, please." She sighed as her posture relaxed. "Sorry," she paused. "It's just a relief that someone finally seems to be doing something."

The agents followed as she drifted toward a spacious room on the left off the hallway, idly kicking a stray soccer ball out of the way as she passed. The walls were covered by an assortment of family photographs and a pile of kids' books and DVDs lay in the corner. Laura indicated to a large dark leather sofa behind them and they sat attentively.

"I'm sorry. Can I get you anything? Coffee?... Not that I really need anymore of it at the moment…."

Her thoughts drifted into silence until Martin ventured softly. "Um, no thank you. We're fine. So, what can you tell us about the last time you saw your husband?"

Laura looked almost startled at being broken out of her reverie. She shook her head, as if to clear it, before apologising again.

"God, sorry. It's just that… this is all so surreal. We both left for work on Monday morning, same as always. He took the train to the office, and my ride picked me up just after eight am. I ended up pulling a double shift… I'm a doctor over at the University clinic… so a colleague of mine dropped me off here just before ten. I'd asked a neighbour to watch David after school so when I realised I was going to be late home, she said that he could spend the night. When I got back and saw Adam wasn't home and his cell was off, I thought maybe there'd been an accident or something and…"

At this natural break, Vivian interrupted gently. "So the last time you saw Adam was Monday morning?"

"Yeah."

"And, did it seem as if there was anything wrong? Was he upset about anything? Did you two have a…"

This time it was Laura who interrupted. "We didn't fight, if that's what you're thinking. I mean, we do have fights, but… He didn't just leave." Her voice shook slightly. "There has to be a reason…"

"That's why we're here," Martin interceded kindly. "We're not trying to pry into your marriage, Laura. But if something happened that might tell us where your husband is, then it would really help if you could talk to us."

At this comment, Vivian smiled to herself. He's really starting to sound like Jack. She noted.

Laura's gestures were becoming decidedly desperate, but this last plea seemed to mollify her slightly.

"I know." She toyed absently with the gold band on her finger. "It's just… I guess I'm used to being the one giving the news, not the one waiting for it." She sighed again. "I just feel so helpless. I mean, I sent David off to school, he thinks his dad is on a business trip. He's only ten years old. He doesn't need to be dealing with this."

At the mention of the son, Vivian looked up from her notes momentarily as Laura continued.

"I already told the police all of this. When he didn't come home, I called his office, but there was no-one there. He doesn't really socialise with his colleagues, but I called a couple of them anyway. It sounded like they were drinking, but they said they had no idea where he was. None of the neighbours had seen him come home and we don't have too many close friends locally, so, I didn't know what else to do…"

This time it was Martin who looked up. "Have you tried his cell again since Monday?"

She eyed him sceptically.

"I know it sounds obvious," he smiled. "But you'd be amazed the things that can be overlooked when people are worried."

Laura nodded. "When he didn't answer, I left, like a dozen, messages. I must've tried all night, but the thing was still switched off."

"Is that unusual?" asked Vivian. "For him to turn his cell phone off?"

"Not really." Laura replied. "Sometimes he just turns it off and forgets to switch it back on. I worry sick for a couple of hours, then he shows up like nothing's happened. I thought this was going to be another…" A lump rose in her throat and she swallowed heavily. "I don't understand how this has happened."

The female agent gave her a moment to compose herself.

"It might help if you could tell us a little bit about you and your husband."

She watched as some of the tension appeared to seep out of the blonde's shoulders. If the look in her eyes were anything to go by, it was hard to imagine any harm would have come to her husband by her hand. Viv had been in this game for a while now, but if this woman was putting on an act, it was a damn convincing one. She watched as a smile passed over the other woman's lips, caught up in her own recollections.

"Adam and I met at Harvard. He was a poverty stricken, scholarship law student, I was an angry med student, intent on not spending anymore of my parents money." She laughed softly. "We were both caught up in the typical campus politics, cause of the day type stuff. Me, because I knew it'd piss my family off, Adam because he actually cared about the issues."

Vivian smiled at her honesty.

"Anyway, we both finished at the same time. I did my residency in Boston and he went to work for this tiny environmental agency that he'd volunteered at during college. We were regular professional bohemians, you know?"

Viv nodded, understandingly.

Laura's expression changed. "I guess everyone has to grow up sometime, right?... We'd been talking about getting married for a couple of years, but more in a theoretical sense than it actually happening anytime soon. But my father had died a couple of years before, and then my mom got sick… Adam was really great and actually suggested we move back to New York… I grew up here, but he's a true Bostonian… to be nearer to my family. We figured that getting married was the one thing we could actually do for us, so we did. Three months later, I was pregnant with David and Adam landed the job with the firm. I knew it wasn't really what he wanted to do, and I tried to talk him out of it. But he was so adamant that he was going to give us all this wonderful life… I think it became his mantra. We moved out here right after David was born…" She sighed. "And here we are…"

"You went back to work after your son was born?" Vivian lifted her eyes to connect with the other woman. "That must have been tough… for both of you."

"Sure. We work crazy hours sometimes, who doesn't? But Adam always tries to be home before David goes to bed… that's really important to him. And the hospital's pretty good about my shifts… most of my colleagues are grateful for the extra money. We fight sometimes, if both of us get really stressed, but about normal, insignificant stuff like whose turn it is to pick up the dry-cleaning. And we always try not to argue in front of our son."

Martin leaned forward. "Does your husband have any family in the area?"

"He doesn't have any family, anywhere." Laura responded. "His mom died when we were in school, and he never really mentioned his father. I used to ask about him all the time, but Adam really didn't like me talking about him. I always figured he must've walked out on them when Adam was pretty young. It seemed like a bad memory, so I left it alone."

"And you can't think of anywhere else he might have gone to…"

"Escape?" Laura rubbed her hands over her face, massaging her eyes. "No. We're all the family he really has."

"Laura," Viv began, "I always hate asking this question, but, is there any chance that your husband is involved with… someone else?"

The other woman shook her head in disbelief. "Is my husband having an affair?"

Vivian studied her reaction as Laura's face revealed a succession of emotional reflexes. Eventually she took a deep breathe, her voice controlled.

"If I say that could never happen, just how naïve does that make me?" For a moment, Viv thought that her eyes took on a brief flash of hope. "Oh God, at this point, for David's sake as well as Adam's, I'm beginning to hope that's true."

Martin took the initiative. "We're just trying to keep an open mind, all right? If we're going to work out where Adam is, we need to know as much as we can about his life at home and professionally. Did he happen to mention any problems at work recently?"

Laura paused, thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it, it was last week, I think. I heard him on the phone to someone at the office. It was pretty late, and he sounded… frustrated. I asked him about it, but he just dismissed it, said it was just 'work stuff' and wasn't important. He says if I can manage to leave my work at the hospital, then he has no excuse for bringing corporate manoeuvrings home with him. I didn't want to pry, so I just left it at that. Maybe if I'd…? Do you think…?"

The young agent cut her off before she could complete her doubts. "All right. Look, this may be a long shot, but is there anyone you can think of who may have a grudge against your family? Maybe a patient of yours? A disgruntled former employee?"

She shook her head, tiredly. "No. I've been going through this in my head for that last thirty-six hours." She exhaled. "I work mostly in a clinic. We don't handle emergencies and I can count the number of patients I've lost in my care over the last ten years on one hand. There's no-one." Sinking into her chair, she fell into a quiet desperation.

Deciding there was no point in further upsetting her, Viv steered the conversation to safer waters. Rising from the sofa, she walked over to the mantle, her eyes falling on the prominent photograph of a gap toothed blonde child in a green little league uniform. She smiled. "This must be David?"

Grateful for the momentary reprieve, Laura returned the smile. "Yeah, he loves his sports. Saturday it's softball, Sunday's soccer, and then he takes swimming lessons twice a week after school. Can't get enough."

Vivian's eyes roamed to another picture, this one featuring a younger version of David squaring his shoulders in preparation to launch a filthy soccer ball at his father, laughing in anticipation.

"Your husband's pretty involved with your son's interests then?" she smiled.

"Yeah." Laura's initial energy was waning fast, along with her concentration. A combination, Viv supposed, of the physical and emotional stress of the last day and a half. "He takes him to all his practices on the weekend, and never misses a match. I always suspected it had something to do with his relationship to his own father, but I never…" She tailed off. "He and David are really close. They're so alike…" Laura smiled fondly, absently wiping away a tear before it had time to form. "It's impossible to get between them sometimes. I mean, they get upset with each other about something or other, like on Sunday when… David's always gotten really distressed when he thinks his dad is mad at him… But they always sorted it out, you know?"

Vivian watched her as the room fell silent. For a moment, it seemed that Laura was lost deep within her own thoughts. Wherever in her mind this last image had taken her, she was rudely heaved out by a ringing sound emanating from the kitchen. Barely aware of the presence of the two agents in her sitting room, "my cell", she exhaled, before bolting from her chair.

The two agents listened as they heard Laura's footsteps echoing heavily back toward them. As if suddenly hyper-aware of their presence, she shrugged awkwardly and attempted to smile. Securing the phone between her chin and her shoulder she again wiped at her eyes whilst nodding slowly. "The clinic." She mouthed exaggeratingly to her houseguests as she indicated she would take the call in the other room. Vivian nodded her affirmation and watched as Laura slid the connecting door shut behind her.

Once they were certain she was safely out of ear-shot, Martin and Vivian exchanged glances.

"Do you think she's telling the truth?" Martin pondered to his more experienced colleague.

"About the phone call, or in general?" Viv returned.

The younger agent, once again, looked pensive. "Either… Both."

"As a matter of fact, yes I do." Vivian replied. "I know we've been wrong before, but I really believe this woman has no idea what could have happened to her husband."

"Do you think there could be another woman?" He ventured. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time – successful career, great home, loving wife and son. Maybe he did just get tired of his life and wanted a clean break. Places like this can get pretty claustrophobic. The perfect life isn't for everyone."

Vivian gave him a questioning look but refrained from comment.

"Could be," she finally agreed . "But, it just doesn't seem to add up. If what the wife's told us is true, responsibility seems to be this guy's favourite word." She paused again. "Just look at all these photographs of him with his kid. Does he seem the type of guy who'd wake up one morning, go to his office, and decide never to see his family again?"

Martin had to reason that he didn't. "I know, I don't really buy it either. Do we know how the others are getting on at his office?"

"I'm sure Jack will call if they find anything useful." The slight stiffening of her posture as she uttered this remark caused Martin to shift uncomfortably. Noting his reaction, Vivian smiled ruefully but apologetically. "Sorry, I guess I'm still working through some issues on that front."

Her fellow agent stayed quiet, but nodded sympathetically.

"I know it's been a few months," she continued slowly as if hedging her bets, "but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's needed to readjust slightly."

Martin was clearly uncomfortable with the personal turn this discussion had suddenly taken. How much does she know about all of this? Although unable to disguise the surprise on his face as he looked up, his tone was almost casual, conversational. "Yeah, the deposition and everything can't have been easy for Sam."

Viv smiled at him, her appraisal somewhere between humouring him and genuine understanding. "It wasn't just Samantha I was talking about."

Well, he had his answer.

Before he had chance to process this last piece of information, the door in front of them slid open and Laura reappeared. Her eyes were still red, but she seemed calmer.

"I'm sorry", she breathed. "What else do you need to know?"

TBC

A/N: Does anyone else find it much harder to write Vivian and Martin than any of the other characters, or is it just me! I'm not fantastically happy with this attempt, so I just hope I kind of got my point across without it being too dull!