A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, review, and follow! I appreciate it. This chapter is going to fill in a few blanks in the beginning and then pick up where the last one left off. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

"Thanks for helping me put everything back together, Dad. I really appreciate it." Amber smiled gratefully. The girl's science project had suffered some damage when she had dropped in the hallway. Her father had been helping reassemble it for the last 15 minutes, and thanks to his help, it was almost back to where it should have been.

Doug winked at his daughter. "You're welcome. I'm just glad I was able to help. Are you sure you're okay? Your ankle isn't bothering you?"

Amber rolled her eyes. He had asked her that several times after she had slipped. "I'm fine, Dad. I just twisted it. I should've been watching where I was going, but it was hard to see around this display."

"I know. They really need to watch those wet spots around that water fountain."

"Hi, Amber. Are you okay? We heard you slipped." Miranda said as she and her brother joined their friend.

"Yeah, I did. I'm okay, better than my project though."

"Do you need any help?" AJ asked helpfully.

Doug eyed the boy briefly and then smiled. He knew AJ was a good kid and that he took after both of his mothers. Doug also knew that Amber and AJ had crushes on each other. It may not be obvious to someone their age, but it was plain as day to an adult, someone who had been there himself years ago. As for Miranda, she was probably the kindest girl he had ever met, and she had become Amber's best friend. Doug was grateful his daughter had both AJ and Miranda in her life. Having their support and friendship helped her deal with the drama in her life.

Amber smiled shyly. "Thank you, AJ. You can go, Dad. I know you have to get to work."

"We'll help her, Mr. Baldwin." Miranda assured the man.

"Thank you, Miranda, AJ." Doug bent down so he was at eye level with his daughter. "Okay, if you're sure, Amber, I'll go. I'll see you later. Have a good day and good luck with your presentation. You'll do great. Trust me on that. I know about these things. Love you."

"Thanks, Dad. Love you too." Amber hugged her father before he left.

/

Doug checked his watch as he left the school. He still had some time before he had to get to work so he decided to stop at Krystal's for a cup of coffee. With that decided, he started up his car and pulled away from the school. Doug was a block away when he saw the flashing lights behind him so he pulled over. He was surprised when the police cruiser followed suit. Doug thought over his actions since he had left the school and didn't think he had done anything wrong. He watched in his rearview mirror as the officer approached his car. With the vehicle in park, he lowered his window and turned the engine off.

"Good morning, Officer."

"Good morning. Could I have your license and registration, sir?"

"Of course." Doug pulled out his wallet and took out his driver's license before he reached into the glove compartment for the car's registration. He handed both items to the police officer.

The officer studied both the license and registration for a moment. The name on the driver's license matched the one on the car's registration, and the photo on the license matched the man in the car. "Could you please step out of the car, Mr. Baldwin?"

Doug immediately complied with the request and got out of the car.

"Do you know why I pulled you over?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't." Doug glanced at the policeman's nameplate on his uniform.

"We received a report of a car being driven erratically around the school 20 minutes ago. The description the caller gave matched your car, same license plate number too."

Doug looked at his watch. "That's impossible, Officer Monroe. There's no way it could have been me. I was inside the school at that time helping my daughter reassemble her science project."

"Reassemble?"

"She was carrying it into school and slipped on a wet spot in the hallway. I wanted to carry it in for her, but Amber wanted to do it herself so I was tasked with carrying her backpack and lunchbox. Anyway, she slipped and dropped it. Some of the parts were knocked loose and had to be put back in place. I was helping her do that at the time you're talking about."

"Are there any illegal substances in your car?"

"No, of course not."

"Do you mind if I search your car and see for myself?"

"Uh … okay. Sure. I don't have anything to hide."

Brot started his search in the front seat and checked the glove compartment along with other storage compartments. Not finding anything, he moved his search to the back seat. It was then that he found something. Sticking out of the pouch behind the driver's seat, he saw a baggie. Brot pulled out a rubber glove he kept in one of his uniform's pockets and carefully removed the baggie. Inside, he saw a number of pills and what looked to be a small amount of marijuana. He placed it on the trunk. "Care to tell me about this?"

Doug's eyes grew wide, and he couldn't hide his surprise. "What the hell? I have no idea what that is or how it got there. Whatever it is though isn't mine. I swear it. I don't do drugs, and I sure as hell wouldn't have something like that around my daughter."

"I'm going to check your trunk now. Is there anything in there I should know about?"

"No."

Brot removed the baggie with the drugs in in and placed it inside his cruiser before searching the trunk of Doug's car. After a thorough search, nothing was found in it. The police officer studied the man for a moment. "Would you submit to a field sobriety test?"

"If it'll help prove I'm innocent, of course I will."

Brot then conducted the standard test. He had Doug walk in a straight line, turn, and walk back. He had him close his eyes and touch his nose. After a few more tests, Brot then studied Doug's eyes and didn't see any dilation of his pupils. Everything indicated that the man was sober. Things weren't adding up. After a minute or so, Brot came to a decision. "You realize that I can't just let you go, not with this evidence."

Doug nodded, positive he was going to be placed under arrest.

"Do you know where the police station is?"

"I do. From here, you go up three blocks and then over four."

"Correct. I want you drive there now so we can try and get to the bottom of this. I will be right behind you the entire way. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I do. I promise I won't do anything."

"Alright. Let's go."

/

Doug parked his car in the lot next to the police station. He got out and waited for the police officer to park. His mind was racing a million miles a minute. Doug was trying to wrap his head around what was happening. The day had gotten off to such a good start, and now, it looked like it was going to end with him in a jail cell. He was going to have to call someone to watch Amber. Oh god! What am I going to tell her? I'm going to lose custody. What am I going to do? I ...

Brot interrupted Doug's thoughts. "Mr. Baldwin, let's go inside."

Once inside, Brot instructed Doug to have a seat before he headed to Jesse's office. He needed to run a few things by the chief.

/

"You have a minute, Chief?"

Jesse looked up from his desk and nodded. "Sure. What's up?"

Brot laid out the situation for Jesse.

"What's the suspect's name?"

"Doug Baldwin."

That got Jesse's attention. He knew that name. The chief stood and walked to the door. "I need to see Mr. Baldwin. Let's go."

When they found Doug, he was ending a call. "Sorry. I … I had to call my boss and tell him I'm going to be late. I hope that's okay. Do you think I'm going to have to arrange for someone to pick my daughter up from school this afternoon?"

"I'll answer that question in a minute. I'm Jesse Hubbard, the chief of police. Officer Monroe was telling me about your case. I'm sure you understand that we have several questions for you. You're friends with Marissa Tasker and Bianca Montgomery, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. AJ and Miranda go to school with Amber, my daughter."

"Why don't you call Marissa and see if she can come down here?"

"Are you saying I need a lawyer, Chief Hubbard?"

"I think it's a very good idea if you have one present when we talk. Besides, I know Marissa. She would not be happy if I talked to one of her friends in this situation without her being here. That's something I learned the hard. You do not want to be on her bad side." Jesse said as remembered the incident with Bianca after the break-in at the Miranda Center.

"Okay. I'll call her right now." Doug scrolled through his contacts and found the firm's number. He was grateful he had kept it in his cellphone after his divorce had been finalized. Doug could have called Marissa directly since he did have the number for her cellphone, but if she was in court, it was very likely that she wouldn't answer. By calling the firm itself, he knew he would get ahold of someone, and he knew he needed someone right away.

/

Movement by her office door caught Marissa's attention, and she glanced over to see Ellie standing there. The redhead could tell that her secretary needed to talk to her. Marissa turned back to Bianca, Erica, and Vikki. "Excuse me a minute." She walked over to Ellie. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but you've got a call that I really think you need to take. Before you ask, it doesn't involve the kids. It is an emergency though. You can take it at my desk."

Marissa glanced over her shoulder and saw Erica and Vikki still talking. Bianca, however, was looking at her. "I need to take a call. I'll be back as soon as I can."

/

Once they were out of the office, Ellie told her boss the identity of the caller. "Doug Baldwin is on the line. He's at the police station, and he sounds pretty desperate."

Marissa was surprised to hear that news. She nodded and picked up the phone. "Hi, Doug. What's going on?"

Doug sighed in relief. "Marissa, thank god you're there. I need your help."

"Okay. Take a breath and then tell me what's going on. Ellie tells me that you're at the police station."

"Yeah … yeah, I am. I got pulled over a block from the school." Doug then proceeded to tell Marissa what happened. When he finished, you could hear the desperation the in his voice. "Marissa, I swear to you that those are not my drugs, and I have no idea where they came from. Is there any way you can help me, please?"

"Alright. I need you to listen to me. I'm on my way over there. Until I get there, I don't want you to answer any other questions or make any other statements. Do you understand?"

"I do. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. I'll see you soon."

/

The redhead returned to her office once the call was finished and walked over to her desk. "I'm sorry, but I need to go. Please feel free to stay for as long as you need and continue your discussion. If you need anything, just ask Ellie. She'll be more than happy to help in any way." Marissa said as she grabbed her purse and cellphone. "I don't know how late I'm going to be, Bianca. Are you okay getting Danny?"

"Yes, of course. What's going on, Rissa?"

"I just got a call from Doug Baldwin. He's at the police station, and from what he told me, he's going to need a lawyer."

"What? He's in some sort of trouble with the police?"

"Yeah, and it sounds like it could be pretty bad. I really don't have many details. Erica, Vikki, I'm really sorry about this."

"Don't worry, dear. Vikki and I appear to be on the same page, and Bianca is here to keep an eye on us and make sure we behave. Doug Baldwin? Is he Amber's father?"

"Yes."

"Go help him then. We'll be fine. If we need a lawyer, I have no doubt that we'll be able find one here."

Marissa chuckled at her mother-in-law's quip. "I think you may be right about that, Erica. I'll call you as soon as I can, B."

Bianca gave her wife a quick kiss. "Be safe, and if Doug needs any help with Amber, let me know. I can pick her up and take her home with us if need be."

"I'll let him know. Love you."

"Love you too. Now, go kick some ass."

"You got it." Marissa winked before she left.

/

"Ellie, they are going to continue their meeting in my office. Please help them with anything they need."

"I'll take good care of them."

"Thank you. Now, I don't know how long I'm going to be so you'll probably need to move some things around."

"I already checked, and Brian and Lisa are both free to handle your meetings."

"Perfect. Thank you. I'll be in touch as soon as I can." Marissa said as she headed out.

/

"Are the Baldwins friends?" Vikki asked.

"Doug and his daughter Amber are. It's a little complicated. Amber goes to school with Miranda and AJ. The three of them are friends now. That wasn't always the case though. The problems they had at the beginning were due in large part to Amber's mom Tammy." Bianca explained.

"Yes, her. That woman is vile and intolerant. She has tried, but thankfully failed, to cause problems time and time again for Bianca and Marissa."

"Mom's right. Tammy has always had issues with me because I'm gay. According to her, homosexuality is a sin. I'm a bad influence on and a bad mother to my children. Then, she had issues with Rissa because she stood up for me. This was before we were together. You can only imagine then the problem Tammy had when Rissa and I became a couple. As for Amber, she was just parroting what she'd heard her mother say. She had to go into counseling because of the school's anti-bullying policy. It worked out very well for her though, and now, she's a really good friend of the kids. As for Tammy, she's only gotten worse over time. The latest and worst was the situation at the courthouse."

"I remember that incident. I was extremely relieved to hear that Marissa was safe. Oh. I remember now. Tammy Baldwin was the woman who tried to take credit for Marissa's actions during that situation." Vikki said as she remembered watching the television interview where Tammy was outed as a fraud.

"That would be her. When she gave her statement to the police, she lied, and that didn't help her at all when it came to her custody hearing."

"I would think not. Am I safe in assuming then that she lost primary custody of her daughter?"

"You are. Doug has primary custody, and Tammy has supervised visitation at the moment."

"Did Marissa handle his case?"

"No, she didn't. He asked her originally, but Rissa thought there would be a conflict if she did because of our history with Tammy. One of the other lawyers on her team represented him, and Rissa stayed out of it."

"Very smart on her part. Hopefully whatever is going on today won't cause him problems."

"Marissa is intelligent, talented, dedicated, and tenacious. All are excellent qualities in a lawyer. If he is in trouble, I have no doubt that Marissa will be able to help him." Erica stated confidently. She was proud of her daughter-in-law.

Bianca smiled hearing what her mother said about Marissa. "I couldn't agree more, Mom. Rissa would want us to continue what we're working on so let's get back to this column."

Erica nodded. "The Banner has increased its presence online."

"We have had to. In today's world, it has become a necessity. We are on all forms of social media. Your column would be promoted and carried on all of them. It will be launched with a great amount of fanfare." Vikki assured Erica.

/

Marissa walked into the police station and looked around. She didn't see Doug, but she did see Brot. The redhead made a beeline for the police officer.

Brot had glanced up just in time to see Marissa headed his, and he braced himself. "Good morning, Marissa."

"Good morning, Brot. I would like to see my client, Doug Baldwin. Would you take me to him please?"

"Yes. Mr. Baldwin is in an interrogation room." Brot held up a hand to stop what he knew would be coming next. "Don't worry. We haven't questioned him since he called you. We put him back there for privacy. That's all. You have my word."

The redhead nodded. Brot was a good officer, and she didn't have a reason to doubt him. "Has he been advised of his rights?"

"No, he hasn't, and before you ask, it's because he's not under arrest."

Marissa was confused. Based on what Doug had told her over the phone, he had been positive that he would be arrested at any moment. Something wasn't adding up. "He's not? What's going on?"

"It's complicated, very complicated. Look, let me grab Jesse, and then, we'll go back and talk. Can I get you something to drink? How about some water? You know what the coffee is like here. I can't subject a friend to that."

The redhead chuckled. "Yeah, I do know, and I appreciate it. Water is good. Could you get something for Doug?"

"I'll grab him another bottle. Stay here. I'll be right back."

While Marissa waited as requested, she went over the few facts that she had. Doug wasn't under arrest, and by all rights and based on what she knew at the moment, he should have been by now. Brot had said the situation was complicated when she asked him what was going on. That was something else that was odd about this situation. Finally, Brot was bringing Jesse in without a request by or prompt from her. She definitely needed some answers.

"Marissa, it's good to see you."

"You too, Jesse. I wish it was under better circumstances though."

"You're not the only one. Come with us. We have a lot to talk about with both you and your client."

"Lead the way."

/

Relief flooded through Doug when the door to the interrogation room opened up and Marissa walked in.

"Marissa, thank you … thank you so much for coming. I swear I'm innocent. I have no idea what's going on."

The lawyer took a seat next to her client and patted his arm. "Take a breath. We're going to get to the bottom of this, okay?"

Doug took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

Marissa turned to Jesse and Brot who had sat down opposite them. "So, tell me what the hell is going on."

Jesse opened up the file folder they had started on Doug's case. "The best place to start is at the beginning."

/

A/N: In case you're wondering and not giving too much away now, this particular storyline is based on a real life case, and I'll give you the particulars on that later. There is more to come! See you soon!