A/N: Thanks for continuing to read, review, and follow! I appreciate it. Sorry for the late post. I'm only a day late so not as bad as I thought. It's been a busy weekend for me and work has been a killer as well. It's March Madness time which means lots of basketball! Hopefully, my bracket will last longer this year than it did last. This chapter picks up where the last one left off. Hope you enjoy this update!

/

When they arrived at the Baldwin residence, Mike parked his car on the street a few doors down from the house. The District Attorney got out of his car to talk with Brot whom Jesse stationed there to keep an eye on Marissa, Doug, and Mike. While he did that, Marissa turned around in her seat to talk with Doug.

"How are you doing?"

"Honestly? I don't really know. The day started off great. As soon as I left the school though, it went to hell in a handbasket. Part of me can't believe that Tammy would actually do something like this. That she could be this capable of hurting Amber."

"And the other part?"

"The other part of me knows that she did do this, and it scares the hell out of me. If she's capable of this, I have to wonder what else she's capable of. I have to worry about Amber and what the hell I'm going to tell her about all of this. I've got to tell her something, and I have no clue what that's going to be."

"I'm not going to lie. It's going to be tough. My advice? Take your time, and make sure that she knows that you love her and will be there for her. You might want to take her to talk to her counselor again too. Just so you know, the whole Tasker-Montgomery family will be there for both of you as well."

"Thank you. It means a lot, and so does you being here today. I don't even know what I'd do if you weren't here. I probably would be sitting in a jail cell right about now."

Marissa shook her head. "You're welcome, but I'm not too sure about the jail cell. I don't know if you understood exactly what Mike and I were saying earlier. Jesse and Brot are veteran police officers. As a result of their experience, they know to look for certain things when they're dealing with a suspect. When things don't add up, like in your case, they keep digging, and they'll keep digging until they get to the bottom of things. A police officer with less experience might take things at face value and consider it to be an open and shut case. If that happened, then you just might be sitting in a jail cell. I know it doesn't necessarily feel like it right now, but you did catch a break here."

"I'll take your word for it for the time being, if that's okay."

"It's more than understandable. So, they are going to want to see the video footage from your security system. You should volunteer it immediately once they give us the all clear. It will help our case because you're being cooperative. More importantly, it might help us find out exactly who's involved with this."

Mike nodded. "Okay. I can access it whenever. We should let them search the house then too?"

"I would advise it. We'll be right there to keep an eye on everything while they're conducting their search."

The conversation was interrupted when Mike opened the driver's side door. "They just gave us the all clear."

"Alright, let's go check this out." Marissa said as she opened the passenger side door.

/

"The time is matching up. The school's security footage clearly shows that Doug was inside the school when that 911 caller supposedly saw him driving. There is absolutely no way they could have seen him." Marissa stated after they finished reviewing the security footage from the school.

Mike nodded. "You're right. The caller was obviously lying. What about the drugs you found in his car, Brot?"

"Uh, let's see. Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Percocet. The baggie also contained marijuana."

"Fingerprints?"

"We have partial prints on some of the pills, but there's no match to Mr. Baldwin."

"Anything on the baggie?"

"Nothing."

"No fingerprints on the baggie? That's highly suspicious." Marissa shook her head in disbelief.

Brot shook his head. "None, and I agree. During our search of Mr. Baldwin's home, we didn't find any other baggies that were the same brand as the one found in his car, and the only pills we found were over the counter pain medication, vitamins, and an antibiotic which belonged to his daughter. We checked it out, and her doctor confirmed that she was taking it for an ear infection."

Marissa nodded as Brot related the last few facts. Doug had given his permission for the police to contact Amber's doctor to verify his daughter's prescription. "What about the 911 call and the phone it came from?"

"We'll cue up the call in a minute. As for the cellphone, we actually have a lead on that." Jesse said.

"Hey, chief. I've got your lunch here." One of the police officers appeared in the doorway of Jesse's office. The investigation had taken a turn after the crime lab's report had been published, and both sides were cooperating fully with each other. Jesse had dispatched an officer to Krystal's to pick up lunch for the group so they could keep working.

"Thanks, Burrows. Could you put the bags over there for me?"

"You got it, chief. Oh, Murphy wanted me to tell you that she just logged a call that she thought you might be interested in. The caller asked for an update on an impaired driver by the elementary school this morning."

"Really? Have Murphy come back here."

Officer Burrows nodded and headed back out. While they waited, Mike and Marissa handed out everyone's orders.

"Hey, chief. Burrows told you about the call?"

"He did. Come in, Murphy. Tell me about the caller and what they said?"

"They said they saw a driver swerving near the school this morning, and then they saw them being pulled over by the police. They wanted to know what happened afterwards." The officer pulled out a small notebook. "This is a quote from them. 'Due to the nature of the crime and it taking place near a school, I was certain that I would hear about it on the news, but there was nothing on it.' Then, they went on to say how surprised they were about that since this happened near the school, and that the parents should know what was going on for the safety of their children."

"Somebody was a little anxious to hear about an arrest." Marissa noted.

Jesse nodded. "Definitely. A little too interested in my book. Was the caller a man or woman?"

"It was hard to tell since it was pretty obvious that they were disguising their voice. If I had to guess though, I would say it was a woman. I have the number they called from." Murphy said before handing a piece of paper to the police chief.

Jesse looked at the number and shook his head as he compared it to the number that had placed the 911 call that had started this whole mess. He wasn't surprised that the numbers matched. "Brot, play the 911 call. Murphy, I want you to see if you recognize this voice."

After listening for a few beats, Officer Murphy's head snapped up. "That's it. That's the same voice."

"Are you sure?" Jesse needed the officer to be certain.

"I'm positive. That is the same person I just talked to."

"Thanks, Murphy. Good job."

"You're welcome, chief."

"See if you can ping the phone your call just came in on."

"You got it."

Once the officer left, the group listened to the call again.

"Doug, do you recognize that voice?"

"It's kind of familiar, but I can't quite place it to say who it is for sure. I can tell you though that it's not Tammy. I'm positive of that."

Marissa nodded when Jesse looked at her for confirmation. "I agree with Doug. That's not Tammy." There was no doubt in her mind about that. Marissa had heard the other woman's voice enough over the last couple of years to know.

Jesse made a note. "Alright. Just so everyone knows, the 911 call and the call we just got here from the concerned citizen came from the same burner phone." He chuckled when he saw that neither Marissa nor Mike were surprised by that revelation.

Brot simply nodded his head. "That makes sense. It helps us with our investigation that they're still using it."

"Exactly. Hopefully, Murphy will get a hit on it. Okay, let's look at the security footage from the coffee shop first, and then, we have footage from a drug store just up the block from it that I want us to review as well."

The rest of the group settled in to watch the video that the police had obtained.

/

By the time Marissa made it home, Bianca was almost done cooking dinner.

"Hey." Bianca smiled as her wife gave her a quick kiss. The brunette noted Marissa's tired expression.

"Hey. I can't tell you how good it is to be home."

"I'm sure it is. It's been a long day for you."

"You can say that again. I'll tell you all about it a little later."

"I'll be ready to listen whenever you are ready to tell me. Where's Doug? Your text said he wasn't arrested."

"He's just a few minutes behind me. How's Amber?"

"Just fine. I haven't had any problems with her, not that I thought I would. She and the kids are doing their homework."

"Okay. I'm going to go say 'hi' to them and tell Amber that her dad will be here soon to pick her up."

"If you want to invite the two of them for dinner, they're more than welcome."

"I know. I mentioned that to Doug. He thanked me for the offer but declined because he really wanted to get home and talk to Amber about what's happened today. He doesn't want to wait to do it."

Bianca nodded in understanding. "He's afraid that word will get out and she'll hear it from someone else before he has a chance to tell her himself."

"Yeah. You know as well as I do how rumors fly and the truth gets twisted in this town. He wants her to hear the truth from him. Speaking of that, I asked him if it was okay for us to tell the kids what happened. I figured Amber could use some people in her corner at school. Doug said it was okay and thanked me."

"I'm glad he gave his permission. The kids will be there for her. So, what about Tammy? Does she know?" Bianca asked even though she had a feeling she knew the answer.

Marissa scoffed. "What do you think?"

"Damn, I was afraid of that."

"I know."

"Is there anything I can do?"

A grin slowly spread across Marissa's face. "I could use another kiss."

Bianca laughed. "I think I can manage that."

The couple shared a loving kiss before Marissa headed to the family room.

/

"Mamamamamama."

Marissa's smile matched that of her youngest son. As soon as Danny had spotted her standing in the doorway, he started crawling over to her as he called out for her. "Hey, Sparky." She bent down and scooped him up. Just seeing his smile helped her deal with the events of the day.

"Hi, Ma."

"Hey, guys. Hi, Amber."

"Hi, Mrs. Tasker-Montgomery."

"Your dad should be here in a few minutes."

"Okay. I'm ready. Were you able to help him?" The cover story Amber was given to explain why Bianca was picking her up from school instead of her taking the bus home like she normally did was that Marissa was helping Doug with something work related. They didn't want to go into any details at that time so the reason was kept pretty generic. Doug needed to be the one to explain everything to his daughter. It had to come from him and no one else. Amber readily accepted the explanation and was happy to go to Minx Manor with her friends. She really liked spending time with them, and Bianca and Marissa helped fill the void left by her mother as a result of her actions.

"Yes, I was."

"Good! Thank you for helping him."

"I was happy to. You know, your dad's a pretty good guy."

Amber smiled proudly. "Yeah, he is. I'm lucky he's my dad."

"If you ask me, I would say that he's lucky to be your dad, and I'm pretty sure he would agree with me." Marissa said as she sat down on the sofa next to her youngest daughter.

The girl ducked her head and blushed. "Thanks."

"How was school for everyone? How did it go with the science projects?"

"It went really good, Ma. I remembered my presentation for the most part, and I only had to look at my notes once." AJ said proudly.

"Way to go, Buddy. We knew you could do it. How did it go for you, Mimo?"

"Good. I remembered my presentation and was ready for when our teacher asked me questions. You were right. She had a lot of them, but I was ready because of you working with me. Thanks!"

"You're welcome. I knew you could handle it. How was your day, Gabby?"

The girl grinned. "I aced my math test."

Mother and daughter exchanged a high-five. "As if there was ever any doubt. What about you, Amber? I heard you had a little mishap when you got to school?"

Amber sighed. "I did. Stupid wet spot. My dad helped me get most of it back together, and then, Miranda and AJ helped with the rest of it. Thanks to them, I was ready in time."

"I'm glad to hear that. And how was daycare for you, Danny?" Marissa asked as her youngest played with her hair. Danny looked up at her with a grin and started to jabber.

"I think he had a good day too, Ma." Miranda laughed.

"It sure sounds like it."

A knock on the front door shifted everyone's focus.

"I'll get it. That's probably your dad, Amber."

/

Sure enough, Doug Baldwin was on the other side on the other side of the door.

"Hi, Marissa."

"Hi, Doug. Come on in."

"Hey, Amber. Hey, kids."

"Hi, dad!"

"Are you ready?"

"I just need to grab my coat. My homework's all done."

"Great! I was thinking we could make tacos for dinner. What do you think?"

Amber's eyes lit up. Tacos were one of her favorite meals, and she really loved that father and daughter made them together. "Sounds good to me!"

"She wasn't any problem, was she?"

"Hi, Doug. No, she wasn't. She was great." Bianca answered the question as she entered the room to join everyone.

Doug smiled. He didn't doubt Bianca's word for a second. "Bianca, thanks for picking her up and watching her for me." Doug lowered his voice so only Bianca and Marissa could hear him. "I can't even imagine what would've happened if she had been there when that person tried to break in or when the police searched the place."

"You know who tried to break in and why. You've got a great security system, and that stopped them from getting inside. Amber would have been safe." Marissa assured the man.

"You're right. I'm not looking forward to this conversation."

"You'll do fine."

"I'm ready, dad."

"Okay. Let's head home."

Amber turned to Bianca. "Thanks, Mrs. Tasker-Montgomery. I had a good time today."

"You're welcome, Amber. We enjoyed having you here."

"Bye, Miranda. Bye, AJ. Bye, Gabby. Bye, Danny."

"Bye, Amber!" The kids called back in unison.

Danny grinned when Amber tickled him.

"He likes you." Marissa smiled. "Bye, Amber."

"Danny's a real cutie. Bye, Mrs. Tasker-Montgomery." Amber said as she headed out to their car.

"Thanks again, Bianca, and Marissa, thanks for everything you did today. You went above and beyond. I'll never be able to repay you, and I'll never forget it."

"You're welcome. Good luck tonight. We'll talk more tomorrow."

With a nod, Doug left to join his daughter.

Marissa turned to her wife after the Baldwins left. "I'm going to go change real quick, and then, I'll be back to help you with dinner."

"Sounds good. I'll take this big guy then and meet you in the kitchen." Bianca smiled as she took Danny from her wife.

"Oh, you'll have to tell me how things went with your Mom and Vikki after I left."

/

After Bianca placed the homemade meatballs in pot with the spaghetti sauce so the two could simmer together for a bit, she covered the pot again. The kids had requested spaghetti and meatballs, and she was happy to oblige. Bianca washed her hands so she could start prepping the garlic bread. As she was drying them, the brunette heard her wife's cellphone ringing. Marissa had plugged it into a charger on the kitchen counter when she had gotten home. The caller id indicated that Brot was calling her. With everything that had gone on that day, Bianca decided to answer it. She knew Marissa would be fine with her doing so.

"Hi, Brot. It's Bianca."

"Hi, Bianca. Is Marissa around?"

"She's in the other room changing. I can go get her if you want."

"You know what, that's okay. Could you give her a message?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Tell her we've got the warrants and will be making arrests shortly."

"I'm assuming she knows who's going to be arrested?"

"Yes, she does. I'll let her have the pleasure of giving you the details."

"Okay. Is there anything else you want me to tell her?"

"No, that will do it for now. Jesse and I had promised her a call when we had the warrants. You know, I'm sure I'm not telling you anything that you don't know already, but your wife is one tough cookie."

"That she is." Bianca said proudly.

"When we found out that someone was trying to break into the Baldwin home, she let it be known that she was going with us to check it out, and that she wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. Both Jesse and Mike didn't argue with her. They knew better. There was no way either of them would win that argument, or anyone else for that matter, even though the perp could've still been there. Like I said, she's a tough cookie. Oh, I gotta go. Jesse's waving me over so that means we're heading out now to make those arrests. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye." Bianca disconnected the call and stood there as she processed what Brot had let slip. Marissa had gone to Doug's house when there was the possibility of someone who had tried to break into it still being there. Her wife went knowing that too. Worst of all, she hadn't said anything to Bianca about it.

Marissa walked into the kitchen and saw her wife standing there, and she didn't look exactly happy. "Bianca, what's wrong?"

"Brot just called. They were going to make the arrests involving Doug's case."

"Good. I know he'll be relieved once that's done."

"Yeah, I'm sure he will. Brot said something that I found very interesting. Would you care to tell me about the break-in at Doug's?"

Marissa winced hearing the tone in Bianca's voice. Her wife was definitely angry, and she knew she would be. Crap!

/

A/N: Of course I had to leave it there! See you soon!