A/N: A few things before you start reading. First of all, this chapter hasn't been proofread so there are any mistakes I am very sorry but I really wanted to post this chapter soon since you all have been waiting for so long.

Second of all, I'd like to thank my reviewer Ally for pointing out my mistakes in the "date time" chapter. You want to know the worst part, Ally: I knew all of that before. I knew washing machine was for clothing and dishwasher for dishes. I don't know why I switched them in the chapter. lol

With that being said, enjoy this chapter!

Allison's body had quickly become a new motivation for Ryan to finish up on the case as quickly as he could before another child, or witness, was murdered. He had worked all night and part of the morning following the young child's death finding out where Mr. Bradford was currently living. He had learned from his wife that he hadn't still come home from his visit to his sick father and this tickled Ryan's attention.

After much research, he finally found the address of the hospital where the sick man was currently being treated at for a brain tumor, the room number and the name of the visitors that had come in his room for the past three weeks. The name Paul Bradford was mentionned often. So far, his alibi checked out. Ryan would now see about his story.

He wasn't quite sure what made him believe that Bradford knew more about his children's disappearance than he had told him and Temperance about but he just did. He wasn't sure why he hadn't mentionned to his partner that he was driving down to North Carolina to meet the man and question. Something simply told him that it would be best if he went alone.

The drive would be long. He estimated it to be a little bit more than eight hours, including rest stops and lunch. Ryan looked down at the clock as he drove into Virginia: 5:30 am.

The Interstate was nearly empty and Ryan couldn't be happier about it. He wouldn't have to worry about others cars as he thought about the case he had been working on for over two weeks. Just like he always did, he had recapped everything that he knew.

Two children had disappeared during what had been evaluated as a accidental housefire, due to bad wiring. One of these children had turned up dead in a park, probably beaten to death or at least tortured. The child had been identified as six-year-old Carl Bradford which had meant that Melina Bradford, the oldest of the two, was still hidden somewhere.

The 'alive' victim's best friend had been murdered at her school, probably due to the fact that she had witnessed a little bit than she should've had. They had no real suspects in sight, unless he counted that Collins guy who always seemed to be popping up from nowhere every time he was at St. Sebastian's. The man appeared normal but there had been something in his tone the last time he had seen him that told Ryan maybe not everything was right with him.

Collins' wife had been drugged and had lost three hours of her evening with her husband. Collins had claimed to his wife about being drugged too and Ryan immediately cursed himself. He hadn't completely forgotten to ask Collins about the drugging. He hit the streering wheel, swearing.

They had met the victims' parents, the father had assaulted him and had been taken into custody. According to the mother, Laura, her husband had been passed out drunk on the couch the night of the fire. But something bugged Ryan about this piece of information: passed out drunk meant that Paul shouldn't have woken up to the sound of the alarm and Laura had never told Ryan how the man had gotten out of the house. The only rescues were those of the children, if he took in consideration what the fire fighters had told him. This was something he would need to clarify with Bradford.

Then there was the fire fighter suit theft that made Ryan believe that it was linked to the disappearance. He wasn't sure why exactly or more importantly how it was linked. If the fire had been in fact accidental, then how could the robber had learned of it, grabbed his suit and had gone over to the house and kidnapped two children? This part didn't make any sense to him and Ryan came to the conclusion that maybe it was all just a big coincidence.

Then there were those weird anonymous calls made to Temperance's cellphone and the phone made to his house. His anonymous tipster had told him that she had seen Melina in a store but had not given much more information. This was exactly the reason why Ryan couldn't do much with. No name for the store had been given, no area, no nothing. The caller had sounded nervous or even scared but that didn't help much. Ryan had asked for the call to be trace but unfortunately, a payphone had been used.

Temperance's calls had been different. Nobody would be speaking and the only sound that she had heard had sounded like something breathing heavily. The last call had been made three or four days ago and the caller had begged Temperance to help her. His partner had spoken Melina's name and the caller had hung up. Coincidence or just a trick played on her? The FBI didn't deal with cellphone services so there could be no tracing of the calls.

So this all left him with a mystery that he wasn't quite sure how to solve. Everything seemed so screwed up yet seemed to fit together. There was still the murderer to be found, the kidnapper (if they weren't the same person) and Melina. Ryan felt like time was running out and that if he didn't do something soon, Melina would suffer the same fate as her brother.

Ryan looked once again at the time: 6:00 am. He gulped. Yes, time was really running out for him.

It was a bit past 1:00 pm when Ryan parked his car in the hospital's parking lot, after flashing his badge to at least three security guards. He quickly made his way to the reception and asked if Mr. Bradford was still present. The receptionnist asked him who he might be and Ryan sighed as he once again took his badge from his pocket and showed it to the young lady. She nodded briefly before giving him the number of the hospital. Not that he truly needed it anyway.

Cancer ward, fifth floor. The elevator had been stuck for the past two days so Ryan had to use the stairs. As he climbed the third flight of stairs, he hoped that nobody had been in the elevators when it got stuck. On the fourth flight of stairs, he was getting somewhat breathless and frustration had risen in his brain.

What kind of hospital takes two days to repair their stuck elevator? He thought to himself.

On the fifth flight of the stairs, he was passed by two very angry-looking nurses. He wasn't surprised. Using the stairs would be rough on anybody.

Ryan was pretty sure he was near an asthma attack when he pushed the door to the fifth floor and stepped into the corridor. He leaned against the wall, taking time to catch his breath. The ward was quiet and his breathing seemed to echo off the walls.

When he had finally caught his breath, Ryan pushed himself from the wall and began his search for room 526.

He found out nearly at the other end of the corridor. The door was open and Ryan could see a man sitting on a chair, not far from the bed. Ryan knocked softly and the man's head shot up. The man's eyes grew wide when he recognized Ryan and he immediately got to his feet and quickly walked out of the room, pushing Ryan aside and closing the door behind him.

"Detective Longström?" he asked with fake surprise.

"Special Agent."

"Yes sorry. Special Agent Longström. May I ask what you are doing here?"

"There are just a few questions I would like to ask you."

"My father is very sick." Bradford replied, like he was trying to look for the easy way out.

"So I've heard." Ryan replied, sympathetically. "But I've just done 8 hours of driving to come down to Asheville and it would be simple courtesy to let me ask my few questions."

"Of course. There a cafeteria downstairs."

Ryan nodded and followed the man back down the five flights of stairs.

The cafeteria was nearly empty and Ryan was surprised about it. Lunch would be barely over yet nobody was eating. Shrugging, he sat down at a table and motionned to Bradford to do the same. The man sat down.

"So?" he asked.

Ryan took out his notebook and his pen from his pocket. He flipped the little black book open.

"There's been another murder, Mr. Bradford. The young Allison Martin, your daughter's best friend."

"You think I killed her?"

"No. We actually already caught her murderer." He lied.

Ryan watched as Mr. Bradford's facial expression changed for a split second.

"I never really got to interview you on your children's disappearance and I didn't force you. But now, we have a double-murder on our hands and I don't want it to turn to triple."

Bradford nodded and sighed.

"You're right. I know more about my children's disappearance than I have told you about."

And for the next thirty minutes, Ryan listened to the man's story. He didn't bother writing down anything. He would remember this conversation for the rest of his life.

Paul was calm and almost seemed relieved to be telling him his side of the story. And when he was done, Ryan was almost pained to take out his handcuffs. Sometimes this part was the best part of his job. Today, Ryan knew there had to be something else better than this.

Standing up, he motionned to the man in front of him to do the same.

"Mr. Bradford, I'm putting you under arrest for first-degree murder."

gasps! See you in the next chapter! laughs evilly