It's me again! I could keep apologizing for how long it's been, but I'm sure you all are used to it by now. No need to worry, this story will get finished and continued on in other stories. It just may take me awhile!

Shortly after arriving back home, Emma had fallen into an exhausted sleep with Regina watching over her. Every once in awhile she would groan and toss and turn in her sleep, but Regina was quick to run her fingers through Emma's hair or whisper reassurances in her ear to calm her down.

When Emma finally did wake up, she had hoped that everything from the previous day had been a dream. Unfortunately, she realized rather quickly that it wasn't. With that knowledge also came the knowledge that there was another little girl out there and only Emma knew about the men they were looking for.

"You can't hide forever," Regina said gently, pulling the covers off of Emma's face. Emma hadn't even realized that she had hidden herself away to escape from the world.

"I can't exactly walk into the station and announce that I remember everything either," Emma countered. "The minute I say something David will tell Snow and then they'll both be fawning over me and you know how I hate that."

Regina laughed. "So skip the telling them part. Just go to the people who you really want to help."

Emma shook her head before pulling the covers back up to cover her head. Liza was still missing, and her parents checked in everyday to see if there were any new developments in the case. If she told them that this whole time she had had memories buried that could solve everything...well. It couldn't be pretty.

Several beats passed before Regina spoke again. "What if we kept the source of the information anonymous?"

Emma peeked out from under the covers, confusion written all over her face. "How would we do that?"

"Someone came forward with information," Regina said, shrugging. "Who says they have to know who it was?"

"We can't lie to them."

"Who said it's lying?"

"It's withholding information regarding the kidnapping of their daughter!"

"Last time I checked, withholding information isn't lying."

"Sneaky," Emma said, smiling. "What if they ask who it is?"

"We say the person wants to stay anonymous," Regina said simply. "Like I said, they don't need to know. Besides, I think they'll be too focused on the fact that we're one step closer to finding their daughter than worrying about who had the information."

"Fine," Emma conceded before pulling the covers back up over her head. "Just let me hide for a few more minutes."

Turns out, Regina was wrong. Liza's disappearance was of course at the forefront of her parents' worries, but the fact that someone had information that they had held onto all this time bothered them more than Regina had anticipated. Hence the death grip that Emma currently had on her hand.

"Surely this person had the information this whole time," Jackson said, becoming angrier every minute. "You don't just randomly remember stuff like this!"

Mary put a hand on his arm, calming him. "What my husband is trying to say is that we just don't understand why this person waited this long, and we'd like to ask them why."

"They requested to remain anonymous," Regina said firmly. "As to why they didn't come forward until now, that is their business. I would be more joyous that we're one step closer to finding your daughter."

Emma cleared her throat to get the couple's attention. "We're actively working with the anonymous individual to get as much information as possible to devise a plan for our next steps. For now, we just wanted you to know that we're getting closer to solving this puzzle."

"The first girl," Jackson said suddenly. "I did some research to see if this had happened before. There was a girl in California who was taken just like this and she's dead. Is that going to happen to Liza?"

"Definitely not," Emma said strongly. "What happened to Avery was awful, but we aren't going to let that happen to Liza. We are going to find her and bring her home. I promise."

Jackson and Mary both nodded and thanked her and Regina before leaving, supporting each other as they walked out of the door. Emma looked at Regina, and Regina could see the emotions she had been hiding from the parents in her eyes.

"Morning!" David said cheerfully as he walked in the office. "I just saw Jackson and Mary on my way out, is everything okay?"

Emma quickly schooled her expression before giving David a small smile. "Liza is still missing. I don't think anything will be okay until we find her."

"We had an anonymous call," Regina said. "They wish to stay anonymous, but they have very valuable information concerning the case in California."

"The witness?" David asked, instantly interested. "The one who couldn't remember anything?"

Emma nodded. "She's finally come forward. Wants to help with our case to stop Liza from having to suffer like Avery did."

"Well then I guess we'd better get to work," David said grimly. "Talk me through what she said."

Later that night, Emma was snuggled up next to Regina when the doorbell rang. They both sighed, guessing that it was probably Snow coming to try and guilt trip Emma into coming over for the night.

What neither of them was expecting is for Mary to be at the door.

"Is everything okay?" Emma asked as she let Mary inside. "You haven't received any contact from the kidnappers have you?"

"No, nothing like that," Mary reassured her quickly. "Although I wish I had. Any chance to pay a ransom just to get Liza back would be taken immediately." She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I came to talk to you about the case in California."

Regina quickly put her hand on Emma's back to keep her steady as she wobbled a bit. "What about the California case?"

"Well, Jackson is the one who looked into it," Mary said guiltily. "I didn't want to know anything more about it, especially if something bad had happened to the first girl. But then you said her name today and it made me remember something that may help."

"Who's name?" Regina asked, keeping a close eye on Emma who had suddenly gone very quiet.

"Avery," Mary said. "Once you said that name, I had to do some research into the case."

"You knew Avery?" Emma asked, instantly alert.

Mary nodded. "Well, not really. She was gone before I was even born."

Emma and Regina looked at each other in confusion, not knowing where this was going. Fortunately, Mary saw their confusion and elaborated.

"Avery was my older sister."