NOT THE BEST DETECTIVE AGENCY

Dalla knew better than to ignore a comm from her aunt. Even with everything else that was going on she had to at least answer and explain that she would comm back later.

"Dalla, are you alright?" There was a note of concern in the northern woman's tone.

"Well, aye, of course. I mean it's not really a great time for me to talk but…"

"Because we just received a package at the Hold and it said, 'don't open till salt and light,' but your little cousins got into it and…" she lowered her voice. "It looks to me like a Sanjay Rash original."

"What?" The fence stopped what she was doing to focus on what her aunt was saying.

"You're not in some kind of trouble and trying to smuggle pieces out of the city? It's just that you don't usually involve family in your… business."

"No, I don't." Suddenly it dawned on her. "But it seems someone else has seen fit to. Look, I have other pressing concerns at the moment but I'll get back to you about the painting."

"Alright," Shara Blackwell did not sound completely appeased.

"And Aunt Shara, could you please make sure that nothing happens to it. It's one of Bernard's favorites."

…

When Dalla returned to the group of con men Lux was on the holocomm with Sierra.

"I know you guys need all the help you can get but I need to be here." The grifter looked over her shoulder as if to check for incoming family members. "Some major Dxun just went down and it's a toss up whether Alex and Swain are going to spiral again. Cogon's doing a great job but I can't leave him alone with them."

The surgery. That was the only thing capable of sending Swain into a spiral. Dalla stepped into the holofield and Sierra nodded silent confirmation when she saw her.

"We'll make do with the people we have," she said. "Especially with the added knowledge that this has nothing to do with the museum robbery."

Lux raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

"Let's just say you aren't the only ones who have kids to kill."

"Sandor?" Steela gasped. "What did he do with it?"

"Shipped it to Blackhold, though why he stole it in the first place I have no idea." She shook it off. There was time to interrogate Sandor later, and however Swain was holding up mentally, at least she was safe under Kallus and Sierra's protection. The same couldn't be said for Melaana Kryze. Dalla met Sierra's projected gaze. "You're holding up over there?"

"I've managed worse. Let me know if you find Melaana." Sierra gave them one last nod and then signed off the comm as the search party split up.

"Lux, I'm going to kill that kid," Dalla swore. "He's brilliant and I love him, but I'm going to kill him."

"Sounds like someone I know," Her ex-boyfriend smirked.

"Don't I know it." She could practically hear Yularen laughing from the salt gods' halls. Oh, how the tables had turned. "At least he's safe with the other kids at Mina's."

"You know why he did it."

"Why, because he's eager to taste my wrath?"

"More like your attention. Don't think he hasn't noticed how you are with Swain." Lux replied. "You may have found an heir in her, but you've got quite the little mastermind under your roof."

Dalla sighed. She'd been dreading this conversation. "Sandor thinks I like her better but that's not true. They have different skills is all, and Hannah's more suited to leading the network. I've tried to steer Sandor toward forgery or transport but he's not having it. And now…" She shook her head. "This has gotten out of hand. Once we find the Kryze girl I need to talk to him."

Lux nodded as they returned to the task at hand. "Any idea where to start?"

"If the kidnapper had a vehicle he could be anywhere in the city by now. On foot, with Melaana, they'll be within a five-mile radius maximum."

"I doubt they have a vehicle. What's in that five-mile radius?"

What wasn't? "Storage units, abandoned buildings, commercial property, private residences, plenty of places to hide a kid. And I don't want to think about this either, but there's the possibility he's killed Melaana already."

"Hutch couldn't find her on any security cams so they had to have gone out the back alley."

"If I was doing it I would knock the kid out and go west. At least it's somewhere to start." The fence wished she had more to go off but it was better than nothing. "Have Hutch keep looking for security footage. He'll have to walk past a cam eventually."

"He's on it." Lux thought for a moment. He'd lived in Iziz for a good portion of his childhood and knew this part of town well. "That alley spits you onto a pretty well-traveled street. No one person would draw attention, much less a parent carrying their kid."

He told her the street name and Dalla recognized it as one which ran near the museum. Aye, that would be an easy one to lose yourself in which is why she used it all the time for "deliveries." She closed her eyes. They needed to get lucky if they were going to find this kid alive.

…

The repulsors of Tav's speeder squealed as he jammed down on the accelerator as soon as the signal changed. He glanced in the rear view mirror to see that Pasc was still securely strapped into his booster seat.

The little boy's eyes were squeezed shut and he was reaching forward his little hand toward the transparisteel windscreen. "Turn that way!"

"Which way?" Tav returned focus to the road ahead and scanned for any upcoming side street.

"The next right!" Molly explained.

"Right!" He jerked hard on the steering lever and then winced when he heard and felt the side of the vehicle scrape against a permacrete pillar. "Osik!" he swore, but it didn't matter; all that mattered was finding Mel!

Of course he didn't want to put anyone else in danger either. None of them were supposed to have left the house. Grandma Mina had told them to stay put when she went to sit with Aunt Soniee at the med center, but when Pasc had suddenly called out his sister's name and said he knew where to find her it was obvious to Tav and Ezra and Kiara that it was a message from the Force.

They had all piled into the speeder and now prayed that Pasc would be able to hold on to his connection to his sister until they could find her and bring her back. They had no idea what they would face once they located the place where she was being held. The kidnapper might have a small army on his side. But they would figure that out once they got there.

…

It took a lot of effort and some fumbling around in the dark but Melaana eventually managed to release the lock and carefully pull back the closet door. She didn't want to think of what would happen if her captor saw her, but she'd heard another door close a while ago followed by silence and Mel was willing to take the bet that she was gone.

She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light and looked around. To her surprise she was in a motel room, surrounded by luggage and empty boxes. Without thinking twice Mel ran to the door and pulled on the handle but it didn't budge.

Why wouldn't it open?! She looked around for an answer and saw someone had installed a biometric lock. The door wasn't opening without a retinal scan and Mel couldn't exactly jimmy that with her hairpin. Defeated, she made her way to the luggage pile. Maybe she could find something that would help her get out of here.

Whoever was staying here had tried to keep things neat but the luggage was still messed up, like someone was going through it. The first suitcase just had clothes, but Mel furrowed her brow in confusion when she opened the second. She sifted through, careful not to make too much of a mess in case she had to close it up in a hurry. Sculptures, jewelry, and other stuff she couldn't place but looked old were all packed carefully in newsflimsi. Why would someone carry this around? It didn't serve a purpose; Mel wouldn't look at it twice except to steal it.

Oh well, none of it would open the door! She slammed the suitcase lid shut with a little more force than necessary and knocked one of the articles to the floor.

She bent to pick it up and raised her eyebrows when she saw it was a book, a real flimsi book like the ones Buir had had back in Sundari. She'd always been entranced by them though not allowed to touch, in case her grubby child hands ruined the parchment. No such reservations here. With nothing better to do Mel opened the book and flipped through, ignoring the illegible ink scribble on the title page in favor of a sigh. She'd skimmed this story before and it wasn't very exciting; just a lot of talking between the main character and her father.

Thinking of fathers brought tears to her eyes. Was Papa looking for her? Surely he'd noticed she was gone by now and he was good at tracking people down. And even if he wasn't … at least she had Buir in Manda watching over her. He couldn't protect her anymore but he'd at least be there if she -

The door rattled and Melaana's heart soared. Papa had done it! He'd found her and he'd take her back to Momma and away from this horrible woman who - she gasped when she realized who the more likely arrival was and sprinted back to the closet.

There was a great groaning of metal and the muffled words, "Are you sure this is the right one?"

That was… that Ezra kid's voice!

And Kiara's voice answered, "Hurry. We don't know when the kidnapper's coming back."

With a sob of relief Melaana burst from the closet. "Guys!"

"Mel!" Pascal shouted from far away. He must have been kept in the speeder where he had a semblance of safety, and somehow she knew he was the reason they'd found her.

But before she knew it she was being bundled into the speeder, hugging Pasc while the older kids checked her over for injury. She didn't care about the attention, or their questions. She wanted to go home. She wanted to see Momma. Nothing else mattered.

...

It wasn't that Soniee didn't appreciate Mina coming to sit with her while they waited for news. Of anyone in the entire galaxy the former senator surely understood what Soniee was going through. She had lost her husband and had her daughter taken from her more than once. She had also known Soniee's parents and could pass the time telling her what they were like.

Mina had been there when the news broke that Melaana Tandin had flown off because she was nervous about becoming a mother and settling down. Perhaps her namesake, who was also nervous about a new baby coming, had just found a place to hide for a while.

They would find her. Everyone was looking. She was going to be fine. But they both knew that it was too much of a coincidence with Swain's assault and the museum robbery. And they were both thinking that it didn't turn out so well for Soniee's mother but neither of them wanted to say that aloud so they had lapsed into silence.

Soniee tapped her fingers against the bedsheet. She was itching to get back onto her datapad and do what she could to help the team, when there was a commotion from the hallway and then the door of her room burst open and a red-headed blur raced across the room and bounded onto the med center bed to be engulfed in her mother's arms.

The rest of the junior crew piled into the room behind her all talking at once but Soniee hardly heard them as she held her little lost princess and looked her over for injury. Melaana was just as concerned about her mother and the baby and the worry her disappearance must have caused. She placed her hand on her mother's belly, "Is she alright?"

"Oh she's fine, ad'ika and you're here! You're back, my girl, thank Manda!"

Pascal clambered up onto the bed on Soniee's other side and they pulled him into their embrace.

Meanwhile, Tav and Molly and Ezra and Sandor and Kiara were all talking at once about how Pascal had sensed where Mel was and how they went to find her and about how he, the kidnapper, might have come back at any moment.

"But it wasn't a 'he'," Mel called back to them over her shoulder. "It was a woman and I heard her say that she was looking for Hannah. She knew her from when they were both working for the Empire."

Soniee couldn't have cared less whether the kidnapper was male or female, only that if she ever got her hands on the sha'buir they would regret ever being born. At the moment she was content to hold onto her children as Mina gathered up the older bunch, alternately scolding them for running off once again and dialing her holocomm to let Lux know they could stop looking for Melaana.

As soon as the image of the matriarch came up on Lux's device Dalla was at his side, knowing where Mina was at the moment and fearing the worst.

"Please tell me nothing's happened at the hospital," Lux begged while Dalla pinched the bridge of her nose in silent prayer. "We have two situations going pear-shaped already, the last thing we need is a third."

"Actually, it's good news." Mina angled her comm so they could see the reunion on the hospital bed. "It seems the kids decided to launch a rescue mission."

"How? We left them with Hutch!"

"Do you really think Hutch was paying attention?"

"I don't much care how they got Melaana back as long as she's safe." Dalla broke in. "We can use this to get a leg up on the kidnapper and the assassin. Patch in the other team and let them know we have Melaana and we need to debrief."

"Melaana and Pascal are staying with their mother but I'll drop the rest off at Piece of Crap II." Mina fixed the teenagers with a cower-inducing glare.

Tav and Kiara looked to their father for help but he was otherwise occupied. "I suppose we should start with Saw."

"Help us all." Dalla made a sign to the salt gods, and for good reason because Saw's image hadn't even materialized before he was shooting off at the mouth through the audio.

"Whatever this is you can call Rex or Alex about it!" He shouted, his normal baritone voice now a solid soprano. "My daughter is missing and every second I'm not looking for her in a second that slime might be -."

"Saw," Mina interrupted his rant. "We've found Melaana. She's safe with Soniee."

"Oh thank gods!" Saw collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. "She's okay? Did they hurt her?"

"She's fine," Soniee spoke up. "We're all fine. But the person who did this is still out there."

The fire seemed to ignite under Saw then. "Not for much longer. I promise, we'll make whoever it is pay!"

"Good. Meet us back at the ship so we can come up with a plan first," Lux quipped. "Time to see how Sierra's holding up."