"Oh my God…" Vanessa's eyes widened as I relayed the story of the previous day to her and Adam. "You must have been terrified, Ben, not to mention poor Evelyn. I can't even begin to imagine getting a call like that about one of my kids."

"It was pretty scary," I nodded. "But the main thing is that Kate's alright."

"And Evelyn?" Adam asked.

"She's pretty shaken up, understandably. She was worried that it might have something to do with Edward or the Lucchese family but of course I told her that was nonsense." I glanced at Adam, wondering if he would opine a different view, but he simply nodded in agreement.

"Prank call?"

I shrugged. "If it was, it was a pretty well researched prank. They knew how to contact Evelyn, they knew Kate's name and where she goes to daycare…" I trailed off. "The police don't appear to be taking it particularly seriously, not officially anyway." I relayed how I had contacted Lennie and Rey the previous evening. "It's not their case though…"

"What are you asking me?" Adam asked squarely. "You want me to talk to the police commissioner? Ask him to put some pressure on the precinct?"

"Yes and no…" I made a face. "I don't want to be seen to be abusing any power or authority I may have as an Assistant DA but…this is my family we're talking about and we've already been through enough over the years. I don't want something like this to end up setting Evelyn back in all the progress she's made."

"You think she might start drinking again?" Vanessa asked, and I found myself turning to look at her, slightly caught off guard by the easy way in which she asked her question. "I'm sorry," she said, smoothly, clearly reading my expression. "I didn't mean to get personal."

"No, that's alright. I suppose it's not a secret. I'd like to think that she could maintain her sobriety but something like this could really test her and my job is to protect her and the kids." I looked at Adam again. "Whatever you think you could do…"

"Don't you worry about it, my boy," he said reassuringly. "The commissioner owes me a favour after the Henderson trial last month."

"Right," Vanessa said, "the two cops that should have been charged."

"Could have been charged," Adam corrected her. "The evidence could have gone either way, but it went in the force's favour, so I don't think it's too much to ask that they do us a favour in return. I'll give him a call this afternoon."

"Thanks Adam," I got to my feet. "I appreciate it."

"I'm sorry," Vanessa said as we made our way back around to my office. "I shouldn't have overstepped. It's none of my business what Evelyn did in the past."

"No it isn't, but it's not as though she hides it," I replied, thinking back on all the times I knew Evelyn had used her past troubles as a platform for doing good for Women In Need. "Like I said, it's always going to be a concern."

"It must be hard for you, living with the constant fear that she might relapse."

I paused as we reached my office door. I had already excused her twice and yet something about that last sentence set me slightly on edge. "It's not a fear," I said, turning to look at her. "And it's not something that I think about on a regular basis."

"I'm sorry. My big mouth is running away with me today." She backed away towards her desk. "I'll go before I say anything else."

I watched her go, irritated with both her and myself for the fact that I had let the thought of what had happened possibly pushing Evelyn towards drinking enter my head. Yes, she had had a shock, we both had, but no that didn't mean she was about to throw everything away. I knew her well enough to know that she was stronger than that. Before going into my office, I walked across to Celia's desk. "Any messages?"

"No," she replied, in a tone that indicated that if there had been she would have brought them to me, "None at all. Were you expecting someone to call?"

"No," I replied, turning away. "No-one."

XXXX

"Well how long has she been gone?"

"Dad, how the hell would I know? I've been at school all day and when I came home, there was no-one here!"

Pamela crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me as though I had suggested she had something to do with the mysterious disappearance of my wife and child. Taking a deep breath, I checked myself, reminding myself that it was, indeed, nothing to do with her. It wasn't unusual for Evelyn to leave the apartment with Kate on the days that she spent at home with her, but given all that had happened and the fact that it was almost six o'clock, I couldn't help but feel worried. The flowers I had purchased en route home lay discarded on the table as I glanced around once again for any sign of a note.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I know this isn't your fault. I'm just a bit worried, that's all."

"She probably just went out to get some milk or something."

"Yes, that's probably it," I agreed, though I wasn't convinced. Evelyn had been so freaked out by what had happened that I had half expected to have to force her to go anywhere in the near future. Not to mention the fact that I too still felt spooked. Going to work had been difficult, but I had at least had some peace of mind believing her and Kate to be safe at home.

You're being ridiculous.

Walking into the bedroom I changed out of my suit, cleaned up in the bathroom and then came back into the living room to find Pamela sat in front of the television with her feet on the coffee table. For a moment, I realised that I wasn't sure what to do. We hadn't discussed what we were having for dinner that evening and I had intended speaking to Pamela about allowing Andrew to come over at some point in order that we could meet him, but not knowing where Evelyn was seemed to render me incapable of forming cohesive thought. I wandered into the kitchen, lifted a beer from the fridge then thought better of it and opened a can of soda instead. I hadn't felt like this since London and yet, rationally, I knew that her being out of an afternoon was nothing in comparison to those times.

Just when I was starting to grow uncomfortably edgy and considering calling Briscoe, the door of the apartment opened and Evelyn appeared, carrying Kate in her arms, the changing bag slung over her shoulder. Her cheeks were red from the cold afternoon air and she was panting slightly with the exertion of climbing the stairs. Relief flooded through me and though I knew I should act as though nothing had concerned me, I found I couldn't help myself. "Where have you been?" I demanded as she put Kate down onto the couch and began taking off her hat and coat. "I've been worried sick!"

"I'm sorry," Evelyn replied, "I didn't mean to worry you. I took Kate out for a walk and then I met up with Michelle Farisi, remember her?"

"Who?"

"Michelle Farisi. She approached me at the bistro last weekend when were there with Mike and Liz. She had seen me speak at a conference? Anyway," she continued without waiting for an answer, "I ran into her completely by chance on the street and we went for brunch at Talisker."

"Brunch?" I stared at her. "It's almost six-thirty."

"I know," she lifted Kate up again and smoothed down the strands of her hair, ruffled from her hat. "But we just got talking and I fed Kate and let her sleep in the stroller…and it was nice." She looked at me. "It was nice having someone to talk to."

I felt my hackles rise slightly. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning nothing, only that I called your office this morning and I couldn't get hold of you."

"Celia never said and I specifically asked her…"

"I didn't speak to Celia."

"Why were you calling? What was wrong?" She paused. "Evelyn?"

"There were a couple of phone calls."

I felt my blood cool, "What kind of phone calls?"

"It just…the phone just rang a couple of times and nobody left a message and it just…" she shrugged. "It just freaked me out a bit, that's all. So I tried to call you but there was no reply and…and I couldn't get hold of anyone else so I decided to go out."

"Well who else did you try?"

"Shambala, Liz, Mike…" she shrugged again. "I just felt as though I needed to get out of the apartment for a while."

I sighed heavily and pulled her and Kate into my arms, angry with myself that she had been put in that position and that I hadn't either been at home or in my office to comfort her. "I'm sorry," I said. "I was meeting with Adam and then I had to go down to court…"

"It's fine," she replied, pulling back and looking up at me, "I don't expect you to be sat at your desk every hour of the day just waiting in case I call you. What did Adam say?"

"That he would speak to the police commissioner and make sure that the matter gets the attention it deserves. I hate pulling rank but…" I shook my head, "when it comes to your own family…"

"I know," she reached up and kissed me lightly. "I'm glad."

As she pulled back, I couldn't help but smell a hint of sweetness on her breath. "Have you been drinking?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Evelyn's eyes darkened suddenly, "What?"

"I just thought I could smell…"

"No, I haven't. Jesus Ben…what, I can't go for brunch without falling back into alcoholism?" She pulled away from me. "I had club soda, if you must know and I bought some candy on my way home and I might have had a couple of pieces. Wow, call the cops!" She reached into the changing bag and pulled out a half-eaten bag of pink and yellow confectionary. "Do you want to count the pieces? Maybe you want to suggest I have some sort of eating disorder too."

I glanced at Pamela who was looking at us slightly agog. "No, of course not. I'm sorry, I just thought…"

"My God…" Evelyn sighed heavily and made her way towards the bedroom with Kate. Torn between wanting to avoid an argument and confide in her how I felt, I followed her, closing the door behind us so that Pamela couldn't hear. "I can't believe you would accuse me of that."

"It was an overreaction, I'm sorry…"

"I've been sober since I left treatment, Ben, you know that. I haven't touched a drop."

"I know…"

"Honestly…do you spend your days thinking about the possibility of me having a drink?" She looked at me and I couldn't help thinking back to what Vanessa had said earlier.

"No, of course not," I reassured her. "It's just…"

"It's just what?"

I sighed. "Yesterday was pretty traumatic, for both of us, and I know how upset you were and I just…I guess I worry that when faced with a traumatic situation you might relapse. I should know better," I shrugged my shoulders. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Evelyn sighed and put Kate down on the table to change her. "Look, I get it. But I'm in a far better place now than I was then, even with what happened yesterday. I'm not going to drink, Ben. You have to trust me, otherwise…"

"I do trust you," I reassured her. "I just panicked a bit when you weren't here."

"I had a nice time with Michelle. It's good for me to have friends."

"Of course it is," I passed her a clean diaper. "What did you talk about?"

"Lots of things," she said. "I feel like I've known her forever and I've only spoken to her twice."

"Michelle Farisi…" I turned the name over in my head. "There's something familiar about that name, but I can't quite place it. Is she an attorney?"

Evelyn shook her head, "State appointed paralegal, but we didn't really talk about work. She says she's met you a couple of times though."

"Well, I don't remember," I said, taking Kate from her. "Anyway, am I forgiven?"

"Yes," she replied, kissing me again. "Now, what's for dinner?"

XXXX

I wasn't sure what it was that had woken me, but I found myself sitting bolt upright in bed, my breathing laboured, and when I glanced at the clock beside the bed the digital figures flipped to 3.27am. The room was dark, the apartment silent. Next to me I could feel the warm bulk of Evelyn's body and as my heart started to slow, I was able to pick out the gentle rhythm of her breath in sleep mingled with the occasional snuffle from Kate's cot.

Had I been dreaming? I couldn't even remember the last thought that had been in my head. We had had a pleasant evening together, ordering takeout and watching a movie. Pamela had been ecstatic at the offer of having Andrew over for dinner and after having a lengthy phone conversation with him, whereupon I had had to demand she hang up after an hour, she had sat amiably with us and we had all retired to bed in good spirits.

I knew it was probably just my subconscious pulling fragments of unease into my settled brain, but there was nothing more that I could do about what had happened. I had to leave it to the police to find out who was behind the phone call. We had to carry on as normal and not let whoever it was disrupt our lives anymore than he or she already had. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I slid back into bed and curled myself around Evelyn's back. She shifted slightly but didn't stir and as I lay in the dark, I couldn't help but think back over what she had said. The fact that I couldn't place Michelle Farisi irked me. If she was a state appointed paralegal then it was understandable that I would have met her. Many defendants elected to represent themselves in criminal proceedings, I just couldn't, for the life of me, remember any of them.

My eyes started to grow heavy and as sleep claimed me again, I pushed it to the back of my mind, knowing that whoever she was, she could wait until Monday.