Just let me say what I've come to say Regina. Then I'm outta here and you'll never see me again.

The ignored phone calls, the surreptitious abandonment of Henry in the diner and now, the presence of the Sheriff's Cruiser outside the jail-house despite the "something's come up" excuse given to her son – these things all started to add up for Regina as she thought, for the first time, about exactly what Emma had said to her the previous evening.

Maybe the kiss had been merely intended to distract Regina from the message underlying what she had said. Oh, she knew the kiss had been genuine – that had been more than obvious – but she wondered if Emma had intended the kiss as a means to start to bridge the gulf that had grown between them or if Emma had been subtly farewelling the woman she had just professed her love to. Regina was starting to get a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach that it had been the latter.

Regina chided herself mentally – she could just be reading more into Emma's statement than was really intended. Maybe something had occurred that had required her helping her father in maintaining law and order in this generally quiet town. Maybe the cruiser was parked out front because they had already brought the situation under control. Maybe Emma wasn't responding to Regina's calls because she had been...well...because she had been completely absorbed in whatever she had been doing. Maybe she hadn't answered the phone because she would rather have Regina speak to her in person. Maybe she didn't accept the calls because she was afraid that Regina would unleash a tirade of anger upon her. You can always tell if someone is lying when they spoke on the phone. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe Regina was just making a mountain out of a molehill. But she just couldn't get that snippet of the conversation out of her head.

Damn it, she was the mayor. She was the one in control. She was the one who decided what was what in Storybrooke – no wilful but oh so good-looking blonde upstart was going to undermine her authority. Still, Regina paused to make sure that her outfit was immaculate before striding into the jail-house. Subconsciously she wanted to look her best when she confronted Emma.

The door swung shut behind her with a quiet click as she started down the short passageway that led to the Sheriffs' offices. The sinking feeling resumed its descent into the abyss that had once been Regina's stomach when Emma's desk came into view and her familiar red jacket wasn't draped over the back of her chair as usual. As she moved further down the hall, David Nolan's desk came into view. David was seated there totally engrossed in completing a stack of paperwork. Probably some of Emma's as well, Regina thought wryly, knowing too well the blonde's penchant for putting off doing paperwork until the last minute.

As soon as it became obvious to Regina that David was oblivious to her presence, she cleared her throat deliberately.

"Emma," David began as he looked up, expecting to she his daughter. As he knew that Regina was deliberately avoiding Emma, he was genuinely surprised to see Regina standing there instead. "Ah, Madam Mayor, what can I help you with?"

Regina got straight to the point "Miss Swan. Have you seen her today?"

David sat in stunned silence for a moment – he couldn't work out why Regina would want to know the whereabouts of the person she hated. Surely Regina wasn't planning to do something drastic to Emma.

Regina snapped her fingers in front of David's face impatiently. "Come on Charming, I haven't got all day. It's a simple enough question, have you seen Miss Swan today?"

"What's it to you?" David asked defensively, frowning at his boss. "Are you planning to turn her into a toad or a bug or something? I know you Madam Mayor and I know Emma would have to be the last person on earth that you'd want to locate."

Regina sighed, rolling her eyes in her mind, and put her fingers on her forehead as she regained her composure. God, how she despised the shepherd sometimes. Lowering her hand, Regina said flatly, "It is of no concern to you as to what business I have with Miss Swan, but I will tell you that I am extremely interested in finding out why she abandoned my son at the diner."

"But why come here? It's her day off." David looked at Regina blankly.

Regina sighed again, more heavily this time, the vein on her forehead becoming more prominent with each second. "She told Henry that she had to come and help you with some situation. So I came to see if that was the case or if your daughter has decided to become even more irresponsible in her actions. So?" Regina looked expectantly at David, her eyebrows raised.

"This is the first I've heard about any of this," David admitted, rising from his seat. "It doesn't sound typical of Emma to lie to Henry. There's something not right about all this."

"You think?" Regina asked sarcastically. "Do you have any idea where she would want to go and not have Henry know about it?"

"The Jolly Roger," David suggested, even though he didn't like the idea of that dreaded pirate laying his hands on his daughter.

Regina snorted in disbelief. "As if. In Hook's dreams perhaps, but not in reality. Come on Charming, think."

David did think, hard, but had to eventually shake his head. "Sorry Regina, I can't think of anywhere. Have you tried calling her?"

Knowing that Charming wouldn't have a clue as to what had happened the previous evening, Regina visibly rolled her eyes at him. "And she would definitely want to answer a call from the person in town who despises her?"

"You've got a point there."

"Yes, I know. Why don't you try calling her?"

David tried Emma's number and then shook his head. "Straight to message bank."

"Something is not adding up here," Regina stated flatly.

"Something is definitely wrong," David agreed. "I think we need to find her as soon as possible. Can't you use a locator spell to find her or should we go and see Gold?"

Regina's skin crawled at the thought of having to go and strike yet another deal with Gold – Rumplestiltskin only ever wanted what was best for himself. "If she's within the magical boundary I can find her. But I need to gather a few ingredients from my vault first." She poked David in the chest with her forefinger. "You stay here and wait for me."

"Do you want me to gather some other people to help with the search?"

"With my spell we won't need them. And what if it turns out to be something insignificant? Do you think Miss Swan is going to thank her dad for embarrassing her publicly?" Regina poked David again. "Now, stay, like the good Charming you are." With a flick of her wrist Regina disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

David stood by his desk, waiting and worrying.

xoxoxox

Note – A big thank you to those who have commented on this story, and thanks too, to those who are following this tale. I would really appreciate more feedback though as I really don't know if people are enjoying this or not. I feel like I'm sending each chapter out into a void which just gobbles it up.