CHAPTER 6: ...AND THE PLOT THICKENS

I can only apologise most sincerely for the delay in updating; I lost the original draft for this chapter, so had to write, edit and upload the whole thing again. Anyway, hope you enjoy. I have no beta and never did, so any grammar/spelling mistakes are mine.

Once Mickey had ascertained that Scott and Nicole were out of earshot, he drew Robert aside. "This whole thing stinks, McCall." He whispered. "And I don't know if bringing Jefferson into this is a good idea. You know how Nicole feels about cops." "I'm very much aware of how she feels, Mick, thank you." McCall replied impatiently. "We need someone with legitimate authority in this instance-you know that. And before you even say it, no I am not bringing Control into this. Not unless I damn well have to." With a sigh, he added, "I do worry about Nicole, if I'm honest. If it turns out that Amy really has run off with this money, Lord knows how she'll react."

"I'd be concerned about her and Scott too, if I were you." Mickey said drily, no longer able to resist alluding to their obvious mutual attraction, and when Robert frowned at him, he continued, "Come on, Robert-don't tell me you didn't see the way those two looked at each other." The younger man took an involuntary step backwards at the suddenly angry expression on Robert's face. "Hey," he said quietly. "I'm just making an obversation." "An obversation is one thing." McCall's voice was low, but there was no mistaking the note of warning in it. "But I don't think I care very much for what you're implying."

Mickey was about to protest, when Nicole suddenly emerged from the kitchen, Scott in tow. "If you think this cop can help, Robert, then I'm okay with it." She said. "You know what's best."

Robert smiled, expertly hiding his unease-not just because he genuinely didn't know which way this situation would turn, but also because he had seen how Scott and Nicole were looking at each other. And it worried him. It wasn't that he thought Nicole wasn't good enough for his son-the very notion was ridiculous-but because when it came to romance, Scott's track record wasn't exactly exemplary, and he didn't want the young lady getting hurt.

She had already been hurt far too much...

Lieutenant Jefferson stood as McCall walked into the precinct, then noticed the young woman trailing behind him, eyeing the officers milling around with open mistrust and suspicion. Inwardly, Jefferson sighed. Why did he get the distinct impression that Robert McCall was about to drop trouble onto his lap again?

"McCall." He greeted the older man. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Robert motioned the girl forward and told him, getting straight to the point as usual, "This is Nicole Baker. A friend of hers has disappeared under suspicious circumstances, and we need your help in trying to locate her." "I thought that was your forte, McCall." Jefferson replied. "Why did you come to me?" "Because we seem to have hit a dead end." Robert replied shortly. "Will you help us, Jefferson?"

The Lieutenant didn't answer right away, but switched his focus to Nicole; the kid couldn't possibly make it more obvious that she didn't want to be here. She obviously disliked the police, that much was clear. And Jefferson couldn't help but wonder why.

"Do you wanna tell me what happened, Miss Baker?" He asked, and it didn't escape his attention that Nicole first looked to McCall for permission, before she spoke to him. She started at the beginning, telling him who Amy was, and how she had disappeared from her apartment. And how they had discovered, only hours ago, that her bank accounts had been emptied. Jefferson absorbed this information for a moment, then said what they had thought of already. "You do realise it's possible that Amy left of her own volition, taking her money with her?" "That's the first thing I thought of." Nicole replied curtly. "But she's my friend-I want to at least try to give her the benefit of the doubt." Jefferson nodded. "Well, that's understandable." He told her, then, looking at Robert, continued, "Okay, McCall, I'll try to help, or at least inject some actual real police authority into this." He flashed a brief grin, and then it was gone as he added, "We'll start with the bank, see if the tellers remember anything strange." Then, to Nicole: "Miss Baker, would you mind giving me a minute with McCall? It won't take long." Nicole looked to McCall again, who added. "Wait in the car, Nicole." He said. "I'll be right out."

Once Nicole had left, Jefferson asked, "Where'd you find the kid?" "What has that got to do with anything?" As was usual with McCall, Jefferson thought, he wanted help, but would supply no information. "Oh, nothing." Jefferson replied casually. "It's just, it's pretty clear she's got a thing about cops. And I don't mean in a good way."

Robert leaned forward on the Lieutenant's desk, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "You're absolutely right." He said coldly. "Nicole has got a 'thing' about cops. And if you knew even half of what that girl has gone through, you'd understand why. Now, are you coming, or not?"

"Hey, I don't take orders from you, McCall." Jefferson snapped. "You came to me. Don't forget that."

When Robert said nothing, just stared him out, Jefferson sighed, his annoyance dissipating, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair, adding, as they departed together, "Do I need to remind you how many favours you owe me by now?"...

"Oh yes-I remember quite clearly." The female teller, who, they had learned, was Miss Amanda Berkeley, was saying. "She came in only yesterday." "Was she alone?" Even though McCall wasn't a police officer, his authoritative air could coerce responses from people who might be wary of someone else. The only reason he had brought Jefferson along, really, was because a badge often helped to loosen tongues even more. "No, there was a man with her." Amanda responded. "Polite, English, like you. She said he was her husband."

"Her what?" It was Nicole who spoke now; she looked absolutely astonished. Robert maintained his poker face, while Jefferson just looked confused. She seemed to regain her composure quickly, however, and with a smile, she added, "I'm sorry. We just weren't aware Miss Knox was married." Amanda began to stand as Nicole suddenly took a lodgement slip from the desk, along with a sharpened pencil, and turned the paper on its blank side. "I'm sorry." Amanda said, taken aback. "What exactly are you doing?"

"No, I'm sorry." Nicole replied, still smiling. "I'm afraid I'm new to the job, and I completely forgot my equipment." Jerking a thumb at Jefferson, who at this point was probably wondering why he'd bothered to tag along, she added, "The boss is so gonna fire me. You don't mind me using these, do you?" "Oh, well, no." Amanda seemed totally flustered now. "Not at all. It's just, well...what exactly is it that you do?"

Nicole clapped a hand to her forehead with a groan. "See what I mean?" She exclaimed. "Why anybody would even wanna hire me...honestly." Extending her hand to Amanda, she added, "I'm Nicole Baker. Police sketch artist." Behind her, she felt rather than heard McCall inhale sharply, and hoped he wouldn't be mad at her afterwards. Thankfully, Amanda seemed to have bought it. "Do you remember what Amy's husband looked like?" Nicole continued, adopting what she hoped was a convincingly businesslike tone."Oh, yes." Amanda replied right away. "He was awfully good-looking, wavy brown hair, ice-blue eyes..."

Once Amanda had finished giving her description, Nicole showed her what she had drawn, and she gasped. "Oh my God!" She exclaimed. "That's him! That's him, exactly-that is amazing!" "I'll say" Jefferson murmured behind Nicole's back, but she didn't have much time for self-congratulation, as Robert asked Amanda, voice brusque, "Did it seem to you that Amy was...comfortable? That she wanted to be here, with him?" Amanda hesitated a moment, then nodded. "She seemed to be." She replied. "To be honest, when she told me what she wanted, we just got straight down to business. But he did seem to be in more of a hurry than she was-kept looking at his watch."

The two men exchanged a look at this, and then Jefferson asked, "Did you see where they went after they left here?" Amanda seemed unsure now. "Well, they crossed the street." She replied. "But to be honest, I wasn't really paying attention." A pause, and then she added, "Oh! But he did mention something about getting a newspaper-and there's a place right across the street called..." "Bobby's." Nicole cut in. "I know it." For her, the place held a lot of nice memories; Bobby was 'good people'.

"Police sketch artist?" McCall's incredulity was evident, once they got outside, and Nicole shrugged. "I wanted to know what the guy looked like." She replied. "And besides, she bought it." "Of course she did." Jefferson told her. "You were pretty convincing-and you got a lot of talent." Pointing at Robert, Nicole said, "I've got him to thank for all of it. But...thanks."

"Why did you seem so surprised that Amy was married?" Jefferson went on. "I mean, just because she didn't tell you, doesn't make it any less true." "You don't get it." Nicole retorted. "Amy not only didn't tell me she was married, she told me she was single. So where'd this husband come from?"

"I don't know, Nicole." The senior officer said. "This all seems confusing to me. There may not even be a crime here-she may just have taken off with this guy." Noticing that Nicole was about to lose her tenper, Robert quickly interrupted: "Look, perhaps we should talk to this 'Bobby'; he may know something."

"You can't." Both McCall and Jefferson turned sharply when Nicole spoke up, and she added, "I've known Bobby a long time. When I was on the streets, he helped me out sometimes, gave me something to eat, stuff like that. But he doesn't trust cops any more than I do. No offence, Robert-you might not be a cop, but you look like one. You two go in there, he'll clam up. Let me talk to him. Bobby will tell me if he saw anything." Waving her drawing in front of them, she added, "At least I've got a good description of Amy's 'husband'."...

Bobby Farino missed nothing. Anything that went down on his side of town, he knew about it, almost before it even happened. And while Nicole had never been able to completely trust Bobby-rumours had always been rife that he had Mafia connections, which was reason enough not to get too close-she had always liked the guy. She owed him a lot, too.

Bobby looked up from the paper spread in front of him as Nicole entered his store-he sold pretty much everything, from groceries to newspapers to pet food-and his round face broke into a huge, beaming grin. "I don't believe it." He gasped. "Is that you, Nicki?" "It's me, Bobby." His grin was infectious; Nicole returned it. "How you been?"

He didn't reply, but rounded the counter and hugged her warmly. "Jeez, kid." He murmured. "It's good to see you-thought something bad had happened to you." Grabbing her shoulders, he pulled her back gently, taking a good look at her. "Boy," he quipped. "Are you a sight for sore eyes. What have you been doin' with yourself?"

"I got some help, Bobby." Nicole didn't want to elaborate on exactly who had helped her; she wasn't sure Bobby would understand how people like Robert operated. Heck, she wasn't sure she understood how people like Robert operated, or even if there were other people like Robert. "I'm in college now. Art college."

Bobby nodded. "Always hoped you'd do somethin' like that." He told her. "Whoever helped you...tell 'em thanks from me, okay?" A pause, and then he added slowly, "But somethin' tells me this ain't a social call, kiddo. What's up?" So Nicole showed him her drawing, gave him a quick and clear outline of what had happened, and asked if he'd seen anything. Bobby grinned, but there was almost a ferocity behind it. "You know nothin' gets past me, Nicki." He replied. "This guy was in here yesterday, with a woman. She looked just like the way you described your friend. Seemed normal enough, but there was something not right. The guy looked like he was in a hell of a hurry, and the woman...I don't know why, but I got the feeling she was scared. Didn't show it, but I've been around the block a time or two. Could practically smell fear."

Nicole nodded grimly. It was starting to sound more and more like Amy's 'husband' had forced her to clean out her bank accounts and leave with him. But why?

"You didn't see where they were going by any chance, did you, Bobby?" She enquired. "They got into a car." He told her. "Blue Lambourghini, it looked like. Didn't get the license plate though, sorry." He made an apologetic gesture with his hands, then concluded, "They turned left at the top of the street. That's all I got, kiddo."

It wasn't a whole lot, but it was a starting point. "Thanks, Bobby." She said, hugging the man again and turning to leave. "I owe you one. Again."

"De nada." Bobby waved a hand at her. "Just don't be a stranger, alright? Come in and see me sometimes."

After promising she would, Nicole stepped out onto the street, and looked around, lost in thought. She was so lost in thought, unfortunately, she didn't see the figure stepping stealthily out of the shadows until it was too late. A cloth was pressed against her mouth and nose, and she caught the distinct smell of chemicals, before unconsciousness claimed her...

NEXT: Robert is frantic when Nicole disappears-and just what has happened to her? I know there are security cameras in a bank, but I thought it'd be more fun to put Nicole's artistic skills to good use. Reviews are my friend. Thank you. :)