Chapter Fourteen

Three days later

That night, Sara is going to spend the night with her Auntie Katie. They are doing that because Martin had to go to a NA meeting and needed someone to watch his daughter for the night. Since DeAnna is not going to available because of a family situation, Martin decided to ask Katie.

At work the day after they are done with the Christopher Peterson case who is alive from this day and his wife might will divorce him of what he did, there was another case going on. The case involved a teenage girl who disappeared right before she got to her bus stop. The day after she was last seen, her mother realized that Lacey Keller was not home. She called her daughter's friends and the school to ask if they seen Lacey that day. None of them didn't saw Lacey that day. After all of them, Rachel Keller freaked out and reported a missing person report.

The FBI received it and Jack and the team was on the case. When Martin got to the Keller's house in Brooklyn after getting Sara to daycare, he went to the front porch and waited there in the freezing morning to wait for Katie so they can start the investigation together.

When Katie parked her car into a space between two blue sedans, she turned off the engine and got out of the car. Once she got out, Katie walked over to the front porch where Martin is at. When she got to the walkway, with a smile on her face, she said to him, "Morning, Martin. What we got today?" Martin smiled at her and while tucking his hands into his coat jacket, Martin told her that a teenage girl named Lacey Keller was last seen at her bus stop down the block. She didn't been seen for almost a day now and her mother is inside waiting for them.

Katie listened to Martin's words and asked him if the mother did the reporting. "Yeah. She did." answered Martin whose blue eyes are staring at Katie. Katie saw her colleague staring at her and moments later, with another smile on her face, she said to Martin, "Well. We better go in then before the mom is starting to change her mind." Martin smiled at that and helped Katie get inside by opening the door, let Katie go in first and then himself into the house.

Once they got inside, Martin and Katie went to the kitchen where they had founded Rachel Keller sitting on a wooden chair behind the matching wooden table. When Rachel saw them and got up so the two agents. "Mrs. Keller. I am Special Agent Fitzgerald and this is Special Agent Carter." said Martin who pointed at Katie so Rachel can see her too. "We understood that you reported your daughter missing. Is that true?" Rachel nodded yes. Martin saw the nod and asked her that the three of them can talk about what had happened the morning before. "Sure." answered Rachel and went back to the table. Martin and Katie followed her.

The moment the two of them was sitting down, Rachel asked them if any of them wanted some coffee? Katie shook her head but Martin certainly like some. "What you like it in, Special Agent Fitzgerald?" asked Rachel who is smiling at Martin from the kitchen counter. " Some cream and sugar, please?" asked Martin who is also smiling. Rachel smiled back and pour the coffee into a mug, put the cream and sugar into it afterward.

A minute later, Rachel came back with a mug of coffee with a hint of cream and sugar and put it in front of Martin. "Thank you." said Martin who grabbed the handle and drank some. Rachel smiled again and got in front of Martin and Katie so they can talk what had happened between her and Lacey the morning she was last seen. "So what had happened between you and Lacey yesterday morning?" asked Katie who got a small notepad out of her coat pocket so she can record it. Rachel stared at both Katie and Martin and told them about yesterday morning.

"We had a fight yesterday morning." said Rachel. "My ex-husband and I got a divorce about a year and a half ago. We got joint custody of Lacey. I got Lacey during the week and Henry, my ex got her for weekends. Normally, Lacey was at her father's place in Staten Island every weekend and usually had a good time together but it didn't happened last time." "What had happened last weekend?" asked Martin.

Rachel cleared her voice and told Martin and Katie that Henry got to go to DC at the last minute for business and told Lacey that he can't see her that time. Of course that Lacey got mad at that because it seems like Lacey liked her father more than me and don't want to spent her weekend with me. "What did the both of you did last weekend?" asked Katie who was scribbling down some notes.

"We didn't do anything last weekend." answered Rachel. "Lacey mostly avoided me but we had breakfast together and went to church in the morning. The rest of the day, Lacey went to her room to do some work for school or chat with her friends on her laptop or went out with her friends." Once Rachel was done, Katie asked her another question. "Sure. What's it?" asked Rachel. Katie cleared her voice and asked her, "Had you seen anything different about Lacey yesterday?"

Rachel nodded yes and said to them, "Yesterday morning, Lacey didn't ate any breakfast and told me that she was in a rush to go to school which was unusually weird because Lacey always eat a full breakfast and wasn't in a rush in the mornings." Seconds later, Martin asked her if she know the reason why Lacey did that yesterday? Rachel shook her head.

After that, Martin turned to Katie and told her something in a whisper. Katie listened what Martin is telling about and got up from her chair to ask Rachel something. "Mrs. Keller. Can I get your daughter's laptop so the techs can look in the hard drive so they can tell what things Lacey are doing?"asked Katie. Rachel was thinking about it for a while and then nodded her head toward Katie. Katie saw the nod that Rachel made and asked her where Lacey kept her laptop? "In her bedroom two doors left at the staircase." answered Rachel. "Thanks." said Katie to Rachel who had smiled at her.

Katie turned to Martin and told him that after she get the laptop, meet her at the hallway so they can get back to the building so they can tell them what had happened. "Sure. I will see you there." answered Martin whose blue eyes are smiling at her. Katie smiled back at Martin with her own blue eyes and walked out of the kitchen to get to Lacey's bedroom to get the laptop so the techs can see it and examine it.

Once Katie had left, Martin turned around and drank some of his coffee. After a few sips, Martin put it back on the table and founded Rachel staring at the FBI agent with her hazel eyes. Rachel saw Martin looking at her and asked Martin something personal. "Special Agent Fitzgerald. Can I ask you something?" answered Rachel. Martin looked at her and asked her, "Sure. What's it?" Rachel put some stray hairs behind her right ear and asked him if he had children?

Martin listened to that question and right away with a smile, he answered her question by saying, "Yes. I had a daughter." "How old is she?" asked Rachel. Martin smiled again and told her that Sara is turning five two weeks from Friday. After hearing at that, Rachel got interested by this and asked him, "So you are finally done with the potty training and all those things?" Martin shook his head and told her 'no'. Rachel was shocked by it and asked him why? Martin went back to drinking the last of his coffee and told her afterward that Sara is adopted.

Rachel heard what Martin was talking about and asked him again when she got adopted? "Not that long ago. She was adopted at the end of January." Rachel smiled at Martin again for about the fifth time and asked him again for the fifth time, "So you're a new father?" Martin nodded yes. After seeing the nod, even through she wasn't a good mother to Lacey, Rachel gave Martin some parenting advice.

"Agent Fitzgerald. I know that parenting a new child seem overwhelming for now but later on, it will go through smoothly. They will always love you no matter what and still think that you are great person even through they don't say it yet." said Rachel. Martin agreed with that and told Rachel that even through that Sara doesn't called him her dad yet, she was always been there for him and always willing to help out.

From the last part, Martin remembered that during the dinner at the Tolands when Katie told him the story when Katie nearly lost Sara at the flower shop and founded her near some calla lilies minutes later. The moment she put Sara back into the carrier, Katie asked Sara why she did that? In her sweet little voice, Sara told her that she wanted to help out Martin out. Martin got out his daughter's opinion of the story when the both of them got home and put Sara in her bed. His daughter told him the same thing and asked Martin if he is mad at her for doing that? Martin told her that he was not mad and gave her a kiss on the forehead to tell her that he was fine by that. To tell the truth, Martin DID brought Katie a bouquet of white roses with the help of Sara who remembered hearing Auntie Katie that she like white roses.

After thinking about that, Martin turned to Rachel and told her thanks for the advice. "No problem, Agent Fitzgerald but I had one more question." said Rachel to Martin. "Sure. What's it?" asked Martin. Rachel smiled at him and asked him if he was done with the coffee? To see what Rachel was talking about, Martin looked at the bottom of his mug and saw nothing. Telling that he was done, Martin grabbed the mug by the handle, and handed it back to Rachel who smiled at him again while going back to the kitchen.

Five minutes later, Martin went to the hallway after talking to Rachel some more, he founded Katie in the hallway, carrying a pale blue canvas briefcase which probably contains the laptop. Katie saw Martin looking at her and right away, she smiled at him and asked Martin if he wanted to go back to the building so they can tell the team what they got right away? From seeing the pale blue briefcase, Martin noticed that the color of the briefcase was matching Katie's pale blue eyes. To see those amazing blue eyes, Martin looked up from the case Katie was carrying in her right hand and asked her something he wanted to tell her later.

"No, Katie. I wanted to ask you something?" asked Martin. Katie stared at Martin for a minute and asked him what it is? Martin cleared his voice for a second and asked her if she wants to watch Sara for him while he goes to his NA meeting on Thursday night? Katie asked him, "why?" "Katie. Usually, DeAnna watched her during the meetings but she can't because of family issues and going to be out of town until it was over and I can't find anybody to watch her." A few seconds later, Martin stared at Katie's blue eyes again and told her from all of this, he is asking her to take care of Sara while he was away at the meeting.

After hearing that, Katie told him yes because she will love to spend more time with her goddaughter and her apartment didn't had any child in there or anything in fact in a week with the expectation of Colby. Martin listened to Katie and told her that he is good about it and will drop Sara off at her place at around six pm. Katie smiled at that and Martin smiled back. A minute later, the both of them went back outside, into their cars, and drove to the building to tell the rest of the team what they got and will start the case from there.

--

Two days and a half days later, Katie went back to her place from work a hour before Martin brings Sara there to watch her while Martin went to his meeting. After Katie got home, she put her things away, changed out of her work clothes and into a sweater and jeans, and went over to the sink to if the package of ground beef in a bowl of warm water was done defrosting so Katie can make some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

After she checked the meat, Katie pulled out the pasta, a can of tomato sauce and some mushrooms to make her sauce, and some seasoning to make the pasta and meatballs some flavor, Katie boiled a pot of water on the stove and put the box full of spaghetti in it right away. The moment she was done, Katie went to her couch and relaxed until Sara and Martin comes in about fifteen minutes.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the other side while Katie was playing a quiet game with Colby. Right away, Katie knew that could be Martin and Sara and got up to walk over to the door and opened it so Martin and Sara can get inside. The moment the door was opened, in front of her was Martin who was carrying Sara around his arms. Katie smiled at the both of the Fitzgeralds and said to them, "Hi." Martin and Sara greeted back and went inside.

The moment they got inside the cozy but small apartment, Katie helped Martin put his daughter down and right away, Sara ran away from the adults and into the area where Colby who was waiting for her by his dog bed. Martin and Katie saw that and smiled at her, knowing that Sara wanted to stay away from them the moment Katie got her down from her father's arms.

Martin decided to stay in the apartment for a few minutes so he and Katie can chat about things. One of the things they talked about was the Lacey Keller case they had done the day before. When they founded her, Lacey was alive and well at her father's place in Staten Island. Henry Keller told them that Lacey came to him at work the morning she was last seen. When Henry saw her, he told her to go back to her mother's but she said no. Don't wanting his only child to hate him, Henry told her that she could stay with for as long as she needed but she had to go back to her mother's afterward.

The team knew where to find her by seeing that recent calls Lacey made on her cell came from Staten Island. Once they had founded her, Lacey went back to her mother and was grounded for a month now. "I guess that right now, Lacey probably giving her mother the silent treatment for what she did." said Katie. Martin agreed with that and seconds later, Martin called out Sara's name and tell her to come to him so he can tell her to be good around Katie until he comes back to pick her up.

After giving her hugs and kisses, Martin put Sara and told Katie if she needed some help, call him or if he was not here, call his sponsor, Eddie. Katie told Martin 'okay' and Martin kissed her lightly on the lips. The moment he was done kissing her, Martin waved bye at both Katie and Sara. "Bye, Martin." said Sara who was waving back to her father. Martin smiled at his daughter while he was turning the doorknob around and left seconds later. Once Martin had left the building, Katie got over to Sara, picked her up, and headed to the kitchen with a giggly Sara in her arms to make some dinner.

At the kitchen, Katie sliced the mushrooms into pieces and put them into the pot of tomato sauce while Sara sprinkled some parsley and rosemary into a bowl of ground beef so she and Auntie Katie can rolled them up into many meatballs. After rolling them up, Katie put them into the spaghetti sauce and while the meatballs are in there, Sara helped Katie get the napkins, forks, and glasses out and put them out on the table.

After it was done, Katie brought out the food along with the garlic bread and a pitcher of juice onto the table. Right away, the moment Katie put the spaghetti covered with the sauce she made onto two plates and put a cloth napkin around Sara's neck so her clothes don't get dirty, and started eating their dinner.

Twenty minutes later, after they are finishing washing the plates, forks, and glasses with soap and put them away in the racks, Katie and Sara scooped out some strawberry ice cream into two small bowls and got in front of the TV to watch the movie, Finding Nemo. Over an hour and half of watching Marlin, Dory, Nemo, the rest of the fishes, and trying to speak whale to each other, Katie looked at the wall clock to see what time it is?

Right in front of her, the wall clock had said 8:15 pm. Fifteen minutes before Sara had to go to bed. To tell Sara that she had to go to bed, Katie turned around to a still awake Sara who was sitting next to her Auntie, and told her that. Right away, Sara told her okay and seconds later, Katie picked up Sara and headed to the bathroom to give Sara a bubble bath.

--

After giving Sara a bubble bath, Katie carried a towel-covered Sara to the guest room where her pajamas are waiting for her, wanting to be put on. The moment she put Sara in her pj's, put her down on the sheets and pulled over the blue comforter over her little body, Katie had read her a bedtime story. When Katie was finishing with the book, Katie looked over the top of the book and saw that Sara was fast asleep with Colby sleeping at her feet. Right in front of her, Sara was sleeping like an angel. Katie smiled at that cute little moment and turned to the alarm clock that was sitting on the nightstand three feet north of the chair Katie was sitting on.

The green numbers had told her that right now was nine pm. Wanting to get this over with, Katie quietly walked over to Sara to kiss her on the head good-night and headed to the door to do her night-time routine. Seconds later, Katie was walking the bathroom to take a shower, use the toilet, and brush her teeth before going back into the living room to watch some TV and waiting for Martin to come back to pick up his daughter but something bad had happened.

While Katie was taking a shower, she heard some barking from the other side of the bathroom door. "What is the hell is that?" thought Katie, thinking about the barking from the other side of the door. To do that, Katie turned off the shower, grabbed a towel, put it around her body, and got out of the shower to open the door to see who is doing the barking.

The moment she opened the door, right in front of her was Colby who was barking like crazy. Wanting to know why Colby was doing that, Katie got down to Colby's level and asked him, "What's wrong, Colby?" Seconds later, Colby turned around and ran straight down the hallway. Thinking that there could be some trouble down the hall, Katie tighten the towel around her chest so it won't fall off and ran behind Colby.

Moments later, Katie saw Colby standing in front of the guest room door and barking again. Katie patted Colby on the head and told him that he had done a good job. With Colby on her side, Katie went to the table that was a couple feet away and grabbed a gun from a flower pot. The second she put on the safety, Katie got to the door and put herself onto the wall. While opening the doorknob, the door was wide open and quietly, Katie walked along the wall until she got to the door frame. Once she got there, Katie quietly counted to three to give herself some time. Once she got to three, Katie quickly got in front of the opened and said, "FREEZE!"

After she said that, Katie looked around and founded nobody there but she noticed something different. Katie turned around to the bed to see Sara is still there sleeping like an angel but she wasn't even there. Katie got over to the left side of the bed and noticed that the sheets was wrinkled and the top left corner of the comforter was blown over to the other side. Minutes before, a sweet little girl was sleeping on the spot where Katie was looking at right now. "Sara. Where are you?" asked Katie who was hoping that Sara was hiding somewhere.

After calling Sara to come out from where she was at, there was no responses. Seconds later, Katie noticed that there was a cold breeze in the guest room. Wanting to see where the breeze came from, Katie looked around the room to figured out where? Moments later, Katie figured out where it came from. Katie got in front of a window and noticed that the window was broken. There was glass scattered in front of the window. Katie looked at the window again and saw a crack on the glass that looked big enough to fit a person or two. From seeing that, something had hit Katie on the head.

"Oh no. Sara got kidnapped." thought Katie. Her sweet little girl, Sara got kidnapped but by who? Katie got to get some help and there was one person who can help her. To do what she wanted to do, Katie went over to the nightstand and grabbed the cordless phone on top of the wooden surface. The moment she got the phone, Katie dialed the number of the person she wanted to call and put the phone to her face to wait for the person to pick up.

Seconds later, a voice came to Katie's ear. "Fitzgerald" said the person. "Martin. You had to come back to my place. Something horrible had happened here." said Katie in a worried voice. A few seconds later, Martin asked Katie, "Katie. You got to tell me what had happened." Katie felt tears are about to come out of her eyes and told Martin that Sara was gone.