Cleaning is done at the old house and things will start to calm down again. Still have to unpack at the new house but no hurry for that. This week might still be a little hectic this week but should be calm and back to normal by this weekend.

Ch. 4 Eyes on the Prize, Reboot The Mission

(CLARE)

"I scheduled our meeting with Mikayla Brook's family at three this afternoon so we might need to go straight there and check into the hotel later," Miles tells me as we walk through the airport to the rental car place.

"That's fine, I'm going to call Owen while you get the rental car," I reply and Miles nods. He goes to the rental car counter and I find a semi-quiet corner getting my phone out to call Owen.

"Hi Gorgeous," Owen answers and I hear the sounds of slot machines in the background so he must be in Atlantic City.

"Hi we just landed; we're getting the rental car and going straight to the interview before checking in. I'll call you tonight after we get to the hotel."

"Sounds good, be safe, I love you."

"I love you too have fun," I smile and hang up.

"Ready? I got us a rental car," Miles tells me and I nod. We walk over to the shuttle that takes us to the lot and put our bags in the trunk. Miles enters the address into the GPS and begins driving. "You know I'm surprised you found such a connection between the victims so fast."

"It was in the files, not all of them and I haven't been through all of them yet but enough that I was comfortable making a working profile."

"What makes you think he's taking these women to live out a fantasy? Or that it's even a man?"

"The statistics are overwhelming. Women rarely kidnap and hold other women. Although without knowing how the unsub is finding these women it's hard to say. They are so spread out and it doesn't say in all the files that they played music as kids. We should ask Mikayla's family if she played music, what are their names? It's her husband and sister right?"

"Yes and their names are Ron and Karin," Miles tells me.

"Yeah that's right, I was confusing them with the parents of the London victim," I comment.

"I'm not very familiar with the files but I have spoken to all the victim's families and gotten familiar with their names. So was Owen very upset that you were leaving during your alone time?"

"He wasn't thrilled but he understood. He went to Atlantic City with some friends."

"That's good. Life must be pretty crazy with four kids," Miles remarks.

"Yeah with four kids including very active twins I think life would be crazy regardless but with our schedules things are pretty much constantly hectic. Especially since Zak and Bethany are old enough to be involved in sports and activities. She does dance classes 3 days a week, he does football, hockey and basketball and now Bethany wants to get involved in acting."

"Sounds like Zak takes after his father a lot," Miles comments.

"Yes he does, very much so, he even looks like his dad he's going to be a little heartbreaker when he's older."

"Does Bethany take after you?"

"Yeah certainly more after me than Owen, I did a very tiny bit of acting but preferred to be behind the scenes. I took dance for a few years when I was younger than Bethy. She did start reading early like I did and she's got my eyes and the same curls but her coloring is a little darker than my hair."

"What about the twins? How old are they again?"

"Jude and Sadie are four. I think they're more of an even mix of the two of us. Sadie has dark hair like her dad but has my curls. Jude has straight hair like Owen but it's got my coloring. Jude has his father's eyes and Sadie has mine. Sadie is quieter and calmer, a little bit shy more like me but she's already showing an interest in sports like her dad. Jude is a lot more outspoken and very protective of his sister, he does show an interest in sports but he also likes to be read to and just relax. They really are a mix of the two of us, Sadie asked about learning to ice skate and they're both taking swimming lessons this summer."

"I'm surprised that you and Owen find any time for each other with all that and your schedules," Miles comments.

"Yeah we probably wouldn't if his parents didn't take the kids for a couple months each summer. It's really the only time we get to put ourselves first for the rest of the year everything is about the kids."

Miles grins but doesn't say anything else as we've reached the house. We get out and Miles knocks on the door. A woman answers, she looks to be around my age but you can see the stress lines of recent worry. She gives us a small smile and opens the door so we can come in.

"You must be Miles I'm Karin Caldwell, Mikayla's sister and this is her husband Ron," the woman tells us.

"Thanks for seeing us," Miles says. We shake their hands and sit at the dining room table.

"I know you've probably gone over this with the police but we need to ask you some questions. We need to know as much about Mikayla as we can, her habits, routine, interests. I'm also here for support if there's anything you need to talk about," Miles says.

"Can I ask did Mikayla play music as a child?" I question.

"Yes she did, she was an extremely gifted musician, she began playing the piano at age four and played nearly every instrument she could get her hands on. She went to a performing arts high school and the pressure became too much for her. She gave up and never played again after that," Karin replies. This answer only supports my working profile and the reason the unsub is targeting these victims now the big question is how he's finding them.

"Ron would you mind if I looked around your house a little? The more I understand about Mikayla will help us catch who took her."

"Yeah I guess that's fine," he nods.

I leave Miles to conduct the rest of the interview and look around their house. Mikayla is a very tidy and organized person, everything is put away and everything is in it's place, most things are even labeled she definitely likes order. I don't see anything in the house to suggest she ever played music, no instruments in the house, no pictures of her playing. So the question is how did this guy find her? If she hasn't played since high school then how did he even know? Their small apartment is easy to look through and I rejoin Miles in the living room.

"We were just thinking of starting a family and now she's been missing for six weeks. She's dead isn't she?" Ron whispers and then starts crying.

"We're doing everything we can to find her," Miles assures him putting a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"I think we have everything we need, if either of you thinks of anything else, anything at all even if it seems insignificant, call us," I tell Ron and Karin.

"Thanks," Karin nods. I give her one of my cards and Miles gives them a business card.

"Why don't we check into the hotel and then grab an early dinner? We can share observations over dinner," Miles suggests when we're back in the car.

"Sounds good, I'll call Owen when I've checked in and freshen up a little."

Miles enters the address of the hotel into the GPS and starts driving. We checked in and are given rooms next to each other. We park the car and get our bags before going up to our rooms. I lock the hotel room door and sit on the bed getting out my cell phone to call Owen. He doesn't answer but I'm sure he's having fun with his friends or possibly at a show.

"It's me, just calling to let you know I've checked into the hotel. We're going to get some dinner and I'll be back later. I hope you're having fun I love you."

I put my phone down and freshen up a little including changing into jeans and a t-shirt since I don't have to look professional anymore. Miles sends me a text that he's ready and I text back that I'll be right out. Miles and I look for a restaurant close to the hotel and get a table.

"So did you see anything interesting at the house?" Miles asks after we've placed our order.

"Just that she was extremely neat but there was no evidence that she ever played an instrument. If I hadn't asked I'm sure it wouldn't have come up. I'm still not sure how he's finding these women."

"Social media?"

"Unlikely most of these women gave up on music or at least their aspirations of playing in orchestra or continuing with their musical gifts the way they were cultivated. Anyway there's already an FBI technical analyst looking into the women's social media and all other online activity," I remark but go quiet when the waiter brings our drinks. "Did you learn anything new during the interview?" I question.

"Nothing new I was mostly just supporting their grief. They'd learned that a victim had been killed and were worried that Mikayla was dead. We went over her routine again and I asked them again about anyone new that had come into her life but they had nothing new to share. What time is the interview in London tomorrow?"

"It will take us most of the day to drive there so I scheduled it for four. I can reschedule if you think that's too early."

"No four should be fine, we can leave around eight after breakfast and take turns driving," I reply. We're silent for a few minutes now that we're not discussing the case we eat silently. "So any girlfriends?" I question when the silence begins to be too much.

"No nothings serious, not in a long while. This work doesn't really leave time for romance. I suppose if I settled in one area, worked at a hospital or clinic or support group it would. I wouldn't travel quite so much but for me the traveling is part of the fun. It's part just being a therapist for people and partly just a study in people. People are the same and yet vastly different everywhere you go."

"What about your family? Do you see your siblings much or your mom?"

"I see my brother every few months but only see my mom and sister on holidays. He'll come out and see me every few months and we generally all go home for Christmas. But again traveling so much it doesn't leave a lot of time for family. It's one of the nice things about this job, especially with all the bad things you hear about, is getting to travel everywhere. You can work everywhere; I've even been far away as England in this job."

"That's impressive; Owen and I went to London once but not for work just pleasure."

"I'm sure you two have been a lot of places for pleasure," Miles comments.

"Yeah we do like to travel but it's getting harder and harder," I reply.

Miles asks a few more questions about our travels and I ask him about his. Miles pays and we leave the restaurant driving back to the hotel, I say goodnight to Miles and go into my room. I start to get ready for bed when my phone rings and I answer after seeing that it's Owen.

"Hi having fun?"

"A lot but I miss you. How's the work going?"

"It's fine, going to be a long day tomorrow though. Six hours of driving and then an interview."

"I'll let you go then just called to say I love you."

"I love you too."

(OWEN)

Clare comes down the escalator to baggage claim with Miles at her side, she grins wide when she sees me while he gives me a slight nod. Clare comes straight to me throwing her arms around my neck and catching my lips.

"I missed you," Clare grins.

"I missed you too. Hey Miles," I nod to him.

"Hi Owen."

"You need a lift Miles?"

"No I parked in the long term lot but thanks. I'll see you tomorrow Clare," Miles says waving to us. I take Clare's bag and we go out to the car and I start driving home.

"So how was the trip?" I ask Clare.

"It was fine, it was fast and there was a lot packed in, and several hours of driving. Miles is a pretty good driving partner though, but not as good as you."

"Yeah I'll bet you got to know him pretty well."

"Yeah a little better, he's kind of guarded though and doesn't talk about his personal life much."

"Is he not close to his family?"

"No not really."

"No girlfriend or anything?"

"No but his job doesn't allow for much romance, he travels a lot. How was Atlantic City?"

"Great, did a little gambling and pretty much broke even."

"What's pretty much broke even?" Clare inquires with a slightly scolding tone as she obviously thinks I lost money.

"I came out ahead by twenty bucks," I reply and she smiles.

"Does that mean you're taking me to dinner?" Clare asks.

"Of course I will take you to dinner, anywhere you want to go," I tell her.

"I want to eat at home I've eaten out the last two nights," she says taking my hand.

"Then we'll eat at home," I grin.

"Good but it's only one and first I want to shower and make up for the last two days of being away from you," Clare smiles and my grin gets bigger.

We arrive home and Clare takes her bag upstairs and starts the shower. While she's showering I look through the kitchen to see what we have and what we could make for dinner. I go upstairs just as Clare is getting out of the shower. She comes out of the washroom with a towel wrapped around her. When she sees me she grins and drops the towel walking over to me, she pounces on me and snatches my lips into a blistering kiss.

"Do you have any idea how great it is that we're this age, still this good looking and this hot for each other after almost ten years of marriage?" I comment after breaking the kiss.

"Husband," Clare says as she begins unbuttoning my shirt.

"Yes Wife?"

"You have far too many clothes on."

I grin and quickly divest myself of my clothing, picking Clare up in my arms and taking her to the chaise in the seating area of our master suite. I put her down on the edge and get down on my knees between her legs slipping my tongue into her. Clare moans and squirms a little her heels dig into my legs a bit as I flick my tongue around her core and drink in her juices. From the very first time my tongue had the privilege of slipping between Clare's lusciously pink pussy lips Clare's juices have tasted like strawberry ice cream to me. Like soft partially melting strawberry ice cream.

I bring her to orgasm with my tongue and stand up. I pull Clare to stand before gently guiding her to bend over. She braces her hands on the chaise and spreads her legs a little. I look at her beautiful pearly skin and run my hand along the curve of her spine down to her apple of an ass and smack her butt cheek lightly eliciting a soft moan from Clare's lips. I'm already rock hard and I slide into her slowly, Clare makes a throaty moan and reaches back for me. I grip her hips and continue to thrust slowly as I watch the curve of her spine and the way her body trembles. Clare moans in endless chains and whimpers softly, her body is just begging for more. Her body tenses and she moves along me, her hips bucking and her hand reaching back to pull me to her. When she can't stand it any longer she makes her begging audible, pleading with me to go faster. I give into her begging and go faster, increasing my speed until she screams my name out in orgasm and her back arches high and her body turns to gelatin shaking with climatic bliss.

I slow down and pull out giving Clare only a moment to recover before I lay her on her back and kiss my way down her body before penetrating into her again. Clare makes a screaming sort of moan and her body trembles again. She grips onto me as I glide all the way into her, abducting her lips when I'm deep inside her. Clare's nails dig into my back and she breaks the kiss to breathe, her knees bending and her legs gripping onto me. Between my own deep moans of carnal rapture I kiss her supple breasts and tender flesh. It doesn't take long for our bodies to be aching for release once more and this time we climax together crying out the other's name. I slow down before pulling out and lie between her legs with my head upon my wife's breast.

"I love you," I smile placing a gently open mouth kiss on her breast.

"I love you," Clare says running her fingers through my hair, "I love you deeply Husband."

The update on Sunday, March 20th will not only be the last for Short Story Month but also likely the last for this story.