By the time five o'clock had rolled around, Megan was exhausted. Charlee had been up for a little while and they had talked more until Don David and Colby returned. It turned out that a short raid on Antonio's house, come to find out there had been no recent activity that Antonio himself had been around. They had checked the garage, it being empty. A search on his car had been put out on alert but so far nothing had come up. No weapon, leads or information, besides what information Charlee had given them had been announced and they found themselves at their desks again, except that Charlee was now sitting in a chair in the middle of the cubicles, lightly touching her fingers to the desk and spinning the chair back and forth.

Don pulled up a chair beside her to go over phone records from both Antonio and Andrea. In the process he had looked up several times after scanning the list while she had been looking up information; there was one particular phone number that showed up more than any of them. When looked up in the phone directory it showed the resident's name, 'Joe & Susain Carlos'. He eventually took David with him to go check out the lead, but not before telling Megan to go home and get some sleep.

Of course he had to know that she was just as hard headed as he was, so he threw in. "I've held back DCFS to give us more time. They should be coming around tomorrow morning around eleven." Looking as his watch he walked towards the elevator.

"And you were thinking about me taking Charlee?" Megan turned around in her chair as she pulled off her glasses; clearly aware that Charlee was sitting just a few feet from them. She gave Don a side glance, turning her chair to the side. "You still thinking that he's going to come back for her?" Megan lowered her voice.

"It's possible. He came for her and left without what he wanted. So why kill somebody in the first place if you're going for something you want?" Placing her hand on her side, she knew that look. It was the same expression that mirrored avenge. Crime against children was hard enough, and none of them would let a child be in harms way if it could be avoided. Antonio Harrison was out there somewhere and right now his exact intentions were unknown, besides that there was a chance that he was going to come after Charlee next. The feeling was general in the atmosphere, how he could, they didn't know. Maybe they were taking extra precautions, breaking the rules, but in some way Charlee was already starting to change their lives for the better.

The same question that they were thinking about had most likely ran through Andrea Lucas' mind, every day. Even though she had known that Antonio had been in jail he had probably haunted Andrea and Charlee for years before--not to mention, put a child in the middle of all this and now he has something to use against her for years to come. A mother such as Andrea would willingly and knowingly protect her young and held the opportunity to escape.

Megan exhaled in resignation, understanding. She took a step forward towards Charlee, her hand lightly touched the top of the chair. "Come on Charlee, you're coming home with me tonight."

"I am?" A thrill ran through Charlee as she tucked her legs underneath her, then stood from the chair. "But where do you live?"

Megan laughed. "I live at my house."

"Oh."

David asked her as she peered up at him. "What do you think about that Charlee?"

She twisted her lips into a thoughtful expression. "I guess I'll take that offer."

David smiled. "Who taught you to talk so smart? I don't think I could talk like this when I was her age." Don and David exchange glances as he pointed over at Charlie still with a grin. "Could you?" To each he offered the question; to both Colby and Megan. Each shook their heads.

Don shook his head. "I doubt it. Although I think my dad would secretly do anything to get back those years." Charlee grinned from ear to ear, watching them play off each other. She watched them with fascination. She no longer looked scared, but momentarily at ease, something they could hold onto. Charlee had always been taught 'no matter what you've lost, you hold on to what you've got now.' and 'Always have a good attitude and show the world what you've got by speaking out.' Something she had learned at such a young age.

Charlee giggled. "Mommy taught me." She looked up at them thoughfully. "To be lady-like?"

"Lady-like?" Don acted surprised. "Well in the case, lead the way Lady Charlee. We'll make sure you get to your car in safety."

--

"Here we are." Megan announced as they stopped in front of her house, almost an hour later.

"This is your house?" Charlee asked trying to unbuckle her seatbelt. Megan unbuckled her own seatbelt and then came around to help Charlee get out.

The outside of the house was surrounded with red brick; the roof a light brown. Around the perimeter of the house was two garden areas filled with all colors of flowers.

"Look at all the flowers." Charlee pointed out happily as they walked up to her door. "I never had flowers at my house. Daddy didn't like them."

Megan looked down at her. "Not everybody likes them. Come on I want to show you something." They made their way into the house and Megan shut the door behind them, cautiously looking behind her before locking up the door again. "You hungry?"

Charlee shook her head in response, "No." as Megan dug through a drawer and pulled out a photo album.

Sitting on the couch, Megan patted the seat beside her and set the album in her lap. Hesitantly Charlee sat beside her, not sure what to expect. "You know when I was your age I secretly wanted to be a ballerina."

Wrinkling her nose, Charlee gazed up at her and then focused back on the page Megan was turning to. "A ballerina? I have a barbie that I dress up as a ballerina."

"Really. You are a very lucky girl. I would never play with barbies but instead I would have rather been a ballerina playing football."

"Sports."

Megan smiled kindly. "More than you know." Brushing her hand over Charlee's nose, the little girl giggled. The laughter died down as her eyes glued to the page of a little girl in a pink ballerina tutu.

Charlee had to take a double look, back from the page back to Megan. "You?"

"Yeah. I was just a little older than you when this picture had been taken. I had been in a recital and my dad hadn't been there. My mom had the idea to take my picture afterward. So I found a nice frame to put it in and gave it to him as a gift for his birthday. Only I wasn't sure that he had liked the picture--he meant well but we didn't always see eye to eye."

"Eye to eye?"

"It just means that we didn't always get along. We fought a lot."

"Oh" Charlee bowed her head. "My daddy wasn't nice either."

That's the second time she had mentioned that. "Charlee, I read the reports, you were there weren't you...when your dad hit your mom. Did he do anything that made you not feel right at any time when you were around?" The young girl immediately shook her head, then rethought the gesture.

"He use to play with me." She motioned and sat back, playing with her fingers. "Then he met some not so nice people. All they wanted was money all the time."

"Money." Megan confirmed, raising her eyebrow. "Was he selling something that he wasn't suppose to?"

"I don't know." The young girl shrugged, "He was no fun any more. I don't ever get to go home do I?"

Megan knew exactly what she was asking by the look in her eyes. "No Charlee, I don't think home is an option right now."