CHAPTER 6

"Don't eat so fast, you'll get indigestion." Fraser shook his head as Diefenbaker licked the bowl clean.

"Don't be so hard on him," laughed Stephanie.

"You have obviously never spent a night in the company of a wolf with digestive issues," replied Fraser. "It's not pleasant."

Stephanie giggled. Fraser was sitting on one of the dining chairs in the kitchen reading a book he'd found on the shelf. "It was my grandmother's favourite recipe book," Stephanie had explained and Fraser had become engrossed in the pages.

Stephanie stood motionless watching him, captivated by his physical and spiritual presence. She thought back to that morning and her emotional and ultimately futile demands for sex and she felt ashamed. He hadn't deserved that at all, she could see that now and a lesser man would have run straight out of the door, but not Benton Fraser. He understood her more than anyone ever had before. Now, as she watched his tongue dart out to moisten his lips as he absorbed the words on the page, everything felt different and she wanted him more than ever; not for selfish reasons any more, but because she wanted to show him how she felt. She wanted him to know how it could be between them; she wanted to reward him for everything he had done for her, to reward him just for being who he was. That's what he deserved.

Dief had found a shady spot by the door and was stretched out, yawning, satisfied after his meal. He wasn't going to need any attention from anyone for a while.

Stephanie glanced at the clock; there was plenty of time before Heidi was due back with Mia. Her breath hitched in anticipation and she walked over to Fraser. "Finish that later," she instructed and she closed the book and slid it across the table, to a look of surprise from Fraser. He soon realised why she'd done it though. She sat herself on his lap, straddling him so their faces were inches apart.

"Stephanie," he whispered, but she wasn't going to let him speak any more and she silenced him with a kiss. She ran her hands through his soft wavy hair as her mouth did the work and he moaned briefly as she pushed herself against him.

This time there were no doubts and Fraser kissed her deeply. Stephanie's hair fell forward, brushing both of their faces as they kissed, but neither of them cared. Neither of them cared about anything else at that moment.

She slipped her hand between their bodies, trying desperately to pull Fraser's shirt off his body, but the buttons refused to yield to her and she had to break her lips away from his for a moment to work on undoing them. She was panting with desire and impatience as she fumbled with his shirt, but then Fraser took her wrists and gently pulled them away. Stephanie almost died inside; surely he wasn't going to push her away again?

Fraser's face was red and glistening with sweat already. He looked into her eyes and suddenly realised what must be going through her mind. "Oh, no," he said with a smile, leaning in for another brief kiss. "I don't want you to stop," he said, his voice low and breathy. He rested his forehead against hers for a brief moment, gathering his thoughts, before pushing himself off the chair, keeping one arm tightly around her.

Stephanie wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to his neck as he carried her up the stairs. "I…I don't have any scented candles," she whispered in his ear, giggling as a sudden, brief moment of nervousness washed over her

Fraser stopped at the bedroom door, leaning against the wall for support and looked deep into her eyes, taking away all of her fears. "I don't care," he replied with a lopsided smile and he carried into the room and lowered her gently onto the bed.

Downstairs, Diefenbaker half opened one eye and realised he was alone at last. He would never understand why humans made relationships so complicated; but he was glad that things finally appeared to be moving along for his favourite human. He yawned again and settled down for what he hoped would be a nice, long snooze.

xXxXx

"We'd better get dressed." Stephanie sighed as she spoke. She didn't really want to move at all. Her head was resting on Fraser's smooth, bare chest and he had a comforting arm around her. "You shouldn't have let me fall asleep," she scolded him.

"You needed it," he replied. A thin cotton sheet covered them only up to their waists and Fraser was grateful that the temperature had finally started to drop. He'd been lying there for about half an hour listening to the gentle sound of Stephanie breathing and he could have stayed there forever, but he knew they had to get up. He kissed her on the top of her head. "Heidi will be bringing Mia home soon and it would probably be inappropriate for us to greet her like this," he said.

Stephanie giggled and lifted her head. "Naked, you mean," she said, biting her lower lip coyly. "And in the middle of the day too, what would she think?"

Fraser lifted his head slightly to kiss her.

"I'll tell you what she'd think," continued Stephanie. "She'd be insanely jealous that I've just spent the most amazing time in bed, making wild, passionate love with the most wonderful man in the world."

Fraser's face flushed red. "Wild…passionate…" he repeated and he cleared his throat. He sat up, angry with himself for his embarrassment. "We should definitely do that again soon," he said, brushing a stray hair from her face.

They quickly showered and made themselves presentable again. Fraser privately admonished himself for scattering his clothes all over the floor, but in the heat of the moment, neatness had been the last thing on his mind.

They sat downstairs drinking bark tea and talking about what other work needed doing urgently. "I should make a list of priorities," Stephanie suggested. "I want to get rid of all those trees along the paddock, but I guess the plumbing is more important. The downstairs toilet keeps backing up and the last thing I need is a flood."

"Agreed," nodded Fraser. "So tomorrow we'll look at the plumbing and then perhaps…"

"You don't have to help me with all of this," Stephanie interrupted him.

"But I want to," replied Fraser. "I'm going to take some sick days."

Stephanie was about to argue with him, but then she noticed the time. "Heidi is late," she said with a frown.

"She's probably just been delayed," said Fraser. "Don't worry."

It was starting to get dark outside and Stephanie crossed to the window, looking out hopefully to see if a car was pulling up onto the drive, but there was no one there.

For the next hour, Stephanie paced the floor getting more and more anxious as the minutes passed. She tried calling Heidi several times, but there was no answer. She tried to keep calm. "The traffic can be bad this time of day," she said, trying to convince herself more than anything.

"Do you have an address for Heidi?" asked Fraser. "If you'll allow me the use of your car, I'll head over there and see if there's a problem."

"OK," agreed Stephanie and she found some paperwork with the address. "I'll stay here. I'm sure she'll be back before you." As she watched Fraser and Diefenbaker walk out the door, Stephanie allowed herself a moment to break down, before pulling herself together again and sitting by the phone to wait.

Fraser found the apartment empty and in darkness. He and Dief satisfied themselves that there was no one inside, so they made their way back to the house, hoping that they'd find Mia had been returned safe and sound. Unfortunately, Stephanie was still alone.

"I'll call Ray," said Fraser. "The Chicago PD can arrange to search for them. They'll find her."

"The Police won't be interested," replied Stephanie, trying to hold back tears. "She's only been missing for a couple of hours; they won't care."

"Ray will care," said Fraser, earnestly.

Ray arrived quickly and started making some notes. "I got Frannie organising roadblocks," he explained, "and we're gonna post teams at the ports and airports."

"Oh my god, do you think she's trying to take Mia out of the country?" asked Stephanie, squeezing Fraser's hand.

"We don't know yet, but we gotta cover everythin'," explained Ray and Stephanie nodded understandingly. "Do ya have a photo of Mia?" he asked.

"I'll go and get you one," answered Stephanie and she ran upstairs.

Ray put down his pen and looked at Fraser. "So, what d'ya think, buddy?" he asked in a low voice.

Fraser sighed. "Something was definitely wrong with Heidi earlier," he replied. "I don't like this at all."

"Me neither," agreed Ray.

Stephanie returned with a photo of Mia. It was a few weeks old now, but you could see her distinctive blond curly hair. "I took that at the reserve," explained Stephanie, smiling at the memories. "Mia used to love watching the elephants; it made her giggle when they sprayed themselves with water." Suddenly, Stephanie burst into tears and fell into Fraser's arms. "I can't take any more of this," she sobbed. "Why is everything happening to me?"

Fraser hugged her tightly and tried to calm her. "I wish I had answers for you," he replied, "but I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to find Mia and bring her home safely. Now, why don't you come and sit on the couch and I'll get you another coffee."

Ray got up to leave and Fraser followed him out into the hall. "Ordinarily, I'd accompany you…" he began, but Ray put a comforting hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

"No, ya gotta stay here with her," he replied.

"Take Diefenbaker," urged Fraser. "He has Mia's scent, he may be of assistance."

Ray nodded and looked at the wolf who was eager to get to work. "OK," he agreed. "I'll call ya if I get any news."

"Thank you kindly, Ray," replied Fraser and he closed the door behind them.

As the evening turned into night, Fraser and Stephanie could do little else but sit and wait for news. Fraser switched on the TV as a distraction and it wasn't long before Stephanie had fallen asleep. She'd drunk cup after cup of coffee in a desperate attempt to stay awake, but in the end succumbed to exhaustion, resting with her head on Fraser's lap. He stroked her hair lovingly and wondered why all of these things were happening to such a wonderful woman at once. Life wasn't fair and she'd been so happy this afternoon.

Fraser glanced up to see the ghost of his father standing in front of him. "Oh, hello Dad," he said, keeping his voice down. "How long have you been there?"

"Not long," replied Bob. "This is a tough situation, isn't it."

"Indeed," agreed Fraser. "I keep thinking that I shouldn't have let Heidi take Mia today. I knew something was wrong, Ray and I both did. I was being selfish; I wanted to spend the time alone with Stephanie."

"Don't blame yourself," replied Bob. "Stephanie wanted Mia looked after just as much as you did. No one could have predicted that this might happen and remember, you don't know exactly what has happened yet."

"Dad, we spent the afternoon making…making love," Fraser's voice hitched as he spoke. He couldn't quite believe he was discussing this with his father. "Stephanie and I left Mia with a virtual stranger so that we could indulge in…in pleasure." The guilt was starting to become unbearable.

"Son, there's nothing wrong with…er…" began Bob. "Benton, when two people love each other very much…er, that is, adults have certain desires…" he trailed off awkwardly and cleared his throat.

A brief smile twitched at Fraser's lips. "Dad," he said. "You don't have to explain to me why people have sexual relationships."

"Ah, oh…ah, good," nodded Bob. "Well what I'm trying to say is…"

"Dad, it's OK; you don't have to say anything," smiled Fraser. "It's just comforting to know that you're there."

Bob nodded and disappeared into the shadows.

Just after midnight, the telephone rang. Fraser got up as quickly and carefully as he could to avoid disturbing Stephanie.

It was Ray. "Listen up, buddy; I got news," he said.

"Good news, or bad news?" asked Fraser, steeling himself.

"Er, well, Huey and Dewey were workin' the streets, they followed up on a few leads and they picked up Heidi a couple minutes ago," explained Ray.

"Was Mia with her?" asked Fraser, hopefully.

"No. Sorry, buddy," replied Ray. "She was workin' in a bar, waitressing. She claims she doesn't know where the baby is. I, er, I dunno what's goin' on yet, but I promise ya I'm gonna find out."

"Thank you, Ray," sighed Fraser. It wasn't the news he'd been hoping for, but Heidi must know something so it was at least encouraging.

Stephanie stirred as Fraser replaced the handset. "Was that the phone?" she asked in a croaky voice.

"Yes. It was Ray," replied Fraser and he explained the details to Stephanie.

"I want to talk to her," said Stephanie, decisively and she stood up and started pulling on her boots. "She knows where my daughter is and I'm going to make her tell me."

"Slow down," urged Fraser. "Ray is a trained interrogator, he will find out everything."

"I'm not sitting here waiting around anymore, Ben!" exclaimed Stephanie. "My baby girl is missing, I have to do something."

Fraser realised that there was no point arguing with her, so he agreed to drive her to the station where Ray was surprised to see them as was Diefenbaker who came bounding up to Fraser, yapping a heartfelt apology for not having found Mia yet.

The station was bustling with people considering it was now the early hours of the morning; even Francesca Vecchio had agreed to come in to help coordinate the search teams.

"Where is she?" demanded Stephanie. "Where is the woman that took my baby?"

"I left her with a few things to think about," explained Ray. Heidi had been completely uncooperative; claiming that she didn't understand what was being said to her in English. Ray had pointed out in no uncertain terms that he'd heard her communicating in English with Stephanie just a few hours earlier, but Heidi was still refusing to talk so he'd spelled out the charges she was facing and the potential consequences and left her to come to her senses.

Fraser left Stephanie with Francesca and he and Ray went to observe Heidi through the two way mirror. You didn't need to be a Detective, or a Mountie, to be able to read her body language; she was very nervous, even scared.

"Perhaps I could conduct an interview?" suggested Fraser. Ray thought about it for a moment before agreeing. He'd clear it with Welsh later somehow; his boss frequently turned a blind eye to Fraser's non-jurisdictional involvement in the work of the Two Seven.

Fraser entered the room and sat down opposite Heidi. Ray stood behind him with his arms folded.

"Hello. You remember me, don't you?" Fraser said to her, keeping his voice even.

Heidi did not reply.

"I know you understand me," continued Fraser. "We conducted a conversation in English just a few hours ago. I do speak other languages; perhaps you'd prefer Russian, or maybe another of the Slavonic languages? I'm a little rusty, but I'm sure I could get by."

Heidi shrugged and said nothing.

"You realise that you are already in a lot of trouble, but if you continue to behave this way the consequences will be very serious for you," Fraser said, his voice becoming more menacing as he spoke. The veins in his neck were pulsing as he fought to keep his temper in check. "Now, where is Mia Cabot? Why were you working in a bar when you were charged with taking care of her?"

"I need to work for money," replied Heidi. "I don't know where the baby is."

"You were already working for Stephanie Cabot," said Fraser. He was becoming more and more agitated. Ray rarely saw him this worked up.

"But she not pay me," replied Heidi. "I have to work another job."

"One of your neighbours told us ya also work in a laundromat," said Ray.

Heidi nodded slowly. "I have three jobs," she admitted. "I need the money to stay in this country."

"So who takes care of Stephanie Cabot's baby while you're doin' the other jobs?" asked Ray incredulously.

Heidi decided that now was a good time to remain silent again. Fraser, however, did not agree with her. He'd had enough. It wasn't often that his temper boiled over, but a woman he cared deeply about was being put through a terrible ordeal and he couldn't allow that to happen. Fraser stood up and slammed his hands on the table, leaning across until his face was inches from hers. "Where is the baby?" he demanded.

Heidi flinched as he came towards her, turning her head away and bringing her hands up to her face defensively. Ray had seen that kind of reaction many times before and things slowly started to click into place.

"Miss, kidnapping is a federal offence," continued Fraser, "and if you do not answer my questions, you will be looking at some very serious charges." He pointed his finger at her for emphasis and she flinched again. "Now tell me, what have you done with Mia?" He shouted this time, unable to keep control any longer.

Ray grabbed his partner by the shoulder and pulled him away. "Cool it, buddy," he said. It wasn't often that he had to do that to Fraser; usually the roles were reversed, but Fraser was too emotionally attached to this case and he wasn't thinking straight. He wasn't seeing things that he would normally have noticed.

Fraser stood back and breathed deeply, trying to regain his self-control. He realised he was being unusually heavy handed, but he felt the situation warranted it.

Ray glanced at his buddy before taking the chair Fraser had been occupying minutes earlier. He looked directly at Heidi. "Who's beatin' on ya?" he asked, gently.

Fraser was shocked. Why would Ray ask that? Then he suddenly realised he'd missed the signs. He hadn't even considered the instinctive defensive reactions Heidi had displayed when he'd been intimidating her just now. Of course this was a woman used to violence. He suddenly felt guilty. He'd allowed his personal feelings in this case to cloud his abilities as a Police Officer.

"My…my boyfriend, Pavel Dushku," stammered Heidi and tears started to fall down her face as she finally told them everything she knew.

Heidi's boyfriend was demanding money to help her stay in America and she'd had to take on three jobs to pay him. She'd known that she had an extra shift in the laundromat this afternoon and had decided not to return to work for Stephanie as there was no guarantee she would get paid, but her boyfriend had agreed to watch the baby for her and made her go to Stephanie's to collect Mia after all. He was meant to bring Mia to the laundromat so that Heidi could return her to Stephanie, but he hadn't arrived and Heidi had to get to her waitressing job because she couldn't afford to get fired. She knew she should have alerted someone, but she was scared of what her violent boyfriend might do to her.

"I'm so sorry," sniffed Heidi. "I should have left Pavel long time ago, but he help me to stay here. I cannot go back to my homeland, it's not safe for me there."

Fraser decided that particular issue should be dealt with another time. Right now their priority was finding Mia. Heidi gave them as much information as she could about her so-called boyfriend and they left her to make a full statement to one of the uniforms.

"What? No!" exclaimed Stephanie when they told her what had happened.

"It's going to be alright," Fraser tried to reassure her. "We have his name and address and his description is out there; people are searching the city."

"I'm gonna head over to his place," said Ray.

"I'll, um…" Fraser began. He really wanted to go with Ray this time, but he didn't want to leave Stephanie alone.

"Go!" she told him, forcing a smile. "Go be a cop. I need to know you're looking for Mia. I'll be OK here."

Fraser nodded and surprised the whole squadroom by taking her in his arms for a brief, but passionate kiss. Francesca stifled a yelp and had to run to the ladies room to calm herself down.

Ray drove through the streets at top speed. Fraser was beyond caring about traffic regulations by now. He was more concerned that he'd missed the fact that Heidi was a victim of domestic violence. "Perhaps I should have remained at the station?" he said to Ray as his partner jumped another red light. "It appears my skills have been impaired by…by…"

"By love?" offered Ray and looked across at his buddy with questioning eyebrows.

Fraser swallowed hard. "Quite possibly, Ray," he admitted. "Quite possibly."

"We're all desperate to find Stephanie's baby, it's easy to overlook somethin' when you're focussin' on the prize," said Ray reassuringly.

They arrived at Pavel Dushku's apartment and knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Police! Open up!" yelled Ray, but there was still silence.

Ray was about to kick the door in, but Fraser beat him to it. Ray was momentarily stunned; usually he would have expected a lecture about not having a warrant. Jeez, this woman has really got under his skin, thought Ray with half a smile.

They started to search the apartment, but before they'd got very far Dief started to bark and they ran into the back bedroom. He'd found a pink blanket that Fraser immediately recognised as Mia's. "Good boy," he said, crouching down to praise his wolf. He glanced up at Ray. "So she was here earlier," he said, his heart pounding with the fear that Mia was in danger, "but where is she now?"

Ray shook his head. "Keep lookin', buddy," he said. "There might be somethin' else."

Fraser and Dief continued to search the bedroom while Ray went into the kitchen. Almost immediately Ray called out to his buddy and Fraser went to join him. "What is it?" asked Fraser, desperately hoping it would be a clue that could lead them straight to Mia.

"It's a note addressed to Heidi, but I dunno what it says; it's in Russian or somethin'," sighed Ray and he handed Fraser a piece of folded yellow paper. "I guess it's from Dushku."

Fraser scanned down the note. "I believe the language is Bulgarian, actually," he said. He couldn't read every word, but he understood enough to be able to glean the meaning. He looked up at Ray, his face grave. "This is a ransom note."