A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Buckle up, buttercups!

Chapter Nine

"Know any private investigators?" House inquired as he ignored Cuddy's administrative assistant and sauntered into her office.

She looked at him like he was crazy. "No, why the hell would you think I did?"

"Oh please. You have a savings account set up to bail us out when I royally screw up, so why wouldn't you have a team of investigators on retainer?"

"Well, I don't. What do you need a P.I. for, anyway?"

"Cameron's gone."

Cuddy rose from her desk. "What do you mean, gone? As in... she quit?"

"That's one way of putting it. Another way might be saying she disappeared into the night."

"Why? What did you do, House!?"

"Why do you assume it's something I did?" House asked with an exaggerated pout.

"Because it usually is! Why would she leave?"

"Someone's after her. She ran away to protect me but she's not safe, either. I need to find her before they do."

"Who's they?" she asked suspiciously as she sat back down at her desk.

"Some people from her past."

"What kind of people?"

Her eyes narrowed and House rolled his eyes. He tapped his cane and looked down at the floor.

"Alleged mobster type people."

"Jesus, House!" she shouted leaning toward him. "You brought in someone with ties to the mob?"

"Alleged mob ties," he clarified. He folded his hands on the head of his cane. "So, where on we on the PI?"

Cuddy shook her head. "I am not helping you find someone with alleged mob ties," she informed with with a sharp emphasis on the word alleged. She waved her hand at him. "Ask someone else or use the yellow pages."

House moved around her desk to lean over her. She pulled back slightly at the intense look in his eyes. "You better hope nothing happens to her."

Cuddy watched him stalk out of her office. Shaking her head, she went back to work.


After an hour of making calls, House found an investigator by the name of Lucas Douglas who came highly recommended. He showed up at House's office an hour later and was not the image of a PI that House had in mind. He looked kind of goofy, but if he was good, House didn't care.

He gave Lucas all the information on Cameron that he had, which wasn't a lot, and sent the man on his way.

The next day, Lucas returned carrying a manila folder and dropped it on House's desk. "She's going to Miami via Greyhound. That's the first place I checked since you said she probably didn't have enough money for a plane ticket. Greyhound is the cheapest option."

"Is that where she's going for sure?" House asked as he flipped through the contents of the folder.

"Yeah, she got a one-way ticket. She should be there tomorrow night around nine. If you fly down there, you could be at the station when her bus arrives."

"Okay. What else ya got?"

"Joe Franklin is a mean motherfucker, but he's not the top brass. Answers to someone named…" Lucas told him as he pulled out a small pad and began to flip through it.

"Steve. I guess he's the head bookie or something."

"Yeah, Steve Keener's the one her dead husband owes. Franklin's his top guy. Been trying to get into her pants for years, marry her, use her as a slave pretty much until she's worked it all off, from the sounds of it."

"Right, like he'd ever let her leave. Find out how much she still owes if you can. I want to know. If I can clear all that up, then there's no reason for him to keep bothering her. She said the dead husband owed over a million, and she worked three jobs to pay it but the son of a bitch kept piling on the interest so she couldn't even make a dent."

Lucas nodded and made a quick exit, smiling at Cuddy as he slipped past, causing her to look back.

"Who was that?" she asked as she watched him board the elevator.

"The PI you refused to help me find."

"Did you find out where she is?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to tell me?" she asked folding her arms.

"No. The less this hospital knows, the better. I might need to borrow out of that fund you have set aside, however."

Cuddy blinked. "Why?"

When House told her about Cameron's debt, her eyes went wide. "A million? House, get real…."

"They're not going to leave her alone. It needs to be paid off. They're businessmen and they want their money. If they know they're going to get it, they'll be likely to back off. Now how much is in there?" he asked leaning forward.

"Not a million."

"Half?"

"Less than half."

"I have some stocks and stuff I can sell off," he mused. "I can probably get some of it from Wilson."

"House, think about this. Is she worth it?" she questioned as she unfolded her arms and leaned on his desk giving him a clear view down her blouse.

His icy glare was enough of an answer and she backed away.

"I'll speak to the accountant. Maybe he can come up with something."

House nodded. "Good. Oh, and I'm going to Miami."

She nodded. "I'll make the arrangements. Take Wilson with you. It'll be easier to track her down if you're both looking. Miami is huge, and at this time of year it'll be crowded."

"Okay."

House went next door to Wilson's office and entered without knocking.

"Busy, House."

"Too busy for a trip to Miami?"

Wilson's head shot up. "Huh?"

"That's where Cameron's going. My plan is to fly down and be there when her bus arrives at the station. Cuddy said to take you with me."

Wilson grinned. "I'm there. Julie is going on some girls only trip to Atlantic City so it beats sitting home alone. When do we leave?"

"Cuddy's arranging it. I'll let you know but it'll probably be tomorrow. I need to find a way to get some money together."

"What for? Don't you always just use my credit card for everything?" Wilson asked dryly.

"Got a million dollars lying around?"

"What the hell do you need a million dollars for? Are you selling the apartment and buying a McMansion or something?" Wilson asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Or something. I'll explain later."

"Wait, is it Cameron? She owes money?"

"Something like that."

"A million, though? Seriously?" Wilson asked with wide eyes.

"I've got someone looking into it right now and Cuddy's talking to the accountant to see what they can do but yeah, if I pay off her debt then they should leave her alone. They'd better leave her alone."


Cameron stepped off the bus in Atlanta and headed across the street to a Walgreens. During the ride, she thought it would be best to change her appearance as much as possible so she purchased some hair dye, a mirror, a trucker's cap and some travel-size shampoo. It was an hour stopover so she had just enough time to dye her hair in bathroom at the bus station. A few women came in and looked at her strangely but she ignored them. The hardest part was washing the dye out of her hair in the small sink but she managed it. An hour later, she boarded the bus with coppery brown hair tucked under the trucker's cap and found two empty seats near the back. She put the middle arm rest up, curled up on her side and slept until the next stop.


House and Wilson arrived at Miami airport and rented a car. Armed with the address and the GPS on Wilson's phone, they headed for the bus station.

"We don't have a lot of time to get there since the rain delayed our flight out of Newark," Wilson reminded his friend as House got behind the wheel.

"I know, which is why I'm driving. I need to get us there fast. Just navigate."

"What if she changed her appearance?" Wilson suggested.

House frowned. He hadn't thought of that. "Look closer and pay more attention, then."

"How much money do you think she has?"

"She cleaned out her bank account. She had about a thousand bucks in there. She won't get far with that once she gets into town. Hotel rooms aren't cheap."

"She could stay at a YMCA or a hostel or some place like that, though."

"You're not helping, Wilson."

"Just playing devil's advocate."

"If we intercept her at the bus station it won't be an issue."

They pulled into the station and went inside to find which bay the bus would be arriving in and House looked at his watch. "It'll be here in ten minutes. Doesn't get much closer than that." He looked around the waiting area and noticed two men in dark suits standing at parade rest beside a black sedan. He looked at his watch again.

"Staring at your watch isn't going to make it get here any sooner," Wilson told him.

"See those two guys by the black town car?"

Wilson looked around. "Yeah." He looked at House. "You think they're here for Cameron?"

House nodded. He really hoped she did change her appearance at some point. The only thing on their microscopic little minds was to pick up a woman who matched Cameron's description.

The bus arrived and pulled into the bay.

"I'm going to try and get her before she enters the terminal. Go get in the car and keep the engine running," House ordered as he moved toward the bus.

"Got it," Wilson said and took off.

House scrutinized everyone who stepped off but the last group of passengers caught his attention. There was a small woman with a trucker's cap tipped low to cover the top of her face. She was clutching the silk bag Cameron always kept with her and she had another bag slung over one shoulder. He saw her head for the bathrooms so he waited nearby. When she walked past, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a dark corner, covering her mouth when she yelped. Immediately she started to fight but he was a lot stronger than she was and he had to keep her still so she wouldn't accidentally kick his leg.

"Shh, Cameron," he hissed in her ear. "It's just me."

It sounded like House, but she didn't dare hope it was true. How did he find her so fast?

"House?" she whispered when he took his hand away.

"We don't have time. Franklin's men are here, too."

Her eyes widened and she started to shake. "They're here? They know I'm in Miami? Oh my God… what are we going to do? How are we supposed to get out of here?"

"See the blue SUV over there?" House pointed across the street. "Wilson is waiting for us. If you go into the terminal, they'll see you. We can't take the chance. Go around the side of the bus and then walk, don't run, to the SUV. I'll be right behind you. Go now."

With her heart thudding in her ears, she did what he said and calmly got into the back seat because those windows were dark. A minute later, House got into the passenger seat. "Okay, let's roll."