Present time:

Rachel Young was enjoying the mild spring day as she watched Owen Hood's little league team practice in the park. At first, she had been reluctant to take up Alex Hood's offer of a place to recuperate from the injury to her leg. But over the last seven weeks, not only her leg, but her spirits had healed in the company of the talented artist and her young son. They had both been so welcoming that she had finally felt as if she had found a place to belong. While the small town mentality in Deale was sometimes irksome to hard as nails Special Agent Young; Rachel found the routine she, Alex, and Owen had fallen into soothing. She was surprised by how much she had come to enjoy filling in for Alex and sharing in caring for Owen. The other mothers, while at first wary of the injured woman, had come to accept her as one of their own and Rachel had grown to enjoy their camaraderie.

Rachel's cell rang for the first time at around 4:00 p.m. She excused herself from the group of mothers who were chatting about the latest local scandals. Rachel was surprised to see that it was Felix calling.

"Hey, Felix, What's up?"

"Umm, hi Agent Young, um, have you heard from the Doc?" Felix asked nervously.

Rachel was surprised and unsure how to answer. During the time she had been off, Jacob, no Hood, she mentally corrected herself, had gotten into the habit of calling and texting her during down times on his cases. Mostly the calls came late at night; Rachel had gotten into the habit of sleeping with her cell phone in hand. At first the calls were random, but as the weeks went on they became more and more frequent. Now, she and Ja, Hood, talked or texted almost daily. In fact, she had been a bit worried that she hadn't heard from him for the last few days. Her last communication had been a hasty text – "new case, strings pulled." But Rachel had the feeling that he hadn't told anyone about those calls, she knew she never told Alex.

"What do you mean, have I heard from him?" She evaded the question. "What's going on?" She heard Felix sigh.

"It's like this ma'am. I've, we've, sort of lost track of him."

Rachel was stunned. They had lost Jacob? She quickly walked further away from the crowd, snapping into 'agent' mode. She lowered her voice.

"What the hell do you mean, you've lost track of him? How could both you and Dilworth lose your assignment? Even if it is Hood! Isn't he answering his cell? What's going on?"

Felix wasn't sure which of her questions to answer first.

"Things got a little complicated up here," he began.

"Here, where," Rachel interrupted.

"Boston" Felix replied, "The case, it didn't end so good, some people died, that the Doc thought shouldn't of, and ma'am, there were some babies that died too."

Rachel digested this information. She knew how difficult Hood found it to deal with any deaths that occurred during their cases; deaths that he felt that he should have been able to prevent. She knew he especially hated dealing with the deaths of children, of innocents. Ok she could see where Hood would be upset, but disappear?

"OK Felix, what aren't you telling me," she demanded.

"Ah, the Doc got into a little..."

"Little?" Rachel questioned.

Felix sighed again. "Ok, he got into a huge fight with Dilworth. I don't think I've ever seen him so pissed off. Even with the stuff with Ray Wynne. And, well, he decked Dilworth and just took off."

At this Rachel burst out laughing. "Good one Felix, you two really had me going there. What, you boys bored and decided to try to pull one over on Rachel? Let me talk to Hood, I'm sure he thinks this is hilarious."

Felix cleared his throat, "Ah, Agent Young, ma'am, I'm not kidding. I don't know what Dilworth did to the Doc, but the Doc, he was majorly pissed with Dilworth. Then when the case was about over, Dilworth said some stuff, pissed the Doc off even more. And the Doc, blew up, read him the riot act. Like I said, I've never seen him like that. He decked Dilworth and walked out."

Rachel couldn't believe what Felix was telling her. "You mean he actually hit Dilworth?"

"Not just hit him, knocked him cold. Ya know ma'am," Felix continued thoughtfully, "I think there might be more to the Doc than we think. I mean, that right cross he used on Dilworth, that was sweet! It didn't look like any lucky punch to me."

"Felix, focus," Rachel barked. "Who knows that Hood is missing? Have you called the Bureau? What have you done to find him?"

"So far, it's just you, me, and Dilworth. He's been gone for about an hour. He's not at the hospital and not at the hotel. I was kind of hoping that he'd called you or that you might have an idea where in Boston to look."

"Why don't I call him," Rachel offered. "I'm sure he'll pick up when he sees it's me, I'll call you right back and let you know where he is."

Felix gulped; he was going to have to give Rachel even more bad news. "Ah, ma'am, he, um, he doesn't have his cell with him"

"Why not, why would he ditch his cell?"

Felix sighed yet again. "Cause Dilworth took it off of him last night. He claims he tried to give it back to the Doc, but the Doc wouldn't take it."

"What happened between those two Felix?" Rachel took a deep breath. "I thought things were going well with Dilworth. You both told me so."

"I honestly don't know what happened last night," Felix answered slowly. "The Doc wouldn't talk much since the case blew up and Dilworth isn't saying.

As for the rest, things haven't been bad with Dilworth, but they haven't been great. He's, he's, well, different from you. Not so much a, ah, team player? He says he's a handler and bodyguard and that's it. It kind of pisses the Doc and me off, but it's ok generally. We, ah, I told you things were going good cause the Doc insisted on it. Said he didn't want you to worry while you were out on leave."

It was Rachel's turn to sigh. If that wasn't just like Hood; trying to protect her when that wasn't his job. Rachel chewed on her bottom lip, thinking about Hood, how he normally reacted.

"Felix, I don't know what to tell you. Look, you said some kids died?"

"Yeah, some babies."

Rachel looked around her at the children playing in the park. She knew that she found the times she spent here with Owen relaxing. Jacob was close to his nephew, maybe he was remembering trips to this same park; maybe that was a clue as to where he might have disappeared too.

"Well, maybe he just wanted to go somewhere he could just sit and watch kids being happy. Are you close to any parks? Maybe he just wanted to sit and think for awhile."

"Yeah," Felix said, sounding marginally less panicked. "Maybe he just wanted to be by himself to think. Our hotel is pretty close to the Commons. You know, where the swan boats are? We'll go check it out right now."

"You do that," said Rachel, "and Felix, call me if he's there or not. And if he calls me, I'll let you know."

As Rachel ended her call she felt a tugging on her jeans.

"Rachel, who was on the phone? Was it my mom? Is she coming home soon?"

Forcing a smile, Rachel looked down into the anxious face of Owen Hood. While he had become completely comfortable with Rachel, he was already a little homesick for his mother.

"Sorry kiddo, it was just Felix. You know you mom is going to be home on Sunday."

Alex was in the middle of preparing for a major New York showing of her glass. It was her big break and one of the reasons Rachel had consented to come to Deale. Rachel hadn't wanted to impose on Hood's sister, but Alex had been desperate for help with her son. Her part-time nanny had been called out of town for a family emergency and she had been at her wits end trying to find a replacement. The arrangement had worked out well for both women.

The previous week, the gallery owner had called with exciting news. An important collector had seen a piece of her work in his gallery. The collector wanted to meet the artist and perhaps commission a piece. The gallery owner had seen this as an excellent opportunity for Alex to make the right connections before her show opened. He was insistent that Alex come to New York immediately. Alex was reluctant, she hated being away from her art and Owen for such an extended period; but both the gallery owner and Rachel had urged her to go.

The gallery owner, because he not only wanted Alex and himself to stay in the good graces of the collector; but also to give Alex's show a boost. Rachel, because it sounded like fun, and she knew that as a single mother, Alex didn't have much fun in life. Alex had left that morning and was planning to be back in a few days.

"Felix? What did he want? Was Uncle Jacob with him? Are they coming to visit?"

Owen was jumping up and down with excitement. Owen adored his uncle. Felix, who he had met when Felix and his uncle had visited Rachel during her convalescence, was fast becoming a favoured playmate. Rachel took his hand to lead him to the car. She knew she had to be careful what she said to Owen, she didn't want him to see that she was worried.

"No, Felix, he just needed to ask me a question, about, about an old case."

"Oh," Owen's face fell. But he cheered up quickly. "But we're gonna have fun, just us two, aren't we Rachel?"

"Yep," Rachel laughed. "While your mom's gone, all bets are off!"

It was nearly an hour later when Rachel's phone rang again. She was in the living room with Owen, supervising homework. She quickly moved to the kitchen so that Owen couldn't overhear her.

"Was he there" she demanded before Felix could say a word. "Have you found him?"

By now Rachel was starting to worry about Jacob, no she firmly corrected herself, about Hood.

"No, ma'am. He wasn't at the Commons. I, I think we're gonna have to call the Bureau."

Rachel could hear the misery in Felix's voice. This would be a major blow to both his and Dilworth's career.

"What does Dilworth have to say?" Rachel asked.

Felix hesitated. "Dilworth is pretty pissed at the Doc, but he's worried about something too. I can't tell if he's more afraid of telling the Bureau we lost the Doc, or what the Doc will tell the Bureau."

Rachel chewed on her lip. "Look," she said, "there is one more angle you should check out first, before you call. Why don't you check with the airlines. You said that Hood was depressed about the case, maybe he just decided to head home to DC"

"Are you sure ma'am?" Felix questioned. "I mean the Doc, booking a flight by himself? And I thought the airlines wouldn't sell you a ticket for a same day flight?"

Rachel blew out her breath in exasperation. "Ya know Felix, we forget it sometimes, but the man is a genius. I'm sure booking a seat on an airplane is not beyond him. And yes, the airlines will sell you a same day seat, especially if you have an FBI ID card."

Rachel heard Felix swearing as he hung up. A short while later her phone rang again. She again moved to the kitchen.

"Well?" she asked.

"You were right; he's on a plane right now, heading to DC. He should be landing around 7 p.m. What should we do? Call the Bureau and have him picked up?"

Rachel hesitated. "Felix, why don't you and Dilworth just try to get back to DC as quickly as you can. I'm sure Hood is regretting this by now and with luck, you can catch up with him with no one the wiser. If, when you get to DC, he isn't at his apartment, or if he hadn't called me, then we can decide what to do."

"Rachel?" Rachel turned quickly to see Owen standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He looked worried.

"Is Uncle Jacob ok?"

Rachel hastily ended her call and walked over to give the little boy a hug.

"Oh, Owen, no, nothing's wrong with your uncle. It's just Felix is working on some stupid old case files and he and your Uncle Jacob can't remember anything so they have to keep bothering me."

Owen visibly relaxed. "I guess that's why you sounded kind of mad at Felix, cause he keeps bothering you about dumb stuff."

"Right," Rachel agreed. "They're just jealous cause they have to work while I'm here having fun with you, so they keep bothering me."

Owen laughed as Rachel hoped he would. "Now," Rachel said, "how about me and you making some dinner? I'm starved!"