Chapter 4

Before he hung up from talking with Sam, Michael saw the silver car in the rearview mirror. "Wanna have some fun, Fi?"

She smiled, flipped her hair back and said, "Do you really have to ask?"

"Great." He stopped at a small market, kept the car running, and Fiona went inside. She bought a few more jars of baby food and some snacks, and then returned. Next stop, the hardware store, and she waited while Michael went inside. He emerged with a small bag, and they continued on. For over an hour they made one stop after another, and the tail kept up. Then they turned and went to the Rollins home. Michael parked in front and Fiona hurried to the door. It was still covered with the hurricane shutters. She gestured as if she was mystified, turned, and spied the tail. When she tried to approach them, they took off quickly.

Fiona got into the car and sighed. "Oh, that was over way too quickly. I guess they didn't enjoy our little game."

"Let's get to my mom's house, and hope they don't pick up a different car and follow us," Michael said as Fiona got in and they drove to his mother's house.

Sam was already at Maddie's and had left his car down the street. Michael parked the Charger in the garage, and he and Fiona rushed through the back door into the house. As soon as they entered it they heard the baby crying, and Fiona hurried to Sam's side. He held Kira against his chest, a burp cloth over his shoulder, and he alternated between gentle pats and rubbing her back.

"I can take her, Sam."

"No, it's okay, Fi. You should have heard her a couple minutes ago. I think she's just got an upset tummy, because she threw up in the car on the way here, and she did it again a couple minutes ago, but she's starting to settle down."

"Oh, Sam." Fiona cringed. "She spits up now and again, that's normal."

"No, this was more than just spit up."

"Do you think she's sick?" Creases furrowed Fiona's brow, and she pressed her hand to Kira's forehead.

"It's probably just carsickness. I drove around a little before I came here, just to make sure I didn't have someone on my butt too."

"Where's my mom?"

"I'm right here, Michael." She came down from upstairs with a broad smile and waving her cigarette. "I have the crib all set up in your room."

"Mom...can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, honey. What is it?" She blew out a puff of smoke.

He hated his mother's smoking, and now that they had someone else's baby in the house, he hated it even more. With a controlled voice, he asked, "Could you please not smoke inside while the baby is here?"

"What? Your father and I both smoked when you and Nate were babies, and look at you. You've probably got some of the strongest lungs on the block!"

"Mom, please."

Maddie stared at him, irritated at his demanding her to do something when this was her house. He did have a point, though. Maybe Kira's parents didn't smoke, and they would be upset if she stayed in a place where the air was constantly filled with a thick vapor. After one last large exhalation, Maddie stamped out the cigarette into an overflowing tray.

"Okay, you win. I'll go outside when I want to smoke."

"Thank you, Mom. I really appreciate it." He gently clasped her upper arms and squeezed them. "It'll be good for you. You know it will!"

She pursed her lips and changed the subject. "How's she doing, Sam? She's quiet now, at least." Maddie stepped next to him and brushed Kira's cheek with the back of her hand. "You feeling better, huh, Princess?"

Michael just stared at his mother as she talked baby talk to Kira, and the little girl kept her focus on Maddie while Sam still held her as he unconsciously swayed in one place. His mother was right, she wasn't crying, and she even giggled at a couple of the things that Maddie said.

"Looks like we got over that hump," Sam said. "Why don't I put her down on the floor and she can play with those toys I brought along?"

"That's a great idea! You wanna come here, honey? Gramma Maddie will play with you. Come here, sweetie!" She lifted Kira out of Sam's grip and stole her away to the living room. All the while, the three stared at her. Not even Nate's son brought this much nurturing out of Maddie.

"I wonder if she was ever like that with you," Fiona mused softly so Maddie wouldn't hear.

"I don't think so," Michael responded just as softly.

"I've heard parents change when they have grandkids. Guess now you know what you've got in store if you guys ever get your act together," Sam said as he picked the burp cloth off his shoulder and snapped it at Michael playfully. Michael glared at him. "Hey, she didn't puke on this one! Oh yeah, I've gotta go clean up that car seat. Luckily, she didn't do projectile..."

"Enough, Sam!" Michael held up a hand to stop him.

"Sorry." Sam retreated to the laundry room where he'd left the car seat. A few minutes later the seat cover was in the washer with some of the other dirty baby clothes, and he returned to the dining room. Fiona sat on the living room floor with Maddie, and they played with Kira. Michael sat at the dining room table watching with a strange expression on his face. If Sam didn't know his friend had an aversion to having kids of his own, he'd think it was a look of longing. "So, how did your escape go?"

Michael turned his attention to Sam and gave him the rundown on their adventure in losing the tail car. Sam listened and set up his computer to work on the case. When his friend finished, he gave it his attention.

"I have a theory about the other car that Fi saw leaving the parking lot at her place. After hearing what your guys on the bug said, I got to thinking. Maybe Kyle Rollins drove the Highlander around for awhile, lost the tail, and then stole or borrowed an older car from somewhere so they could find a safe place to hide the baby. Then they went back to the Highlander, drove it to the airport, and boarded a flight." He paused and tapped a few keys. "I did some checking to see if they purchased any tickets out of Miami, but I didn't see their names pop up."

"They could have used aliases, but if they didn't have IDs to match, they'd never get on a plane without being flagged and grilled by the TSA."

"Good point. So I think the most likely scenario is that they obtained another vehicle to throw off their pursuers, dropped the baby off at Fi's because they could hide her in the courtyard, but then they had to beat a hasty retreat, so they didn't leave anything behind but the baby. Maybe they were hoping to return and get her in a short while, but their trackers got hot on their trail and they had to get away."

"It's frustrating not knowing where they are," Michael said as he continued to watch his mother acting silly, and Fiona doing exactly what he would expect of her if they had a child.

"I wish we knew the plate number of that other car. I'm hoping that once I get that surveillance tape from the manager at Fi's place, we can see the plate and trace it. If it was stolen, no doubt the cops will find Kyle and Andrea if they're still using the car."

"We just need to monitor police bands," Michael said. "And hope that we can get to them before the cops. Otherwise, Kira will have two parents in jail for grand theft. And all to save her life."

With Kira safely harbored at his mother's house and Fiona quickly settling into her role as mother in absentia, he and Sam worked to locate the missing couple. Michael used his resources to find out more on Aerocorp and Kyle Rollins' place in the company. He located Kyle's supervisor, and he and Sam intended to approach him at home, but he wasn't there. They located him at a park near his house.

The two carefully closed the distance on a man pushing a little girl on a swing. His profile matched the picture on the records that Sam dug up on his computer. Out of the corner of his eye he saw them and turned with a suspicious look on his face.

"Can I help you?"

"Maybe," Michael replied with a smile. "Are you Rob Lennox?"

The distrust in his eyes deepened. "Who are you?"

"Michael Westen." He showed him his CIA credentials. "This is an associate of mine, Sam Axe."

Relaxing a little, he answered, "Yes, I'm Rob Lennox. What do you want?"

"We're looking for Kyle Rollins." Michael asked, "Have you seen him lately?"

"Kyle." The man's face paled. "He's been missing for a couple days now. He hasn't shown up for work, I've tried calling his home and his cell with no answer, and I'm starting to get worried about him. One more day and he'll be let go..."

Michael held up a hand to stop him. "We know. We're trying to find him."

"We don't think he's safe, wherever he is," Sam added.

"Well, whatever I can do to help, please let me know. He's a good employee, and I'd like to think we've become friends. I just want him okay and back to work."

Michael nodded. "When did you see him last?"

"Wednesday. He seemed kind of, I don't know, nervous, about something. I tried to get him to talk about it, but he said it wasn't anything to worry about." Rob had let the swing settle down, and the little girl protested, so he started pushing her again. "Thursday came and he didn't show up. I called his house and his wife answered. She sounded really distressed, and I heard the baby in the background, but she assured me everything was okay and that Kyle would call me later. He never called."

"So what happened yesterday?"

"I tried calling and that's when I got no answer at the house or the cell. I tried again this morning, and I went over to his house." He swallowed hard and continued. "The house was all boarded up, but the back door looked like somebody used a battering ram on it. Inside was a mess. So I called the cops and now they're looking for them."

"I'll give my buddy a call," Sam said as he walked away.

"Is he in some kind of trouble with the CIA?"

"No, we're just as concerned as you. Someone dropped their daughter off on my girlfriend's doorstep with nothing but a car seat. We think it was Kyle and Andrea. People don't do that for no reason, and we're trying to find out why."

Rob's eyes widened. "Do you think someone is after them?"

"We're not sure." Michael studied the man. "Might there be a reason why someone would be?"

"I don't know. I just assumed when you said they left Kira behind like that..." He shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense unless they were in danger somehow. They adore Kira," Rob said with a softness in his tone and a smile on his face. "Hey, if you need someone to watch her until they're found, my wife and I would be happy to take her. Kira's a real sweetheart!"

"We'll keep that in mind. For now, though, she's safe where she is." By the look on the man's face, Michael knew that Rob would be a cooperative contact, but he would still keep the baby's location secret.

"Oh, okay. Is...is there any way I can contact you in case Kyle calls me?"

"Yes." Michael pulled out a business card. "This is my cell."

Rob reached into his pocket and pulled out a card with his company's logo and his name on it. "Here's my contact info at work and my cell. Please, do whatever you can to find Kyle and Andrea. I don't understand why they would be running. They're good people."

"I can't really get into that right now, but I may need to ask you some more questions later."

Rob nodded vigorously. "Sure, anything you need!"

"Thanks, Rob." Michael gave him a soft reassuring smile and left the man with his daughter. He walked to the edge of the park where Sam stood finishing up a conversation on his phone. "Well, Sam?"

"My buddy looked up the missing persons report on Andrea, Kyle, and Kira. The cops have already found their vehicle at the airport and determined that they didn't go flying off somewhere. So basically they're in the same square we're in, Mike."

"Great."

"He said they have cops over at the house right now checking it out, and he'd let me know if they found anything."

"Is it possible for you to see if Kyle has been using any credit or debit cards the past couple of days?"

"I've already looked into that. If anything came up, I would have told you." Sam leaned against a tree and crossed his arms. "This guy really knows how to go off grid. I'm thinking he must be ex-military, maybe covert ops, intelligence."

"Let's get back to my mom's." Michael looked around as he crossed the street with Sam beside him, constantly wary of a tail. "We'll see how things are going with the baby, and you can check up on Kyle's military records, if he has any."

After a couple hours of digging into government records, Sam wound up with an even bigger picture of who Kyle Rollins was. Over dinner, he filled in the others.

"Kyle Rollins and his wife Andrea are both from Tennessee and grew up in poor families. They got married right out of high school and then he joined the Army. He wound up in Special Forces, did some really hairy covert missions and got captured once, but he obviously made it out. He's got experience in going deep and disappearing, so until he decides it's safe to come back up, there's little chance we'll find him."

"What do we do with Kira until then," Fiona asked as she spooned some baby food into the little girl's open mouth.

Michael watched her eat and said, "We need to keep her safe until the situation with Harding is neutralized." Her arm swung out and swept her sippy cup onto the floor. Without thinking, he picked it up, used a clean section of his napkin to wipe off the top, and set it on the tray.

"The question is, Mike, how are we going to do that? Deflect Harding's attention from Kyle and Andrea and direct it onto us?"

Michael grinned. "Thanks for the suggestion, Sam. That's exactly what we're going to do. We make Harding think that Kyle sold the secrets to us, and that we're willing to give them to him, for a price, of course, and when he appears for a transfer, we nail him."

"Oh yeah, easy peasy."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of this."

"And I'll have your back, brother."

Michael smiled. Every time he heard those words it made him feel good. "Fi, you keep watch over Kira, and if we need to move her on a moment's notice..."

"I know, I'll have an emergency bag packed and ready to go." She nodded. Kira squealed, and she turned her attention back to the baby.

The conversation waned. Maddie started to clear the table, while Michael sat watching Fiona and Kira. Sam noted he had that look again, the one that said his friend was speculating, thinking 'what if'. In a way, he was a little envious. Mike and Fi were still young enough to have one, maybe two if they pushed it. But with his inability to put down roots, and his attraction to women who were past the child bearing years, there was no hope for him. Having this little glimpse into raising a child was entertaining and sweet, but Sam wasn't sure he'd want to immerse himself in it on a daily basis.

He picked up his plate. "You done, Mike?"

"Yeah." He nodded, and Sam took away his plate. Michael turned back to Fi and Kira. The baby was getting full, and Fiona was trying to coax her to finish the couple of spoonfuls left in the jar, but she turned her head and pushed her hands out.

Michael smiled at the scene. Then he reached out, found a clean corner of her bib, and wiped the orange streak the spoon marked on her face. "I think she's done, Fi. Don't force it."

"It's just two bites." Fi responded with a sigh and dropped the spoon into the jar. Then she set it on her plate, which Sam picked up on his second trip into the dining room.

Fiona took the bib off and wiped Kira's face with the back of it. Then, to her surprise, Michael unstrapped her from the chair and picked her up. Kira smiled and gurgled at him, and the sweetest smile appeared on Michael's face. Seeing this made her think that perhaps there was still hope for them to become a family.

"I really wish we could take her out for a walk," Fiona said as she stood.

"It's not safe, Fi. Until Harding is no longer a threat, we can't take a chance on his people seeing us with Kira. Her parents are already in danger. We don't want to risk her life as well."

"I know." Fiona stood near Michael's left side and reached up and played with one of Kira's curls at the back of her head. They were so soft, irresistible to touch. Her hand cupped around the child's head, and the girl leaned forward into Michael's chest. One arm fell over his shoulder.

From the kitchen, Sam snapped a picture with his phone.

After supper, Michael and Sam returned to Fiona's under cover of darkness to retrieve a suitcase full of her clothes and personal items as well as what he brought to her place. Before approaching her door, they made sure that no one was watching. Once they determined the area was safe, they picked up what they came for and visited the manager to get a copy of the parking lot camera tape. They took it back to Maddie's to examine.

"We just need to watch around the time that Kira was dropped off," Michael said as he popped the tape into the VCR. He picked up the remote and fast forwarded to the point prior to the drop.

An older sedan pulled up and stopped almost in front of Fiona's apartment. A woman got out, went into the back and brought out Kira. Then she looked around, hurried to the building, and scanned each entrance to the apartments on the first floor. For a few seconds she was out of camera range, and then she ran to the car, threw herself inside, and the car moved a few feet before stopping again. Then the driver took off abruptly. A couple of seconds later, another vehicle followed, the same one that followed Michael and Fiona.

Michael froze the tape when the license plate came into view. "Sam, can you make that out?"

"Yeah, I caught both cars' plates, and I'll have my buddy run them." He pointed at the frozen shot on the screen. "If this one belongs to someone on Harding's staff, we've got proof that they were being pursued by his men. I just wish we knew where the Rollinses went. Finding the car they used might help."

"The cops are looking for them, and they have a lot more resources than we do." Michael turned off the VCR. "There's not a whole lot we can do now until we hear back on that plate."

"Yeah. I'm going home, and tomorrow I'll let you know what I get." He turned back at the door. "I think we better call Jesse and see if he can help us with this one. Fi's kinda busy." He tilted his head toward the living room where Fiona played with Kira as she changed her and dressed her for bed.

"I'll give him a call tonight."

On the way to his apartment, Sam thought about the hunt for Andrea and Kyle. No doubt the police knew they had a child, and if they were to find the couple without her, there were bound to be questions about what happened to Kira. Sam decided to nip any potential issues in the bud. He called Detective Paxson. It was late, but the woman never seemed to sleep, so he knew she would answer.

"Paxson." She sounded tired.

"Hi, it's Sam Axe. Do you know who's handling the Rollins family disappearance?"

She hesitated, and he imagined she was wondering how he knew about it. "That's still a pretty new case, and it hasn't made the news yet. How do you know about it?"

"Well, Mike and Fi currently have custody of the baby, Kira Rollins," Sam replied. Although their team didn't like the way Paxson dogged them a few years ago, she turned out to be a strong ally when needed.

"What? How did they get their hands on her?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"I have time. Meet me at the coffee shop on 4th."

Sam squelched a reluctant sigh. He was hoping to go home, not stay up any later. "Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Sam ordered decaf and waited for Paxson to show. She threw open the door, saw him sitting near the back, and ordered a coffee. Before she sat, the words were out of her mouth. "How did Westen get his hands on that baby?"

"The Rollinses left her at Fiona's." Paxson looked at him as if she thought he'd gone insane. "We have a tape from the complex manager that proves it. It happened about nine yesterday morning, and we've been trying to find the parents."

"I'd appreciate you giving me whatever information you have."

"Nothing you need to know about." He gave her a thin smile. "Let's just say that Kyle got himself knee-deep into something serious, a possible threat to national security, so the CIA is involved."

"Westen." Paxson smiled without amusement in her eyes. "I swear, Sam, if any of this is important to our case and you don't spill it, you could be in for some big trouble."

"Don't worry. We've got a plan to take the heat off Rollins, and when that happens, hopefully he'll get the word that it's safe to come out of hiding."

"So you think he and his wife weren't kidnapped?" She took a sip of her coffee and studied his reaction to her question.

Sam nodded. "He's got the background to know how to go underground. We hope he'll resurface as soon as we put everything to bed."

She let out a sound of annoyance. "I wish you'd stop talking in circles! Tell me what you know!"

"I can't, and I'm sorry about that. I really am." He looked at her with sincerity in his expression. "If I tell you what we know and you start poking around, it may jeopardize us trying to take down an organization that may be behind the reign of terror on the Rollins family."

"Reign of terror is a pretty good description. Their house was a shambles."

"I know. I saw it before you guys did." He cringed and looked away.

Paxson was even more irritated with him at his revelation. He could see it in the way she leaned forward, planted her forearms on the table, and narrowed her eyes at him. "You better not have contaminated the crime scene!"

"I was very careful. There was one piece of evidence I picked up, but not before I photographed its location, and it'll be turned over to you as soon as we're done. I promise you."

She looked deep into his eyes and knew she could trust him. "Okay, but I'm holding you to it."

"You have my word."

"Now, what about the baby? Social Services..."

"No! The second that Kira gets into their database, these people we're after will know, and then all hell is going to break loose. She's safe where she is right now, and we'll keep it that way until this is all over."

Sam could see that Paxson wasn't happy with that, but she was at a disadvantage because he knew where Kira was and she didn't. And if she pressed for the information, she knew it was more trouble than it was worth to get it out of him. She exhaled and stared at him. "Fine. But if anything happens to that little girl, charges will be filed."

"I wouldn't expect any less from you, Paxson." Sam smiled, then downed the last of his coffee. "Well, I think that about covers it. I'm out of here, and I promise I'll keep you up to date if we find anything that fits into your investigation."

"Gee, thanks." She smirked.

"We're hoping we can wrap things up in a few days. 'Night, Paxson." He walked out to his car, casually surveying the area. It was frighteningly easy to get back into the habit of watching over his shoulder, but not something he wanted to make an every day practice. I'll be glad when this one is over.