The first thing Jane saw when she walked into the bullpen was Maura sitting in her desk, her eyes glued to whatever she was reading on the computer. "Thanks for coming in, Maura." she said, dropping her bag down where Maura's was and leaning up against her desk. "I want all the eyes on this that I can get."

"Of course. Korsak has just gotten the surveillance videos. There are quite a few..." she looked over at Korsak's desk where, sure enough, nearly ten videos were stacked. Jane went over and picked up the first one and frowned.

"They aren't labeled."

"Apparently in the haste of getting all of the videos together, the zoo employees didn't label them."

"Great." Jane grumbled. "Frost, start going through notes from today. Do a search of the list of people Aiden Barker and the Fords gave you. See if anyone has a record. Check the school where Caitlyn Ford works, too. Korsak start running the parents. Pay attention to the step-father."

"You think he did something?"

"His son hasn't adapted well to the marriage or his new step-sister. Who knows. We've had whackier. My money is on this kid walking away. It just doesn't make sense that someone could take her and get out of there so quickly. This doesn't feel like a kidnapping. I mean, you didn't see that kid, Frost. Worse than Tommy growin' up. I can totally see this kid not wanting to go back home to that. I would take off too."

She took the videos from Korsak and moved them to her own desk, pulling up a seat next to Maura and putting in the first one. Maura was hands down the most observant person she knew. She generally didn't have Maura help her with police work, but Maura could spot a specific set of clothing from a mile away and she knew that if they had half a chance of finding a little girl dressed in a pink, flowered sundress in a crowded zoo from a distorted video camera, Maura was the one for the job.

They spotted the family several times on the videos, but they hadn't come across one that was pointed the lemonade stand. Jane had wanted to comb through all the videos to see if anyone had been tailing the family, but they hadn't yet spotted anything suspicious. Finally on the sixth tape, Jane and Maura could clearly see lemonade stand.

"Slow it down." said Maura quickly.

"There's Aiden Barker." Jane pointed to the screen. "He's got ahold on Caidence's hand. Ashleigh is right there." They watched as the three spoke and then Aiden joined the queue for the frozen lemonade. Jane slowed the tape down even more and watched as Ashleigh and Caidence waited by the stuffed animals. They were just barely on screen, but Jane could still make out what they were doing. Ashleigh stepped to the right and both Jane and Maura got a better view of Caidence. She had just went to pick up a panda stuffed toy when Jane spotted it.

"Hey, hey, hey!" she shouted. "There, right there. You see 'em?" Jane froze the video. "Look at this guy right here, in the corner. He's approaching Caidence. Frost let's get this in the tech room. Enhance this." Frost jumped from his chair and snatched the disc from Jane's fingers. Korsak and Maura jogged after them. Frost already had it up on the big screen when they joined them in the room.

"Can't make out his face." said Frost, squinting at the screen. "He's turned away from this camera the whole time. But look," Frost pressed play and they watched as the man approached Caidence and took her hand. She didn't even act surprised; but as soon as she was pulled closed enough to him, she seemed to slump to his side, and the man walked off camera. "He definitely took her."

"Think he knew where the cameras were?"

"I think he just got lucky. Look where the father was standing and look where Ashleigh was standing. It's as if he saw his opening. Neither Barker or the kid would have seen him approach Caidence, not even out of the corner of their eye. He blends with the crowd, too. Doubt he even noticed the cameras were there.

'What time is it?"

"10:30." answered Maura after a quick look at her watch. "Why?"

"I want this guys image on the eleven o'clock news. What d'ya say, Frost? He looks about 5'6, 5'7?"

"That hat is definitely a Red Sox cap." he said.

"Brown jacket, he looks white." chimed Maura. "I think his hair is brown or black."

"Okay dark hair, white. About 5'6, 5'7. Seen at the Franklin Park Zoo today. Korsak, there's still a few parking lot tapes on my desk. Start running them and see if you can catch this guy walking to his car. How did nobody spot a guy carrying a little girl out of the zoo?" she seethed. "And why, of all kids, does he pick Caidence?"

Frost shrugged. "Opportunity. The kid was alone."

"Nah, this guy scoped her out. There are tons of kids wandering off from their parents. He could have grabbed any kid. Aiden Barker was standing only feet away, and he chose Caidence. That's a high risk situation."

"Adrenaline rush?"

"This was planned." Jane chewed at the tips of her fingers, looking solemnly at the last image of Caidence on the big screen. "This was not random. He could have had any kid. Hell, he could have taken Ashleigh. It was in that one split second that Caidence wasn't by her father, that this guy chose her. In every other tape we've seen them, Aiden had her hand in his. And just look," she waved her hand vaguely at the screen. "Look at how many kids are running around with their parents not in sight."

"Think it's someone that the parents knew?"

Jane thought for a moment before speaking. "Look up the father."

"Aiden Barker? Why?"

"Pull his record and financials."

Maura looked over at Jane, confused. "But Jane, Aiden Barker was standing feet away from his daughter when she was taken. It couldn't have been him."

"A full three minutes go by between when Caidence is taken and Barker notices. He had his eyes on her the entire day, and then suddenly something changes?" she asked. "Somethin' doesn't sit right with me."

"You think this was a parental abduction?" questioned Frost.

"I think you should look up Aiden Barker." Jane demanded.

Tattered curtains hung from barred windows, their frayed ends and holes barely keeping out the growing moonlight. Specks of light highlighted the moth eaten couch sitting in the middle of the room. A dank smell, something remarkably similar to wet dog mixed with mold, filled James White's nostrils as he paced his living room. The wooden floor creaked beneath his heavy boots, playing in rhythm to the hissing noise of the flies that made home in the kitchen. A stack of dirty dishes spilled out over the sink and onto the couch, brown water trickling down and onto the blue tiled floor.

James dotted his perpetually sweaty forehead with an old rag. He dropped it to the floor afterwards, sweeping it along in a straight line with his foot to clean up droplets of blood. The rag was kicked to the side after, forgotten. A line of smeared red remained on the floor but his attention was lost, captivated only by the little girl's soft cries from the bedroom.

He nudged the door open and watched her for a few moments. Her arms struggled against their confines, an old rip piece of cloth he tore from a t-shirt he no longer wore. He made sure she had enough room to move – surely, if she had wanted to, she could even slide herself off the bed and onto the floor. Her eyes were striped red from the salty tears that she had shed, but her face was long dry; only that remained were the long, streaked shadows of her pain and fear. Her blonde hair was pulled back away from her face, but a few tendrils escaped, almost blanketing her right eye. She noticed him then, for the first time since they had come there, and she choked back a sob.

"Can I please go home?" she cried, a new tear threatening to spill.

"Is that too tight?" he asked gruffly, coming over and checking the knot. He loosened it a bit, just enough so her tired and worn wrists weren't chaffed. "Sorry."

"I want to go home."

"Yeh're gonna go home soon," responded the man. She hadn't yet seen his face up close. The shock of it all caused her to shudder – he wasn't a particularly attractive man, nor was he hideous. His face was rough with acne scars from his teenage years that had never faded. Thick brown hair was matted to his head, looking as though it had been unwashed in days. A repugnant smell filled Caidence's nostrils and she fought the urge to gag. His breath was laced with the smell of garlic. He wore a tired expression and his skin was as pale and lifeless as his grey eyes.

"I want to go home now."

"I gotta figure out a way to get ya home."

"I know my address." she squeaked. "I know my mom's phone number."

James whips around from looking out the window, his eyes narrowed and his gaunt face twisted in rage. "Yeh're not goin' home to yeh're mother." he hissed. "I'm takin' yeh to yer real home. Yer real family." Frightened, Caidence pulled herself away from him, pressing her small back up against the iron headboard of the bed. His expression softened. "Sorry," he said quietly, his eyes moving down to her arm. A thin line stretched from her wrist to half way to her elbow. "Sorry for that, too. I didn't mean to. Does it – does it hurt? Do you want me to, to get somethin' for it? I don't got a lot here, but, I, uh... I might got some bandaids or somethin'. I know I gotta cut my nails," he chuckled a little bit and looked down at his fingers. "Didn't mean to scratch yeh like tha'." Caidence remained silent. "H-hang on. Here," he left and came back with a small tattered box. "Knew I had some'a these. Got a rag, too. See here?" He moved to take her arm but she yanked it back. "I promise I ain't gonna hurt you. Just lemme see your arm. I'm just gonna clean it up. See, the rag is wet." He touched it to her skin.

Caidence scooted forward and allowed him access to her arm fully. He dabbed at the cut so the dried blood would wash away. He dumped the contents of the bandaid box on the bed. There were a few in different shapes and sizes, but none that would match the length of her wound. He grabbed the small bit of gauze that was left and unwraveled it.

"Guess it's a good thing you're so small," he said. "Won't take much to wrap your arm." He finished it by taping the gauze down with regular bandaids. "Don't got any tape, sorry." he muttered.

"Thank you." whispered Caidence, shrugging herself away from him once more.

"Gonna get you home, kid." said James as he pulled away from her and walked out of the room. "Gonna get you home to your real family."

"No arrests." said Frost as he pulled up Aiden Barker on his computer. "Born in Michigan, moved here to Boston with his dad when was thirteen. 20 when Caidence was born. He was just gettin' out of school."

"They moved back to Michigan when she was born, right? That's what Caitlyn said."

"Yeah," Frost squinted his eyes at the screen as he scrolled. "Moved back in 2005."

"Does it seem weird to anyone else that he just let his daughter move back to a completely different state without even fighting for her?" asked Jane. "I mean, hell, I'd fight tooth and nail for my kid."

"Looks like he was havin' some money problems." Frost said. "Student loan debt."

"Yeah Caitlyn said that he couldn't support a kid financially, but even still. If he can't afford to take care of her back home, how can he afford to fly out here every few weeks? Do you have his financials pulled up?"

"Hang on, here we go – oh. Oh, here we go. Looks like Aiden Barker paid off his debt in full a few months ago. Couple thousand in debt, gone. Just like that." Jane walked over and leaned over Frost's shoulder to get a better look at what her partner was seeing. "Looks like he's been dropping the cash, too. Bought a new house back home in Michigan. Whew," Frost leaned back in his chair. "Paid 200,000 upfront."

"Christ, I have trouble paying my rent every month." said Jane, her eyes transfixed on the screen. "Where did this guy get money all of a sudden?"

"Money started rollin' in about seven months ago."

"Jane, I got something." said Korsak from his desk. He stood and walked over to Jane, Frost and Maura. "You'll never believe this. Aidan Barker filed for primary custody of his daughter just a few weeks ago, and get this – this is his second time filing." He waved the papers in front of Jane's face and she snatched them from him, scouring the page with her eyes. "Looks like Barker tried getting his daughter back home to Michigan about a year ago but was denied due to financial standing. He filed again six weeks ago to the day."

"Statistically more than 200,000 children are abducted by family members each year, compared to the 58,000 that are abducted by non-family members." said Maura from her seat. "Most abductions are by non-custodial parents. It's very tragic."

"Frost, get Aidan Barker's ass in my interrogation room, I don't care what time it is. I want to talk to him."

As Frost turned to leave, Korsak stood as well. "I'll go update Cavanaugh." he said. Jane nodded and then they were both gone, leaving Jane and Maura alone.

"Are you alright?" asked Maura.

Jane smiled weakly and nodded. "It's just the kid cases, you know? Geez," she slouched down in the seat opposite Maura and closed her eyes for a second. Her head was throbbing, making it hard to focus on anything other than the inside of her eyelids. "Happy birthday, Maura." They both chuckled a bit but sobered quickly. Jane opened her eyes and looked at Maura sadly. "We might have to cancel Wicked. The tickets are for Friday. If this case – "

"Really, Jane. That is the farthest thing from my mind. Besides," Maura reached across and grabbed Jane's hand, intertwining their fingers and squeezing. "All I really expected from today was spending it with the people I love, and I'm doing that... right now."

The darker haired woman smiled but pulled away from her friend. "There is one very important thing, though, that you absolutely cannot miss on your birthday."

"Oh there is?" asked Maura, pulling from her revere.

"Absolutely." Jane reached down and dug through her bag, finally pulling out a small plastic container and setting it on the desk. Maura looked at her suspiciously before leaning forward and popping open the lead. An immediate smile stretched across her face.

"Cake."

"Cake!" yelled Jane enthusiastically. "The one day that absolutely nobody can judge you, or your friends, for eating lots and lots of cake." She pulled out two plastic forks and stabbed them into the frosting. "Can't do anything until Aidan Barker gets in here. Shall we?"

Maura couldn't help but laugh. She leaned forward and grabbed a fork, pulling it out and taking a taste of the cool vanilla frosting. "We absolutely shall." she agreed.

Thanks for reading.