Note: Thank you all very much for the reviews-they made my day. And I appreciate the follows and those reading as well. Thank you so much to Caranath, TinDog, Merry W, Paulina Ann, ulstergirl, Jilsen, and max2013. I hope you all continue to enjoy! :)

The Secret Spaces

Chapter 2

At 10:00 the next morning, there was a knock on the front door. Callie got up excitedly and flung the door open wide.

"Johnny!" she exclaimed joyfully, a smile lighting up her face.

"Hello, my love!" he answered, enclosing her in his arms and holding her tightly. "I've missed you so much!"

He pulled away to gaze at her for a minute before hugging her again and giving her a series of kisses on her cheek. "It's so good to see you again." He broke away and smiled as he looked at her. "How beautiful do you look?! My best friend's having a baby!" he sang out.

He reached behind him and pulled in his luggage, immediately closing the door and locking it. When Callie looked at him quizzically, he shrugged, a grin on his handsome face. With twinkling green eyes, he winked at her. "What? Your husband texted me about ten times and asked me to take care of you, make sure that everything was safe, call him in case of an emergency, apologize for not being here, say he was looking forward to seeing me… When did he get so chatty?" Johnny joked.

"He left this morning, early. Sorry if he's driving you nuts. He's in fierce overprotective mode lately," she explained, taking his hand and leading him to the couch, where she already had a drink waiting for him.

"When did that start?" Johnny asked, taking a sip of Cherry Coke, his favorite. "Or let me guess- about eight months ago. Is that about right?"

Callie laughed. "Yeah. Something like that."

"Nah- he's not driving me crazy. I love that he loves you so much. I appreciate you guys letting me stay here. You've done a lot of updating since I was here last. I can't wait to see the place!"

"You're always welcome here, Johnny. You know that. Besides, this works out perfectly. The show is filming in New York in a few days and it gives us a perfect opportunity to catch up. I miss you. You're in L.A. most of the time, and Facetime and texting don't really make up for it," she said, so glad to have him there.

"Yeah, we had lots of good times, huh?" he agreed, squeezing her hand.

"And now look at you!" Callie said proudly. "The show is incredible. I'm hooked! Isn't it funny that I married a detective and now you play one on tv?!" She smiled tenderly at him. "And now you're used to the fame and fortune, huh? I'm so happy for you. No one deserves it more."

Johnny continued to smile at her. "It's not all it's cracked up to be, Cal! And I don't want to hear it from Frank if you end up as my secret pregnant girlfriend on some tabloid this week. It's disconcerting that you never know if you're being watched, no matter how many precautions you take. So Frank was right- and me being here with you could actually be a great thing or cause you a little heartache. If that's the case, I apologize. I'll try to look as nondescript as possible and not let on that I'm here. I THINK I've gotten away with it so far." He sighed ruefully. "It's stupid I even have to think about this. I just want to act, you know?"

"Well, you're a wonderful actor," Callie replied finally. "And I'm really sorry you're going through this. But you have to admit-a hit tv show, being named one of People's Top 50 "Sexiest Men Alive", and being the spokesman for Guess cologne is kind of exciting."

Johnny blushed. "I guess," he replied. "I… Cal, I kind of wanted to talk to you about some things. I wanted to wait until Frank was here, since it kind of involves the two of you- but I only have a few days, and if he's not back… I just wanted to…" his voice trailed off.

"Are you okay, Johnny?" she asked, concerned. Although she and Johnny had had many serious talks over the years, the vast majority of the time he was fun loving, a little crazy, and lighthearted.

"Yes. I am," he said at last. "Later?"

"Of course," she added. "Whenever you want." Looking at her friend, she told him, "Why don't you go upstairs and rest up? You know where the guest room is. Oh! And stop and see how Frank and Joe set up the nursery."

Johnny stood up. "Can I help you with anything while I'm here? You know I'm pretty handy."

"Just relax," she answered.

"Come on, Cal. Make me feel useful. I have a bunch of gifts for the baby in the car," he added.

"Relax," she emphasized again. "And you did NOT need to do that. Besides, Vanessa will be here in a few hours and you know it always takes her a good hour before she realizes that you're not Jonathan Gellers, A -list extraordinaire, and you're just Johnny, closet video game addict, chess nerd, Oakland Raiders fan, and typical guy."

Johnny quickly sat down by her again. "Thanks for remembering that, Cal. You're the only person anymore who really knows that stuff." He placed a hand on her stomach. "I can't believe you're going to be a mommy soon."

They looked at each other, an unspoken soft and oddly sad silence filling the air. "Okay. Well, now I know we need to talk tonight. Okay?"

Callie nodded. "Maybe I can convince you to tell me how the finale will end? Or will you make me wait with the rest of the world?" she asked, changing the subject.

Johnny smiled, grateful for the reprieve but relieved to be with Callie again, where he could be himself with no judgement. He stood again and grabbed his bags. "I'll see what I can do. But if I gave you the info, Vanessa would never forgive me, right?"

Callie laughed. "Probably."

"I may have to watch the finale with the both of you tomorrow and see if we can guess what happens."

"Guess?" Callie inquired. "Johnny, you were in it!"

He smiled, eyes twinkling. "Cal, we had to film four different endings. They don't tell me which one they pick until it's edited. Heck, I don't even know what'll happen. Maybe they'll kill me off- who knows?"

"No way!" she replied. "I had no idea it worked that way."

"The life of a detective!" Johnny sighed dramatically and then chuckled. "I need my boys Frank and Joe here to tell me if I did an okay job with it. Okay, sweetheart," he finished. 'I'm going to go up for a little while to rest. It was a long flight. Then, you pick the restaurant you want to go to- my treat, of course. Just pick somewhere local. I have to deal with New York City in a few days and I have to save my energy til then. Okay?"

"Okay," she agreed and gave him a thumbs up sign.

"Love you!" Johnny called as he went upstairs.

"Love you, too," she mouthed to herself, contemplating exactly what Johnny wanted to tell her that was so important. Deciding not to worry about it at the moment, she got up and went into the kitchen to start on some home-made desserts. She missed Frank already and wondered what case he was working on, yet she had a sneaking suspicion she really didn't want to know. She smiled though and patted her stomach again as she felt her baby move, and wished Frank was there to feel it as well. It was such a sweet moment, and reminded her how excited she was to be pregnant. Scared- but excited. For some reason, though, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was... off… about the whole day.

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Joe sighed and looked at his watch. 7:00 p.m. Today had been nothing but an exercise in futility. He had spent half the day on the phones and with the police detectives, and tried to locate women in his ten towns who fit the appropriate age and letter name description. Somehow, even stranger, in one town, he had actually found by some weird coincidence a woman named Debbie Falking, who also happened to be 42 years old. It had been the miraculous needle in a haystack he had been looking for. Calling his father, he had been able to get several police officers and rush with them to Debbie Falking's house. And, when they had gotten there, there she was-in a bathrobe, watching TV with her family, and very much alive. He then had the awkward mission of trying to explain to her and her family why there was a slew of officers surrounding her house. Though she had been horrified, she wasn't mad, at least. And, based simply on the nature of her age and name, the Dannemora police department had decided to leave her under watch for a few more days.

Still, if she hadn't been taken yet, that meant she wasn't missing. And that also meant that she wouldn't fit the pattern of having been missing for a week before she would turn up. So, Joe realized he was down one day and had nothing to show for his efforts.

Picking up his cell phone, he dialed his brother. When Frank picked up on the third ring, Joe asked at once, "Any luck?"

"Nope," Frank answered. "I spent the whole day working on cracking recent files in the ten towns I had to see if there were any missing persons reports- nothing. I did find out that, in the three other cases, each of the women- and the girl- were reported missing by the second day."

"Well that's because, in most cases, people have to wait 48 hours before a missing persons report can even be filed," Joe reminded his brother before launching into an explanation of the wild goose chase he had spent the day on. "I wish I was back in Bayport," Joe finished. "It's a lot more fun to spend time with Vanessa than to hunt down dead bodies."

He heard his brother laugh on the other end of the line. "I wouldn't tell her that," Frank answered lightheartedly. "It doesn't exactly come off as a compliment."

"Hold on," Frank said to Joe. "I think Dad is trying to break through. I'll get him on a group chat. Hang on a sec."

Joe listened to some classic music playing idly in the background as Frank tried to connect the three of them.

"Hey, Dad," he heard Frank say. "I have Joe on the other line. What's up?"

Fenton's voice was serious. "I don't have great news," he started. "I don't know if this is anything. But two days ago, in Dryden, a man named David Fallon was reported missing. He hasn't been seen since. I also know that the topography there is heavily wooded. We might have a lead. See if you boys can get here as soon as you can. Joe, it'll take you about 2 hours; Frank, it'll be closer to 4. Are you okay to drive out here?"

"Yeah- sure," Frank responded, and Joe chimed in "yes."

"But a guy? The first three victims were women. Is his age-" Joe started, but was cut off by Fenton.

"Yes- he's 42. It's well worth looking into. I'm going to head over to his wife's house now and see what details I can get. I'll meet you both about midnight at the Best Western in the town. Be careful driving. The pattern is changing. I don't like it," he concluded.

"Me, either," Frank concurred. "See you guys later."

As Joe hung up the phone and started to look for the address for the hotel to enter into GPS, he had an overwhelming need to stop for a minute. Realizing that a woman right now was fearing for the safety of her husband, he was reminded again, as he was often in this job, of how precious life was. He texted quickly: "Hey Van- heading to Dryden. Miss you and love you lots. Hope you're having fun with Cal and Johnny." He added an emoji heart.

It never hurt to tell people who you loved that you loved them. After all, anything could happen to anybody at any time.