Missing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: I know I haven't been updating the other stuff but that's cause I've gotten so into writing this that I've only worked on this. By the way I meant to say in chapter 6, the investigations with Jade and Tori are inspired by two of my heroes on the reality show Cold Justice. Yolanda and Kelly, you should check it out, they investigate actual cold cases and work to solve them. The show is on TNT

Chapter 8 (Closer to the Truth)

Going through files was a tedious process, especially when they were all she had to go on. She had to work late, giving Victoria some time with her grandfather, and was going through all the evidence and witness statements. One in particular bothered her a great deal, and that was a statement from Robbie Shapiro. She was fretting over the inability to locate him.

Even the team that was now handling the Shapiro murder still couldn't get a hold of him due to his own parents having little idea where he was. "It's as though you've fallen off the face of the earth." Tori grabbed her coffee mug and brought it to her lips.

The problem here was that Robbie was one of the last few people to interact with Trina that day. Reading over his statement was something that caught her eye. Tori set the mug down and read the sentence aloud to better let it sink into head. "Yes, I got into an argument with her, but it was mainly aggression on her side. She was outside the maternity ward at the hospital where her mom works, and I made a comment about the possibility of her being pregnant. She lashed out at me and threw my puppet down the hall." He hadn't known about her engagement with Sinjin, so it was just another opportunity to mock her.

With curiosity getting the best of her, she skimmed through the remaining files and could find nowhere else where the possibility of Trina being pregnant came up. It could have been that the original investigators only figured Robbie was making an assumption since Trina didn't confirm that's what she was there for.

She looked to the black purse in the evidence box and twisted her lips. Something was pulling her to the object, so she grabbed it out and began to unload it piece by piece. She came to a torn sheet of paper with a name and phone number scribbled down as though Trina was in a hurry.

"What's this?" The name belonged to one Carolyn Summers, but there was no identification. On impulse, she grabbed her phone and dialed the number, hoping that the same person still had the same number. She was amazed when a woman with an aged voice answered. "Is this Carolyn Summers?"

"This is she."

"I'm Detective Tori Vega, I'm looking through evidence on a cold case that involves a kidnapping. Your number was found in the victim's belongings." The woman hummed for a moment and responded with the same calm voice.

"Yes, I am a counselor at South Pines Woman's Shelter." She grabbed a pen and wrote down the name, then promptly asked for the address. She recognized the name, it was the small town where Sam had gotten a job on the narcotics team. "It is on Maple drive, three doors down from the Pines Lutheran church, you can't miss it. However my shift is about to end, but there is a café nearby we can meet and I will be more than happy to help with the investigation. Who does it concern."

"A woman by the name of Trina Vega. I believe she may have either made an appointment with you or tried to get in touch with you nine years ago on or near July 23rd, 2014."

"Yes, I recognize the name."

"Thank you."

It did not take long to get into town, and David was more than happy to spend some more time spoiling Victoria by taking her to the park. This was good, because now he was getting out of the house more.

The café was the only one in town, just a short drive it appeared from a large mansion in the distance. She wasn't certain why, but the mansion seemed to be of importance.

She met the counselor in one of the back booths and was grateful the place wasn't crowded. Tori ordered a cup of herbal tea and let the warm steam soothe her.

"I believe I spoke to Miss Vega once or twice," Carolyn's eyes wrinkled and her friendly smile pulled up into her cheeks. "I remember her because her as I remember everyone."

"Can you tell me what she was looking for in a woman's shelter?" Just the fact that Trina had been seeking one was disconcerting. "Also, it doesn't seem that any investigator spoke to you in the past."

"They did not. You are the first I have spoken to about her decision. She seemed to be a strong woman and showed no desire to run away, but she wanted our help nonetheless."

"Did she give you any indication that she might be afraid of someone? Maybe she was trying to hide away?"

The elder curled her fingers beneath her chin and closed her eyes, humming softly. "She contacted me first thing after leaving the hospital, I believe, and then she drove out to the shelter to discuss what was going on. I do believe she was worried because she discovered she was pregnant, and was afraid that the father might not want the child-but she had not told him yet. I suggested that she talk to the father, but I do not know if she ever did."

"Okay." Tori wrote the information down and brought the tip of the pen up to her lips, chewing absentmindedly on it. "What else was discussed?"

"She was afraid of her stepmother, I believe." Tori lowered the pen and frowned. The woman sipped on her drink and exhaled slowly. "Poor girl didn't want to be in that 'madhouse', as she called it, or anywhere that woman could find her. I think she was afraid for her unborn child."

"Why?"

"She told me that woman said she didn't deserve to be alive, that she shouldn't be the object of her father's affections. To that extent, she'd been told by her stepmother after announcing her engagement that she hoped any child she had would be stillborn."

It was a great deal to take in, but Tori wrote it all down regardless. More and more it looked as though her own mother were responsible, or at least involved in some way.

"You're her sister, aren't you?"

Tori's eyes drifted up from the notepad and she nodded. "Yes. We think Trina may still be alive. It's hard hearing that my own mother might have something to do with it, but I need to think like a cop and distance myself from those personal relationships."

"Don't forget who you are, though, or what Trina thought of you. She spoke highly of you." Her heart lifted and she smiled appreciatively at the woman.

"Thank you." Something still wasn't adding up. If Trina were truly terrified of her mother, she'd terrified of Gary and would not leave with him or with Holly. Not to mention, what Trina said during their last argument about leaving to live with them must have been done on impulse. "One last question, to sate my own curiosity. Did she ever talk about her birth mom? Even my dad doesn't bring her up much."

"I think she said something about wanting to track the woman down, but she seemed to feel the woman wanted nothing to do with her." Carolyn's finger tapped her upper lip and she rolled her head to the right. "On second thought, I think she said she found the woman and wanted to stay with her."

Tori wrote the information down, then stopped halfway through the sentence, remembering Trina's angry words during the argument. I'm going to go stay with Mom. Not once did Trina ever refer to Holly as her mom, not since learning the truth at a very early age.

With this information, Tori had to assume Trina found her mother, or someone to take her there. "I won't know until I can get Holly to tell me if she saw anything or not." She hardly expected honesty from the woman at this rate, so she had to plan the questioning strategically. Of course, the first thing to do there would be to ensure Holly was in town.

In order to learn more about Holly, she knew the next person to question would be her dad. It was likely he never even thought Holly capable, so this would be hard on him and she wasn't sure how to handle this in a way that wouldn't destroy him.

Nothing implicated Holly yet, she had no physical evidence linking the woman, but that didn't mean suspicion didn't fall on her. Not after hearing what Carolyn had to say.

Back home she got David to sit down across from her at the table. He was hunched forward and studying her. Her jaw was locked and her shoulders were broad, she met his eyes with confidence and tried to figure what to say.

"I know that look, you're still in investigative mode right now. What can I do to help with the case?"

"I have to know more about Holly." His heavy hand covered his mouth and chin, and his eyes slid down. "I need to also know more about the woman that is Trina's mom, and the relationship between the two of them or the three of you."

"Is Holly being considered a suspect?"

"At this point I'm not sure of her involvement, if there is any. But her erratic behavior casts some suspicion. Trina was afraid of her, and we feel Holly may have witnessed the abduction. More than she admitted to nine years ago."

"I see." He dropped his hand and straightened his back. "Monica Lewis. A waitress at a steakhouse." Tori folded her hands and listened as the man spoke. He coughed into a napkin, took a deep breath, then continued on. "I adored her, eventually got her to go out with me. We went on several dates together, and she became pregnant with my child."

"Okay."

He shrugged and glanced away. "It turns out that Monica was from a certain type of family. She didn't want the baby, she wanted to abort it but they said no." Tori swallowed down the heaviness in her throat and reached for the notebook. "When she considered adoption, I wanted my child. I stepped forward and Monica handed Trina over to me. At this time, I'd met and married Holly. She was insanely jealous of Monica and of your sister."

Tori held onto her breath and closed her fingers around her pen. She started clicking the pen and peered down at the notebook. "She argued that Trina wasn't hers and so another woman's child had no place in our house. I fought back, saying I had a right to my daughter. She never quite got over that."

"Do you feel if Holly had the means, the motive and opportunity, that she would have done something to Trina?"

David crossed his arms and shrugged. "You're the investigator. What are your thoughts so far?" She looked to her notes with a chuckle and swept her hair over and behind her ear.

"She has motive, it sounds like. Jealousy, anger, hatred. But I don't know about opportunity or means."

"If you ask me, the key witness-the key to all this is in the next room watching Scooby Doo." He poked his thumb over his shoulder and Tori looked to the living room. "Get her to talk, and she'll be able to tell you what she can."

"I can't and don't want to push her. She's been through eight years of trauma and she's separated from her mom."

"Right, but she's starting to trust you. She'll open up to you when she's ready to, and I suspect it won't be much longer. Keep investigating, but don't forget that Victoria has seen with her own eyes what happened.

"Right." She scratched her head and turned back a page in her notes. "I just wish I could figure out who would have taken Trina. She would have had to be comfortable enough to go without fight, and she would have been willing to get in a car without her purse."

"You know your sister better than anyone. There were always exceptions."

"Exceptions?" She wrinkled her nose and thought back to the crime scene.

"The original investigators-" He stopped and put his hand to his chest. "-Even I all thought she was taken from the back yard. You found that very likely she left the yard. She was angry, needed to blow off steam, so what did Trina do?"

"If I remember correctly, then I know she's always leaving the house when she's pissed. She leaves to walk around the neighborhood." Her heartbeat pulsed with rapid excitement as the realization struck her like a hurricane.

Trina wasn't abducted from the house or the back yard, she wasn't guided, she went for a damn walk. "Why didn't I think of that?" She threw her hand to the side of her head and rose, taking in a sharp breath of air. "But Holly was in the guest room, she might have seen Trina leave the yard."

"Have you questioned her yet?"

"No, I'm not sure how to get her either. I'd have to call her and convince her to come in for questioning to see if she saw anything. Gary too, just to check and see if his story has changed over the years or if it remains the same."

"Also question people who lived in the neighborhood around that time. You know your sister's walking. Retrace it, see if the neighbors saw anything at all. Even if they never came forward, they might have been afraid…but it's been a decade now, so maybe someone will talk."

"Maybe. I hope so, because I'm not entirely sure where to go with this."

"Just keep doing what you're doing, and you'll do fine." He smiled reassuringly and his eyes glimmered with hope. "I'm proud of you, Tori. If anyone can crack this case, you can. I know you can."

Her heart skipped a beat and she moved to hug him, grateful that he had faith in her. "I won't give up." She had to do everything she could, and now that she had this new probable theory, there was more to work with. Though it was another step closer, she still felt far from the truth.

So there's a chance Trina wasn't taken from the area of the house at all, and we see she was visiting a women's shelter while also looking for her birth mother. Things the original investigators never found that can truly turn a cold case on fire. What are your thoughts as you read?