Missing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: Also when classes begin, I'm going to be uploading my stuff more towards the morning if I can.

Chapter 15 (David's Brighter Day)

David felt strong while walking with Victoria in the park. Watching her admire seemingly each leaf on every tree and every petal on any flower they came across made his heart swell with pride. For once in the last few years he felt a reason to move on and to live.

This child coming into his life was nothing short of a miracle, and he wanted to do everything he could to be a good grandfather. He gazed up at the clouds and smiled pleasantly as the child sniffed a flower on a bush in front of him.

After several seconds of silence, he was startled Victoria's voice. "Tell me more about Mama?" His chest loosened and he dropped his eyes down to see Victoria looking up with curiosity. "Before bad people." Her tiny fingers were clutching the stem of a California Poppy. Her bright eyes were focused on him, however, and her tiny nose sniffled. "What was she like before, Grandpa? Was she close with Aunt Tori?"

It took a moment to recover from the shock of her speaking, though he knew it would happen eventually. The muscles in his face relaxed and he motioned her over to a nearby park bench.

Victoria climbed onto the bench and sat beside him. Her hands folded in her lap and she turned her head up to look at him. "Your mother meant more to me than she knew." His heart filled with joy when she smiled. "She loved your aunt, and Tori loved her. They argued like siblings do, but they still loved each other." Victoria turned her head down and shrugged.

"Momma always talked about her, and I wished I had a sister."

He took a deep breath and looked at the trees in front of him. It made him happy to hear that Trina at least held onto the memory of her sister, because at least that would hopefully keep her going.

"You knew your aunt when you saw her?" Victoria nodded once and stretched her arms out in front of her.

"Momma had a picture." The girl leaned into him and set her head on the side of his body. He moved his arm around her shoulders and gently kissed the top of her head. "Not all people there are bad, some made to be there. One of them was like a guardian." He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head back.

"Guardian?"

Victoria's eyes clenched and her head bobbed for a second. "He would stop them from hurting momma too much. He even gave me books, let momma teach me to read and to write."

This was a stunning development, and this guardian were real, then it explained how Victoria was not horribly underdeveloped. "This nice man, why didn't he ever get help?"

"All scared of bad lady. I remember them talking about their moms and dads being killed. The guardian lost his dad and brothers, he was worried about his grandma and his sister." This sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't picture the man. He didn't want to press Victoria to talk about anything, so it was best to just let her give information at her own pace.

Victoria moved her head up and a pleasant smile slid across her face. "There was another good guy, a knight. He was a knight but he doesn't live in the castle with the bad people or the guardian." It sounded like she was retelling a story, or at the very least, associating real people with characters in one of the storybooks this 'guardian' had given her.

Inspired, his smile grew and he gazed in wonder at the gleam in the girl's eyes. "Mama likes him, he makes us feel safe."

"This knight." His eyebrows slid down into small lines over his eyes and he scratched at his chin. "Tell me more about him. How do you know him? Does he know you and your mother being held in this 'castle'?"

"No. Mama not allowed to say. Evil man listens in with a radio and watches from a distance." She took a deep breath and reached up to her hair, running her fingers through the tip while looking towards her feet. "Guardian allows it, he makes evil man let mom outside once a month and we meet the knight at a café. I think he likes momma too. He's a policeman. That's why the guardian has to disguise her."

"Is that why this man is a knight, dear?" To his amazement, she shook her head. Her eyes seemed to light up as she talked about this man, which was a good sign. It was a relief to hear that even in the darkest time, Trina and her daughter had some degree of happiness.

"Knight. He says he was once a part of a group of knights called the Black Knights." His eyebrows shot up and he glanced off to the side. The name was familiar, but that particular group had been disbanded a very long time ago. They were a gang, but they didn't deal in many criminal activities since their leader had been trying to change that. After some time, this leader gave up and disbanded the Knights.

"I wish the knight would save my mommy. Aunt Tori and that lady at the ice cream shop talked about him."

"Samantha? The blonde lady that came up to the table?"

"Yes." He snapped his fingers and cupped his hand over his mouth. He had a sinking suspicion who this 'knight' was, and if he was correct, then the man would most certainly want to help. Still, he couldn't assume much.

"Does your mother trust this man?"

"I think so, we've met him for two years. She's always happy when she can see him, then cries when she misses him. She talks more about him now than my dad, but she always seems sad, like she's confused about something…"

"I see. And this Guardian? Do you feel comfortable talking about him, and was he the one that tied you to that tree?" Victoria flinched and grew quiet. When she spoke, her voice was soft.

"The evil lady made him kill someone. He and the nice woman wanted me to be found, and the bad people found out so they blamed it on the madman." His finger slid across his chin and he furrowed his brow.

Clearly she was talking about the Shapiro murders, which meant the case was connected. Tori needed to know this.

"The guardian wanted to leave me by the creek, but the evil lady tied me up. I think she…" He saw the tears in her eyes and pulled her close. His heart sank as the girl's body trembled ferociously.

"Shh, it's okay, I understand." The woman wanted her dead, the revelation was startling. Remembering Tori's story about finding the girl, it sounded like she'd been just in time. "You don't have to say anything more if you don't want to." He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her upper arm, consoling his granddaughter the best that he could. "That evil lady can't hurt you anymore."

"But she has mommy, and if I'm not with mommy, then mommy won't make it." The terror in her eyes crushed him, but at the same time, it made him want to fight that much harder to find Trina. Not for his sake anymore, not for Tori's or for Trina's, but for Victoria.

"She'll make it sweetheart. I promise you, we're going to get her out. If this 'Guardian' is still there, then maybe he will keep her from harm. Then we'll find this Knight, and have him help us in saving your mother." When she looked up to him, her eyes so full of hope, a smile flickered on his face. "We'll all go. Your aunt, Jade, Beckett, this knight…we'll go like a pack of mighty warriors against a dragon and take the castle. When we do, we'll bring your mother back to you."

He had to mention Beck in this outfit, primarily because the man said he wanted in on it. Tori had in mind to take command once she found the place, and she fully planned to raid it. When Beck learned of Robbie's possible involvement, he demanded to join the police force when this raid took place.

"I've been too scared to talk, because I was always told to be quiet. I didn't want to get hurt." She tensed and cuddled closer to him. His heart broke at her words, so rather than say anything he held her protectively in his arms. Nobody was going to harm her if he had anything to say about it.

"You say whatever it is that you want to, you will never be in trouble for talking." He did feel a bit of satisfaction that she started talking fully to him before
Tori, almost as though it were an accomplishment.

She closed her eyes and relaxed in his arms. The sun lit her soft cheeks aglow, and her lips seemed to pucker as she let herself drift away. "I love you, Grandpa." His eyes widened and his heart skipped. Tears began to glisten in his eyes, and he moved a trembling hand up to his chest.

"I love you too sweetie."

The minutes of blissful silence soon turned into hours, and David remained holding his granddaughter and watching the clouds in the sky roll by.

The silence was interrupted by someone addressing him by name. He turned to the surprised speaker, uncertain as to who it was. When he saw her and made eye contact, he knew her face in an instant.

The woman was nearly as tall as he was, er face was slightly wrinkled and her eyes had crow's feet stretching out. Her once long raven-colored hair was now grey and up in a perm. Her blue jogging outfit matched her bright blue eyes, and her lips matched the soft, tanned skin.

David's heart began to race as the woman's brow furrowed and her curious eyes drifted to the young girl beside him. "Monica?" Her name fell out with a stammer and he quickly looked to Victoria, motioning at the sleeping child. "This is Victoria, my granddaughter. Katrina's daughter."

"Katrina?" Monica put her hand up to her chest and exhaled slowly. "How-How is she?"

"We're looking for her."

"What?" The woman's eyes darted back to him and a wrinkle pushed up between her eyebrows. "What do you mean you're looking for her?"

"She was taken from, us." He watched her fingers tremble and took note of what appeared to be a sign of Parkinson's. "l thought you might know."

"No." Monica sat on the bench beside him and looked to the child with a sorrowful gaze. "The last time I heard, she contacted me about nine years ago. I thought she wanted to come see me, then she stopped and I assumed she wanted nothing more to do with me-"

"That would probably be around the time she was taken." He was amazed that Monica wanted to see Trina at all, but this was good. His lips curled into a smile and he watched her move her hand away from her chest. "Where's your family at? Are they here with you?"

"No. I…never married." His eyebrows shot up and his mouth fell open. "I regret a lot of things though, mostly leaving my child behind."

"It was your decision, Monica." The woman couldn't raise a daughter on waitress money, and her parents absolutely refused to help her raise a child out of wedlock.

"No it wasn't." His frown deepened and Monica let out a deep sigh. "The minute I gave Trina up, they had the church make me go on a mission in Africa. I never could make contact with you, and when I got back…you moved on. I just figured you wanted nothing to do with me either."

His heart sank and a soft gasp drifted from his lips. "Oh Monica, that couldn't be any farther from the truth." The center of his eyebrows curled upwards and Monica's beautiful eyes glistened with tears. "Why would you think that? Growing up, Trina always asked about you. She wanted her mother-her stepmom was…" He cleared his throat and closed his eyes. "There are many ways to say it, but you get the idea."

"I know. She's the one that answered the phone when I called you." Everything around him ceased and he raised an eyebrow at her. During Trina's entire life, not once did he hear from her. Holly never mentioned anything about it either.

"You called?"

"A couple of times. I was on that mission for nearly ten years, mom and dad kept telling me I had to go through the entire thing." Her father was the preacher, and Monica had never been that religious simply due to her parents constantly shoving religion down their throat. "Dad passed away and I was able to come back home. First thing I did was try to contact you, and your wife answered-she didn't sound happy and told me you didn't want me in your life or in Trina's. Every time I tried to call after that, she just…she made threats, so I stopped. Then Trina contacted me nine years ago."

"You could have called again after that. Why didn't you?"

"Because your wife called after that. She told me you were divorcing her, and if I tried to make contact with you again-"

"I got it." He leaned back on the bench and let out a soft groan. His heart was in pieces now, and with no way to put them back together. "I have no idea where she is. Tori, my other daughter, is a detective. She's looking for Trina, and right now we think Holly might be behind the disappearance."

Monica's hands moved over her mouth and her watery eyes finally exploded into tears.

Victoria's eyes fluttered and she lifted her head up slowly. "Grandpa? Who're you talking to?" She looked over to Monica and rubbed her eyes. David pat her back and started to smile.

"This is your grandmother. Your real grandma. Your mother's mom." Victoria gasped and blinked multiple times. Monica's smile grew and she waved her fingers at the girl. David scratched his chin and gazed in earnest at her. "You know, I would love to catch up with you over dinner. I imagine Victoria is hungry."

Victoria pat her belly and replied with a swift nod. Monica's eyes lit up and her lips slid apart into a cheerful smile. "I'd be happy to. It's been a long time."

"Too long."

Well this seems good. It's not good how Holly once again manipulated someone's life into a livnig hell. Also good that Victoria finally spoke.