That evening, Steve Mckade pulled his car into the driver way of the family home but made no effort to get out and go inside. He was staring without seeing through the windshield, his hands lying listlessly in his lap. He was exhausted, lacking the initiative even to open the car door.

Lights were on in the house, the uniformed officers patrolled the front of the house, and he took comfort in that. Each time he returned from the company, he feared he would find all the windows dark, the rooms deserted, the closets and bureau drawers empty. He lived in dread of Arabella moving out and the children being done with him.

She had sworn that she would stay by him through thick and thin, but at what point would she give up? When would she come to the realisation that he might not be worth-saving? That he wasn't the role model father or husband everyone thought him to be. He saw the disgust in her expression every morning when he appeared at the breakfast table, trembling and bleary-eyed, hungover from drink and guilt.

He loved Arabella for still caring enough to ask where he'd been and what he'd been doing, but he also resented her keen perception. The children barely spoke to him unless it was necessary, not while they were dealing with problems if their own. Everyone was tensed each passing day as if expecting some bad news like Annie's body being found in an alley or face down in the river.

Guilt made him defensive and verbally abusive. After several nasty scenes, Arabella had moved his things out of their shared room into the guest room. Probably, she was sick of his lack of care about their missing daughter and possibly to spare the grandchildren the trauma of overhearing the vicious quarrels.

Her eyes conveyed censure and contempt. He felt her patience wearing thin, her tolerance diminishing, her love dwindling. Any day now, she might leave him. Then he would die of shame and despair.

But no one understood what he had gone through, not even Arabella. No one understood the reason why he warned Annie to stay home, be the role model daughter. No one understood what happened forty-three years ago.

Steve took a hefty swig from the liquor bottle he'd kept tucked between his thighs on the drive home. He almost wished that a traffic cop had stopped him and arrested him for DUI. He would have gladly pleaded guilty to the charge. Jail time served for drunk driving would be preferable to the torture of watching his whole life fall apart in his eyes. If he were in jail, he wouldn't know anything about his family. He wouldn't see the look of disappointment in Arabella's face everyday.

Despite his wish for jail, he knew he had to protect his family against a scandal. Arabella and the Children were what mattered to him the most. Especially Annie. She mattered to him more than anyone ever knew. And they would probably never know. And even if everything never went back to the way it was before, Arabella and the children had enough to support them for the rest of their lives. She wouldn't be left with a paltry life of insurance policy or an enormous debt to pay.

He'd make sure of that.

Left?

It suddenly occurred to Steve that he was thinking of his life in the past tense. Which was just as well. If Annie wasn't found soon enough, he was good as dead.

* * *

Arabella was the first to leap out of the car the moment it came to a stop by the road blockage that had been set up by the police. The bright red and blue lights from the police cars mixed in with the street light creating an eery luminous light.

Few people littered the sidewalk mumbling amongst themselves. Several news reporters stood to the side reporting whatever it was they'd learned about the whole situation. Police officers moved to and fro talking into radios and examining the scenes and as scoured for any evidence they missed.

Kaden clasped his hand around his mother's arm to stop her from barging past the yellow 'Don't cross' line that had been set up to mark the scene.

"If we go in there, we might destroy any evidence they might find." Kaden suggested to the rest of his family, who looked ready to leap over the cross line and demand where Annie was.

Truth was that he was barely restraining himself from doing so too, but one of them had to stay sane for the others at least.

"I'm worried." Arabella wipes furiously at the tears that kept rolling down her cheeks. "I just want to see my daughter."

"Don't we all." William mumbled under his breath.

Ella glared at him, but didn't say anything otherwise. They still weren't talking, and no one in the family- although they noticed- was in the right state of mind to say anything. They could either solve it themselves, or keep avoiding each other. What mattered was finding Annie.

"Excuse me." Cassie called out to an officer who happened to move closer to where they were.

The officer, a man with a curled mustache and slightly balding hair, stopped writing on in pad and lifted a brow in their direction. "This scenes is closed, and don't even bother trying to ask questions. I know how nosy you reporters are."

"We aren't reporters. My name is actually-"

"Yeah. Yeah. That's what they all say." He rolled his eyes. "As much as I love this little chit-chatter, I have to do my job. So if you don't want me to arrest you for trespassing, I suggest you join the crowd on the-"

"Tell me where my daughter is!" Arabella cut off his tirade with a scream. The officer looked startled at her sudden outburst.

And it seemed she screamed a little to loud, because everyone turned their head in their directions and soon it all went into the wind. Camera's flashed and reporters fought to get to them. They threw questions their way hoping to get any sort of answers from them.

But one question in particular caught Arabella's attention.

"How do you feel seeing as your daughter is missing once again, after the police claimed she called them but was gone by the time they got here?"

Arabella tore herself from Kaden's arms and walked forward unsteadily towards the reporter who asked the question. "W-what did -y-you just say?"

The reporter must have realised her faux-pas because she took a step back shakily. "Umm. . ."

"W-what did y-you just s-say?" She lunged forward and grabbed the reporter by the lapel of her jacket and pulled her closer. "Annie's not missing! No. No. No!"

"Mom!" Cassie rushed forward and tried to pry Arabella away from the scared reporter, but she was shoved away roughly and she fell onto the asphalt, hissing when her elbow came in contact with the floor.

"Annie's not missing." Arabella kept repeating it like a mantra.

Even after they managed to pry her off the petrified reporter, she still mumbled repeatedly to herself.

When they finally got home, Arabella was out like a light and the men managed to carry up to the room, looking older than they actually felt. The women were waiting in the great room when they made their appearance and the detectives were there too. The television was on and was switched to the new channel.

"Tonight at the Kings Square Street, Ansela Mckade called the emergency number and reported her whereabouts to Gemma Kings, who was on duty tonight. The reports said that she had stopped talking halfway through the conversation and only claimed that she killed Bridget Tyson, a well known Criminal in Philadelphia. It was also said that-"

Kaden switched the TV off. Everyone turned to him in askance, but he narrowed his eyes at them.

"My mother is up there loosing her mind because of her daughter, who was supposed to be found tonight but is now missing. I don't think that this is the time to sit around and watch the news."

Detective Pedro sighed. "You're right." She gestured for them to sit down, everyone did except for Kaden who shook his head. "It was true that the emergency depart-ment got a call from Ansela. Gemma, the lady on duty tonight, said that Ansela left off in the middle of the conversation and said someone's name, but she didn't hear it clearly. We also listened to the recordings and true to her words, your sister left halfway through the conversation. And from what we gathered, she was excited about whoever showed up."

D.I Schneider continued from where she left off. "We checked the area and there was no sign of struggle or forced exit. But what we did see was a half role of duct tape, the phone Ansela made the call from and tires skid marks. The phone was confirmed to have been Bridget Tyson's. And we believe that whoever kidnapped your sister is someone she trusted."

"That's strange." William said. "Nome of us left the house today. Well, except for my father, and even so he went to the company. It's confirmed."

"We're not accusing anyone or pointing fingers." Detective Pedro said as she lay several pictures on the glass table before everyone. "We got pictures from the CCTV from the streets. It was too dark to see the culprit's face. But what we are sure of is that this person is a man. I want you to take a look at the pictures and see if you can recognize the person in this picture."

"I would go first." Cassie said as she moved closer to the pictures to examine them. She could see the faint silhouette of two people in some pictures and three people in the other ones. She recognized Annie alright. But she couldn't recognise the man or his partner, but there was something about that third person that looked almost. . . Cassie shook her head and took a step back. "No. I don't recognize anyone except for Annie."

Ella went next. "No, I don't."

Kaden gave the same answer and William did too. But one could see the hesitant look on Kaden's face as he took one last look at the pictures with the third person in it.

"Do you recognize anyone?" Detective Pedro asked Kaden, when she saw him take another look at the picture.

"There's something about that third person. I feel as if I have seen them before, but. . ." He shook his head. "Never mind. Probably my mind playing tricks on me."

D.I Schneider didn't look as if he believed him, but he nodded. "The police are already searching the area in case they find the house where Ansela was held hostage before she escaped. And if she killed Bridget Tyson like she claimed, then there's the possibility that her body is still in the house where your sister was abducted."

William clenched his fists. "I hope that bitch is still alive. I want to kill her myself."

Detective Pedro eyed him dryly. "Be careful with what you say, Mr. Mckade."

D.I Schneider packed the pictures into the brown envelope they brought it in. "We also spoke to Jared, the man who rented out his Dodge to Bridget. He promised to write her plate number down if she swings by, which I doubt very much if she's dead like your sister claimed."

Kaden started to speak but was cut off when Detective Pedro's phone began to ring. She motioned for them to be quiet as she pressed the answer button.

"Pedro." She simply said. The rest of them watches on silently as she replied vaguely to whoever was on the other end of the line.

When she finally hung up, everyone held their breath in anticipation. Detective Pedro pocketed her phone with a scowl on her face. Her mouth turned down at the sides and her eyebrows almost touched in the middle.

"What is it, Quinn?" D.I Schneider asked what everyone couldn't. He knew Pedro like the back of his hand, she was after all his fiancée, and he could tell that whoever just called her was a harbinger of bad news. Those things don't sit very well with either of them.

"Jared is dead."

.............................................................

A/N: I apologize if you found this chapter boring, but just think of it as a filler. Just to give you an insight as to how the family are.

If you made it this far, then here's a cup of ice-cream( whatever flavor you want) for you.

I promise that the next chapters would be more intense and Annie would be found very soon. Keep your fingers crossed.

QOTC:

What do you think happened to Steve to make him that way? Also, what do you think of Kaden almost recognizing Skylar?

What do you think happen to Jared?

Thank you for reading. Don't forget to vote, share and also comments. (Your comments makes me happy).