February 10^th, 2017. 7:03am.

The first thing Katy did when she woke up was go fill the food dish outside. She had seen the little Siamese hovering not too far away, and she was probably hungry. There was enough fresh water (important in Arizona), so she heaped the food just in case she couldn’t get back in a day or two.

With the investigation, with Alex, she had no idea where her life was going to go. At least for the next couple days it would probably be somewhat predictable. She had the next three days off.

Instead of going back inside, Katy sat on her porch, on the small bench there, not caring that she was dressed in her pajamas. She watched as the little cat wandered over, eyeing her briefly before attacking the food. She was small, probably still a kitten. Katy watched her with a faint smile.

Her mind drifted back to the events of last night, what they had done and who she had done it with. She didn’t regret it, not really. It was — complicated. Like everything else was in her life.

She had needed to forget, and so had Alex. They had escaped together. Was it to be a regular thing? Katy doubted it. She had seen that guilt in Alex’s eyes, the doubt. It was the same expression Katy wore when she went to work, when she wondered for the thousandth time if she was choosing to work and distract herself instead of combing over the evidence another time and potentially finding something that could break the case wide open.

Katy bit back a smile. Yes, she was quite familiar with beating herself up over small mistakes. But she had also become friends with forgiveness. Life was too short, too brief, to spend it thinking about all the negatives. Not that it made losing Tally any easier, but it kept her from being comatose, made her keep getting out of bed.

A shiver of nerves went through her as she stood and headed to the mailbox, since she hadn’t gotten the mail the previous day. Then she would go inside and make breakfast, get something for them to eat. Was it too domestic? She didn’t care.

The mailbox wasn’t far away, and even though it was chilly by Arizonan standards, Katy was comfortable in her pajamas. Much more so than some of her local friends, even though Katy had only been there since she was nine.

She pulled it open, skimming through the junk mail and mentally sorting things into a keep vs throw away pile. Then she felt it. It was the same sort of stock paper as the prior envelope, the type where she could feel the edges through the thin layer of the envelope.

The rest of the mail clattered to the floor, and she stood there, holding the single, unmarked envelope that she knew had a photo in it. It wasn’t even postmarked this time, no address on it. It was blank.

Someone had deliberately, intentionally, placed it in her mailbox.

With shaking hands, Katy slid a finger underneath the envelope. She shouldn’t open it, she should wait for Alex or Greg, but she couldn’t help it. Her heart was racing, her breathing coming too fast. Oh God, what was it going to be? What was in it?

She barely managed to get the photo out of the envelope before she opened it, and a scream caught in her throat, clogged there, leaving her frozen.

It was a photo of her daughter, of Tally, sitting on a chair holding a newspaper. A newspaper dated this morning.

Tally was alive this morning. She had to be.

But why would the kidnapper send this? Were they bored of the investigation? Did they want attention? Katy’s heart was beating so fast she felt like a hummingbird was trapped inside her, and it didn’t feel like she was even in her own body anymore. She felt like she was floating, disconnected from the world around her.

“Katy?” Even Alex’s voice didn’t break the trance. Katy just stood there, her eyes wide, any hesitations about last night’s escapism now dancing through her mind. Why had she been sleeping with an FBI agent when she should have been out finding her daughter? God, she was a horrible parent.

“She’s alive,” Katy managed, looking from the photo to Alex. “She’s alive.”

Alex grabbed a pair of gloves out of her pocket and slid them on, gingerly taking the photo from her. She didn’t scold Katy, something Katy was grateful for. It wasn’t perfect, but Katy was going through hell. There was little in life that was structured and orderly in hell.

Before Katy could ask her what she thought, Alex had dialed her phone and stuck it to her ear. “Greg? There’s been another photo.” Alex listened for a few moments, nodded, and then she hung the phone up and tucked it in her pocket. “He’s on his way.”

Katy nodded, and it was the right thing to do and she knew it. Even if she could still feel the shock rushing through her, dampening the world while throwing a spin on it too.

“We’ll find who has her.” Alex’s voice was firm, and Katy turned to look at her, her chin tilting down in a nod of agreement. She trusted Alex, no matter what had happened between them.

Katy looked at her, studying her. Alex seemed focus on the photo, on scanning the area; anything and everything to avoid looking at Katy. That was probably her fault given what they had done. She doubted that Alex was ashamed, but if others were going to be showing up, Alex may not have wanted to get caught showing affection.

Still, despite her best efforts, Katy reached out and put a hand on Alex’s arm.

Alex, still holding the photo with one gloved hand, turned to look at her, concern and care evident in the knit of her eyebrows.

Katy slid her arms around Alex and leaned into her, liking the slight sturdiness of the taller woman and the way Alex relaxed into her, arms encircling her and making Katy feel like everything would be okay. Even if her world was falling down around her, and all the ugly memories were being dredged up, things would be okay.

It didn’t matter that she was standing in public, hugging the FBI agent who was working on her case that she’d screwed the night before. No matter what was or wasn’t before them, they were going to be okay.

The sound of a car careening around the street caught Katy off guard, and it was Alex who jerked away. Her smile was apologetic, but Katy understood. Whatever it was, whatever it had been or could be, it had to be explored on their own time, away from the influence of others or of the case itself.

Alex extended the photo and envelope in Greg’s direction, as he was the first one out of the car. Their voices rushed over Katy like a wave, and for a few minutes she just stood there listening, not trying to understand and instead just existing.

That was when she realized they were looking at her with questions in their eyes, and the ever-curious media that had almost completely left was starting to pop up again. Then she caught sight of Alex and realized she had never changed out of her pajamas.

The thought made her want to giggle, and she wasn’t sure whether it was amusement or hysteria. Both, maybe?

“Do you have someone who can stay with you?” Alex asked, her voice low. Her body was towards the door, as if she was itching to run back in and get dressed. She probably was. Greg was talking with another person from the police department, and the set of his shoulders told Katy he was going to be working late tonight.

Katy glanced at Alex’s phone; not at the content but the date and time. “Eleanor is probably working.” But Lucia might be free. “I’ll call.” She dipped her head in acknowledgement.

Alex nodded, and there was something warm in her eyes that was just for Katy. Then she turned and headed into the house at a jog, apparently determined to get dressed and ready to go.

Katy, on the other hand, still stood there in her pajamas, shock making her brain fuzzy. She was watching Greg and the other detective now, as they analyzed the photo from inside its plastic evidence bag. Tally had been sitting on a chair, the newspaper on her lap. Maybe there was something in the photo that would tell them what she’d been sitting on and where she was being held.

Not that she thought her kidnapper was quite dumb enough to take her anywhere public. They’d been smart enough to get away with it until now, they didn’t need to be stupid.

She found herself dialing Lucia’s number. If Alex was leaving, then she did want someone around. Not just for comfort, but being alone was almost as terrifying as the investigation itself. Who knew what would happen, and what would be needed?

“Hello?” Lucia sounded concerned on the other end of the line.

“Please come.” Katy didn’t know what else to say other than that, as pathetic as it was. In the middle of the investigation her brain turned to mush, and thoughts became hard when her body was so determined to freak out about everything else.

“Be there in a bit.” Lucia hung up her line, so Katy did the same and put the phone in her pocket so she stopped gripping it so hard. Not that it was really possible to break a smartphone, but it wasn’t really something she wanted to test and see what happened.

Alex came out of the front door, dressed in an outfit similar but not identical to yesterday’s. Katy could even see the shoulder holster just underneath her blazer. Things were serious, then.

“I’ll call you soon,” Alex promised, and then she headed after Greg, who was handing the photo to another officer to take back to the department, signing over the chain of custody.

Katy nodded, watching her go. Then she turned back to another officer. This one was from patrol, dressed in the overly-hot uniform that they were required to wear. At least it was winter in AZ and not summer. She couldn’t even imagine how much that must have sucked.

“Have you seen anyone suspicious around, ma’am?” the patrol officer asked, her voice respectful. She had a severe-yet-kind face and her hair was pulled back in a bun as she took notes.

Katy thought back to the last night, to what had happened in the ER and after she came home. “No,” she said, and then she thought about it for a bit. “But I wasn’t really paying attention.” She didn’t have to say why, it was none of their business.

There were a few other routine questions, or what felt routine after all of this had happened. There were so many things that felt routine to her that shouldn’t. Katy lifted her head and met the patrol officer’s eyes. Officer Berkowitz, her uniform said. “Do you think you’ll find her?” It was a dangerous question to ask, and Katy knew it, but she couldn’t help it.

Berkowitz looked away, then looked back at Katy. “Stranger things have happened, ma’am,” she said, her voice measured and deliberate. “We’ll do our best.”

Katy studied her for a minute, and then decided that she wasn’t actually mollifying her, and instead she believed what she said. “Thanks,” she said, and she meant it. Being told what she wanted to hear was as useful as a booger-flavored lollipop.

The truth was sometimes worse, but it was never worse than a lie. At least to her.

“Can we chat for a bit?” Greg’s voice was kind. Katy’s gaze flickered from Alex to him, but she kept her face still, something she had long since perfected as an ER nurse. Had Alex told him something, or did he just want to chat about the case? If she was right, she was betting the later.

“Of course.” Katy turned to him. Eventually she would have to go change clothes, go think about things, but she wanted to make sure Greg had all the information he needed.

“Let’s go inside,” he said.

“We can talk out here,” Katy said, because the moment they headed towards the door she realized that she wasn’t certain they had taken care of all of the evidence from last night. Not that there was much, but it wasn’t something she had paid close attention to and the last thing she wanted was to throw Alex under the bus.

Greg looked at her a bit oddly, but then he nodded. “This envelope wasn’t postmarked,” he said, and there was some tension around his lips.

“It wasn’t,” Katy agreed, and the thought concerned her.

“Someone got close enough to your mailbox in order to put the envelope inside it. Does anyone else have keys?” Greg looked around the surrounding area, his eyes alert.

Both Lucia and Eleanor had house keys, but no one had mail keys, not at the moment. “Just me,” she said. “One of my friends used to, but I have it now.”

“How long ago was used to?” Greg glanced back at the house. Katy had never moved after Tally’s disappearance, and she didn’t plan to.

“About a year before Tally disappeared,” Katy said. It may have been closer to six months, but she didn’t care to figure out the exact timeline. A ballpark was close enough. She couldn’t remember whether it was Eleanor or Lucia, anyway.

Greg nodded, thoughtful. “Thanks. We’re going to set up some surveillance near your mailbox, for at least the next week or so. If you think of anything else, please call me.” He tapped his jacket as if looking for a business card.

“Your number is in my phone,” Katy reminded him.

There was a flush on his cheeks.

“When was the last time you slept?” Katy asked. She knew the feeling; she’d worked doubles before.

Greg shrugged. “I’ve slept.”

Not enough, but Katy didn’t say anything else. Greg was dedicated, and it was something she appreciated about him.

A car screeched around a nearby corner and straight towards the cop cars. Katy heard shouting before she confirmed who it was. Not that Lucia was a bad driver, really, but she’d certainly gotten more reckless and full of dramatic flair the past few months.

This time, though, it made Katy smile. It was exactly what she had needed, even though she didn’t know it.

“She’s okay!” Katy called, and Greg echoed her not long later. He’d met Lucia in the course of the investigation, and knew how crucial she was to Katy’s survival post-abduction. Katy was looking at Lucia’s car when she caught sight of Alex standing by her SUV, waiting for Greg’s permission to leave.

There was a faint smile on her face, and her eyes met Katy’s. For a moment their gazes lingered, the intimacy there almost the same as it had been last night. It sent chills down Katy’s spine. Maybe something would grow between them. Maybe she even wanted it to.

Not that it mattered, she reminded herself. Alex was only here for the investigation. Once it was done - once Tally was home, she told herself fiercely - Alex would go back where she came from, and Katy would have her daughter back and her family, life would go back to normal. It had to.

“We’ll be in touch,” Greg said, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder before grabbing his ringing phone and tucking it to his ear, stepping out of where she could hear. Katy dimly saw Alex moving towards him, probably to see what he had found out.

Lucia parked in a way that only blocked two of the patrol cars, which made Katy smile, and then got out and headed to her. “Katy.” Lucia squeezed her tightly. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“There was another photo.” The words were hard to say, but Katy filled her in on what had happened that morning. Leaving out last night - as much as she loved her friends, for now that was staying between her and Alex. They needed some time to figure out what was going on, if anything.

“Let’s get you inside and get some breakfast.” Lucia wrapped an arm around her shoulder, supportive, and led Katy inside.