Nathan's POV

"Look Mike, I am coming with you whether you like it or not."

"I'm sorry, Nathan. This is police business, and I can't have you in the way."
"Dammit Mike, she's my girlfriend and heavily pregnant. I need to be there for her."
"When we find her, we will bring her straight back here. I can't have you go all half cocked into this. We have to keep a level head. We are not certain that she is there with them. Besides, you can't get around well with that cast on your leg."

"Please, I need to be there." I begged. I'm not one to do that but I was desperate to be there if they found her.

"I'm sorry, my friend. I can't do that. I will keep you updated."
"Son, please listen to Mike. I don't think it's a good idea for you to go either. You are not healed and could cause further damage to yourself."

I know my mom is right. I don't like it, but she speaks the truth, and I reluctantly agree.

"Alright, fine, but you keep me in the know. You tell me the first thing when you have her."
"You know I will. We are headed out first thing in the morning."

"Be careful and bring her home safely."
Mark leaves, and my anxiety overwhelms me. What if they can't find her. What if she remembers who she is and doesn't want to come back?

"Son, don't do that to yourself."
"I'm not doing anything, mom."
"I know you, son. You overthink things. She will be back. She loves you."
"I just hope that she is okay and the baby is fine. I just can't get it out of my head that she won't come back."

"Oh, sweetheart." She says as she pulls me into a hug and gently rubs my back. My mom always knows when I need a hug. Even now that I'm grown, it always feels good to get a hug from your mom. We sat there for a moment when we heard a knock at the door. Mom gets up to go answer it. I guess the boys decided to come over for a visit. I hear the door open up and my mother's angry voice.

"What the hell are you doing here? Haven't you gotten the hint that he doesn't want you around? He has a good woman in his life and doesn't need you!"

Then I hear that voice that just grates my last nerve.

"I've come to take care of my man. He doesn't need you anymore so you can leave." Jennifer says harshly.

I hear her heels clack against the hardwoods as my mother's footsteps follow behind her. She quickly walks in and sits next to me on the couch as she flings herself against me. "Oh, my god, you are okay. I heard about your accident while I was out of town. I'm here now. I will take care of you."
She strokes my hair, planting kisses all over my face. I grab her hands and push her back forcefully.

"Haven't I told you that I don't want you. I never wanted you and I never will."
"You don't mean that. I'm here for you. I'll take good care of you."
"I have got a real woman who loves me, and I love her."
"I don't see her here. She left and won't be back."

"What did you say? How do you know she's gone?"
"Come on ,it's a small town. Everyone knows everything. She wasn't here when you woke up. She's not coming back."
Now I'm starting to get angry. How does she know that Lily is gone? I quickly grab her by the arms.

"Ow, let go of me. You're hurting me baby, please let me go."
"Not until you tell me what you know."
"I don't know what you're talking about." She said innocently.

"You know something. Now tell me!"

"She's never coming back. I heard it from someone who helped her. She was only using you."
I see red, and if she doesn't get out of my sight, I just might go off. I would never hurt a woman, but she is dangerously close to it. I can't believe she said that. I know Lily would never use me. I just don't know what Jennifer is up to and if she has anything to do with Lily's disappearance. I have got to find out.

"You had better tell me the truth."
"Jennifer, you are nothing but a snake. I can't believe my son had anything to do with you. Lily is the sweetest thing and so much better than you ever will be." My mother sneers.

Jennifer somehow rips herself from my grip and stomps over to my mother.

"Nobody asked you, you old hag. I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance. That whore is as good as dead!"

I could see the anger rise in my mother's cheeks as she reared back and smacked Jennifer across the face. She tried to hit my mom back, but she blocked it and grabbed Jennifer's hair and drug her out the front door, and all I could hear was screaming, and finally, the door slammed shut.

"That woman is no good. She had something to do with Lily's disappearance. I just know it.

"I feel it too, mom."
"We have got to tell Mike. Maybe he can get something out of it."
"You're right. I'll call him."
Picking up my phone I quickly dialed Mike's number. He picked up after a few rings.

"Hey man, what's up? Miss me that much?"
"Don't flatter yourself. I just had a visit from Jennifer. Some of the things she said to me have me believing she knows where Lily is."
"What did she say?"

"She said she was gone and never coming back. I feel like she was holding back. She also threatened my mom. She has gone off the deep end, and I am worried this is not the end."
"Alright, I will have one of my men bring her in for questioning. I will let you know how things are going. We will find her, man. Don't give up hope."

"I'm trying not to. Please find my girl, Mike."
"I will. I've gotta go. I will talk to you later."
I hang up and toss my phone on the coffee table. Leaning over with my head in my hands, I let out a deep breath, I felt my mom sit next to me and rub my back.

"Son, why don't you go lay down? It's been a long day. You seem a little stressed, and you need some rest."

"You think, mom? My girl is missing, and that psycho has something to do with it. I can't do anything about it. Aggh!"

"Don't yell at me. I'm only here to help you. Getting angry is not going to help anything."
I take another deep breath and sit back against the couch. I can feel my leg throb, and groan.

"I'm sorry, mom. I don't mean to yell. It's just getting to me. I hope that they will find her soon. I know she is frightened."

"Let me get your meds, and then I will help you up to your room so you can sleep."

"Thank you mom, what would I do without you?"

"I don't know. Maybe wallow in self-pity. Do something that would get you hurt?
I shake my head as I laugh. She gets up to get my meds and then helps me to my room. She pulls out my pajama pants and leaves me to get undressed, and I crawl into bed as the painkillers take effect. I hope that Mike is able to locate her.

Mike's POV

I stepped into the precinct early this morning. Scott and I are headed out to check on the lead we have with the Derusso's. I am hoping that we will find Lily with them or Brianna if she has her memories back. I sit down at my desk, taking a long drink of my coffee as I go through the paperwork waiting on Scott. It's not too long before he is walking through my office door and sitting down in front of me propping his feet up on my desk. I give him a stern look and he quickly puts his feet down.

"Good morning, boss. Are we ready to head out?"
"What's got you so chipper this morning?" I ask.

"I'm just ready to get this started. It's my first big case. We are dealing with the mafia. I can't wait to take them down."
"Calm down, rookie. We don't know if she is even there. We don't want to cause any alarm. We could be dead before they shut the door in our faces and never be found again. This is just a recon mission. We don't know who even has her. Hopefully , she will be there and we can finish this. Nathan is going stir crazy at the house, and he just wants his girlfriend back, safe and sound."
"She has lost her memory, right? What if she got it back in the crash and doesn't want to come back?"
"I guess we will find that out when we find her. Now let's get out of here."
We pack it up and climb into my car and drive several hours to Chicago. Eventually, we make our way to the Derusso estate and pull up to the gate. The estate is enormous and I wonder how many people are living there.

The guard walks out to the car and asks us who we are. We present our badges and tell him our names and why we are here. He walks back into the little building, and soon the gate opens, and he is waving us through. I slowly drive up to the mansion and park the car. We quickly get out and walk up to the door, knocking loudly. An older gentleman opens the door and ushers us into the large living room and instructs us to sit down. He tells us that Mr. Derusso will be in soon. A few minutes later, a man walks in.

"Good afternoon, gentleman. What brings you to Chicago on this fine day?"
"We have a missing woman and it's believed she used to be engaged to your son." I ask quickly.

"What is her name?"
"The name we knew her as is Lily."
"You must be mistaken. My son's fiancee was Brianna Hanson."

"Yes, she had amnesia, and we all called her Lily. She went missing a couple weeks ago after her accident."
"I don't know what to tell you but I haven't seen her in almost a year."

"You haven't tried to look for her?"

"We did for months. She could not be found. We thought she wanted to get away from our son Mariano. He was devastated when she left and drank himself to death."
"I'm sorry to hear that. You had no contact with her since then or recently?"
"None at all. We loved her very much, and Mariano never got over it."
"Do you mind if we took a look around?"
"No, not at all. I'll have our butler show you around."
"Thank you."
The older gentleman came back into the room and we followed him around as he showed us around the estate. After about an hour and coming up empty, we walked back into the living room where Antonio sits with a drink I believe is whiskey.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked.

"Everything looks to be in order. I'm sorry to have bothered you. Here is my card. If you hear or see anything or if Brianna shows up. Please give me a call. I have a friend who is very worried about her."
"I will definitely call you if I hear anything."
He stands up and we shake hands. The butler shows us out the front door, and we walk to my car.

"I have a weird feeling about him. Do you think he is hiding something?" Scott asks as we get to my car.

"Absolutely, now I just need to find out what?"

We get back into the car and make the drive back home. I just hope that what he is hiding is not something that will hurt Nathan in the long run.