Lupaix: Residential Area

Bowen chuckled softly as he saw Vanessa and crouched down to hand her the sun flower. "This flower is for you Ms. Sophia.", he would say with a smile and offer his hand to help her out of the heels. After that he stood and turned to Vanessa. "There is no rush. The restaurant will hold my table unless I cancel it."

His eyes glanced down her curves and back up again before he spoke. "You look beautiful tonight. The dress does well to match the color of your eyes." He would glance back down at Sophia. "Like an Iverian princess. Am I right Ms. Sophia?"

Sophia giggled and nodded as she hugged the flower to her chest. She was shy, but she seemed to like Bowen well enough.

"I picked it out," Sophia told Bowen proudly.

"Getting fashion advice from my six year old daughter," Vanessa remarked with amusement.

She rummaged through the cupboards before locating a small vase that she filled with water from the tap. "Here, why don't you put the flower in here?" Vanessa said. "And don't forget to put my shoes back."

"I won't," Sophia said as she climbed up onto one of the chairs so she could put the flower in the vase that Vanessa had set on the kitchen table.

With that seen to, she gathered the shoes up and ran off to put them back in Vanessa's room.

"Well she seems to like you," Vanessa said. "She doesn't usually trust male strangers so quickly. Her father wasn't the best role model," she explained. "Do you have any children of your own?" she inquired.

'None that I know about.', he thought with a frown. He was fairly confident he didn't have any kids but the proposition still bothered him. A moment passed. He recovered and smiled. "No kids of my own but I have always had a soft spot for them."

He leaned against a nearby counter. "Kids are the best judges of character that I know.", he said without looking at her but then turned to look at her. A few questions rolled around in his head but he thought better to not ask them now. He also didn't feel comfortable enough to reveal the fact that he was certain that he could not have kids himself. "I hope your hungry."

Vanessa suspected she had asked an awkward question as Bowen faltered and missed a beat before offering his response, and she decided it best not to push the matter as he changed the subject.

"Believe me, I'm famished," Vanessa answered with a wry smile.

She hadn't eaten anything since lunch, and like many of her kind, her metabolism ran hot.

"I think I hear the babysitter pulling in," she said as she headed back for the front door. She shifted the curtains to the side to check that it was the sitters car before she opened the door to meet the babysitter on the front stoop.

"Hey, thanks again for staying late tonight," Vanessa said as she moved aside so that the babysitter could come in. "She's had her dinner already," she added. "And if you need anything, just give me a call. There's some leftovers in the fridge also, help yourself."

The pair exchanged a few more quick words before Vanessa looked to Bowen.

"Shall we?" she asked.

"Wait!" Sophia said as she ran into the room and grabbed Vanessa's hand before she could leave.

She let go of her mother's hand and started fiddling with the clasp of her grandmother's necklace, until she finally had to turn the chain around so she could see what she was doing. Once she had it off she handed it to Vanessa.

"You should wear that one," Sophia said.

"I should, should I?" Vanessa asked.

"Mhm," Sophia said emphatically.

"Alright then," Vanessa answered as she put on the necklace, making sure that the emerald set pendant wasn't crooked. "There we go, how does that look?"

"Good," Sophia said affirmatively with a nod of her head for emphasis.

"Good. Now go on, and don't give the babysitter too much trouble," she told Sophia.

"Iverian princess indeed.", Bowen would comment when he saw the pendant. He would offer Sophia a wink and a smile before they stepped out the door. He closed it behind them and walked with her to his car, a black coupe with the lines and body style of a muscle car. He opened the door and offered her a hand to get in before closing the door and leisurely walking leisurely around the front of the car. He got int the driver's seat and shut his door.

"Does her dad see her often?", he said as he started the car without knowing who her father was or the exact situation. The engine let loose a deep rumble which would let her and anyone else that was listening know that this car didn't just look like old Aslund muscle, it most certainly had the power to back up the look.

He didn't put his seat belt on before he depressed the clutch and shifted the car into first gear before pulling away slowly. Smooth acceleration, a turn, and a few shifts later and they were cruising down a busier street on their way out of Lupaix and Vargeras.

"He sees her couple times a month," Vanessa answered.

She seemed guarded with her response as she watched the city buildings moving past them. A part of her wished Bastion wasn't a part of her daughters life at all, but this wasn't a conversation she wanted to go into with Bowen.

"How about you? Any crazy exes I should know about," she asked.

"No.", he said with a smile. "No crazy exes. Haven't been in a serious relationship in about ten years.", he said with a grimace but turned briefly to give her a half-hearted smile accompanied by a sigh. "The past can really be a pain in the ass when you are trying to meet new people romantically." That was not to say that he didn't bed a fair number of women since then.

He got on a main road that would bypass the worst areas of Vargeras. "Talia Lefevre was the last woman I really cared for or had a lasting relationship with. It was a pretty big story ten years ago and we still haven't gotten the guy who killed her." She had been killed as part of a string of murders deemed to be done by a 'supernatural serial killer'. The case had long since grown cold and motive of Talia's killer was unlike any of the current cases or victims the firm was working on. He remembered her fondly. She had the most beautiful white hair and blue eyes. All was stained red when her body was found in a naked bloody heap.

"Sorry. No crazy exes and no kids. Why? Should I be worrying about your exe?", he turned and raised a eyebrow.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Vanessa answered awkwardly.

She certainly was blundering tonight with the awkward questions. His inquiry and the raise of his brow lightened the mood though and she chuckled lightly.

"I suspect you can take care of yourself," Vanessa said. "What with putting him in the hospital already. He's a bully, but like most bullies he's a coward. Let's not talk about him tonight though."

Besides, nothing quite said first date like spending the night talking about your ex she thought wryly.

They would be crossing over into Luskonios here in a moment. The scenery was changing to represent the better parts of town. "Ahh. Sorry about that.", he said with a slight chuckle. There was some awkward silence for a time as he drove. His hand were brush her's on the center arm rest but would be gone moments later when he needed to shift. His had would return.

"I appreciate your help in The Den and I hope your not just going out to dinner with me because you feel obligated. I really do have a soft spot for kids. I would do what I can to help Sophia even if you had refused to join me tonight." He would take her hand in his if she lingered.

"Don't be," Vanessa said. "He had it coming," she answered.

"And if I'm entirely truthful with you, fancy dinners are really not my element," she admitted with an amused smile. "Definitely a first. But maybe that's not bad. If you can't tell, I haven't exactly been the picture of good decisions in the past, and a change might be a good thing. Something nice."

Her fingertips brushed against his hand as she said it, and it was difficult to say if she was still talking about their dinner plans, or if she had meant something else.

After a moment more she withdraw her hand from his and rested her head against her right hand with her elbow propped against the side door.

Jeanne walked through the front door of Baron's house, taking in a big sigh as she did. She had hoped so dearly it didn't have to come to this. The door lock was broken. It jangled noisily as it hit the wall.

She'd already swept the area with the eye. The place was so lived, but not by the man she was expecting. She turned to another officer with a scowl. "Are you sure we have the right place?" she questioned in amazement. "I mean... I feel like he hasn't even been here in forever."

"What makes you say that?" the officer asked, frowning.

Jeanne's eyes shot down to the ground. "Call it a... hunch."

She walked further into the house, high boots thumping on the ground. Nothing screamed Baron at all. There were two others who lived there, though. She couldn't identify them. She couldn't know.

"Small place, ah? Kinda homely." She brought her nail up to the right wall and scratched lightly at the flaking paint. "Could use some renovation."

"Detective Bonheur, are we checking the house or putting it on the market?"

"Calm down. I've checked more than you can imagine, officer... much more."

Vanessa had Sophia's hand in her own and she had removed her coat to drape it over her daughters shoulders as the pair ran through the rain. They had been halfway back from the corner store when the overcast skies had opened up in a torrential downpour. The storm had come on quickly and the pair where thoroughly drenched by the time they made it back to the house.

The lights where on and the door was open, which might have sent Vanessa to the nearest neighbor to call the police if not for the police vehicles already parked out front. Instead she made her way up the front stoop to find the police rummaging through cupboards and drawers in the kitchen and adjacent living area.

"What is this?" she demanded. "What's going on?"

Sophia meanwhile hung back on the stoop, shivering and uncertain what to make of the situation, these people, or her mother's abrupt anger.

Jeanne turned around slowly, looking over the woman who'd come inside. She certainly matched the identifiable traces in the house. "You must be the one who's actually living here," said Jeanne, approaching her. "The man called Baron, who owns the house, is in jail. We're checking this place for evidence. Could I have your name? I'm detective Jeanne Bonheur."

"What evidence?" Vanessa demanded. "Baron doesn't even live here. My daughter and I do, and I want you all out of here. We haven't done anything."

"I understand that you may not want us here. We shouldn't be too long. I'm fairly certain we're not going to find anything here. Unles-"

"Do you even have a warrant?"

"Yes. We wouldn't be here without one."

"Can I see it?" Vanessa replied.

Vanessa was plainly agitated, but it wasn't unheard of for the Lutetian police to up and lie to get into a residence - especially where pack was concerned.

Jeanne gave the woman a tight smile and reached into her coat pocket, retrieving a folded, white piece of paper. "Absolutely," she said, holding it out for her to see. "I think you'd like to know that Baron's a suspect in a crime."

"That's all well and good, but what does any of this have to do with my daughter and I?"

"You're living in his house. I don't know your relation to Baron, but if he's the one that owns the place, it seemed like something that'd be important to you. I suppose not." Jeanne put the paper back into her pocket.

Vanessa grit her teeth. "Are we free to leave?" she asked.

She didn't know how long the police would be, and with the front door broken in she didn't particularly want to spend the night here with Sophia.

"You can stay inside if you want, or you can leave, or even sit in your car until they're done. It's up to you," Jeanne said. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience." Her eyes met the ground, and the older woman sighed. "I really am."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are," Vanessa replied somewhat scathingly. "Come on Sophia, we're lea-"

It was that that Vanessa realized Sophia wasn't standing on the stoop anymore.

"Sophia?" Vanessa called as she went to the front door. "Sophia?"

She couldn't see much of anything through the sheets of rain pouring down, and it left a spike of fear stabbing through her.

"Sophia?" she shouted.

She took the steps two at a time towards her car in case Sophia had gotten into one of them to get out of the rain, but what she found left her fear rising into panic. Vanessa's coat was discarded in the mud on the ground by the edge of the street.

She picked it up as she looked up and down the street.

"Sophia!" she shouted over the downpour pounding against the rooftops and the pavement.

Jeanne jogged out of the house, alerted by Vanessa's shouts. "What's wrong?" she called, looking through the rain.

"I don't know, she was right here," Vanessa shouted over the rain. "Sophia!" Vanessa screamed.

Jeanne frowned and took a good look around. On the steps. There. A waft of color that only she could see. It was also clouding the house. She moved into the rain, trying to trace it.

Nothing.

"Shit," spat Jeanne. She wasn't getting the easy way out today. Not in this rain. It had swept away any trace she could have used. She ran down the street, hoping for a sliver. A shadow. Anything. "Sophia!" she cried. She didn't know the girl, but if she responded to names-

She jogged back to the house, running inside. "We've got a missing person! Has anyone seen a little girl? Her name is Sophia."

Everyone in the immediate area looked up at Jeanne and shook their heads, some of them exchanging glances.

Why? Why now? And how, with so many cops?

"No one heard anything? You saw nothing? How the fuck..." Jeanne darted out of the door again, looking for Vanessa.

A black car pulled up behind where Bowen's car was parked at the curb. Bowen opened his door, pausing to speak to Léon who was driving. It was Léon who alerted Bowen to Vanessa who was standing in the middle of the street. They both stepped out of the car and both were well dressed but had heavy bags under their eyes. Bowen was the only one who moved around his door and started to walk in Vanessa's direction. "Vanessa?", he called to her.

He had tried to call her earlier in the morning. Being that he was representing Baron he was alerted to the warrant nearly as soon as it was issued but his call went to the machine. Vanessa had stepped out to visit the corner store earlier that morning and had missed his call.

"Sophia!"

Vanessa was near hysterical by this point.

"She was just here," she said as Jeanna came running back out of the house. "Where would she have gone?"

"Sophia!"

She raked her fingers through her soaked hair as the rain ran in rivulets down her face. She couldn't see anything out here and she turned about in place, not at all paying attention that she was in the middle of the street.

As Bowen appeared on the scene as well she was feeling nauseated.

"Sophia's missing," she shouted to him, before trying to call for Sophia again.

"Sophia!"

Long lines drew at the sides of Jeanne's mouth as she frowned. She knew the terror of missing one's child. Especially in Lutetia.

"What does your daughter look like?" she asked Vanessa. "I'm going to send out my officers on a search. We're going to try and find her."

She glanced at the men who rolled up, but her concentration was on the woman and getting the task done.

Bowen looked at Léon, then ran back to him. He spoke to him briefly, describing Sophia. Léon stepped back into the car and took off to make a pass around the block. Bowen jogged back to stand near Vanessa and frantically looked around and joined in calling her a few times. Unlike her he remained somewhat calm. His calm gave way to anger. "We will find her. We will find her...", he said. He tried to coax Vanessa out of the street.

"Ms. Bonheur?!", he would question her. He knew her. They traveled in the same circles and spoke to the same people. He knew what she was well known for but he knew that it was hopeless. The fresh smell of the rain had destroyed everything. The trail was gone before either of them could get so much as a whiff. His jaw clenched and his anger boiled over, anger at his own powerlessness, anger at the police for allowing this to happen.

"I.. uh..." Vanessa turned around.

She needed to find Sophia, but she couldn't get her thoughts together beyond that. She didn't know which direction to go, where to start.

She put a hand to her mouth trying to think.

"There's a picture of her, on the shelf in the living room," Vanessa managed.

Jeanne nodded to Vanessa. "I'll be right back," she said to them. She glanced at the man who'd called her for a moment. "I'll talk to you when I come back out."

Her reputation spread a little far, Jeanne realized as she hurried inside to look for the photo. Once she did, she passed it around the other officers inside, telling them to spread out and keep their radios close. "We've made a big mistake today. We're not letting her get away for long!"

"I need to call someone..."

She pressed her knuckles to her lips as she tried to get her thoughts together. Baron was still in prison, The Den was closed and no one would be there.

"What if her father took her?" she asked suddenly.

She was grasping at straws, but she was panicking.

He was drenched to the bone and so was she but he did not care. "Would he do that?" For all Bowen knew Sophia's father was capable of anything but he didn't understand why he would do it. He didn't know the guy well enough to profile him.

Léon pulled back up, rolled down the window and shook his head. "I didn't see her. The police should cordon off the area and do a house by house." Bowen would look back to Vanessa. "Please.", he would call to her and then step around the car and out into the street. "Come out of the road. I have a phone. Make your call." Again he would try and coax her out of the street.

"I don't know... maybe?" she said as Bowen managed to get her to step out of the street. "I don't know who else might have taken her."

She looked at the phone in hand but she couldn't figure out who to call with Baron still in jail. She finally hugged her arms to herself as she tried to get her head around the situation.

"I shouldn't have left her there, I should have been watching her. I just... she was right there. Maybe if I shift I can pick up a trail," she said.

"No. It won't help. The scent is gone. The rain washed it away.", he shook his head and took her hand, leading her back over to where Léon waited in the car. "Do a few more passes. Question anyone you see." Léon nodded and pulled away again.

He would lead Vanessa back in the direction of the house. He hopped against all hope that this was a case of Sophia just wandering off. Perhaps she was stuck somewhere waiting for the rain to stop. He worried though. He worried like Vanessa that someone had taken her, taken her from right under the police's nose.

All of this sat at the back of his mind as he walked and lead Vanessa back in the direction of the house. His phone was gripped in his hand and he hesitated to make a call of his own.