Jake glanced down at his watch as Frank Hardy strode across the office toward him. He frowned. Frank was actually 20 minutes late today. Interesting. Frank was never late to work. He glanced up as his partner dropped a stack of papers onto his desktop. Frank was smiling like the proverbial cat that ate the canary.

"Hot date last night?" he asked. Frank merely shook his head and crossed over to his own desk.

"You're late." Jake said. "Is the world about to end? I have to ask because I can't remember you ever being late before."

Frank continued smiling. "Nope. I had a long night." He gestured at the papers. "Go on, read."

Jake picked up the stack of papers and glanced through them. "Where did you get these?" he asked.

"I didn't." Frank shook his head again. "My brother Joe did. He knows this girl who works for a group that organizes local effort to find missing kids out in LA. She did some research for him and came up with some reports that I think may be quite useful. Go on, Jake, read them. You'll find them to be a bestseller."

While Jake perused through the stack of papers, Frank swiveled around in his chair and turned on the computer. Tapping his fingers impatiently on the desktop, he allowed his gaze to travel to, then rest, on Carolyn Waters. Carolyn was a fellow detective with the Cybercrimes unit who had not been shy about professing an interest in Frank. Frank had finally given in to her many requests for a date and went out with her a few times. There certainly were no sparks there, but she seemed nice enough, he supposed. Maybe after today's meeting, he'd ask her out again. Give it another try.

As if sensing Frank's gaze, Carolyn turned around. She shifted her long legs so that Frank got a much better view of her shapely calves peeking below her navy blue skirt. Tossing her chestnut hair that was caught up in its usual ponytail, she smiled at him. Her green eyes sparkled mischievously as she spoke.

"Like what you see?"

"Um.." Frank was startled. "Um..no..I mean ... yes... I mean," he stammered, face turning red. "I wasn't staring at you Carolyn. Just considering our case, that's all."

"That's ok," she said. "I spend plenty of time watching you. Feel free to watch back all you want."

Frank opened his mouth to defend himself, but was saved from the conversation by the beeping of his computer. 'Finally,' he thought. He gave her a sheepish smile and turned back to his computer. He quickly skimmed over his own emails, then switched to the new account - the one opened for his alias - Frank Johnson. One email awaited him.

Dear Mr. Johnson,

Just a follow up to remind you of our appointment

today, Saturday, March 2, 2002. Miss Sanders and I are looking forward to meeting both you and your lovely wife in hopes of placing her child with you. We

will see you at the Four Seasons at 2 pm. Please let me know if you need to arrange a new meeting for any

reason.

Allen Thompson

Director

Crestfield Adoptions

Jake glanced over Frank's shoulder. "The Four Seasons huh? Kind of fancy for a lunch date, isn't it?"

"Very," Frank grimaced. "But remember, the Johnsons are supposed to be wealthy. They certainly wouldn't be eating at the local delicatessen, would they?" He glanced over at Carolyn again. "If we convince this guy we really want a baby, maybe we can set up payment arrangements. Once they take the money, we should be able to make some arrests."

Jake grinned. "Well, I'm looking forward to this meeting. Finally, we get to see a real live person instead of a faceless web site. And you should be excited - after all, you get to be 'married' to one of the hottest cops in the precinct. I know for a fact that she's looking forward to it."

"Yeah," Frank said dryly. "I think I caught that."

Jake dropped Frank's papers onto his desk. "Your brother's girlfriend is thorough," he remarked.

"She’s just his friend, I think. Of course, I can’t keep up with who he’s dating anymore, so by now I guess she could be the girlfriend. Yeah, she is thorough, though," Frank said. "Did you notice the picture of little Isaac Reynolds, age 2 months?"

"I have to admit that I don't know too much about babies," Jake answered. "They all look alike to me. But that little fella sure does favor 5 month old Trevor Marks, doesn't he?" Jake was referring to one of the children who had actually been placed with adoptive parents by one of Crestfield Adoptions‘ previous incarnations. The little boy whose illness had alerted them to the fact that this was far more than a scam to swindle money from unsuspecting pawns.

"I thought the same thing when I saw him," Frank said. "I'm betting we'll find Trevor is really Isaac."

"Then this is kidnapping," Jake confirmed. "This means we have to notify the FBI."

Frank held up his hand. "Let's drag that out as long as possible. I'm not wanting to break any laws here, but if I can get this Allen Thompson or one of his associates to pull their scam on Carolyn and myself, we can arrest them. I have the utmost respect for the FBI, but this is our case. If they were to screw it up in any way, I don't think I could live with myself."

Jake slipped Isaac's file back into the stack of papers. "Well," he offered. "Since these files didn't come through official channels, I don't see where we'd have to make them a part of our paperwork just yet. So there'd be no need to call in the FBI, right?"

"You know, Jake, I like the way you think," Frank grinned. He reached for the packet of papers, and slid them into the bottom desk drawer. "Besides, my brother is trying to track down a couple of those mothers that were originally in his area. Maybe he'll come up with even more that will help us track down where this agency is based - providing that our sting falls through."

"If your brother is so good at detective work, then what's he doing in working as a model in California? We could use him right here with us."

Frank shook his head. "Right now I think he's freelancing - and I don't just mean for us. He said something about helping out the woman who found our information for us. He was extremely unclear on what her problem was, just said something about getting her back home to her family.

"Hmm," Jake said. "Well, next time you talk to him, tell him to drop that modeling nonsense and get his butt back here to New York. We need go-getters like him on the force."

"Ha! Like he'd listen to me. I'm just his brother - what do I know about where he needs to be?" Frank said.

Jake grinned. "What brother ever does? Well, I'm going to get some reports caught up. We have a briefing at 11 o'clock with the captain. And after lunch, you and Carolyn need to go over to tech support to get fitted with wires so we can listen in on your meeting."

"Got you," Frank said. It was going to be a busy day.

Frank held the door to the restaurant open for Carolyn. She offered him a smile and entered.

"Thank you dear," she said, stepping into her role as Frank's wife.

"You're quite welcome, hon," he replied. His eyes scanned the restaurant, searching for their contact. He knew it was the male suspect meeting them today from the emails he'd received, but currently saw no one fitting the description. Taking Carolyn's arm, he gently steered her toward the hostess's station.

The hostess smiled brightly at them. "Hello!," she said. "Welcome to the Four Seasons!"

"Hi," Frank said giving her a warm smile. "I believe I have reservations. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Johnson. There is supposed to be four in our party. I don't suppose the others have arrived yet?"

She checked the guest book. "Ah, yes, Mr. Johnson. You're friends have already been seated. Let me show you to your table." She led them to a small table near the rear of the room, slightly secluded from the other diners by a several large, leafy plants hanging from ornate baskets.

As Frank approached the table, a tall man in his late thirties rose. The overhead lights gleamed on the man's red hair. Frank glanced at Carolyn, sharing a puzzled look with her. This certainly didn't fit the description of the person they were looking for.

He held out his hand to Frank. "Hello," he said. "I'm Allen Thompson."

"Frank Johnson." Frank said. "And this lovely creature is my wife, Carolyn."

Allen released Frank's hand and took Carolyn's. Raising her hand to his lips, he softly kissed it and smiled. "Such a charming lady," he said. "It's such a shame you're already taken."

Carolyn raised her eyebrows and gave Frank a glance. "Why thank you! That's so sweet of you to say that."

Frank fought hard not to roll his eyes. 'Stay in character, Hardy!' he thought. "Are we missing someone?" he asked as he pulled Carolyn's chair out for her. "I thought we were going to meet our prospective birth mother."

"She's in the restroom," Allen said. "She should be right out."

As Allen finished his statement, a female voice spoke from behind him. "I'm here, I'm here," the young woman spoke breathlessly. "I'm so sorry to hold y'all up. The closer I get to having this baby, the more time I seem to spend in the bathroom." She laughed.

"Frank, Carolyn, I'd like you to meet Lisa Sanders. Lisa, this is Frank and Carolyn Thompson." Allen said.

She slid into the chair across from Frank. Frank gave her an appraising glance. First impressions told him that this young blond woman was probably no more than 20 or 21 years old. She was definitely pregnant - at least 6 months along. Her green eyes sparkled as she glanced over at him.

"So," she began. "I assume you two are Frank and Carolyn Johnson."

"Yes, we are," Frank replied.

"I have been dying to meet both of you," she gushed. "From everything Allen has told me, it sounds like you guys are just the perfect parents for my baby girl. He did tell you I was having a girl, right?" she looked over at Allen.

"Yes," Carolyn said warmly. "I'm so excited about that! I've always wanted a little girl. Frank here was hoping for a boy, at first, but he's getting into the idea of having a daughter!"

Frank looked at her, surprised. 'Where did that come from?' he wondered. "I never said I wanted a boy. I would love to have a daughter. That way she can be daddy's girl." He winked at the young woman sitting across from him. "Carolyn here can just wait a while to get a momma's boy."

Lisa laughed. Allen cleared his throat as the waiter came over to take their orders. "Well, why don't we get to know each other a little better while we're waiting to be served.

Close to two hours passed as the foursome dined and exchanged information about their lives. Despite the fact that Allen didn't exactly fit his suspect's physical description; although the age was close; Frank was sure this was the guy he was after. As for Lisa, she fit the description of the young mother given by the victims. Tall, blond, green eyes, and usually 6 to 7 months pregnant.

Frank had studied her carefully. She truly appeared to be expecting. If this was an acting job, she was good. She'd been to the bathroom twice already and even giggled and placed her hand on her stomach once when the baby "kicked". Carolyn had reached over to feel, but the baby had stopped already.

"If you will excuse us," Allen interrupted Frank's thoughts. "I'm going to help Lisa out to the car and have a quick talk about this matter. I'll be right back and give you her decision."

Lisa waved her hand dismissively. "No need for that, Allen. I've already made up my mind. I like these guys. I think they're going to be great parents. I want them to have my baby." she smiled.

"Oh, you don't know how much this means to us," Carolyn cried. "We’ve been waiting for this for so long..."

'Don't overdo it,' Frank thought. "Really," he interjected. "It really does man a lot to us. We've tried for several years to have one of our own. It usually takes so long to find a baby to adopt, that we were beginning to think it would never happen." He smiled reassuringly at Lisa.

Allen spoke up. "That's what we at Crestfield Adoptions are here for. To cut through the red tape and get families started as soon as possible."

The waiter placed the check on the table. "Allow me," Frank said, reaching to take it. Looking at the amount, he cringed inwardly. 'Captain's going to love this,' he thought as he pulled out his wallet. 'I just hope I get reimbursed.'

"Thank you," Lisa said.

Carolyn flashed her a smile.

Allen stood up. "I'll get the ball rolling on this Monday morning. After I get the paperwork lined out, I'll need both of you to come by my office and sign some things. Plus, we'll need to work out how you wish to pay the fees."

Franks ears perked up at the word "office". "That would be fine," he said, trying not to sound too eager. "About when do you think you'll need us?"

"Let's try for Wednesday afternoon, shall we?" He held the door open as the group exited the restaurant. I think that would give me plenty of time to get started. I'll give you a call or send an email confirming the details."

"Great," Carolyn replied. "We're looking forward to it." She turned and hugged Lisa. "I'm so glad to have met you, sweetheart. You won't regret this. We intend to keep as much a part of your child's life as you wish to be."

"Thank you," Lisa said, tears forming in her eyes. "That means a lot to me!"

The valet held open the door to Allen's car for Lisa. Frank and Carolyn waited for Allen to drive off before getting into Frank's car. Frank watched as a navy blue mini-van pulled away from the curb and followed. Waiting a few seconds, he too pulled away.

"What do you think?" Carolyn asked.

"I think," Frank began, "that come Wednesday we'll have them. Let's head back to the precinct and wait for Jake to get back from following them. Then we'll compare notes and see where we stand."