“ Sheridan, this is a fabulous idea.”, Chad said, sitting in the club. “ The music here is wonderful.”

Sheridan took a sip of her wine. “ The magazine said it had some of the best jazz in the area. Not only jazz, but there are so many other music genres to be explored here. Plus, Montreal is one of my favorite cities.”

Chad nodded. “ It’s definitely original. It’s modern and yet has this totally different vibe to it.”

“ The European influence.”

” I thought it was so cool how you broke out with the French and didn’t even break a sweat.”

Sheridan laughed. “ I guess all those lessons paid off. Chad, if you don’t like the B&B..”

” Sheridan, it is terrific! Why wouldn’t I like it?”

” Well, some people like hotels. But, I’ve found that the charm of some of these B&B’s can’t be beat. And, since the owner is an old schoolmate of mine, I thought I’d give her some Crane business.”

“ I can’t believe we just up and left Harmony.”

” I love trips like this. I left a message with Luis that we’d be back in a few days. This reminds me of my college days. Sometimes, we’d just get in a car and start driving, not knowing where we’d end up. I love the drive from Harmony to Quebec. “

” It was dope. Plus, I’ve got to say that I enjoyed using the Escalade. Julian decked it out for me.”

“ You’re his son. He called an editor of Black Enterprise magazine to find out what someone in your age group would like in a car.”

” No, he didn’t!”

” Yes, he did. Serious as could be. They were very nice about it, pointing Julian in the right direction for car dealers and outfitters.”

” I have to hand it to him – the car could be on ‘Cribs’. Um, that’s an MTV Show.”

Sheridan threw her napkin at Chad. “ I know what Cribs is.”

And, they both laughed.

The Bennett house was now a center of organized chaos. Eve and TC had spent the better part of the day trying to get in touch with Simone.

Kay and Miguel entered the house.

” Kay! Miguel! Have you seen Simone?”, Eve asked.

” No, Dr. Russell. We had a field trip with our cooking class today. When she didn’t show up, I just thought she was spending the day with you.”

” We can’t find her. We’ve called everyone. She was so upset.”, TC said.

” Why was Simone upset? She was so happy Dr. Russell was back home. She hadn’t sounded that positive in a long time.”

” Yeah. The last few cooking classes, her attitude was so different. “, Miguel offered.

” What happened?”, Kay asked.

“ From what we can put together, Simone was upset that Dr. Russell wanted Simone to live with her father after the divorce.”, Alexis chimed in.

” Who the hell are you?”, Kay asked.

” Kay!”, Sam admonished.

” It’s alright. I’m Alexis Davis, Dr. Russell’s attorney.”

” Dr. Russell, YOU didn’t want Simone?”, Kay asked.

” Kay, of course I wanted Simone, but I thought living with me was the wrong decision. I thought she needed to be with her father at this time.”

” But, she was MISERABLE there!” Kay blurted out and then looked over to TC. “ I’m sorry, Coach, but Simone hated living with you and Whitney. She felt invisible. That’s why she was so happy that Dr. Russell was back in town. She was TOTALLY counting on living with you, Dr. Russell. She felt that you actually would WANT her.”

TC winced as the results of his parenting were summed up so brutally by Kay.

“ Kay, how much was she counting on this?”, Eve asked.

” Heavily. She was very attached to the idea. If she found out that you didn’t want her..”

” But, I DO want her?”

” Maybe you can rationalize it, but I’m looking at this from Simone’s perspective. She put all her eggs in the living with you basket. After you being missing all those months, she clung to it. It was HOPE to her. And now you want to take away that hope? No wonder she’s pissed.”

” Ok, so Eve and I haven’t done a good job with Simone. We’ll work on it. I just need to know where you think she is.”, TC asked.

” You’ve called all of Simone’s friends?”, Kay asked.

” Everyone that we could think of, plus we had Reese, Jessica and Charity’s help. We don’t know where to turn.”, Eve said sadly.

” I know you don’t want to hear this, but if Simone was is as bad a shape as you describe, there’s really only one place where she would go.”

” Where?”, TC asked.

Kay looked at Eve who shook her head, praying that Kay was wrong.

TC noticed the look between Kay and Eve and became irritated. “ Will someone tell me where the hell you think my baby girl is?”

” She’s with her boyfriend, TC.”, Eve told him.

“ Her BOYFRIEND?! Simone doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

” Yes, she does, Coach. It’s one of the things that you’ve been missing over these months.”

“ BOYFRIEND? Who the hell is he?” TC turned to Eve. “ YOU’VE met this boyfriend and didn’t tell me?”

” No, TC. I have NOT met Simone’s boyfriend. “

“ You know about him!”

” Only because of Chad.”

” CHAD? What the hell does that lowlife have to do with this?”

” Watch you mouth, TC. Chad has been trying to look out for his little SISTER. He’s been trying to tell her the truth about her so-called boyfriend.”

” And, what is this TRUTH, Eve?”

” From Chad’s description, he’s a no-good lowlife DOG. Chad has been very worried about Simone’s involvement with him.”

” How…how deep is the involvement?” TC asked, confused and angry.

” Involved enough so that Simone is sleeping with him. “ Eve  looked at Kay, who softly nodded.

” My little girl is having sex with this lowlife and NOBODY saw fit to tell me about it?”

” They didn’t know how to approach you, TC.”

” APPROACH ME?”

” Yes, approach you. You can be difficult under the best of circumstances. You’ve been loaded for bear these past months.”

” And whose fault is that, Eve?”

” Dammit, TC! I am NOT going to let you goad me into a fight. I fucked up. I FUCKED UP! I know I did, but none of that matters two shits because our DAUGHTER is missing. She’s underage, she’s missing, and she’s probably with a lowlife punk that we only imagined in our nightmares. We can fight in the courtroom all you want, but the ONLY thing I care about is finding our daughter.”

” Kay, do you know where Simone’s boyfriend is?”, Sam asked.

” I don’t know where he lives, Daddy. His name is Hakim, and he’s trouble. Chad knows where he lives. “

” And, just HOW does Chad know that?”, TC asked.

” BECAUSE, unlike YOU, who has been ignoring Simone FOR MONTHS, Chad has been actively trying to get Simone away from that creep. So much so that I know he even beat up Hakim to keep him away from Simone.”

” Lot of good that did.”, TC snorted.

” Yeah, but at least he TRIED!”, Kay shot back.

” Kay!”, Grace admonished.

” What-ever!”, Kay said and ran out of the room, as Miguel followed her upstairs.

Kay was crying on her bed when Miguel came in. Miguel pulled Kay into a hug, but she just continued to cry. “ Miguel, what will I do if anything happens to Simone? She’s more than my best friend…I can’t even explain what she is. I love her so much.”

” I know Kay. I know.”, Miguel said, just holding her and letting her cry.

Downstairs Eve hung up the phone. “ That was Chad’s cell. He left a message that he was leaving out of town for a few days. To leave a message for when he got back.”

” Just like him…gone when needed.”, TC sneered.

” You know. I’ve had enough of your bullshit! If YOU had done YOUR job as a FATHER, Simone would NEVER have been vulnerable to that creep.”

” This, from the woman who skipped town lollygagging for months! That’s rich. Too rich.”

” Will you two SHUT UP!?”

They turned to look at Grace, in shock.

” I know you have problems, but right now, they aren’t with one another. They center around a missing child. Sam, what do we do?”

” We alert the State Police, the FBI since she’s a minor, but because she’s a runaway, they can’t give this the priority that you might want. I also just asked the guys down at the station to run  the name Hakim through our computers. Can’t be that many in this area, and we’re start tracking them down, one by one. I need a current picture of Simone from you, and we need to get her vitals down on a flier ASAP.”

” I can do that, Sam.”, TC offered.

Eve picked up her cellphone. “ I’m going to call Julian.”

” Like hell you will!”, TC blasted.

” I don’t care if you hate Julian. I don’t care if you hate me. Julian has Crane resources at his fingertips, and I’m going to use them ALL to find MY daughter!”, Eve left for the kitchen.

” Julian Crane.”

” Julian, it’s me. I need your help. Simone has runaway, and we need to find her.”

” Where are you? I’ll be right there.”

” At the Bennett house.”

“ I’ll bring Head of Crane Security with me. Hang on, Eve. We’ll find her.”

” Thank you, Julian. I needed to hear that.”