Aurora nodded.  "I know... I just hate waiting."  

A thought came to her then. 

"Maybe this is the universe paying me back for scaring mom and dad so bad when I was little.  When I was about eight, you know when I ran away to Salvatore's in Seattle.  I was missing nearly two days.  I can't imagine how fucking afraid my parents were ..." 

She covered her mouth and muttered into her hand,  "Just like us now."

Before Billy could reply the phone rang. Aurora went tense in his grip but he released her in less than a heartbeat to snatch up the phone on the kitchen counter.  Mavis, still holding Gavin, peaked into the room - hopeful.

"Boss?"  Billy could hear industrial noise in the background, and traffic.  "It's Brevan.  Me and Pete, we found that car yous lookin' for."

Brevan was chomping on gum from the sound of it, he continued on, "They dumped it off at the old rock quarry by the end of 19th, just off Michigan Avenue, back behind that new dog park.  We searched it, but there's nothing & no one inside the damn thing.  You want us to hotwire the thing and bring it by the shop?"

Billy shook his head. He knew Detroit like the back of his hand...

"What direction is it facing?"

On the other end of the phone was a long pause.

"Away from Michigan Boss."

"South Brevan, the cardinal direction you are looking for is fucking SOUTH!"

He shook his head and brought up the things around there, the dog park, the quarry, the dump, the... his eyes went wide.

"The train station."

He spun and looked to Aurora.

"Brevan, you and Pete get your asses to that fucking train station right now. You're looking for two big guys who sound funny, they speak French, they got a little blonde girl with them. You fucking find those mother fuckers and I swear to god Brev, you follow them, just fucking tail them. I don't care what it costs you, anything you spend I will triple it. Don't do anything stupid, call every time they move, and let me know when they get on a train. I don't want them to take a piss without me knowing about it."

With that he hung up the phone and pushed Aurora bodily toward the front door.

"They are going for the train. Mavis, watch Gav. Go downstairs and get Oscar to stay here with you to relay information for me. Don't answer the phone! CHARLIE!"

He was out into the hallway now and bounding down the stairs.

"OSCAR! CALL THE TRAIN CONDUCTOR WE GOT ON PAYROLL AND HAVE HIM PARK HIS ASS AT THE DETROIT DEPOT IF HE IS ANYWHERE CLOSE. TELL HIM I'LL GIVE HIM A TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR BONUS IF HE DOES IT!"

With that he turned to Aurora.

"You want to drive?"

Aurora went to the bedroom the second Billy hung up the phone.  He had a direction, she didn't know what it all meant but it was enough he had a plan.  She opened the locked box with alacrity and pulled out her nickel-plated pearl-handled M1911s with the Luciano family crest.  For the first time since their misadventure in Sicily, that heraldry didn't make her think of prying it off.  Whoever had put hands on her daughter would pay dearly.  For as terrifying as her adoptive father was, Aurora's blood bore a much darker beast and she wasn't afraid of that today. 

Today she embraced it.

Aurora took the stairs two at a time, keeping pace just behind Billy's long strides.  As he asked her if she wanted to drive, she merely nodded.  He tossed her the keys to his Dusenburg & she snatched them out of the air without a thought.  Jumping inside, she turned the ignition over without hesitation.  Billy had only just shut the door as she peeled the tires backing out and speeding onto the street.

"Where to?"  She asked her husband.

"Michigan Central Station."

A white-knuckled grip on the wheel, Aurora passed through intersections with a fearlessness that was signature of the woman who had taught her how to drive to begin with.  If they lost this lead on their daughter Aurora told herself that it wouldn't be because of their lack of speed.  The car tore down the highway like a flash of lightning.  The lioness had never pushed a car so hard before, taking corners too fast to be safe and narrowly missing other motorists.  Those who saw her had to be thinking that she was pursued by the Devil himself - instead, she saw herself as the Devil.

Down Michigan Avenue, then 14th, Aurora put the car into the parking lot as near to the building as she could and as she got out she asked her husband, "Shall we split up?" 

It was clear to Aurora there couldn't be much more of a plan than searching the entire building on foot, but looking up at the 18-story tall & over-500,000 square foot terminal building which had nearly 200 trains a day coming and going from it... well, the task was daunting to put it lightly.

Billy shook his head and ran to the trunk of the car. He lifted the floor of the trunk and gestured to a pair of Thompson Sub-machine Guns now laying there for them both to see.

"We can either search the place, or we can shut the place down by taking some hostages. What do you think?"

Then he thought for a second.

"We should also call Bob and let him know where our lead took us, fuck. I didn't think about that. Alright. Forget this."

He slammed the trunk shut before either of them could make a decision.

"We search the place, we can't afford to split up because communication right now is key. I need to get to a phone first and tell Bob where we are, and then we can start by going straight to the information booth. We find out what platforms are leaving next, and we start there. They are either going to get on a train, or they aren't. If they do, that's where we need to spot em."

He looked to his wife for some kind of confirmation or other idea in the mean time.

"You call Bob." She agreed as she followed him towards the building.  She spoke in a rush.  "When we get to the desk, I can use that PA system they got for calling out trains.  Let her know we're there, if she's in the building she'll hear my voice.  I can tell her to make a fuss, to try and let someone - anyone - know that she's not with friends or family and she needs help.  God willing some good samaritan will step in or a cop will see it... thoughts?"

Billy nodded.

"I'm just a bit worried about what they do if they think they are cornered. If she starts to make a fuss and she sees hope of getting away, but they think they are fucked anyway, what do they do? What would you do?"

Billy shook his head.

"I don't know if the risk is worth it. I just don't."

He continued to think as they made their way inside and to a phone. Billy pulled out his notepad and dialed the number.

"I need to speak with Agent Smith please... Mister Billy Mastrosimone... No, just tell him that I have a lead on the truck, it was abandoned heading south on 19th away from Michigan Avenue and there is reason to believe the kidnappers were headed to the Michigan Central Station... I am at that location yes... All due respect, go fuck yourself, this is my fucking kid."

With that he slammed the phone onto the receiver.

"Fucking pricks."

He looked out at the sea of people then.

"Hey Aurora. How can you eve tell someone is French?"

Aurora stared out at the crowd searching for the sight of her little girl as Billy tried to talk on the phone to the FBN with little luck.  The air felt thinner, as it did on the mountain in Iceland.  Emotions, desperation, was growing as Billy asked her then how they'd know the face of a Frenchman from anyone else.

She shook her head sadly.

"You can't."  She spoke barely above the crowd, fear choking her.  The guns in the trunk wouldn't be enough to hold the whole station, it was just too big.  One train even across several tracks wasn't enough to stop all the trains leaving.  

They're getting away... and once they're gone, how will we even find her?  Will we ever see her again?

"Maybe they'll call?"  She eeked out.  "Maybe it's about the money..."  

But Aurora didn't sound like she believed that at all, in fact, it sounded like maybe she was trying to comfort him or herself.  Billy had asked her what she'd do if she were in their shoes, well, if she'd made it here with a package in tow that she'd lifted successfully there was only one thing that would matter at that point.  There was no way in fuck she'd be caught, not now, not here.  Being here was as good as getting away with it and Roar knew it.  This was a gateway to a very large world and from this depot, they could disappear almost anywhere.

Billy shrugged.

"If they do, Oscar will take the call, he knows he can tell them yes and then we can go from there. Right now though? Right now this is our only lead and I'm not waiting for some nitwit with a warrant to shut some shit down."

He leaned against the wall and he thought for a minute.

"Alright Aurora, you speak French, you come to the United States, or you live here. Either one, doesn't matter. Where can you go to not stand out too much? Really big cities, touristy kind of places right? You can't go west, everyone sounds like a cowboy or Asian, you'd stick out like a sore thumb. You could go East, or..."

Billy's eyes lit up.

"Aurora! New Orleans! Help me find a train going to New Orelans!"

He ran, full sprint, knocking over one person after another to get to the big board with the Departures on it.

"It's either back east to get on a boat or a plane, or south to hide their accent. It's one of the two, gotta be one of the two. And if I'm a betting man, I'm not going back east. We know too many people, we've got too many connections. Hell even going back to France is tricky with all the people we know through your Aunt."

Billy got quiet then.

"Late Aunt, sorry."

He shook his head, now was not the time, he scanned the departures board again.

"So my bet is, stay in the States and go somewhere that nobody would think to look, and where you can hide a French accent."

He pointed.

"Platform 17."

And he was off at a run once again.

Aurora did what she could to keep up with her husband's logic and his body racing through the train station.  The 'big dumb' act was gone... the uncertain man who had come back from Europe (and 'the dead') was forgotten.  For a moment she was with the man she first fell in love with, decisive, brilliant, and willing to do whatever it took to get what he wanted... be damned social conventions or rules.  He was HER BILLY again and hope sprung in her chest.

French speakers were all over in New Orleans, it was a port city, maybe he'd figured it out.  They'd enter the terminal and there she'd be standing with two dead men walking.  Billy would grab one and she the other, they'd put the hurt on the fellas and Brigitte would be safe and home in time for dinner.

They rounded the corner, people milled about in front of the entrance to the train.  She and Billy pushed through the crowd, asking people, searching, hoping...
 

Aurora didn't know how long they'd been searching.  It felt like forever.  No one she spoke to had seen anyone matching Brigitte's description, nor the two men though she admitted that the descriptions of the men felt very generic.  They could have been any number of men and by now surely they'd have changed clothing to avoid being recognized by that.

Aurora looked to Billy as both were slowly coming to realize no one they spoke to seemed to know anything... passengers, people saying goodbye to folks, not even the man who took tickets.

It seemed they'd reached a dead end, a phrase that was a lot more horrifying now as her mind again went back to that place of dark thoughts.

"They speak French in Montreal too..." She offered.  "Maybe a train to Canada?"

She put a hand on Billy's arm. 

"It was a brilliant hunch,"  She tried to give him a supportive look, "... more likely than any ideas I had." 

"Mr. Mastrosimone?  Mrs. Mastrosimone?"  Aurora turned around to find two police officers speaking to them, one of them had insignas which indicated some rank.  That meant someone at City Hall had caught wind of this, for them to take such an interest so fast.  Was it Bob's doing?  Was it something of Billy or Xanxus' connections?  Or was this echo's of Salvatore's power, old friends of his still in place working for them so they could claim favors later? 

Let them, so long as I get Brigitte back.  

"Mr. Smith from the Federal Bureau sent us down here.  We were told we might find you here searching for your little girl.  We have people all over this place, if she's here, we'll find her.  If you like we have a place where you can sit and wait for us to conduct our search of the terminal... I'm sure your wife is weary from all the worry, Mr. Mastrosimone?"

Aurora tried to hide her annoyance. 

As if I'm a delicate flower in need of sidelining!  Leave it to pigs to think such things - if these boys had gone through a tenth of what I had in the past year... fuckers.
 

Billy shook his head.

"Officer, unless you're telling me and my wife that we are going to be arrested for some bullshit if we don't go sit down, we're going to go see if there's a train going to Montreal."

With that Billy grabbed Aurora by the hand and made his way back to the information booth again. He didn't see one on the board. He did see other trains going to Canada though, so...

"Platform 12."

He kissed Aurora on the head then and again off they went to search, to ask questions, and god forbid if they found someone, to really hurt some folks.

Brigitte screamed ended as the car finally came to a stop.  She looked to Neil who she was sure was dead, at least until his head began to move slowly.  "Mr.  Neil?"  She whimpered.  "Mr. Neil?  Please wake up..."

She stared at the shiny metal bit that was cutting into his skin and she reached down to unfasten her seat belt.  If she could get it out of him, he'd wake up and be okay.  The seat belt came free and then, the car door behind her opened.  She looked at the man who she didn't know, grabbing her and pulling her out and she began to struggle.

"NEIL!!!"  She cried out just as Neil looked towards her. "Laisse-moi partir! Laisse-moi partir!"

"TENIR BON! BON DIEU!"  The man who had her answered.

Running toward something felt good.  Again a moment of hope as they entered platform 12 and then the feeling of defeat again as she didn't instantly lock eyes on her little girl.  There was an ocean of people getting off the train, it would be a bit before it loaded and left again, but that didn't mean they weren't here, it just meant they had more time to ask around.

And then they were out in the street.  People were coming up to them, but Brigitte couldn't understand why they wouldn't help her as she kept yelling, "Ce n'est pas mon papa! ce n'est pas mon papa!" 

As the man shoved her into the backseat of a car, she did the only thing she could think to do, she used Neil's nail and stabbed the man's hand as hard as she could so he'd let her go.  The man cried out and released her.  Brigitte tried to worm past him and out the door, but he grabbed her arm really hard and pushed her aside so he could get into the back with her. 

Brigitte cried, but the big man would not let her go.

"She's about this tall... blonde hair, curly, big blue eyes?"  Aurora showed Brigitte's photo in her wallet to what felt like the thousandth person only to get a piteous look and a sad shaking of a head as a response.

"Thank you,"  she said too quickly to be polite and turned to another person.

"Excuse me...?"

Another, smaller, man got in the front seat and began to drive the car.  

"Petit chien m'a poignardé!"  The big man looked at his bloody hand and Brigitte looked longingly at the bloody nail on the floor that she could no longer get to.

The man in the front seat laughed.

"Ce n'est pas drole, Garnier!"

"Ne laisse pas les petites filles te battre et je ne vais pas rire si fort." Garnier said, pulling the car out onto a busy street headed to an unknown location.

"Mastrosimone?"  Billy and Rora turned to see Bob standing on the platform, his young shadow with him this time.  His eyes remained on Aurora but he said nothing, nor did he openly glare, instead he just watched her.

Bob walked towards Billy.  "Thanks for the tip on the location of the car.  Our people are going over it with a fine tooth comb."  As he got near him he lowered his voice, "Might we have a word... in private?"

"Where are we going?"  Brigitte asked again as they walked off the tiny rocks and into the long grass headed towards... "Puppies?" Brigitte said in surprise, as the dog park came into sight.

"We are not playing with the dogs." Garnier said in heavily accented English.

"What are we doing?"  She tried again, looking at the people playing with their dogs as they passed by.  The men did not reply.

"Can we call my Mama and Papa?"  Still, the big man who held her arm tight did not make a sound, nor did the one called Garnier.

"I just... wanna know if Mr. Neil is okay?  Did he go to a doctor?"

Garnier climbed up onto the side of a train car.

"I don't like trains,"  Brigitte whined, trying to pull away from the big man again.  Scared.

"Too bad.  We got a long way to go and we ain't walkin'."  Garnier pulled open the door on the side of the car.  "Toss her up."

"Anything you got to say, she gets to hear it."  Billy insisted.

Bob glanced at Aurora apologetically but nodded to Billy.

"So far we've found one thing in the car that seems out of place and possibly tied to the abduction."

Aurora winced at the word.  She couldn't say why but the nature of it made her uncomfortable.

"My guys found a three-inch long masonry nail in the backseat."

Aurora sighed and closed her eyes.  "Teeth marks in it?"  she asked.

Bob nodded.

She looked at Billy.  "It's could be Neil's... he's had an old masonry nail my whole life.  It used to belong to his dad."

"We're aware of your guard's alias. I was hoping you might confirm that it was his signature item."

Aurora continued, "He must have given it to her.  If I can see it... I'll confirm."

"Now..."  Bob began, "... we can't know for sure, but your daughter might have attacked one of the men with it so, please don't be shocked by the sight of it."

Aurora blinked.

Bob waved a hand and one of the officers near the door brought over a small bag and opened it to reveal a bloody nail.

Aurora only needed a moment before she nodded and looked away.  "It's his."  She could hardly imagine how scared Brigitte had to be to actually draw blood on another person.

"Alright, good."  Bob said waving off the cop.  "We've been questioning potential witnesses at the dog park behind the station.  We think that your daughter might have interacted with someone there and have taken the person in question downtown."

Billy nodded.

"Alright Bob, Elijah. Thank you. Thank you a ton. I know that we're gonna find her, we just gotta run down everything we can that's all. And keep working together. If I didn't pass you info on the truck who knows what we would have missed in the dog park right?"

He sighed and decided to play the hand. What else did he have to lose after all?

"Guys speak French right? Well we checked for the train to New Orleans already, nothing. So now we're thinking maybe Montreal. No trains going straight there, but this one leaves for Canada in about 45 minutes. So we figured we would ask around. So far, nothing. Only other option we can think of is, they went back east to get on a plane or a boat. Problem with that is, we know too many people back east. If it's really a professional job, then..."

Billy stopped and his head swiveled to the info booth again.

"Delaware City."

He growled out between clenched teeth.

"If it's not Montreal, then it's Delaware City they are going to. It's the one place back east they could get away with taking my little girl and still find refuge."

Billy turned to Aurora, ignoring the other two men.

"If that's the case this is a much bigger fucking problem than either of us thought."

"There's a way we could find out."  She said to Billy in a far more dark tone than she meant.  "We tell Durden our girl is missing.  We give him a chance to have us in his debt.  We know he'd double cross his own fucking mother just to sew chaos... and to have me in his debt?" 

She shook her head. 

"I'll call him."

"That sounds like a pretty reckless idea to me."  Elijah spoke up.

"Sorry boy-wonder, you don't get a vote."  Aurora quipped and looked back to Billy.  "I have to do something.  This I can do.  You know he'd jump at a chance to put me in the position my mother was... for Brigitte, any price is worth paying.  Worst comes to worse, Durden knows Brigitte is out there and he wasn't searching for her before and now he is... boom, we've enlisted a whole new army of men with eyes out for her.  I like our odds of getting her out of Durden's hands better than some unknown Frenchmen."

"Durden is just as likely to have your daughter shot in their care to sew chaos... imagine the war it could start if they hurt your little girl.  What fury wouldn't you or your husband bring upon such people?  What would your father do?"

Aurora froze at the thought.

"So what do you propose, Bob?  Do we just wait for your investigation to yield results?  How many missing kids do your bureau find a year?"

"It's not really what we do," Agent Smith began.

"Exactly,"  Aurora said.  "This *IS* what I do.  Hunting people, flushing them out... THIS is what I know."

"THIS is different, Aurora."  Bob dispensed with the formalities, "You're a good woman, and you love your child, and I know you mean well but because this is your little girl and it's possible your not thinking clearly and your actions could cause a lot more death and destruction than just one person.  You need to think about the ramifications of what your actions will be."

"Don't you..."  Aurora pointed a finger at Bob, she wanted to hit someone so damn bad since finding out about Brigitte and Neil, and Bob was as good as anyone.

Elijah stepped up beside his superior, staring down Aurora, but Bob was quick to note it snapping at him, "Elijah.  Car.  Now."

The younger agent backed away, his eyes still locked on Aurora.

"What the FUCK is his problem?!?"  Aurora snarled at Bob, pointing after a departing Elijah.

"Nothing."  Bob said emphatically and then he added softly, "Yet."  He sighed.  "Let's not jump to conclusions.  I have a few leads, the young man from the dog park being the first, and then there's New York, where Brigitte came into the State's care.  We're looking into who her parents were and what sort of things they might have been tied up in.  Now anything either of you have about that might help us out a great deal so..."

He looked to Billy, "Why don't you both take a breath.  Get some dinner.  You can't hunt your daughter without food in your systems, and you certainly won't be on the top of your game.  Go check your messages, check on your son, take a moment to be of comfort to each other.  See if your people have gotten back to you.  If you find something new, let me know.  If I find something, I'll call.  I won't be sleeping tonight, I promise you.  Not so long as your little girl is still out there.  My boss has made it abundantly clear what my priorities are right now and that's Brigitte."

Billy looked back and forth between the three people, and then the two that were arguing. They all needed to get their points out before he spoke up. Aurora had some good points, so did Bob. This was going to be a hell of a ride, not just finding his daughter, but trying to keep everyone on the same page in the meantime.

"Hey, you know you're both right. Bob is right in that we need to have something to eat, and that involving Durden might not be the best idea. He wants to hurt both of us, and if he knows we are vulnerable, well that only gives him a damned good reason to take a swing. Even if he does help us find Brigitte, what is the cost going to be to all the other people he hurts while we're focused on that. Hell if I were him, I'd find her, keep her hidden away somewhere safe, drop hints and clues to the two of us for a month while he slowly dismantles everything we worked for, and then hand her back when we have nothing and remind us that we are good parents and it doesn't matter if we can't live in a fancy house or afford nice things anymore."

He sighed and turned to Bob then.

"Agent Smith, you've got your head on straight, I'll give you that, but if you think for one second that my wife and I are going to take a breather while our daughter is out there, you've got another thing coming. You might not sleep tonight, might not. Your boss told you that our daughter is your top priority. It's not in your fucking bones right now, it's not literally the only thing you can think about right now. I'm honestly surprised Aurora didn't try to kill you just now for suggesting we sit on the bench for a bit. I'm surprised I didn't sock you either. It's not happening Bob. We're going to look, you're going to look, your men are going to look, the Detroit Police Department is going to look. Everyone who decides that maybe I'll give them a nice little gift if they find my kid is going to look. Nobody is sitting on the sidelines waiting for you and yours. Like Aurora said, it's not like you guys have a history of bringing kids home right? I do. I bring kids home."

He looked to Aurora then.

"I'm going to be honest with you. I don't know what the next step is. We've looked here. We might need to start retracing some steps, cops are one thing, your training is something else. What do you say we go check you this truck? We'll walk over from here, maybe they dropped something along the way?"

Aurora shook her head and looked at Billy, "I think we need to talk with the witness."

Bob shook his head, "That's not happening."  Bob asserted firmly.  "There are other things you could be doing, your husband is right, retracing their path isn't a bad idea... maybe you'll find something we missed."

"If he's downtown he saw something more than Bob is saying,"  she said to Billy, not to Bob.  "Whatever they have him there for... we should be talking to him.  Every minute they spend asking this guy shit that doesn't matter is another mile away from us they get with Brigitte.  Billy, I think we need to talk to that person and hear what they saw."

"There's no way in we're letting you in a room with the witness, Mrs. Mastrosimone.  I'm sorry."  Bob reasserted.  "It's against every protocol we have, and he's not a suspect so I can't let you infringe on the rights of private citizens.  It's just not happening."

Aurora looked at Billy and said softly, "I'll ... follow your lead.  If you wanna go out to the car and the dog park... we'll do that, but I think we should find a way to get into a room with the witness regardless of what Agent Smith wants."

Billy turned to Bob and smiled. He clapped a hand on the agent's shoulder. His free hand ticked off points as he made them.

"You know Bob, you just gave away some crucial details there. One, we're looking for a man. Two, he's probably got a dog with him, you know, since you took him downtown right from the dog park. Three, he's not a suspect which means you'll release him as soon as he answers your questions. Four, we already know where to find him, at the police station."

He let go of the man's shoulder then and nodded.

"He's a private citizen Bob, he can do what he wants with his time I don't need to be in a room with a guy to ask him a question, and if he saw my little angel and he has a heart beating in his chest, he's gonna answer my questions when he sees my wife's face."

He reached out and turned Bob gently to look at Aurora making sure to stay standing behind him.

"You're gonna tell me that you know a single man in the world who could look at that beautiful woman, that strong woman, the woman who captures the attention of any room she is in. You're going to tell me that the guy you picked up in the dog park is gonna want to risk making this stunning creature cry?"

He looked to Aurora and winked then.

Aurora, despite her fear and sadness, found herself smiling at her husband. 

I love you so much right now.

Bob's face, it was troubled though.  More than she expected it would be.  

"He..."  Bob said softly so that only Aurora and Billy could hear.  "I shouldn't tell you this but he's a minor.  He is with his grandmother and the last thing that boy needs is two gangsters shaking him down."

"Don't be stupid, we won't shake down a little boy!"  Aurora snarled, offended.  

"He's pretty upset from what the officers told me."  Bob added.  "Look, I know you need to find her, but fear & pain has been known to change people in the past, just don't lose yourself while you're searching for her... okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"  Aurora asked.

Bob stepped away from Billy.  "Unless you two have anything else for me,"

"Bob?"  She asked, but Bob just gave Billy a nod.

"There's a young man waiting to talk to me downtown.  I'll be in touch."

Aurora looked to Billy, "What the hell is up with the feds today..."  She shook her head.  "So, are we going downtown to wait on them coming out?"

Billy sighed.

"Telephone. Bob's right, we can't shake down a kid. What we can do thought is send Oscar and his kids. He's got two of em, there's a pretty good chance that the boy winds up taking a shine to one of Oscar's kids, they go play a game, or get ice cream Oscar listens, his wife keeps grandma distracted. You could go, but if I go it's likely the kid loses his nerve. I'm a big guy after all."

He looked toward Agent's Smith and Garrett then for a second and shook his head.

"I don't know what's up with them, but I honestly do think they are trying to help. Let's let them do their job, once the kid gets out of the clink, Oscar and his kids can take over. In the mean time, you and me start retracing steps."

He turned back to Aurora.

"And don't give me some moral bullshit about how we shouldn't be using kids to shakedown other kids, or how Oscar's kids aren't involved and that's not how we do things. This isn't about the Family Aurora, it's not about Cosa Nostra. Whoever took Brigitte made that real fucking clear when they took a kid."

He knew his tone was rough then, so he pulled Aurora into an embrace before heading to find a phone again and relay the plan to Oscar. Charlie would take Oscars place at home with Mavis. For the first time in his life Billy actually contemplated hiring someone to replace Rebecca.

Aurora was silent as they called Charlie and set their plan into motion.  Little Gavin was okay and so far her father hadn't called.  She didn't expect he'd call so fast, it had only been a few hours - but the part of her that still was his little girl hoped.  She knew he wasn't the man he used to be, but in many ways, she needed him all the same.  Instead, she found herself leaning on Billy's strength as she realized, it probably should be.

Instead of driving over they walked the path, across a dozen or more sets of rail tracks back past the dog park to where the car was sitting.  One officer was on scene and a bill slipped into his hand made him look the other way as both she and Billy searched it to find nothing of consequence and only a drop or two of blood on the passenger side door in the backseat.  She hoped that it was from where Brigitte had stabbed the kidnapper.  

Getting out they walked back past the dog park.  She could hear children and their pets blending with the sound of the trains.  Aurora stared off at the trains in the distance and when Billy touched her arm she muttered, "I promised her that she'd never be on another train again ... it scared her so much that damn train... and now..."

Aurora winced and closed her eyes tight.

Billy pulled her into his arms and for a moment they held each other in the tall grass, dark clouds overhead gathering and a cool breeze whipping off the water blowing all around them.  

"Mr. Mastrosimone?"  The officer back at the car was coming through the field towards them.  "I'm sorry to bother you and your wife... but um, the station just radioed.  Agent Smith wants you to reach out to him as soon as you can."

Billy took Aurora's hand and the two of them started back to the station and right to the first phone.  Billy dialed and waited for someone to pick up.  After a few moments, he was transferred.

"I want your word you're not going to do anything stupid..."  Was the first words he said.  Not hello, not thanks for calling but demand for reassurance.  "And if I tell you this you're going to remember that I helped you, in the future, somewhere down the road.  I need your word because I am putting my ass and the future of my family on the line for yours."

"Bob, calm down. I already owe you big time for everything and I don't expect you to break your code or your oath. I'll find my little girl one way or another. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know an Agent Gray out of Detroit by chance would you?"

"Yeah, I know him."  Bob said hesitantly. 

"Oh good. Just curious. Listen Bob I'm a bit busy, missing kid and all, I gotta go."  Billy hung up the phone.

Aurora stared at him, "What the fuck... Billy..."  She began to look flustered and panicked. Billy pulled her into his arms again.  "Why didn't you get him to tell you!?!"

Billy began to explain and for a long moment, they stood together in the station, talking softly so no one could hear the story of how Billy hoped that Bob would use Gray to make sure he had a way of getting information to him without risking his ass.  Aurora hated the plan, it took time, precious time... but what other moves did they have now?

Billy and she got into the car and drove back to the apartment.  The lack of a child bouncing the backseat was its own kind of deafening and only the ringing of the phone in the kitchen upon arriving helped to set things right in Rora's heart.  It was dark now.  Brigitte would be scared.  They could literally be anywhere by this point and Aurora knew it.

Billy got to the phone first, "Hello?"

Gray's voice, "The witness saw her being put into a train car, the train's final destination is grand central station terminal, New York.  The feds are going to try to stop the train just outside of Buffalo.  It's gonna be a big thing.  Lots of agents... your friend suggests you stay out of it.  You'll be called as soon as they have her safe in custody." 

Billy nodded.

"I'll call you as soon as I've got a number where you can reach me directly. You need a tip, or bonus this month?"

When Gray returned the fact that a bonus would be plenty Billy nodded and hung up the phone.

"Aurora, pack your shit we're going to Buffalo. Charlie and Oscar are going to New York. Just in fucking case."

Then his eyes locked on Mavis and Gav.

"Fuck. Shit. Fuck."

He reached up and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Charlie goes to New York, Oscar stays here to help watch Gav. I need another bodyguard! FUCK ME!"

He shook his head and let out a deep sigh.

"Who do you know in New York Aurora? I don't have anyone left out there I can call, mom's dead and I never met her side of the family. I ain't got shit. Tell me you have someone who can meet up with Charlie."

He made his way to the hall closet as he spoke and pushed the panel at the back of the closet aside to reveal the safe. He spun the tumbler and opened it, pulling out three stacks of cash.

"Oscar can have one, we take one, Charlie takes one. Charlie will need it the most since he's going to need to buy a plane ticket right the fuck now."

He went back to the kitchen then and picked up the phone to relay the plan to the boys, and then hung it up again. He stepped aside then and gestured to the phone.

"Your turn, New York, Charlie needs backup."