Sloan mentally shook herself. Enough with the small talk. Tom deserved to know what was going on. Taking a deep breath Sloan met his gaze,”Tom,I have something to tell you and I’m not quite sure how you’ll react to it.”

Fear gripped Tom’s heart as he moved closer to her on the couch,”Are you sick?”He demanded.

Before Sloan could reply a pair of headlights splashed across the window gaining Tom’s immeadite attention.

Sloan caught his expression,”What is it?”

A whisper touched the back of Tom’s mind a familiar warning. But one that couldn’t have had worse timing. “I’m sorry I have to go.”Tom said softly as he tenderly carassed her right cheek.”

Sloan caught his hand in hers,”Lewis?”

Tom shook his head,”No,but I am being watched. It was wrong of me to come here,but I had to see you.”

“I’ve missed you too.”Sloan said softly.

“I’m not sure if I can risk seeing you again,but I will be near by.”Tom promised as he stood,”I’ll always be near you,remember that.”

Tears started to form in Sloan’s eyes blurring her vision. By the time she blinked them away Tom was gone. “I love you.”She whispered as she sank back into the sofa drawing her knees to her chest.

Promptly at seven the next morning Ed Tate pulled up in front of Sloan’s apartment building. With a bag of Sloan’s favorite bagels in one hand Ed walked up the front steps. Knowing her as well as he did Ed figured she probably hadn’t eaten a thing after Tom left.She needed to keep her strength up,no matter what was going on. The difference in the baby’s DNA worried Ed. He wasn’t sure what that would do to Sloan’s health,if anything.

Ed’s heart froze in his throat as Sloan’s door opened easily at his touch. The bag of bagels hit the ground as he rushed into the familiar room. However,nothing was familiar about the site that greeted him. From Ed’s stunned point of view it looked like every single solitary object that Sloan had ever owned was strewn across the floor.

His sneakered feet waded through ankle high piles of books and magazines as he made his way into the living room. “Sloan?”Ed called fear in his voice as he gingerly avoided glass from a broken light bulb. Only silence answered him. /Damn,he knew he should have stayed with her./

Only will power kept his hands from shaking as he removed his cellular phone from his jacket pocket.

“Peterson?”The former Los Angeles detective answered on the third ring.

“Its Ed Tate.”Ed replied softly as he surveyed the damage,”There’s trouble at Sloan’s.”

That got Peterson’s full attention,”How bad?”

“The place is trashed,Ray. I haven’t found Sloan yet.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen.Try not to touch anything.”

After ending his conversation with Peterson, Ed called out for Sloan one more time. He knew it was a futile jesture on his part. Ed knew if she was here she would have answered him already if she was able too. Unbidded an image of Sloan’s broken and bloodied body sprang into Ed’s mind. Flinching the young doctor forced the horrible thought away and continued his search.

Sloan’s bedroom,bathroom and small kitchen yielded no clues to the bio-anthropologist’s whereabouts. Disheartened Ed returned to the wrecked living room. This time moving toward the couch. Something on the floor near where the coffee table was supposed to be caught Ed’s attention. Ignoring Ray’s warning of not to touch anything Ed quickly cleared the debris away.

His worst fears were confirmed when he spied a pool of blood by the sofa’s left leg. “Oh God Sloan,where are you?”Ed whispered as he rocked back on his heels.