“Where the hell would she go? I’ve called everyone we know, but no one has heard from her. God, I don’t think I can take this.” Howie flopped down into the oversized chair in the living room, running his hands through his hair and sighing loudly.

Leighanne walked over and sat on the armrest of the chair, placing her hand on Howie’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll find her. Brian is checking on a few things right now. We’ll get her back, I promise.”

“Don’t promise something you can’t guarantee.”

Leighanne was just about to respond when Brian walked into the room.

“Well, I think I may have a lead. I called some of the taxi companies and found one that said they had a pick up here last night around 3:30am.”

Howie’s head jerked up, and he looked at Brian, waiting for him to continue.

“The dispatcher said that the young lady asked to be taken to the airport, and was dropped off at the American Airlines curbside check in.”

Howie jumped up out of the chair, startling Leighanne. He grabbed his keys and began walking towards the front door, then stopped and glanced back at them.

“Well, come on. If my wife boarded a plane at that airport, someone is sure as hell going to tell me. We need to hurry before the people working the early morning shift get off.”

Leighanne grabbed her purse, rushed over to Brian, and laced her fingers through his as they followed Howie out the front door.

“Tell me what the hell is going on.” Jenn crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the couch, as if daring Noelle not to tell her.

Noelle looked up at Jenn, her eyes full of tears. They slowly began to cascade down her face, yet she made no move to wipe them away.

“I’m an awful person. I love Howie, but I’m not in love with Howie. And I married him, Jenn. I never meant for it to go that far. He protected me and took care of me, and I used him. Knowing he would never hurt me like Nick did was such a comforting thought that I let myself believe that would be enough for me to be happy, but its not.”

Jenn slid over and wrapped her arm around Noelle’s shoulders.

“Elle, you were hurt. You needed something. That doesn’t make you an awful person. And honestly, you need him now more than ever with everything going on and a baby on the way.”

Noelle began to shake. Tears began to stream faster down her cheeks, and she fought to control the sobs that were making it hard to breathe.

“I don’t know if I can do this. I’m so scared. I can’t lose this baby too.”

“You’re not going to lose this baby. Everything will be fine. We’ll find you the best doctor possible, and I know Howie will wait on you hand and foot. You won’t want or need for anything.” Jenn wrapped her other arm around Noelle hugging her gently, then brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face.

Noelle looked up at Jenn, and something about her eyes made Jenn’s stomach drop.

“I can’t go back to Howie. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“Not fair? Elle, why would you say that? You’re his wife and that’s his child. It’s his responsibility to help you.”

Noelle stood and walked to the window, glancing out over the bay. She saw her reflection in the window and reached up to brush the tears away as if just realizing they were there.

She stood there for a few minutes before glancing over her shoulder at Jenn still sitting on the couch watching her intently.

“Thats just it, Jenn. It’s not his child.”

The stares Howie and Brian were getting at the airport made Brian nervous, but Howie hadn’t noticed. He was on a mission.

They had been in such a rush to get there that they hadn’t taken time to call security, and Brian was beginning to wish they had. There were a few girls that seemed to be following them, keeping their distance but never losing site of them.

“Leigh, you go on with Howie.”

Leighanne looked at Brian like he was crazy. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to stop and talk to those girls. Look, I know what you’re thinking. Its crazy to do something like that with no security, especially alone, but we can’t risk them hearing Howie’s conversation. If they find out Noelle is missing, it’s only a matter of a couple of hours before the press gets it. He doesn’t need that right now.”

Leighanne sighed. She knew he was right, but she still hated it. She nodded in agreement, and Brian walked away in search of the girls.

Turning around Leighanne realized that Howie was way ahead of her, so she picked up speed hoping to reach him before he reached the ticket counter.

She caught up with him right as he was approaching the only person at the American Airlines counter.

“Excuse me miss, were you working early this morning?”

The young woman looked up and stood dumbfounded before shaking her head no.

Howie looked as if he had just had the wind knocked out of him. He turned to walk away until he heard her speak again.

“Um, if you want to wait a second, Jeff was working this morning, and he just left. I may be able to catch him.”

Howie turned back around and nodded, and the young woman walked away.

Leighanne took Howie’s hand and gave it a little squeeze. That’s when Howie realized Brian wasn’t there.

“Where’s Brian?”

“He stopped to talk to some fans that were following us. He didn’t want them close enough to hear what was going on. He didn’t want it to get back to the press.”

Howie nodded, and turned back to the counter just as the young woman walked out with a middle aged man.

“Yes sir, how can I help you?”

Howie pulled out his wallet, and took the most recent picture he had of Noelle out.

“I believe my wife may have gotten on a flight this morning. Can you tell me if you saw her?”

Jeff took the picture from Howie, but seemed hesitant to tell him anything.

“How do I know that this is your wife sir? You could be anyone, and I can’t just give that information out to anyone.”

The young woman behind the counter glanced at the picture, and then at Jeff.

“It’s his wife.”

“Do you know him?”

The young woman looked at Howie and smiled. “You could say that.”

Howie smiled at the girl, then looked at Jeff as he handed the picture back to him.

“She boarded a plane bound for San Francisco around 5:00am this morning.”

He stood silent for a moment. San Francisco? What would she be doing there?

He then thanked Jeff and turned to the young woman.

“I need a seat on your earliest flight to San Francisco.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Leighanne lay a credit card on the counter.

“Make that three.”