I apologize for perhaps making people think that I had abandoned this story. Life definitely got out of hand there for a while and my writing time was what suffered.

Thank you to everyone who left replies/reviews on the last chapter! It really helps a lot (to all writers, I'm sure) to know that people are out there reading and enjoying my work. Please, please, please keep reviewing! It brightens my day to get those review alerts in my inbox!

-Chapter 4-

The mid-morning crowds in the Montecito were thin as the young woman walked through the main entrance. She looked around until her eyes landed on the sign for the front desk. Crossing the large open area, she joined the end of the line waiting to be helped.

When it was finally her turn, she smiled brightly at the woman behind the counter. “Hi there. I need to speak to Danny McCoy, please.”

The woman behind the counter glanced down at her computer screen. She was trying to do her job well, but had lost interest in the repetitive questions that were thrown at her daily. “I’m sorry, Mr. McCoy is out,” she replied, her voice betraying her boredom.

“When will he be back?”

Trying her best not to roll her eyes, the woman plastered a smile on her face. “I’m sorry ma’am, but we do not release that kind of information about the President of Operations.”

“The President?” The young woman blinked in surprise, stumbling over her words. “Oh… um, well, thank you anyway.”

As her customer began to step away, the woman behind the counter remembered her job. “Can I leave your name, ma’am?”

Turning back, the woman ran her fingers through her red hair and nodded. “Mary Connell.”

Minutes later, Mary sat in her rental car and sighed. A young man in a valet’s uniform looked through the window at her expectantly, so she put the car in drive and pulled away from the hotel.

Having picked up his son from spending the night at the Deline house, Danny was cruising down Las Vegas Boulevard with the top down on the Camaro.

Strapped into his carseat in the back, Jake was grinning and absently kicking at the back of his father’s seat as he watched all of the large casino buildings flash by.

Shortly after Jacoby had come home from the hospital, Jillian had pointed out to Danny all of the areas in which his beloved car was going to fall short when it came to transporting a child. Agreeing, Danny had bought a more compatible car and relegated the Camaro to use on special occasions. Of course, Danny’s definition of a special occasion left room for plenty of use of the car.

Glancing in the rear view mirror, Danny watched Jake laughing as the wind blew over his face. Jake looked up and caught his father watching him and grinned. “Where we goin’?”

“We’re going to Daddy’s office. I need to pick up a couple of things.” He knew that Cooper was going to skin him if he saw him in the casino, but Danny was already starting to feel jumpy because he didn’t know what was happening there.

As they slowed and came to a stop at a red light, Danny felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out to check the caller ID. Frowning slightly, he flipped it open and answered.

Driving around the city she had run from years ago, Mary found herself at a loss. Her plan had been to get in touch with Danny as soon as she got to town; it hadn’t occurred to her what to do if he wasn’t at the casino on a Monday morning.

Thinking as she blindly navigated the streets, she decided that maybe he had taken a personal day. She steered the car to the tall apartment tower where Danny and Delinda lived.

Finding herself in the locked entryway, she scanned the list of names and frowned. No McCoy. That was strange, she remembered Danny’s name being included in the listing. She tried looking for Deline, but again came up empty.

Scanning her memory and praying they hadn’t moved, Mary recalled the apartment number and pressed the button; the name sticker next to which was blank.

An older woman’s voice came through the crackly speaker. “Hello?”

“Hi there. I’m looking for Danny McCoy or Delinda Deline,” Mary said brightly.

The speaker crackled and then the voice came through again. “You have the wrong apartment.”

Mary frowned and thought for a minute, before pressing the button to speak again. “I know they used to live in this apartment. I was wondering if maybe you knew where I could find them.”

“I’ve lived here for almost three years. You’d think your friends might have let you know where they moved or maybe you’re just slow to get the hint.”

Mary thought she heard the woman laugh before the speaker cut off. Frowning, she returned to the car and dropped her head back against the headrest in frustration.

Danny closed his phone and steered into the left turn lane as they approached the next set of traffic lights. “Change of plans kiddo.” He glanced in the mirror again. “We have to go to Henderson.”

“Where H-henderson?” Jake pronounced the new word slowly, copying how he heard it.

Smiling at his son’s ability to parrot his words, Danny accelerated onto the highway and away from The Strip. “It’s where the new job site is. We’re going to go see Hank.”

Jacoby smiled and stuck his hands up in the air, cheering. Just another way he was the same as his father, he loved to play on the heavy construction site equipment and had been around it his whole life.

Twenty-five minutes later, the bright yellow Camaro pulled off the road onto a dirt lot and stopped along side a battered looking construction trailer painted with the McCoy Construction logo. Danny cut the engine and got out. Reaching into the backseat, he unbuckled the car seat and lifted Jake out, settling him onto his hip.

Jake struggled, wanting to go play, but Danny only tightened his grip as he climbed the stairs of the trailer and went into the office. The busy construction site would only be busy for another ten minutes before the crew left for their lunch break; then Jacoby could play.

As Danny entered the foreman’s office in the trailer, Jake let out a howl and started kicking at him. “I wanna play!” The little boy threw his head back and smacked it against the doorframe, escalating his crying even more.

Hank looked up from the blueprints spread across his desk. “You want some ice?”

Danny nodded as he sat down on the stool in front of a drafting table and cradled his son. Jake’s cries slowed to a quiet whimper as he shoved one thumb into his mouth and closed his eyes.

Once Jake was holding the ice on his head himself, Hank picked him up and carried him over to the small window so he could look out.

“One more minute and we need to let these guys know it’s time for lunch. Do you want to pull the whistle?”

Jacoby nodded solemnly, still sniffling and recovering from his ordeal.

Danny stood up and crossed the room to Hank’s desk. “I’ll bring you out there to play as soon as I finish looking at this.”

The little boy frowned at his father over Hank’s shoulder. “Wanna go now,” he sniffled softly, mumbling around his thumb.

“I can take him, Danny. I don’t mind.” Jacoby immediately perked up when he heard Hank’s offer.

“Alright, just keep a close eye on him Hank. He can get into trouble in two seconds these days.” Danny shook his head and dropped his attention back to the construction plans in front of him.

Miraculously recovered, Jacoby was squirming out of Hank’s arms and pulling him by the hand as they exited the trailer. Seconds later, Danny heard the lunch whistle blow, followed by the sound of his son laughing.

He smiled at the sound and focused on what needed to get done in front of him, so he could go and get some playing in as well.

Mary had been driving around aimlessly, trying to think of some place that she might find Danny. Over lunch at a random diner, she had debated about going back to the Montecito and wandering around there. The hope of finding an employee she recognized was slim because the turnover rate at the casino was so high. After four years, her chances of that happening were reduced to next to nothing.

She had no idea where to find any of her old friends and wondered if they would want to see and help her after all of this time. Even when her name had been cleared, Mary had never gotten in touch with anyone. She supposed it was because she was afraid to hear how they had moved on with their lives.

In a last move of desperation, Mary found herself driving on autopilot, headed for the Deline’s mansion. She pulled into the large circular driveway and turned off the engine. Before even getting out of the car, she peered through the windows, attempting to assure herself that they hadn’t moved as well.

The furniture that she could see looked the same, so she climbed out of the car and rang the doorbell.

Wiping her hands on a dishtowel, Jillian crossed into the entryway. She opened the door quickly, having recognized Mary through the glass. “Mary!”

Jillian immediately pulled the younger woman into her arms, giving her a big hug. Mary returned the hug, happy to finally see someone from her life here in Las Vegas.

“Jillian, I’m so sorry to just reappear and drop in like this…”

“Do not apologize,” Jillian interrupted. “I’m so happy to see you. Come in!” She took Mary’s wrist and gently pulled her inside.

Mary let herself be led into the spacious kitchen and quickly found herself seated at a table with a glass of iced tea in front of her.

Jillian settled into a chair across the table and leaned forward. “So where have you been? What brings you back now?”

Laughing softly, Mary shook her head. “I don’t even know where to begin.” She sipped her tea and stared out the window, trying to come up with the answers Jillian wanted. “When I left four years ago, I suppose I didn’t really plan on coming back. I was settled and thought I was okay, moving on.”

“And where were you?”

“A small town outside of Denver; I had a little house,” Mary blushed slightly. “With a white picket fence outside.”

Jillian smiled and waited for Mary to continue.

“I suppose I wasn’t as okay as I thought I was. I mean, I was working and had some friends and was even dating, but recently,” she paused and shook her head. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Las Vegas and everyone here.”

“I understand,” Jillian nodded. “So you came home.”

Mary nodded, staring into her tea. “But I have no idea how to come home.” She looked up and met Jillian’s eyes. “It’s been so long. I thought that I’d just sneak back into town and find Danny. I figured that if anyone could help me, it would be Danny.” She sighed and leaned back in the chair. “But I just can’t find him. They won’t tell me anything at the casino, just that he’s not there. Did he and Delinda move?”

Jillian felt her heart skip a beat and was sure she paled a little. She reached across the table and rested her hand on top of Mary’s. “Oh honey, Delinda died; three years ago now.”

Danny watched the sun beginning to sink behind the framed out buildings in front of him. It made the sky look like someone had painted it in reds and pinks.

“Daddy!”

His eyes tracked down onto the excavator parked in front of him. Jacoby was standing on its treads, covered head to toe in the dust and dirt of the site. He was waving, using his whole body, while Hank held on tightly to his other hand, keeping him from falling off.

Danny waved and jogged over. When he was about a foot away, Hank let go and Jake jumped toward his father. Danny caught him in a puff of dirt and spun them both around. “You having fun?”

“Yeah!” Jacoby nodded enthusiastically.

“Thanks for letting us hang out for the afternoon, Hank.”

Hank nodded and smiled. “It’s always nice to have you around Danny-boy.”

Danny started brushing the dirt from Jake’s shorts and the little boy began pouting. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’ wanna go.” Jake stuck out his lower lip.

“Well, I need to walk through the site before locking up,” Hank hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “If you two would like to go along.”

Jacoby started bouncing in place where Danny had put him down. “Alright, alright; we’ve got no plans tonight anyway,” Danny laughed. “But you have to stay with me and wear a hard hat.”

“You know we don’t have any in his size.”

Danny quickly shushed Hank and crossed back to the office. He came out wearing his old hard hat and put the smallest one he could find on his son’s head. It quickly slipped down over the boy’s eyes.

“It will have to do.”

Jacoby pushed up the hat and took off for the doorway of the new building.

“Stop when you get there or we’re going home!”

Hank started walking with Danny. “It’s weird, I remember your dad yelling out the same thing when you were a kid and it never worked.”