There's (just)) one catch, Douglas

[Dylan Rowan]

Douglas was getting into town today and she had suggested that once he got settled in she would meet him at Karen's Cafe. It was a quite little place Dylan had been here a few times and she loved the coffee and pastries. Dylan had walked in and the girl behind the counter had remembered her and brought her what she had usually gotten. Dylan checked her watched and noticed that she was a few minutes early, but it was probably a good thing at this moment she could figure out what she was going to say to him exactly.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she caught him out of the corner of her eye coming from across the street...boy time had done well on him. She had always thought he was a hunk, but boy was he...breath taking. Dylan stood from her seat as he entered the cafe and she wore a bright smile and stated, " Well well...Douglas...do my eyes deceive me or have you have you actually been hitting the gym." She hugged her dear old friend it was really good to see him.

[Douglas Belasco]

Douglas was afraid he was going to be late, but he checked his watch and realized he was right on time. He hadn't seen Dylan in years and he looked forward to seeing her again. He spotted her inside the restaurant before he crossed the street. Wow. She had grown up a lot since he'd last seen her, but then again, she still looked exactly the same. It was a paradox of monumental proportions, and it was a debate most definitely left for later when they both had time to discuss each other' opinion on the matter.

Douglas crossed the street in a hurry and practically blew inside. He smiled in Dylan's direction and held out his arms to her when she spoke about how he looked. "You look incredible, D!" he said happily as he hugged her tightly. "If I had known you were going to look this good when we were kids, I might have asked you to the fourth grade dance instead of Sherry Fitzsimmons. I hear that mustache of hers only got worse over the years." Douglas gave Dylan a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling off the black leather jacket he wore and draping it over the back of the chair next to Dylan's. He sat down and flashed a firty smile at the waitress that promptly came over to see if wanted anything. He glanced at the food in front of Dylan and motioned towards it.

"I'll have what she's having, and a cup of coffee." He smiled again at the waitress before turning his full attention back to Dylan. "I can't believe it. It's been what? At least ten years since we've seen each other?"

[Dylan Rowan]

"You look incredible, D!"

Dylan cocked her head to the side and smirked, "Well of course I do." She gave him a quick wink and then she laughed about mentioning back to the fourth grade. Dylan took her seat as he did and replied, "Yeah, but you didn't and now you're missing out Dougie." Only she could get away with calling him Dougie she only did it because he couldn't stand it.

Dylan shook her head and smiled at Doug as he used his flirty grin to get the waitress attention. Dylan took a sip of her coffee and remarked, "Some things never change." Dylan gave him a sincere smile and then looked up with he mentioned how long it had been, "Ten years at least...but the years have done you Doug and I promise you the coffee here is the best." Dylan paused for a moment and took a bite of her pastry and then asked, "How was your flight over here?"

[Douglas Belasco]

Douglas cringed when she called him Dougie. Yeah, only she could get away with it, and even then, it was only because she was Dyan. If it had been anyone else, he'd have knocked their nose off. Not literally, of course...

"Some things never change."

Douglas laughed at her and was about to say something when the waitress arrived at the table with his cup of coffee. He took a sip and sighed happily. Dylan was absolutely right, it was good coffee. "This is good coffee. It feels like so much longer than eighteen hours since I had a decent cup."

Douglas looked at her across the table. He had so much he wanted to talk about and say to her, but he really didn't know where to begin. There would be time for idle chit-chat and in-depth catch up later. There were other things that were more important right now, and he was only bidding his time until he could ask about his niece and nephew.

"The flight was long," he said with a sigh. "But at least I got here in one piece." Douglas gave Dylan a wide smile. "Okay - last ten years in twenty-five words or less."

[Dylan Rowan]

Dylan smirked, "I told you and I am very glad you got here in one piece." Dylan took another sip of her coffee. Dylan smiled at Doug and took a breath and released it, "Well let's see finished school worked with my dad for awhile until he got a job with the Brits and them and my sister moved to England. I got offered a job in Chapel Hill been working with the missing persons unit for state of North Carolina ever since. I do the occasional working outside of the state, but stay close to here for the most part. Live in my own townhouse alone. Now you're turn." Dylan knew the pleasantries between two old friends were nice, but she knew she would have to get down to business and tell him about his niece and nephew soon.

[Douglas Belasco]

Douglas listened as she went through the last ten years. He sipped at his coffee and smiled at the right times. When she was finished, he nodded his head as he put his cup down.

"That was definitely more than 25 words, D," he said with a grin. Douglas crossed his arms on the table in front of him and leaned forward a bit, getting a better look at Dylan. She really was beautiful. She hadn't changed much in the last ten years. But then again, he guess that she was probably a lot like him and had actually changed a lot.

"Well, I fell in love, got married - and divorced - all in about three weeks. Fell in love with Positano, decided that it was better than anywhere in the world, then left it to come here and find my niece and nephew." Douglas looked at Dylan, not trying to hide the worry or fear in his eyes. "Where are they, Dylan? I need to know that they're okay. If they're not okay, I need to get them that way. Fast."

[Dylan Rowan]

Dylan smirked at him and replied, "Well you know me I don't know how to keep things short." Dylan listened to what he had been up too and wow had he had been through a lot and there were things she would want an explanation on, but those would have to wait for later on.

Dylan took a deep breath when he asked about his family members. Dylan spoke, " Well I looked up their records at the Tree Hill High School, the address on the boy, Caleb looks like he's still living there, but I haven't tracked him down yet, and as for the girl, Narissa she is not living at the location that was on file, but she has still been here...but after I had told you I found them here in this town a file came across my desk for two local teens that had ran away and one the teens had been Narissa Chasez. " Dylan paused to give him a second to process all that and then she reached across the table giving his hand a squeeze. "Now I talked to some people working on that case and Narissa was put under police protection, but I was not given clearance for why she was. " Dylan decided to wait before going any further so he could figure this all out.

[Douglas Belasco]

Douglas listened as Dylan explained everything about Narissa and Caleb. Narissa was under police protection? And more than that, she'd run away from it?! It hardly seemed possible that all this was going on and he hadn't had a clue about any of it. Of course, he'd been on the other side of the world for the last nine years, but still... he felt like such a horrible brother and uncle that so much was going on with his family, and he hadn't known.

"So who do we talk to in order to find out where she is now, and why she's in protective custody? There's got to be someone somewhere who can tell me what the hell's going on. I'm her uncle, after all."

Douglas ran his hands over his face in frustration. This had gotten way too out of hand. Why hadn't his sister told him something was happening? He'd only known something was wrong when he'd stopped receiving her letters. He didn't keep in touch with Narissa nor Caleb. They probably wouldn't even recognize him, considering how long it had been.

Douglas lowered his hands and looked at Dylan. She'd been such a good friend to him over the years, and now he needed her help more than ever.

"I need to find them, D. I don't know how I know, but I know those kids are in a lot of danger."

[Dylan Rowan]

Dylan saw the look in her dear old friends eyes. Dylan wished she had more information for him. Dylan pressed her lips together and then held up her finger to tell him to wait a moment. Dylan pulled out her cell and called up her friend that gave her some information already. Dylan said, “ Hey Stevens can you do me a favor? Well the case I called you earlier on I got the girl’s uncle with me and he wants to speak with whoever is handling the case. He is their biological uncle so he has family rights.” Dylan paused for a moment then took out a pen and scribbled a couple names on a piece of paper along with phone numbers. “Thanks ”

Dylan hung up and looked at Doug and said, “ I got two numbers let me call and see what I can find out.” Dylan called one of the numbers and said, “Hi I am needing to speak with Officer Teague…oh..um..which one is that.” Dylan looked up Doug and showed a concern look on her face. “Thank you.” Dylan hung up and her throat went dry as she looked at her friend Doug, “I don’t know the details, but there was an emergency and we need to get to Chapel Hill Memorial Hospital.” Dylan looked at Doug with a solemn expression. Dylan placed some money on the table and stood up, “Come on I will drive,

[Douglas Belasco]

Douglas watched as Dylan pulled out her phone and made a call. He smiled at her and sipped at the coffee - the best coffee in the world - as he watched her speak to the person on the other end of the line. She was really in her element doing this, and she looked so good doing it. He couldn't help but smile again when she disconnected the call and dialed another number. He put down the coffee cup and continued to watch her as she made the second call. He could see the expression on her face and knew something was wrong. Really wrong. Oh man, could all this get any worse? It felt like it was too much already, and now there was more bad news?

When Dylan snapped the phone shut and stated that there had been some kind of emergency, Douglas felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. What kind of emergency?! Who was it? Was it Narissa? Or Caleb? There were so many questions, none of which Dylan had the answers to yet, that much he knew. This was not good.

"Dylan, what kind of emergency?" He couldn't help but ask the question, even though he knew she knew nothing. He stood up quickly, the coffee completely forgotten. He reached for his wallet in his back pocket, but Dylan beat him to the punch and had already tossed a few green bills on the table. Douglas stepped around the table and followed Dylan outside and to her car. "What did they say, D? What do you know?"

[Dylan Rowan]

Dylan got into the car as Doug followed in tow. Dylan put the car in gear and headed in the direction that would take them to the hospital. Dylan shook her head at Doug and said, "The details were vague. Just that there was an emergency and that the people we needed to talk to were at the hospital. They were taken in by an ambulance that's all I had gotten. I don't if it has to do with the kids I just know we should get down there and find out. " Dylan then flipped a switch that turned on her flashing lights and a siren this was a case and an emergency she could get away with it. "How ya doing Doug? Talk to me don't bottle yourself up? What about the kids parents I mean your sister and her husband what happened with all that?"

[Douglas Belasco]

Douglas pulled on his seat belt and stared through the windshield as Dylan turned on the lights and even the siren. She knew the severity of the situation, and Douglas appreciated that fact. He frowned when she told him not to bottle up. She knew him all too well. She knew he was shutting down and she knew it wasn't good. He didn't want her to know that about him. No one was supposed to know that about him. The less women knew, the better. Still, she knew. He took a deep breath and tried not to think too much about what was happening.

"Don't worry about me, D. I'm okay," he said as he turned his head to look at her. Of course, he wasn't okay. And he knew that he wasn't okay. And she knew that he wasn't okay. And he knew that she knew... well, anyway. They both knew that he wasn't really okay, but they also both knew that right now wasn't the time to discuss it all.

When Dylan asked about his sister and her husband, Douglas shifted in the seat. He had really hoped this line of questioning wouldn't come up, though he'd known it would be the most logical question to ask considering the circumstances.

"Robert Chasez is the devil incarnate. That's pretty much all you need to know." Douglas didn't answer the question about his sister. He really didn't want to lie to Dylan, but he wasn't sure yet if he could tell her the truth. The mere fact that Hannah was alive was the biggest secret of all. He had to keep that knowledge under wraps as much as possible right now. Especially from Robert. If he ever found out Hannah was alive, that would be the end of things.

"I don't know what's going on with the kids, but I know that if Robert is involved with either of them, it can't be good."

[Dylan Rowan]

When he told her not to worry that only made her more and he ought to know not to tell her not to worry. Dylan pressed her lips together and continued weaving in and out of traffic doing her best to make this a short trip and not a forever dragging on one. She stayed quiet as he talked about the husband, but never mentioning his sister and that made her wonder, but not pressing the matter right now.

There was something that rang out about what he said that just didn't make sense to him. Dylan asked, "Okay bad guy I got that but why are they here when he is living in California? I mean they are underage so shouldn't they all be living together?" Dylan had checked and they weren't emancipated so something was definitely off here.

[Douglas Belasco]

Douglas could understand her questions. He had a few of his own, in fact. He really didn't know everything that was going on with the kids, nor even Hannah for that matter. He didn't understand why they had ended up in Tree Hill by themselves. It was just one of the many questions he had and wanted answers for. All he knew for sure, he was willing to share with Dylan.

"Their father is a real ass. Definitely not the kind of man you want to tangle with, and certainly no father." Douglas' voice dripped with anger whenever he spoke about Robert Chasez, and now was no exception. "The man was abusive in just about every way possible. It's a long story, but Hannah left him years ago and now I guess the kids have followed in their mother's footsteps."

Of course, Douglas knew a little bit more about the situation than that, but not much. Hannah didn't know much about her kids, so Douglas didn't, either, but he did know more than he was letting on.

"As long as the kids are away from their father, they're going to be okay. My worry is that their father has found out where they are and is back to get them."

[Dylan Rowan]

Dylan took a deep breath and spoke, "I don't want to cross a line here Doug, but if your sister knew how bad her husband was why didn't she take the kids with her why leave them with that man?" Dylan just never understood if the parents knew things were bad and not going to get worse why put their offspring through that especially when they could get out. Dylan had seen a lot that made her heart bleed and it just torn her in half seeing situations like these happen.

Dylan looked up at the highway sign and spoke, "About fifteen more minutes as long as everything stays clear in front of us."