Somehow, Jimmy had managed to pick the lock to the school, and wasnow crawling through each classroom in turn, calling out Kennedy’s name into the dark hallways as they searched the for the little girl.

Though both Brian and Zacky had been reluctant to set foot in the corridors of the elementary school that Jimmy still taught in, it had been the threat to knock both of their heads together and not protect them if Matt found out that they’d lost Kennedy on their watch that had made them buck up and go with him. He’d called Ellen in a state of panic and she’d combed downtown in search for her, but found nothing. She was already inside of their classroom when Jimmy burst in, calling Kennedy’s name loudly around the room and checking in the most unlikely of places.

“Kenney? Kenney! Oh God, is it really this easy to lose a four year old?” Jimmy cried to himself as he sunk down onto the brightly coloured carpetnext to the book shelf, shaking his head. Ellen looked out from the cupboard and gently shut the door, flicking out the light as she walked over to the man who only a few hours ago, had given her the most romantic night of her life. Now, he was stuck in a deep state of panic and worry that made her scared for him.

“Jim-Jam, don’t panic. That’s the worst thing to do right now” Ellen comforted as she crouched down beside him, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. In this case, he was more like a lost child than an adult trying to find one. There was a strange kind of innocent air about him, and it seemed like everywhere he turned he found a blank corner- which made him even more desperate to find her. His heart was racing, his palms were sweating, and he didn’t know where to look next.

“I can’t not panic! This is Kennedy I’m talking about. If Matt finds out that she ran away not only will he kick all three of our asses, he’ll never let us see her again! That little kid helped me in the dark days after Gabby died, I am not letting her go this easily!” Jimmy muttered to himself, a little anger beginning to bubble up in his stomach. Shrugging her arm off of his shoulders, he stood up and began to look around his desk, searching for a clue- anything that would have suggested where she had disappeared to.

God forbid she’d been snatched off of the street by a stranger, who was keeping her hostage in some abandoned meth lab somewhere downtown. Jimmy froze at the very thought that someone out there could have kidnapped Kennedy. She would be crying, terrified of the stranger who had taken her away, and yet they wouldn’t be able to do anything because she was so far away.
“What if someone’s got her- what if someone’s kidnapped her? If I tell Matt we lost his child, I’ll never see the light of day again!” Jimmy cried almost hysterically as he carried on sweeping his desk for some sort of clue that Kennedy was still around, but Ellen didn’t move.

She didn’t know what to say or what to do; Jimmy now seemed to be inconsolable. Before she could say anything, the door swung open again and Brian and Zacky walked in, hand in hand. Brian looked just as freaked out as Jimmy did, yet Zacky seemed to have a little bit of a calmer exterior. The man didn’t show his emotions very well on the outside, but Jimmy could only guess that his best friend was having the same thoughts he was about what could be happening to Kennedy.

“We checked all the other classrooms, Jim; I don’t think she’s here” Brian said forlornly as he looked around Jimmy’s almost trashed room and the taller man sighed, looking over his desk once again for any glimmering sign of hope.
And then he saw it.

A piece of raggedy paper sticking out from underneath a pile of books and papers that he was meant to have filled in days before. Ignoring the conversation that was floating around the room behind him, he pushed away the obstacles and picked up the drawing. Kennedy’s name had been scrawled on the back in her big, crooked block letter writing and as he turned it over, he saw more writing scribbled across the top of the page, just between the strip of blue that acted as the sky and the big yellow ball of squiggles in the top corner that was meant to be the sun.

She had written ‘MY FAVOURITE PLACE’ and underneath she had drawn a picture of the prison, of her father’s jail cell to be more exact. And inside, she had drawn a stick figure in a uniform, with hundreds of colourful lines across his arms. She had drawn Matt. And right beside him, curled up in his arms, was her. Kennedy had drawn herself into the picture beside her Dad, the only place she wanted to be.

And suddenly, it was all crystal clear.

“Brian- what did Kennedy say before you put her to bed?” Jimmy asked urgently, without even turning around or putting the drawing down. This was all the evidence he needed- he knew exactly where they had to go and look next.
“She said that she wanted to be with Matt. She asked me why he couldn’t come home- and that she wanted him to come home” Brian said softly and Jimmy turned around, holding the picture up for the other three people in the room to see.

“We need to go to the prison. Now” was all he had to say before the four of them sprinted out of the room, not bothering that they’d left the doors unlocked and by morning, someone will have figured there had been a break in. Both Brian and Jimmy drove at breakneck speeds until they were almost out of the city, where the prison lay in wait for them, a large and cold grey building that loomed over them as they approached closer and closer to it.

Jimmy didn’t even bother to park properly, just let the car stop sideways over three spaces and almost fell out of the driver’s seat in his haste to get out of the vehicle. He was still clutching the drawing in his hand, and the paper was becoming damp from the sweat his palms were producing. If she wasn’t here- he would be finished.

As the four of them ran into the reception for visitors, a guard attempted to stop them on their way in, but Jimmy pushed him out of the way, not even knowing his own strength. The guard went careering into a filing cabinet, papers and documents flying all over the room, but for once he didn’t seem to care. He was there, through the prison, going towards the cells.

He’d walked through here often enough; he knew where Matt was, what exact number he had as his own and where that little piece of heaven for him lay. His solitude. As he rounded a corner, he skidded to a halt in front of the open cell that Matt slept in. The muscled man was fast asleep, even though the bars of his cell had been pulled back a little, if only to let someone else in.

And there in his arms, sleeping peacefully with her father for the first time in years was Kennedy.