Story #7 of the Kermit and Savannah Chronicles - - -

Paul and Kermit return from a mission and make plans to meet Peter and Savannah. While Peter drives Savannah to the cabin where they are to meet, bad guys force the car off the road, and they are abandoned at an unknown location. Savannah is seriously injured and bleeding to death. Also injured, Peter has to leave Savannah behind in order to get help, carrying the baby with him. It’s a race against time and wilderness.

A missing scene for “Return of the Shadow Assassin,” written for the Sunday Challenge prompt.

After the Shadow Assassin’s return, Paul confronts Caine over the silence that wounded Peter and left him questioning whether he mattered. But beneath Paul’s anger is a darker truth: he knows he may one day become another father who disappears. 

When retired schoolteacher Chang Po is murdered in Chinatown, the investigation leads Peter Caine to a shocking suspect: Jase Stewart, an old friend from the Police Academy. Refusing to believe Jase could be involved, Peter risks his career, his relationship with Paul, and his standing at the precinct to prove his friend’s innocence. But as the truth unfolds, Peter is forced to confront betrayal, guilt, and the painful realization that loyalty cannot always protect the people we love. Through it all, Paul and Caine guide Peter back from anger and self-blame, reminding him that even the deepest wounds can heal.

Just after "Sunday at the Hotel with George" Peter drops by the Blaisdells for an impromptu supper. 

One father helps to find the way to the other father.