A/N: hi guys, here's a new story, a short one. I know that I have one chapter left on my other story and I promise to update as soon as possible. But it is lost somewhere in my computer and I can't find it.

I hope you'll like that one. It only has 6 chapters.

Thanks again to phnxgrl.

Lisbon and her team have 72 hours to find a fourteen years old girl who has been kidnapped before her abductor kill her. But this case bring back a past Lisbon wanted to hide to everyone.

72 hours: Prologue

The street was quiet with little or no traffic. Some children were playing in their garden. The sun was high in the sky. There was a warmth which spread through the streets. It was a sure sign of spring's arrival. Not that it was usually cold. They were in Sacramento after all. The past few weeks had been rainy and cold. The people were happy to enjoy again the warmth in the month of June. There were many people who would head to the beach 200 miles away or more likely their swimming would be done in their private pool.

Summer holidays were upon all. Many young people already had plans for the next two months. They wanted to squeeze in as much fun as possible and forget the school year. The new school year would start soon enough to remind them of what they had to do with their life or just to please their parents. But for now, it was still a bit early to think about that.

Annabelle was walking along the sidewalk, her cell phone in hand.

She smiled while reading the text message. She had just received that of her friend Natasha who was her best friend since kindergarten. The two girls had lived next door to each other forever. Their mothers were themselves being childhood friends. The two girls were always together but they were not in the same class. They chose different options but they didn't stay still less close to one another. Annabelle chose literary option. She loved to read, literature and was even part of the school drama class. Natasha chose biology. They both were in advance classes and were very good in school to the delight of their parents.

The teenager answered the text smiling a little as she saw it was from Tasha. She liked to call her. She looked up from her phone to see a van parked a little further. A man came out then opened the back door. He pulled out a big pile of clothes then threw it on the ground before returning to the driver's door. But before getting into the vehicle, he noticed the girl. She looked at him and knew what would happen. She started running in the opposite direction, sticking her phone to her ear after dialing 911 quickly. She heard the footsteps of the man came closer and closer, her heart pounding in her chest. Finally she heard a voice on the phone.

- "911… How may I assist you?" said a woman's voice.

- "A man is after me" gasped the girl while running faster. "He threw something out of his car."

- "Please calm down" replied the woman. "What's your name?"

- "Annabelle… I'm not far from home ...The man is approaching," she cried.

- "Annabelle listen to me darling" replied the woman, "you'll need go to the nearest neighbor. Run as fast as possible to reach safety and a patrol will come."

The girl tried to listen to the woman but she felt a hand grab her arm. She shouted with all her might then dropped her phone. She heard the voice of the woman asked her what was going on. Although she wanted to replied, she felt a blow against her skull then sank into unconsciousness.

- oooo -

Jane's car was parked along the street. He exited and joined the rest of the team already busy around a body. He showed his consultant badge to the agent who picked up the yellow band and he passed quietly. Looking around the houses he saw people congregated to see what was happening. Turning his head he saw other officers and forensic around objects on the ground a few feet away. He could not see what it was but decided to look later. For the moment he decided to focus on the body before him.

Lisbon spoke with uniformed officers as he approached her. Cho was examining the body, Rigsby was on the other crime scene and Van Pelt would certainly be in the office as always doing research. What surprised him most was the sheer number of police officer for a simple murder. The only time there were so many people, it was for the investigation of Red John. He was not involved in this case. He heard a car pull a little farther, he turned his eyes to see a van and local newspaper reporters exiting then setting up. The vultures were very quick all for a simple murder. He thought If it bleeds it leads is certainly true for these vultures.

The Mentalist stopped next to Lisbon. She gave him a nod then turned her attention to the officer for him to continue to speak. He waited for her to finish before he questioned her with his eyes. The senior officer put her notebook in her pocket and walked over to the body with her consultant on her heels.

- "The victim is a young girl of fourteen, Linda Vincent, missing for seventy two hours" she explained. "Annabelle Baxter called 911."

- "And where is she?" He inquired.

- "She disappeared during the call. Presumably pursued by a man who was surely Linda's Kidnapper" she replied.

- "This explains the presence of so many cops and journalists," he whispered to her close to her ear.

This closeness made her shiver slightly.

They approached the body when Cho stood up. He brushed his pants then looked up to see his boss and consultant. His visage was grim.

- "Same Modus Operandi, Boss" he said simply.

His two colleagues did not need more to understand what it was. This case would be intense, and they knew the days ahead would not be easy.

TBC ...

A/N2: that was it. I'd love to know what you thought of it. I'll update as soon as I can but I work 6 days a week and I hardly have time to translate. But if I have reviews, it could help me update faster.

And I wanted to thanks Marcia Santos who leave me a review on each chapter since I started updating stories in English. So, thank you very much.