Chapter 1

Dom had tossed and turned in his bed for nearly an hour before he finally drifted off to sleep. He and the whole crew had gone out for drinks that evening and it left him with a bad stomach ache. As soon as he settled into a deep sleep, he was awakened by the loud ring of the phone on his nightstand.

"This had better be good," he said loudly as he picked up the receiver and listened for the caller to comment.

"I'm afraid it's not good," replied Michael. "Dominick, I need you to get up to the Firm's clinic as soon as possible. We have a situation that needs your immediate attention. I'll explain as soon as you get here."

Dom jumped out of bed and threw on the clothes he had worn earlier that evening. He was at the clinic in no time, nearly running down the main hall to find Michael.

"What's going on Michael?" he asked as soon as he saw him. "Is everyone okay?"

Michael shook his head. "I don't really know," he replied. "We got word that Caitlin was picked up an hour ago out on Old Miller Road by an off duty police officer who lives in the area."

"What was she doing way out there?" asked Dom. "That's not exactly the safest area of town."

"That's what he thought when he picked her up," replied Michael. "To top it all off she had blood all over her hands as well as her clothes."

"My God, was she hurt?" Dom asked showing his concern.

"No, apparently it wasn't her blood," replied Michael. "We're running some tests to see if we can find a match to it in our data bases."

"Doesn't Cait know whose blood it is?" asked Dom.

"That's the problem Dominick," said Archangel. "Caitlin can't seem to recall the events that happened to her from the time you all left the bar she said you were at until the officer picked her up. Dr. Sims thinks it may be some sort of repression. Something painful happened and she's unconsciously blocking it from her memory."

Dom's concern was growing. "Michael, she left with String and Saint John," he said. "Have you heard from them?"

"No, they're no were to be found," he replied. "My gut tells me that the blood on Caitlin's hands might be String's."

Dom felt his legs grow weak. "No," he said. "If she had blood all over her, String could be in pretty bad shape."

Michael sighed. "Would you like to see Cait?" he asked. "Maybe talking to you will help her."

"Sure," he replied as Michael led him down the hall to a small treatment room.

When Dom and Michael walked into the room, Caitlin was lying on her side in the bed. She was staring at the wall across from her.

"Cait," said Dom as he walked over to her. She sat up on the bed and he pulled her into a hug. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied. "Dom, I can't seem to remember what happened after we left the bar. I keep trying to remember but I can't. All I can recall is walking down this dirt road and seeing the lights of car. That's when the patrol officer picked me up. I don't know where String and Saint John are Dom. That scares me."

Dom hugged her again. "It's okay honey," he replied trying to soothe her fears. "We'll find them and figure this all out."

Marella knocked on the door and then slowly peeked into the room. "I need to speak with you for a moment," she said to Michael.

"Okay, I'll be right back," he advised Cait and Dom.

Michael slipped out into the hallway. He could tell by the look on Marella's face that her news wasn't going to be good."

"We got a match on the blood," she said somberly. "You were right. It's String. Whatever happened to him, he apparently hemorrhaged pretty badly."

"It had to be bad for her to block it from her memory like this," replied Michael. "I have a bad feeling that if we don't find them soon, we might not find either one of them alive."

"Are you going to tell her about the blood?" asked Marella.

"Not unless she asks," he replied. "I think deep down she knows already."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Back in her room, Dom was still trying to comfort Caitlin who was growing more concerned about String and Saint John. "We've got to find them Dom," she said. "They couldn't have just disappeared."

"We will," he tried to assure her. "First I need to get back to Santini Air. Maybe they went back there or left us some sort of a message."

"That's a good idea," she replied. "You should go check. Besides, Doc is flying in and should be there in a couple of hours."

"I forgot about Doc," Dom said as Michael came back into the room. "I'm sure we can use his help in all of this."

"I'm having my people check out a two mile radius of the area that Caitlin was found in," said Michael. "See what you can find out at Santini Air and meet me back here with Doc as soon as he gets in."

Dom shook his head. "You got it," he replied as he gave Caitlin a kiss on the cheek. "Hang in there sweetheart. I'll be back soon and we'll go and find them."

Michael followed Dom out into the hallway. He waited until the door to Caitlin's room was closed before he spoke. "We got an ID on the blood," he said softly. "I'm afraid it's String's."

Dom frowned and sighed deeply. "I had a feeling it was," he replied. "I was hoping I was wrong though."

"I have a lot of my people on this one," said Michael. "I'll do everything I can on my end to find out what happened," he promised. "If anything comes up while you're gone, I'll call you."