Missing
It was just another day for Danny Taylor. Another day … another missing person that him and his team would have to find. It was the worst possible day for it though. It was the anniversary of his parents death. They died in a car crash when he was only 11. People always said time would heal. He must be the exception to that saying he thought as he got into his car. After his parents died he had to go into foster care. He hated it. All these people trying to be his Mum and Dad but they never could. They would never be a match. All these foster parents said they loved him, but the bond it could be broken so easily. Just like that. He realised that pretty quickly.
He hadn't slept all night and he just wanted to go back up to his apartment and sleep. Too bad he couldn't. He started driving to work. He hadn't driven for long when he took a corner to quick. The car swerved into some trash cans and … something else. He didn't know what it was. It didn't make a sound. He backed the car away and saw a body. A dead body. It was an old lady. He guessed she was homeless. She was wearing a dirty beige coat and a woolly hat. He had killed her. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't think clearly. Before he could even consider anything he was driving the car away. He didn't know why. He knew it was wrong but he just couldn't handle it.
He had driven for around an hour when he decided to stop. He was near an old industrial estate. All the warehouses were deserted so he decided to lay low until he could figure out what to do.
"Where the hell is Danny?" Jack shouted. Jack was the boss of the unit of 4. The unit consisted of Jack, Danny, Sam and Vivian. Jack didn't act like the boss much. They worked as a team.
"I don't know he's never late. I mean most the time he is here before everyone else." Sam replied to her boss a look of worry on her face. Danny was like a brother to her. Ever since he joined the team they had got closer and closer. Everyone said that they were perfect for each other. Her and Danny would just laugh it off, but the truth was she always liked him.
"Well I've already tried his mobile and his flat. No answer from either." Vivian butted in. Viv and Danny didn't hit it off at first. Viv thought he was too young and inexperienced. It didn't help when on their first case together he attacked the suspect. It just made her more sure of her first judgement of him. But Jack always had faith in Danny and trusted him deeply. It eventually paid off when it became clear that Danny was by far the best addition to the team.
"Ok lets not jump to any conclusions. He could just be running late and have no signal. Sam can you go round to his flat and take Viv with you." Jack tried to hide the concern in his voice but he wasn't sure if it worked. Without a word the two girls got up and walked out of the room. To look for their colleague … their friend.
Jack sat in his private office. Anyone else and he wouldn't be so worried but this was Danny. It was just so unlike him. His phone rang and it was the news he had been dreading. There was no sign of Danny at his apartment. He had no other choice. He walked to the whiteboard and wrote their new case on it.
'Case Number NY 45693 : Danny Taylor'
It was official. Danny Taylor was missing.
Jack stood by the board with Danny's picture in his hand. He just couldn't bring himself to put it on the board. He kept looking at it. Danny's dark brown hair. It was quite long and Danny just let it stick up where it wanted to. And then there was his eyes. Those eyes hid so many secrets, for so many years. Jack was sure there were still plenty of secrets hidden in the enchanting eyes. After the abuse Danny had to endure from his father he found it very hard to trust anyone. That was why he still had so many secrets. Jack just hoped that they could find him. Alive.
Danny opened his eyes. Sweat dripping off his skin. He was drenched. The woman. She had been in his dream. Telling him how it was all his fault. And it was. He looked at his surroundings. It was dark in the warehouse now. He must have slept through the whole day. He wondered what they were doing at the office. Had they even noticed he was gone? Did they care? He had decided that he couldn't disappoint them. He would just drive away and never look back. He killed someone. Sure he knew it was wrong, but he just couldn't face up to what he had done. He was so weak. He always had been. When he couldn't handle things he had turned to alcohol. He was an alcoholic. But he had been doing so well. He had been sober for eight years now. He still had temptations which is why he still regularly attended AA meetings and was still in contact with he sponsor. But he was finally getting his life back. He was recovering his life. Now he had just fallen into a deep hole again. This time he wasn't so sure he could find a way out. He just didn't have the strength. Not again. Not now.
Jack and his team were sat around the conference table in the main office.
"Okay any thing on his credit cards?" Jack was trying to treat this case just like any other. If he gave his supervisor, Van Doren, the slightest idea that he was too involved in the case to be judgmental he would be kicked off the case. He couldn't do that to Danny.
"Nope. Hasn't been used since a week ago in a supermarket. Just an ordinary weekly shop. Nothing suspicious." Sam hated having to do stupid checks. Once in a blue moon it would bring up a lead. But that blue moon was not on this case.
"And nothing on his phone records. Only people to phone him on his home phone or his mobile for the last month has been us." Viv felt like she was intruding. Danny was always so private. It just didn't seem right to look through all his records, but she knew if they wanted to have the best chance of finding him they would have to.
"Alright I want you two to get your hands on any CCTV you can find around the area of his apartment and hand it to the tech team. Start in the immediate area and then work your way out from the apartment." Jack needed to know whether Danny was taken or left of his own free will and CCTV was his best chance.
Danny was sat in his car. He had left the warehouse and was sure of what he was going to do. He just couldn't do it anymore. It was too much. He couldn't run anymore. He just wanted to be in the one place he felt right. His Mum's arms. He couldn't put his team through it anymore. They were better off without him. The whole world was. He had hurt so many people, he didn't deserve to carry on. He was going to kill himself.
"Jack! Jack! The tech team have found something." Viv ran into the room waving some pictures. " These are CCTV images from around Danny's apartment. The first one is him getting in his car just outside the building. This one is him about fifteen minutes from here. And this. This is Danny's car crashed into some trash cans about seven minutes from here."
"All up to this point he has been moving along his usual route to work. That is until after he hits those cans. As soon as he hits those he drives in the other direction." Sam had entered the room just as the pictures were placed up. She was so worried about him. Her voice sounded like it was about to crack.
"Something in the cans must have made him panic." Jack just didn't understand what Danny was doing. He wasn't sure whether him leaving of his own free will was good or bad news. " We need to find out what it was."
"Already done. I got the local police to check it out they found a woman. Dead. There are bruises consistent with being hit with a car. We wont know for another hour when the coroner gets back to us but my guess…Danny killed her and got scared." Viv couldn't believe what she was having to say. But there was no other possibility. Danny Taylor was on the run. Danny Taylor was a killer.
"Couldn't someone else be driving" Sam was trying so hard to find a way to stand up for friend.
"No! Look at the picture. I am under no illusions that it is Danny." Jack snapped, trying to get a hold on his emotions. He wanted to believe Sam but he knew the truth. It hurt. But there was nothing he could do to change it.
Danny was stood on top of the building. He looked down on the city. All the people were going about there normal lives, they weren't to know that anything had happened. Why would they, he was just an ordinary person, like all those people walking on the streets of New York. This was his city. He had so many memories here. It wasn't where he had grown up though. He couldn't have stayed there. Those memories were not good ones. But the memories of this city. New York. They were brilliant. The wind was strong. He sat down thinking about his life. The choices he made. How he could have done things different so that people wouldn't be hurt. But it didn't matter. Being sorry now didn't matter. He had done some horrible things. Now he knew he had to pay.
Jack, Viv and Sam were all sat in the coroners office. Lee Johnson was one of the top coroners in the area. Jack had decided to call him in on the case as it was so close to them all. Lee walked into the office. He looked very calm, Jack hoped this meant there was good news. But how could it be good news, she was killed by Danny's car. By Danny. Lee just sat in his chair looking at the three detectives.
"So Lee tell us what you found out" Jack was getting impatient. He just wanted to be told what happened and then go. He was just hoping for something to save Danny. Anything, even though he didn't know what would help.
"Umm…I don't know quite how to put this. It may shock you." Lee spoke in a very soothing voice, not that it did much to calm their nerves.
"Listen, please just tell us." Viv couldn't wait anymore. She saw Sam in the corner of her eyes. She was visibly shaking, this whole thing had hit her so hard. Viv knew that there was nothing she could say so instead she held Sam's hand. They both needed the comfort right now.
"Ok. I understand. The woman who we have yet to get a positive identification on has been living rough for around 5 years now. She has bruises on her body consistent with being hit by a car at a medium speed. After we had analysed the body more we found that the car that inflicted these bruises is a normal medium sized car and its blue. It is to my belief after watching the CCTV that in fact it was almost certainly your missing agent's car." Lee could see the look on the other FBI agents faces grow grimmer and grimmer but he had another shock in store for them.
"Oh my god! I cant believe this." Sam couldn't help it. All the emotions from the day and built up, it was obvious they would have to come out at some point.
"If you would let me finish Agent Spade I may yet surprise you." Lee was so calm. It was impossible to sense any emotion in his voice, and his facial expressions didn't give anything away either. "Like I have said I am certain that your agent hit this woman but … Agent Taylor did not kill this woman. She has been dead for around 4 days. She died from malnutrition and dehydration. Your agent didn't kill her but he doesn't know that."
The team sat in silence. Jack opened his mouth to speak when a police officer barged into the room. He looked very young.
"Sorry to interrupt. Detective Hardward asked me to inform you that we have a jumper." He spoke with such concern and he seemed edgy. His voice was deep. It almost didn't fit him you could say, a deep voice coming from this baby faced boy.
"What does he look like." It didn't click with Jack at all. The thought that Danny could commit suicide had obviously never crossed his mind.
"Young Hispanic male. Dark hair, dark eyes, medium height and medium build. He believes its your agent. Agent Taylor. He said he wants you down there right away." The young cop didn't have to say anymore Jack and the two women raced out of the room.
The drive to the scene was a silent one. Nobody knew what to expect when they arrived. He could be dead on the floor when they get there. Jack had no intention of sticking to the speed limit. Danny was like his son. He couldn't believe this was happening. He silently prayed to God. He hadn't done that for years, but he needed his faith now.
It didn't take them long to reach the scene it wasn't a tall building really but it was just tall enough to kill someone. Jack didn't understand if her wanted to kill himself why not go to a really tall building. Then he remembered. It was the building where Danny found Carlos. It was the first case involving a kid that Danny was a part of. It was a hard case. They found him dead. He had hung himself inside the building. Danny was the first to see him. The coroner said he had only been dead for ten minutes. They were ten minutes too late. He was only fifteen. He was only a kid.
They had already agreed in the car that Viv would go up and no-one else, so as soon as they got out the car Viv raced to the building and up the stairs. When she reached the roof she looked out and saw Danny. It didn't look like him though. Danny was so strong and bold, but now he just looked weak and vulnerable. Viv took some steps towards him and called his name. He slowly turned round to see Viv stood there.
"I'm so sorry Viv. I. I don't know what to say." Danny was crying.
"Its ok Danny. We found the woman." Viv replied in her soft, caring tone.
"She's dead isn't she?" Danny was choking on his word trying so hard to keep the tears at bay.
"Yes. But listen to me Danny. You didn't kill her. She was already dead."
"I'm pathetic. I don't deserve you or Jack or Sam. I don't deserve anything."
"Listen to me Danny. I sometimes feel like I don't deserve you." Danny looked up at her confused but then turned away. She cupped his chin in her hand and turned his head to face her. He was still looking at the floor though. " Danny look at me. Danny. Please."
"Ok." He looked up to her. She had never seen his eyes like that. Sure they were the same eyes but he looked. Alone. Alone and scared.
" You have been so good to me Danny. You're an amazing person and there are always times I think I don't deserve you." She was crying now as well. It just hurt her so much to see Danny like this. She couldn't stand it.
"See. I've upset you. I've hurt you. Just like I always do. I do this to everyone. But not anymore." He walked towards the edge of the building.
"Danny. Danny you don't have to do this. Please. I need you Danny." She was desperate. Danny turned around and looked at Viv.
"I'm sorry. I really am." And then he jumped off the building.
She couldn't believe it. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. But there was nothing she could do to stop him. She looked over the side of the building and saw Danny. He was just lying there.
Jack just stood there in disbelief. Sam was screaming, struggling to get towards Danny and some police officers were trying to stop her. Viv walked out of the building and stood next to Jack. Then came something that made them all stop.
"We have a pulse. Lets get him to hospital." The ambulance paramedic yelled to his team and took Danny off on a stretcher.
It had been a week since Danny was admitted to hospital and he still hadn't woken up. They were getting worried. All of his team sat around his bed. He was hooked up to life support and had so many IV lines entering his body. He looked like a machine not a person. The nurses had told them that it was all helping him, but it just seemed that it must be hurting him somehow. It just made him look even more vulnerable.
Danny tried to open his eyes. He did but then they closed again. He tried again. They stayed open a little bit longer this time. He was laying in a hospital room, he could hear faint sounds of nurses talking, patients coughing, and the slight beeping noise of the machines he was attached to. There was something in his throat it hurt. He started to panic and was yanking frantically at the tube. Sam stood up. She started stroking Danny's face.
"Calm down. It ok Danny its helping you to breath." Sam was so happy to see him but his reaction did scare her. " Don't try to talk. Just listen. We are not mad with you or anything. We love you. We're a family and we don't want to lose you. And we are not gunna let you go anywhere. You hear me?" He nodded in reaction to her. He loved her so much and couldn't bear to see her so hurt over him. But he couldn't think about it anymore. He was to tired, he drifted into another peaceful sleep.
"Right now Danny. I'm going to take this tube out of your throat. It shouldn't hurt too much but it maybe a bit uncomfortable." The young nurse spoke to him and slowly took the tube out.
"Thank you." Danny replied in a hoarse voice.
"Don't mention it. Here's some water." The nurse turned to the three friends. "He is ok at the moment just don't push him too hard ok." She walked out of the room.
"Guys i'm so sorry." Danny looked close to tears. Viv placed her finger on his lips.
"Not another word. You have nothing to apologise for. Just promise us one thing. If you have problems talk to us. We're here for you what ever happens."
"Do you promise." Jack looked Danny dead in the eyes.
"I promise." Danny whispered with a smirk in his face.
For the first time the three agents might actually get a good nights sleep. Before he went home though there was something Jack had to do. He went into the office and towards the whiteboard. He took Danny's picture down and wiped off the writing on the board.
It had been a month since Danny had left hospital and it was his first day back at work. He would be doing desk work but he didn't care. He hated not working. He had stayed with Sam since he left hospital. They both admitted their feelings for each other and now they were officially a couple.
Jack and Vivian stood watching Sam and Danny.
"You always have to play pranks don't you?" Sam was towering over Danny her hands on hips in mock anger.
"You know me. Always the funny one." Danny knew she was joking and he couldn't resist. She was so easy to wind up.
"Anyone ever told you that you're such a idiot."
"Umm…no actually must just be your effect on me" For that Danny had a file thrown at him. The culprit. Sam of course.
Jack just smiled and looked at Viv.
"We have our boy back." He couldn't hide how happy he was.
"God help us" Viv smiled at Jack and rolled her eyes. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."
Jack found Danny's case file and under 'Case Number NY 45693 : Danny Taylor' Jack stamped the words. Found alive.
This case was officially closed.