Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own Danny Taylor, or any other character from "Without a Trace." I just like to play in their sandbox. I don't know when I'm going to find the time, but I hope to expand on this. Hope you like the first chapter!
It was nearing midnight when Agent Danny Taylor finished up his reports and turned his computer at his desk off for the night. Raising his eyes from the darkened monitor, he gazed around the empty workroom, only now noting the drastic contrast of the complete silence to the brain-numbing bustle the office experienced during its long working hours.
Though he was sure that there had to be a fair number of janitors and night-watchmen on duty, it certainly did feel like he was the only one in the building. Not that Danny was complaining. The quiet was rare, and its simple existence was one that he could appreciate.
Feeling a common weariness overtake him, the agent leaned backwards in his desk chair to stare out into space. It was easy for the man to become lost in thought. When you were Danny Taylor, if you weren't careful, you could spend an entire evening ruminating over any number of events both past and present.
Normally, Danny avoided divulging into his past, especially when it came to his professional life. It could be an unhealthy pastime if not kept in check.
He probably would have surfaced from his thoughts just fine on his own that night, but instead, a loudly ringing telephone shirked him from his daze.
Danny Taylor's eyebrows pent together as he stared at the cell phone on his desk, commanding him to answer. With a groaning sigh, he glanced to the clock. Midnight. He frowned, uncertain as to who would be calling this time of night.
His hand flicked open the phone and lifted it to his ear. "Agent Taylor," he answered, sounding much more coherent than he actually felt.
"Danny?"
The voice was small and scared.
He sat up straighter in his chair, becoming instantly alert. The voice was familiar as well. "Jordan?"
"Look, I'm sorry to call you so late."
Danny frowned. "Well, no, I was just closing up. What's-"
"I need a rescue."
Assessing the situation, Danny rose up from his chair, and holding the phone between his neck and shoulder, grabbed his keys. "What happened?" he demanded, moving to action.
"Relax it. Nothing major. Just got dropped off in the wrong part of town." Danny sighed slightly at the response, certain that there was plenty more to the story than that. With Jordan, there always was.
"I just need a ride out of here. That's all."
His vigor subsided at the request. "I'm not a taxi service, Jordan."
"And don't you think I know that? Do you think I like calling you in the middle of the night? You know I wouldn't call you unless I had no other option."
A pause longer than Danny would have liked stretched out between them.
"I'm clean, Danny," she said with conviction. "Clean since April. I swear. I swear on my grandmother's grave-"
"Yeah, then why're you calling me?" He shrugged into his jacket, wrinkled from a day's wear and tear.
"Because you gave me this number to call in emergencies." Her sigh was prolonged and tired. "And because…because there was no one else to call."
Danny gave a slight roll of his eyes. Her voice, a little hurt that he was making her clarify, said, "And you know it's true."
"Okay," he said cooperatively. It wasn't long before he had moved out of the office and into the downstairs section of the building. "Where are you?"
"Corner of Port and Landis. Near Fairton, outside the city."
Danny's frown deepened slightly. It was a bad neighborhood, and one he only knew by reputation. In all fairness, her location shouldn't have been surprising.
"Alright, I'm on my way."
He hung up with a flourish, and quickly made his way into the parking garage. Finding his 2001 Dodge Stratus where he left it, he climbed inside and started up the engine.
As he backed out of the parking space, Danny couldn't help but shake his head at himself in disapproval. He knew he shouldn't have kept her on the line, and he knew he shouldn't be dashing out into the back-alleys of the New York City underworld to find someone, who probably by the time he got there would have vanished just as easily as any missing person his team so feverishly sought after.
But tonight, for some reason, the rational side of Danny Taylor was set aside.
For every agent there was always that one assignment that affected you personally. That one case that for some reason stood out among the rest.
And for Danny Taylor, that one case was Jordan Coliandri.