Title: Sins of the Past
Author: Evidence
Chapter: 1
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Major thanks to D for all the help! This story switches from the present to the recent past. Hope you enjoy.
It wasn't supposed to end like this. To die in the line of duty was suppose to be honorable. This was something people would shake their heads about. What a surreal way to go.
Jack reached for her, grabbing her hand. He pulled her into an embrace and she put her head on his shoulder. He held her and she held him as they took their final breaths.
Four days earlier…
Jack had stopped in front of the television set turned on in the FBI's audio/video room. Samantha nearly bumped into him with his abrupt halt.
A young reporter stood outside a beautiful, large home. "Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the kidnapping of Michael Forfa. You might recall that is the case that haunted Connecticut. A nine-month-old baby vanished form his stroller as his parents walked along the little shops in Mystic, Connecticut. His parents turned away from him for one second and in the next he was gone." Flashes of the area and old videotape played as the reporter talked over the clips. "His parents John and Ellen Forfa have spent the last thirty years desperately searching for their son. And today on the anniversary of his kidnapping they may have been provided with the answer to this mystery."
Jack and Sam exchanged looks.
The reporter continued, "The Forfa's report that they have received a letter from a woman dying of liver disease who claims that she stole their son and raised him as her own. The authorities are not giving us her name or any other information at this time. I spoke with the Forfas a few minutes ago and this is what they had to say."
The picture changed to an early sixties year old couple sitting on a flowered couch. The woman's hair was completely white and her face looked much older than her current age. Her husband had wisps of gray mixed with black and turned his attention away from the video camera. Mrs. Forfa spoke, "This is it. We have finally found Michael after all these years. We have our son back." Her eyes glistened with tears.
The scene turned back to the reporter and Jack shut the television off.
"I remember that case," he said looking at Samantha.
"You couldn't have been working it- you're not that old." She grinned.
"No, I remember just hearing about it. How people went into a panic, not wanting to go anywhere with their kids."
"Do you think they really found him?'
Jack shrugged. "Who knows? That's for the Connecticut authorities to determine."
He no sooner said that when his cell went off. Sighing he answered, "Hello. Yes, this is Malone. Ah, huh, okay. Of course. Let me write down the address."
Sam handed him a pad and a pencil lying on the A/V counter.
"Okay, yes, I got it. I'll be glad to help out. Talk to you soon." He replaced the cell in his belt clip.
"Who was that?"
"Agent Harland Jenkins of Connecticut, he wants us to check out the Forfa case."
Sam looked bewildered. "He wants us to come to Connecticut?"
"No. Right here in town. It seems that the woman who is claiming she took Michael Forfa has said that Michael lives in Queens."
"So we are going to check out the claims."
Jack nodded. "Exactly. Get a DNA sample and go from there. Wanna come?" He smiled at her softly.
"Sure." She said looking at him. His eyes met hers and held for a moment.
"Well we better get going." He started off with her following.
The house was small, a grayish color with blue trim. There was a separate one-car garage and a small backyard. Jack and Sam knocked on the front door.
"I like that color on you," Jack suddenly said.
"Oh, the turtleneck?"
"Yeah…what is it a blue-ish/green?"
"Aqua, it is called." She smiled at him.
The door opened to reveal a man with black short hair and a bulky build.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"James Kingsley?" Jack asked.
"Yes," he said looking back and forth at them.
They produced their badges in sync. "Special Agent Jack Malone and this is Special Agent Samantha Spade. We are with the FBI's Missing Persons Unit. May we come in?"
"Um…okay," he extended the door opening, giving Sam the once over.
"Hey," Jack started but Samantha put her hand on his arm. He looked at her and she shook her head. Let it go, she was telling him.
Kingsley led them to the living room right off the foyer. "Sam Spade, huh? So are you a famous detective?" He smiled brightly at her.
"No," was her only reply.
Jack seethed but tried to steel himself from the man and his obvious attraction to Samantha. "Mr. Kingsley, your mother is Donna Kingsley, correct?"
"Yes…"
"Well, your mother has told the police that she did something years ago…something that effects you." Jack paused. "Mr. Kingsley, your mother claims she kidnapped you."
"That's insane!" He jumped up from his seat in a recliner.
"Mr. Kingsley, please have a seat." Jack instructed.
Still infuriated, the man did as he was told.
"Your mother says you're Michael Forfa." Jack looked at him.
"Who the hell is Michael Forfa?"
Jack explained the news report, the kidnapping, and the recent turn of events that created the visit.
"It's wrong. My mother is heavily medicated. She is dying of liver disease in a Hartford hospital. She doesn't know what she is saying."
"Well, if you give us a DNA sample than we can prove that either your mother is mistaken or you are Michael Forfa." Sam interjected.
"We have a sample of Michael Forfa's hair, dark hair like your own. If we can compare the two…" Jack started.
"No, get out of my house!"
"Mr. Kingsley, I know this must be upsetting but reporters will find you soon enough; they will be all over this house, this neighborhood. This will not end just because you want it to."
Kingsley stared at her, a look that sent chills up her spine.
"Hey, stop it!" Jack yelled, not pleased at all with his man. "DNA sample, now!"
"I'll get you my brush." He left them on the couch.
"The little creep." Jack shook his head.
Sam grimaced. "He is weird."
"Glad you're not interested."
"No, I only like charming, intelligent men."
Jack laughed.
"Why is that funny?"
"I have seen some of your dates. Charming and intelligent are not the words that come to mind."
"Maybe I'm thinking of only one man then." She said it almost quietly.
He looked at her, wishing that they could be together. "Maybe."
Kingsley returned with a black brush. He handed it to Sam. "My hair for you," a glint of something appeared in his eyes.
Sam put the brush into a sealed envelope.
"We'll be back in a few days with the results Mr. Kingsley." Jack stood.
"If she wants to stay and help me through this crisis…."
"Cut the shit!" Jack yelled at him, incensed. "Listen you little gnat, you don't treat her that way, got it?"
Kingsley grinned. "Sure. So he's the one who keeps you warm at night." He looked at Sam.
"You…" Jack started reaching for him but Samantha grabbed his arm. "Let's go. We got what we came here for."
They left on the note. Jack still fumed as he drove erratically. "I could have punched him till he couldn't get up again. That little weasel."
"It's not your job to protect me." Somewhere inside anger loomed for Sam. "You have a wife and kids to watch out for her."
He gripped his hands on the steering wheel. "Sam…I need to make this work with them. It doesn't mean…it doesn't mean I don't care."
She looked at the passing small house landscape. "I know. Just sometimes…I guess I wonder."
"If I was free what our lives would be together?" It came so quickly out of his month as if it was a thought always embedded in this mind.
"Yes," she answered softly seeing an image of Jack and her on a porch swing reading the Sunday edition of the paper.
"It's a nice dream," he replied turning the car down another street.
They rode in silence the rest of the way back.
The present…
Now she held on to him, tears running down her face. Having one thought that was positive: at least they would die together. In the end they would end up together.
To be continued…