The boy's brown eyes seemed to stare back at her as she looked at the picture of a blonde-headed boy, clipped to the whiteboard. Robert Emerson had gone missing. It seemed like any other time a 15-year-old went missing, but this time was different. Samantha knew the boy personally; she just failed to mention that to Jack when he announced the boy was missing. She sighed and broke contact from the picture. Walking in the direction of Jack's office, she stopped at the door and took a breath, gaining the courage to walk in.
"Jack…I have something that, uh, might help on the case…" she said shakily.
"A lead?" he questioned. He looked up from the files and removed his glasses, looking at Samantha and waiting for her to speak.
"Uh…yeah you could say that," she paused and took a steady breath. "Jack, he's my son…" Jack opened his mouth as if to say something then closed it and cocked his head to the side, waiting for her to continue.
"I have this weird feeling that either he went looking for his dad or his dad went looking for him."
"Wait, so you had a kid when you were 17?" he questioned.
"Yeah…that was the reason that Chad and I got divorced. He didn't want kids and when he found out I was pregnant he left me, and at 17 I couldn't afford to raise a kid so I put him up for adoption…" she sighed, fighting back the tears. She couldn't count the amount of times she had regretted the decision of putting her son up for adoption, but at that time it seemed like the best choice.
"So does Robert know about you…or his dad, for that matter?"
"The last time I saw Robby was his third birthday. He knows he's adopted, but his mom says he's never asked about Chad or me. And the last I heard Chad was in prison for possession of drugs…" she explained.
"Okay…do you know when Chad was supposed to get out?" he asked.
"Yeah…last month. That's why I think that maybe he went looking for Robert."
Jack's face was knitted with confusion as he listened to Samantha's story. He stood up and walked into the bullpen with Samantha right behind him. As he walked in, the team glanced up at him with hopeful eyes. There was always something different when a kid went missing; everyone seemed to try and be more optimistic, more hopeful. And Samantha hoped that this time there was actually hope.
"Okay guys, we've got a new lead. It appears that Chad Patterson is Robert's real dad. Danny where's Robert's cell records?"
Danny scrambled around his desk a few minutes looking for the paper before grabbing a piece of paper from his desk and holding it above his head victoriously
"Found them!" he announced. Jack walked over and took the records from Danny, scanning any number that might stick out.
"Here's a number that called him over 20 times last week. My guess is it's either a girlfriend or his dad, and considering the conversations are only about 10 to 15 minutes long, I'd say it's not a girlfriend."
"Could be his best friend," Martin suggested, knowing that he would probably get some angry stares, but at least he could make a point.
"Only one way to find out," Samantha said, taking a seat at the computer and punching the number in. Shortly after she opened the file, revealing a photo of a tall, slender man with greasy black hair.
"Found him," Samantha announced with disgust in her voice. Jack walked over and glanced at the picture, wondering why the heck Samantha would have married the man in the first place.
"Wow…" was all he managed.
"Mrs. Emerson, have you seen this man before?" Danny asked, showing the woman Chad's picture.
"Yes, he dropped Robert off the other day. I didn't think anything of it. I thought maybe it was someone giving Rob a ride home from work…" she trailed off as emotion started to set into her voice. "I should have asked Robert who he was, but I figured since Rob was 15, he would know better than to catch a ride home with a stranger."
"He isn't exactly a stranger," Martin said with a sigh. "He's Chad, Robert's real dad."
Grant Emerson had been looking at the floor for the most part, but as soon as Martin said Chad's name, Grant's head shot straight up.
"I'm the only dad he's ever known. Why would he decide that he needs to find that bastard," Grant said furiously.
"That's what we're trying to figure out, Mr. Emerson. Could you please calm down?" Martin knew that the outburst was from pain, at least it usually was, but it still didn't help when someone got angry.
"Don't tell me to calm down, it isn't your son out there!"
"Yes, I know, but everything will go smoother if you're calm," Danny interrupted. "Now please sit down."
Samantha was sitting at her desk letting her thoughts wander. She wasn't sure what Chad was capable of. When they were married he was usually sweet, but she also knew what drugs could do to a person, and knowing that he could have her son and have him in danger didn't set well. Jack cleared his throat, causing Samantha to jump and turn to face him.
"Hey…" she sighed.
"Hey," he took a seat on the edge of her desk. "I was just wondering, but what did you ever see in that guy?" Samantha glanced at Jack and raised her eyebrows. Was he really asking her this now? Maybe he was trying to get her mind off it.
"When we were married he wasn't on drugs or anything. He was just the sweet guy I met in high school and he was cute, and one night we were out and he proposed and I said yes. That's pretty much the story. Apparently he's changed though."
"Excuse me a second," Danny said as he slipped out of the room to answer his phone. "Taylor, hey Jack." His eyebrows narrowed in confusion when he heard what Jack said. "Okay, I'll check into it."
He slipped back into the room and sat back down.
"Mr. Emerson, do you know Chad?" Danny asked. Martin shot Danny a curious look before realizing that must have been what the phone call was about. Grant looked up from the floor once again and sighed.
"Grant what do you know?" Jennifer Emerson asked, glancing at her husband. Grant sighed again.
"Yes, I know Chad…" He chewed on his bottom lip a second before continuing. "He contacted me the other day; he wanted to get in contact with Robert…but I told him it was out of the question…"
Grant Emerson answered his phone, not recognizing the number from the caller ID.
"Hello? Yeah this is Grant Emerson. Can I help you with something?"
"Grant, this is Chad, Robert's real dad, I was wondering if it would be possible to meet Robert." Grant's eyes filled with fury upon hearing the request.
"Meet Robert? Fifteen years have gone by and you have never so much as sent him a Christmas card and you want to meet him? I don't think so. You haven't wanted anything to do with him for the first fifteen years of his life, so what makes you think he wants to see you!" Grant asked furiously before snapping his phone shut.
Martin sat, listening to the story and scribbling down some notes in his notebook.
"You never heard anything from him after that?"
"No," Grant shook his head. "But that doesn't mean that he didn't find Robert. There are only a few schools in the area, so it's very possible," Grant said, looking as if he was about to cry.
Jack walked from his office into the bullpen, where Samantha sat once again looking at Robert's picture.
"Sam, the guys found out that Chad was trying to get in contact with Robert," Jack said, taking a seat next to Samantha. She nodded but didn't say anything. Jack sighed. He hated to see Samantha like this. When the case had started out, it didn't seem to affect Samantha, but it was like after she told Jack, the reality of the situation set in.
"Sam, it's getting late. Why don't you go home, get some sleep?" he suggested. She shook her head and sighed.
"I won't be able to sleep," she sighed out before scoffing to herself. "You know I would have never thought that I could worry about someone that I hardly spent any time with." Jack placed his hand on Samantha's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"I don't think it would have mattered if you had or hadn't spent any time together. It's the fact that it's your child; you carried him for nine months and then went through the pain of having him, then giving him up and now he's missing. You have the right to lose sleep over him and worry. But the best team out there's looking for him." He paused and winked before continuing. "We'll find him Sam, we'll get him back." He wanted to promise her that, but all he could do was try and give her some reassurance.
Jack sat at his desk reading over the information they had so far when the phone rang.
"Hello?" he answered, too tired to answer the 'right' way.
"Jack, I have Robert, and if you want to see him back safe you have to get me $500,000 by tomorrow afternoon. Oh, and by the way, don't bring any of your FBI pals." The phone went dead. Not missing a beat, Jack hung up the phone and jumped to his feet, limping into the bullpen.
"Sam!" he called, making his way to her desk. She looked over at him to see him moving as fast as possibleacross the floor with his bad knee.
"What?"
"We just got a ransom call."
Samantha stood at the drop area, waiting for Chad to show up, knowing that Jack and Danny were close by in case anything went wrong. She glanced around at the various people looking for Chad, when she spotted him coming toward her, dragging Robert along by the elbow. He stopped when he got to her.
"You got the money?" he asked gruffly.
Danny and Jack slowly and quietly moved closer. Jack moving toward Chad's left and Danny toward his right, they waited until Chad let go of Robert before yelling.
"FBI! Freeze!" Danny yelled. Chad turned to run but Jack was right there with a gun pointed in Chad's face.
"Freeze," Jack called. Feeling trapped Chad reached for a gun, but before he could get to it Jack pulled the trigger, hitting Chad right in the chest. Chad fell backward and Danny moved to check the pulse.
"He's dead…" Danny announced. Jack nodded and moved toward Samantha and Robert.
"You okay?" she asked and Robert nodded, taking a shaky breath.
"Yeah I'm okay," Robert glanced down at Chad. "He said he was my dad…" Samantha nodded and sighed.
"Yeah…he was…"
Samantha walked with Robert down the hall to where his parents were waiting. Jack watched from his office as they walked by and smiled to himself. Robert definitely had most of Sam's traits, only he was much taller than Samantha. Heck he was taller than Jack, but he still had her blonde hair, brown eyes and seemingly friendly attitude.
"Agent Spade?" Robert asked, glancing toward Samantha.
"Yeah?" she looked up at him. She never would have thought that her son would have ended up being a little over six feet tall.
"You guys know who my dad was…so does that mean you know who my mom is?" the question made Samantha's breath catch in her throat. She nodded and Robert smiled.
"Could you tell me?"
"I didn't know that you would want to know…" Samantha sighed. Robert looked at her a bit confused.
"It couldn't be any worse than knowing my dad,"
"What if I told you she was standing right next to you," she closed her eyes waiting for Robert's response.
"You're my mom?" he asked shocked. She slowly opened her eyes and nodded. Robert broke out in a grin before wrapping Samantha in a tight hug. Once she realized what had happened, she sighed in relief and hugged him back.
"What made you think I didn't want to know you were my mom?"
"I gave you up, so I thought that maybe you would think that I didn't care about you or something. But that definitely wasn't the case. I thought about you every day and wondered what you looked like. I have a picture from your third birthday where you're sitting in my lap giving me a tight hug. It was just that when I had you I was young and had no way of supporting you, so I did what was best at the time."
Robert nodded, letting Samantha know that he understood before wrapping her in another tight hug.
She caught Jack just as he was stepping out of his office. She placed a hand on his arm, causing him to turn around.
"You did it," she smiled. "You found him."
"We found him Sam, all of us together," Jack corrected. Samantha smiled and quickly hugged Jack.
"Thank you," she said as she released him from her hug. She was about to walk away when his voice stopped her.
"Hey Sam, you want to get something to eat?" he asked. She smiled and nodded, both heading for the elevator.
A Year LaterJack walked into the apartment to see Robert stretched out on the couch playing a video game.
"Hey, Rob," he greeted as he threw his briefcase on the vacant chair. "Where's your mom?"
"In the other room with the baby," Robert answered as he continued to play his video game.
"Thanks, Rob," Jack said ruffling Robert's shaggy hair. "You need a haircut, son."
"Thanks, Jack, I'll check into one," Robert joked and Jack knew it would be a month or so before he actually got one. He started down the hallway and stopped when he got to the room where Samantha was holding their newborn daughter.
"There's my girls," he said, hugging Samantha and giving her a kiss before kissing Sheyenne on the top of her head. "Hey there, sweetheart."
Samantha smiled. She couldn't have asked for a better life--she and Jack were married and had a daughter that was only a week old and Robert stayed with them on the weekends and any time he could talk his parents into letting him.
The end