It was late at night on a day that had begun well before dawn, but his work was nowhere near done yet. Special Agent Kurt Weller stifled a yawn as he descended the steps of the jet that had whisked him from Kentucky back to New York and jogged wearily across the tarmac to the waiting helicopter. He'd been up for the better part of three days working with his team to rescue the abducted women, and he had really been hoping for at least a day of downtime before catching another case.
Hope in one hand, spit in the other, he thought wryly as he slid into his seat in the helicopter. He should have taken advantage of the two-hour flight to get some shuteye, but he had chosen to finish off the paperwork from his current case instead so he would be free to devote all his attention to whatever awaited him in New York. Details of the critical incident that had prompted his whirlwind return had been incredibly sketchy, but given the expense involved in flying him back ahead of his team, it had to be incredibly serious.
He closed his eyes as the helicopter lifted off and the next thing he knew a gentle hand was shaking him awake. "Agent Weller? We've arrived at Bellevue."
He gave the helicopter pilot a weary smile of thanks as he disembarked and headed in the direction of the entrance where his boss had said she'd meet him, attempting to shake off the lingering fog of sleep that clouded his brain as he went. Hopefully after Director Mayfair briefed him on whatever was going on, he would be able to head home and rest for at least a few hours. He wasn't going to be much use to anyone in his current state.
Mayfair glanced up at him as he approached, holding up a finger as she wrapped up the phone call she was on. "Keep me apprised of any new developments. I'll expect you in my office first thing in the morning with a full update." She ended the call. "Weller." She was relieved to have her best lead agent back in New York safe and sound, but she wasted no time on pleasantries, motioning for him to walk with her as she spoke, grilling him on the details of the Kentucky operation before bringing him up to speed on their latest case.
"An NYPD officer discovered a duffel bag in Times Square tonight with a tag on it saying to call the FBI. When the NYPD sent in an officer with the Bomb Squad to examine it, a naked woman crawled out, covered in tattoos and disoriented. She's still pretty out of it," she added as they rounded a corner. "Almost certainly drugged. Bruising and restraint marks on her wrists and ankles."
Kurt's interest peaked, his tiredness instantly forgotten. At least if he had to plunge immediately into a new case, it sounded as if it was going to be an interesting one. Before he could question his boss any further, they were approached by a man in a white lab coat. "Director Mayfair."
"Dr. Borden." Mayfair turned to Kurt. "This is Supervisory Special Agent Kurt Weller."
Dr. Borden's eyes widened as he looked at Kurt. "Oh, you're . . . Wow."
Kurt's eyes narrowed slightly as he met the doctor's gaze, but before he could spare more than a moment to wonder how the man knew him, Mayfair went on with the conversation. "What have you got?"
"Umm . . . we got the tox screen back. And you are not going to believe this." Dr. Borden ushered them into an empty lab. "Are you familiar with the PKM zeta inhibitor commonly known as ZIP?"
"Doctor, you and I have very different ideas of what 'commonly' means," Mayfair told him.
"Zeta interacting protein," Borden continued, gesturing to the screen beside him where the drug's chemical composition was displayed. "It's an experimental drug being tested with PTSD sufferers: uh, rape victims, soldiers who've seen combat. Used sparingly, it can erase selective memories."
"And you found traces in our girl," Mayfair surmised.
"No. Not traces." Borden glanced from Agent Weller to Director Mayfair as he spoke. "Her whole system is flooded with it. I've never seen anything like it before. It's created a chemically induced state of permanent amnesia. She can't remember who she is, where she came from, nothing before she crawled out of that bag in Times Square."
Kurt was stunned to learn that not only was there a drug capable of erasing memories, but that someone had given this poor woman so much of it that she had none left. "So what does this got to do with me?" It was tragic, yes, but it hardly seemed to qualify as a critical incident. At least not one that would have sent the Bureau scrambling to get him back here. Any lead agent should have been able to handle it.
"Thank you, Dr. Borden," Mayfair said, clearly dismissing the man. "Weller, come with me." She led him farther down the dimly lit hallway to the room where their Jane Doe was still being examined, pausing next to the door to the room. "Do you recognize her?"
A doctor was standing in front of the woman as he stepped up to the window, and Kurt's breath caught in his throat as the man shifted, giving him an unobstructed view. "Taylor?" he breathed almost inaudibly. His blood roared in his ears, and he took a half-step back, placing a hand on the door to steady himself, unable to believe the evidence of his eyes.
"You recognize her?" Mayfair asked again.
Kurt blinked, sure that when he looked again, the woman would have morphed into someone else, someone unfamiliar, but no such luck. He gave a harsh bark of laughter. "Oh, I know her all right. She's . . . her name is Taylor Shaw." He turned to Mayfair, simmering with so many conflicting emotions that his boss took several hasty steps back at the heat in his eyes. "She's my ex-wife."
Mayfair stared at him in disbelief, the silence lengthening between them. She opened her mouth to speak, failed, and tried again. "She's your . . ."
"Ex-wife," Kurt supplied again. His eyes narrowed, registering the surprise on his boss's face. "Wait. If you didn't know that already, why did you rush me back here from Kentucky?"
Mayfair rapped on the door. She kept her eyes on him as two agents grasped Taylor's arms and turned her around, untying her hospital gown to reveal the ink hidden beneath. "Because your name is tattooed on her back."