Justice Faded

Chapter 2

18 hours missing

" And keep in mind to call me if you have more problems that make you want to grab for the bottle … I mean it Grace … you can call me any time" a tall dark man told a small red headed woman as he walked her out of the door of his office " Thank you, Frank" Grace said and after a polite handshake she left the building, giving the two FBI agents a smile as she passed them by.

Frank was about to go back to his office when Vivian stopped him " Mr. Travis ?" she asked and he turned to look at her " Yes ?" he asked in confusion and the woman smiled " Hi … I'm special agent Johnson, this is special agent Spade, we're with FBI" she said showing her badge " We were wondering if we could ask you some questions" she said and Frank crossed his arms on his chest " About ?" he asked. " About one of your clients who also happens to be a friend of ours, actually." Samantha said " Danny Taylor? " she added when the man's confusion seemed to deepen. When Frank heard the name his confusion was replaced by concern and he turned to his secretary.

" Alice " he said " Please reschedule my appointment with mr. Dellar for me . Tell him something urgent came up" he said and the curly haired woman sitting at the reception table nodded " Yes sir, right away sir" she answered already holding the phone receiver in one hand while dialing the number with the other. " Follow me" Frank said to the two women before him. Samantha and Vivian exchanged looks and then they did walked through the door after him.

" What kind of trouble is he in ?" Frank asked as soon as they all had sat down at his table. " We are not quite sure yet" Vivian said " But he's been missing for 18 hours" she added and Frank closed his eyes briefly. " So that's why he hasn't been returning to my calls" he said and Samantha and Vivian exchanged looks again. "That's actually why we're here" Samantha said " We ran through his phone records and your name came up a lot. The last call you made was just few hours ago. Could you tell us what that was about ?" she asked and Frank sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

" Danny is one of the most progressive and also most troublesome person I have been a sponsor for. " he said and Vivian raised her eyebrow at that " Troublesome ? How so?" she asked and Frank sighed again " Well … it's mostly because of his job that he has difficulties to keep himself on the line. He's told me about some of the cases you've been working on and I must tell you … I can't really blame him for having so many weak moments. And of course the problems of his brother just power up the temptation for the bottle." He sighed again " Anyway … Danny seemed to get more influenced by everything bad that was going on around him lately … and I knew that he needed more attention from me. So we got this agreement … whenever he felt like talking he sent me a message on my pager and I called him back whenever I had a free moment." He said and Samantha nodded in understanding. "When did the last message come in ?" she asked and Frank just stared at her for a while.

" Yesterday … 8 pm. I tried to reach him few minutes later but he didn't pick up. That has never happened before … so I got worried … I kept on trying and got no response … and to be honest I was going to try again just before you showed up" he said and rubbed his brow tiredly " Do you have any idea what might have happened to him ?" he asked and Vivian sighed.

" No … we don't have any strong leads yet" she said with regret and Frank nodded in understanding " Is there … " he cleared his voice " Is there a possibility that it's … um … it's too late for him ?" he asked and Vivian sighed again " Unfortunately there is always that possibility" she said. The silence that filled the room was strong enough to bother a deaf person.

" I … um …" Samantha said awkwardly as she started to feel uncomfortable in her seat " I want to show you something" she said pulling out her phone and then leaned over the table to give it to Frank " Do you recognize this man ?" she asked and the man stared at the screen where he saw a close up of the man from the pictures Elena, Vivian and Martin had found from Danny's apartment. Frank stared at the face for a while and then sighed.

" Yeah I recognize him … " he said giving the cellular back to it's owner " His name is Joseph Dellar " he said and Vivian and Samantha looked startled at that " Dellar ? The same man who was supposed to come to an appointment but you rescheduled ?" Vivian asked and Frank smiled slightly " The very same" he said and then frowned " Why ? Is he … is he in trouble too ?" he asked and the two FBI agent's exchanged looks.

" Well … he might be. " Samantha said " We have a reason to think that Mr. Dellar was following Danny and his family around while they were on a vacation in Switzerland" she explained when she noticed Frank's puzzled gaze. " So … so you think of Joseph as a suspect ?" he asked in disbelief. Neither of the women answered. Understanding the meaning of their silence Frank stood up and walked to his window to look out of it.

" Jesus Christ …" he chuckled softly, mirthlessly. " And here I was thinking that I would be happy to get home earlier today" He said as he turned back to look at Samantha and Vivian " It doesn't really happen too often that two sessions in a row are canceled you know" he said and Samantha frowned. " Two ?" she asked and Frank nodded.

" Yeah … Danny was supposed to come in right after Joseph" he said and Vivian shared a look with Samantha. " Is that a coincidence or …" she started to ask " No actually … Joseph became my client just three months ago. And he insisted that Tuesdays at 1 pm is a perfect time for him … The second date is on Friday at 3 pm. Danny's is Thursday

6 pm " Frank answered before letting the question be fully formed. Vivian smiled slyly " Ok …" she said and Frank smiled back at her, obviously enjoying the sight before him. Samantha noticed the suspicious transaction taking place between the two of them and took a moment to digest what was going on. She then shook her head in denial and disbelief a little and then cleared her throat to get some attention.

" What can you tell us about Joseph ? What's he like ?" she asked when Vivian and Frank turned to look at her. Frank shrugged " He's ok … I guess …" he said and Vivian couldn't help but smirk " Ok ? Is that your professional opinion or ..:" she paused intentionally this time leaving the end of her sentence open. Frank chuckled " No … this is just the only adjective that popped in my head suitable enough to describe him." He said and at coincidently raised eyebrows he cleared his throat " The reason for that is very simple … I haven't had a chance to get him know well enough to say anything else " he said and Samantha looked stunned at that.

" You just said you've known him for three months" she said and Frank shook his head " No … no no no no …" he said in amusement as he sat back down " What I did say … is that he became my client three months ago. It doesn't momentarily mean that I know him. People who have addiction problems … they are not very eager to open up themselves to anyone. Especially not to someone who has papers telling them they are fitting to help them through all this. It takes time to earn their trust and make them talk about themselves …" he said and Samantha commented that with a hum. " It took almost a year before I had won Danny's complete trust" he brought up as an example and Samantha made an eye contact with him for a second and then turned her head away.

" Do you know if Joseph and Danny were acquainted with each other ?" Vivian suddenly asked and Frank looked at her " I would think so … considering the fact that Joseph didn't go home until Danny and I had finished…He always sat in a lobby … waiting for him. On Tuesdays … they always left together" he said and Vivian was surprised " Are you sure?" she asked and Frank shrugged " You can ask Alice for the confirmation if you like … " he said and Vivian smiled as she and Samantha stood up " Thank you for your cooperation you've been very helpful" she said and Frank stood up to shake her hand.

" I just hope that I was helpful enough to make it easier for you to find Danny in time" he said moving to shake hands with Samantha too " You've given us a lot to work with " the blond agent affirmed and with that she and her partner walked out of the office. Before leaving the building they stopped by the reception table and got the information they needed from the woman sitting behind it. While they were walking to the parking lot, Vivian did her best to ignore Samantha's intense eyes on her. When they arrived to their car they couldn't take it anymore and she turned to look at her.

" What ?" she asked and Samantha smiled " Nothing … it's just …" she paused and shook her head " Never mind …" she said softly as she opened the door and started to sit at the wheel. Vivian stopped her "Oh come on, honey … you obviously want to ask me something. So go ahead … let me hear it" she said and Samantha sighed as she slammed the door back shut and looked over the roof of the car at the woman standing on the other side.

" I was just wondering … was that a flirty Mrs. Johnson I saw back in there ?" she asked in amusement and Vivian smirked " Very good … you recognized the attempt … I'm glad the marriage hasn't made me completely incompetent on that field over the

years …" she said and Samantha grinned " I have never seen you act like this ! What brought it on ?!" she asked and Vivian shrugged "It was efficient, wasn't it … besides … the guy was quite cute, don't you think ?" she asked and grinned when Samantha lowered her eyes as she blushed " I … I didn't really pay attention …" she said and Vivian was barely able to keep herself laughing "Mhhmhhh …" she commented in a way that gave Samantha a sign that she wasn't being believable in the least.

" Alright …" she said with a frustrated sigh " Alright … I admit he was .... handsome" she said and Vivian smiled at her in a too satisfied way " And way too young to be doing this kind of job …" Samantha added as she finally sat in the car. After a moment Vivian joined her in. " I know … he looks like he's not older than 26 … but I guess he is … unless of course he was 16 when he became the guiding light out of the darkness for Danny… " she said and Samantha nodded " Danny …" she repeated seriously as she looked at her partner " That's who we need to concentrate on … Danny" she said and Vivian nodded back at her " Yeah … let's get back to work" she said and these were words that had power enough to make Samantha start the car and drive off the parking lot.

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At the headquarters

" Why am I still here ?" Carlos asked as soon as Martin and Jack entered the interviewing room. " Is it hard to believe that we enjoy your company ?" Jack asked and the ex-police sneered " Right … too bad I can't say the same" he said his eyes on the elder FBI agent who took a seat opposite side of the table. Martin remained standing behind their suspect and then walked a bit closer to him to place a picture in front of him.

Carlos sighed and rolled his eyes " I told you … I don't know who that man is " he said and Martin gave a short nod. " Yeah … but guess what …" he said and then leaned closer to the ex-policeman's ear " … you lied" he whispered and Carlos's head whipped around to glare at him.

" Oh yeah ? How do you figure that ?" he asked and turned around to look at Jack when he was the one to answer " I had a nice visit to state prison today" he said " Saw a man named Rafael Alvarez … know who he is ?" he asked and Carlos snorted " Of course I know who he is."he said and then turned serious " How is he ?" he asked and Jack shrugged " I went there to announce that his little brother is missing … probably held somewhere against his will … tortured … beaten … maybe already killed" he paused

" Yeah … I'm sure Rafi is just peachy" he said and Carlos just stared at him. Martin and Jack stared back at him. " Anyway …" Jack continued " I showed him the picture and unfortunately he didn't recognize the man … but when I asked him if he knew anyone from the past who would want to harm Danny … he told me a rather interesting story from ten years ago …imagine my surprise when I found out that you were in it. True … not as a main character … but you had your moments …" he said and when he noticed the man blanch, he smirked.

" I was looking forward to tell you the story … but from you reaction I gather you already know what I'm talking about" he said and Carlos swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat " Yeah … I have a pretty good idea " he croaked out and Martin who was still standing beside him smiled slightly and placed a plastic bag containing a gun, a phone and a badge. The picture on the latter giving out the owner of the things, they belonged to Danny. .

" If you are such a smart guy … I bet you have pretty good idea where we found these as well then …" he said while sitting next to his boss and Carlos stared at him " In my house … somewhere …" he said softly. " And he wins a prize !" Jack cheered mockingly " Another guess how they got there and you might just get yourself a jackpot, buddy" he said and Carlos crossed his arms on his chest protectively.

" For all I know … you guys could have planted them there yourself just to have a reason to get me arrested" he said and then silently kicked himself for voicing the first thought that came in his mind. Martin and Jack just glared at him, their faces transmogrified into masks of anger " Agent Fitzgerald" Jack said darkly without taking his eyes off from Carlos " Yes, agent Malone ?" Martin asked in an equal tone of voice.

" Please tell me I misheard Mr. Aguilar and he did not just suggest that we are playing dirty" Jack said and Martin clenched his fists under the table trying to tame the furious beast inside him that seemed to want to break free and attack the man for having a nerve to say something like that. " No …" he said as calmly as he could " I'm quite sure I heard it too" he added and Jack nodded " I thought so" he said and started to stand up slowly at the same as his younger partner did. Together they moved closer to their suspect who helplessly tried to find a way how to get out of this mess he had just gotten himself into.

" That's quite strong accusation… " Jack said after a moment of silence as he now stood on Carlos' left side while Martin looked down to him from the right " You've got something to back it up with ?" he asked and Carlos swallowed hard before looking back and forth the two pissed off agents and then shook head " No … guys … you got me wrong … you … you got me really wrong …" he said and Martin raised his eyebrow at that " Oh really ? How ?" he asked and Carlos looked at him " I … " he said and then sighed " All I meant by what I said is … that I lost my keys to my house last night and …" he wanted to continue but Martin cut him off.

" Bullshit !" he yelled pulling out the named items from his pocket and slamming them down on the table making Carlos jump in his seat " They are right here, see ?" Martin hissed angrily " You handed them over when you gave us permission to look around without a warrant, remember ?!" he paused and chuckled mirthlessly as he backed away a little " You son of a bitch …" he said softly and chuckled again and turned to look at the ex-police man.

" This was a part of your plan all along, wasn't it ? You kidnapped Danny … then killed him … dumped his body god only knows where …and then you drove back home to get rid of his things. But you didn't get that far. Elena was there first. She confronted you and brought you here … but you were prepared … you knew exactly what you were going to do when you were caught off guard … you knew you were just going to act as innocent as you could and then play dumb and push the quilt on someone else ! And since there is plenty corrupted police men in New York then why not imply on a corrupted FBI agent for a change … right ? Why not blame me ! ? Right ? !" he said and Carlos just shook his head and let out a chuckle of his own

" Man … you're way off your rocket" he said and then gasped as he was suddenly pulled out of the chair by the lapels of his jacket he was wearing and pressed up against the nearest wall. " Martin !" Jack said but the younger man didn't pay attention to him. Instead he tightened his hold on Carlos and trapped him between the wall and his own body, making sure that he had nowhere to escape " Where is he ?!" he snarled but Carlos just stared at him " I don't know " he said simply and Martin narrowed his eyes " I don't believe you" he hissed. " I swear to god … I didn't kill Danny !" Carlos said. " Then who did ?!" Martin asked and the ex-policeman just shook his head " I don't know … I really don't know …" he said and then groaned in pain when Martin pulled him away from the wall just to slam him forcefully against it again. Jack was just about to tell his partner to knock it off when the phone rang.

" Keep it down a moment" he said to Martin who mumbled an agreement and just glared at Carlos without letting him go. Jack walked to the other end of the room to pick up the receiver " Yeah ?" he asked. " Jack, come outside for a second" Samantha's voice came over the line and he sighed " Ok" he said and hang up. He then walked to the door and turned to look at Martin, he opened his mouth to say something but seeing that the younger man had calmed down a little and probably wasn't going to use rougher methods on their suspect, he shut the door behind himself in silence.

"Hey" he said as the blond woman stood at the glass wall, looking into the interviewing room " Hey" she said giving him a glance and then turning back to watch the two men inside " What is Martin doing ?" she asked and Jack shrugged " Interrogating our suspect by using a little thing called scaring tactics " he said and Samantha raised her eyebrow as he turned to look at him "And you allow this because …" she paused to let Jack finish the sentence with an explanation and of course she wasn't going to be disappointed " Our suspect accused us of planting evidence to make him look guilty. If Martin wasn't quicker than me … you could see me on his place right now. The guy asked for it" he said. " Ah …" Samantha commented and nodded in understanding.

" So … what you've got for me ?" Jack asked after a moment of silence looking down at the folder that Samantha was holding. " Oh … um … Danny's sponsor identified the man on the picture as Joseph Dellar … so Viv and I ran him through the database. His real name is Antonio Marquez He's been arrested for shop lifting in the past but …" she wanted to continue but Jack cut her off.

" Wait a second … Marquez ? Are you sure ?!" he asked and Samantha nodded " Yeah … I've got his file right here and as I was saying …" she wanted to continue but once again the man he was talking to interrupted " Do we have an older picture of him on this file ? On which he is … let's say … 20 or something like that ?" he asked and feeling confused, Samantha frowned slightly " I think so … why ?" she asked. Jack who had grabbed the folder of her hands ignored her as he looked through the pages and then grinned " Gotcha" he said as he found what he was looking for and then turned and rejoined Martin and Carlos inside. Samantha looked through the glass wall to see Martin let go of Carlos and both of them sit down at the table at the same time as Jack did. She remained standing there for a little while and then she turned and walked back to the bullpen.

" Well ?" Vivian asked curiously as Samantha walked to her own desk and opened the drawer where she held her gun in. " Jack said we're good to go" she said and a satisfied smile appeared on Vivian's face as she stood up, put on her coat and grabbed her weapon just before she followed Samantha to elevator and then out of the building.

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15 minutes later

" Oh man … " Carlos said as he finally sat back in his chair and looked at Martin and Jack " I can't believe it … it's really him. It's Antonio" he said and Martin nodded

" So how come you didn't recognize him the two first times I showed you the picture ?" he asked and Carlos shrugged " I don't know …" he said " I mean … it's been ten years I last saw him … and he's changed a lot. It seems to me that he has gone through some upgrades " he said and Jack raised his eyebrow " What … you mean plastic surgery ?" he asked and Carlos hummed in confirmation .

" Look for yourself" he said sliding the two pictures towards Martin and Jack who were sitting on the opposite side from him again " See how different his nose look ? And his lips are thinner … And look at his ears … smaller than ten years ago, don't you think ?" he asked. The two FBI agents took a moment to observe the pictures and then exchanged looks with each other.

Jack sighed " Right… if there are so many changes how can you tell that it's him ?" he asked and Carlos shrugged " Well his general face lines haven't changed much. And his eyes … they haven't changed either. . I guess I couldn't recognize him at first because I didn't really remember his eyes … but now that I have a picture to compare with … yeah … it's definitely him" he said, stood up and started to pace the room. After a moment he stopped and looked at the two other men there.

" You really think Antonio kidnapped Danny and then framed me to get back at us for what happened ten years ago ?" he asked and Jack shrugged " I don't know ... why don't you tell us what exactly happened ten years ago " he suggested and Carlos frowned.

" I thought Rafael already clued you in" he said and Jack nodded " He did ... as much as he could tell me based on the things that Danny was willing to share with him. But you as one of the participants are surely able to give us much more detailed review" he said and Carlos sighed as he sat down again.

" Ok " he said " The long story short … Antonio, Danny and I were best friends until Antonio's sister Marcella came along. She started to hit on both of us … mostly on Danny. Needless to say Antonio wasn't really happy about it. Danny didn't like it either … at first. He didn't feel comfortable being desired by his friend's sibling. But then … one night … something changed. The four of us were clubbing out together. You know … we lived pretty wild lives back then " he said and Martin smirked " So we have heard" he said and Carlos nodded.

" Right" he said " So we were in the club, dancing … laughing … drinking … having a great time. I think it was a little after midnight when we couldn't find Danny and Marcella anywhere . Antonio got furious. He assumed they had just gone away together and left us there. I wasn't so sure … I just tried to calm him down and tried to convince him that Marcella might have gone to bathroom while Danny was outside enjoying his cigarette" he said and Jack nodded.

" And ? Who was right, you or him ?" he asked already knowing the answer and Carlos sighed " Him …unfortunately" he said. " The next day Danny appeared back into our dorm room … reeking of sex. I asked who was the lucky girl … he looked straight into my eyes and just confessed" he said and Martin smiled " Ok … they slept together …that doesn't sound a good enough reason to me to come the crazy brother back ten years later for a revenge" he said. Jack and Carlos exchanged looks and Martin frowned.

" What ?" he asked in confusion and Jack sighed " I'm sorry I guess I forgot to tell you the main point of the story" he said and Martin's frown deepened as he looked at Carlos " Few hours after Danny's arrival we had visitors. Cops. They came in to arrest both of us accused for raping and murdering Marcella Marquez " he said and the younger FBI agent's eyes grew wide at that. " Jesus … someone killed her ?!" he asked and Carlos nodded.

" Yeah …" he said and Martin let out a sigh " Oh no … don't tell me Danny …" he paused and looked from Jack to Carlos and back to Jack again. " Not according to

Rafael …" his boss said and then looked at the ex-policeman " What do you say ?" he asked and Carlos shook his head " No … Danny said he was innocent and I believed him" he said " Police didn't have too strong evidence against him. They only had his DNA on the girl's body and on the condom found in the trash. And also Antonio's statement that they left together and they were both drunk. But that was it. There was no physical signs that Danny had used violence on her and there wasn't anything to prove that he was the killer" he said and Martin nodded.

" What about you ? Why were you arrested at all ?" he asked and Carlos shrugged

" Antonio had dragged me into this. He was obviously mad at me for stepping up for Danny and delaying his search for them. I just couldn't let one of my friends go after another one … Antonio was so pissed he would have probably killed Danny if I wasn't there to stop him. So … I kept him in the club as long as I could and remembering that after having the awful news about her sister probably made Antonio think that I had a part in it … that I knew Danny planned to rape his sister and then kill her. Hell … maybe he even thought that I helped Danny to make it look like a suicide" he said and Jack raised his eyebrow at that.

" Suicide ? How exactly was Marcella Marquez killed ?" he asked and Carlos sighed

" Clear shot to the head. The gun was found beside her. There was no fingerprints found. Not even hers" he said and Jack and Martin exchanged looks. "Did they ever catch the real murderer ?" the younger man of them two asked and Carlos shook his head " Not that I know of … no " he said sadly.

"So Antonio might still be convinced that you and Danny are responsible and has decided to take the law in his own hands and give you the punishment you deserve" Jack stated more than asked and Carlos shrugged " I don't know … I guess it's

possible …" he said and Jack nodded in agreement while Martin frowned as a realization hit him.

" Hold on a minute" he said " There were no signs of a break in …" he said and when the two other man stared at him in confusion he sighed " In your house … there wasn't anything to indicate forced entry. All the windows were closed and in one piece. The front door was locked, so was backdoor. In order to frame you … Antonio had to get in your house somehow. How do you suppose could he have done that without breaking

in ?" he asked and Carlos sneered.

" Well if you had listened to me a little while ago instead of acting like a mad man and attacking me … then you would know that the keys I gave you are my spare pair. I lost the keys that I usually carry along with me. I keep the spear keys at my parents' house and I was there last night. I arrived back just a little bit before my beloved ex-wife showed up and brought me here." he said and at Martin's muttered " Yeah, right" he sighed " You can call my mother or father if you don't believe me" he said and Martin smiled at him sweetly. " Oh … don't worry … I intend to" and with that he stood up and walked out of the room leaving Jack and Carlos stare after him.