Mary had finished checking her witnesses and was heading back to the office to get her report in but decided to have a pointed discussion with Marshall. Pulling up to the driveway she noted the truck wasn't outside.
Using the key he'd given her she let herself in. "Marshall?" She called out without getting an answer. Wandering through the house she didn't see him and headed back out to the Probe.
She grabbed her cell phone and dialed his number; waiting impatiently for it to be picked up. When it went into voicemail she called Stan.
"McQueen."
"Stan, its Mary. Did Marshall go back to the office?"
"No, why?" Stan questioned.
"He's not at his house and not picking up his phone." Mary reported.
"Maybe he needs time to cool off. Leave him alone until tomorrow and maybe he'll have calmed down." Stan tried to reassure but wasn't completely comfortable with his own assessment of Marshall at least not after this morning.
Mary knew he had a point but was reluctant to leave. "Maybe." Mary waited for a couple of hours and when he didn't show she headed back to the office.
Marshall came to with a nasty headache and Dante glaring at him. His laptop from work was in front of him opened and turned on. His legs were cuffed to the chair and his hands were cuffed in front of him.
"Nice of you too wake up; now get to work on the report." Dante stated firmly.
Marshall began to type the report and had originally thought of putting wrong information in it but he knew Stan would call Dante on it right away and he didn't know how Dante would respond to it. He decided to rig the e-mail with a virus that would hide a message to Stan where he could inform Stan on what was happening. The virus would need to be fixed by IT so they could locate his hidden message. Whenever Dante would get up to stretch, Marshall would work on embedding the virus and hidden message into the report e-mail.
Dante was getting restless. "Would you speed it up? This is taking forever."
Marshall glared at him. "You want it to be how I normally do it or would you like a condensed version that'll have everyone suspicious about it. Personally I'd be more than happy to help with the second option. If you want it faster than remove the handcuffs so I can actually type properly."
Dante came up and punched Marshall. "Don't get smart with me. Just do the report."
Marshall continued to work on both the report and his virus and was grateful Dante was staying away from him for longer periods of time. A couple hours later he finished with both. "Done."
Dante came over and looked at it before having Marshall send it out. "Now we need to discuss more about your daily habits and information that I should know. Hit send before we start."
"If you insist." Marshall hid the smirk.
Mary was frustrated; ignoring Stan's advice she tried to reach Marshall several times during the later part of the day and continued to get his voicemail.
"Doofus you can't avoid me forever. Pick up the damn phone and start explaining yourself." Mary demanded into his voice mail.
"Yeah that's the kind of message that would encourage a call back." Eleanor said sarcastically.
Mary glared at her. "Well if he wasn't behaving like a jackass it wouldn't be necessary."
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Marshall is having a bad day? He's entitled after all he does work with you." Eleanor smirked.
"You're a regular standup comedian; you know that." Mary snarled back.
"Interesting but not quite my calling; thanks for the suggestion though." Eleanor got up and headed into Stan's office.
"I'm out of here." Mary called on her way out while trying Marshall again.
Dante stared at the caller id on Marshall's phone. "Does she ever go away? You need to grow a pair and put her in place."
"When you decide to try that with her let me know. Put it on video; I'd love to see her beat the crap out of you." Marshall smiled as that thought left a nice image.
Dante was furious. "No girl would best me you fool." With that he backhanded Marshall.
"She's not a girl." Marshall replied back.
Dante ignored the remark. "So what do I expect to deal with tomorrow?"
"An angry partner; a confused boss and whatever problem comes up for the day. There isn't a typical day in law enforcement." Marshall replied. "Offer to let Mary drive to go check on witnesses; it might ease her anger. Don't insult the car or recommend she buy another either; just remind her it's a classic." It'll definitely make her suspicious.
Dante didn't like being toyed with and that's what he believed Marshall was doing. Grabbing a clump of hair he yanked Marshall's head backward and began to hiss out. "I need specific details now stop stalling."
Marshall was fed up with Dante. "I can't give you specifics because things come up at any time and circumstances change. This isn't a standard job; you have to be flexible and adapt. There are no typical days; witnesses have troubles, new ones come in unexpected, if I could predict the future do you really think I'd be here now?"
Dante had a feeling now that maybe he was telling the truth and began to pace back and forth trying to come up with a plan. This wasn't going to be as easy as he'd originally thought. "If nothing comes up what would you be doing?"
"Routine is paperwork and maybe check on some witnesses." Marshall answered truthfully.
"Well than goodnight baby brother. If your story pans out maybe I'll even bring some food and water tomorrow." Dante laughed and left the building.
The minute he heard the door close Marshall began to work on feeing himself from the chair. Dante forgot to move him back to the pipe and this might be the opportunity he needed. Marshall yanked on the cuffs that were attached to his legs in hopes the wood chair would break under the strain when that didn't work he began rocking the chair back and forth to tilt him over so he could move towards the protruding pipes and maybe break the legs against them.
Mary woke in the morning and checked her voice mail to see if Marshall had called her and she missed it. This is the first time in their four year partnership he'd ignored her messages. She didn't like this at all and was becoming more concerned by the minute maybe he did injure himself the other day. Something was causing him to act out and she needed to get to the bottom of it before she decided shooting him would be the better option.
Grabbing her things she drove to the office and noticed Marshall's truck wasn't there yet. Marshall was a toast if he'd gone out on witness checks without her today. Storming past her partner's empty desk she looked to Eleanor.
"Where's Marshall?"
"Do I look like his keeper?" Eleanor retorted but when she saw the concern on Mary's face she decided to answer. "He hasn't been in yet."
"Stan worried also?" Mary could tell Eleanor was.
"Yes, but he did receive his report yesterday." Eleanor replied back. They both turned towards Stan's office when they heard him yelling on the phone.
"What's that about?" Mary questioned.
"Computer glitch. He's trying to get IT to fix it right away." Eleanor shrugged.
"Then come up and get it!" Stan fumed into the phone before slamming it and walking out glaring at Mary. "Where's your partner?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Mary stated.
Stan grabbed his cell phone and dialed Marshall. When he didn't get an answer he left a message. "Marshall you're late and better have a damn good explanation for it." Stan turned back to Mary. "What in the hell is going on and don't tell me nothing."
"Honestly Stan, I haven't got a clue. Marshall isn't even answering my phone calls or messages." Mary replied. "He's never done that before."
