Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter Three

Jack slid into the passenger seat of the rental car.

Sam started the engine, checked her mirrors, then shot him a look. "Are you planning on doing any work this trip?"

Jack just smiled and handed her the address. "Let's go. It's about four blocks from here." He called the office and got Danny on the phone. "I need whatever you can find on these two women." He rattled off the names. "And our missing kid might've just turned into two missing kids. I'll let you know when I know more. Start working on Ricky Gomez, and I'll get back to you."

"What other kid?" Sam asked, suddenly alert.

"Apparently, Tommy was raised with his cousin, Ricky. Looked out for him. Kate—Mrs. J.—thinks that if Tommy was killed, Ricky's probably dead as well, or in a lot of trouble."

They reached the house way too fast. Jack shook his head. "Shit." He had to get his head off Mrs. J. and get it into the game. He dialed Kate's number. She answered on the first ring. "Kate, it's Jack. I forgot to ask you—what can you tell me about the grandma and her daughter?"

On the other end of the line, Kate Janoreski closed her eyes, blocked out Jack Malone and pulled up the two women who had vexed her constantly during all of the previous year. She opened her eyes. "They're vain, and convinced of their superiority. They think we can't see through their little tricks. The boys smelled so strongly of smoke that nothing could cover it—it was in their skin, their hair, just as strong at the end of the day as when they arrived in the morning—but that didn't stop the ladies from dousing the kids in strong cologne every morning, like they thought it would mask the odor. They think we're stupid, and beneath them. They have a strong dislike of women. They mentally and emotionally abused those boys, that I know of, and I suspected physical abuse, but couldn't prove it. They were smart enough not to leave marks." She stopped for a breath. "That's all I can think of." She could almost hear his smile on the other end of the line.

"That's great, Kate. Thanks." He clicked off, and she went back to work.

"Okay, let me take the lead on this one," Jack told Sam. They exited the car together, approaching the small house casually. At the door, he introduced them when Maria Gomez opened the door, cigarette in hand. She let them in grudgingly, as Jack had turned on the charm. He explained that a neighbor had reported Tommy missing and called them, to which Maria said that they had left New York suddenly and that Tommy was fine. When he asked about his blood in the apartment, she said that he had tripped and hit his head, but was fine now. He asked where his injury was treated, and she didn't know the name of the hospital. Sam asked if she could use the restroom, and Maria Gomez rolled her eyes, but finally nodded.

Jack kept his easygoing manner, while inside he wanted to strangle the lying bitch. How could she possibly think he could believe her bullshit? He smiled again. "That's such a relief. If I could just talk to Tommy for a minute, make sure he's all right, and we'll be out of your hair."

"He's in school. It's the middle of the day," she said, like she was talking to someone extremely slow.

"No problem. We can swing by his school, pay him a visit. What school does he go to?"

When she rolled her eyes and named the charter school the boys had previously attended, the one where they'd been given Mrs. J.'s name, Jack allowed his voice to harden. "We've just come from there, Mrs. Gomez. He hasn't been there in two months."

She didn't flinch, instead rolling her eyes again. "Well, I just dropped him off there. He's there."

Kate was right. This woman truly didn't know how stupid she was. Sam had returned by this time, and he felt rather than saw the change in her, but knew she was probably about to rip the woman's throat out. And that wouldn't do them much good at this point, or he'd do it himself. With pleasure. Jack kept his voice even. "Can you tell me where Tommy's cousin is? Ricky Gomez?"

The woman's eyes sharpened. "I don't know who you mean."

"You don't know your own grandson?"

"I don't have another grandson. The only kid in this house is Tommy. Tommy's fine, you're wasting your time here."

"Can I talk to your daughter, Jackie?"

"Haven't seen her in years. Have no idea where she is."

Jack nodded slowly. "In that case, you wouldn't mind if I just looked around your house a little, right?"

Her face closed up completely. "No way in hell. Now get the fuck out of my house."

"Thanks for your time, ma'am," Jack told her politely, as they rose to leave.

"Fucking idiots," he heard her mutter under her breath as she slammed the door behind them.

In the car, Jack looked at Sam. "He's dead. He's probably buried in the backyard, or under the house. We have enough for a warrant. "

"They're probably both dead, Jack. There was no sign of any kids in that house. No toys, no clothes, no toothbrush, nothing." Her "trip to the bathroom" had given her more than enough time for a cursory search of the house. Since no directions to the facilities had been offered, it would have been even easier than usual to feign getting lost in case she was caught snooping, which today she hadn't been.

"Good job. Let's get back to that charter school and get whatever they have on Ricky Gomez. Call the office and have them start working on Ricky. I'll call for the warrant."

They were no closer to getting the warrant by 5 p.m. than they were at 11 that morning. Files, notes and photographs were spread out over the table they had "borrowed" at the main SA office downtown. They were piecing together a timeline, but it was slow going. Jack was paging through Maria Gomez's phone records when his phone buzzed that he had a new text message. It was Kate Janoreski.

Dinner tonight is fine. I'll pick you up. Let me know when and where.

He smiled. He had had this in the back of his mind for a few hours now and decided that, yes, he was really going to do this. In light of this case, he had tried to talk himself out of it, but he just couldn't do it. She wasn't a suspect; there was nothing to say he couldn't take her out to dinner. Hell, there was nothing to say he couldn't take her to bed if he wanted to. He hit reply.

Now is fine. FBI office downtown. Call me when you're here and I'll meet you outside.

Her reply came right away. On my way.

When the message came in that she was outside, he turned to Sam.

"It doesn't look like that warrant is going to come in anytime soon. I'm going to have dinner. Call me if you hear anything."

She looked at him in disbelief. "You're going to dinner now? We've just gotten started here."

"I'm going to dinner with Mrs. J. I have to talk to her anyway; it'll kill two birds with one stone." The look in her eyes said she didn't believe a word of it. Well, good. "Take some time if you like. Grab a bite. Call home. Might as well take a break now, because once that warrant comes through, we won't be going anywhere for a while."

Outside, he slid into the passenger seat of Kate's little SUV. When she would have shifted into reverse to back out, he put a hand on her wrist to stop her.

"I need to tell you this first, and then we can go," he said quietly. "Maria Gomez denied everything. Said Tommy was at the charter school, that he was fine. She denied that Ricky existed at all. Said she only had the one grandson."

Kate's face went to stone. "That fucking bitch." Fury sharpened her voice. Her fist slammed into the steering wheel. "I knew it," she said, over and over.

Jack caught her hand before she could hit it again, held it between both of his. "Hey," he said, and the compassion in his voice startled her. She couldn't know that he'd punched his share of walls. "Don't break your hand until we know for sure. We're waiting for the warrant now; we're going to search that house, Kate, and if she did anything to those boys, we'll find them."

"I should have done more for them. I knew it wasn't right, but there wasn't anything I could do."

"Hey, you're not the only one whose hunches don't get listened to. But this is the only system we've got. Hunches and feelings don't count; only hard evidence."

"The system sucks."

Because it sounded like something his daughter would say, he smiled, a little. "Yeah, I know. Listen, if you still want to have dinner, I could really use a drink right now. If you don't feel up to it, I'll understand."

Kate looked up at him to see if he had changed his mind. He wore that lopsided half-smile again, both sad and appealing, as if he had no idea why she'd want to spend time with him, and didn't blame her. His eyes were weary, and she recognized it in him again. He couldn't walk away from his job any more than she could, even though it was eating away at his soul. He was older than she was, not by much, but she knew he had to have at least twenty years on the job. And that compassion she'd seen earlier—it wouldn't allow him to go home and have a life. She knew that feeling. And then he'd probably started using it as a crutch to keep him away from the personal life that he'd managed to ruin by being consumed with his work. She knew that feeling, too.

She hadn't expected to like this man, be moved by him. She'd foolishly thought they could have a simple one-nighter and she'd never see him again. Which really wasn't her style, as she'd never done it before, but, hey, life was short. Okay, that could still happen, she conceded. But there'd be nothing simple about it.

"I need a drink, too," she said, slowly pulling away the hand that had still been covered by his, checking her mirrors and shifting into reverse. "But I'm curious about something." She looked over at him briefly, as she made her way through traffic to the freeway. "Did it work?"

Jack looked at her quizzically. It was a little difficult to keep up with this woman. "Did what work?"

"Asking me out to make your partner jealous."

"I didn't…" He cut himself off when she shot him a dry look.

"I read people for a living, too. If I minded, I wouldn't be here. I was just wondering if it worked or not."

He stared at her for a long time, until she glanced at him again, with a shrug. "Why bullshit? Life is short."

"People use that word a lot in Texas."

"Yeah, and don't change the subject."

"I don't know. Probably not." He sighed deeply. "My life is a mess, Kate. It's complicated."

She smiled at him. "Isn't it always? You could tell me about it. I'm pretty good at fixing other people's lives, just not my own."

"Maybe after a couple of drinks."

"You're really going to drink while on call?"

"I'm the boss. I'm on call 24-7. If I didn't drink while on call, I'd never get to drink at all." He looked at her very seriously. "And when you hear the mess I've made of my life, you'll agree that not drinking just isn't an option for me." Kate had to look away quickly. He was just too damn cute, with that mock serious face, the dry wit, and that dark hair falling into his eyes. Even though he had to be pushing fifty, she could easily see him with the young and way-too-hot Agent Spade, or anyone else, for that matter. The guy had sex appeal in spades. And he was still looking at her. It was a good thing she had to keep her eyes on the road or she'd be in real trouble.

"Where are you taking me?" he finally asked, as they left the city behind them. It was so different from what he was used to that it may as well be another world. It was the last week of February, but everything was turning green. Trees sported new baby leaves, and flowers were starting to bloom. Back home, it was still winter.

"A little hole in the wall. You'll like it."