Chapter four

21 hours missing

They were forced to stop for the night. There was little they could do with a closed city. They were all supposed to get rest for Martin's sake. But Samantha only slept for a few hours. It was a few more hours of sleep than she thought she would get. With every passing minute, the chance of finding Martin alive faded, assuming he was abducted.

Who knows what Jake was doing to Martin? Or have done. Samantha was sure that it was Jake. Martin was missing because of Jake. He had to be. The other option was him killing himself. That was not a plausible explanation for Martin's disappearance in her mind.

Samantha had consumed a lot of coffee. It was her only energy source. Food wasn't an option; it was too time consuming.

Samantha stepped into the office and saw Danny sitting at his desk. It was seven in the morning, looks like he couldn't sleep either. "Morning," she greeted half-heartedly.

"Hey, Sam, come here. I think I got something," he said.

Samantha threw her things on her desk. She practically ran to Danny's desk. "What is it?" She was afraid to get her hopes up, but she couldn't help it.

Danny pointed to Martin's phone records. "Look," he said, "there's a guy named Aiden Appleton. I have the phone records, and Martin and Aiden have been calling each other for at least the past week, only talking for minutes at a time."

Samantha took the phone records from Danny. She analyzed them before saying, "Who is he?"

"He's a lawyer," Danny said leaning back in his chair as if saying that his work is done.

Samantha's head shot up and looked at Danny. "What is he talking to a lawyer for?"

"I don't know," Danny said, "but we're going to find out."

"Morning," Jack said in a scruffy voice. "Vivian and Elena just called. They went to Walgreens to check Jake's alibi. He alibied out."

Samantha looked up. What?! How is that possible? All hope faded. She was so sure. Her body slumped. Now what? She wanted to cry; though, she knew that she wouldn't. But maybe that's what she needed.

"Looks like Martin has been talking to a guy named Aiden Appleton, sometimes twice a day," Danny chimed in. "Sam and I was just on our way to find this guy."

"Good, great," Jack said nodding towards the door.

***

From his office, Aiden Appleton's favorite color was brown. His desk, chairs, and wall were brown. There were a few colorful pictures hanging on the walls, but it wasn't enough to liven up the office.

A balding man sat behind the desk; he was tall and skinny. His arms were crossed above the table. He stared as the agents filed into his office. He generously offered them a seat. "What can I do for you two?" he asked smiling.

Samantha didn't want to greet him. She wanted to get this over with. She handed a picture of Martin to the lawyer before she sat down. "Have you seen him?"

Aiden stared at it. He played with his tongue. It was as if he was debating whether or not he should tell them. "Yes," he said handing the picture back to Samantha.

Samantha took it back. She knew that she shouldn't get her hopes up again. But she couldn't help it. She was desperate and determined to find Martin. Her nerves were always on end. Because of that, she had a hard time eating; she was never one to eat when she was nervous. She knew that her lack of sleep was beginning to scream at her: She was exhausted. "When?"

Aiden looked between the two of them. He was suspicious. "What's this about?"

"Mr. Appleton, Martin is missing, and the faster you answer our questions, the faster we can find him," Danny said. His face carried annoyance.

Aiden smiled. "Well, he was here about a week ago."

***

Martin sat right were Samantha was. He was obviously nervous as his leg shook slightly.

"Agent Fitzgerald, I called you in to ask for your help."

Martin's eyes grew into confusion. He didn't understand. It was his day off, and this man, who he's never met before, called him. He came all the way down to his office. He thought that the lawyer would be letting him know that he was getting sued or something. And he wanted his help. He began to relax. "What do you mean?" he said taking a deep breath.

"William Rodriquez," Aiden announced.

Martin jumped. It was a name that he thought that he would never hear again.

"This case is being reopened, and I was wondering if you would testify for us against John Paterson."

***

"He agreed to do it. He was supposed to testify in a few days."

"What was he testifying against?" Danny asked.

Aiden sighed heavily. "He didn't tell you?"

Samantha wanted to reach across the table and wrap her hands around his throat. Why would they be asking if they knew? And why was he asking so many questions?

"No," Danny said.

"Well, when Martin was about nine years old, he was walking to school. He saw a man shoot another man in the head. That man with the gun was William Rodriguez. Only, new evidence suggested something different. Martin always maintained that it wasn't William, but the evidence suggested otherwise. The case is reopened, and now John Paterson is on trial for it. Martin was going to testify."

Samantha's eyes went wide. This could be it. This could be what they were waiting for. Maybe whoever John Paterson was took Martin the shut him up. If that were the case, John probably wouldn't have any problem killing him.

Samantha felt bad. She was upset that Martin wouldn't tell her about this. At least her. But no. This seemed like it might have had an impact on Martin as a young child. He was only nine. He probably didn't know what was going on.

Danny knew that Samantha was thinking that John Paterson was another viable suspect. He did too. It was blatant. "Thank you," Danny said standing up. Samantha mimicked him.

"I think that John Paterson might have been the reason why Martin went missing," Danny commented as they made their way to the car.

"Let's go check out this Paterson guy."