Justice Faded
Chapter 4
23 hours missing
„ You want to do what ?!" Martin asked in disbelief after he, Samantha and Carlos had reported about their discovery. „ We should have done it as soon as we had put the name and face of our suspect together ... it's only way we could actually have him located ... " he said and Martin frowned „ No ... it's the only way we could get Danny killed !" he said and Jack just stared at him for a while. „ If he's not dead already ... you mean ?!" he asked calmly „ You're right ... this could get Danny killed ... but that's just something we have to risk with ... if we want to find him" he said. Martin's frown deepened and he was about to say something else but Carlos interrupted him.
„ Due all the respect, agent Malone ... I think agent Fitzgerald is right ..." he said ignoring surprised looks from all the others in the room „ It would be stupidity to hang up Antonio's pictures all over the city right now ... chances are that he will see them and that's not good ..." he continued „ I mean ... the guy is a lunatic who has propbably planned this revenge for years ... As far as I can remember ... Antonio has always been in a favor of the principle that criminals should be punished exactly the same ay they had threated their victims ... so ... I'm pretty sure that he wants to make Danny suffer as his sister did before being killed ... and that means ..." he wanted to continue but Samantha cut him off.
„ Oh my god !" she gasped „ You ... you're not really suggesting that ... " she paused not even able to get the words over her lips and Carlos sighed „ Trust me agent Spade ... noone hopes that I'm wrong about this more than I do ... but ... I can't deny that it's very much possible that Danny ... is being sexually abused." he said and that statement was followed by silence which would have bothered a deaf person.
„ So ..." Jack finally said uncomfortably sihfting in his chair and staring at Carlos „ If you think we should not put up the posters of Antonio ... what do you propose we do ?" he asked and Carlos sighed as he stood up and started to pace the room nervously.
„ I know I should have told you guys this earlier ... and I'm not even sure why I didn't ... but ... Antonio has a brother. His name is Diego ... and as far as I know ... he lives somewhere near the border of Mexico ... I don't know if he knows where his brother might be ... but I think it's worth trying to find out" he said stopping his walking and looking at Jack who was just staring at him.
„ You are right ..." Jack then said calmly „ You should have told us that earlier... could have saved us some time ... could have given us bigger chance of finding Danny alive" he said and Carlos nodded. „ I know ... and ... I'm sorry ... I really am" he said and Martin let out a snort. „No you're not ..." he said turning in his seat to glare at Carlos
„ You withold that information on purpose" he accused. „ Martin ..." Samantha said softly placing her hand on his ex-boyfriend's arm trying to stop him from standing up and make him calm down. Her friend however brushed her off and stalked towards ex-police man who just stared at him.
„ Oh really ? And why should I have done that ?" Carlos finally asked as he found himself standing nose to nose with extremly pissed off FBI agent. „ Because ..." Martin growled „ Because deep down you don't want Danny to be found ... deep down you just wish you could stall us a little longer and keep us off the tracks so Antonio had some time to finish his job ..." he said. „ That's ridiculous" Carlos said staring back at Martin who kept his eyes on him.
„ Is it ?" Martin asked as he pulled away from the other man a little „ I mean you can't just stand here and expect us to believe that there are no hard feelings between you two anymore ... that you are not even a little bit mad at Danny for acting like he did ... You thought he was your friend ... that he understood you ... you thought of him as your brother ... and what does he do ? He steals your wife ... he starts playing father to your daughter ... he betrays you without feeling guilty about it ... he stabbs you in the back when you least expect him to ... and that must have been painful ... I mean seriously ... that must have hurt ... a lot ..." he said and Carlos just stared at him.
„ Alright Yeah ... it did" he said and then frowned „ And I see how this all could look as a motive to you ... but for the hundreth of times ... I swear ... I had nothing to do with it. I didn't do anything to Danny ... I have no idea where he is ... and I really do want to help you to find him" he said and Martin was about to say something else when Jack interrupted him.
„ Then what the hell are you waiting for ?" he asked „ You want to help us ... get us the exact address of Diego Marquez and have a little chat with him" he said and Carlos nodded „ Yes sir ..." he said already leaving the room. Jack stared after him for a while and then looked at Samantha. „ Go with him" he said shortly and Samantha with a soft smile diid as she was told.
„ I don't believe I was talking to you ..." Jack said as he noticed Martin starting to walk out of his office as well. „ Sit down" he added gesturing at the chair. Martin just stared at him for a while and then did as he was told too. Jack was silent for a while and then sighed „ I know that you don't like Carlos ... to be honest I'm not that fond of him myself. He has proven to be an ass more than once ..." he said and Martin smirked
„ That's one way to put it ..." he said and Jack smirked back at him before falling back serious again. „ He's most certainly not the most pleasant person to be in the same room with ... but ... I have to tell you that you're wrong about him. He's innocent." He said and Martin now frowned.
„ How do you know ?" he asked. Jack just stared at him for a while „ I just do ... alright ?" he said and Martin's frown deepened „ No ... it's not alright. What if you're wrong ? What if he's already killed Danny and now wants to do the same with Sam ..." he said and then his eyes grew wide „ Sam ..." he said standing up „ I can't believe you sent her alone with him ...I can't believe you put her in this kind of danger ... I have to warn her ..." he said turning around rushing to the door when Jack's voice stopped him.
„ Get your ass back on that chair ...Now !" Agent Malone roared slamming his fist against the table. Martin froze and didn't move at all . „ I need to help Sam ... she's in danger" he said softly and Jack let out a sigh. „ Sam is a big girl ... she can take care of herself" he said rubbing his brow tiredly. Martin turned his head to glare at the older man but didn't say anything „ Martin ..." Jack said „ Do you honestly believe I would have given her this assignment if I thought Carlos would be any threat to her ? Do you really think I would make it easier for the criminal to take out people from my own team ? Do you think I would just give him my agents on a silver plate like that ? Come on ... Martin ... Surely you know me better than that ... don't you ?" he asked and Martin now turned fully to face him again.
„ I thought I knew you Jack ... but right now ?" he paused and shook his head a little „ I don't know what to think" he admited honestly. Jack stood up, walked until he was standing right in front of Martin and looked deep into the younger man's eyes. „If Carlos really had Danny ... don't you think he would try to get away from here to go and check on him ? Don't you think he'd be nervous ?" he asked and Martin stared at him.
„ He doesn't have to check on Danny if he has Antonio Marquez keeping watch" he said and Jack nodded „True ... but don't you think he would try to warn his partner in crime? Call him ? Warn him that we are on him ? He's been in here for hours and not even once as he asked for a phone ... " he said .Martin was silent for a while. „ He could do that today ... through Diego Marquez ... for all I know ... Antonio's brother could be in this too ... all three of them could be involved ... they all have motives ... " he said and Jack let out a sigh.
„ You're hopeless" he said shaking his head in a bit of amusement and when Martin was about to say something he placed his hand on his agent's shoulder. „ Come on ... we've got some things to take care of" he said and Martin raised his eyebrow „ Like ?" he asked and Jack smiled softly „ We need more people on this case ... I want you to go to Elena's place and tell her she can come back if she's up for it but be sure to let her know that if we need to deal with another stunt from her ... she's out again" He said and Martin smiled „ Ok ... but what are your plans ?" he asked and Jack smiled back at him.
„ Like I said ... we need more people ... so ... I have a certain prisoner to bust out ... " he said and Martin grinned „ Good luck with that" he said before leaving Jack alone. The older man looked after him „ Yeah ... you too" he said softly and then slowly followed him towards the elevator.
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26 hours missing
At Diego's place
„ Well you're the last person I expected to find at my door" a short black haired and bearded man said as he saw two people standing outside. Carlos grinned as he was pulled into a hug „ Hello Diego ... how have you been ?" he asked . Marquez let him go, wearing matching grin on his own face „ Good ... I've been good ... and so have you ... as I see ..." he said looking at Samantha appreaciately and taking her hand to place a soft kiss on it. „ Welcome to the Casa of Marquez ... Mrs. Aguilar. It's pleasure to meet you" he said and Samantha's eyes grew wide at that.
„ What? No ... no ... " she said as she pulled her hand away „ We are not married ..." she said and Diego looked at Carlos „ You are not ?" he asked in confusion and the man smirked „ No ..." he said „ And I'm sorry to say that this is not just a friendly visit ... this young lady here is agent Spade ... from FBI ... and I'm her partner for the time
being ..." he explained while Samantha showed her badge to the man in front of them. Diego glanced at it . His face hardened and he crossed his arms on his chest as he glared at them.
„ Well that's all very nice ... but I don't see why you're here. I have no problem with law ... and most certainly not with FBI" Diego said and Samantha nodded. „ We know ... and you are not the reason why we are here ... it's your brother" she said and at that Diego's face softened again and he unfold his hands. „ Antonio ? What ... do you want from him ?" he asked and Carlos let out a sigh. „ We have reasons to believe that he's involved with a disappearance of one of our old mutual friend ..." he said. Diego raised his eyebrow „ Disappearance as a ... kidnap ?" he asked and getting a short nod from his friend as an answer he let out a dry chuckle „You must be kidding me . Who ?" he asked with interest and Carlos just stared at him for a while.
„ Daniel Alvarez ... now better known as special agent Danny Taylor ... from FBI" he said and at that Diego's face lost signs of amusement again and he just stood there for a while „ Come on in ... I'll make you some tea" he said after a moment of silence already walking back into his house. Carlos and Samantha exchanged looks before following in and closing the door after themselves.
„ I'm sorry for the mess ..." Diego said walking through the living room and towards his kitchen, two of his guests not far behind. „ I just arrived back from my vacation trip yesterday ... didn't have time to clean up before I left" he said picking up a pair of pants from the floor and placing them on the back of the armchair as he passed it.
„ Do you live here alone, Mr. Marquez ?" Samantha asked curiously looking around as he walked „ Usually ... no ... I have a wife and two wonderful kids ...both boys " Diego said as he finally stopped in front of his kitchen cabinet and opened the door to look in.
„ You guys take a seat ..." he said. And Carlos and Samantha happily complied.
„ But you're alone now ... what happened ? Problems in paradise ?" Carlos asked and Diego who was still searching for something chuckled lightly „ No ... everything's is just peachy between me and Yasmine ... she Casper and Frank just stayed at her parents house a little longer. I had to come back because of my work " he said and finally pulling away from the cabinet he showed the box of tea „ I hope peppermint is ok with you guys ... I can't seem to find anything else" he said and Samantha smiled „ Peppermint suits just fine ... thanks" she said and Diego smiled back when Carlos agreed. „So tell me ... what do you do for living ?" the ex-policeman asked and Diego who was filling the waterheater with water and switched it on. He then turned to look at Samantha and Carlos with a smile.
„ I'm one of those ... so called .. amateur artists actually. I have a gallery opening a day after today and that's why I had to come back from my trip ... there's a lot of things to take care of." He said and Samantha raised her eyebrow at that „ Really ?" she said as she looked around „ You must be the first artist without having their own or at least some kind of paintings on their home walls. Not in the kitchen ... I didn't notice any of them in the living room either ..." she commented and Diego turned his back on her as he started to pour hot water on three cups he had taken out before.
„ That's because my paintings are rather ..." he paused to clear his throat „ Erotic ... my boys are five and seven ... too early to start poisoning their minds ... don't you think ?" he asked and recieved a bark of laughter from Carlos and a shy smile from Samantha as a response. „ What's the absence of paintings by other artists conserned ..." Diego continued as he placed tea cups in front of his visitors. „ I would love to have Dali's Melting Clocks on my wall ... the problem is ... some people may have money growing from their trees ... unfortunatelly ... I'm not one of them" he said as he now sat down as well.
„ Do these answers satisfy your suspicious mind, agent Spade ?" he asked and Samantha smiled again „ Very much so ... thank you" she said and Diego just hummed as he lift his cup on his lips to take the first zip. „ Now ... I believe you have some questions about my brother" he said after a moment of silence.
„ Yes ... but first I'd like to ask you about Marci" Carlos said and Diego sighed „ If you want to know if police finally caught the bastard who killed her ... then the answer is no ... they tried to find him for three months more after you and Daniel took off ... Unfortunatelly they didn't find anything new or useful ... so they finally just brushed it off as a suicide and stopped looking" he said and Carlos just stared at him. „ I'm sorry to hear that" he said and Diego nodded. „ Yeah ... it's a shame ... the asshole is still somewhere out there ... and noone cares" he said and a small silence fell over the three companions again.
„ That's not true" Samantha finally said „ Someone does ... he cares too much to realise that he has a wrong man ... that he's punishing a good and decent guy who has never hurt or killed anyone unless he has to ..." she said and Diego just stared at her. „ Daniel was the last person to see my sister alive, agent Spade ..." he said „ I never found him guilty just because the fact that he slept with her ... but Antonio ..." he paused and Samantha nodded. „ Yes ... I know ... Carlos already told me" she said and Diego nodded back at her.
„ Do you know if he still blames us ?" Carlos asked and Diego shrugged „ I don't know ... it's not like we're talking ..." he said and Samantha frowned „ Why not ?" she asked and Diego sighed „ About six months ago ... we had a huge fight ... he wanted to come and stay with us ... He told us a story how he had lost his girlfriend and apartment and job at the same time ... and how he didn't have anyone else to turn to ..." Diego paused to sigh again „ I wanted to help him ... I really did ... but we were living in a small apartment in L.A. back then ... there really wasn't any room for him ... plus there was the money issue ... if he had no job that meant he was hoping for us to keep him up ... our family is struggling in problems as it is ... there was no way we could afford to have another mouth to feet" he explained and Carlos nodded.
„ So you turned him down" he said and Diego just stared at him „ Well not exactly ... I let him stay for one night ... the next day I told him that he has to go. I gave him money for hotel room and Yass made some food for him to take with him ... and ... he refused to accept both. He said that he just wanted a roof over his head not our pity or charity and rushed out of the door ..." he said and Samantha raised her eyebrow at that „ And is that the last time you saw your brother ?" she asked and Diego nodded. „ Yes ... that's the last time I ever heard from him. I tried to reach him on my cellular couple of times dialing the number he gave me ... oh ... about three years ago. It keeps telling me that the owner of the phone is out of range ... or that it's turned off" he said and Carlos sighed.
„ So you don't know where we could find him ?" he asked disappointedly and Diego smiled apologetically „ I'm sorry, mate ... I have absolutely no idea" he said and Carlos let out another sigh. „ It's ok I guess ..." he said and then looked at Samantha „ Do you have more questions or ... ?" he asked and the woman smiled „ No ... we're good to go" she said standing up and shaking hands with Diego. „ Thank you for your time and good luck with your gallery" she said and Diego smiled back at her.
„ Thank you ... good luck with finding Daniel. I hope you'll manage to catch my brother before it's too late" he said and Carlos who was now standing in front of him frowned slightly „ So you believe that Antonio could be all behind this shit ?" he asked as he and Diego walked towards the front door. „ Antonio has not been himself after Marci's death. If you think he could be responsible for Daniel's disappearance ... then he most probably is" he said and Carlos nodded slightly before giving a brief hug to Diego.
„ It was good to see you, mate" he said and Diego grinned „ You too ..." he said and waved at Samantha who was already at their rental car they had gotten themselves from the airport. „ Have a nice trip back" Diego yelled after Carlos's retreating back before disappearing into the house again.
„ Do I even have to tell you how fucking deep trouble you are right now ?" Samantha asked when Carlos finally reached her. „ Me ?" he asked „ What the hell did I do ?" he asked and Samantha just stared at him. „ Well it's more about what you didn't do actually ..." she said and Carlos frowned „ What ?" he asked. „ You said that Antonio and Diego were brothers ... you never said they were identical twins !" she said and Carlos just stared at her „ They might be twins but they are not identical ... especially not now when Antonio has gone through all those surgeries ..." he wanted to continue but Samantha cut him off „ Oh cut the crap, Carlos ... Antonio has never gone under the knife ... you just made that up to cover yourself ... you had to come up with an excuse to explain why you lied about not recognizing the man the first time we showed you the picture ..." she said and Carlos just stared at her again.
„ You just wait until Jack hears about this ... I assure you ... he will not be happy with you. Not happy at all. Seriously Carlos ... you want us to stop suspecting you have a part to play in Danny's kidnapping ? Stop acting like an idiot and stop giving us reasons to think that you organized all this shit ..." she said. „ I didn't ..." Carlos started to protest but Samantha cut him off again „ Just shut up and get in the car" she ordered already getting in herself. Carlos was about to say something else but then just setteled with a sigh and did as he was told.
Soon enough the FBI agent and ex-policeman drove off ... not having a clue that they were being watched from the window by the man wearing the most satisfied and evil of smiles on his face.