A/N - an error was pointed out to me and I had to go back and recitfy it for my sanity. Sorry!

Chapter 7

As Samantha struggled to come to terms with her situation, she was oblivious to the business dealings that had started to take place in another part of the building. Bartlett and Marian were meeting with Peter Zukov, one of their clients. He had arrived by private boat into the marina, which was only minutes away. He was impressed by the calibre of merchandise on offer. He was interested only in the female children and examined each one before making his decision. He produced a briefcase and gave it to Marian. She opened it, smiled and nodded to Bartlett that his payment was acceptable.

"This one?" Bartlett asked, confirming his choice.

"Absolutely," Zukov replied with an eerie smile.

Bartlett picked up the drowsy child and carried her to the waiting car.

"I'd advise you to keep her sedated until you get to your final destination," Bartlett said helpfully. "Another shot of this in three hours should do it," he said, handing him a syringe with a tiny amount of Propofol.

Zukov thanked him and they carried the child to the jetty. Without another word, the buyer boarded his boat with his new possession.

Bartlett hurried back inside to where Marian, Will and Tony had already begun to celebrate. Will and Tony had brought beers and rum and they toasted their first successful deal over the open briefcase of cash.

"You see, piece of cake," he said, reaching for a bottle.

"One down, two to go," Will said, clinking bottles with Bartlett.

"What about the Fed?" Tony asked, curiously.

"She's the added bonus," Marian replied. "I've already had quite a lot of interest online."

"Fine, but I don't want to have her around for much longer. She makes me nervous. Get it done sooner rather than later. Okay?" Bartlett said with resolve.

"No problem, one day, two at most," Marian replied.

Back at FBI Headquarters in Manhattan, technical analysts were running multiple software packages against all city traffic camera footage in the Bronx, hoping to get a hit on Bartlett's license plate.

While this was going on, Viv was in Olzcyk's office trying to explain why he had been woken in the middle of the night, only to hear that his senior supervisory agent was in hospital and a second agent was missing. Despite not really knowing what had happened herself, Viv did her best to explain. Olzcyk was livid, convinced that Jack Malone was responsible for this cock-up. Malone's maverick tactics had more than likely got his agent killed, not to mention screwed up any chance of finding Amy Nolan alive. He was anxious to know what leads they had and when Viv told him that they had very little at the moment, he nearly blew his top. She tried to explain that Jack's memory was affected by the drugs, but that he was still their best hope of a concrete lead.

Not surprisingly, Olzcyk had little sympathy for Jack. He was more worried about having to go to the Nolan family and explain all this to them. In the midst of all their discussions, Olzcyk's telephone rang. It was Elena asking that Viv come down to the Tech Room. Viv was only too glad to have the excuse to get out of his office. She met Elena in the Tech Room soon after.

"What have you got?" she asked as soon as she entered.

"Not sure yet. We've checked Samantha's cell phone. She received a call from Jack at 9.45pm. Then she placed a call to Martin at 10.23pm. So, we have to presume that she got to the building some time between then. We ran footage from traffic cameras two blocks away and have Paul Bartlett's car heading south at 11.41pm," Terry the forensic tech said, freezing a frame on the screen. "You can see from this that he's not alone in the car."

"Okay, can you get a clear picture of the other occupant?" Viv asked.

"This is the best I could get," Terry replied, bringing up a grainy, poor quality still from the footage. Viv sighed, disappointed, as there was no way to identify the occupant.

"Did you pick him up again anywhere?" Viv asked hopeful.

"Not yet. We've a lot to check still, but I did notice this," Terry said, rewinding the footage. "As you can see, there is little or no traffic at that hour. The only other vehicle to pass in the same direction was this white van two minutes earlier. It's registered to Capello Carpentry Co."

"Okay, it may be nothing, but I'll get an agent to check it out anyway," Viv said, grateful that despite Olzcyk's anger at the situation, he had given the okay for extra agents to help with the case.

In hospital room 233, Martin was trying to get comfortable in a chair across from Jack's bed. His back was aching from sitting in the same position for so long while he waited for Jack to wake. He was getting to his feet to stretch when a fearful cry filled the room.

"Sam!"

He turned quickly and looked over at Jack, who was now sitting up in bed, his eyes wide open and breathing heavily. Martin hurried immediately to his side.

"Jack, are you all right?" he asked, concerned for his boss.

Jack didn't answer. He continued to breathe heavily, obviously distressed. Perspiration soaked his hospital gown and his forehead. He turned to Martin.

"They have her."

"Who?"

"Bartlett. There were others. I don't know who they were," Jack said, his breathing calming slightly, relieved that it was coming back to him.

"Can you describe them?"

"I don't know, maybe. There was a woman and another guy, possibly two," Jack told him.

"Ages, colour, come on Jack, I need more than that," Martin pressed.

"I'm trying," Jack snapped, throwing back the bed sheets and putting his feet to the floor.

Martin tried to stop him, but Jack was steadfast this time and pushed him away.

"I need to get to the office. I can be of some use there," Jack insisted, shuffling unsteadily to the closet.

He opened the closet and found his suit jacket and pants but his bloodied shirt had been cut from him and disposed of. There was a scrubs t-shirt in its place. His legs felt shaky, so he sat to pull on his trousers.

"Jack, I don't think this is a good idea," Martin said, trying to change his mind.

"They have Sam," Jack repeated slowly, attempting to stress his point.

Martin wasn't sure whether to offer to help Jack dress or not, seeing the effort it was taking. Jack continued slowly, pausing every few seconds to take a deep breath. Martin wasn't sure if this was to stop the room swaying or ease the nausea. As Jack removed the gown, Martin saw the massive bruise just below his ribs, courtesy of Bartlett's kick. It looked painful as he pulled on the scrubs t-shirt. He watched uneasily as Jack slipped his shoes on. He was far from steady on his feet and kept a grip on the side of the bed as he did so. Martin knew that the doctors wouldn't be happy with him leaving, but realised that he hadn't a hope in hell of stopping him.

"It's not just Samantha. There was another child, a boy," Jack announced as his recollection returned. "We have to find out who he is."

"What boy?" Martin asked.

"He's maybe 8 years old, African-American. He was locked in a room. Shortly after I found him, someone did this," he said, gesturing to his damaged nose.

"We've no reports of a missing boy, but I'll get Elena to run that down," Martin told him.

By this stage, Jack was making his way to the door. Martin was still rooted to the spot, unsure of what to do.

"Are you going to give me a ride or do I need to call a cab?" Jack said, turning back to the young agent.

"Eh, we'll hail a cab. I rode in the ambulance with you," Martin replied, following his boss out.

As they headed for the elevator, a nurse stopped them both.

"Where are you going? You can't leave yet, Mr. Malone," she said crossly. "We still need to run some tests. The doctor will not be happy."

"Tell him I'm fine," Jack said gruffly.

"Well, you can't just walk out," she replied just as curtly. "You'll need to sign an AMA form."

Jack sighed, unimpressed that his progress was being halted. He looked at Martin, who raised his eyebrows and shrugged but was careful not to smile.

"Where do I sign?" Jack asked, walking over to the nurse's station.

The nurse opened a filing cabinet and produced the necessary paperwork. Jack signed without question. As he turned to walk away, the nurse warned him that if he felt unwell, that he should return to the hospital immediately.

"I'll make sure he does," Martin promised, as Jack rudely walked away and pretended not to hear her.

The two agents rode the elevator in silence. As they descended, Martin asked,"Where to?"

"The office," Jack replied directly.

Martin knew better than to argue and did as he was asked. He hailed a cab outside and they were soon in FBI Headquarters, riding the elevator to the 12th floor. As the pair entered the bullpen, a silence descended around the office. Danny and Elena could not contain their surprise, seeing Jack coming towards them.

"Jack, should you be out of the hospital?" Elena asked, shocked at the sight of the injured man.

"I'm fine," Jack answered in reply.

"You don't look fine," Danny said before immediately regretting his candour.

"He signed himself out AMA," Martin told them much to Jack's annoyance.

"Are you crazy?" Elena asked. "You almost died last night."

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me," Jack replied. "I was stupid. But right now, we have to find Sam. Where's Viv?"

"I'm here, Jack," Viv said from behind him, on her way back from the Tech Room. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help," Jack replied.

"Were you able to remember anything?" Viv enquired.

"Yeah, it's starting to come back. I followed Bartlett from his house to the building in the Bronx," Jack began, taking a seat at the table. "I was checking out rooms on the third floor and I came to one that was locked. I kicked the door in and found a young boy. He was maybe 8 years old and very frightened. I tried to call for back up but I think I got jumped. Next thing I remember, I was waking up with my hands tied behind my back and Bartlett standing over me. He wasn't alone. There was a woman, he called her, eh, Marian, I think. She's the one who injected me. I saw another male, about 40 years old. I'm pretty sure she called him Will," Jack explained. "I don't know how long I was there before they brought Sam in."

Everyone listened intently as Jack recounted the last time he saw Samantha.

"I couldn't really see her. I wasn't even sure it was her until Marian stuck a needle in me, then I heard her scream. I knew it was her. She called out to me….," Jack paused deliberately to compose himself.

"Was she hurt?" Danny asked, desperate for information.

"I couldn't tell. I don't think so," Jack replied, his head hanging low.

"If I get a sketch artist, do you think you could describe the others that were there?" Viv asked him eagerly.

Jack nodded in response. He was desperate to do anything to help. Martin told the group that Jack had discovered another child in the building and repeated the description that Jack had given him.

"I'll also need a sketch of the boy you saw," Viv told him. "I can run it through the Missing Person's Database."

Again Jack nodded silently, his thoughts straying to Samantha, wondering what had become of her. He hadn't really had time to think about it before now, but the reality of the situation was starting to hit home. Not only was Amy Nolan's picture on the white board in the situation room, but so was Agent Samantha Spade's. She was now officially a victim. He also knew that the fact that Sam being missing was entirely his fault. His quest against Bartlett and need for discretion had probably got her killed. If this ended badly, he wasn't sure he could live with himself.

Jack snapped back upon hearing his name.

"Jack?" Elena repeated, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, noticing how he had zoned out for those few seconds.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was miles away," he admitted.

"Maybe you would be more comfortable waiting in your office," she suggested, hoping he would take the opportunity to rest. "I'll send the artist in when he gets here."

"Sure, thanks," Jack said, getting to his feet and slowly walking to his office, watched all the way by what remained of his team.