A/N: Okay, I know some of you are annoyed with me but thank you to everyone who's still reading and reviewing.
o-xxx-o
They'd barely made it through the basics when there was a tap on the door. Bobby got up and moved the blind so that he could see outside and when it opened Jack came in carrying a tearful child who was clinging onto him for dear life.
"Hey JillyBean, what's wrong? Why all the tears..?"
The little girl stared at him defiantly. "Only daddy's allowed to call me that, it's our special name."
Bobby shook his head. "I'm getting the feeling this isn't my day, you're the second pretty, young lady I've struck out with in the past hour."
"Losing your touch, Crash?"
"You think I'm pretty?" She asked coyly.
"Sure I do." He grinned and winked. "So, what's got you all upset?"
"This." Pulling open her woolly jacket, she revealed a pink t-shirt, decorated with sparkles and stained with what appeared to be blackcurrant juice.
"One of the other kids, it was just an accident." Jack explained.
"No it wasn't! He said it was but he did it on purpose. Do you think Mommy's mad at me?"
"Of course not, I'm sure she'll understand. We'll go shopping at the weekend and buy you a new one."
"It won't be the same." Her eyes filled with tears again.
"I know but it's the best I can do, sweetheart."
"Is it still wet?" Sue joined the discussion.
"Damp."
"Then you should dab it with paper towels and rinse it thoroughly in cold water. Put it through the machine when you get home on a normal wash and it'll be okay."
"Really..? Can we now, daddy? Please?"
"I'm not…"
"I'll do it if you like." Sue offered. "We'll need to use the Ladies' Room." She picked up her bag and Laura immediately ran to her side. "You want to come to?"
"Hold on, I need to check that the coast is clear, first." Bobby stood up blocking her way.
"It should be. Security has guards at both ends of the corridor and they have strict orders not to let anyone through." The door closed and he practically fell back down onto his chair and closed his eyes.
"You alright, Sparks?"
"Just tired, Crash... too damn tired." It was the smallest of admissions but enough to worry his friend.
"Perhaps you should think about handing this one over? Let someone else take it on."
"You know I won't do that, especially not now."
"Yeah, I know but I had to try. My offer's still open, if there's anything I can do and I mean anything, you just have to say and make sure you do, okay?"
"I will."
"I mean it, Sparks."
The female contingent returned and he rubbed his eyes and sat up but not before Sue had seen him. She glanced questioningly at Bobby, who just shook his head.
"All done…"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Their eyes locked and just for a moment it was as though they'd travelled back in time, until Jilly broke the spell.
"What was that, daddy?"
"ASL… American Sign Language… You remember, sweetheart."
"But that's only for deaf people."
"That's right and Sue's deaf."
"But she was talking to me in the bathroom."
"Then you must have been facing her, Sue reads lips." Bobby explained.
"Not all the time."
"No, but you were standing in front of the mirror so I could see your reflection."
"Of course I was, silly Jilly!" Unseen by the others, Jack swallowed past the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.
"Hello S-U-E, I'm J-I-L-L-Y. Are you a B-A-D P-E-R-S-O-N?"
The woman's face lit up in a brilliant smile. "You sign? And no, I'm not bad."
"I'm glad. Daddy said we should all learn but I haven't been practising much." She looked at him guiltily.
"That's okay, JillyBean, neither have I. Now…" He took her hand and pulled her closer. "I need you to do something for me and it's very important."
"Okay." Her expression turned deadly serious.
"Do you have your colouring books in your bag?"
"Yes."
"Then I want you to take Laura over behind the big board and sit very quietly so we can talk. Will you do that for me?"
"If I do, can we go for pizza on the way home?"
Jack almost smiled. "Absolutely..."
"Okay." She walked over and took the younger girl by the hand. "Is Laura deaf too?"
Sue shook her head. "No, she can hear."
"That's good."
"Jilly, that's not nice."
"I wasn't being rude daddy, honest." She pouted at having been told off unfairly. "It's just hard to hold crayons and sign at the same time."
"She's got you there, Sparky."
"Sorry, sweetie..."
"I forgive you, this time." She ran back to give him a kiss and a hug.
"Laura's waiting for you." Blowing out a cleansing breath, he returned his mind to the task at hand. "How far have you got?"
"Not very," Bobby confessed.
Jack was all business again as he squared up the notepad in front of him. "We were told you have something for us."
His coldness discomfited her but she was determined not to let it show. "That's right." She searched his face but his expression remained impassive. "Do you remember the Romano case?"
"It's what got us into this mess in the first place." The Aussie sighed.
"You were right. Tony planted the bomb and blew up Di Ponti's car."
"That much we guessed."
"And, he paid someone to kill Dominic."
"What?" Now she had their full attention.
"At the time you mentioned you thought it was odd the way it happened. Tony wanted to get closer to Di Ponti so he created the opportunity. I think he already knew that Hamas were involved and he was glory-hunting but when he realised Jack was getting suspicious he backed off and decided to find another way in."
"He told you all this?" Bobby queried.
"Yes."
"And you're prepared to make a statement to that effect?"
This time her response was a little more hesitant. "Yes."
"That's good to hear but I wish we had some concrete evidence. What do you think, Sparks."
He made the so-so sign but didn't speak.
"I couldn't find any proof of that but I have something else." Leaning over she picked up her oversized bag again and delved inside, pulling out a sheaf of photocopy paper and handing it to Bobby.
"Whoa!"
"What?"
"These are copies of bank statements and they look like they're gonna make pretty interesting reading." He pointed out an entry for over 100,000 dollars which was withdrawn again a few days later.
"And this..." she carefully unwrapped a mini hard drive. "I thought maybe Tara could do something with it."
"Tara's not in DC anymore." Bobby corrected. "She transferred to Chicago to be with Stanley, they got married last year."
"Do you have any idea what's on it?" Jack asked his first real question.
"Everything that was on his laptop... I couldn't break the encryption so I had a neighbour clone the drive. Its hacker stuff and I didn't really understand it but the guy's sure it worked."
"O-kay..." The two men exchanged stunned glances and Bobby whistled.
"It should have everything including his e-mail accounts. He could never remember his passwords so they're all saved, once you can get in."
"Does Pinter know about any of this?"
She shook her head 'no'. "I gave him some surveillance disks and photographs that I found but I kept all this for you."
"That's great." For a moment she thought he was going to take her hand the way he used to but at the last minute he diverted it to scratch his head.
"You don't trust our O.P.R. representative, Sparky?"
"There are too many unknowns involved in this task force. The only people I trust, apart from myself, are you and Myles and I'm not prepared to share this with him yet, either."
"Fair enough…"
"Sue, why are you doing this?"
She hadn't noticed that he was speaking so Bobby pointed in his direction.
"Sorry, I didn't see that."
"It's okay. I asked why you were doing this."
"Because, it's the right thing..." There was definitely more to it but he let it go.
"And when was the last time you saw him?"
"About two months ago, he came to collect some of his stuff."
"And before that..?"
"In July and before that March... That was the first time in two years. He said he'd come to see Laura but I knew he was lying. It was the July visit when he left the laptop behind. He told me it contained confidential information about a case he was working on and that he needed to put it somewhere no one would ever look for it." Her bottom lip quivered slightly and Jack picked up on it immediately.
"I think we're done here for today."
"What about Pinter's questions?"
"I don't think…"
"Look mate, he's going to expect some answers or he's going to wonder what we've been up to in here all afternoon."
"What questions?" Sue asked curiously.
"O.P.R. gave us a 'pop quiz' for you but some of it gets pretty personal."
"Can I see?"
"Sue, I don't think…"
"It's okay Jack, I'm a big girl now."
He slid the envelope across the polished surface. "Don't answer anything you don't want to."
"Do you have a pen I can use?"
"Sure." The Aussie handed her one and then started to check through the papers she'd given him while Jack sat back and studied her. He could tell exactly when she found a question that either hurt or was too intrusive by the slight changes of expression on her face, which only someone who knew her very well would have picked up on. Years had gone by since he'd seen her last but it didn't seem to have diminished in any way the connection they'd always shared… he thought they'd shared. She looked up suddenly, sensing she was being watched, and caught him in the act. A small knowing smile played across her lips, one that wasn't reciprocated, and faded when she saw for the briefest of seconds, the pain and sadness in the depths of his still-captivating, brown eyes and her heart cried for him as she wondered what had happened to make him hurt so badly.
Filling in the last question, she tried to hand them back but he shook his head, 'no'.
"You don't want to see?"
"They're between you and O.P.R. Just put them into the envelope and seal it."
"Sparks," Bobby looked at him in surprise. "Shouldn't we at least…" He never finished his sentence.
"We don't need to know that stuff. If we have any relevant questions then we'll ask them ourselves. I'll call Pinter and have him arrange to take you back to wherever you're staying. Jilly, it's time to go. Collect up your things, please."
"Okay..."
Picking up both the drive and the papers, he slipped them into the little girl's bag.
"They're not mine, daddy."
"I know JillyBean, but I need to get them to my office without anyone seeing."
"Are they secret?"
"Very." He put a finger to his lips to get his point across. "Crash can you stay here with Sue and Laura until Pinter arrives and make sure he gets those," he pointed to the sealed envelope on the table. "Ready, sweetheart..?"
"Yes. Bye S-U-E."
"Goodbye J-I-L-L-Y."
"You need to go home and get some sleep, mate." Bobby chided as Jack tried to smother a yawn. "I'll call Mr Personality, he'll only keep you talking for hours and I don't think he needs to know we had extra company." He nodded towards Jilly.
"Good point. And I'll try but I have a pizza promise to keep first."
"That's okay, daddy. If you're tired we can go another time."
Sue was surprised at how protective and thoughtful his daughter seemed to be. Way beyond her four or five years, but then again she was his daughter and obviously took after him.
"You're sure, honey?"
"I'm sure."
"Thank you." He hoicked the bag onto one shoulder, picked her up giving her a grateful squeeze and then waited for her to settle. "I'll see you in the morning, Crash." His eyes locked with Sue's again but thankfully Jilly distracted him.
"I almost forgot my t-shirt."
"Go fetch it then and don't drip water all over the floor."
When they'd gone, Sue tapped Bobby on the arm. "He's not okay, is he?"
"No," He shook his head sadly. "But that isn't your problem, anymore. I'll call Pinter." He took out his cell but paused before dialling. "Sue..?"
"Yes?"
"Are you okay? I mean, none of this can be easy for you. After all, you obviously loved that drongo, sorry Capono, enough to marry him."
She nibbled on her bottom lip but didn't reply. Tony had taken almost everything away from her. Her friends, her family, her job… and what was worse, she'd let him but there had been one compensation and she was sitting on her lap playing with her hair. It didn't matter what she thought or how she felt, the only thing that was important was her daughter's safety and well-being.
"I'll call Pinter."
o-xxx-o
