Usual disclaimer still applies. I don't own In Plain Sight or the characters therein. These tale is meant to fill the void between seasons and I promise to leave them pretty much where I found them... maybe a little worse for wear...

This work is not meant to contest ownership, and as always, no money is made from the writing of this tale.

So sit right back and enjoy (and if you do (or don't) please let me know.

"You've reached the desk of Eleanor Prince. I'm either away from my desk or on another line right now. Please leave your name and number and a brief message at the tone…"

Stan waited for the beep before speaking.

"Eleanor, it's Stan… please call me…"

He paused, unsure what else to say and finally shrugged and hung up.

As he waited for her to call back, Stan studied the photo and shook his head. It worried him how close the man had been to the witness, to his marshals, and no one had noticed. If Marshall and Mary hadn't been the team they were—no one would ever have known he had set them up.

There was a special place in hell for people like that and Stan vowed he would make sure the man became well acquainted with said hell. He just had to put a name to that face, and Eleanor was the woman to do it.

Mary looked at her watch. It had been five hours since they'd checked in and Marshall and 'Isn't' were both sleeping soundly. Marshall had told her to wake him after four hours, but she could tell by the way he was tossing and turning that he needed more.

Isn't, on the other hand, was sleeping like a baby.

She studied the Secret Service Agent as she slept and reviewed what she knew about the woman.

It was a very short review.

Aside from her ability to assume a completely different personality they had almost nothing to work with. Part of her was tempted to call Eleanor and see what she could find, but she knew from experience that even Eleanor needed more information than 'Secret Service Agent with a fondness for high powered rifles' to put a name with the Agent.

A thought crossed her mind as she pulled out the confiscated side arm. She studied it for a few minutes and noted the serial number.

It was frustrating to have the pieces she needed to identify their 'Isn't' knowing that using it would endanger their witness. She hated being forced to play the woman's game. More than anything she hated not knowing.

Three Days ago – Somewhere in Nebraska

Marshall stretched as the first rays of light shown through the part in the curtains. He had taken over for Mary about three hours earlier and it had remained a quiet watch.

He'd tried to complain about her waiting to wake him but she'd dismissed his concerns with a simple, 'I couldn't sleep,' knowing full well he wouldn't argue with her.

He hated to admit it but he'd needed the extra few hours of sleep. He shook his head as he realized her reasoning wasn't as altruistic as it first seemed. With him being on duty in the morning it meant the morning preparations would fall to him: calling Stan, making the coffee and if she was lucky he'd also order breakfast.

He looked over to watch her sleep, then felt his attention drawn to Is. She'd been asleep when Mary had woken him and as near as he could tell hadn't moved all night.

He sighed: here he was sharing a hotel room with two gorgeous women and he was standing guard. There were times he hated his job.

His gaze strayed to the clock on the night stand. It was over an hour and a half until he was supposed to call in. Something told him it was going to be a long ninety minutes.

Stan sipped his coffee as he checked his messages for the fifth time that morning. He had stayed at the office, turning it into his own private command center in the hopes he'd have some news for his inspectors, but as of 00:30 this morning nothing had changed.

They had a name to go with the man on the tape but he was currently on leave for a 'personal emergency.' When SOG had arrived at the man's house they found it empty. His neighbors had said he'd left in a hurry and mentioned something about his mother but no one knew anything else.

The FBI had begun processing the scene almost immediately afterward, but the man had been a ghost. There were finger prints, but there were multiple sources and the technicians would have to sort through them.

Eleanor was working her angle going through personnel files but it was slow going at best. She said the hardest part was keeping it under wraps, which she assumed he wanted right now.

He did. They both knew that as soon as someone caught wind of the investigation the man would become a liability to whomever had hired him. It made their job that much more difficult, but it could also provide the leverage they needed to find out who had hired him.

If there was one thing he had learned as a WitSec Inspector it was the fact that nothing turned a potential witness against you like trying to kill them. He was confident that if they found the man, they could turn him.

They just had to find him.

As Marshall pulled one of the throwaway phones from the bag Jeanine had left for him, Is opened her eyes.

"Would you like me to give you some privacy?"

Her voice was soft and pitched low enough that it seemed completely natural in the room.

"No need," Marshall answered, slightly intrigued. She was showing them a lot more trust than they'd shown her, he figured it was time to offer an olive branch. It helped that Mary was still asleep.

Is smiled and nodded, sitting up in bed but not interrupting.

Marshall held up a finger as if to say 'Hold that thought' as Stan picked up on the first ring.

Stan looked at the clock when the phone rang. 'Right on time.'

"Chief Inspector McQueen..."

"Stan"

"Marshall. Good news, we got the guy on video planting the device, but we still have to find him. How are you all holding up?"

"We're good. Still here, no new issues to report...the witness snores."

Stan smiled at that. Marshall was telling him more by joking than anything else. "Mary doing all right?"

"You know Mary, she doesn't like anyone trying to pull anything over on her... and well... you know how it is when they do manage to pull something off."

"I can well imagine. Look, we hope to have more information on this guy, call me back, same time tomorrow."

He paused, realizing Marshall was repeating the same instructions as he spoke.

"Yeah, yeah... you just watch it out there."

"Always Stan. We won't let anything happen to the witness... or each other."

As assured as he could be, Stan hung up. His inspectors were safe; their witness was safe- for now that was a win.

Marshall disconnected the call and turned the cell phone off. He'd given Isn't a pointed look when he'd commented on Mary's dislike of being lied to. The woman simply gave him a shrug. It was one of the hazards of working undercover.

"Nothing personal," he assured her. It was just the way things were.

Isn't nodded then looked around the room. "Should I put some coffee on?"

Marshall smiled. "That wouldn't be a bad idea. You have a preference for breakfast?"

Isn't shrugged, "Food's good."

Marshall smiled. After Mary's general nature, calm and accommodating was good. He didn't think he could deal with two volatile women, especially not this early in the morning.

Stan had just started to settle into his daily routine when his phone rang again. He wasn't entirely surprised to hear Eleanor's voice, but her greeting did worry him.

"Stan, turn on your TV: Channel 12, it hasn't gone National yet, but it's all over the local news..."

There was something in her tone of voice that told him things had suddenly gotten much worse.

He caught the 'next on...' section and balked. There was no way this could be good.

Mentions of drug rings, disappearing witnesses and gang involvement were made, but it wasn't until five minutes after the commercial break that the news story aired.

It was the longest five minutes of his life.

The lead off was a picture of Isabelle Manning.

"This woman was last seen in the custody of US Marshals, two days ago. Since then no one has heard from her. According to sources close to the investigation, her whereabouts remain unknown, but she is not the first federal witness to disappear..."

Stan watched his face paling. He had no way of warning his people..

"Stan?"

"We need to see what damage control we can do, but this breach... could be worse than the out and out leak."

"Have you talked to them yet this morning?"

He smiled. She'd worked with them long enough to know Marshall and Mary would keep in touch somehow and she'd done the job well enough that she'd learned not to question how.

"Unfortunately, they probably won't check in again until tomorrow."

Eleanor had the sense not to give him any platitudes. "Call me if things change."

"You too."