Notes - A little longer this time and a big reveal! I bet you guys guessed already. Thanks for reading.

Turning quickly, Danny walked back into the living room where the doorman waited for them. "Was there anyone with Ms. Palmer when she first brought her things here?"

"Yes, sir. Her brother was with her," the doorman answered.

"Her brother?" Danny responded, his frown deepening even more.

"Yes, sir. He brought her suitcases in. He stayed up here for about a half hour and then he left. Ms. Palmer was still here at that time. But at some point, she left in the middle of the night. When her brother came looking for her the next day, she was gone."

Looking at the cold, austere living room again, Danny asked, "Who furnished this place?"

"I assume Ms. Palmer did. A truck filled with furniture came shortly after the apartment was leased. And then later, several packages from Nordstrom's came and one of our attendants unpacked them and put them away for Ms. Palmer," he said as he motioned toward the bedroom.

Danny walked back into the bedroom and looked in the closet. There were several slinky dresses and high heels in the closet, as well as drawers full of lingerie. Danny knew these weren't Lauren's things. In the times he'd been with her, she usually wore jeans and she wasn't the type to wear sexy lingerie.

"Are you going to fill me in on what is going on?" Matthews asked as she stood next to him.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, but first, we need to go back to your office. I'd like to take a look at all those records that are being cross-referenced. And would you please call Lauren's brother? I'd like to review any background you have on him and then I'd like to speak to him at FBI headquarters as soon as possible."

88 Hours Missing

As Danny sat in the conference room at the D.C. FBI headquarters, he quickly read through stacks of records. Occasionally, he'd make a note in his notebook, but then his eyes would go back to the documents. The list of names from the FBI awards dinner was getting smaller and smaller. And his heart started to beat faster because he knew he was getting close. As he his eyes moved down the small list of names, a feeling of dread came over him as his eyes stopped on one of the names.

"Agent Taylor?" Matthews said as she walked into the conference room.

Danny looked up, thankful for the momentary distraction. "It's Danny. I think you've helped me enough today to be on first name basis. In fact, I probably owe you a lot more than that."

"You have no idea. I just caught hell from SAC Meadows."

"Oh God, I'm sorry—"

"It's okay. We're a lot farther on this case now that you're here. I can take the heat," she said with a small smile. "Hopefully, you can as well. He wants me to bring you to his office."

Danny nodded as he looked down. "It was just a matter of time. Did you, um, did you get a hold of Jason Palmer?"

Matthews nodded. "He's was on his way into a class, but he'll be here within the hour. And I have this for you," she said as she handed him a file folder. "A complete background check on Jason Palmer."

Smiling gratefully, Danny took the file. "I definitely owe you big time. Can I take a minute to look at this? Or do we have to go now?"

Matthews shrugged. "I, for one, can't go for another minute without getting some coffee. I'm going down to the coffee cart. I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Can I bring you anything?"

Still smiling, Danny shook his head. "No. I'm good."

While Matthews stalled by going on the coffee run, Danny went back to the conference table to see if he could make any more connections between the Palmer family and the mystery man.

"I have half a mind to send you back to New York right now with an FBI escort, someone who can't be talked out of a direct order!" Meadows yelled as he threw a glare at Agent Matthews.

"It wasn't her fault, sir. I didn't give her a choice. But you have to understand—"

"No, son, you have to understand. There's a chain of command to be followed. Agent Malone assured me that you would follow it before you came down here. Not to mention that you are still a suspect or have you forgotten that you're all over that video that was found in Lauren Palmer's apartment? You were screwing her, and you were there when she attempted suicide. How can I not see you as a suspect?"

"Because all I've been trying to do since I found out she was missing is find her. And I'm really close. I know I am. I have a list of names—"

"Chris told me about the list. She also told me about Ms. Palmer's apartment and the fact that it is identical to the set-up of her Manhattan apartment. I grant you that is too much of a coincidence, but I can't have you harassing the Palmer family. Both Mrs. Palmer and the son have alibis."

"That doesn't mean they don't know who is behind this. That's why I need to talk to Jason Palmer."

Meadows shook his head. "You can cross-reference those files until your hearts content, but you're not talking to Lauren's brother. If you have information, then you can give it to me and I'll interrogate him."

Sighing heavily, Danny shook his head. "I have to be there. Just let me be in the room. I won't get in your way."

"Why the hell would I let you do that?"

"Because…before I got here, you had nothing. And now you have a list of suspects. I guarantee you after we talk to her brother, we'll know who has her," Danny replied, his voice full of certainty.

95 Hours Missing

It was 4 a.m. Danny hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. But as soon as he got off the airplane, he knew he couldn't go home yet. He needed help and there was only one person he could think of to turn to.

He had to hit the buzzer three times before a groggy voice answered through the intercom.

"It's Danny. I have to see you right now."

The door buzzed and Danny walked through it. As he walked up to the fourth floor, he couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me, Danny, it's four in the morning," Jack said, rubbing his eyes after opening the door.

Danny sighed heavily as he looked at Jack's barely awake appearance. "I'm sorry, Jack. But I…I need your help."

"It couldn't wait a few hours?" he replied as he opened the door wider to let Danny in.

Shaking his head, Danny rubbed his chin warily as he entered the apartment. "I, um, Jack…this is big, and I don't know what to do now. I…I think Meadows will try to cover it up, and I didn't know who else to go to…," Danny responded desperately.

Jack had seen Danny angry and frustrated before, like when he was looking for his brother. He'd also seen Danny fight emotion when faced with finding a body, especially the body of child. But he'd never seen Danny like this before and it almost scared him.

99 Hours Missing

Somehow Jack had convinced Danny to sleep for a couple of hours on his couch. He had truly looked awful when he had shown up at Jack's apartment. So after Danny had told him who he thought their prime suspect was and all the details that supported his theory, Jack had insisted that he sleep before going into the office.

When Danny had woken up, three hours later, Jack had told him to go to his apartment, get cleaned up, and then meet him back at the office at 8 a.m.

And this is where they were, sitting in Jack's office, waiting. Danny's knee was nervously bouncing involuntarily. He'd tried to drink a cup of coffee, but his shaky hands wouldn't allow him. As Jack watched him, he wondered how badly Danny wanted a drink right now. Jack knew that he himself could've used a drink as well, and he wasn't an alcoholic.

At five minutes past eight, Jack caught sight of Martin getting off the elevator and walking down the hall. Slowly rising from his chair, he went to his door.

"Morning, Jack," Martin greeted as he met him at the office door.

"Morning. I, um, I need to talk to you, Martin," he said as he tried not to sound too somber, but was failing miserably.

"Sure," Martin replied as he entered the office. Upon seeing Danny sitting in one of the chairs, Martin smiled. "Hey."

"Hey," Danny replied quietly.

Hearing the shortness in Danny's tone, Martin's smile faded. "Did…did you find her?" he asked, expecting to hear the worst.

Swallowing hard, Danny shook his head, but couldn't say any more.

"Have a seat, Martin," Jack said as he sat down in his office chair.

"What's going on?" Martin asked as he gave Danny a concerned glance.

"Danny has spent the last twenty-four hours investigating Lauren Palmer's disappearance," Jack started.

"I know," Martin replied as he watched Jack open a thick file folder.

As Jack started to spread out the paper from the folder, he continued, "Danny cross-referenced every person that attended the party where he met Lauren with everyone that her parents knew or knows. He knew that Lauren had been ordered to attend the party by someone who has a very strong hold on her and her family."

"Ordered?" Martin asked, voice full of surprise.

Jack glanced at Danny to see if he wanted to explain, but Danny just looked down. So Jack proceeded to tell Martin what Lauren had been dealing with for the last year: the mystery man who had this power over her, the escort service, the voyeurism, the torture room, and finally Lauren going home and finding out that she still couldn't escape.

10 Hours Earlier

Danny stood with his arms folded and his back against the wall as he watched SAC Ryan Meadows interrogate Jason Palmer. In Jason's background check, Danny had found out that he'd been charged with possession as a minor. Then, the summer before he was supposed to go to Georgetown, he'd been arrested for possession of heroine with intent to sell.

"The drugs weren't mine," Jason said in a pleading tone after Meadows asked him about the drug charge.

"Well your prints all over the heroine says your lying," Meadows responded as he glanced at the file in front of him. "You got real lucky when those drugs disappeared from the evidence room. That was a big break. Since you were caught with the drugs within a mile of a school, you would have gone away for at least ten years. Georgetown probably wouldn't have wanted you back after that, huh?"

"I was set up, but what the hell does that have to do with my sister?"

"Who helped you get that fancy lawyer, Jason? Who made the drugs disappear?" Meadows asked.

Meadow was asking all the right questions, just as Danny had told him to do. But what Danny hadn't told Meadows was that he already knew who had gotten Jason out of trouble.

"My mom got the lawyer for me. And I have no idea where those drugs are, but I'm damn glad they were lost because I was set up. I still don't understand how this will help you find my sister."

Suddenly, Danny couldn't stay silent any longer. He'd promised Meadows that he'd just observe in the room, but it was taking too long. "Because your sister is the reason those drugs disappeared and your sister is the reason why you're going to Georgetown instead of watching your ass in a federal prison!"

"Agent Taylor—" Meadows started.

"She sold herself to the devil to get you out of trouble, didn't she?" Danny asked as he pushed off the wall and walked towards the table. "How could you let her do that?"

"You're crazy…" Jason started, but then choked back a sob before he could finish.

"Am I?"

"Agent Taylor—"

"Where did Lauren think you were taking her that day? She wanted to stop covering for you, but you wouldn't let her, would you?" Danny asked as he laid his palms on the table and leaned in to Jason's face.

"Shut up! Shut up! You don't know what—"

"She's your sister! Your sister!" Danny yelled, and now Meadows had backed off. "Do you know what he was making her do? Do you know what bringing her back to that apartment meant? Do you?" he yelled as he pounded his fist on the table in effort to make Jason understand.

Jason broke down in a sob. "I didn't know. I didn't know at first. I swear. I just thought…I just thought she was sleeping with him. She told me that she'd taken care of everything. When she came back to D.C. and said she couldn't do it anymore, I panicked!"

88 Hours Earlier (Flashback to Day of Disappearance)

"Is this where your friend lives?" Lauren asked as Jason pulled into a parking space in front of the elegant Georgetown apartment building.

"Yeah," Jason replied quietly.

"One of your college friends lives here?" Lauren asked in a disbelieving tone. "Well, geeze, then I guess I'm glad that mother doesn't want me at home anymore and that your friend needs a roommate."

Jason didn't say anything as he held the door open for her and ushered her into the lobby. She smiled as they rode up in the elevator, and Jason honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her smile.

When they got off on her floor, Jason walked down the hall and put a key in one of the doors. Then he took a deep breath as they walked into the apartment. Right after walking in, Lauren stopped in her tracks as she took in the living room area. Ryan just proceeded back to the bedroom to put her bags down.

Moments later, he heard her breath catch as she walked into the bedroom.

"No. No, Jason. I can't," Lauren said, voice full of emotion and eyes full of tears, as the full picture came together for her. The man wanted her back.

"Laur, I'll lose everything. He'll take everything away from me…from mom. I'll go to prison, Lauren."

"I told you, Jason. I'll find you a good lawyer. Or I'll figure out some way to blackmail him. I'll figure out something, but I can't do this again. I can't."

"That won't work. He's too powerful. He told me it wouldn't last much longer. He'll let you go eventually. He'll lose interest. He'll find another mistress--"

Turning toward him quickly, she slapped him as hard as she could. "I'm not his mistress! You…and mother…you don't want to know what he does to me. You've never wanted to know. I can't do it. I can't do it again."

"You'd rather see me in prison for ten years for something I didn't do?" he yelled in a panicked tone.

"I know someone. I know someone in New York who'll help you…an FBI agent. I trust him. We could talk to him. We'll find a way!" Lauren pleaded.

"An agent? Do you have any idea who we are dealing with? If he wants me in prison, I'm going to prison! Don't you get it? This is the only way, Lauren! The only way! Please…please…I can't go to prison."

end flashback of Day of Disappearance

"You're him, aren't you?" Jason asked as he looked at Danny. "You're the FBI agent she was talking about and you're the man she started seeing. You're the reason she tried to leave him."

"But you wouldn't let her leave, would you?" Danny responded without answering Jason's question.

"She finally gave in or so I thought…" Jason finished in a quiet tone.

End flashback.

"Christ!" Martin exclaimed upon hearing the details. "That's unbelievable! Her own brother? So who is it? Who's behind all this?"

Jack glanced at Danny again, and his head was still down. Taking a stack of paper from the file folder, he handed it to Martin. "Danny spent a lot of time cross-referencing connections between the Palmers and everyone who attended that party. He narrowed it down to one name and then finally got Jason Palmer to confirm it."

Martin looked at the papers that contained arrows and comments in Danny's handwriting. Finally, his eyes settled on a name that Danny had circled at the bottom of the page.

Looking back up, Martin's eyes shifted from Jack and then to Danny. Finally, he stammered, "My…my…father?"