Author's Notes: Happy New Year:-D

That's all I have to say this time, except for: Enjoy the story! ;-)

X.

"How could anybody have come into your room without you hearing them?" Sam asked as she settled her herself into the driver's seat of their car.

"I don't know…" Danny mumbled. He was sitting in the passenger seat – completely dressed now, thankfully! – his head resting against the window and his eyes closed. He looked exhausted.

"You didn't get much sleep last night, did you?" Sam asked with sympathy. She knew that he had probably spent most of the night looking through those magazines.

She didn't get an answer. Danny just shrugged and Sam continued: "But somebody must have watched you, I mean us, the whole time… or else, they wouldn't have managed to steal those magazines from your room during the short time you were sleeping."

Danny opened his eyes and looked at her, his expression a bit annoyed, although Sam couldn't tell if he was annoyed by her talking or the fact that he felt guilty for what had happened in the night. Finally he said: "I slept about two and a half hours; that's more than enough time to go in there and get those damn magazines." His tone made it clear that he was really pissed off.

"Okay, fine! Whatever." Sam raised her hands and shrugged. "This is getting a little bit scary now… don't you think?"

"U – huh", Danny mumbled and closed his eyes again.

Sam sighed. "Okay, let's get going. We're late, anyway – it's almost six."

Five minutes into their journey Sam decided that they were not so late that they didn't have time to grab a coffee. They were driving past a little coffee shop and it looked inviting enough to Sam, so she pulled over. She took a look at Danny, but he was obviously asleep – and he still was when Sam returned to the car a couple of minutes later with a huge plastic cup of coffee and donuts for both of them. He didn't wake as she slipped back into the car and hastily started to drink her too hot coffee.

The drive back to New York was boring; Danny was still dosing in the passenger seat and hadn't stirred since they had left Philadelphia, and there wasn't much she could do except worry about what danger they might be in and that was something she didn't want to think about. She turned on the radio in an attempt to take her mind from these thoughts, and reached for the food.

Jack had called at around seven asking where they were. She had told him that they were going to be on time but that she was driving and couldn't speak. Danny hadn't wished to speak to their boss either; when he had heard Sam talking to Jack on the phone he had merely groaned without even bothering to open his eyes.

They were now about half an hour away from the office and Sam checked the time to see that they were probably going to make it in time, which was good, considering that the relationship between Jack and Danny was strained to say the least.

She was about to try and wake Danny up when his cell phone started to ring and did the job for her. Danny took a long time to fish the phone from the pocket of his coat; he looked at it and raised his eyebrows, surprised.

"Martin. Hi… Well, that's some news… Yeah, I think I've heard the name before… where does he live?… Shit; you're telling me that now?… Yes… Well, I bet Jack's gonna love it… Nah, never mind, its not your fault. Thanks anyway man, I really appreciate it." Danny ended the call and put the phone back into his pocket; then he turned to Sam, suddenly wide awake and excited. "That was Martin", he informed her.

"I gathered. What did he want?"

Danny sighed, looking half guilty, half amused. "I'm afraid I got some bad news for you, or rather for Jack."

Sam was confused. She shook her head and was about to ask, but Danny was quicker:

"Turn around."

"What?"

"Turn the car around, we have to go back to Philly", Danny ordered while dialling a number on his cell phone.

"Who're you calling?"

Danny grinned. "Our new friend; Det. Scott Valens."

………………

Jack looked at his watch and sighed. Hadn't Sam said that they would be back in time? It was five past eight now and luckily Olczyk hadn't arrived yet, but neither had Danny or Sam. Deciding that he had waited long enough Jack picked up the phone and dialled Sam's number. He couldn't even have said why he was calling her when it was Danny he was waiting for but something told him that he would be more successful speaking to Sam.

There was something about this whole thing that was making Danny behave irrationally. He had no idea whether it was still some after effect of the shooting he had been involved in – although Jack found that a little hard to believe – or if it was because of who was missing.

However, Jack was happy to know that Sam was with Danny so she could keep him from doing something stupid.

And maybe get him into the office some time soon! he thought.

"Spade."

"Sam, where the hell are you?"

There was a long silence then he heard a deep sigh at the other end of the line.

"Sam?"

"You're not gonna like this." Sam's sounded hesitant. "Jack, we were almost there when Martin called and… well, we think we might know where she is."

"Who?"

"Well, Lilly Rush of course." Sam paused, then she added: "Look, I tried to talk some sense into Danny and tell him we could send somebody there but he wouldn't listen… which I can understand by the way, since he and…

"Sam, you're making me nervous", Jack interrupted Sam's excited explanation. "Now, where are you?"

"We're on our way back to Philly."

"What? What the hell…? Sam!"

"I know. But Martin called. He spoke to his father on the phone and his father said that he knows somebody who knows this van Snyder, and Danny read an article last night about that doctor, and the same person Martin spoke about was mentioned in it, too. And I bet if you call that Detective what's-his-name, in Canada, he'll tell you who gave the order to drop the investigation on that missing woman and…"

"Sam, hold on. Who is it?"

"Can't say yet. We need to be sure. Jack, please…"

Shaking his head although Sam couldn't see Jack asked: "What am I supposed to tell Olczyk? He'll be here in… Damn… he is here."

"Just tell him, we're stuck in traffic or think of something… please."

Jack was about to say something but his boss was already standing in the doorway, looking at him curiously. Jack moaned inwardly, but he had sent Danny and Sam out on this unofficial assignment and so he had put himself into this mess, or least it was partly his fault. Now he would have to think of something to tell the obviously suspicious Olczyk.

"Morning Jack. Where's Agent Taylor?"

………………

It was half past nine when Special Agent Dirk Shaw finally made it into the office. He was in a miserable mood; this case had so far been a series of dead ends. He was wondering why he had got the case, anyway. They had experts for missing persons cases but Shaw wasn't somebody who would complain, especially if finding a missing detective might be able to benefit his career the way he guessed it would.

If he found her.

And so far it didn't look like he would. Plus, there were those agents from New York sniffing around, although he couldn't say for sure if they still were. He had been very clear on the phone, after all. He didn't need help with this.

"Special Agent Shaw?" a thin voice asked from behind him, and he turned around to look into a pair of blue eyes that belonged to a pale young man.

"Yes, that's me", Shaw growled.

The younger man seemed uncomfortable, even more so when he said: "Agent Willis wants to see you in his office, Sir…"

"What? Now?"

"Yes, Sir…"

"Okay." He gave the other man another curious look – What's a guy like him doing working for the FBI, anyway? – and then he made his way to his boss' office. Being honest he felt uncomfortable himself now, as there was no good news he could give to his boss.

He knocked on the door.

"Come in!" a loud voice barked from inside and Shaw had to tell himself to pull himself together before he opened the door and walked in.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Yes, Agent Shaw. Sit down."

Shaw did as he was told.

"Any news on Det. Lilly Rush?"

"No Sir, not so far."

"Well then you should be happy that I've got news."

"Has she been found?"

Agent Willis shook his head. He always reminded Shaw a little bit of the actor – Bruce Willis – and not just because of the name; the appearance and even the voice was amazingly similar. "No, but it seems we have two more missing persons, and their cases seem to be related to Det Rush's."

"What? Who?"

"Special Agents Samantha Spade and Danny Taylor from the New York office. They were last seen yesterday afternoon in their office before leaving for Philadelphia and their boss claims he hasn't seen or heard from them since…"

"Excuse me Sir, did you just say they were on their way to Philadelphia?"

"That's right, Shaw."

"But I made myself very clear on the phone that I didn't want them to stick their noses into this case…"

"I know, and that's exactly what their boss, Agent Malone, has told us. Now, before you say anything, just listen to me; we now have reason to believe that Agents Spade and Taylor are somehow involved in the disappearance of Detective Rush."

Shaw opened his mouth to say something but didn't know what, and so he closed his mouth again. But Willis wasn't finished:

"Luckily for us we know what kind of car they are using and we also know the index number, and it seems that the local police have spotted their car at this address." He handed the still speechless Shaw a small piece of paper.

Shaw stared at the piece of paper and then at his bosses face. Finally he managed to speak again: "Sir, I'm on my way." He clenched his hand, the address safe inside it, and he was soon on his way back to his desk to get his gun, before he left for the address.