Once again thank you for all of the reviews and alerts, you helped make my day.

Here's the next installment, I hope you enjoy.

Have a great day,

Sairs

To protect innocence

Chapter 9: The hunt begins

Andy walked out to Sam's truck, two mugs of coffee, "Morning," she said as she handed him his cup of coffee before climbing into the passenger seat.

Sam looked at her; she seemed different, happier maybe.

She noticed how he was looking at her, "What?" she asked, suddenly glancing down her shirt and trousers to see if she'd spilt something.

His smile widened as he watched her check out her outfit nervously, "I just thought you looked happier today, no nightmares?"

She shook her head, "No. And for the first time in a while I actually had a good night's sleep."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Too much information, McNally."

She couldn't help blush before rolling her eyes, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Swarek!" She watched as he shook his head, "Luke and I resolved some issues."

His smile faltered, "You did?"

She nodded, "Yes. We both know where we stand now," she added before sipping some of her coffee.

"I suppose that's a good thing," Sam replied starting the engine, not sure what issues Andy and Luke had resolved, but he was pretty certain he wouldn't like the result.

Andy took the list of medical providers and gave a copy to Sam, "How do you want to split this?"

"How about I phone the top three and you phone the bottom half?" he replied glancing over the paper.

She nodded, "What exactly are we going to say?"

Just over an hour later they had almost phoned every provider on the list using the guise of trying to find a provider that was Eastern European friendly. Andy placed the receiver back in its cradle, "Well, that one sounded promising," she said.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Well the Receptionist said they did have a programme for Eastern Europeans. Their patient list includes those from Europe and Doctor Jankovic is originally from Poland," she paused and briefly chewed her bottom lip, "But I could just be grasping at straws."

Sam looked at her intently, "What does your gut say?"

"That this is worth following up," she replied quietly.

Sam smiled, "Well then, go and talk to Jo."

Andy walked over to Jo's office and knocked on her door. She waited a moment for Jo to acknowledge her; Jo looked up from the file she was studying, noticed it was Andy, smiled and gestured for her to come in.

Andy opened the door and walked in.

"Andy," Jo started, "What can I do for you?"

Andy outlined her observations and Jo listened attentively nodding at various points.

"Well," Jo began as she leaned back in her chair, placing her hands together so that her fingertips were touching, "I guess a bit of surveillance wouldn't hurt. If we gather as much intel on Doctor Jankovic we may have our first strong lead."

Andy smiled, relieved, Jo took her opinion seriously, she didn't throw her freshness back in her face like Luke had, "Thanks, Jo."

"Now why don't you and Sam take first crack at surveillance on Doctor Jankovic?"

Andy's smile widened.

"I'll get George and Tom gathering intel on Doctor Jankovic," Jo added.

"I'll go tell Sam," Andy replied as she turned to leave Jo's office.

"Good work, Andy," Jo replied, smiling as Andy glanced over her shoulder.

Andy fiddled with the now tepid cup of coffee she held in her hands, whilst she looked out of the car windshield, watching people going about their day to day business in the street outside Doctor Jankovic's office.

"McNally, put the coffee out of its misery and drink it," Sam teased.

She looked at him glaring slightly, "I was… Are stakeouts always this…" she gestured with one hand, moving it around in a circular motion, "boring?" she sighed.

Sam chuckled, "Welcome to another facet of the wonderful world of the Toronto Police Department, stakeouts are on the whole boring, sitting and watching; and watching and sitting. Of course it is less boring if the person you're sharing the car with can hold an interesting conversation."

She looked at him again, "Are you hinting that I'm not interesting company today?" knowing full well she hadn't been as chatty as she usually was. She was still unsure whether to tell him about what had happened between her and Luke, she didn't want to give him the chance to gloat, not that she was sure he would actually do that, she just didn't want to give him the chance.

Sam shook his head, "Well for someone who usually tries to bend my ear off with chatter, conversation with you today is like pulling teeth."

"Can't I just be quiet?" she asked, not looking at his face.

"You can if want, McNally. But just take note that I've noticed you don't seem quite yourself and I'm not sure whether or not I need to be worried," he replied.

She smiled noting the concern in his voice, "Nothing to be worried about, I'm just not ready to talk about it, yet."

He nodded, "Okay."

"I know you're here when I want to talk," she replied turning back to look out of the windshield.

Natalia stretched and climbed up from the chair where she had been sitting. Her back ached and waddling, which was a better description than walking, helped to ease the pain slightly.

Her baby kicked against her stomach, she automatically rested her hand against her abdomen, pressing gently back against her baby, "Shh, Little One," she said quietly.

She tensed as she heard voices outside in the hallway. She paused, listening intently; surely they weren't coming for her again, so soon. She wasn't ready and neither was her baby.

She heard a door open further down the corridor and the shuffle of feet, a woman's voice calling out, muffled; however hard Natalia tried, she couldn't hear what was being said.

The footsteps disappeared into the distance, she sighed; they weren't coming for her today. They were both safe.

Until recently she had been looking forward to the day she gave birth to her baby, but the future Jakub had promised her when she first met him didn't seem like a reality, more of a pipe dream now.

Natalia had been in that room for nearly five months. She had heard other girls, but she had never heard a baby's cry. She had wondered what had happened to the babies. What would happen to her baby? What would happen to her when she had her baby? She thought quietly.

She let her mind wander back to her doctor's appointment. Jakub had only been interested in her baby's well being, as had the Doctor. She knew enough English to know they had talked about money. They were going to sell her baby, she was sure of it. She wasn't going to let that happen if she could. She was going to fight. She looked down at her distended stomach, but how could she fight? She could hardly move. But she was determined, she was a fighter, a mother, she would die trying to protect her baby. She probably was going to die, she was resigned to that fact; she just hoped that if she had to die, then her baby might have a chance of a better life, away from Jakub.

Wiktoria sat in the back of a vehicle; the windows were blackened out so that she couldn't see out.

She had tried to ask Jakub where they were going, but he ignored her, concentrating on driving.

After what Wiktoria thought was half an hour, the vehicle stopped. She waited as Jakub got out and slowly opened her door, "Undo your belt and follow me," he barked his orders at her.

She undid her seat belt and climbed out of the car, following closely behind him. They appeared to be in a busy street, Jakub led her between two buildings. She couldn't help but glance around, taking in her surroundings, tall buildings; people walking along the sidewalk; moving about their business.

Jakub stopped at a door on the side of a building; he knocked and waited, motioning for Wiktoria to get closer.

She stepped next to him; she waited nervously wondering where he was taking her.

After a couple of minutes the door opened and Jakub gestured for Wiktoria to step inside.

She walked into a dimly lit corridor, following a woman, dressed as a nurse. Where was she and why was the woman dressed as a nurse?

Andy nudged Sam, "Look!" she nodded towards the van that had pulled up two buildings down from Doctor Jankovic's practice. "That van matches Mrs. Danziger's description of the vehicle that dumped that girl."

Sam followed her gaze; he couldn't make out the licence plate because it was covered with mud, adding to his suspicions.

They both watched carefully, seeing a man walk into the alley a pregnant woman following him, she appeared to be nervous, hesitant even, glancing around. She then followed the man into a side entrance into Doctor Jankovic's building.

"Well that didn't look too suspicious!" Andy stated sarcastically.

"Looks like we might have found a lead, McNally."

She met his gaze, "I hope so."

Sam walked along the sidewalk outside Doctor Jankovic's building, a newspaper under one arm, looking like he was strolling with a purpose. As he reached the parked van, he dropped the paper, slowly bending down to pick it up, as he did, his eyes read as much of the number plate as he could beneath the dark brown dried mud that was caked on it. Silently he repeated the numbers and letters as he walked to the end of the street, turning around the corner. As soon as he was out of sight, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, opened the messaging facility and typed in the licence plate. Completing his message he sent a copy to his phone, Andy's and Jo's.

An hour later Andy and Sam were still watching the van, waiting for its occupants to exit Doctor Jankovic's office.

"They're taking a long time in there," Andy pointed out, "I hope everything's okay."

"I'm not sure how long a standard Doctor's visit is for someone who's pregnant," Sam replied.

"Me neither, but an hour seems to be a long time, especially if you don't want people to notice."

"Hey, look," Sam nodded to the alleyway, "Look's like their visit is over. She looks okay."

Andy looked at the young woman, "Well apart from the nervous look she's got on her face."

They watched as the man pulled the woman towards the van, "He doesn't look too happy, does he?"

"No, but maybe they got into an argument, the course of true love never runs smoothly," Andy replied.

Sam smiled thinly, "That is if they are a couple, or if as we suspect she is nothing more than an incubator for the prize, that baby."

"Do we follow them?" Andy asked.

Sam shrugged his shoulders, "What evidence do we have that they're not a couple who prefer to enter the side entrance of the building rather than using the front door?"

Andy shook her head, "Nothing other than the feeling in the bottom of my stomach that, that girl is in danger and so is her baby."

"I don't know a lot about pregnant women, but she doesn't look too pregnant," Sam pointed out, "We still have time to figure out if Doctor Jankovic is involved and find her."

"But what if there are more women who are further along than she is? Maybe they don't have the time to wait for us to find out what is going on."

"Welcome to the world of police work and making hard decisions," Sam replied as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialled a number, he waited a few seconds and then spoke, "Jo, we've got a situation."

A few minutes later Sam finished his call and turned to Andy, "Jo wants us to keep focussed on Jankovic, she's got George and Tom running the partial licence plate and the photos we've taken of the woman and man. The woman's in no immediate danger and we're not even sure that the van is the one that Mrs. Danziger saw, it's just a similar make and model."

Andy sighed, "So we stay and watch and hope that we've made the right choice."

Sam nodded, "Yes, McNally, that's exactly what we do."

I hope you enjoyed ~ Probably won't get another part out until towards the end of the week.

Sairs