Chapter 10

Tuesday

There is some serious creative license taken here, but know it was done to keep our favorite team members in the picture. I also changed the names of victims and witnesses…

Levi woke his mistress and Jack by jumping on them, sharing licks on each of their faces. Jack laughed, roughing Levi about the ears and snout. Sue didn't think it was as much fun as Jack seemed to.

"Come on boy. You need to go out for a bit?" Levi just sat. "Hmmm, hungry?" Levi's head twitched, his ears perked up a bit. "Hungry, is that is? You're hungry?" Levi barked and jumped up heading toward the kitchen. "Wow, smart dog." Jack observed more to himself than anyone else.

"Yes, he is. He's a fast learner." Sue said smiling as she gathered her clothes and made her way in for a shower. Jack made his way to the kitchen and opened a can of dog food, filled the dry and the water bowl for him before patting him on the head.

"Thanks Buddy, you got me out of one sticky situation back there…" He said softly, noticing Tara coming into ear shot. "Morning." Jack said to Tara as she walked into the kitchen, dressed and ready to face the day.

"Morning!" She answered back. Jack poured a coffee, offering it to Tara. "Thanks." She said, adding cream and sugar to her liking. "Umm, if I may say so? I'm glad you finally made your move with Sue. We were wondering if that would ever happen." Tara said in a low tone, checking to be sure Sue wasn't within lip reading distance.

"What!?" Jack choked out as he sipped his coffee, spilling it all over the counter. "Move? On Sue?" He asked.

"Well, you weren't on the couch when I got up this morning… and you did just come out of Sue's room…" Tara hinted.

"Uhh…" Jack stumbled over his words. "No, Tara, you made the wrong assumption." Jack said his cheeks a dark shade of crimson.

"Did I?" She asked teasingly. "I don't think so…" She pushed, teasing him more, enjoying his squirming.

"Yes. I did not make a move on Sue last night." He protested.

"I woke up and she was crying. I went to see if she was alright, and she asked me to stay with her." Jack explained. He hadn't realized how lame that excuse sounded until he actually said it out loud. Jack looked at her as seriously as he could, and continued. "I guess everything from yesterday shook her up pretty badly, and she needed a friend." Jack said.

"Well, that's too bad. You should have made a move on her!" Tara scolded. "But, speaking of yesterday, we have a terror cell to track down." She said, taking one last gulp of her coffee and heading for the door. "I'll meet you guys over there." She said as the door latched closed behind her.

Sue came out of the bathroom just as the door closed. "Tara leave for the office?" She asked. Jack shook his head. "We should go soon too." Sue said pushing Jack to hurry.

"It won't take me long." Jack said.

Twenty minutes later, they were headed to the office, Jack was texting Bobby.

"Everything OK?" Sue asked.

"Yeah, I asked him to overnight me some clothes! I need to go to the store though. I can't wear the same clothes again tomorrow." He said, pulling down his shirt, noting it's the same clothes he wore the day before. Sue smiled as they walked.

The day was spent going over video tape, personal photo's that people were sending into the FBI website. They poured over security video, watching every detail.

Sue noticed lots of bags, back packs, and diaper bags. There really weren't many odd looking packages being carried around. There was a call made to the office that one of the victims wanted to talk to an agent, he might have seen something.

Sue and Jack were chosen to speak with one of the men who was a double amputee because of his injuries he'd suffered in the bombing. They flashed their badges and entered the sterile facility. In the corner of the room the bed was propped up and lying in it was a young man, his eyes closed. Sue noticed right away that the bottom half of his bed was empty- his legs ended at his knees.

There was a nurse standing over his bed adjusting his IV's, pushing pain meds, as well as other medications that would help him heal. The nurse smiled at them, but continued to work. The pair approached the bed.

"Excuse me?" Jack asked the nurse, flashing his trademark dimples.

"Yes?" She answered, not looking at him.

"Is he awake? We're from the FBI and were told he had some information for us." Jack pushed.

"He's been in and out. I'm not sure what he's going to give you though, he's been pretty out of it from the drugs we're giving him." She explained. Just then the young man's eyes fluttered open, and quickly drifted closed again. It was obvious he was desperately trying to chase away the haziness in his head. He held up a hand, drawing them nearer to him.

"Mr. Monroe?" Sue began. "My name is Sue Thomas, and this is Jack Hudson. We're with the FBI. Your brother called and said you might have some information for us?" She asked as softly and gently as she could. He slowly opened his eyes once more and nodded as he did. His eyes stretched wide. It was clear he was trying desperately to focus.

"I…I think I saw…" His eyes closed again. He shook his head once more and started over. "I might have seen him…. The guy with the bomb." He stumbled. "Young… dark hair, white hat, jeans, black jacket. He was carrying a black back pack." He said, pausing to gather his thoughts and strength. Black back pack… I saw him near me, couple feet away. Seemed anxious, excited." He continued. "He put the pack on the ground, against the tree near us… I turned back to the race… next thing I remember all hell broke loose, and I was being carried to a wheel chair and rushed here…" His voice drifted off.

Sue's eyes opened wide and she looked at Jack. She gently pressed her hand against his. "Michael?" She said. "Are you sure about this?" he nodded. "Do you think you could give a description to a sketch artist?" She asked. He again nodded.

"We'll send one over soon." Jack added.

"Michael, we're going to go for now, let you get some rest. You hang in there. We'll be back later on." Sue said, patting his hand softly.

The two walked from his room, carrying what might be the first genuine clue they'd received.

"Do you think this is something solid?" Jack asked.

"More than we had 20 minutes ago. Let's go back and focus on dark haired young men wearing white hats, black jackets and carrying a black back pack." Sue said as they rushed out of the hospital.

Sue called in her information to her supervisor. Their team began filtering back through video. By the time Sue and Jack arrived back at the office, security tape was being looked at. It was an hour before Lori, a team member from the Memphis office jumped up and pointed to the big screen.

"White hat, black coat- and he's got a back pack!" She yelled. That started a frenzy of activity. Tara instantly zoomed in on the young man, and started running him through recognition software that was used since 9/11. Sue and Jack worked feverishly trying to find more footage of this man. Tara focused on the security cameras in the general area he was seen, near where the bomb had exploded. They spotted him walking around a corner nearby, and in front of several businesses along the parade route. In every one of the sightings, he was behind another man, slightly older. The task force decided to link them together for the sake of elimination.

It was an hour later they'd managed to find a total of 6 people carrying black back packs, and 3 others who had dark blue that could be mistaken for black. Of those, only one other had on a white hat. None wore a black jacket. The team would work to eliminate every possible suspect.

The technology the FBI had on hand could filter every aspect of a piece of video. It would categorize each detail, such as color hats, same car in more than one image, and color of clothing. It would even pick up on small details, like someone's gate, or height, or if they seemed to always be beside the same person. The categories could then be compared and linked with the common factors they were looking for.

Hours passed but they were no closer to putting a name to this possible suspect. Sue got Tara and Jack's attention asking if they were hungry. Both laughed and agreed food was a must. Tara called in an order of take-out Chinese. The three decided to eat out under a tree close to the building and compare notes. Tara took her own mental notes to send back to Lucy on the progress on the Sue and Jack front. It was so obvious to the world around them; she had to wonder if they felt what the rest of the world saw. She thought, they must, but have they acknowledged it to each other, or even admitted it to themselves. She smiled and excused herself, saying she wanted to make a phone call before going back to the grind.

When Tara got onto the elevator, she took out her phone and texted Lucy.

"Looking good for J/S… not sure they know it yet though! I'll keep you up on the deets!" she smiled, closing the phone just as the elevator doors opened.

"I have to get to a store today, want to tag along?" Jack asked.

"You want me, to go shopping, with you?" Sue teased. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm sure. I need a few things. Bobby's sending me a few suits, but that won't be here til tomorrow at some point. I need other things, such as underwear, deodorant, shampoo." Jack started listing his needs list.

"A razor…" Sue said, lifting her hand to his cheek, rubbing it softly. The instant her hand touched his rough stubble, they felt it. They felt what everyone had always seen. Sue quickly pulled her hand away, but Jack caught it, and entwined his fingers with hers. His eyes locked on hers as he raised his free hand to brush a stray hair from her face, dragging the back of his fingers along her cheek. Her breath was hesitant; her cheeks stained a deep pink. Slowly Jack began to close the space between them, until both their cell phones began buzzing and beeping for them to come back to the office. Sue smiled, relieved, yet upset for the interruption once again.

"One of these day, I'm going to actually shut this thing off when I leave the office!" Jack said, obviously aggravated.

The team spent more hours poring over tips, video, talking to witnesses and victims. Most of the victims and their friends and family members were oblivious to their surroundings. Their main focus was on the race, and where their loved one was and what their time would be. No one thought the person next to them could be trying to kill them.

About 8:00 Jack asked if Sue could escort him, since he had no idea where he was headed, to the local Target for a few necessaries. The supervisor agreed he didn't want to see Jack in those clothes again tomorrow, even if he had to wear jeans.

The pair quickly picked out a pair of jeans, khaki's and a sweater, then some much needed under clothes. A quick jot up the aisle to HBA led them to the last of what Jack needed. Sue added a tooth brush and a brush.

"You're welcome to use my shampoo, but not my tooth brush." she teased. Jack leaned over for shaving cream, soap and finally razors. "Hmm, I was just getting used to this look." She said smiling shyly at him. Jack laughed in spite of himself.

"Somehow I don't think the Bureau would like it so much in a day or two." Jack said realistically. I really wish I wasn't here on business." He said.

"Me too." Sue admitted. "I uh, have tickets for us this weekend, but it's not looking like we're going to be able to use them…" She said, sounding disappointed.

"Tickets?" He asked.

"Yeah. I thought I'd ask you up this weekend, and take you to a baseball game Friday night and maybe a hockey game on Saturday." She answered.

"Wow… It's too bad, that sounds like fun." Jack admitted. "Maybe you can exchange them?" He suggested.

"Doubt it. Maybe we can hope they'll cancel and I can at least get my money back?" Sue teased.

"Or… Maybe, you can see if someone wants to buy them?" Jack suggested. Jack made one last stop in the fresh fruit section of the store, then into the frozen goods. He picked up a few things to eat for the three of them.

"Come on… we should get back." He said, putting his hand on the small of her back as they walked.

Once again, it was nearly midnight before the threesome left for some much needed sleep. Tara said her farewell's and headed right to bed.

"I think I'm going to shower and shave, then head to sleep." Jack said as he walked past Sue. "Good night." He said before closing the door.

"Night." Sue said. She felt her heart sink in her chest as she closed the door to her own bedroom for the night.