Chapter 11

Christie Cooper paced up and down the small, confined space the foursome had been invited to wait in while Mr. 'Didn't give a shit' went off to find one of the building's maintenance staff. Sara would have gladly paced alongside her if only there'd been enough room to do so. As the hours passed, she realized there was no logical explanation as to why Neal hadn't been in touch - unless, he couldn't and that was a very scary thought.

There had been no reports of a pregnant woman or an unidentified man being brought in to any of the hospitals so where could they possibly be?

'Why don't we split up?' Sara heard Peter say to Jones. 'We'll do a quick visual of each of the floors and make our way slowly up to the 15th.'

Jones nodded and for the first time Sara noticed even he was looking worried. FBI agents didn't just vanish into thin air while they were out on routine cases - whatever was keeping Diana and Neal from checking in had to be serious although for the time being, it remained a mystery.

'Did you notify the reception desk that you called for a bus?' Peter asked.

'Yup. The paramedics are on their way and they'll stand by, just in case' Jones responded.

Before Sara could wrap her mind around why they might need an ambulance, the door to the small room opened and Mr. Banks stood with a young man in a maintenance uniform wearing a name tag announcing to the whole wide world that his name was 'Ted'.

'This is Ted' Banks announced 'and he'll escort you through the building although I can assure you, this is a totally useless exercise. I think you'll find your people haven't been in this building since earlier this morning.'

Peter gave the man a condescending smile as he spoke. 'Why don't you leave that for the experts to determine' he said as the bank manager took his leave, entrusting the FBI agents to the young man.

It turned out Ted was the low man on the totem pole and when staff had been sent home, he'd drawn the short straw and was the only remaining person on the premises to see to the building until normal activities resumed, presumably the next morning.

The two women followed Peter and Jones out of the waiting area towards the bank of six elevators as Peter pointed in that direction.

'What's up with the elevators?' he asked of the young man.

'They're out of order. Not even the emergency system kicked in when the power went out. Usually, the elevators automatically go down to the first floor during a power outage but the earthquake probably caused some damage because they just stopped working. The company is sending someone over to figure out what the problem is.'

'What about the evacuation?' Jones asked as they continued towards one of the stairwells.

'Everybody was accounted for when they left through the security gate on the first floor. The power was on auxiliary down there and all the staff were checked out. Nobody was left behind.'

Peter frowned. 'What about any guests that might have been in the building?' he asked.

Poor Ted was clearly out of his depth. 'Sorry, I don't know anything about that.'

They'd made it to the second floor and Peter opened the door as Sara stepped in, followed by the young man.

'You take the third and we'll alternate' Peter instructed Jones. 'Check in with me after each floor.'

'Got it' Jones said as he and Christie disappeared up the staircase.

WCWCWC

Neal's eyes glazed over as it suddenly got very quiet - except for Diana's soft whimpering as she momentarily stopped pushing in order to catch her breath. He could hear Dr. Joanne Cooper's voice echoing, deep in the recesses of his mind.

'Very good, Sara. Look in the mirror, there's the top of the head, see? Oh, she's got her daddy's hair' Dr. Cooper added, by way of incentive to keep Sara's spirits up. 'I need you to go again, Sara. This is the hardest part, I promise.'

Sara nodded and sat up again, groaning and letting out this guttural noise the likes of which Neal had never heard before. She pushed for about thirty seconds then stopped as Dr. Cooper instructed her to take a breath. Neal could see the doctor glancing repeatedly at the monitor that measured the baby's heart rate and blood flow. Why was she checking that thing constantly, he wondered.

It became apparent there was some sort of problem when Dr. Cooper spoke. 'Sara, I'm going to need you to push some more, your baby needs more oxygen and we need to get her out as fast as we can, okay?'

'What?' said Sara alarmed and seemingly disoriented.

'It's okay. Let's just do what the doctor said. You can do this baby, come on, I'll push with you – let's take a deep breath' said Neal with a calmness that belied his inner turmoil.

Neal's gentle tone of voice seemed to have a calming effect on Sara and she took a giant breath of air as she mimicked him and began to push with all her might.

'That was a good one, Diana' Neal said, squeezing her hand.

The baby's head was beginning to crown and Neal could see dark hair beginning to peek out. 'You're doing great; I can see the top of the head.'

Diana gave him a baleful look as she rolled her eyes; he was so transparent and yet in that moment she appreciated his attempts at keeping her from totally losing it. She sat up with her back against the wall, her breathing shallow as she took a break; suddenly, she understood why it was called labor.

Neal joined her, moving up to sit next to her; he'd been alternating between sitting up with her and checking on her progress, conscious that things could change quickly between pushes. Without the benefit of a doctor or fancy monitors, all he could do was hope that her labor was progressing normally and that the baby would arrive safely - and soon.

'So, you never told me what names you picked if it's a girl' he said, trying to keep her focussed on the positive.

Diana let her head fall back as she took a long, cleansing breath. 'Actually, we only have one name on the list for a girl - Olivia.'

'That's a great name' Neal said. 'Hope's best friend is an Olivia.'

His mind wandered momentarily to his daughter and his baby boy - hopefully, they were both safe, back at home with Sara. He'd have a hell of a story to tell when he finally made it back home and he could only imagine the teasing - Sara would probably suggest he rethink his career path and go to medical school.

He smiled at the wayward thought and glanced over at Diana, noticing her face beginning to contort as she prepared to push again, responding to her body's demands and the baby - who was most definitely the one in charge.

'Alright, one more time' Neal said, feeling his breathing accelerating in time with Diana's. 'I'll count to thirty, okay? Let's go, Diana. One, two, three, four, five…'

Neal watched Diana's face, practically unrecognizable as she panted through the push, Neal gasping along with her as he counted down. 'Twenty, twenty one, twenty two…'

Diana let out a primal scream as she finished pushing and Neal checked again, not noticing much in the way of progress, yet unwilling to share that information with the mom-to-be, for fear he might dishearten her. She'd been pushing for close to twenty minutes now and he didn't know how long was too long; at what point did it become crucial to get the baby out.

'Great job!' he said as he slid over to sit next to her. 'You are so amazing, Diana - do you know that?'

'Shut up, Caffrey!' she responded affectionately.

'You know, I'm really glad this motherhood thing isn't making you all warm and fuzzy' he said with a soft laugh. 'I really wouldn't know how to deal with it.'

Diana managed a smile as she winced in pain. 'Don't want… want to… lose my reputation' she murmured as Neal laughed.

'There's no danger of that. You do know what everybody calls you behind your back, don't you?' Neal asked, referring to her nickname of 'Badass Berrigan'.

'Who do you think started calling me that in the first place' she moaned mischievously as Neal laughed. He knew all about the importance of shameless self-promotion; after all, he'd been the sole architect of his embellished reputation for years.

The mood changed instantly as Diana let out a couple of expletives and sat up again.

'Here we go again' Neal said, grabbing for her hand.

WCWCWC

The second floor of the National Bank Building consisted of a large open space with cubicles and offices lining the outside of the perimeter. Peter, Sara and young Ted split up and began searching the open space, calling out Neal and Diana's names as they checked in each of the offices and in every one of the cubicles. It would no doubt be a long, frustrating exercise but if Neal and Diana had taken refuge somewhere in the building during the earthquake and had been hurt somehow, they could be just about anywhere and Peter didn't want to leave any stone unturned.

Truth was, Peter had no other leads and his gut was screaming that his agent and his best friend were somewhere nearby. Sara had just rejoined him by the elevator bank when Peter's phone rang.

'All clear on the third floor' Jones announced. 'Moving up to five.'

'Copy that' Sara heard Peter answer as they returned to the stairwell and continued their way up.

Sara could feel her breathing falter; the more time passed, the more worried she became. What could possibly have happened to the two of them in the middle of Manhattan, in broad daylight? If either of them was hurt or injured, the other would be able to go for help - what were the odds that they were both incapacitated… unless they'd been kidnapped or… she didn't even want to think about it.

She followed Peter and Ted up the stairwell, skipping the third floor and going directly up the fourth. It was going to be a long climb all the way up to the 15th floor and she braced herself for more of the same.

WCWCWC

Clinton Jones and Christie Cooper had followed a similar path as they'd checked out the third floor which, unbeknownst to them, was almost identical to the one Peter and Sara had been checking right below them. The offices were deserted and silent, no sign of life as they'd searched high and low for some sign of Diana and Neal.

Jones could sense the anxiety in the young doctor, and with good reason. Here was Diana, on some routine case, disappearing off the grid just as she was about to give birth. Hell, even he was worried about his good friend and colleague as he tried to discount all the conspiracy theories that were beginning to sprout in his overactive imagination.

'You okay?' he asked Christie as they returned to the stairwell on their way up to the fifth floor.

'No' she responded honestly. 'But I will be, once we find them.'

Jones led the way and they arrived on the fifth floor, noticing that the layout was completely different from the previous floor they'd visited. This one consisted of closed spaces, some meeting rooms, closed offices and a large break room, complete with a refrigerator, microwave and countless tables and chairs, enough to accommodate a hundred or so employees.

The two of them worked mostly in silence, calling out for Diana and Neal and poking around any hidden spaces where the two might have taken refuge. It took a little more than ten minutes to cover the whole floor and they were making their way back to the stairwell through the floor's lobby when Christie stopped dead in her tracks.

'What's that?' she said as she pointed to the middle elevator on the south side of the building.

Jones took a few steps to investigate. Something was definitely sticking out of the bottom of the elevator door - fabric of some sort and he bent down to take a better look. He tugged gently at the small piece of material but it was firmly stuck between the doors. Upon closer examination, he recognized it for what it was, a necktie although he could only see a very small part of it.

Clinton grabbed for his phone, waiting for Peter's voice to come on the line.

'Peter, come up to the fifth floor. I'm not sure - but we might have something.'

TBC