A/N: Lots happening in this chapter so put your seatbelt on. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me to continue with this story. We're close to the end and I'd never have been able to complete it so quickly without your kind and encouraging words.

The Search For Marco-11

Kelly Brackett looked at the assortment of professionals now gathered in his office. After much deliberation, Heather Dawson consented for him to release details about her situation to this group. He'd watched the expressions on their faces rise from concern to frustration to a peak of outright rage; then begin the emotional descent back down until the entire room was united with one goal in mind - to ensure that two mothers would never endure a permanent separation from their sons.

He hoped that together they could pull off this particular show. There would be no dress rehearsal; and they'd only get to perform it once. It had to be perfect…..for Marco's sake. But he couldn't help worrying that even a perfect performance under his expert direction may not be enough…or in time.

E!

Ms. Lopez and her family sat in her hospital room praying; Ms. Lopez holding her rosary in her hands as she softly fingered each bead. The fate of her son had always been in the hands of her heavenly Father; and as the situation came closer and closer to a resolution she was determined to storm the gates of heaven on his behalf.

Heather sat up in her bed biting her nails and watching the second hand slowly tick on her wall clock. Ten o'clock was fast approaching and with each tick her heart seemed to leap into her throat. Her head told her she was doing the right thing but her heart was still very nervous. Could she really trust her tiny babes to these people? She had decided to hold off naming them until after this whole thing was over. If she gave them names then somehow their loss would seem even more painful. She couldn't explain it but she felt it in her heart.

Phil and Benjamin, the officers who had come across the abandoned squad after Marco's kidnapping, stood in the men's locker room at Rampart Hospital.

"You've gotta be kidding me. White?" Phil couldn't believe he was about to shed his police uniform for the clothes he was now holding in his hand.

"Yep, we're in a hospital now, Phillip. Everyone wears white here EXCEPT for security staff. And today, we are NOT security alright?" Benjamin untucked his uniform shirt and pulled it off his shoulders while his partner pulled on his white pants. No one noticed that two uniformed officers entered the locker room but two orderlies came back out.

Chet, Mike and Hank sat impatiently waiting in the back of the Mayfair ambulance parked near the exit at Rampart. They scanned the parking lot not knowing exactly what they were looking for. They watched as Roy and John alternated walking back to the squad and seeming to check on supplies in the compartments before returning to the nurse's station in the emergency room. Squad 36 had been stood down for a few hours so that they'd be available for this mission. But to anyone who didn't know, it looked like any other day when the paramedics were just restocking supplies after a run.

"Guys, we're gonna find him right? I mean, he's gonna be ok right?" Chet sat on the bench in the back of the ambulance while a thin layer of sweat began to coat his face.

"We sure hope so, Kelly." Mike answered.

Cap was still lost in his thoughts of the nightmare he'd had the previous night. He was sitting in the back of this ambulance with two of the men he'd watched try to kill him in his dream.

"If we don't…I'll never forgive myself." Hank really hadn't intended to say that out loud but he had and both his men had heard it.

"Cap, it's not your fault." Mike looked over at his Captain with deep concern in his crystal blue eyes.

"Yea Cap. Don't blame yourself. Hell, I've done enough of that for both of us...the last image he has of me is flipping him off." Chet was being uncharacteristically somber. He rarely allowed the other guys to see his emotional side but right now he didn't care. He'd been carrying that thought around with him since the minute he found out Marco was missing and it had tortured him relentlessly.

"Well then, I won't tell you about the dream I had last night then." Cap said staring down into the floor of the ambulance. He was leaning with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him.

No one spoke again for several tense minutes.

Dixie sat at the nurse's station in the ER looking over the same chart she'd been looking over for the last fifteen minutes. Every couple of minutes she glanced up at the wall clock behind her and exhaled. Time was passing by too slowly. She then stared at the private line on the phone on her desk; almost willing the button to light up.

Teela stood sentinel at the nurse's station outside of Heather's room. Like Dixie, she was staring at the chart that had been in front of her for the last twenty minutes. She reached inside her pocket and felt Dr. Brackett's wallet then looked up again at the sound of the elevator doors opening.

Tucker Brennen exited the elevator now wearing a suit instead of the jeans and flannel shirt he'd worn when transporting Marco to his current location. He clutched his briefcase in his left hand as he knocked on Heather's room door. The action was done to make him appear more authoritative for the medical staff rather than for Heather; she was expecting him anyway.

Heather cleared her throat then answered the knock. "Come in."

Tucker walked in with a swagger and deftly placed the briefcase on Heather's bedside table. "You are truly making a wise decision, Heather. It's what's best for our sons."

Bile rose into the back of Heather's throat at the sound of the word 'our.' Huh, you're nothing but a damn sperm donor you bastard.

"Yea, I..uh…I know." Her voice was shaky as she reached out to take the pen he handed to her.

"Don't act so upset, sweetie. Think of it this way: the boys will be taken care of and you'll have your freedom back…..and so will Fireman Lopez."

Unspeakable words lodged themselves inside her throat. She wanted to spew them at him but instead she managed to accomplish some sense of self-restraint; she needed to keep him calm until Marco was found…..alive.

She watched the pen shake in her hand as she read the wording on the forms. She desperately wanted him out of her room but it was important to make this as real as possible. She forced herself to read every single word and felt the pain those words inflicted on her heart and soul. Finally through her tears, she signed the form and set the pen down.

Tucker pushed the box of tissue closer to her. Her first impulse was to take a swing at him; her second impulse was to swing at the box and knock it against the wall. She needed to release some adrenaline quickly and being unable to get out of bed without assistance gave her few options.

Tucker smiled as he tucked the signed form back into his briefcase. He reached into the pocket on the upper side of the briefcase and withdrew a long sealed envelope.

"Here's what I promised. You kept your end of the bargain and I've kept mine." He gave her a smirk then as he continued. "I'm a man of my word."

Heather reached out and accepted the proffered envelope. "How do I know he's still alive?"

Again, he smiled as he backed up toward the door. "Aww, Heather….don't tell me you don't trust me?" He dramatically blew her a kiss as he chuckled and exited.

Heather clutched her abdomen; feeling a mixture of nausea and pain in both her abdomen and in her head. She didn't have time to concern herself with how she felt. She quickly tore open the envelope and read the address typed on the paper inside.

Teela watched as the well-dressed man walked quickly out of Heather's room and turned left toward the elevator. Quickly she made her way around the nurse's station desk and walked hurriedly to the same elevator. Before she made it there she saw the door open and the gentleman step inside. Panic began to fill her until her quick thinking solved her dilemma.

"Hold the door please!" She shouted ahead as she rushed toward the closing elevator doors. Relief swept over her as she saw the gentleman place his hand between the doors causing them to reopen for her entry.

"Thank you, sir." She smiled as warmly as she could while placing her hands in her pockets.

Dixie sat staring at the phone while talking to Johnny this time while pretending to collect supplies for him in a small box. She saw the line light up that they'd both been waiting for.

"Rampart Emergency, Nurse McCall." She never changed her countenance as she scribbled down the address Heather called out to her. She repeated it back to Heather for confirmation as it was difficult to understand the now weepy young woman.

"Thank you very much." She said without emotion.

She slipped the paper into the box that was now in Johnny's firm grasp. "Here's what you need. Hurry back, Johnny."

Johnny raced down the corridor while keying up the microphone on the handy talky.

"HT 36 to Squad 36. We've got a silent alarm." The words were barely out of his mouth when Roy cranked up the squad waiting for his partner to get in.

The remainder of the 'A' shift of Station 51 grabbed onto whatever was close to them as they felt the ambulance driver shift into gear. They'd heard Johnny's transmission and knew that he had the address of Marco's alleged whereabouts. And right now they wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

The elevator doors opened into the emergency room and Tucker held the door open for the pretty young nurse to exit first. She smiled back at him and turned to her left to allow him to exit and get somewhat ahead of her. She then pulled out Dr. Brackett's wallet and bent down to the floor.

"Excuse me, sir…sir?"

Tucker turned around to see the pretty nurse who'd ridden down in the elevator with him standing back up from the floor holding a man's wallet out in front of her.

"Is this yours sir?"

"Uh, no…no it isn't." He said rather matter-of-factly; but the exchange had been seen by the orderly who stood hesitantly outside the door of the men's restroom.

Teela stopped to speak to Dixie at the nurse's station as Dr. Brackett leaned over the base station.

"I think this is yours Dr. Brackett."

"Thank you, Teela. So far so good." Kel glanced from the two nurses up to the wall clock. The three of them were watching time slowly tick by.

The squad and ambulance exited the long drive to Rampart and made a sharp right hand turn. With lights and sirens blaring the team of rescuers held their breath hoping their services would still be needed when they reached their destination.

Tucker exited the emergency room entrance oblivious to the orderly who exited behind him. Across the parking lot another orderly was waiting in an unmarked patrol car. He'd seen the squad and ambulance exit and knew his cue was coming soon. When he saw his partner exiting the hospital following closely on the heels of a very professionally dressed man he knew it was time. Phil was following the man to his car while Benjamin pretended to be searching for a parking spot. Finally, Tucker stopped at his car, unlocked it and threw the briefcase in the back seat. Phil continued walking past his target as he saw the navy blue sedan driven by his partner make the turn in his direction. Momentarily, the sedan pulled up to Phil and to anyone watching it looked like a casual conversation between co-workers taking place.

"Ok Phil, let's just pretend like I'm offering you a ride ok?"

Phil leaned his forearms on the rolled down passenger's side window of the car while casually glancing in the direction of their subject. Both men watched him pull his jacket off and throw it into the back seat and begin to loosen up his tie.

"Come on jackass, leave the tie on…..we can use it to hang you with." Phil chuckled at Ben's comment and as soon as they saw Tucker's brake lights come on, Phil cordially accepted the ride being offered to him by his partner and the two law enforcement officers began tailing their suspect while relaying his whereabouts to the other unmarked cars in the area. Tucker Brennen would not get away and the two officers hoped that if the crew of station 51 didn't find their missing comrade at their destination that Tucker Brennen would lead them to him. Either way, he was going down in just a few minutes.

"Come on fellas." Dixie said out loud as Teela and Kel agreed silently.

"Any minute. They should be there any minute." Kel answered and he and Dix exchanged worried looks; both thinking what neither one would allow themselves to verbalize.

Teela had worked in the ER enough to know that the team of Roy DeSoto and John Gage were one of the best in the county. With the assistance of their Captain, engineer and other lineman currently in the back of the ambulance, they'd make quick work of locating Marco and bringing him in…if he was in fact where he was reported to be…and if there was anything that could be done for him now.

Kel felt his stomach drop to his knees as the base station suddenly came to life.

"Rampart, this is Squad 36. How do you read?"