Sorry! I didn't get this chapter right yesterday, I'm still not too happy with it, but hey – half time's over. Thirteen days till Christmas!
Jackie watched Jamie as he left the precinct. "You'll never stop fighting, will you?"
Danny sighed. "Jackie."
"Alright, Reagan. Let's get back to work." The former detective's eyes moved to him, a little colder and somehow more distant than he remembered them.
"Amber's out, street cops are everywhere. Who's talking to Sean's teachers?"
"No one so far."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Jackie stood up and pulled her former partner out. It was obvious that she didn't feel well inside the building anymore.
The car's doors were hardly closed when Danny opened his mouth. "Just…"
Jackie shook her head. "Spare me, Reagan. I know your questions and I have no answers for you. I don't know why I'm here. I just know that if I left you now, I'd be the same kind of scary stupid crackjunkie I used to chase down once. And no, I don't know where all of this is heading to either." She sighed. "I know I wasn't fair to you, I know I should have talked more and take more time to think about everything… yeah, I admit. I did everything I used to chastise you for. I'm sorry."
She stopped at the car, waiting for Danny to unlock the door. "Do you trust me, Danny?"
Danny smiled as he heard Jackie using his first name. It was the sixth time since he knew her. Gently patting her back, he opened the door for her. "I'm glad you're here, Jackie."
Thirteen minutes later they stopped at St. Mary's primary school. A few windows were still alight – it was only half past seven, Danny realized. The day wasn't that old yet, it was just evening… for him, it felt like years. Every minute dropping away was one minute more that his little boy was alone with criminals, probably, hurt, probably…
"Don't." Jackie reached over and touched his hands clasping the wheel as if to crush it. "Nothing's proven till we see it. We'll find him."
Danny nodded obediently.
"Good" Jackie tried to smile reassuringly but Danny saw the fear and tiredness behind it. That was the bad thing about working with the same person for too long. You learned to read his mind. You stopped getting fooled by him, and sometimes – he had seen it often enough with relatives of victims – sometimes there was nothing good to find in the truth.
He followed Jackie into the school and found her arguing with the secretary. "I know about the policy for preserving data, I understand you feel like you can't give it to us, but we need the address!"
The small woman shook her head. "I'm really sorry, but Ms. Dingle hasn't done anything wrong and…"
"Oh trust me, we will find something!" Jackie snapped, "I promise you we'll find enough in this school to get a warrant to search everyone of you."
"Are you threatening me, young lady?"
Danny sighed. "Miss Everett?" He stepped closer so the woman could recognize him.
"Mr. Reagan? What's wrong?"
He took another step forward while Jackie backed away. Bad cop, good cop. Yes, she had missed it.
"Miss Everett, I'm really sorry. But my son hasn't come home from school now. I believe Ms. Dingle is the last one who talked to him, and I… please. I just want to talk to her."
"Oh my god!" Miss Everett gasped. "Which of them?"
He took a deep breath. "Sean."
His son. His son was missing. How could it be that the words still hurt that much? How could it be that the realization still made it hard to breathe, as if he heard it for the first time?
The little woman nodded. "Of course. I'll give you the address. Just… one minute. I'll be back."
