Chapter Twenty: Tattoos and Scars
With the co-operation of the bartender things started to happen at a fast rate. Jack learned what exactly went down that night, the things that Rafi forgot to mention because he didn't want, didn't think they were important, or because he just couldn't remember them. The bartender told him about seeing Martin and knowing right away that he didn't belong there. When asked how he knew the guy explained that the Martin carried himself, the way he looked around the bar; all were telling signs that he wasn't used to being in such a hell hole of a place. The bartender also pointed out that he watched Martin. Though he had ordered a beer he never once actually drank it; just brought the bottle to his lips a few time to give the allusion that he was enjoying it. Hearing that made Jack feel slightly better; Martin hadn't been under the influence of alcohol. There was hope that he managed to co-operate with his captors since he still had his wits about him.
When he pushed the bartender for a description of the guy who approached Rafi and Martin the guy faltered. During the course of the interview he'd grown more and more uneasy. Probably because there were patrons in the bar, watching him, noticing that he was talking to the FBI. Jack noted that the uniformed officers had stuck around. He mentally thanked them for being there because he hadn't been smart enough to bring his own back-up and though he had his gun, knowing that he wasn't the only authority figure in the bar did make things easier on him. He suggested that the bartender call in his replacement and come down to the office. The guy looked around, commenting on how much he was going to miss the place but that he'd been looking for a reason to quit anyway. When asked why he'd said that he was quick to explain that if he came back after the interview that he was likely to get his ass kicked for squealing. Maybe when he was younger that would have been fine, he would have stood his own. Now age was getting the best of him and he couldn't handle a beating.
They only had to wait fifteen minutes for the replacement bartender to arrive. Then they were all heading down to the office. Danny had become oddly quiet but Jack could tell that it was only a matter of time before something happened. He could feel the tension and the worry building in the air. Before too long Danny was going to fall apart. They had to get a lead soon or he was going to have more than Victor to worry about. He knew a lot about the young lawyer from researching files while trying to locate him but they hadn't really spoken that much, hadn't really gotten the chance to connect. Still he felt like he'd known Danny all his life and the idea of letting him down didn't sit well with him. The simple fact that he felt this way about the lawyer made it easier for him to understand why Martin loved him. There was something about Danny, something he couldn't quite put his finger on that made him easily likeable. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he got out of a shitty life with his humanity intact.
Elena and Vivian were waiting for them back at the office. He had the two of them sit in the office with Danny, mentioning to Vivian that she had to keep him calm, talk to him about his job or her child, anything to keep him from breaking down. Meanwhile he directed their informant, for that was what they guy had become, into one of the interrogation rooms. His main priority was to locate Martin but that didn't mean he'd lost hope that the guy would give up even more information, maybe on some cases that had run cold over the years. And if the guy decided not to roll over, as long as they found Martin he could care less.
The bartender began to give him a very descriptive rundown of the guy that had approached Rafi and Martin, even down to the tattoo on the guy's left shoulder and the nasty scar that ran over one eye. Jack made sure that he got down every last detail, not missing a thing because he knew that he couldn't afford to. Then the balding bartender surprised him uttering a name, then explaining that it was only an alias, not a real name. Jack felt like he'd finally hit the jackpot. He could run the alias through the crime database and something would surely pop-up. Normal people didn't need to come up with an alias. He told the guy to sit tight, that someone would be with him shortly to talk. Out in the office he went straight to one of the computers and typed in the name, mentioning to Elena that he wanted her to have a word with their bartender, see if he was interested in giving up any more information on other things he might have witnessed.
One glance at Danny told him that the lawyer was just barely hanging on.
Out of nowhere he found himself wondering if he had ever loved someone as much as Danny surely loved Martin. Of course he had. Sam. He'd loved her so much that he forgot about the vows he took, forgot about his wife and the family he had at home. She had taken center stage in his world and even after they split he found himself thinking of her in his downtime. But he hadn't made a move. Part of him had been hoping that she would when his wife divorced him and left. But she hadn't. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe she hadn't felt the same way he had. Sometimes it was best to leave the past in the past, where it belonged.
"Bingo," he said when a picture popped on the screen with a name. He'd finally found the man they were looking for. Now it was time to bring in the big guns, the SWAT Team and make sure that they had a sniper on board. He was not going to let this slip by him. They were going to get Martin back. And if it meant that some weasel criminal asshole had to die in order for it to happen, he didn't care. Martin was more important. There were people that needed him. Danny needed him.