Chapter Twenty-one: All Night Long

The hours ticked on. The promising lead had led them somewhere else when they broke into the man's apartment to find that the place had already been ransacked. Frustrated, Jack tried to hang out to the remnants of his cool but it was slipping away. He felt like they were so close to getting Martin back, that he was just within reach. After searching frantically through the apartment Sam had called out that she found something that might prove to be important. Stuffed in the garbage bin in the bathroom with a bunch on nonsense stuff she'd found a receipt. They'd been able to locate a specific store thanks to the number printed upon the piece of white paper. In a new neighborhood almost clear cross town they began to look for buildings that match the description given to them by the lawyer. With luck it happened to be the fourth building they checked.

Walking into the place Jack was surprised that the landlord hadn't been brought up on charges of some sort because the place truly was a dump. There were leaks in the ceiling most likely caused by faulty pipes and the floor felt weak. He was worried that some of his guys in heavier gear might actually fall through. The wallpaper, where there was any, was peeling and the entire building reeked of rotting wood and moldy carpet. One of the members of the SWAT team remarked that the building was a health hazard and that by all rights no one should have to live here. That wasn't really Jack's concern but he figured it wouldn't hurt to put in a call to the proper authorities once they'd retrieved Martin. A slum-lord clearly owned the place. He just hoped that the simple fact that the place was a dump would help him in the long run. Any apartments that had been lived in but weren't currently occupied probably wouldn't have been cleaned yet; that meant a plethora of evidence could be awaiting them on one of the higher levels.

Jack pulled out his cell phone and made a quick call back to the office where he knew Danny was waiting anxiously along with others. He asked the lawyer to describe the place he'd been held once again, trying to gauge exactly what floor they were looking for. A plain clothes officer said he would have a walk around the building to see if he could spot the broken window. Jack knew that they would have to check the basement but he wanted to locate the apartment before splitting the team. He'd go to the basement while Sam headed up. While they waited for the officer to come back he thought about Martin, about how he had to be feeling. After everything that had happened he wasn't sure what this would do to his fellow agent.

The shooting had nearly killed him. He'd flat-lined once on the way to the hospital and had been close to doing it again while on the operating table. The pain sent him down the dark and dangerous road of addiction. But he fought through that, he got over the need to pop pills. That meant that he was strong, but Jack already knew that. Why else would the younger man get himself arrested so that he could look for his lover by himself and under the radar of the law? Jack had to admit that it was actually a smart move, a well executed plan. If only he had had a partner, someone inside that knew what he was doing. They could have prevented or at least stopped the attack in the alley and then Martin wouldn't be missing.

He'd learned a long time ago that life was full of could haves, would haves, and should haves; the past couldn't be changed.

The officer came back, reporting that the only broken window he could detect, that was not completely broken, was on the fourth floor. When Jack relayed his plan he let the head of the SWAT team decide how his unit was going to be split. Before they parted company Jack made sure to give Sam's hand a reassuring squeeze. How she took it he probably wouldn't ever know but he hoped that she realized he still loved her. Even after the years that had passed.

--

Up in the apartment they found food wrappers and an old television. The place smelled like piss and other unpleasant things. Two crates had been set near a table where a deck of cards still sat. Clearly someone had been in the apartment not that long ago. They weren't there now, though. The place was cleared and that made Sam's heart ache a little more as she felt the anxiety set in. Why was it that no matter how many steps forward they took they were always a step behind?

Shaking her head she walked into the only bedroom, the place that clearly had been the holding cell for Danny. Walking toward the broken window she noticed a pool of blood in the corner. Pulling a flashlight out of her pocket she crouched down to shine the light on the dark pool. It was still relatively fresh.

That meant that someone had been here not too long ago.

Someone bleeding.

She already knew that it was Martin but at least they were closing in on him and his captors.

--

Down in the dark, dank basement they found washers and dryers that looked like they had stopped working decades ago. There was something in the corner that resemble the decaying remains of a small animal; though Jack couldn't be sure since there wasn't enough of it left to make an identification. It didn't take them long to find the small store units that Danny had described. Each door was broken open, not that it was hard since none of them locked, and the small places searched. Nothing was turned up.

Jack was about to give up when he noticed something on the floor near one of the washers. With help from a flashlight he was able to make out what appeared to be fresh blood. Creeping closer to the washer he watched as a form came into view; a form that eventually revealed itself to be a pair of feet. Feeling dread in the pit of his stomach he kept going, taking his time in approaching the figure in case it wasn't Martin but some armed lunatic. He could feel one of the SWAT members behind him, comforted at having back-up. When it was evident that the person behind the washer was dead Jack had some of the guys move the ugly yellow device.

He let out a sigh of relief when he got a look at the dead man's face and it didn't belong to Martin. It belonged to the man they'd been looking for, the one that popped up in his search. The only remorse Jack had for him was the simple fact that he couldn't ask the bastard about Martin. Otherwise, he didn't care the man was dead.

--

Night had fallen a few hours ago and Danny spent most of that time pacing the office that Martin worked in. He'd never been to the FBI building before, though the place was intriguing he couldn't stop to enjoy it. All he could think about was Martin. He wanted his lover back. He didn't want to be standing in some foreign office with a person he'd only heard of Martin talk about. At that precise moment he would have given anything to be sitting on the couch in Martin's apartment watching a game or just talking in the silence. He hadn't been aware that when he fell in love with the Federal agent that he was going to fall so hard. Now…he wanted someone to pick up the pieces of his heart and put them back together. The only person that could do that was missing. He felt numb, a growing void in his chest that threatened to take away his breath and strangle him. That's why he kept pacing; to make sure that he was still alive, to reassure himself that he would be there to greet Martin when they finally brought him back.

He heard the distinct click of heels on a tiled floor and turned as Vivian came up to him. He couldn't read the expression on her face. That scared him. "What, what's wrong? Did they…"

"They've searched the building," she told him. "A body was found but it turned out to belong to one of the kidnappers, not Martin. There's blood but they're thinking, hoping that it belongs to the dead man."

"Why aren't they sure? Where's Martin?" he asked, panic creeping in.

She shrugged and offered him a sad smile. "I can't honestly tell you. Jack says it looks like he may have fought with them, tried to make a break for it."

"So he could be anywhere?"

"Trust me, Mr. Taylor, if he's free he will come here, injured or not. He knows that we're looking for him and this is the safest place for him to be. Don't worry. We're going to find him. And if I've learned anything over the last year it's that Martin is one hell of a fighter."