Chapter Twenty – Two Hours of Forever
When Munch and Fin tried Chris Shannon's house, they found that he wasn't home. Nobody had answered the door and none of the lights were on inside.
"Captain, Shannon's not here," Munch said over the phone as he watched Fin pace around near the car.
They'd circled the place and checked windows just to be sure they couldn't see anything that would give them reasonable cause to go inside. It hadn't gotten them anything. Amanda and Olivia could be inside, but there was nothing they could do about it.
"Alright. Give me his work address. We'll swing by and show his boss the sketch. If he can ID him, that plus the information we have about when he quit and what was in the letters could be enough to get us a warrant."
"You want us to just wait around here?"
"Unless you have some other idea of where he'd be, yes."
"No friends or family around here as far as we know. Boss said he was a loner."
"I'll call Cabot and have her get the paperwork started. The second we get the warrant I'll tell you."
Fin had walked back to the car while Munch was talking to Cragen. He'd gone over their file on Shannon and hurried back over. His rush caught Munch's attention, and he glanced over at Fin. A second later the file was shoved in his face, Fin's finger pointing at one line in particular. An address.
"Captain, I've got to go. There's another address in Shannon's file. Some other property that he owns. Though how the guy could manage the payments on one place let alone two with his crappy part time job I have no idea. Some people have all the luck when it comes to things like that."
"Just go check it out, John."
"Will do."
"Let's go," Fin prodded as he strode back toward the car.
"Impatience, impatience."
"With good reason. Now get in and let's go."
Munch climbed in and pulled the door shut behind him.
"Cragen's getting us our warrant for Shannon's property," Munch said.
"Good."
Fin peeled out of the driveway and shot off down the road. He wasn't going to waste any more time. Munch grabbed the door and immediately reached out to click on his seatbelt. Usually he would come up with some sarcastic joke about Fin's insane driving, but he knew his partner wasn't really in the mood.
"Do you have any idea how to get there?"
"No, I just figure you'll realize that you should make the damn call to get the directions. Hopefully before I go too far down the highway," Fin growled.
Yes, definitely not in the mood. Munch held his hands up in mock surrender, and his next remark was bitingly sarcastic.
"I will. Just don't eat me."
"I wouldn't dream of it. Probably would get sick and die after just one bite."
"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Munch muttered as he pulled his phone out and called the central office for directions.
"I got a good reason, alright? And how the hell can you say you're in a good mood?" Fin asked as he shot his partner a dark look across the front seat.
"Am I not being viciously sarcastic enough to show I'm in a bad… ah, yes, this is Sergeant Munch from the one six," John said, turning away from his partner the moment his call was answered. "I need directions."
Fin shook his head in annoyance and kept driving. He knew that Munch wasn't really in a better mood than he was despite his apparent lack of anger. That wasn't enough to make Fin not call him out on it though. Having someone actually there to direct his anger at made Fin feel a little better even if Munch wasn't the person he was really pissed with.
"Take exit 153. This place is out in the boonies," Munch grumbled as he hung up.
"How long's it gonna take?"
"Around two hours."
Fin increased the pressure of the accelerator a little bit when he heard that. Two hours was a long time, and Fin wasn't so sure he had the patience for it. They finally had their guy, which meant their missing detectives were almost within reach. The fact that they were so close made the two hours feel even longer than the multiple days they'd already spent working the case.
They were winding their way down country roads awhile later when Munch's phone rang. It was Cragen calling about the warrant.
"We got it. You have permission to search the place, but I'd rather you wait for backup."
"We've waited long enough. Amanda and Liv could be in there. We're not making them wait any longer."
"How far out are you?
Munch glanced at the directions and the clock, taking a few seconds to make a quick calculation.
"We're about half an hour from his place. Maybe less."
This time it was Cragen's turn to pause. They were close to reaching their location, and if they had to wait for backup they'd be waiting awhile. Cragen seriously doubted they would wait though. The best he could do was warn them of the risks, make sure they used their heads, and uselessly request they wait for aid. He sighed.
"Just be careful. This guy is alright with kidnapping cops. I'd rather you two not find out what else he's alright with."
"Will do, Cap. You might as well start sending everybody this way. It's a long drive."
"I'll make the call. Amaro and I will head there now. The uniforms and CSU can handle searching Shannon's house on their own."
"I will gladly send you the address and directions so Amaro doesn't get you lost out here in no man's land."
"Thanks, John. We'll meet you there."
Munch hung up and glanced over at Fin. His partner's gaze flickered off the road for a moment and locked on his eyes. He felt the same way Munch did. They weren't waiting for backup. There was just no way.
"They better drive fast," Fin muttered.
"Nobody is going to catch up with us no matter how fast they drive."
Fin had been pushing the speed limit since the moment they'd left. Even if the others did the same, they would be way behind.
"Then they better put on the damn sirens if they want us to have backup. I ain't waitin'."
"And you think I would try to stop you?" Munch asked as he gazed over the rims of his glasses at Fin.
"Nah. Even you're not that dumb."
Munch snorted and shook his head.
"I'm just going to take that as a compliment."
"Whatever you wanna do."