Thirty-eight

Daryl blinked a couple of times and winced as the pain in his back registered in his mind. He felt extremely stiff and sore and was very disoriented. Where the hell was he? He opened his eyes again and looked around. The distinct beeping of the monitors, along with the stark walls and floor told him he was in the hospital. Thoughts about his last conscious moments came back to him. He'd been attacked and he remembered coming to and calling Rosanna. Obviously she'd been able to get a hold of Jack or he'd been lucky and someone had found him before it had been too late. Regardless, he was thankful to still be here. Now, however, he needed to talk to Jack and find out what's been going on. He tried pushing himself up to a sitting position and then cried out in pain. The monitors started beeping loudly and a nurse rushed in to see what was happening.

"I'm sorry," Daryl said weakly to the nurse as she hurried to his bedside. "I was just trying to sit up," he explained.

"Well, you might not want to do that without some assistance," she explained. "You have stitches in your back and one of your lungs collapsed." She helped him lay back down and handed him the controller for the bed. "If you want to sit up, I suggest you use this instead," she said smiling. "The police department is going to be very happy to hear you've woken up. I'll go and give them a call now. I'll also send the doctor in so he can make sure you didn't pull any of those stitches."

"Thanks," Daryl said returning her smile. Just that small amount of movement took a lot out of him. How in the hell was he going to help Jack when he couldn't even sit up on his own?

After a few minutes the doctor came in to take a look at him. He ran a series of tests and checked his stitches. After making a few notations in his chart, he sat down and explained to Daryl the do's and don'ts of recovering from a collapsed lung. "No sudden movements, stretching or physical activity of any kind for the next several days. Try clearing your throat instead of coughing, if you can. If you have any other questions, let me know. I can have the nurse bring you some food, if you're feeling up to eating."

Daryl hadn't felt hungry until the mention of food, at which point his stomach growled. "Yeah, food sounds good."

"I'll let her know," he said as he left the room.

"Ok… now what?" Daryl said out loud to himself. He needed a phone. Making a phone call wasn't on the doctor's list of don'ts. He looked around the room. He saw the hospital phone, but it was out of reach. He looked around and spotted his clothes folded on the back of a chair. His cell phone. Was it with his clothes or was it perhaps back in his hotel room on the floor where he'd last used it?

The nurse walked in with a tray of food that, despite being in the hospital, smelled wonderful. "Here you go," she said as she pulled the bedside table around and placed it on there. "If you're still hungry or want something different, just buzz the nurse's desk."

"Thank you very much," he said kindly. "Could you do me a favor before you go?

"Absolutely. What did you need?"

"Can you please check my clothes for my cell phone. I need to make some urgent calls."

"You heard what the doctor said, right? You need to take it easy until your lung recovers."

"I'm just going to make a few calls. That's it."

She walked over to the clothes and located his phone in one of the pockets. "Here you go," she said handing it to him. "Now, I'll be back in to check on you shortly." And with that, she left the room.

Milltown…

Jack wandered methodically around the wooded area that lay behind his house. It was pitch black and though he was wearing a watch, he had no clue as to what time it actually was. Time had stopped the moment Carly disappeared. He felt numb and wasn't even sure how his mind and body were functioning. One thought kept him moving, kept him focused - Carly.

The tracks they'd followed had led up a little hill, but had become spread out and had all but disappeared. Clearly, someone had been here at one time and while there was no solid evidence that it was Carly and Julia, Jack knew in his heart it was. The question demanding an answer was, where were they now? Jack, Fitzpatrick and Murray had split up at this point and spread out from there away from the house.

As Jack made his way away from the spot on the hill, something in the back of his mind prickled and he decided to go back and search the area again. As he focused on an area near a tree, he received a call on his phone.

"Snyder."

"Jack, it's Margo. I wanted to let you know the K-9 unit arrived. Hopkins brought back one of Carly's shirts from the Lakeview. We've given them the scent and we're sending them out."

"Thanks Margo. I'll let Fitzpatrick and Murray know."

"How are you doing?" she asked concerned. "Why don't you come back down and rest for a bit while the dogs do their stuff.

"Margo… for the last time, I'm not stopping until I've found Carly."

"Alright Jack. I won't mention it again."

Jack heard the dogs making their way in his direction. As he was turning around, his flashlight caught something and he saw a reflection from an object on the ground. He walked over and bent down to get a closer look. His heart raced as he recognized it. Carly's watch. She'd been here. So close and now… his shook his head to stop his mind from thinking of the worse-case scenario. He looked at the watch again and noticed what looked like blood on the band. He stood up, squeezing the watch tightly in his fist.

"I'm coming Carly. I found your watch you left for me. Just hold on a little longer, I'm going to find you," he whispered out loud to himself.

The dogs made their way to where Jack stood and he moved out of the way. Clearly they picked up her scent, as they started indicating that they found her scent marked strongly in this area. Jack informed one of the K-9 officers that Carly had been here and that they needed to continue searching beyond this area to see if they could pick up the direction that she and Julia headed in. The reorganized a new starting point for the dogs and they started off again. Jack followed along and finally they arrived at a fairly large clearing. The dogs had a little harder time maintaining a scent at this point. However one of the dogs bounded off into the woods again and stopped not too far from the clearing and was indicating he'd found something. Jack and the other officers raced over and saw that the dog had discovered some clothing. One of the officers handed it to Jack to see if he recognized it.

Jack looked at the piece of fabric. A bittersweet smile touched the corners of his mouth as tears welled in his eyes. It was Carly's. One of her favorite maternity shirts. It was wet and dirty. Jack tried removing some of the mud, but only succeeded in smearing it.

"It's hers. It's Carly's," he said quietly to the officer who'd handed him the piece of her shirt. Jack closed his eyes and walked off on his own for a moment. He could see her, being brave and doing whatever she could to help him find her. He was so proud of her and it was breaking his heart that she was still out there, probably terrified and he still hadn't found her yet. Panic, fear, anger, desperation - all these emotions were swirling around inside him fighting for control. He ran a hand through his hair as he began breathing harder. Panic seemed to be winning. He took a deep breath and tried to rationalize the new information. Carly had left behind her watch and a piece of her shirt. Some how she'd done so without Julia's knowledge. That meant that Carly seemed to be able to move about somewhat freely. Just as he was continuing with that train of thought, one of the officers called to him.

"Detective… I think we've found something else."

Jack rushed over and was given a sock along with a pile of rope. He looked at the rope and saw the blood stains on it. He contacted Murray and told him to meet him in the clearing.

"We found the sock not too far from the tire tracks over here," the officer said walking over to point to the tracks on the ground. Disappointment filled him as he realized that Julia had thought ahead.

"Get someone over here to make imprints of the tracks so we can figure out what kind of car it might be. Also, have the dogs do a radial search of this area to make sure we don't miss anything," Jack directed the other officers. He called Margo to let him know the status of the search.

"Well, at least we know she was here. Now all we have to do is figure out where she's headed. Do you have any clue as to where Julia might go?" Margo asked Jack. "Did she have a favorite place here or outside of Oakdale?"

"As far as I know, Julia wasn't familiar with the area that much. She said she loved the house, but look at what she did to it. She loved Emma's farm, but I don't think she'd go there."

"So are we thinking she's headed out of state? Possibly back to Canada or elsewhere?"

"The only way she could get away is by car. The airport, train and bus stations are all being watched and monitored. A car is her best bet. That's why we need to put a rush on determining what kinds of tires made these tracks. We figure that out and we narrow down what kind of car we're looking for."

"The forensic team is on their way."

"Thanks Margo," Jack said.

"One more thing. It should cheer you up some. The hospital called. Daryl's awake and it looks like he's going to be fine," she informed him.

"Really? That is great," Jack said letting out a huge sigh. "You're right, it does help. I'm going to continue to search around here and depending on what we find, I may head to the hospital later to see if Daryl can let me know if Julia said anything to him before he attack."

"Are you sure? I can head over now and talk with him if you'd like," Margo offered.

"No. I'd like to speak with him myself, if that's alright with you." Jack needed to speak with Daryl. He had to apologize for getting him into this situation to begin with. Everything that had happened. Daryl getting stabbed, Carly's kidnapping, their house destroyed… everything was all his fault. If he lived to be 1000 he'd never be able to atone for all of it.

Knowing Jack for as long as she had, Margo knew exactly what he was thinking. "Jack, listen to me. None of this is your fault." "Margo…" He tried cutting her off, but she wasn't having any of it.

"No Jack, I'm serious. Nothing you did or didn't do caused any of this. A woman, who is very sick, has done all of this. She's responsible for her own actions, not you."

"But if I'd seen the warning signs earlier. If I'd just listened to my gut… or to Carly. I mean for crying out loud Margo, she could see it. Why couldn't I?"

"Because you didn't want to believe her capable of it. Believe me Jack, I know what I'm talking about. It took me a long time to be able to separate myself from my brother's crimes. I still have a hard time with it."

"I should have taken Carly away myself. I should have done what Daryl suggested. If I had…"

"You need to stop this. Playing the "what-if" game isn't going to help. All it will do is make you feel worse."

"I can't imagine feeling any worse than I do right now," he replied holding his head in his hand.

"Why don't you go back to the station for an hour or two. There's a cot upstairs, lay down and let your battery recharge. You won't be any good to Carly if you're dead on your feet. Besides, Julia is dangerous, Jack. You don't want to make a mistake in dealing with her," Margo cautioned.

"I need to be here Margo. If we find something new…" "Then I'll call you immediately and you can head right back out here. Everyone in the department wants to find Carly. They won't rest until they do, I promise you that."

Jack sighed heavily. "Alright Margo, you win. I'll head back to the station, but you have to promise me that you call immediately if anything turns up."

"You have my word," she promised.

Jack hung up the phone and gave a last set of directions for the officers before heading back to his car. He could see the first glimpse that it was getting close to dawn. The sky was lightening. Carly had been missing for nearly 12 hours now. He walked back through the wood and saw what was left of the house. The outer frame looked still intact in some areas but as he rounded the corner he could see the whole back half of the house was pretty much completely gone. As he got closer, he noticed something on the ground. He walked over and picked it up. The calendar that hung in the kitchen was splattered with mud and the corners were singed. The rest of it was remarkably undamaged. It was still open to the month and, in bright pink, today's date was circled. Sage had marked the calendar to indicate when Carly was supposed to be returning.

"I should be picking you up at the airport today," Jack said quietly to himself. "The kids and I were going to surprise you," he choked out. A tear rolled down his cheek. "How am I supposed to tell them that I wasn't able to protect you? How can they forgive me when I can't forgive myself?" He walked to the car and got in. He put the calendar in the back seat and headed to the station.

At the station, Rosanna rushed in looking to speak with either Jack or Margo. She hurried over to the desk sergeant. "Can I please speak with Detective Snyder?" she asked.

"He isn't here at the moment. Is there something I can help you with?"

"How about Chief Hughes? Is she here?"

"No, I'm sorry she's not. They're both out on a case."

"Does it have something to do with my sister? I'm Rosanna Cabot and Carly Snyder is my sister," she said beginning to feel frustrated. She'd just gotten off the plane and had a driver take her directly to the airport after being unsuccessful in trying to reach both Carly and Jack.

"Without authorization, I'm afraid I can't discuss any on going cases with you."

"But she's my sister," she said, her voice raising.

"Rosanna," came a voice behind her.

She turned and saw Jack walking through the door. She looked him over from head to toe and was alarmed by his appearance. His clothing was torn and dirty, he had a horrific looking cut on his forehead above his left eye that was still oozing and he looked as though he hadn't slept for days.

"Oh my God Jack, what happened to you?" Rosanna said shocked. "Are you alright?"

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked completely ignoring her inquiry as to how he was doing. How the hell was he supposed to answer that question?

"I rearranged my flight so I could come back earlier. I was concerned about Daryl and Carly," she began.

"Concerned about Carly?" Jack said his voice trembling with rage that was bubbling just under the surface. "If you were so concerned about Carly, then why the hell did you go along with that stupid plan of hers?"

"Jack, I tried to talk her out of it. I swear I did," Rosanna pleaded. "Why? What's happened? Is Carly ok?" she said looking at him with fear in her eyes.

"Julia has Carly," he said quietly, walking past her to his desk. He could feel the bile in his stomach churning.

"Carly," Rosanna whispered. Tears welled in her eyes and she turned to follow him. "Jack… I'm so sorry. This is all my fault," she cried reaching out and putting an arm on his shoulder. "I never should have gone along with it. She was just so scared for you. She didn't want to be far away if something happened. And now something has…" she cried covering her face with her hands.

Jack turned around and pulled Rosanna into his arms. He wasn't about to let her take the blame for this when it was entirely his fault. "It's not your fault Rosanna. It's mine. I should have dealt with Julia a long time ago." He patted her on the back. "I promise you that I will find her and bring her home," he said fiercely. "She's strong and she's smart. If anyone can handle Julia, it's Carly," he said trying to sound convincing. Normally, he would believe it. Carly was the strongest woman he'd ever met. She constantly amazed him. But she was pregnant, very pregnant. And too much stress was not good for her or the baby. He knew the longer she was missing, the more risky her pregnancy became.

"So what happened to you?" Rosanna asked quietly pulling away from him as she wiped her eyes.

"Julia set a trap for me at the house. She led me to believe that Carly was in the house and when I was inside, she set off some explosives," he explained looking down at his clothes for really the first time since it had happened. He subconsciously dusted off his jeans, but nothing was going to help except a change of clothes.

"But she wasn't in there?" Rosanna questioned.

"No, she wasn't. She was close by though. She and Julia made their way on foot through the woods behind the house to a car Julia had waiting for them. We're waiting to hear back on the type of car so we can start searching," he explained.

"Is there anything I can do? Are the kids ok?"

The kids. Jack didn't even know how to go about explaining to them what was going on. As far as Sage and JJ were concerned, he was supposed to come by to take them to the airport today to pick up Carly. What was he supposed to say to them?

"They're still at Lily's. They don't know what's going on yet, though Parker knows something's wrong. Lily is aware of what's going on. I had Margo talk to her. For now, I'd like to keep this from them for as long as possible. They're expecting to see Carly today and I need to be the one to talk to them about it."

"How's Daryl?" Rosanna asked quietly.

"Well, it looks like he's going to be alright. We just got a call from the hospital not too long ago that he finally woke up. It was touch and go there for awhile. One of his lungs had collapsed from the stab wound…"

"He was stabbed?" Rosanna exclaimed.

"Oh, sorry. I'd forgotten that you didn't know that. I didn't mean for it to come out that way," he apologized.

"And you're sure he's going to be alright?"

"That's what the doctor said at the hospital. I was going to go over and check in on him in a little bit. I was going to shower and change my clothes," he said distractedly.

"Do you mind if I go and see him," Rosanna asked.

"No, of course not. I'm sure he'd like that," he smile weakly. "Could you let him know that I'll be stopping by in a little while," he asked.

"Absolutely," she smiled as she turned to go. She stopped and turned around and hugged him tightly. "Carly's lucky to have you. I know you're going to find her and bring her and the baby home," she said gently.

Jack closed his eyes. He hoped Rosanna was right.