When Mac got back to his office, he found a letter on his desk. He hoped it was not more bad news. He would have to look at it later. Right now, he had a big problem. Don Flack was looking for Ronald Walters and also George Grimes. Mac would be doing that interrogation. Jo came into the office. "What is our next move?" she asked.

"I hope George Grimes will tell us where that woman is if he knows," Mac replied.

"You really think he would kidnap her?"

"He probably knew her because she worked here."

Just then, Danny and Lindsey came to the office. "Mac, we found a record of which of these officers took drugs to be incinerated," Lindsey said and gave Mac a printout. "They have to sign out what they are taking."

Mac looked at the printout. "George Grimes has been several times," he said. "More times than these others. We'll see if our records are the same as the records of Bret down at the incinerator."

They all went to the conference room and began looking through the files. Soon, Don Flack came in. "Mac, I found out that George Grimes and Patricia Stanford's husband, Thomas, were partners before he went to the war," Don said.

"So, her husband was an officer here," Mac said.

"That must be how they knew her," Jo declared.

"She may not have much time. We have to hurry and find these people."

"George Grimes is not in today," Don said. "He's on schedule though."

Mac scowled. "Is he really so desperate that he would think he can get away with something like this?" he asked.

Jo shook her head. "This sounds crazy even for someone who has stolen drugs," she said.

"I couldn't find Ronald Walters yet either," Don put in. "He seems to have disappeared."

"Check the airlines," Mac said. "They could be trying to escape with money. Check bus lines and everything. I don't want them to get out of this city with that money…or with that woman and her child."

"I'm on it." Don left the conference room.

Mac and the others continued to compare the records of the amount of drugs that were taken to the incinerator and the amount that was supposedly destroyed. "The only time this guy Grimes went down there was when Ronald Walters was there," Danny pointed out. "Walters' signature is on all of these."

"The others went at other times as well," Jo said. "They must not have been in this as deeply as Grimes was."

"They may not have anything to do with the situation we're looking into now," Mac said. "But we're going to find out."

Mac left the conference room and went to his office. He called Don and told him to see if the other officers were on duty and locate them all. "We need to question all these officers," Mac said.

"I will get them," Don replied.

Mac looked at the envelope that was still lying on his desk. It had no name on it except "Mac Taylor". He opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. As he unfolded it, his frown deepened. The letter was a plain white paper that only had a lion at the top and a message that said "Watch your back, Taylor". Mac stared at it a moment and then started to wad it up but then he laid it on the desk. He saw Jo coming to his office. He motioned her in.

"Something wrong?" Jo asked noticing the look on Mac's face.

"Yes," Mac said. He showed her the letter.

Jo stared at it a moment and then looked at Mac. "You think this has something to do with what that psychic told you this morning?" she asked.

Mac gave her one of his skeptical looks. "I think she may be trying to get some credibility," he said. "Maybe we should bring her in too."

"You really think this is a hoax?"

"What do you think?"

"I think you should take this seriously. It does have a lion on it."

Mac took the letter and the envelope. "We'll see who all has a hand in this," he said.

Jo followed Mac to the lab where they dusted the letter and the envelope for prints. Mac found his own prints but no others. He leaned on the lab table and looked at Jo. "They're clever enough to keep their fingerprints off and the envelope is not sealed so there's no DNA there either."

"You think it's connected to this case we are dealing with?" Jo asked.

"I don't know. There are just too many weird things going on around here."

"I'll be glad when we get to the bottom of this."

By that afternoon, Don had located the other four officers but he had not found George Grimes or Robert Walters. Mac interrogated the officers but none of them knew anything about what George Grimes was doing. They knew him but they did not usually work with him. Christopher Wise was the last officer that Mac interrogated. He was incredibly upset about being found out.

"I only did it once," Wise said. "I just needed some money to pay off some debts." He looked at Mac. "Don't fire me. I won't ever do anything like that again."

Mac stared at him a moment. "Do you know the seriousness of what you did?" he asked. "Not only did you betray the badge and your honor, but you sold drugs out there to be sold to kids on the streets."

Wise rubbed his face. "I know, but I didn't see any other way," he said. "But yes I see the seriousness of it. I just don't need to lose my job. I have a wife and three kids."

"And what would they think if they found out that you sold drugs? What are you going to do if your kids grow up and decide they want to try drugs?"

"They don't have to know about this."

Mac frowned. "But you know about it," he said. He shook his head. "Something like this can't just be overlooked but your superiors will decide on this as well as the DA." Mac stood up and looked at Wise. "Personally, I would fire you right here and you would not walk out of this room with that badge. The only reason that I'm not doing it myself is because I don't have any evidence linking you to this except your confession."

Mac went to the door of the interrogation room. "It certainly is something for you to think about," he said and went out the door.

Don was standing outside. "I don't think he was involved in this," Mac said. "I think it was just a one-time thing."

"I think it was all this George Grimes and Robert Walters," Don replied. "I still have not located either of them."

"Time is running out for Patricia Stanford and her child I am afraid."

"I hear you got a strange letter at your office."

"I did. There were no prints on it."

"Who's out to get you? You think it has anything to do with this case?"

Mac shook his head. "I'm not sure, but it had a lion on it."

Don scowled. "Coincidence?"

"I don't know but this case is more important right now."

"I've got an APB out and all the airlines and bus lines are tagged. We can't really do anything but wait now."

Mac nodded. He looked in the window of the interrogation room. "I'm going to let the chief handle this," he said and headed for the elevator.

Mac walked out of the elevator at the chief's office. Chief Sinclair was coming toward the elevator. "Mac, I was just on my way to see you," he said.

"I brought you some information, Chief," Mac said. He gave him the folder with the information about the four officers they had found to be crooked. "I'll let you handle this while we handle that kidnapping situation."

"How is that going?"

"We have nothing yet. All we know is that George Grimes has disappeared as well as Robert Walters. Patricia Stanford and her child are also missing."

"Quite a plot, Taylor. I hope you get it solved soon."

"We're doing our best."

"Keep me informed."

Mac turned back to the elevator. He was getting more worried about this case all the time. He was afraid they were going to find that woman and her child dead. He hoped that would not happen. He would not rest until he found them.

Mac arrived back at the lab. Everyone could see the worry on his face as he went to his office. Jo went in to talk to him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"No," Mac said. "There's a woman and her child out there and we can't find them. They may be in the hands of drug dealers and her husband is somewhere in Afghanistan and doesn't even know about it."

Jo sighed. "Maybe something will turn up," she said. "Let's go have lunch."

"I don't think I could eat right now."

"You need to eat. You can't operate at your best if you don't eat."

Mac leaned on his hand. "I hope Don can find out where these two were living soon," he said. "If we can find that out, we might be able to find out where they went."

"It looks like it wouldn't be that hard to find where an officer was living."

Mac stood up. "I guess we can go to lunch while we wait," he said. He got his coat and sighed.

"We're going to do our best," Jo said. "That's all we can do. No one expects anymore."

"Yeah, but it might not be good enough."

"Let's go."

They went to the elevator. Mac frowned while he was waiting for the elevator to come up. His phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac, I found the last address for George Grimes," Don said. "He didn't even have it changed in his record."

"What about Ronald Walters?"

"Still looking for that guy. He didn't have his changed in his file either. The address we went to was occupied by an elderly couple. They don't even know Ronald Walters. The landlord said he moved out over a year ago and left no forwarding address."

Mac and Jo walked into the elevator. "I'm on my way down now," Mac said. "Let's get over to George Grimes' address to see if we can find him or get some idea of where he might be now."

When Mac and Jo got downstairs, Don was getting a team together. "He's probably already pulled out," Don said.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Mac replied as he was putting on his bulletproof vest. "Maybe we can get something from there to prove he's in on this though."

Just then, Danny came out of the elevator. "I'm going too," he announced. "I want to get this guy."

Soon, they were on their way. Jo could feel Mac's tension. She knew he wanted to get this guy and she wondered what he would do if they did not find anything here that would lead to him. They soon arrived at the apartment building. Mac, Don, Danny and Jo went inside to find the landlord and then went on down to the apartment.

Don knocked on the door. "N.Y.P.D.!" he said. "Open up!"

They all listened but did not hear anything. "Open it," Mac said to the landlord.

The landlord unlocked the door. Jo took the landlord around the corner and then Mac pushed the apartment door open. He heard a click as he shoved the door open. He was shocked to see a bomb sitting in the apartment. "Run!" Mac yelled. He turned and shoved Danny and Don toward the other corridor.

They barely made it around the corner before the bomb exploded taking out half the wall in the narrow hallway they were in. Mac landed on top of Don and Danny as debris and dust flew down the hall they were now in. Everything settled down and they got up. Their ears were ringing from the concussion of the blast. "Hey, who's bleeding?" Danny asked in alarm as he saw some blood on the floor.

Mac realized his leg was bleeding where a big splinter had gone into his shin. He pulled his pants leg up to look. "Ouch," Danny said as he looked at it.

Jo came over there to see. "You'll have to get that seen about," she said.

Mac looked at her with an 'I know that' look. He wondered how stubborn she thought he was. He certainly did not want to get a big infection. "I want you and Danny to go over that place thoroughly," he said. "Don't miss anything."

Don came around the corner where he had been looking into the destroyed apartment. "There's not much left to go over," he said. "Looks like that bomb took out most of the apartment."

"There may be some fingerprints at least." Mac grimaced at the pain in his leg. "I'll be back to the office as soon as I get this out of my leg."

The paramedics soon came and took Mac to the emergency room. He hated lying in the emergency room waiting for the doctor. He was there an hour before he got the splinter out, which had gone in quite deep. However it did not puncture any major arteries or veins. Mac took his prescription for antibiotics and left the hospital. Just as he was going out the door, Jo was coming in. "You're already getting out?" she asked.

"Yes," Mac replied. "It was only a splinter."

"One that was about three inches long!"

Mac looked at her. "Don't worry about me. We have more important things to worry about. What did you find at the apartment?"

"Nothing but a few fingerprints." Jo looked at Mac. "There were fingerprints there from Patricia Stanford and there were also small prints here and there where the baby had touched something. We also found George Grimes' prints. Most of the papers in the apartment were torn or burned up."

Mac blew out a breath and climbed into the Avalanche. Jo got in the driver's seat. Mac was trying to think of what their next course of action should be. "Any signs of someone being held captive?" he asked.

"There was a melted roll of duct tape there but no signs that anyone was tied up with it," Jo said.

Mac considered that. "He would probably keep her bound with cuffs since he was a cop," he pointed out. "He might have taped her mouth with the tape."

"What about the baby?"

Mac shook his head. "I don't know, Jo."

Jo heard the sadness in Mac's voice. "I feel so sorry for this woman. I wish there was some way we could find her."

"Me too," Mac said. "But it looks like she is lost for the time being."

"Why don't we get some lunch on the way back to the lab?"

"Fine. We can get my prescription filled too."

They dropped the prescription off at the pharmacy and then went on to lunch. Mac got himself a hamburger and sat down at a table. Jo was soon there. Mac was just staring at the table. He yawned. "Eat," Jo said.

Mac looked at her. "I'm sleepy," he said.

"Is it because you slept on the couch?"

"I don't know. Maybe because of the nightmares. I am usually tired after having those."

Jo smiled. "Just eat and maybe it will make you feel better."

Mac took a bite of his burger. He felt like he could just lie over on the table and sleep. "It's hard not to drink coffee," he remarked as he sipped his tea.

"Probably better not to drink it though," Jo asked.

"I was drinking too much of it and getting headaches when I didn't drink any. I was drinking it instead of eating."

"Not a good thing to do."

"I guess I decided to get more sleep instead of drinking coffee to stay awake."

Just then, Mac's phone rang. "Taylor," he answered.

"Mac, I analyzed the paper and the emblem from the letter you got this morning," Lindsey said. "There is no company in New York who uses that symbol…but, there is a newspaper reporter who uses it in their headlines."

Mac stopped chewing. "What?"

"She uses it as an emblem beside her name at the top of her newspaper articles in The Journal."

Mac scowled. "And just who is that?"

"Someone you've met before…Jennifer Walsh."

Mac frowned. "You're kidding," he said.

"Not at all."

Mac took his notepad out and wrote that down. "Why would she be involved in something like this?" he wondered out loud.

"No clue," Lindsey replied.

"Thanks."

Mac put his phone away and stared out the window. He would not have thought Jennifer Walsh would be involved in something like this. "Well?" Jo said, breaking into his thoughts. "Are you going to let me in on this information?"

Mac looked at her. "That lion emblem on the letter I got this morning is a symbol that Jennifer Walsh uses on her articles in the Journal," he said.

Jo thought about that a moment. "You don't think she is involved in this, do you?"

"I don't really think that letter has anything to do with this case."

"So, what does Jennifer Walsh have to do with that psychic?"

"That's something we're going to find out. Go by there."

"That reporter may be just looking for a story. You better not let her know that you're coming there because of something a psychic told your or she'll make you the laughing stock of this city."

"I know that, Jo. I just want to know why she would be involved in something like this. And besides, that letter had a warning on it, remember?"

"Yes, I remember." Jo looked at Mac. "You think there's anything to it or is she just trying to get back at you for not giving in to her charms?"

Mac sighed. "I hope not."

"Maybe she's just trying to lure you to her office."

"Won't she be surprised when I bring you with me?"

Jo laughed. "If that was her intention, she's too late. I've already dragged you into my chamber and you're not getting out."

Mac looked at her with an amused look. "I'm trapped, huh?"

"Absolutely. I wouldn't let you get away if I have to hog-tie you."

"I'll try not to disappoint you."