"Susie, this is Dr. Jordan."

A young blonde girl looked up. Her blue eyes gazed questioningly at the smiling man.

"Hi." She whispered.

"We're going to take good care of you, Susie." He said, nodding. He looked at the nurse. "Room 152."

The nurse nodded and gripped the wheelchair. She pushed Susie towards the elevator as Dr. Jordan picked up a chart.

***

"Susie Blair, 16 years old. Her parents are divorced. Her mother lives in Los Angeles, her father lives in Florida. She has a history of prescription drug abuse prescribed by her doctor after a 1998 accident. She attended Broadview Lake High School until five months ago when she was found in her apartment, overdosed on her prescription."

Dr. Jordan looked up from his chart. He looked at the surrounding people.

A woman nodded. She was the first to speak.

"She sounds like a wonderful candidate."

"Should we begin preliminary testing?" Another man asked.

Jordan shook his head. "We don't have enough for the tests yet. Let's see if a few more eligible candidates come in."

***

2 months later

"I'm just trying to find my daughter!"

"Ma'am, please calm down."

Sara Pezzini scrunched her shoulders and made her way past Detective Lake, who was trying to desperately calm down the hysterical woman. She walked into the office she shared with Jake McCartey.

"Hey, Pez." He said, and handed her a cup of coffee. She nodded in thanks and sipped it.

"Who's that outside?" She asked.

"Not sure. But from what I've heard, it's a missing persons case." He looked out through the window and watched as a few officers led the woman into a small interrogation room.

"Well what do we have so far?" Sara asked, opening the file.

"Neighbors found him this morning at 7:15, lying in his apartment of multiple gun shot wounds." Jake said. "Luke Tyson, 35 years old, a lawyer. Previous history of small time drug use, wealthy family. Father was an engineer for NASA and mother was a stay at home mom. Father died in 1998 of a heart attack." He snapped the file shut. "So?"

"All right." Sara said, nodding. "Let's go."

***

Forensics moved out of the way as the two detectives walked through the narrow hall to the crime scene. There were flashbulbs going off and various police officers moving about as Jake pulled back the black tarp that covered the body that lied on the gurney.

"What do you think happened?" He asked, looking around the small apartment. Everything was neatly arranged, like nothing had occurred.

Sara sighed and closed her eyes. She shook her head. "I have no idea."

Two officers started to roll the gurney out the door.

"Wait." She said, and the officers stopped. She went to the body and pulled back the tarp further, exposing the corpse's right arm.

"What?" Jake asked.

Pez closed her eyes and shook her head. She pulled the tarp over the bodies and waved the officers through. "Nothing, I thought that there was something..."

"Well this guy's mother lives in a retirement home right here in New York. We could check it out."

Sara nodded and glanced at the Witchblade. It was glowing slightly, it's red color bouncing off the sunlight.

"Pez?" Jake asked. "Hello? Pez?"

"What?" She snapped out of her daze. "What?"

"You all right?" Jake asked. putting a hand on her arm. She nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said. "Let's go talk to the mother."

Blue Glen Assisted Living

"This place reminds me of a museum." Jake commented as they walked in. the smooth whoosh of the sliding doors greeted them and they stepped into a warm and clean environment.

"It's supposed to be one of the best retirement homes in the country." Sara said. "Obviously only the wealthy live here." She spotted an elderly man walking around with his cane, accompanied by a nurse who rolled his IV along.

Jake and Sara approached the front desk.

"Hello, I'm Sara Pezzini and this is my partner Jake McCartey, we're from the NYPD--"

"Yes." The nurse said.

Sara was taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"Dr. Francis is expecting you. Down the hall to the left." The nurse directed and smiled. The phone rang and she quickly picked it up, leaving Jake and Sara to find their way.

"How'd he know we were coming?" Jake asked.

Sara shrugged. "Media probably. Saw it on the news."

They went through another set of sliding doors and sure enough, on the left there was a door with a gold name plate on it. It neatly said "Dr. Jonathan Francis" on it.

Sara looked at Jake and he shrugged. She looked back at the door and raised a fist to knock.

"Yes, come in." A voice said from inside. Sara pushed the door open and she and Jake stepped inside.

The office was clean and sterile, like the rest of the facility. Books and medical journals adorned shelves on the walls and plaques and awards hung in a row above them.

Dr. Francis himself was a stark contrast to his clean office. He himself was worn and wearied. His hands busily went over papers and one hand clutched a pen tightly, as if it he would die if the pen was let go. He wore a dark suit and his eyes were bright behind a pair of small wire-frame glasses.

"Doctor Francis?" Sara asked.

The man looked up and looked at the two new visitors as if he was wondering why they were there. "Ah, yes. You're the two detectives."

"Yes, how did you know we were coming?" Jake asked.

Francis grinned and tapped the television set resting on a small desk set up by the opposite wall. It was barely visible beneath the mound of papers that were on top of it, threatening to topple at the smallest tremble.

"it's all over the news. And I figured that you'd want to talk to Mrs. Tyson."

Sara nodded slowly. "Right. And uh-"

"Room 301, it's on the third floor. I'll show you the way." He said, moving past them to open the door.

"Did you know her son?" Jake asked as they walked the halls to the elevators.

Dr. Francis shook his head. "No, not at all. I met him once, but it was-it was not a good time for his mother."

"How so?" Sara asked.

"Well, uh, I don't know if you know this, but Margo Tyson and her son were in a very bad accident a few years ago. I think in 1995 or so. Anyway, she was left with partial paralysis from the hip down. He was supposedly drunk or on drugs at the time. It's all muddled, I never got the full truth. The poor woman thinks her son was trying to avoid hitting a deer. The police never found any deer or animal remains."

"What happened to him after?" Sara asked. They boarded an elevator and Dr. Francis pressed a button. The elevator hummed as they rose.

"Well, that's the muddled part. He never went to jail or anything…as far as I know, he wasn't badly injured. Few scrapes and scratches. But his father was influential I guess, because I never heard about her son."

They entered a hallway that resembled the first floor. Nurses walked about carrying trays and equipment, some walking the elderly.

"Here she is." Dr. Francis said. He knocked softly on the door. "Margo?"

There was a muffled voice on the other end. He pushed the door open and the soft smell of vanilla permeated their senses.

A woman in her mid 60's looked at them from her bed. Her face broke out in a smile.

"Jonathan!" She said. "How lovely to see you."

Her blue eyes looked at Sara and Jake. "And you brought visitors."

"Yes. Margo, this is Detective Pezzini and Detective McCartey. They're from the police, they'd like to talk to you about Luke." He sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand.

The woman's smile quickly shattered and was overcast. Tears started to roll down her cheeks.

Sara quickly plucked a tissue from a nearby tray and handed it to the woman. The overflowing trash bin was an indication that it she must have used up a box or two already.

She took the tissue and cried a thanks. Between sobs she managed to look at the two detectives.

Jake looked down at his shoe.

Fighting to regain composure, Tyson dabbed her eyes and she looked back up at them.

"Whatever you want to ask, I'll answer." She managed to say.

Sara nodded. "Thank you."

***

"…he was a wonderful boy." She said, smiling in admiration. She choked up a laugh. "I guess Dr. Francis has already told you that I thought Luke had hit a deer in our accident."

Jake and Sara exchanged glances.

"The truth is, he was on drugs. Heroin. I couldn't believe it until he was driving me home that day." She shook her head. "Damn, if I had only said something earlier…" She shook her head. "I know he didn't overdose this time. I know it. It was a long time ago. He was younger then, he shaped up in the last few years. After the accident, he went into rehab and we were so proud when he wanted to go back to law school…."

Jake nodded. "Mrs. Tyson, we were wondering if your son would've made any enemies when he was in his drug habit."

She shook her head. "He never talked about it with me. Whatever he did, he kept to himself and it was only after the accident that I actually realized how serious it was. Do you think it was someone he knew?"

Sara shook her head. "We're not sure yet." She stood up and checked her watch. "Well, we should be going. Let you get rest."

Margo smiled. "I've been here for two years, I've had nothing but rest." She nodded. "Thank you for coming by."

Jake nodded a thank you and they exited the room.

As they passed the secretary again and she absently acknowledged their presence, Sara turned to Jake.

"What do you think?" She asked.

"Son had a drug habit. Might've been someone from his past." Jake said. "As far as we know, he hasn't been using lately."

"Let's check with Vick and see what she's got." Sara said, getting into the car.