Careful, Chapter 2
Notes: Love, as always, to everyone at Maple Street. Without you..well, I don't really want to think about that G. This chapter is virtually Jack and Samantha free. I kind of hate it. However, here's the second installment of Careful.
Less than a mile away from the Blessing residence, Danny and Martin waited in the air conditioned main office of Brennamen High as the school's harried looking secretary relayed their message over the school's PA system.
"All girls who attended last night's open gym, please report to.." here she trailed off, glancing at the two men with a raised eyebrow. "Where do you want them?" she mouthed, covering the microphone.
A glance at Martin, and Danny responded, "The gym."
"Please report to the gymnasium immediately. Thank you."
Martin shot Danny a questioning glance. "Wouldn't a classroom have been easier?"
Danny shrugged. "The gym's the closest we've got to the scene of the crime."
With a thoughtful look, Martin acquiesced.
Both men thanked the secretary, a Mrs. Carroll, after she led them down a short hallway to the entrance of the gym. The woman looked as if she couldn't fully wrap her mind around the fact that one of the school's students was missing, a perplexed look affixed on her face as she returned to the office.
With no more time to speculate on the secretary's condition, Danny and Martin stepped into the brightly lit gymnasium. It was a typical high school gym; wooden floor, six basketball nets, banners hanging from the walls, bleachers banking both sides. Conveniently, one set of bleachers was extended halfway, and as wary looking teenaged girls began filing in, Danny gestured for them to sit along said bleachers.
As they approached, snippets of conversation were overheard.
"..what the hell did we do now?"
"Bobbo's sending the men in black after us?"
"..thought last night was a good night.."
Glancing at Danny, Martin could see his jaw working to conceal an amused grin, and he smoothly took the lead.
"Thank you for coming. I'm Agent Fitzgerald, and this is Agent Taylor, of the FBI."
Raised eyebrows and looks of confusion all around, except for one girl, whose blue eyes widened as her hand flew to her mouth.
"Oh my God..this is about Darien." Her voice sounded choked.
"What're you talking about, Sleater?" A skeptical look from one of the others, until she glanced around and realized Darien wasn't among them.
The girl, Sleater, turned her widened gaze on the agents.
"What's your name?" Danny asked gently.
"Sleater Christie," she answered in barely a whisper. Danny nodded for her to continue.
"Last night. Mrs. Blessing called me around nine..she said Darien hadn't come home from open gym yet." Sleater's brow furrowed as she recalled the conversation, and Danny made sure he took down everything she said. "I told her that we had finished at eight, and that I'd seen Darien leave the gym with Grace. I didn't even think about it, because they always leave together. She thanked me, and said she was sure Darien had just gone somewhere with Grace." Sleater looked at her hands before returning her troubled gaze to the agents. "She didn't sound sure."
"Hey, Grace isn't here, either," noted another girl.
"She wasn't in homeroom this morning."
"Who's Grace?" Martin asked, looking up from his writing at the unfamiliar name.
The earlier looks of confusion had become ones of worry and disbelief.
"Grace McNamara, Darien's best friend. She's probably with Mrs. Blessing," Sleater spoke sensibly through her cloud of anxiety.
"Sleater's right. Darien didn't come home last night, that's why we're here. We need to know exactly what happened. Everything you remember..about the open gym, about Darien, about what happened when it was over. It's very important." Danny's solid voice took control of the gymnasium, and the girls quieted.
One, a tall brunette who was nervously fiddling with a pen, spoke up first. "It was a normal open gym. We were all there about ten minutes before it started, because Coach likes to make us run if we aren't. We shot around for about twenty minutes, and then lined up for foul shots. That's how we decide on teams." She shrugged. "Then we played. It was kind of rough, since there were only eleven of us, but Coach gave us enough breaks. It was like every other open gym we've ever had."
"How did Darien seem?"
A chorus of shrugs greeted Martin's question.
"She was fine." It was Sleater who fielded the query. "I know I didn't notice anything different about her..she was kind of quiet, like always, but friendly, and she played well, as usual."
"None of us really know her that well yet, except for Grace," another girl added. "But she's always been really nice, easy to get along with."
"What happened when the open gym was over?" Danny hoped that being in the gym might help jog some memories, help at least one girl remember something out of the ordinary.
"Basically, we left." Sleater's tone was apologetic. "Really, that's it. I think Grace and Darien were the first out of the gym, if that's a help." Sleater looked as if she didn't think it would be.
"We didn't leave." The tall brunette who had spoken earlier gestured to herself and the equally tall girl sitting next to her. "We were here with Coach till about eight forty-five, working on post moves. Sometimes we stay to get some extra practice in, before the season starts."
Martin and Danny exchanged glances. "Your coach was in the gym until eight forty-five?"
The girl shrugged. "Yeah, at least. Maybe later..he stays to help the cleaning staff close the gym sometimes."
"He's out," Danny spoke softly out of the corner of his mouth to Martin, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Was there anyone here last night who wasn't usually? Any strange cars in the parking lot, or people milling around outside?"
A nine-way exchange of glances between the girls before they turned blankly back to the agents.
"Nope. Just us and Coach in the gym, and some of the cleaning staff. Most of them were outside around back, though, finishing up some stuff on the auxiliary gym. It's new." Sleater spoke matter-of-factly.
Martin looked at Danny, who shrugged in resignation. They weren't going to learn anything else here, not now.
"Okay, girls. That's all for now. Thank you; you can head back to class." The heavy weight of Darien's disappearance cast a shadow over the group, and they left for their classes without the usual sighs of reluctance that accompanied a return to the classroom.
"Excuse me?" A timid but determined voice sounded behind Danny and Martin as they walked toward the gymnasium doors, and the men turned to meet the distressed blue gaze of Sleater Christie.
"Um, I know we weren't much help. I'm sorry about that. But we all like Darien, alot. So if there's anything we can do.." She trailed off, her tone pleading, broken. "Please find her." Her last words were almost a gasp.
Danny touched her shoulder and nodded, a promise without words.
"Be careful. All of you, be careful. Stick together, okay?" Martin's voice was firm, steady.
"Yeah, we will. You too," was Sleater's parting line as she slipped past them out of the gym.
Slightly baffled, Martin looked after her. "That was kind of strange."
"Maybe not," Danny spoke as they made their way down the hallway to the main doors of Brennamen. "We have no idea what we're dealing with here."
"So the coach is out. Darien would have gotten home long before he even left the gym." Martin glanced through his notebook.
"Right. Unless, of course, he broke into her house. It doesn't seem to fit, though. He sounds like a typical basketball coach to me..strict and intimidating, probably kind of a jerk on the court, but basically an okay guy." Danny was thoughtful as he started the car's engine. "Guess we'll see what Viv found out." A frown, then he spoke again. "Call Vivian, will you? See if the coach can give her the names of the men working on the other gym last night. Maybe one of them saw something."
"Yeah, sure." Martin pulled out his phone and punched in Vivian's number.
Danny glanced back at the school once more before pulling out. "I'm worried about the rest of them. Stuff like this, it doesn't happen around here. I wonder if they even know the meaning of careful.
Vivian stepped through the glass doors of Trenton Corporation, into a chilled lobby blanketed by thick blue carpet. She was greeted pleasantly by a receptionist sitting behind a large wooden desk, whose smile faltered slightly when Vivian flashed her badge.
"I need to speak with Robert Duncan." Vivian's tone left no room for argument, and the other woman nodded, picking up the white phone from atop her desk.
"Mr. Duncan? There's a Vivian Johnson from the FBI here to see you....No, I don't know why. Okay. We'll be right there."
She motioned for Vivian to follow, and the agent did, glancing mildly around the plush hallway at the roomy offices surrounding it. Soon the receptionist stopped outside of one of the offices, nodding for Vivian to enter. Vivian smiled her thanks before stepping into the office.
A tall, thirty-something man with dark brown hair and a stern but relatively genial face stood upon her arrival.
"Robert Duncan?" He nodded, and she continued. "I'm Vivian Johnson, of the FBI." She showed him her badge briefly.
He motioned for her to sit in the chair across from him, and she did.
"What's this about, Agent Johnson?" His tone was perplexed but unwary, his face questioning but relaxed.
"Mr. Duncan, Darien Blessing didn't return home after your open gym last night. She's been missing for almost twelve hours now." Vivian spoke bluntly, firmly.
The unconcerned look on Robert Duncan's face immediately transformed into one of genuine shock. "Darien? Missing? You're sure?" His voice was disbelieving, thoroughly alarmed.
"Yes, we're sure. What happened last night, Mr. Duncan?" Vivian leaned forward, searching his face.
Robert Duncan ran a hand through his hair, focusing on a random point on his slightly cluttered desk before raising his eyes to Vivian's.
"God, um..the girls were all there by ten of six. There were eleven, I remember, including Darien. They started warming up and then split up into teams. I had them scrimmage until eight."
"Did you see Darien leave at eight?"
"I saw her walking out of the gym with Grace McNamara, yes. They're good friends; they usually leave together. I asked the girls if they all had a way home, and they said they did. I didn't actually see any of them after they left the gym, though, because I stayed later with two of the seniors, so they could work on some posting. They left around 8:45."
"Is that when you left, as well?" Vivian made a note to check his story against what Danny and Martin had learned. As it was, she didn't think Robert Duncan had a hand in Darien's disappearance. Vivian had been investigating for a long time, and had become exceptionally talented at reading people. Robert Duncan's shock and concern were, in her opinion, genuine.
"Yes..well, not exactly. I put everything away in the gym, and then I went around to the back of the school, to check the progress on our auxiliary gym and to find someone to close the main gym for me. After that, I left."
"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary about Darien's behavior last night?"
"Honestly, no..I don't know her that well yet, since she just moved here, but she seemed the same as always to me. Quiet, easygoing. Nice kid."
At that moment, Vivian's phone rang shrilly. She picked it up, giving Robert Duncan an apologetic half smile before answering.
"Johnson."
"Hey, Viv." Martin's voice sounded in her ear.
"What's going on?"
"Listen, see if you can get the names of the men working on the auxiliary gym last night from the coach, okay? Danny thinks maybe one of them saw something."
"It's worth a shot. I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks."
"Bye."
Vivian closed her phone and turned back to Robert Duncan, who was leaning forward on his desk, head in his hands.
"Mr. Duncan, do you have the names of the men who were at the gym last night, either working on the auxiliary gym or otherwise?"
A grimace from the man sitting across from her. "I don't have all their names, no. I can give you the name and number of the man in charge, though. He should be able to tell you the rest."
"Good."
A few minutes later, Robert Duncan handed her a white slip of paper. On the top was the name Daniel Banneker, and his number. Under that, Robert Duncan's own name and another number.
"That's my home number. Please, call me if I can do anything to help. I've got to call Mrs. Blessing now. Agent Johnson..good luck." His voice was thick with distress.
"Thank you, Mr. Duncan. Call if you remember anything else." With a final nod in his direction, Vivian slipped out of the office.
God, it hurt.
The first thing she became aware of was an intense throbbing, a pain that resonated through her entire being, but was most centrally located above her left eye. The second thing she realized was that she couldn't move. Arms and legs were bound, and she was curled up on a damp, cold floor, bathed in darkness. At least, she assumed it was dark. Her left eye was swollen shut, and the right was so caked with blood that she couldn't pry it open, not yet. More than anything, more than the heavy footsteps that sounded above her, more than being tied up, more than not knowing where she was, this, the inability to see, this was what frightened her the most. That, and the fact that she just couldn't..remember. Even greater than her fear of losing her sight was her fear of losing her mind, and now it seemed she had lost both, if only temporarily. She knew where she was now. This wet, hard, unforgiving place..this was her hell.