Summary: WIP. CSI / WaT crossover. Set after CSI PwF and WaT Fallout 2. It's easier to run than to act.
A/N: I owe big thanks to D for making sense of my English. And of course the Maple Street gang, the most amazing group I've ever been part of.
FBI Missing Persons Unit
May 15, 4.45 a.m.
Jack examined the magnified image of the woman wearing Sara's jacket. It was
definitely not the young woman who had attacked Danny the previous night.
The woman in the printout was middle aged, at least forty-five, probably
older; she had long dark hair and was wearing sunglasses. Not good chances of identifying her. But she was wearing the same jacket that was missing from Sara's belongings, and that made her the only lead in case they were about to lose. A woman, that didn't fit into their investigation. They had assumed that her disappearance was either linked to her work -- but that angle had turned out to be a dead end -- or that it was linked to the men her life. Sara didn't have any close female friends and no female acquaintances in the
New York City area. A random kidnapping, if the victim wasn't a child, by a
woman was extremely rare. Besides, even though he was still in the dark about the
exact timeline, the fact that this mystery woman had gone back to the hotel in
Sara's place, suggested something personal. It also hinted at her working with an
accomplice. Probably with a man.
He recalled something that Dr. Watts had told them the previous day during
questioning.
"My wife is extremely jealous. If she sees me just talking to another woman
she'll think that I'm having an affair."
"That's why I lied. I was afraid that my wife would find out and would think
that I'm cheating on her with Sara. But that's not what happened."
"Then what did happen?"
"I already told you."
"Humor me."
"We were at the restaurant. Sara wasn't feeling very well; she left early. I went home
and called her later to ask whether she was all right. I was simply worried about her. That's the last time I talked to her."
The wife, Christine Watts. It was possible, she'd have a motive. So far the
only one. But there was a slight problem; she was supposedly in Phoenix at the
moment.
Jack got up, filled with renewed energy. It was the familiar rush of an
Important discovery on a case. Years of routine had not managed to dull this feeling.
It was part of what kept him doing his job. That and the hope that they would a find a
Person alive. He reached for the phone to call forensics. If this woman had indeed
been in Sara's hotel room after Sara had disappeared than some of the evidence they had found there would point to her. Now that he had a suspect, Christine Watts,
there was something to compare the collected evidence against. Having made the call, Jack checked his watch, just past 5.30 a.m., the team would get here for another
hour and a half and the forensic test would take time as well. Without evidence linking Christine Watts to Sara's disappearance, they were just going to run into a legal stonewall.
Jack reached for another cup of coffee, trying to fight off fatigue. Right
now he missed Samantha's investigative insight into the case. The truth was he
missed so much more about her. The longer he avoided putting it all on the table, the
more he feared that he might still lose her. He couldn't help a cynical smile about
his attachment to a woman with whom it was supposedly over. That was a lie and
no matter how often he told it to himself and others, it wasn't coming true. His
mind still refused to believe it.
And when push had come to shove, he had risked everything for
her. As Maria had said, that showed him where his priorities were. He had already
gone part of the way by trading his life for hers, but now he was running away from
the repercussions. He felt trapped; throughout this case, his mind had wandered back to the same, by now almost familiar, places. Jack got up and looked out
the window. This had to end. He couldn't run from his life forever, hiding out at work.
His first priority remained to find the missing woman; that was why he walked into
that office every day. That would always be his priority. But after this case, which was
coming to a close one way or another now that Sara had been missing for almost 90
hours, he had to tackle his personal matters.
FBI Missing Persons Unit, New York City
May 15, 7.15 a.m.
"That's what we have now. This woman used Sara's key card to enter her
hotel room at around 10.15 p.m. uses her credit card to buy aspirin and she leaves
the jacket behind in the hotel room when she leaves at 11.50 p.m.."
"We found her prints on Sara's cell phone, as well as partial prints in the
bathroom and on the key card. So sometime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. she must have come into possession of Sara's jacket, keys, bag and cell-phone." Jack marked the time frame on the white board.
"Sorry, I'm late." Danny entered to conference room. "I just talked a guy
from ID. They have the prints on file. She's Christina Watts, the wife of Dr. Robert
Watts. In 1998 she was arrested for assaulting Mandy Black. I've pulled the report;
it doesn't give any specifics, but she assaulted that woman in the bedroom of her home. One guess what she was doing there. Christine didn't have a previous record, the court ordered her to undergo anger management therapy and she didn't do any time."
"She sounds like our woman. Maybe her husband did take Sara home, she
surprises them and there is a fight. Sara's injured or killed, they both panic and try
to figure out a way to stage her disappearance. "
"But going back to the hotel posing as Sara. That's a long shot." Martin had
his doubts.
"Maybe, but not when we considering who's involved. Dr. Watts is the vice
director of the crime lab, he knows what we're going to look for. But staging her
time of disappearance, he blurs to connection to himself. Think about it, it was all
very deliberate, using her credit card, using the cell phone, leaving the jacket
behind. All done to throw us off track." Vivian suggested.
"Ingenious plan, but it must have gone wrong somewhere. How did the blood
get into the bathroom? We know it isn't Sara's. The DNA doesn't match the data
Vegas sent us." Danny remarked.
"We have to find Christine Watts. Then we'll know."
"So how do we get her?"
"We need everything on her: financials, properties, where her parents
live; I want it all. Danny, you'll be on that. Viv and Martin, I want you to talk to her
employer about that business trip she was supposedly on, see of she has any friends who might know something. I'll try to get to the husband." Jack handed out assignments.
"The lethargy of the previous night had been replaced by renewed hope. But one thing remained unsaid: if they were right about the scenario, Sara's chances of being alive were very small."
Decker Food Technologies, New York City
May 15, 8.40 a.m.
"The conference in Phoenix? That was cancelled. We flew out there all for
nothing,
just because they didn't inform us on time. That would have been the least
they could do. But no,we had to show up there to learn that it has been cancelled a day earlier." The woman was exasperated at the memory.
"Did you return on the same day?" Vivian asked, noting down the answers.
"No, it was too late, the earliest tickets we got were for the next
morning."
"How did Christine seem on the trip? Did she say were she was going when you
got back?"
"She was angry, but how wouldn't be. I think she went home. Why?"
"Just some routine questions. How well do you know Christine? Do you know
her husband?"
"We're friends, we go to the gym together after work. I've never met her
husband, but that's just his luck. He's supposed to be a real piece of work. Always on
the look-out for his next conquest."
"So Christine told her that her husband was having an affair?" Vivian asked,
having her own idea of what was going on in Christine's marriage.
"One? The guy has been cheating on her for years, she told me. I frankly
don't understand why she even stayed with him."
FBI Missing Persons UnitMay 15, 9.20 p.m.
Danny wasn't too happy about being parked at the office doing the telephone
Work now that the case was in a hot phase. But the stitches in his arm still
hurt, so he didn't mind being able to sit at a desk for a change. He had managed to pull all the relevant information on Christine Watts. He dialed Jack's cell phone number.
"Jack, it's Danny."
"What do you have?"
"I ran her financials. She went to Phoenix, but only stayed there for one
night, according to the credit card records. There are a couple of credit card
charges in the last few days, all from here in the city. Several are interesting: she
refilled a prescription for sleeping pills and bought several over-the-counter
medications, mostly painkillers: ibuprofen and aspirin. This morning she bought a plane ticket to Lima, Peru. No return ticket. She has some property; three months ago she inherited a house from her mother. She hasn't sold it and there is no indication that she is receiving any rent for it. I've had NYPD send out a patrol, they found her car in the driveway. I told them to wait for you."
"Thanks. I'm not getting anything from Dr. Watts. Call Martin and Viv and
meet us at the parent's house."
Watts Residence New York City
May 15, 9.50 a.m.
The house was suburban, hidden behind a high wall of shrubs.
A patrol car was parked further down the street, out of sight from the
house. NYPD officers were already waiting there for them. They were donning Kevlar vests while Officer Lauber from the NYPD explained the situation so far.
"Nothing has moved in there as far as we can tell, but all the blinds are
drawn. There are two exits -- the front door and a door leading into the backyard. We've talked to a few neighbours but nothing useful. Most people are at work all day here. They recall that the car has been here for most of the last three days."
"That fits." Martin commented.
"Your sharpshooters are in place, but it's not very accessible. You'll have
to get her outside."
Jack nodded. "Okay, we're all set." He addressed his team.
As they approached the house, Jack felt a strange apprehension. He had
entered into situation like the one here many times before and while they always made him tense and slightly nervous, he couldn't recall when he had last felt so
reluctant, almost scared. He had gone into that bookshop four days ago, thereby taking a much bigger risk than now and he hadn't been that scared. He had a hard time placing the feeling. The memory of Barry Mashburn holding a gun to his head kept resurfacing, in spite of his attempts to focus.
"Jack? You all right?" Vivian asked, her concerned tone intruding on his
dark thoughts.
"I'm fine." Jack snapped, recovering his composure "Viv and
Danny you cover the back. Martin, you're with me."
"Christine Watts? FBI, please open the door." Jack banged on the front door.
Nothing, then the sound of something falling over inside, then someone yelling, a muffled scream.
The house was barely furnished anymore. The corridor into which the front
door led was devoid of any furniture.
"Don't move. Or I'll kill her." A quivering voice called out from the
backroom. "I'll do it."
Jack motioned for Martin stand down. He was just about to advance further into the
house when Christine Watts appeared in the doorframe. She looked very different
from the woman on the surveillance video. Her clothes looked like she'd been
sleeping in them, her hair was in disarray, her face flushed. She was
clutching a large caliber gun with one hand. With her other arm she was holding Sara, who looked dazed and barely able to stand up. Sara seemed dazed, barely aware of what was happening. Drugged maybe. She wouldn't be able to run or take cover should the situation escalate. The large gash on her forehead was new, it hadn't been on the surveillance videos.
"Put your guns down." Christine yelled, her hand shaking nervously.
Martin saw that the situation was volatile. Christine was on the edge
already. The fact that Sara was still alive after several days showed them
that she had no intention to kill her. However any individual pushed to far was capable of murder, that Martin had learned so far.
"Just take it easy. We're going to put our weapons down very slowly."
Martin told her in a calm voice, following protocol for a situation like this. He eyed the
woman in front of them, wanting to make sure that she knew what they were about to
do.
"Okay?" he tentatively asked.
"Just do it!" She yelled in response, struggling to keep Sara standing up.
Martin prepared to slowly bend to put his gun down when he glanced over at
Jack, who hadn't moved at all. What the hell was he playing at? Martin didn't know
what to do now. What was Jack expecting him to do?
