Long Way Down, continued from chapter five.

Author's Note: Maple Street rocks harder than any other forum could ever hope to. Thank you to everyone for the feedback…it means more than you know :wub:.

As soon as Amelia finished loading the dirt samples under the watchful eye of Lincoln Rhyme, the comfortable silence shared by the criminalist, red-haired officer and aide was shattered by the shrill insistence of the telephone.

"Answer phone," Lincoln Rhyme commanded, speaking into the computer in front of him. A whirring noise as the equipment sprung to life, a scattering of rapid images across the screen, and the words "Phone Mode" blinked three times, all in a matter of less than a second.

"Hello?" Even to his own ears, Rhyme's tone sounded brusque and impatient.

"Mr. Rhyme?" The man sounded both polite and intimidated, and Rhyme bit back a caustic response, settling instead for a simple "yes".

"Oh…oh, okay."

Rhyme and Sachs shared a brief glance, her eyebrows rising in faint amusement as Lincoln rolled his dark eyes to the ceiling. The surprised, youthful voice on the other end was clearly unsure of how a quadriplegic had managed to pick up the telephone.

"Um, this is Chris Gardner, from the lab. Your DNA results are in."

There was a moment of uncertain silence, and finally Rhyme gave in, prompting "Well?"

"The DNA from the hair tie found at the scene matches the DNA collected from Kerry Glenn's hairbrush."

"Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Gardner." The rather cordial dismissal was followed by a "close phone mode" command, and Lincoln Rhyme turned back to Amelia and Thom.

"Now that we know it's hers; how did the tie get there? Did the perp pull it out of her hair?" Lincoln's questions were rhetorical, his face creased in concentration as his mind traveled where his body couldn't; back to the scene, to that night, examining various scenarios, all from the confinement of his wheelchair.

"I don't know," Amelia objected thoughtfully. "What would the purpose of that be? If anything, it would be easier for him if she kept it back."

From the other side of the room, Thom nodded his agreement. "Less likely to get caught on something if it's tied back," he commented.

"Ah, that's very observant, Thom." Lincoln leaned his head back. "Still leaves us questioning, though."

Amelia Sachs bit her lip. "Maybe Kerry put it there," she remarked quietly.

Rhyme raised an eyebrow, prompting the officer to continue.

"I don't mean she took her own hair out." Sachs lifted her right wrist, exposing a thick white hair band. "I always have an extra, just in case. Maybe..maybe Kerry did too. Maybe she dropped it on purpose; a desperate attempt to catch our attention." Amelia shrugged, but Lincoln could see the quiet, haunted look that sometimes crept into her blue eyes, the one that meant only part of her was here in this room; the rest of Amelia Sachs was traveling the scene again, this time as the victim instead of the perpetrator. She would be imagining a terrified Kerry Glenn thinking clearly long enough to leave a piece of herself behind, and this intriguing facet of the victim would hit quick-thinking, quick-moving Amelia Sachs the hardest.

It was at such times that Rhyme needed to pull her back slowly. He was aided by the beeping of the chromatograph, and their eyes met across the large black machine. No words were needed; the simple lifting of his eyebrow and quirk of his lips were answered by the darkening of her eyes and the slight nod of her head, and his Sachs was back.

Marabella's was located only ten minutes from Wellington College, Jack noted as Samantha swung the vehicle into a parking space outside the brick building. It was quaint-looking, with a single, large glass window displaying the name in white letters.

The agents stepped from the car, and made their way across the sunlit parking lot. Entering the darkened restaurant, Jack was mildly surprised to note how empty it was, until a glance at his watch told him it was only 11:00. Samantha looked at hers as well, muttering a tense "twelve hours" as the two approached the front counter.

"Smoking or non-smoking?"

The girl standing in front of Jack and Samantha regarded them with an air of slight curiosity, and her voice held a note of distraction. She wore a short green dress, white apron, a name tag bearing "Carley" in simple black type, and Samantha was abruptly reminded of her own college years; long hours in an itchy, uncomfortable uniform, under tipped and working for minimum wage. This girl, though, who at first glance appeared to be around Kerry Glenn's age, didn't seem particularly unhappy, only distant and preoccupied.

"I'm Agent Malone, and this is Agent Spade of the FBI. We're here to ask your manager a few questions."

A kind of fearful comprehension dawned in Carley's light brown eyes, and she flicked a glance to the back of the restaurant before returning her gaze to the agents.

"Sure, hold on."

The slender brunette waved another woman over to the counter, and the two spoke briefly before Carley motioned Jack and Samantha through a swinging wooden door.

They were immediately assaulted by the heavy smell of cooking food, and memories jolted Samantha once again. The simple warmth of Jack's light touch on her back, however, was enough to shake her from past to present.

Inside the kitchen, a short, balding man looked up from the stove, concern clouding his benign features.

"What's going on, Nawa?"

A quick exchange of raised eyebrows between the agents, before they realized the man was addressing Carley.

"Last names again?" Jack muttered, his voice low in Samantha's ear. She choked back the grin that threatened to spread across her face, biting her lip and elbowing Jack lightly before taking a step forward.

"Mr. Marabella?"
The man nodded, flicking a switch on the large oven and wiping his hands on his apron.

"I'm Agent Spade, this is Agent Malone. We need to speak to you about Kerry Glenn."
"I knew it. Do you have any news?"
The quick, desperate question was fired by Carley Nawa, and it hurt Samantha to shake her head and watch the hope dissolve in the other woman's eyes.

"Do you know Kerry well?" Samantha inquired gently.

"Yeah, really well. We work together all the time."

As they had begun to do more and more, Jack and Samantha communicated without words, opting instead for a slight raise of the eyebrow and a subtle nod.

"Why don't you come out here with me?" Samantha led Carley back into the dimly lit dining area of Marabella's, and they slid into a booth across from each other.

"Kerry was supposed to open with me this morning," Carley informed Samantha, toying with a plastic salt dispenser. "She didn't show up, so I called her room and talked to Erin, her roommate. She told me..she told me that Kerry went missing last night." Carley finally looked up, her jaw set stubbornly, but Samantha could see moisture gathering between her lashes.

"It's crazy, you know? It's Kerry. How can she be missing?" A shake of her dark head, and Carley gazed over Samantha's shoulder before meeting her eyes again.

"I met Kerry when she started working here, a few months ago. I trained her." Carley offered a small grin, which Samantha returned, encouraging the other woman to continue. "We just clicked, I guess. She's a good friend. Last month, she told me..you know, about Jamie, and the baby."
Samantha nodded, assuring Carley that she did indeed know, and the brunette continued. "God, that's so shitty. I remember sometimes she'd look kind of distant, and I never knew why, until then. Anyway..I don't know if I'll be any help to you. Kerry and I are close, but I don't go to Wellington. I just..it helps to talk."

Smiling her gentle understanding, Samantha spoke. "Did Kerry ever mention any enemies? Anyone she was afraid of, or worried about?"

Carley thought for a second before slowly shaking her head. "No, I don't think so. Kerry's really likeable. Although.." Carley trailed off, rubbing her forehead as though she was trying to work a thought to the surface. "One morning she came in kind of shaken up. It was about a month ago, I think. 'I made a huge mistake'. She kept repeating that, but she wouldn't tell anyone what happened. Eventually she calmed down, and we all kind of let it go."

"And you don't have any idea what she was referring to?" Samantha's voice was calm, but her mind was racing; this huge mistake, whatever it was, could be the map to lead them to Kerry Glenn.

"I'm sorry." Carley shook her head apologetically.

"It's okay. Is there anything else you can tell me about Kerry? Did she ever mention any professors, or coaches, that you think may have been involved?"

A shrug from Carley Nawa. "Nope. As far as I know, Kerry doesn't play any sports; she just runs because she likes it, going fast."

When you move…

"She's never mentioned any specific professors, either."

"Okay. I think that's about it; thank you, Carley."

The girl nodded somberly, wishing Samantha luck with the investigation, her eyes and voice betraying the anxiety she was working so hard to conceal.

A huge mistake…

"When did Kerry Glenn start working here?" Jack glanced around the small but efficient kitchen before returning his steady gaze to the smaller man in front of him.

Joe Marabella scratched his forehead, and a moment passed before he responded.

"Mid-August, I think. It's a pretty popular place for college kids to work; the hours aren't bad, and it's only a ten, fifteen minute drive from about four colleges in this area."

"What's she like?"
Joe leaned back against the counter. "Kerry's a good kid. She was pretty quiet when she first started, but she opened up. That was Nawa's influence, I think. Those two got close fast."

"Right." Jack penned a few notes, discreetly studying Joe Marabella. Easy-going, friendly..probably made a decent boss, Jack decided.

"When did you last see Kerry?"

"Let's see…" Joe's face creased in thought. "She didn't work yesterday, so the day before that, I think."

"How did she seem?"

The other man shrugged in response to Jack's query. "Like she always did. Good-natured, hard-working. I didn't notice anything off about her."

"Okay." Jack's tone was resigned, reluctant, but years as an agent had taught him when there was simply nothing more to be learned. "Let me know if you think of anything else." He handed Joe Marabella his card, and walked through the wooden door. He fell into step beside Samantha, who was just closing her phone.

"That was Amelia," she informed him as the two left the dim restaurant behind in favor of the bright parking lot. "She and Lincoln are heading to the school to go over the scene again. Amelia doesn't think there'll be anything left, but Lincoln wants to…what'd she say? 'Walk the grid'. Or roll the grid; I think those were his words, actually."

Jack smirked. "Sounds like Lincoln."

"It does," Samantha agreed with a smile, turning the car on. "Oh, the DNA from the hair tie is Kerry's. Amelia thinks she dropped it on purpose."
 "Smart move," Jack commented.

"I think we should go back," Samantha remarked, pulling out of the lot. "Remember those video cameras in the security office? I'm sure we'd have been told if they caught anything, but I'd like to look them over anyway. Maybe we'll see something the officers dismissed as insignificant."

"At this point, I'm up for anything," Jack agreed. "Joe Marabella wasn't any help."

"Carley knew," was Samantha's response. "She said that Kerry mentioned a 'huge mistake' a month or so ago, but she never found out what it was. We know her, but we're missing something here, Jack."

Jack let out a long breath before nodding. "I don't know how much deeper we can dig, Sam."

"As deep as we have to." Samantha's quiet, insistent words settled over the agents.

She was right, Jack knew. They'd go as deep as they needed.

TBC…