Absolution
By Midnight Caller
Disclaimer, ratings, etc. in Chapter 1.
Thank you for sticking with the story so far! And for all the incredibly kind words. :)
**
Chapter 5
"I was in the neighborhood," Jack's wife said, and then noticed how off-guard he was. "Are you in the middle of something?" she asked, indicating toward the bullpen.
Jack swallowed. "No, we were uh... just interviewing a suspect..." He watched her nod, but couldn't tell if she believed him. "What are you doing here?"
Maria furrowed her brow, getting defensive. "I won't bother you long, I just wanted to ask if you'd be home for dinner."
He sighed heavily, shaking his head. "I don't think so." When his wife started to roll her eyes, he quickly added, "This is a big case and we're running out of time. There's an unborn baby involved..."
Maria held up her hand. "You don't have to explain. Should I tell the girls you won't be coming home tonight?"
"Maria..." he started, but she turned away to pick up her coat. He exhaled and looked at the floor, briefly shutting his eyes.
"Remember... " She paused, catching his eyes. "Remember that place, Little Tony's?"
A small smile crossed his lips. "Sure. I think the last time we were there... you were pregnant with Hanna." A tinge of regret tainted his voice.
Maria smiled, but her eyes were sad, seemingly trapped in the past. "I miss that," she said, quietly.
Jack nodded solemnly, "I know."
His wife took a small step toward him. "I feel like I'm losing you, Jack," she practically whispered.
He looked at her now, memories flooding his thoughts, a deep sorrow filling his eyes. He let out a slow breath and reached out, taking her hand in his. For a moment, they just stayed silent.
Just as Maria was about to speak, a voice interrupted the moment.
"Jack, I—"
Samantha stopped the second she stepped through the doorway. As Jack's head spun to look at her, she immediately cleared her throat and stared at the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, I'll uh... I'll come back."
Maria was staring at Jack when he turned back around. "You have work to do," she said, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. She let go of his hand.
"Yeah."
"Maybe you'll find this girl and you can make it home tonight," she said, hopeful, but he remained silent.
She finally turned and walked out of his office.
**
"Sam."
Jack's voice caught her off-guard, and she jumped slightly before spinning around her chair to face him.
"What did you want earlier?" he asked, his eyes trying to remain neutral.
"Oh, Vivian wanted to know if she should bring in Doctor Patel."
"She might as well," he said. "I'd like to talk to him anyway."
Sam nodded and stood, crossing to the whiteboard to write the doctor's name under the list of suspects. Jack's eyes followed her.
"Look, Sam..."
Danny and Martin cut short his attempt at an explanation as they entered the bullpen. They sat down at the table, casting a few glances in Jack's direction.
"So what's on the agenda, boss?" Danny asked. "Tommy's all but clammed up at this point. Should we let him go?"
"No, let's hold that piece of crap as long as we can, and then nail him with possession charges on the stuff you guys found at the house." Jack ran a hand over his mouth. "Martin, Danny... I want you guys to dig deeper on the sister, Karen. Look into her phone records, expense accounts. Flag anything that stands out to you."
Danny nodded, moving to his computer. Martin took a step toward Jack, keeping his voice low. "Look, Jack... about earlier... "
Jack thought about cutting him off, but some surge of pride wanted to see how far his colleague would go. He could see Martin struggling with his next words.
"We're all just... kind of... concerned," Martin finally admitted, looking like he wished he hadn't said anything at all.
Jack caught Sam's eye as she briefly glanced over her shoulder, and he quickly swallowed his first choice words. "Noted," he finally said, and Martin slowly nodded, walking over to join Danny at his desk.
Jack turned to find Sam, but she'd moved to her chair, her neck craned as she held the phone to her ear, busily jotting down information. He took one more look, and then headed back across the hall.
**
The words on the report blurred, and Jack blinked again, the letters sharpening slightly. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned, wondering just how long he'd been sitting there staring at the same page.
There was a knock on his office door, and Vivian stuck her head through. "Doctor Patel is here, if you'd like to talk to him."
Jack blinked once more before standing and heading for the door. As he tried to leave, Vivian stood in his way, and he raised an eyebrow at her.
"You don't have to do this, I can have one of the boys go in there—"
Jack rolled his eyes, smirking slightly. "I never took you for a gossip."
"Jack—"
"Like I told Martin, I'm fine," he said, his eyes narrowing.
Vivian remained where she was. "Martin isn't the one who told me."
For a moment, Jack showed his hand, surprise and a small amount of embarrassment washing over his features. But just as quickly, his guard fell back into place. "I'm fine."
Holding her tongue, Vivian finally lowered her head and backed away as Jack stepped out into the hallway.
**
24 Hours Missing
"So how long have you been Andrea's physician, Doctor Patel?"
Gabriel Patel shifted in his seat and adjusted his glasses, two quirks Jack had taken note of since he'd continued to do both for the past five minutes.
"About two years."
Jack flipped a page in the file sitting in front of him. "And when did you start prescribing medication for her anxiety?"
The doctor sat back in his chair, thinking. "About six months ago. She'd been complaining of panic attack-type symptoms, and I thought a small dose of anti-anxiety pills would help."
"Did you ever recommend a therapist for her?"
Patel smiled, sitting forward. "Well, I didn't think it was necessary. It seemed like a chemical issue."
Jack leaned his chin on his hand, observing the man across the table from him. As he continued to stare, the doctor became more and more uncomfortable.
"How did Andrea react to the news of her pregnancy?"
The doctor took a deep breath. "Not so good. She was very scared."
"What did you do?"
Patel cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses. "Well, I asked if she wanted to keep it, and she said she didn't think so."
"And then what?"
"Then I discussed the various methods by which she could abort the baby..."
Jack waited for him to continue, but he didn't. "So what did she decide?"
Patel shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess she would have discussed that further with the doctor who would be performing the procedure."
"And who would that be?"
"She didn't tell me," Patel explained quickly.
"I see," Jack said. He waited a few seconds before asking, "How much does an abortion cost, doctor?"
"Well, depending on where in the pregnancy it's going to be done... anywhere from 300 dollars to around 600."
"Does insurance help cover it?"
"Well, in New York State, I know that some forms of it do, yes."
Jack looked at him again, searching...
"Have you ever performed an abortion, doctor?"
Patel stiffened. "Never."
Jack cocked his head. "Really? You seem to know an awful lot about abortions for someone who's never done one."
"I'm a doctor," Patel said, getting defensive.
Jack sat back in his chair, looking over Patel's features, probing his eyes.
The doctor merely sat there, shifting in his chair. After a moment, he squirmed again and checked his watch. "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but... I have a business to get back to..."
Jack blinked in mild amazement, and then gestured to the door. "By all means. Sorry to bother you."
The doctor paused at the door, looking back, and then walked out.
Glancing over at Vivian, Jack sighed in frustration. "Get a full background on this guy." Off Vivian's look, he added, "I don't like him, and I really want to know why."
**
Vivian entered the bullpen to see Martin and Samantha leaning over the conference table, pouring over some phone records and other paperwork.
"Anything new?" Vivian asked, taking a seat.
Martin sighed, "Not yet, but the sister's got an awful lot of incoming phone calls in the last month. Unfortunately the origin number won't show up on the statements."
"What're you thinking?"
"I think the she's been in contact with Andrea," Martin replied.
Samantha added, "So she's lying. Karen said she hadn't heard from her sister in months."
Vivian nodded, flipping through a pile of phone records. A few moments later, she felt Samantha's eyes on her, but when she looked up, Sam was staring at the table.
After another minute, Samantha finally asked, "So where's Jack?"
Vivian cleared her throat, keeping her eyes on the paperwork in front of her. "In his office."
Samantha furrowed her brow, wondering why Jack wasn't with the rest of his team, but Danny's voice broke the awkward moment.
"This boyfriend of hers is a real piece of work," he called from his computer. "Been in and out of juvie since 16. Four misdemeanors by the time he was 18, and that was all before he turned to petty theft and assault."
Martin sighed, "Man, this guy's gotta know more than he's saying. I think Danny and I should try to talk to him again—"
Vivian shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea. You should clear it with Jack first."
Martin lowered his voice. "Yeah, well, I was hoping Jack wouldn't be involved in this interview..."
Samantha shot him a look, and Vivian narrowed her eyes. "He's still your boss, Martin."
He was about to protest when Jack suddenly appeared, glancing at the mound of paperwork on the table.
"Any developments?" he asked.
Martin told him about the phone records, and then glanced at Vivian before adding, "I think we should talk to Tommy again. There's something he isn't telling us."
Jack shook his head. "I want you and Danny to go talk to the sister and find out why she's been lying to us."
"Jack, this guy knows all sorts of low-life types – maybe one of them took Andrea and—"
"I'll talk to him," Jack interrupted, rather irritated.
Martin prepared to square off, but then backed down, looking over at Danny.
Jack continued, "I'm not doing it to piss you off, Martin. Sam and I have already talked to Andrea's sister – I'm hoping she might tell you two something she didn't tell us, or slips up and we catch her in a lie."
Martin swallowed and nodded, walking to his desk to get his coat.
**
tbc…