Absolution
By Midnight Caller
You all rock with the gracious amounts of feedback and kind words – I can't thank you enough for reading. :)
**
Chapter 7
26 Hours Missing
Danny and Martin stood outside Karen Feldman's loft, ringing the buzzer. When there was no answer, Danny banged on the door.
"Karen Feldman? FBI – open the door!"
Still no answer.
Martin sighed. "This is such a joke. Jack just wants me out of the office, I think."
Danny seemed surprised. "Give the guy some slack... he's sort of been through the ringer lately."
Martin paused before replying. "Look, I know that, but sending us all the way out here when we could have just called and—"
"Hey, Jack's the boss," Danny said. "Plus he sent me with you, and I haven't been in his doghouse for a long time," he added with a smirk.
Martin smiled slightly, and then they both turned at the sound of a door opening down the hall. An elderly woman poked her head out into the hallway, and then quickly retreated, shutting her door.
Danny glanced at Martin before they both started toward down the hall. Martin knocked first, then Danny.
"FBI – open the door, please," he announced.
Finally, the locks began to turn, and the old woman appeared, hiding behind her door. Danny tried to look as harmless as possible as he pulled out his badge.
"Ma'am, I'm Special Agent Taylor with the FBI... do you know Karen Feldman?"
The woman looked him up and down before answering a shaky, "Yes."
"I realize it's late, but we'd like to ask you some questions if that's all right with you..."
After a few seconds, the woman nodded, her door opening with a creak.
**
"Son of a bitch..."
Vivian's voice broke through the relative silence of the bullpen, and Samantha spun in her chair. "What?"
Shaking her head, Vivian stood and walked over to her colleague. "I'm doing a background on our good Doctor Patel. This guy is lucky to be practicing medicine. Twice he's been sued for malpractice, one of which was for a nondescript procedure involving the drug mifepristone."
Samantha caught Vivian's disbelieving eyes. "Mifepristone? As in RU-486?"
Vivian nodded. "Let's find out what other little lies this guy's been feeding us."
Samantha turned to make the phone call, but stopped as her hand touched the receiver. "Should we tell Jack?"
Vivian hesitated. "He's on a personal errand."
Sam seemed surprised, automatically glancing at her watch. "At... 11:30 at night?"
"He told me he'd be back in an hour," Vivian said, trying to remain impartial.
Sam pursed her lips, pushing aside her emotions. "Then let's bring Patel back in here," Sam said, picking up the phone.
**
The front door creaked slightly as it swung open, and Jack tried to shut it as softly as he could behind him. The apartment was fairly dark, save for one lamp on in the living room, and as he quietly walked over to the sofa, he saw Maria sitting at one end, a blanket pulled up around her waist.
With just a hint of irritation, she put down the book she was reading, and watched as he sat across from her on the edge of a chair.
Jack licked his lips. "We had a slight lull in the case and I figured I would try..." he gestured, searching for the words. He eventually just gave up and looked at his wife.
She suddenly leaned forward, reaching for his cheek. "What happened?" she asked, panic shooting through her voice.
He gently pushed her hand away. "It's nothing, just a bruise. I'm fine."
Worry still etched into her features but she realized she had hit a brick wall. Sighing heavily, she leaned back. "The girls wanted to know where you were tonight."
Jack let out a slow breath. "I told you that I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it back—"
"I know what you said," she interrupted. "But they still asked. And I don't know how many times you're willing to let them think that you love them less than you than your job."
His breath left his lungs in a loud huff. "You know that isn't true. They know that."
"How, Jack?" she asked, her voice straining.
He dropped his head, blinking rapidly as he tried to think of the right response.
Maria pulled away her blanket and reached a hand over to touch one of his. "I know your job is important, but..."
He met her eyes. "What do you expect me to do?" he asked quietly.
She sighed, "I realize you've been trying since you moved back here, but... ever since a few weeks ago, I just feel like you've been... even more distant than before."
Jack sat back in the chair, leaning out of reach of his wife's hand. "You mean the Spaulding case."
His wife looked him straight in the eye. "You need to let it go, Jack. This whole house is suffering along with you."
The sadness in his eyes was soon joined by anger, but he kept calm. "I... can't just... let it go."
"Maybe you should see a therapist. They have those at the bureau, don't they?"
Jack closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "It isn't just going to go away..."
"Well, you're going to have to try!" Maria stood, her voice now a loud whisper. "Because I don't know how to help you, especially when you're only here a few hours every other day."
"That isn't fair—"
"Face it, Jack – your job is the most important thing in your life."
He stood, trying to hold her arms. "You know that isn't true—"
"It is! Why can't you just accept that?" she almost screamed, holding back her voice to keep from waking their children. "You come home at almost midnight with your face bruised and cut and I'm just supposed to accept it all as part of the kind of life I want? As the kind of husband I need you to be?"
"Maria—" he tried to reach for her again, but she stepped back.
"I can't," she choked out, bringing a hand to her mouth. "I can't... do this anymore."
A heavy silence suddenly filled the room, and then came the sound of Maria's muffled sobs as they escaped from beneath her hand.
Jack tried one more time to touch her but she retreated, and his arms fell to his sides.
He finally nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Okay," he lamented quietly, waiting a few seconds for a response before shuffling toward the door.
He took one last look back at the hunched outline of his wife, and then walked out into the night.
**
tbc…