Martin walked into the office and was surprised to find Danny at the office so early in the morning.
"Did you ever go home?" Martin asked as he walked by Danny's desk.
"Yes, for a little while, then I came back."
"Did Jack call you last night?"
"No. Why? Did you find something at Escobar's?"
Martin sensed the rising panic in Danny's voice. He, Jack and Vivian spent hours with the crime scene team at Escobar's the night before. Martin was hoping that Jack told Danny what they found. Jack must have hoped that Danny was home getting some rest.
Martin gently tried to explain what they found to Danny, "Escobar was fairly uncooperative, as you can imagine. We found some personal items that we assume belong to Agent Riley like clothes and toiletries. But, not enough to show that she was living there. It looks like he may have gotten rid of most of her things…"
Danny was getting impatient. "What did the crime scene team find?"
Martin looked down. He really didn't want to be the one to tell Danny this.
"Just tell me what they found," Danny demanded.
"We found traces of blood in the bathroom, and some blood stains on the carpet under the bed. When the team checked the room with a black light, they found a lot more blood that was washed away – a rather large amount on the mattress of the bed. It looks like Escobar was trying to hide something."
Danny sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. All he could see was her face the last time he saw her. She had such hope in her eyes.
"They are fast tracking the blood comparison. We should know something soon. I'm sorry, Danny."
Danny tried to act unaffected. "Did Escobar give you anything else? Did he answer any questions?"
"Not really. We are holding him for twenty-four hours. If we don't find more evidence, we'll have to let him go, but he's still facing drug charges because of Sanchez's cooperation."
"What about his phone records? Any activity from Allen?"
"None. I really don't think he was involved in her disappearance. I think he just really cared about her."
Danny smirked, "Yeah, right. He cared about her. If he cared about her, he would have pulled her out a lot sooner. If he cared about her, he would have known she was burned out. The truth is he wanted to keep her under his thumb. He liked controlling her. I know he is a friend of your family, but you don't know him."
Martin responded, "Danny, that's not fair. You weren't there. You don't know what was going on. You can't rush to judgment on this like you always do."
Danny stood up then. He was tired and angry, and Martin was not helping by defending Allen. "Like I always do? I'm not rushing to judgment, Martin. I worked with the guy. His job is to look out for the best interests of the undercover agents. But, Allen was only out for his best interests. Do you know how many times he wanted me to take drugs so I could get more 'credibility'? When I didn't do it, he would put it in his report that I was uncooperative. Do you even know what he asked Annie to do? The sacrifices he wanted her to make. I swear he just did it so he could hear all the sordid details later. He's scum, Martin. Maybe he didn't have anything to do with her disappearance. But he should have protected her." Danny's voice was raised, almost yelling.
Samantha walked in just as Danny was finishing. She looked at the two agents curiously, but then her eyes went to Danny.
"What's is it?" Danny asked in a low voice.
"They just faxed the blood analysis to Jack's office. It's a match."
A few minutes later, they all assembled at the conference table. Danny was looking down trying not to make eye contact with his teammates. He didn't want to see the pity looming in their eyes.
Jack started, "With the amount of blood the crime scene unit found, it looks like Agent Riley is dead. Samantha, you and I are going to take another run at Escobar. Vivian, talk to the US Attorney's office. Since we've given them Sanchez to testify on the drug charges, maybe they will be willing to make a deal if Escobar confesses. Martin, would you mind filling in Agent Allen on what's happened?"
"No. I'll go see him," Martin said as he left the table followed by Vivian and Samantha.
Jack looked over at Danny. He had never seen Danny like this. He had never seen Danny look so broken. "Danny, go home," Jack commanded.
Danny finally looked at Jack, "I can't, Jack. That's not a good idea."
"Okay. Then, why don't you go to a meeting. This isn't the time to fall a part."
Danny knew that Jack just want to help, but he just wanted to be left alone. "I won't fall a part, Jack. I'm fine. But, thanks." Then Danny got up and walked away.
Agent Kevin Allen's Hotel RoomAgent Allen wasn't at the DEA field office. The secretary at the field office told Martin Agent Allen was staying at the hotel around the corner. Martin decided to see if he was there since it was still rather early.
Martin knocked on Allen's door. After a few seconds, Allen opened the door.
"Martin. This is a surprise. I was just about to leave for the office."
"I apologize for the early hour. We found out some information we thought you may want to know."
"What is it?"
"We searched Escobar's home last night. We found blood – a lot of blood in the bedroom. Blood analysis matches it with Agent Riley's blood type. I'm sorry, Kevin." Martin didn't like delivering the same bad news twice in one morning.
Kevin sat down on the couch. "Oh my God. This is awful."
"We're still questioning Escobar, but he's not talking. It will be difficult to find her…"
"Her body," Kevin finished.
"Right."
"I suppose Danny is seething. He probably thinks this is all my fault."
"Danny is upset. I think he cared about Agent Riley a great deal."
"He cared about her. Right. He used her, and she would never see him for what he actually was. I tried to make her see, but she was blind when it came to him."
Martin was startled by Kevin's reaction. Martin wasn't sure how to respond. Just when he started to say something in Danny's defense, Kevin's cell phone rang.
"Excuse me for second," Kevin said as he walked in to the bedroom.
Martin walked over to sit down, and knocked Kevin's briefcase off the coffee table. When he picked up the briefcase, several pictures fell out. Martin picked up the pictures, and was surprised to recognize the people in the pictures. They were of Danny and Agent Riley. The pictures showed them standing beside a cab. They were standing very close to each other. It looked like they were saying goodbye. In some of the pictures, they were kissing. Martin got an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. He took several of the pictures, then put the rest back in the brief case.
When Kevin came back into the room, Martin rose from the chair. "I have to get going. We still have some loose ends to tie up."
"Is there anything I can do? Should I call her family?" asked Kevin.
Martin quickly responded, "No. I'm sure Jack is handling that. We, uh, may need your help later today to help us finish our report. Can I call you at your office?"
"Of course. I'll be there all day." Kevin put his hand out to shake Martin's hand.
Martin hesitantly shook his hand, then left. Once out in the hall, Martin exhaled. Kevin has been lying to them the whole time. Danny was right.
