Chapter 6 - To Love and To cherish

"Thank you," Mark said to the server that had just brought him one of Barbecue Bob's breakfast specials, which could have easily been called The Artery Clogger. It consisted of two fried eggs, three strips of bacon, three links of sausage, and two pancakes doused with maple syrup. Normally, Mark ordered something a little healthier, but this morning he was so preoccupied with his missing son and daughter-in-law, he didn't mind that the food on his plate would increase his cholesterol count significantly.

Will, the nervous young waiter, smiled. "You're welcome, Dr. Sloan. Is there anything else I could get for either of you?"

As tired as they were, neither Mark nor Jesse felt like they would be able to sleep, so they had decided to drive to Bob's and get some breakfast. "Not for me," Mark politely replied.

"I'm fine too, Will. Thanks," Jesse responded. The young man seemed glad to leave their presence. Jesse realized that waiting on the owners of the restaurant always made the staff a little nervous, but he wasn't sure why that was. As far as he could remember, he had never done anything to make them feel uncomfortable, but he knew they still felt that way.

While the two doctors began to eat their food, they discussed the case. The recent order that they couldn't be involved was still fresh in their minds.

"I know that you are both tired and frustrated, so am I. But we're after the same thing here and that's to find my son and his wife." Mark's voice was strained with emotion.

Inwardly, Cheryl and Jesse were wishing the incident had never happened, knowing that it probably had only served to add to Mark's anguish. "I'm sorry," came out of both their mouths at the same time and embarrassed smiles appeared on their faces.

Mark took a deep breath. "Well, now that the arguing is over, Cheryl, what can we do to help?"

Her answer came immediately. "Go home."

"What?" At first Mark was confused, but then reasoning it out, he asked, "Oh, you think whoever took Steve might try to contact me there?"

"No, I don't," Cheryl stated. "But you can't be involved in this case, so you might as well go home."

"Why not?" both doctors demanded simultaneously.

"Because Captain Woodruff said so." Their gazes followed her eyes as they traveled across the room to where her superior was standing. The red-faced man hadn't lowered the volume on his voice and was yelling at an undeserving CSU team member. Mark and Jesse weren't sure they wanted his wrath coming down on them, so they temporarily stopped their pleading.

"Mark, there really wasn't that much blood at the scene. I'm sure Steve is ok."

Mark nodded as he swallowed his food. "Oh, I know, Jesse. But since he was dragged across the living room, it means that someone knocked him out or at least incapacitated him."

"Must have been a pretty big guy," Jesse stated mostly under his breath, knowing that he would need a stepladder to do any real harm to his taller friend.

Responding to the comment, Mark said, "Or maybe there was more than one person involved."

Jesse nodded, having considered that himself. He swallowed his food and asked, "Why do you suppose they want Ellen and Steve?"

Mark was quiet while he thought about the answer, but then, shaking his fork at Jesse while he spoke, he said, "That's what I can't figure out, but when I do, we'll know who took them."

"Maybe Ellen really did see something at Hackett's apartment."

"Or took something. Steve said that he never really got a chance to ask her."

"Couldn't get a word in edgewise?" Jesse asked teasingly. He cut off a bite of pancake and swished it in some syrup before speaking again. "What are we gonna to do next?"

Mark glanced at his watch and then announced, "I'm going to go home, like Cheryl asked me to do."

At first, Jesse had a hard time believing that Mark would actually be following Cheryl's suggestion since Steve and Ellen were still missing. But, as he looked at the older man, he thought he saw a small twinkle in his eye and, after thinking about it for a minute, a knowing smile appeared on his face. "You've got something planned? Don't you?"

"I have a friend coming by in about thirty minutes, and I wouldn't want to keep him waiting."

Hardly able to control his excitement, Jesse asked. "Can I come along and meet your friend?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Mark smiled satisfactorily at the younger doctor, and the two of them were on their way.

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"Steve, I swear to you. I didn't take anything from Hackett's apartment." Ellen no longer felt the need to be obstinate and withhold information from her husband. "And I didn't see anything either."

"Ok, why don't you start at the beginning and tell me exactly what did happen that day." Steve hoped he sounded patient, and he tried to keep the pain he was feeling out of his voice, but he knew he had probably failed at both.

"Well, Sam called me on my cell phone and said that he had some information for me. I needed to meet him at his apartment."

"That part I already knew." They were sitting on the hard floor of their nearly black prison, a few feet from each other.

"Well, you said to start at the beginning."

"I guess I did. Sorry." It was too dark for her to see that his eyes were rolling up toward the ceiling, clearly showing his exasperation. He sometimes wondered if it were possible to actually do damage to one's eyes by rolling them, because if you could, he was destined to experience it.

"He'd given me information for stories before, so I figured that's what he was going to do again."

"A story from a Mafia hitman. Why am I not surprised?" he commented sarcastically.

"And what's wrong with me going after a story no matter who it's from?! It's what I do for a living!" She was becoming very defensive.

Not feeling up to discussing how dangerous it was to associate with anyone involved with organized crime, he changed the subject. "I'm guessing that Hackett didn't have any information for you."

Ellen sounded disgusted as she spoke. "No, he didn't. When I got there, we chatted a little, and then I asked him why he wanted to see me. As it turned out, he didn't have anything for me at all. What he really wanted was to seduce me."

"What?" Steve exclaimed, somewhat surprised.

"He cornered me on the couch, and then he tried to kiss me, and I slapped him on the face and pushed him back."

"Good." Steve had no doubt that Ellen could defend herself under such circumstances, especially since the pain she inflicted to his hand hadn't yet subsided.

"That didn't stop him. I tried to get to the door, but he kept cutting me off, so I saw a baseball bat, and I grabbed it and threatened him with it, but even then he didn't let up."

The room was still fairly dark, and Steve couldn't even make out her face, but her story was creating a very clear image in his mind. "And then what happened?"

"Well, then I swung at him and hit him with the bat on the side of his head."

Steve recalled Amanda's report that a blow from a baseball bat had killed Hackett. "And?" he prompted.

"He fell down." She stated it as if the effect was more than obvious.

"That's when you hit him again," Steve offered, remembering that when he had seen Hackett's body in Amanda's lab, she had pointed out two distinct blows to the head.

"No, I only hit him once, and then I left the apartment."

Even though Steve still had a slight headache that was causing him to feel a little dull, he had followed her story without any difficulty, but there was one thing that bothered him. "If you left the apartment, how did you know that he wasn't dead?"

"Because he got up and ran after me, calling me names and threatening me, and you have to be alive to say those kinds of words."

Steve couldn't disagree with her conclusion and thought it wise not to ask which words Hackett had used. "Do you remember seeing anyone else? Someone in the hallway, on the street? Anyone who could verify that Hackett was alive?"

The blackened room was quiet as she thought for a moment. "No, I don't. I just got out of there and ran to my car."

He could tell by her voice that she was disheartened, and he suddenly needed to encourage her. "Honey, it'll be all right." He scooted closer to where she was sitting and felt with his right hand for her cheek. Stroking it gently, he spoke, "I believe you."

She placed her hand on top of his and found the closeness of his touch very comforting, and she felt free to confess, "Steve, I'm scared."

He pulled her close to his chest, "I know. But we'll figure a way out of here. I promise."

After a silent minute, when Steve wondered if she might be on the verge of crying, she spoke. "I don't think there is a way out of here. At least I couldn't find one last night."

He kissed the top of her head and softly said, "Well, let's look again, shall we?"

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"I guess your friend is a little late," Jesse stated, looking at his watch for at least the twentieth time, noting that the thirty minutes had long since past.

Mark was being very mysterious about who his friend might be, even though Jesse kept badgering him about it. The older doctor had cleared the newspaper and a few bills that had come in the mail the day before off of the kitchen table. He had also emptied the old coffee grinds and started a new pot brewing in anticipation of the arrival of his guest. "Maybe he got delayed, but I'm sure he won't be long."

"Oh, so it's a he?" This was the first real clue that Mark had given him.

"Yes, it's a he, and I'm really hoping that he can help us find out what is going on." Mark paused for a moment. "I suppose the fact that he's late is a good sign. He probably wanted to check a few things out before coming here."

Jesse's mind was still pondering who the he could be. "Do I know him, Mark?"

"Hmmm. Let me think," the older man teased. "Yes, I think you've met him. It's been a few years though, and I'm not sure you'd remember him."

"Well, why don't you stop being so mysterious and just tell me who he is?"

Mark opened his mouth as if he were about to answer, and then the doorbell rang. "I think our guest must finally be here."

Jesse followed Mark to the front door like a puppy anxiously following its master, and was more than surprised to see who was standing on the porch.