Wife or not, Sam was used to taking orders from Jack, and she turned and headed for the lobby without question. She knew what he was thinking, though. The guys from the Dairy Queen incident were the ones the police had told Jack were their primary suspects, and the minute Cassie had mentioned Dairy Queen – without knowing herself that that was who the police were looking for – she had given Sam reason to watch the exchange between Jack and Bob closely.

Bob was fairly well beat up, Sam decided as Jack was speaking to him. Not only was his knee so swollen that his jeans were going to have to be cut off that leg, but his face as bruised and swollen as well. Sam had seen the aftermaths of many a good fight in her lifetime, and she'd seen the aftermath of several car accidents as well, and she was pretty sure that unless he'd been knocked out of the car (or truck or whatever it was) and tossed into the street to roll around a bit, he'd been in a fight. And it was obvious to her that Jack had decided the same thing.

She understood the police officer, but she wasn't exactly sure why Jack was bringing in Jaffer – unless he was going to do some intimidating. Jaffer was very good when intimidating people.

She spotted the officer immediately, and walked over to him, explaining who she was and what was going on – as much as she knew – and the cop spoke into his radio, letting his dispatcher know what was happening as well and calling for back up to the hospital. (He'd been there waiting to hear about the cadet – and maybe see if he'd be up to giving a statement once he came out of surgery) Over his radio Sam could hear the dispatcher sending other officers to the hospital, and she and the officer turned and headed for the emergency room waiting room.

OOOOOOOOO

Cassie ran through the emergency room admitting room, Jack's keys jingling with each step and ignoring the looks people were giving her. She wasn't sure what was going on, but if Jack wanted Jaffer then she'd get him. She was hurrying because she wanted to get back and see what was going on, because she had a feeling it had something to do with whatever had happened to Ian – and whatever she could do to help with that she'd do.

She ran out the door and up to Jack's truck, where Jaffer was waiting impatiently for her. She unlocked the door of the truck, and opened it, and Jaffer bolted past her, jumping to the ground and heading into the still open emergency room door before Cassie could even think about trying to block his way.

"Jaffer!"

OOOOOOOO

"Look, mister, I don't know who you are, but you can't just start picking on my boyfriend with-"

"I told you who I am," Jack said as Bob tried to struggle to his feet, fear dominating his expression and obviously giving him the added boost he must have needed, because he made it up, leaning heavily on the back of the chair he'd been sitting in.

"I didn't do anything," he said, sweating. "Come on, Sharon, we'll come back later…"

She stood as well, moving to support him and ready to leave, even though she wanted him looked at. She didn't like this cold man who was standing in front of them – and didn't understand what was going on.

Rather than chance her being hurt, Jack didn't stop them from moving towards the door – there was a cop on the way, after all, and they weren't moving all that fast. They weren't going anywhere.

He didn't know just how right he was, though. The couple hadn't even made it to the door when a large black form was suddenly there, blocking the way with a formidable show of incredibly sharp teeth and a deep throaty growl that pulled both of them up short, staring as Jaffer made his appearance without Cassie – and without a leash. There was nothing to stop the black lab from attacking, and Bob and Sharon realized that immediately.

"What-"

Behind the lab, Sam appeared with the police officer, and Bob paled further – and Jack wouldn't have expected that to be possible.

"Excuse me, Sir," the cop said – politely – to Bob. "I'd like to talk to you…"

Wilting, Bob sank into the closest chair, his legs wobbly already, but now with fear as well. Cassie arrived on the scene, coming up behind Sam and the cop and stopping, Jaffer's leash hanging limply from her hand, just in time to hear Bob speak up in a soft, scared voice.

"I just want to go home…"

OOOOOOOOO

The police officer took control of the situation – although Jack was right beside him the entire time, watching Bob carefully. His backup arrived almost immediately and one of the officers turned out to be Reyes, accompanied by his partner Hall. Both men recognized Bob from the Dairy Queen incident – although Hall called in to the dispatcher, double-checking the names.

Since the Dairy Queen incident was already at the center of attention – due to the participants being the primary people of interest in the shooting – it only took a moment for verification. Bob Danson was, indeed, one of the men that had been involved – just like Cassie said – and now he was their first suspect in custody. But he refused to say a word to the police about anything – claiming repeatedly that he'd been in an auto accident and that he had nothing to do with anything, and he wanted a lawyer.

"There's nothing we can do, Colonel," Reyes told a very frustrated Jack O'Neill just as Dotty arrived in the waiting room with River and Shawn in her wake. "We can't do anything until he gets a lawyer, and we can't take him into custody until he gets medical attention for his injuries."

"He's lying, Goddamn it."

Reyes nodded, looking over as a nurse and a police Sergeant escorted Danson back into the medical area to be treated.

"We know. There's no record of any hit and run this evening. We checked. But until we-"

"What's going on, Jack?" Dotty asked, coming over to where Jack was standing, Jaffer and Sam beside him, while Officer Hall talked to Cassandra. River went over to stand with Cassie, but Shawn joined Jack and his mother.

"One of them came in beat to shit and battered, but the bastard claims he was in a car accident…"

"You're sure it was one of them?"

"Yeah. Cassie recognized him first, and even though he's not telling us anything, his story is thin."

"Anemic…" Reyes added, glumly. "But we can't do anything until-"

"Jack can, though," Dotty said. "Go have a man to man talk with him, Jack. Explain to him that you-"

"I can't hear anything about threats," Reyes warned them. "If something happened to Danson after hearing this, I'd have to follow through with it and bring up charges against you – no matter how much I didn't want to." He paused, shrugging. "However… I need to talk to the Sergeant, and I'm sure that I can trust an Air Force Colonel to guard my prisoner while we're talking… couldn't I?"

Jack's eyes took on a gleam that was as predatory as any Sam had ever seen. It was almost chilling.

"Of course you could, Reyes… I'd keep a close eye on him for you… if you needed me to."

"Let's go."