Chapter 9: Gone in the night

Earlier that same evening...

Looking in on her sleeping five-year-old twins, Marina Murphy placed a soft kiss on each little forehead. Both girls were sleeping peacefully, and Marina smiled softly, thinking again how this was always her favorite part of each day. As much as she loved listening to their constant chatter throughout the day, there was something very precious about them when they were asleep.

Closing their bedroom door softly, she went down the hall to her baby daughter's nursery. She too was sleeping soundly in her cradle. At only four weeks old, Annie had been an unplanned but welcome addition to the family. While her arrival had definitely put a strain on their already unstable financial situation, Marina and her husband were doing everything they could to make their family comfortable. Right now that meant that Jon was working two jobs. He and Marina barely saw each other, and of course, he didn't see nearly as much of the children as he would have liked. She found it difficult being alone at night with just her and the children, as she was tonight. Touching her baby's tiny fingers and admiring the way her long eyelashes rested against her cheeks, Marina knew that whatever sacrifices they had to make right now, it was all worth it.

After making sure the baby monitor was turned on, Marina left the room and went downstairs to finish folding the laundry she'd just taken out of the dryer. Turning on the television, she flicked the channels for a while before finally settling on the local news. Stories of a hit & run, a kidnapping case that sent shivers up her spine, and a robbery at a local bank made her wonder if anything good ever happened in the world. She knew that good things did happen, but it was easy to feel pessimistic after watching the news. Putting the last of the folded laundry into the basket, she flopped down on the couch, turning off the TV.

Her ears perked up as she heard a slight rustling coming from the baby monitor but relaxed as she heard the sweet sound of Annie cooing softly in her sleep. Closing her eyes, Marina gave into the exhaustion she felt after a long day with the children. As much as she loved being a mother, it was nice to have a moment's peace. She knew the baby would be waking up in a few hours for a feeding so she would get some shut-eye while she could.

After what felt like only seconds, Marina woke with a start and rubbed her eyes. She could see by the clock on the wall that she'd drifted off for about ten minutes. Wondering what had woken her, she held the baby monitor up to her ear. Hearing nothing at all, she suddenly had the strangest feeling that something wasn't right. Taking the stairs two at a time, she tried to brush away her feelings of paranoia. She opened the door to Annie's room and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the sleeping form of her daughter from the doorway.

It wasn't until she got closer that she realized something was horribly wrong. Staring into her daughter's cradle, Marina let out a cry of terror.

Sue kept her eyes closed as they kissed, just giving herself over to the way he was making her feel. There was so much passion between them; she could feel her body tingling with his every touch.

It ended all too soon when Jack suddenly pulled away. She gave him a look of confusion as she caught her breath.

Telephone, he signed, reaching for the phone on the table next to him. He'd tried to ignore it at first and it had rung about five times before he'd finally decided that he really should answer it. Considering they hadn't given the number out to anyone but co-workers and their new neighbors, the call was likely work-related.

Sue watched him as he answered the phone, feeling very guilty about what she'd just allowed to happen---what they'd both allowed to happen.

She couldn't help but wonder how far things might have gone if they hadn't been interrupted. Even now, she knew there was no going back to the way things used to be.

Focussing her attention on Jack's lips and trying not to think about the fact that they'd been pressed against hers only moments before, she could tell he was speaking to Dimitrius.

"Hey D. No, you didn't catch us at a bad time," Jack said, winking at Sue, who smiled weakly at him. His heart sank as he saw her expression. She didn't look as happy as he felt right now; she looked very stressed and Jack was sorry to be the cause of that stress.

He was so distracted by the whole thing that he was having a difficult time concentrating on what D was saying.

"What's up?" He asked.

Sue watched Jack's expression turn very serious as he listened to D and she wondered what was going on.

"Oh, no. When did it happen?" He still hadn't given her any indication of what was going on so she just kept watching. "Wow, that was fast."

What happened? Sue signed

Another kidnapping, Jack signed back. Sue shook her head sadly, letting out a sigh.

"Do you need us to come in?" Sue watched Jack carefully, wondering what D's answer would be. Being called into work would certainly put any discussion of their relationship on hold. Part of Sue wanted that but another part of her wanted to deal with things right now. "Ok well, please keep us posted. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye." Jack put the phone back on the table and turned his attention to Sue.

"Do they think the same people are responsible?" She asked him.

"Yes, this one has the same MO as all of the others. The baby was taken about half an hour ago. The mother had fallen asleep and a noise on the baby monitor woke her up. When she went to check on her daughter, the baby was gone and a doll was left in her place."

"Was there a note?"

"Yes. It said that her baby has gone to a better place," Jack said, imagining the shock and grief that young mother must have been going through.

"It's so horrible" Sue said, a shiver passing through her body. "That poor family."

"I can't imagine what it must be like for them. They're a low-income family with three kids. The baby was taken right out of her unlocked bedroom window--there was no sign of forced entry. What I don't understand is why people aren't taking extra precautions with their children. The kidnappings have been all over the news for awhile."

"Most of these families are just barely getting by. They can't exactly afford fancy security systems," Sue reasoned.

"Yes but why wouldn't they at least lock their windows?"

"They probably didn't realize the window was unlocked. Besides, you know how people are, they never think it'll happen to their family." Jack nodded.

"True," he agreed. "The scene is being investigated right now but if it is the same kidnappers, I doubt that forensics will turn up anything."

"Do they need us to go in?"

"No. D said we should just maintain our cover. If Mary and Sam are involved then we don't want to do anything suspicious. Their house is under round-the-clock surveillance from the outside so if anything out of the ordinary happens, they'll let us know," Jack said.

"How old was this baby?" Sue asked him.

"Just four weeks old."

"My God," Sue breathed. "I hope that we can get her back to her family soon. We've got to solve this case Jack," she said, her voice full of sorrow.

"We will," Jack insisted gently. "I'm certain we're on the right track. You know, it'll be interesting to see what time our good neighbors get home tonight. I wonder if they're involved in the actual kidnappings or if they're just in the background?" Jack wondered aloud. "Insurance Salesman and Pediatric Nurse by day, kidnappers by night?"

"Maybe," Sue said thoughtfully. "The fact that Mary works at a hospital where most of the kidnapped babies were born is the reason she was under investigation in the first place. Was this baby born there too?"

"That hasn't been confirmed yet," Jack told her.

"I'm even more suspicious of Mary now that we know that she and Sam are friends with people who perform adoptions. I guess we'll find out more tomorrow night."

"If all goes well maybe we'll get an interview with the agency and be well on our way to solving the case. This marriage may end up being even shorter than our last one," Jack said, grinning at her. She smiled back and then looked away until he took her hands in his. "I'm sorry about earlier. So much for going slow--I guess I just got carried away."

"You don't have to apologize for anything. I was a willing participant," Sue pointed out, trying to reassure him. "I think it's a good thing that we were interrupted though." She was blushing again, and Jack thought she looked breathtaking.

"I don't know about that. I'm sure we're capable of stopping before we go too far," Jack said.

"I don't even know what 'too far' is right now. Maybe we're already there. We really need to slow down, though. We need to think things through," Sue said, hoping she didn't sound as anxious as she felt.

"Of course," Jack agreed. "I don't think we should rush into anything either. I'm just glad we're finally being open with each other. Let's keep it up, OK?"

OK, Sue signed, nodding. "So let's agree to let things cool off for now. Until we're not posing as a married couple anymore."

"Good idea. We'll wait until this is over before we explore this a bit more. Otherwise it might be a little hard to separate our feelings from what's going on with our cover," Jack reasoned.

"So we'll keep things platonic then?" Sue questioned. "Avoid anymore undercover kisses?"

"As hard as it's going to be, especially now," Jack told her, smiling widely. "I think that sounds like a good plan." Even just seconds after saying the words though, he felt the irresistible urge to kiss her again. He knew that this was going to be a major test of his self-control and he wasn't fully confident he'd be able to make it.

"What are you thinking right now?" Sue asked him suddenly, her face coming dangerously close to his again.

"Just how hard it's going to be, keeping my distance from you. All I want to do is kiss you one more time," he admitted. Sue felt her resolve weakening, wondering what possible difference one more kiss could make.

It was almost like Jack sensed what she was thinking because he reached over and rested a hand on the side of her face, gently caressing it. Her hand covered his, and she closed her eyes for a moment.

"One more time?" she whispered, leaning toward him before Jack even had time to answer her.