Chapter 13: In the Doghouse

"So, I'd say they're definitely hiding something, wouldn't you?" Jack said, as they walked back to the house.

"I agree. They definitely weren't saying any more than they had to. What did Tara want, by the way?"

"Well, as soon as you read the name of the agency she began doing research on them. On the surface, they definitely look legitimate. They're going to have to investigate all of the couples who allegedly gave up their babies. But she was just calling to tell me that right now, we have nothing incriminating on them and asking us to try and get more out of Sam and Mary."

"I guess now we'll just have to make an interview, and hopefully we'll find something at the agency." Jack nodded and unlocked the door. Levi bounded up to greet them as though they'd been gone for weeks.

"I have to compliment you again on the great job you did tonight, Sue. With you around there won't be any problem convincing the agency that we're a childless couple. All I have to do is sit there and hold your hand--I'll let you do all the talking," Jack told her with a grin.

"It's getting easier, the longer I do it, you know," Sue told him. "All of it is getting easier. Pretending that we're married, and pretending that we'd do anything to have a baby."

"You're right, it is getting easier. It starts to feel real after awhile," Jack said. "Especially the marriage part," he added, watching her face for a reaction. She raised her eyebrows at him and proceeded down the hallway toward her bedroom. Jack followed her and stood behind her as she opened the door.

"Well, how about you pretend that we're in a fight tonight, and I'm kicking you out of the bedroom," Sue said sweetly, stepping through the doorway. "It's late, and I'm going to bed. Come on Levi!" she called. Levi ran past Jack and curled up on the floor next to the bed, looking quite at home.

"Oh sure, the dog gets to come in, but your husband is in the doghouse," Jack said, a mock pout on his face. "Besides, making up could be really fun."

Sue let out a shocked laugh. "How many glasses of wine did you drink tonight?"

"Hey, it takes a lot more than a few glasses of wine to get me drunk, if that's what you're insinuating. I just don't like to go to bed angry," he teased.

Goodnight, she signed, grinning at him. He returned the sentiment, and then headed for his own room.

Sue watched him walk away and wished for the first time that this wasn't just an undercover marriage they were in. Then she wouldn't feel so guilty for all of the thoughts running through her mind right now.

"So, it's all set up," Jack announced from his desk, rubbing his hands together gleefully. Sue flashed him an exuberant grin as everyone in the bullpen turned toward the pair.

"We've got an interview at the agency first thing tomorrow morning," Sue explained, leaving Jack's side to lean against the front of his desk. "Jodie was more than happy to squeeze us in," she added.

"That's great," Tara responded. "We haven't had much luck digging up any dirt on the agency, so hopefully once you two are inside you'll get the chance to do some digging of a different kind." Sue glanced back at Jack, waiting for him to respond.

"We're going to do our best to snoop around a bit and hopefully find some adoption records," Jack assured Tara. "So, you haven't been able to find anything on Jodie or any of the other employees?" Myles cleared his throat and Jack directed Sue's attention in his direction.

"Not much," Myles answered. "They're all squeaky clean; unusually so, I might add."

"How do you mean?" Sue asked.

"Not so much as a traffic ticket in the bunch," Myles replied. "They're all model citizens, Jodie being the most standup of them all. She's active in raising money for children's charities and volunteers at a soup kitchen that serves dinner to needy families once a week."

"That would be the only lead we have so far, because guess who else volunteers for that soup kitchen?" D asked, after waving at Sue to get her attention.

"Mary Ryan?" Sue answered, exchanging a glance with Jack. D nodded.

"So let me guess, this is something else all of the kidnapped babies have in common?" Jack volunteered. "I'll bet money that all of their families went to that soup kitchen at one time or another."

"'We have yet to confirm that," Myles answered, "although we have discovered that while Mary has volunteered at the soup kitchen for years, Jodie has only been doing it for just over five months."

"It seems Jodie may have more on her mind than helping out needy families," Tara added. "Since tonight just so happens to be family night at the soup kitchen, Myles and I are going to offer our volunteering services," she said, flashing Myles a smile, which he returned with a nod.

"Hopefully we'll be able to buddy up to Jodie and Mary as well as find out exactly how friendly they are with the families there," said Myles.

"Also, maybe you can find out how some of the families heard about the soup kitchen in the first place. I wonder if Mary uses her position at the hospital to lure families there, where she can get more familiar with them?" Sue suggested. "After all, she probably gets a pretty good idea of which families have less money than others just from working at the hospital."

"That sounds reasonable," D agreed. "In the meantime, we need to speak to as many of the victimized families as possible. We need to find out if this is another common link between them. It's going to be a long day, guys," he said. "Bobby's already out there so the rest of us need to get a move on." Tara and Myles grabbed their coats and hurriedly left the bullpen, while D approached Jack and Sue.

"While we're out there pounding the pavement, you two need to have an answer ready to any question they might ask at the agency tomorrow. Lucy is getting some information right now that should help. Hopefully by the time you leave there tomorrow, they'll be begging you to adopt a baby." D said, giving them a crooked smile. "I'll check in later," he added, before grabbing his own coat and heading out of the office.

"So you ready to bone up on the history of Mr. and Mrs. Hudson?" Jack asked, turning to Sue, who looked at him in confusion.

"Am I ready to what?" she asked, puzzled by Jack's comment.

"Bone up," Jack repeated, finger-spelling the words as well. "Um, practice, get ready for something." At Sue's nod of understanding, he continued. "Once we get a better idea of what they're going to be asking us, we've got a lot of history to create."

"You're right, we've got a lot of work ahead of us. I just hope I can remember everything," Sue said, a hint of doubt in her voice.

"I'm sure between the two of us we'll do just fine. We're a good team, you and I." Jack replied reassuringly, as he gave her hand a squeeze.

"That we are," Sue agreed, looking into his brown eyes with a smile. He returned the smile and continued to hold her hand. The moment was broken by Lucy, entering the bullpen with a stack of files in her arms. Sue followed Jack's gaze to find Lucy looking at them with raised eyebrows.

Jack let go of Sue's hand too late. Lucy had already noticed and was grinning widely.

"Hope I didn't interrupt anything," she chirped, still grinning.

Sue shook her head. "Luce, I honestly didn't catch that," she said with a frown. Her roommate was notorious for speaking too quickly or grinning while she spoke. One was bad enough but the two combined made it virtually impossible to read what she was saying.

"Sorry, Sue," Lucy said, toning down her grin. "I just thought maybe I'd interrupted something. I could leave you two alone, if you'd like?"

Sue smiled knowingly at Jack. Jack rolled his eyes and looked back at Lucy. "No, you weren't interrupting. I was just encouraging Sue to have faith in the fact that she's going to do just fine tomorrow during our interview," Jack explained.

"I don't doubt if for a second," Lucy agreed. "I'm sure you'll both be amazing. I've got some information that should help you prepare," she said, placing the files on Jack's desk.

Thank you, Sue signed.

You're welcome, Lucy returned. "By the way, Sue, I heard about a great shoe sale today. Do you want to come with me after work to check it out?"

"That sounds like fun, but Jack and I drove in together today," Sue said apologetically, glancing at Jack.

"I can give you a ride home; I don't mind. We could get some dinner afterwards," Lucy suggested.

Sue glanced at Jack again. "What do you think? Can you survive one night without my cooking?" she asked him slyly.

Jack looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. "Well, I guess I can manage to heat up some leftovers," he said, giving her his best pout.

"Thatta boy," Sue said cheerfully. "Oh, and would you mind taking Levi home with you so that he doesn't have to tag along with us?"

"I'd be happy to. Maybe Levi can give me some pointers on getting on your good side," Jack said, winking at her. Sue flashed back to their conversation the night before when Jack had implied that he wanted to come into her bedroom, since Levi was allowed in there.

She had assumed he was kidding, but part of her wondered now what would have happened had she complied. She pushed the thought out of her mind. Now was the time to concentrate on the case; there was no question of anything else happening at this point. "You're really hopeless, you know that? Always trying to break the rules." Sue chastised him, shaking her head.

"Well, you're one to talk," Jack retorted playfully.

"Okay. I have no idea what you two are talking about, but I have a feeling it would be pointless to ask. You wouldn't tell me anyway, right?" Lucy chuckled at them and walked over to her desk.

"Let's just agree that one of us is just as bad as the other," Sue told him. He nodded.

"I'll agree to that," he replied. "I guess it's time to do some reading." Jack reached for one of the files, and Sue pulled up a chair.

Myles let out a yawn as he waited for Tara. She was grabbing them each a coffee before they went to the last family on their list. So far, every family they'd spoken to had indeed been to the same soup kitchen where Jodie and Mary volunteered. Calls from Bobby and D had confirmed that they were finding the same pattern. It was only three in the afternoon, but Myles felt ready for bed. Speaking to all of these families, still so sad over their lost children, was emotionally draining, to say the least. He stifled another yawn as Tara came back to the car, coffees in hand.

"Something tells me I'm just in time," she joked, handing him his coffee. "I saw that yawn."

"Guilty as charged," Myles confirmed. "Thank you for this," he said, holding up the coffee before taking a sip of the hot beverage.

"Well, at least we're nearly done for the day," Tara pointed out. "Until we have to go to the soup kitchen tonight, that is."

"Don't remind me," Myles grumbled. "How did I get recruited for soup kitchen detail, by the way?" He placed his coffee in the cup holder and started the car.

"I volunteered you," Tara informed him, with a smile.

"Why would you do that?" Myles asked, genuinely mystified. He gave her a quick glance before turning his eyes back to the road.

"Why not? I think you'll be great. Besides, you're the one who discovered the soup kitchen link," Tara pointed out. " I figured that would be right up your alley, since we'll be going in as people a little down on their luck. Plus, you've got a lot of experience with that sort of cover," she remarked with a grin.

"Very funny," Myles commented, rolling his eyes. "I suspected it would be something along those lines as soon as you brought it up. After all, we'll need some kind of disguise just in case any of the families we speak with today are there tonight."

"Why do I still get the feeling you're not too enthusiastic about this particular assignment?" Tara asked him.

"Well, the thing is, I'm just not all that comfortable around children and would prefer to avoid crowds of them if possible," Myles grudgingly admitted.

"They're going to be there to eat a good meal, Myles, not to bother you," Tara told him sharply.

"I know that. Don't get me wrong; I like kids. I just never know exactly what to say to them," Myles protested.

"Don't forget that you, too, were child once, Myles. Just talk to them like you would any normal person. Kids are just smaller versions of us, after all. What were you like as a child, anyhow?" Tara asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Sometimes I think I really missed out on being a child when I had the chance. I was so busy trying to one-up my sister in the eyes of our parents to really enjoy myself," Myles admitted, a hint of regret in his voice.

"Why am I not surprised?" Tara said with a sigh, shaking her head.

Myles pulled into the driveway of the final family they were going to interview. "I don't know Tara, why doesn't it surprise you?" he asked her, sounding irritated.

"You're just so competitive. You've got to be the most competitive person I know. Doesn't it sometimes take the fun out of life?" Tara asked him softly.

"I'll have to think on that one," Myles said sarcastically. "In the meantime, we've got a job to do so I suggest that we do it." He left the car, and Tara rolled her eyes, partly at him and partly at herself. For a moment it had seemed like Myles had been about to open up a bit, but then he'd gone back on the defensive. She had to admit that her response had been a little uncalled for so really, so she wasn't surprised the conversation had taken a turn for the worse. Unbuckling her seat belt, Tara went to join Myles.

The blonde agent was standing beside the car, waiting for her with a look of impatience on his face. "Let's get this over with," he said. They walked up to the door together, and Tara rang the doorbell, followed by three sharp raps on the door. Myles gave her a look of annoyance, and Tara just shrugged.

After a few moments, there was the sound of the deadbolt turning and then a bit of fumbling before the door opened a crack. A little girl of about five with long dark curls, peered out at them. "Who are you?" she asked, her curiosity evident as she looked up at them with big brown eyes.

Before either Myles or Tara could respond, they heard rapid footsteps approaching, and the little girl moved from the door. Then they heard a woman cry out in a voice bordering on hysterical. "Elizabeth Murphy! I told you never to open the door without Mommy!" There was a small silence, and then they could hear the voice again, speaking much more gently this time. "I'm sorry I yelled, baby, but you need to remember that rule, okay?"

"I will, Mommy," the little voice responded.

"Okay, go and play with Vicki for a bit while Mommy answers the door."
The door opened, revealing a woman who bore a striking resemblance to the little girl they'd seen moments before. She had the bloodshot eyes of someone who'd been doing a lot of crying. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "Can I help you?"

"Mrs. Murphy, I'm not sure if you remember me or not. I'm Special Agent Myles Leland and this is Tara Williams. We're with the FBI. " Myles and Tara both held out their badges, and a look of recognition came over Marina's pretty features.

"Oh, yes. Of course, I remember you. Is there any news about Annie?" Marina asked hopefully, her tired eyes lighting up at the possibility.

"I'm afraid not," Myles answered apologetically, hating to see the dejected look that came over Marina as he spoke.

"We do have some questions for you though, if that's okay," Tara said.

"Anything, if it will help find my baby," Marina replied. "Come on in. Please excuse the mess," she added, as Myles and Tara stepped into the house. "I haven't really had the energy for housework lately," Marina said tiredly, as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't worry about it," Tara replied. "It's totally understandable." Marina led them into the kitchen and motioned for them to sit down at the table.

"Can I get you anything to drink? Tea, coffee?" Marina offered.

"No, thank you," Myles answered. "We don't want to take up much of your time. We really just need a bit of information from you regarding the case," he told her. Marina sat down at the table, looking a little worried.

"What is it?" she asked them.

"Well, right now we're still trying to come up with connections between all of the kidnapped children, however random they might seem," Myles explained.

"Okay," Marina said, nodding.

"Have you ever taken your children to a soup kitchen, say in the last five months?" Tara asked. Maria shook her head slowly.

"No. Aside from my grandmother, who insists on helping us out occasionally, we get by on our own," she replied, with a small smile. "Jon works two jobs in order to make that happen, but we really do take pride in being independent," she added.

There was a brief silence that followed, which was broken by the sound of little feet running down the hallway. Moments later, Marina's twin daughters appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Mommy, can we have a Popsicle?" one of them asked, while her sister nodded excitedly. Myles looked from one to the other, wondering how on earth their parents could tell them apart. Other than their different colored t-shirts, they were virtually identical.

"Pardon me?" Marina said sharply.

"Please?" the girls chimed in unison. Marina smiled and nodded at them.

"Go ahead," she told them. The girls scrambled over to the freezer and each grabbed a Popsicle. On the way by Myles, both of them stopped and looked him right in the eye.

"Are you going to bring back Annie?" one asked him, still staring intently into his eyes. He recognized her by her pink shirt as Elizabeth, the one who had answered the door earlier.

Myles was shocked into silence for a moment, but recovered quickly. "We're working on it. We're doing our very best to find your little sister," he assured them.

Both girls nodded and looked from Myles to their mother, their eyes lighting up. "See, Mom! They're going to bring Annie home, just like I told you," Vicki said with a grin.

Marina stood up, pulling the girls to her for a hug, her eyes filling with tears. "I hope so, baby," she murmured before releasing them. "How about you two go out onto the deck so that you don't get drips everywhere, okay?" The girls nodded and left the room, both of them smiling at Myles.

Myles glanced at Tara with a pained expression. He hadn't been lying to the children; they were doing everything possible. Still, the last thing he wanted to do was get their hopes too high, when there was no guarantee they'd be able to find Annie.

"They're beautiful girls," Tara commented, seeing Marina's tearful expression.

"Thank you," she replied in a shaky voice, clearly trying to regain control over her emotions.

"We are doing everything we can. If you or your husband think of anything, no matter how small, please call, okay?" Tara asked, handing her a business card. Marina nodded, and Myles and Tara stood up from the table.

"So that's it?" Marina asked them, the disappointment evident in her voice.

"For now," Myles replied, wishing he had more to tell her. "We'll keep you posted on any new developments." Marina nodded and walked them to the door, bidding them a sad goodbye.

After the door had closed behind them, Tara turned to Myles in surprise. "Of all of the families targeted, I wonder why this is the only one that doesn't have the soup kitchen connection? What makes them different?" Tara questioned aloud.

"Well, there's no way this is a copycat at work; there are too many other similarities for that to be the case," Myles reasoned. "Besides, there is still the link to the hospital where Mary works," he pointed out.

"That's true," Tara agreed. "All I know is, whoever is responsible for this, we'd better figure it out soon. Otherwise, I have a sick feeling that we're going to end up with another grieving family on our hands," she said, determination clear in her voice. Myles nodded at her.

"Between our undercover assignment tonight, and the Hudson's appointment at the agency tomorrow," Myles said with a smirk, "I think we'll be the victors. We have to be," he declared, his expression turning serious as he pictured the faces of those two little girls, pleading with him to bring back their baby sister.