Author's Note: Well, things are getting a little more complicated, huh? I promise a little more will be revealed in this chapter … but not much!!
I'm sorry about the lateness of the update … unfortunately real life has been intruding a lot lately … and I haven't had as much time for writing.
Rainbowsnstars : Oh yeah. Martin isn't going to know what hit him!! Personally, I love the cases where they (Martin, Jack, Sam, Danny, Viv) actually get personally involved, better than the ones where they don't … Thanks for reviewing!
Meisha : Thankyou very much :-)
CHAPTER 4
"Danny," Jack called, as Danny made to follow Martin out of the room. "Come here."
Danny walked back to Jack, eyeing him curiously. "Yeah?"
"Keep an eye on him," Jack said softly. Danny nodded, and turned to go. Jack caught his arm. "Don't … don't let him get too angry."
Danny nodded again, and followed Martin out.
They reached Martin's apartment quickly, and Danny casually loosened his gun in its holster as they walked quietly up the stairs. As Martin moved towards the door, Danny took his arm and gestured towards the weapon, then pushed Martin back, indicated that he would go through second. Danny didn't really expect anyone to be inside … but you could never be too sure.
They searched the apartment quickly, but no one else was inside. "All right," Danny said when they finished. "Anything missing or moved? Any notes?"
Martin looked around. "I don't think so." He walked into the bedroom, and Danny heard him opening cupboards. A minute later, Martin emerged. "Nothing."
"Check the other rooms," Danny suggested. Martin nodded, and Danny watched as he checked through the other rooms in the apartment.
Martin shrugged. "Nothing. Maybe he wasn't here for me …"
"I find that extremely hard to believe," Danny said, as they walked out the door. "Mortis knows Ricky. Ricky disappears. Ricky apparently goes to your apartment. Later, Mortis goes there – on the same day. That is far to much of a coincidence."
Martin shrugged. "Let's face it, there's something very strange going on here."
"You got any theories?" Danny asked, as they got into the car.
"I'm just as stumped as you are," Martin replied. "Next stop: Steven Barker."
Viv was more than a little frustrated by the time she arrived at Alison's house. The traffic had been heavily congested, and she had nearly been run off the road twice.
"Ms Ward," she said, as Alison opened the door.
"Agent Johnson," Alison replied, obviously concerned. "Have you …"
"Can I come in?"
Alison moved away from the door. "Have you found him?"
"Not yet, Ms Ward. We're still looking though. I need to ask you some questions about Ricky's friends."
Alison frowned, and nodded. "OK."
"Do you know an Alan Mortis? He was in Ricky's prison …"
"Not personally, but Ricky's talked about him."
"Can you remember what he said?" Viv pressed.
"Uh … he didn't like him much. He never said so directly, but I always got the impression that Ricky thought he was a nasty person – he liked to intimidate people and get them in debt."
"Is it possible that Ricky was in debt to him?"
"What are you suggesting?" Alison asked, looking even more concerned. "You think this – Mortis has Ricky?"
"We don't know," Viv replied, trying to calm Alison down. "It's a possibility, but not by any means the only one. Did Ricky say anything else about Mortis?"
Alison shook her head. "No … he didn't talk about other prisoners much. He stayed on his own, mostly."
"OK … and what about Steven Barker? Did Ricky ever mention him?"
"Steven Barker? No. Who is he?"
"He visited Ricky in prison."
Alison shrugged. "I'm sorry … I've never heard of him. Do you think he is involved too?"
"We don't know, Ms Ward. That's what we're trying to find out."
"… Yeah … OK … Thanks, Viv … I'd like you to stay with her – there may be a ransom demand soon … Bye." Jack hung up, and looked over at Sam. They were about five minutes from the prison.
"So?"
"Alison's never met Mortis or Barker. She'd never heard of Barker, but she had heard of Mortis. She said that from the way Ricky talked about him, he hadn't really liked Mortis much – sounds like Mortis was a bit of a bully. She mentioned something about him allowing people to get in debt to him, and then exploiting them."
"Maybe Ricky was in debt to him … he refuses to pay … he's released, and thinks he's gotten away, when Mortis is released and comes after him. He kidnaps him to get the money back." Sam shrugged. "That could work …"
Jack nodded. "Yeah …" He slammed his hand angrily against the door. "There is something about this case that doesn't work … there's something we're missing." He shook his head, angry at himself. "Something important."
"You think Martin's hiding something," Sam said. It wasn't a question – she knew Jack, and she knew what he was thinking.
Jack looked over at her. "You know me too well," he acknowledged with a smile. "Yeah, I am worried that he's hiding something … or not necessarily even that. Maybe there's something, some little incident, that he's dismissed as unimportant … but I'm certain he is embroiled in this somehow."
"Here we are," Sam announced a few seconds later. "Let's go."
Author's Note: This is actually only about half the length the chapter was meant to be, but I decided to post this and post the second half of the chapter in a few days … sorry about that.
Please, if you read, take the time to review! Thanks :-)
