Author's Note: Thankyou for the responses to Chapter 6. Hope this next installment satisfies … I'm sorry for the length of time between updates … RL!
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Chapter 7
"Agent Malone!"
Jack heard the yell, and turned to face the police officer, who was hurrying towards him.
"That's me."
"A body's been found," the officer revealed.
Jack frowned. Danny walked forwards quickly. "Let's go," he said.
"Where was it found?" Viv asked as they followed the officer.
"In a dumpster on the other side of the warehouse," the officer told them. "It's the body of a man – in his twenties."
Sam shot a quick look of alarm at Jack. What if …
"One of the officers found it by accident," they were told as they walked up to the dumpster. "Looks like they've been stabbed."
Jack nodded briefly, murmuring "Thankyou", then moved over to look at the body. He pulled back the cover of the plastic sheeting covering the corpse.
"Who is it?" Danny called as he approached.
"Alan Mortis," Jack told him grimly.
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"Where are we going, Ricky?" Martin asked wearily. They had made six stops during the trip, but Ricky had told him not to get out of the car, wanting to be ready in case they had to leave quickly.
"Just making sure there's no one following us."
Martin let out an incredulous sigh. "I think we would have lost them by now!"
"You never know who's watching, Martin," Ricky told him.
"Conspiracy theorist," Martin said, only half-joking. He yawned and leaned back against the seat. "Where are we going?"
"I want to show you something … tell you some stuff …" His voice trailed away. "Let's keep moving."
Martin slipped his hand into his pocket as he shifted in his seat slightly. He fumbled for his phone and unlocked the keypad, before speed dialling Jack's cell phone. He then slipped his hand out of his pocket as Ricky started the car engine.
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Jack glanced quickly down at his phone. Martin calling, the display screen told him. Frowning, he answered: "Jack."
There was no reply from the other end of the line. Jack frowned. Sam glanced over from the driver's seat, and asked, "What is it?"
Jack moved the phone away from his mouth. "He's not …" He stopped, listening intently, then he grinned. "He's got the phone in his pocket," he hissed, covering the mouthpiece. "He's in the car with Ricky."
Sam parked the car. "We're here," she said, reaching for the phone. Jack relinquished it, and Sam quickly turned the microphone volume onto mute, then gave it back to Jack. Jack nodded his thanks as they entered the FBI building, Jack listening intently to what he could hear of the conversation.
"Any clues?" Martin was asking.
There was silence.
"Come on," Martin said, laughing a little, "you've got to give me at least a hint about where we're going!"
There was silence again, though Jack thought that Ricky may have been laughing.
Martin sighed. "OK, well, let's listen to the radio for a bit. OK?"
Ricky replied, "Yeah sure." A few seconds later, Jack heard music playing in the background.
"Hey, what's a local station?" Martin asked a few seconds later. "I'm tired of all the inner-city stuff."
"OK," Ricky replied, and a few seconds later, the station changed. "This is a good station."
Jack listened, frowning slightly. What's Martin playing at … A few seconds later, the song ended and the DJ annouced the name of the station: "And this is Hanson Springs local radio, live on the air …"
Oh, Jack thought. That's what he's playing at … He grinned. "They're somewhere in the vicinity of Hanson Springs," he told Sam. "Run it – see if Ricky has any links to the area."
Sam nodded, and moved away towards Danny and Viv, who were already waiting. Jack saw the expressions on their faces change dramatically as Sam told them exactly what Jack was listening to. Danny looked over, a shocked grin on his face.
Jack walked into his office and carefully shut the door, blocking out any incidental noise from the corridor, then he took his office phone off the hook, and sat down at the desk, still listening. It was a shame that the techs were unable to start traces on calls that were already started, he mused, picking up the note that Martin had left on his desk. He read it quickly, then tossed it back down. It told him nothing that he did not now already know. Martin and Ricky were now listening to the radio in silence.
Sam entered the office, holding a piece of paper in her hand. "Ricky's mother was buried at the cemetary in Hanson Springs," she told Jack quickly.
Jack got to his feet. "Let's go." He froze, listening intently to the phone. Martin had cried out once in alarm … what was happening?
"What's wrong?" Sam asked.
Jack shook his head, listening intently. Suddenly he heard Ricky swear loudly, before a loud crash … The line went dead.
Jack moved the phone away from his ear, and looked Sam dead in the eye. "Something's gone wrong," he told her. "Either they've crashed, or …"
"Or?"
"Shaun Mortis is still out there somewhere … what if he found them? Maybe Ricky killed Alan, and Shaun's looking for revenge?" It was certainly plausible …
"I'll call uniform, and get them to notify us if there are any reports of a crash,"Sam said, moving away.
Jack nodded. "Then, get Danny and Viv. We're going to search up that way ourselves."
Sam frowned. "But … we don't know where they are," she protested.
"Martin's missing, Sam," Jack told her shortly, "and we never abandon our own. They were probably on a major highway, and we know the direction in which they headed. Get Danny to run that. We leave in five minutes."
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TBC …
Author's Note: I promise not to take two months to update this time! Please review :)
