A/N: Repeating myself; the kind reviews and words of encouragement are greatly appreciated!
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Continued from chapter 10
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89 HOURS MISSING
Friday morning arrived, but there was no particular excitement to see on the faces of the people seated around the conference table about the upcoming weekend. Deborah Harrison´s smiling face was staring down at them, and even Jack tried not to look too much at the whiteboard as each agent divulged whatever information they had left to share.
"So Crowther could be telling the truth," Danny explained as he glanced around, sounding somewhat disappointed. "Caroline White verified that her mother would occasionally have him drive her to the store whenever her hip was acting up. So that explains the presence of fingerprints and hair."
"So basically we got nothing?" Martin stated a little abruptly, his eyes on Jack.
Jack was looking pensively down at the floor and didn´t notice, so Danny continued, "Well, we still have Leo Altman´s statement, but that´s not-"
"Really worth much," Jack interrupted softly, looking back up. "All we got is his word and he didn´t strike you as the most upstanding citizen, did he?"
"No," Vivian shook her head. "He seemed very shifty to say the least, but of course, maybe that´s just the way he is."
Jack let out a low sigh, his gaze returning to the floor. "Right. Any ideas?"
Nobody spoke and Jack didn´t have to glance up to know they were all exchanging looks, hoping to hear something positive from someone. He sighed again. This morning it had taken an unusual amount of coffee to finally get his mind working in a way that at least resembled normalcy, but too many cobwebs still remained. Not that he was going to complain, as it was solely his own doing. He had stayed up too late the previous night, staring at old family photos and drinking, wondering when exactly everything in his life had become such a mess. It had been a very unprofessional thing to do, but he hadn´t been able to help himself. At least he did have enough presence of mind to drag himself into bed a little past 4 a.m., allowing him to catch a few hours of sleep before heading into the office. But with the way he was feeling, he figured he might as well not have gone to sleep at all.
"You don´t think it´s possible that James Crowther will speak?"
Jack looked up, meeting Samantha´s inquiring gaze, seeing nothing but quiet concern, and whether is was for him or Deborah Harrison he couldn´t tell. It hurt him in some strange way even though he knew it shouldn´t. It was to be expected. In fact, he guessed he should just be happy for her that she was holding up better than he.
"I doubt it. Besides, we´ll have to let him go soon."
"What if we-" Martin spoke up, but was interrupted by the ringing of Danny´s phone.
"Excuse me for a moment," Danny said as he rose and quickly walked to his desk to answer.
The remaining team members all sat in silence as they waited for the call to end, and Vivian was the only one not looking down or fiddling with a pen or styrofoam cup. Jack´s arms were crossed and his head bent as he desperately tried to focus his thoughts and come up with just one more person to question, or one more place to search, when he sensed someone looking at him. As always, he didn´t have to look up to know it was she. Straightening up, he casually looked her way. He fully intended it to be only a quick glance to gauge what was on her mind, but found himself caught up in her eyes just like so many times before.
It caught Sam off guard a little, he could tell, that he held her gaze and didn´t look away, but on the other hand, neither did she. He couldn´t really decipher the expression on her face, but as she continued to look directly into his eyes, he started to feel as if she was searching for something. Then slowly it dawned upon him what it might be. She was looking for some kind of confirmation of what he had said to her last night. He wasn´t sure if she was looking for confirmation of his feelings for her, or confirmation that things would indeed turn back to normal between them. However, sighing inwardly, he guessed it was probably the latter.
He didn´t know how to respond since they weren´t exactly alone, but then he realized that enough words had been spoken already. So instead, he gave her a quick little smile, hoping it would convey the right message - the message she wanted. She held his gaze a moment longer, as if she wasn´t quite convinced, then an answering smile showed very briefly on her face before she looked away.
"Okay, thanks." Danny´s voice brought Jack to reality and he turned to see him approach them, looking ambivalent to say the least. "Well, that was the police. They have located the body of an unidentified older woman matching Deborah´s description under a bridge. So far it looks like she´s been strangled. The forensics department is still at the scene and they have yet to establish if any further harm has been done to her."
A low, collective sigh was heard as they all simultaneously glanced at Deborah Harrison´s picture.
"All right," Jack spoke, sounding weary but determined as he ran a hand through his hair. "Sam and I will go to the scene. Viv, get a hold of the daughter; we´ll need her for a possible ID of the body. Danny and Martin, use what time there´s left to work on James Crowther. If the son of a bitch´s guilty, I don´t want him walking. If need be, tell him we have discovered evidence at the scene further implicating him and that he´d better start talking before we don´t need a confession from him."
They all nodded and set to work, Martin managing to only stare after Sam and Jack for a few seconds as they headed off together.
On the way to the elevator, Sam spoke quietly without looking at Jack, "You think it´s her, don´t you?"
"Yes," Jack pressed the button, not looking at her either. "Yes, I do."
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The coroner waited until he saw the slight nod of Caroline White´s head, then he carefully pulled away the sheet. She swallowed a few times and all colour left her face, then she nodded again.
"It´s her. It´s my mother."
Danny bit his lip; he hated this part of the job. He glanced at Martin standing beside him, looking just as solemn as Danny felt.
"She looks so peaceful," Caroline White whispered, reaching out to touch her mother´s face, but holding back just before actually making contact.
And in a way she did, Danny agreed. If you overlooked the fading bruising around her throat where the signs of strangulation were still visible, she looked peaceful. Eyes closed, the lines of her face relaxed, her brow almost free from the marks of age.
"Did…" Caroline White cleared her throat before turning to look at the patiently waiting coroner. "Did she… suffer before she died? I mean…"
He shook his head, knowing what she was asking. "I´ve only had a short time to examine your mother, Mrs. White, but so far the findings of the preliminary examination indicate that she suffered no further injuries than the one that caused her death."
Caroline White nodded as she took in his words, looking back at her mother. They all stood in silence for a moment, then Martin stepped over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and speaking gently. "Let´s go, Mrs. White."
She didn´t speak, but just allowed herself to be escorted out of the room. The coroner sighed then pulled the sheet back over Deborah Harrison´s face.
"How long has she been dead?" Danny asked. Even though it technically wasn´t their case any more, as she had been found and NYPD would take over, he still wanted to know.
"Well," the coroner slipped off a pair of rubber gloves, throwing them into a bin before walking over to a sink to lather up his hands. "You said she went missing Monday afternoon? I´d say she was probably killed not long after that. She was dead Tuesday morning at the very latest."
"Okay," was Danny´s only reply. He never knew what to feel when they found someone they had been looking for dead and it became clear that the missing person had been dead pretty much from day one. It always brought Danny a kind of bitterness whenever he learned they had never stood an actual chance of finding them alive. Although he guessed it was better than finding them just one day or just one hour too late, but it didn´t make speaking to the grieving relatives any easier.
Nodding his goodbye, he left the chilly examination room and walked down the hall, spotting Martin leaning against the wall near a vending machine.
"Did Mrs. White leave?"
"Yes," Martin pushed himself away from wall. "A friend from work just picked her up to give her a ride home."
"Good." Danny consulted his watch as they walked toward the exit. "Wanna grab a bite to eat before going back to the office?"
"I´m not really hungry."
Danny nearly lost a step, looking at Martin with curiosity as he spoke with a smirk, "Well, there´s a first."
Martin only shrugged and Danny´s brow furrowed. Nobody ever liked to find a missing person dead. They had all been aware, though, what the most likely outcome would be for some time now, but Martin still seemed to be taking it hard. Of course, Danny suspected there was probably another reason for his partner´s glum expression, and on the way to the car, he debated with himself whether he should say anything or if it wasn´t best left alone.
Just because he was good at pretending nothing was going on around him, it didn´t mean he was oblivious to the shifting dynamics of the office. He had been tempted to say something, not to Samantha and most certainly not to Jack, but to Martin – perhaps a joking comment to break the ice. But now he knew the moment for jokes had passed.
Still undecided, he tossed Martin the car keys, knowing that when he was in a bad mood he preferred to drive to keep himself occupied. Danny didn´t mind; in fact, he kind of like being chauffered around.
They drove in silence for a couple of minutes, the traffic heavy but that was only to be expected. Waiting at an intersection for the lights to change, Danny finally made up his mind. Following the pedestrians rushing across the street in front of them, he spoke casually, "Been a long week, hasn´t it?"
"Yeah, I guess," was Martin´s only response.
"So, you doing anything interesting this weekend?"
There was silence for a moment, then, "No."
"I was thinking we could perhaps go watch a game or something? Or maybe go out and leave a string of broken hearts in our wake?"
Danny could sense Martin turn his head to look at him, but continued to stare straight ahead himself, tapping his fingers lightly on his thigh. The lights changed and Martin returned his attention to the road, but spoke quietly after a little while, "I know what you´re doing."
"What do you mean?"
Danny caught a faint smile on Martin´s face as he glanced at him.
"I mean that I know what you´re doing and it´s appreciated, it´s just…"
Danny hesitated, then just asked simply, "Too soon?"
"Yeah."
"Okay." Danny finally turned to look directly at Martin. "But the offer stands, you know, for whenever."
Martin only nodded, but Danny could tell he had taken the words to heart. Silence fell between them again until Danny stated in a low voice, "It´s her loss."
Their eyes met in the rearview mirror and Danny saw a small, sad smile on Martin´s face, but he didn´t say anything and they drove the last miles back to the office without further conversation.
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"Jack, far be it from me to question your decisions, but this just isn´t right."
Jack shot Samantha a sideways glance. "Far from? You do it all the time."
"I…" she hesitated and he could swear he detected a faint blush on her cheeks, but it could also be caused by the stuffy heat in the car.
"It´s okay," he assured her, his tone of voice giving away his amusement. "I like it. Makes me think twice about things from time to time. That´s only helpful in this line of work."
"Well, then," she turned to him, giving him a pointed look accompanied by a softening smile, "in that case I really think you should have thought twice of taking that right turn back there. We´re clearly going in the wrong direction."
"Nonsense," he replied with a smile of his own. Turning the steering wheel slightly to avoid a pothole in the sandy road, he continued, "The local PD said this was the quickest route to Schiffer´s farm."
"Jack, face it, we´re lost. If we continue down this road, we´ll end up stranded in a desert somewhere."
A grin spread on his face by the exasperation in her voice. "In Connecticut? I don´t think so, Samantha. Besides, I´m a FBI agent; I never get lost."
She rolled her eyes at him, but was still smiling. "Yeah right. What is it with you men anyways? What´s so terrible about asking directions or even consulting a map?"
He held her gaze for as long as he dared while driving, enjoying the sparkle of humour in her brown eyes. "All right then," he began to pull over. "On behalf of my gender I shall try to redeem us all by looking at a map. But I´m telling you, this is the right direction." The car came to a stop on the soft grass alongside the road and he gave her another smile. "Happy now?"
She smiled right back at him. "It´s a start." Then she pulled a map out of the glove compartment and they both bent over it, trying to make out where they were.
"I think we must be somewhere around here," she spoke, indicating a spot on the map with her finger, which Jack had to admit wasn´t exactly where they should be. While doing so, she brushed lightly against his hand that was trying to trail their way back to their last known position. The touch didn´t go unnoticed by either of them. It had happened a lot lately, these casual touches.
"Yeah…" Jack spoke slowly, squinting a little and leaning closer because he was without his reading glasses. "I think you´re right. Guess we did make a wrong turn."
"You mean, you did?" Samantha´s comment was just as teasing as the look she gave him, but it changed slowly as he didn´t look away.
"Jack?" There was more than one question in the way she said his name and he saw her swallow.
It was late August and the heat in the car was oppressive, especially since the air-conditioner had given up an hour ago. Both had discarded their jackets a long time ago. He was down to his shirt, tie loosened, and she a thin blouse, first two buttons unbuttoned, but it did little to make them feel more comfortable. From their close proximity, he could clearly see the light sheen of perspiration on her face and the hollow of her throat. Map forgotten, he continued to meet her gaze, not just because he felt unable to break it, but because he was afraid where his eyes might drift to next.
"Guess I did."
His reply was inconsequential, but the husky timbre of his voice wasn´t and Jack snapped right out of the moment when he saw something pass in Samantha´s eyes. He straightened up and moved away from her. Staring ahead at the deserted country road, he tried to pretend his heartbeat hadn´t just picked up. He shouldn´t sound like that when speaking to a subordinate. In fact, he shouldn´t sound like that when speaking to anyone other than his wife.
"Jack?" There was concern in her voice now. And confusion.
"Damn, why is it so fucking hot in here," he spoke abruptly, flinging the car door open and getting out.
Outside, Jack took a few steps away, keeping his back to the car while rolling his shoulders in a vain attempt to loosen up his painfully stiff muscles. He could smell the heavy foliage around him, but to him it was more stifling than invigorating. Filling his lungs with humid air, he heard the passenger door open followed by the sound of light footsteps in the gravel.
Feeling the need to offer some kind of explanation, he half turned to her, expecting to see a question in her eyes, but she surprised him by only smiling faintly as she held out a bottle of water.
"Here, it´s lukewarm to say the least, but you look like you could need it."
"Thanks." He accepted the bottle and drank greedily, emptying it before realizing she might would have liked something, too.
"Oh, sorry I-"
"It´s fine," she interrupted. "I´ve got another." They looked at each other for another moment, then she purposely broke eye contact by looking around. "It´s nice here, even if it isn´t where we´re supposed to be."
He let out a half laugh. "Yeah. At least you´re kind enough not to rub it in my face."
She just smiled slightly and shrugged, seeming to indicate she might change her mind about that later. Pulling out his cell phone to check for signal, Jack watched her as she walked to the side of the road to sit down into the grass. Stretching her legs out in front of her, she let her head loll back, sighing with pleasure as the warm sun hit her face. "Oh, this is so much better than being cooped up in that damn car."
Jack smiled at the sight. "Yeah well, don´t get too comfortable. We still have work to do."
Her eyes fell close as she groaned, "Spoilsport."
He didn´t reply, but just took in her reclined form, noticing how her leaning back was causing her blouse to ride up a little. Suddenly embarrassed, Jack realized he was staring and moved to stand with his side to her, dialing a number on his phone. He kept the conversation short, asking for a few directions and letting them know they would be about 45 minutes late. Closing the phone, he turned back to her and was disappointed to see she was already halfway on her feet.
"I guess vacation time´s over," she complained good-humouredly. "Oh wait!" She reached down into the grass to pick something up. "Look." She held out a four-leaf clover as she walked over to him. "I haven´t found one of those for years."
"Gee, Sam, don´t tell me you´re superstitious? That´s the last thing I would have expected from you."
She stopped mid-step, a curious look crossing her face as she looked at him, but then it gradually changed into a soft smile and she closed the distance between them. "Here." She slipped the clover into his left shirt pocket and gave it a light pat. Looking back up into his eyes, she added quietly, "For luck."
Jack stared at the clover finely preserved between the pages of the slightly dusty reference book he had needed to consult for the first time in ages. He had forgotten all about the clover. He had forgotten how it even ended up there. Did he place it there? With utmost care, he picked it up between his fingertips, amazed how that – despite all odds - it didn´t fall apart from his touch.
TBC…