A/N: I changed the timeline a bit. I'm making this up as I go along, and I realized after the last section that the amount of time that Kate had been missing didn't really correspond to what was happening in the story. But let me clarify a few things for y'all: Kate disappeared around 5:00 pm, Molly got home around 2:00 am, woke up at 6:00 am and that's when she realized that Kate was missing, so that's when she called the FBI. So the story starts between 6:00 and 7:00 am the day after Kate disappeared. And now the "hours missing" is a little more plausible.Okay then.
Keep the reviews coming! I love y'ins guys!
Oh, and Claddagh's is a real pub in Columbus, Ohio. One of my sorority sisters was dating one of the bartenders for a while, and it's a really nice little place. I like the name, so I use it often.If any of you are ever in the Columbus area, stop on by!
18 Hours Missing
Danny stood on the other side of the interrogation room, watching Molly through the window. Most suspects brought in for questioning were either terrified or angry. Molly simply sat there, betraying no emotion whatsoever, staring at the window as if hoping to be able to see through it – almost as if she could tell it was him on the other side. She'd barely moved since Danny had brought her in, except to alternate between staring at the window and staring at a spot on the table in front of her.
Danny turned at the sound of footsteps and saw that Martin was walking towards him, carrying a stack of papers.
"What's that?" Danny asked, nodding at the papers.
Martin shrugged and thumbed through them. "Turns out you're girlfriend's got a record."
Danny ignored his teasing – he'd been giving both Martin and Sam a hard time about their relationship, and he knew that Martin could give just as well as he got. Danny moved to take the stack from Martin, but Martin pulled it out of his reach. When Danny raised a questioning eyebrow, Martin shook his head. "Sorry, man. I need these."
"You're interrogating her?" Danny asked, gesturing towards Molly. Martin nodded, and Danny sighed. He should have known that Jack wouldn't allow him to do it, but he had still held out hope. He'd spent all morning with Molly and had built up a rapport with her. He thought that if she were going to respond to anyone, it would be him. "You mind if I watch?"
"No," said Martin, moving past him and heading towards the door to the interrogation room. "But you know how I get with suspects. I don't want you to be mad at me for insulting your – "
"She is not my girlfriend," Danny said, not caring if he sounded like a teenager. Martin was acting like an ass, and Danny just wanted to shut him up.
Martin smirked and went into the interrogation room. Danny turned to watch, but he heard another set of footsteps approaching. These belonged to Jack, who did not look happy. Danny figured it was because he had spent most of the morning with Molly and learned nothing substantial – except that her favorite color was yellow and that she was a damn good cook.
"Danny, we got a lead on the boyfriend. Let's go."
Danny opened his mouth to speak but could think of nothing to say. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Molly. "I think I should stay for Molly's – "
Jack silenced him with a glare, and Danny dropped his eyes to his feet. "Miss Sheehan," Jack said, "will be fine with Martin. You and I are going to follow up on this lead. The boyfriend is the only person that can tie the roommate to the disappearance."
Danny swallowed hard, resisting the sudden impulse to flick his eyes to the woman seated in the interrogation room. He only nodded and followed Jack down the hallway.
Martin looked at Molly. She sat staring at the two-way mirror, her face completely impassive. He walked over to the table and sat down on the edge, dropping the stack of papers directly in front of her. He said nothing, waiting for her reaction. But she also said nothing, continuing to stare straight ahead.
"Danny told me that you don't want a lawyer present," Martin said, after the silence became unbearable.
She glanced at him, then at the papers before her, then returned her attention to the window. "I don't need a lawyer. I haven't done anything wrong."
Martin pushed the pile of papers closer to her, so that they spread across the tabletop. "You know what this is?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing from the smugness in your voice that it's my arrest record."
Martin ignored her backhanded barb. He grabbed the nearest sheet of paper and picked it up, scanning over it. "Interesting read."
The muscles in Molly's jaw tightened. "I'll bet."
Martin read off the list of charges. "Driving under the influence, driving with an open container, reckless endangerment, assault, attempted robbery, break and entering, arson – "
"It wasn't arson," Molly said, in a very clipped voice. "It was an accident. And you'll also notice that those are all juvenile offenses, and my record has been clean for almost eight years." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And I don't see what my arrest record has to do with what happened to Kate."
Martin sighed. Molly's dispassionate demeanor had vanished almost instantly, just as Jack had predicted, which was why he had given Martin the girl's arrest record in the first place. Martin hated to admit it, but Jack got results, even if his methods were unorthodox. At least Martin hadn't needed to hold a gun to Molly's head. "Where were you two nights ago?"
Molly furrowed her brow, as though surprised by the question. "Claddagh's. It's an Irish pub on fifth."
"And were you with anyone?" Martin asked, hoping to get her to admit that she'd been with Kate's boyfriend. All he needed was to get her to confirm it, and they'd have enough for a warrant to search her apartment.
"Uh, yeah," said Molly, sounding genuinely confused by the question. "About two hundred college basketball fans."
Martin stared at her. "What?"
"March madness," she said. "I have some money on the tournament, and Kate was supposed to be cooking dinner for Steve at the apartment, so I went to Claddagh's. My friend Finn is a bartender there – he gives me free appetizers."
Martin slid off the table and took the seat directly across from Molly. "So Steve was supposed to be with Kate that night?"
Molly looked at him as though he were speaking a foreign language. "Yeah. It was their eighteen-month anniversary. Kate's big on anniversaries like that – she so rarely gets to that point in a relationship. She'd asked me to clear off for the night, so I went to the pub. I got home around midnight and went right to bed. Then I got up around five to head to DC for the day."
Martin shook his head, trying to clear it. "So then, you weren't having dinner with Steve two nights ago."
Molly made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat. "God, no. Do you want Finn's number? He can vouch for me."
"Do you know Gavin Patterson?" Martin asked, resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward.
"Yeah, he's a copy editor in Kate's office. Nice guy."
"According to Gavin, Kate thinks that you and Steve were having an affair."
Molly's eyes widened in genuine shock. "What?"
Martin sat back in the chair. "A lawyer in Kate's building saw Steve having dinner two nights ago with a woman that matches your description."
Molly rolled her eyes. "So what does that mean, that she was a redhead? There are a lot of redheads in Manhattan, Agent Fitzgerald." She exhaled loudly through her nose, and then her eyes suddenly narrowed, as if she'd just arrived at a conclusion. "You all think I did this, don't you? That Steve and I orchestrated this whole thing so that Kate would be out of the way?" She defiantly folded her arms across her chest and said through clenched teeth, "Well, let me tell you that if I was going to bring harm upon the closest thing I have to family, it would be over something worth a lot more than Steve."
21 Hours Missing
Jack suspected that Danny was becoming a little too attached to the case, which was why he'd brought him along to tail the boyfriend. Unfortunately, the lead on the boyfriend turned out to be a bust, as it turned out that Steve Kaminski was a fifty-year-old investment banker who looked very surprised to see the FBI burst into his office. Jack had explained the reason for the mix-up and apologized to the guy, but suffice to say that he was not in a good mood when he and Danny got back in the car.
Jack had called Martin as soon as they were en route to headquarters, to find out what he had managed to learn from the roommate.
"So she isn't the other woman?" Jack asked, after Martin had informed him that the night Molly was supposedly seen dining with Steve she'd actually been on the other side of town.
"No," Martin said. "Her alibi checks out. I called this Finn guy, and he confirms that she was there from about four-thirty to a little after eleven."
"Then Steve never showed up for dinner with Kate."
"She doesn't know," said Martin. "She hasn't seen her roommate since the morning before she disappeared, but she says that it isn't the first time Steve has flaked on a date."
Jack pulled to a stop at a red light and chewed on the inside of his cheek. They were getting nowhere fast. Without the boyfriend, there was no way to tie Molly to the disappearance, and now that Jack had learned that their primary suspect's "motive" was most likely just a misunderstanding, they were back at square one.
"How'd it go with the boyfriend?" Martin asked. "Did you find him?"
"No. Steve Kaminski isn't his real name. He could be anywhere."
Danny, who hadn't said one word to Jack since leaving headquarters, suddenly pointed to something out his window. "There he is!" He hit Jack on the arm. "Jack, stop the car! That's him!"
Against his better judgment, Jack slammed on the brakes. Danny barely waited until the car had arrived at a complete stop before leaping out and taking off in the opposite direction. "Stop! FBI!"
Jack had no choice but to follow Danny. He hung up on Martin and slid his phone into his coat pocket as he chased Danny down the sidewalk, desperately trying to keep up. It was difficult; Danny weaved in and out of pedestrians like a pro, and Jack had to knock a few people over just to keep him in sight. Danny rounded a corner, and Jack finally managed to catch up to him at the end of an alley. He had his gun trained on a tall guy with bleached tips.
"Don't shoot!" the guy said. "I'm a federal officer."
Danny snarled. "Yeah, sure you are. Hands above your head."
The guy put his hands above his head. "I'm not lying here, man. My badge is in my pocket if you don't believe me."
Danny kept his gun on the guy while Jack reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the guy's ID, which revealed that he was, indeed, a federal agent. He was a CIA operative.
"Are you Steve Kaminski?" Jack asked.
The guy shook his head. "Stan Kowalski. Steve is my alias – I'm undercover."
"Undercover doing what?" Danny asked. He never lowered his gun.
Stan sighed, his arms still above his head. "I'm investigating Molly Sheehan. We have reason to believe she may be tied to the mob."