An hour later, Anna was sitting nervously in the coffee shop across from the federal building. Her hands were wrapped tightly around her cup of coffee, and her eyes were closed as she silently tried to work out what she was going to say.

"Should I be worried that all those deep thoughts are going to be fired at me?"

Anna looked up as Jack tossed a file folder on the table and then sat down across from her.

"I probably shouldn't be doing this. There about a million reasons not to talk to you about this, not the least of which that Danny will not be happy, but I don't know what else to do."

Jack gave her a tired but reassuring smile. "I'll make you a deal--if you can help me find a way to get him out of this mess, then I will do my best to absorb the bulk of his wrath. I don't care if he gets mad at me—just as long as he is out of trouble and still working for me."

"He was talking to his AA sponsor," she blurted before she lost her nerve. "That's where he was for most of the evening. He said they went to a meeting together and then talked afterward. He said that that woman propositioned him in the bar and gave him the key card, but he never went to the room. Last night, I begged him to tell you about his sponsor, but he won't do it."

"He's beyond stubborn. At least, we know he's still on the wagon," he responded earnestly.

Anna smiled slightly. "But he was tempted. He was tempted to take the drink and take Karen Washington up on her offer. He and I have been through all this before…in college," she said hesitantly as she glanced up at Jack not sure why she was telling him. "When Danny gets overwhelmed, or he feels too much pressure, he gets weak."

"He hasn't done too badly with having a high-pressure job," he replied matter-of-factly.

"That's not the kind of pressure I'm talking about," she responded in almost a whisper.

Jack just nodded as he took in the young woman in front of him. She looked exhausted and like she had a just cried a river, but the love and commitment she had for Danny seemed to shine in her eyes. For a moment, Jack felt jealous. Samantha had been the last person to look at him like that, and he realized he missed it more than he liked to admit

"Have you found anything else out that could help him? I still don't understand how this woman could be so vindictive. I know Danny pretty well, and I'm sure he was more than patient with her. He can be flirtatious, but I can't imagine that he would be that way with the mother of a missing child," she asked as she motioned toward the file folder.

Jack sighed heavily and opened the file in front of him. "I had Martin do a full background check on Karen Washington. He's actually still working on it. I was hoping she had a history of false accusations, but nothing is documented. I'm thinking the stress of losing her daughter lead her to transfer those feelings onto Danny. I don't think he led her on at all, but one of his strengths is his compassion with family members and victims. She is most likely attracted to that quality in him. When he didn't reciprocate, she got angry and wanted revenge," Jack said, drawing upon his psychology background to analyze Karen Washington. "It doesn't help that we can't pick Danny up leaving the Ritz that night. But the tapes don't show him going upstairs either."

Anna nodded as she leaned in to look at the file. She wanted to see the woman that was doing her best to ruin Danny's life. Her breath caught when she saw Karen Washington's picture. "Oh my god. Jack, I know her. I mean I just met her yesterday."

"Are you sure? How did you meet her?"

Anna looked up at him with a confused and tormented expression. "I can't…I shouldn't tell you. It's…it's confidential."

"What is she in AA, too?" Jack asked in a sarcastic manner.

"No. That's not it. She must have known about me…about what I do for a living. This woman came to see me at my office yesterday."

Anna quickly made it to the Rape Crisis Center when she got the call that a victim asked to speak to her directly. When she walked in she addressed Liz, the volunteer covering the reception area. "Hey, Liz. Where is she?"

"I put her in your office. She was pretty upset when she got here. I tried to talk to her, but she said that you helped a friend of hers a while back so she only wanted to talk to you."

"What's her name?"

"Karen. She hasn't given us a last name, and she says she hasn't filed a police report or seen a doctor," Liz said as she handed Anna a file. "I started a file on her. She said it was a man she knows."

"So what else is new?" Anna asked sarcastically as she took the file and headed towards her office.

As she approached her door, she noticed the woman was looking at the picture of her and Danny that she kept on her desk. She knocked lightly on the door so as not to startle to the woman. "Karen?" she asked carefully.

"Yes. You must be Anna," she answered as she put down the picture and stood up.

"Yes, I'm Anna Ridley. Please sit."

Karen looked back at the picture. "Sorry to be nosey. I just couldn't help but notice—you look very happy in that picture."

Anna walked around the desk and took a seat in her chair as she picked up the picture. "I am…happy in the picture. It's of my boyfriend and me in Central Park. I think we had a hot dog vendor take it," Anna replied with a smile. This was a tactic she used to put her clients at ease. She always tried to make them feel like they were talking to a friend so she didn't hesitate to open up about herself when she could.

"How long have you been with him?" Karen asked as she motioned toward the picture.

"This time?" she asked sheepishly and then continued. "Not very long…just a few months. He was my first love, and then we broke up in college. Now we are trying again."

"That's sweet. He's very handsome."

Anna laughed lightly. "And don't think he doesn't know it. I'm one of those hopelessly insecure women who happens to be dating a man who is much prettier than me."

"Is he good to you?" Karen asked timidly.

This is what Anna was waiting for. This always happened. Victims would want to talk about anything but what happened to them, but eventually, a door would open. "Yes. He's very good to me," she answered. "Why? Is your boyfriend or husband not good to you?"

Karen hesitated and looked down at her hands, and then she looked up at Anna with tears in her eyes. 'I'm divorced, and I haven't had a boyfriend in a long time. But I did find myself very attracted to someone recently. He was doing some work for me."

"So he's an acquaintance?" Anna asked as she made a note in her file.

"I guess you could say that. We never really became friends, but he was so nice to me…so charming. He'd look at me with these beautiful, warm eyes, and I'd swear that he really cared about me."

"It sounds like you like him a lot."

"Yes. I did. And I made the mistake of telling him how much. I should have known better than to think he'd really be attracted to me. He's much younger and so handsome. But he played along and I believed him. I asked him out for a drink. He met me at bar. We had a few drinks. And before I knew it, we were in a hotel room…" she said and then tears started to fall.

"Its okay, Karen. Take your time," Anna said sympathetically.

"I wanted to be with him. I wanted him to kiss me and touch me and make love to me. But once we got in that room, he wasn't the same person. He wasn't charming or nice. He didn't even kiss me. When I realized what he wanted, I told him to stop. I told him I wasn't ready, but he didn't listen…," said as she dissolved into tears.

Anna reached out and took Karen's hand. As often as Anna heard these horrific tales, she still cried with the victims every time.

"I can't believe she lied to me, Jack," Anna said shaking her head. "I held her hand. I cried with her. What could she possibly gain from lying to me like that?"

"She's playing a sick game. Some part of her is getting off on this. Did she tell you she would report it to the police?"

"No. She said that she didn't think anyone would believe her. I, of course, went into my talk about how I believed in her and together we could get through it. I was such a fool. I even have a follow-up appointment scheduled with her this morning."

"You couldn't have known," Jack responded and then thought for a moment. "You're meeting her today?"

Anna nodded. "This morning at ten. Why?"

"Well, I think we can find a way to make this go away without making Danny angry at both of us."

"How?" asked Anna.

"Let me work through this, okay? I'll meet you at your office at 9," he said as he rose from the booth.

"Okay. Should I do anything?"

"No. You've been more than helpful. Danny is very fortunate to have someone like you in his life," Jack said as he gave her a warm smile and walked out the door.

As Jack left the coffee shop and headed toward his office, he flipped open his phone and hit the first number on his speed dial. A groggy, hoarse voice answered.

"Spade."

"Sam, I need you. Can you meet me at the office?"

"Of course. Is it a case?" she asked as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"No. It's about Danny. I think I know a way to get Mrs. Washington off his back."

"I'll be there in a half hour," she said before hanging up.