The Heart's Refusal to Believe – Part 3

Thanks to TZMaverick and NG for their huge help in Beta reading this chapter!!

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Jack, Teal'c, and Daniel arrived at the SGC to brief General Hammond on what they had found. When the three men entered Jack's office, General Hammond was talking to a bewildered Jacob Carter. He kept on repeating softly, "I knew that this was going to happen, but I didn't think it would happen here."

Jack walked over to Jacob and put his hand on the older man's shoulder as he softly spoke the words he prayed someone would have told him just minutes after learning she had died. "I think we have found something that may suggest that Carter is still alive."

Jacob turned around to address Jack with tears streaming down his face. "You think Sam's alive?" Jacob was half asking and half pleading with Jack.

They explained about the blood test, lack of protein maker in the victim's blood, and the autopsy reported that Pete Shanahan identified the body as Sam.

General Hammond and Jacob came to the same conclusion as the others. Either Dr. Patrick is lying or Pete was.

"Do you have a plan to prove which one is lying?" Jacob asked.

"Well the best way I know is to exhume the body. We can't do that without a next of kin's permission and enough proof to warrant it."

"We, now have the proof." General Hammond said.

All four men turned to look at Jacob, as he responded. "You have my permission to exhume the body."

"I'll make the phone calls and gets things started. Jack, can I use your phone?" General Hammond asked.

"Sure. I'm going into the conference room to watch the rest of the tapes. Maybe we can get a little more information."

Jacob waited in Jack's office in case they needed a verbal confirmation from him. Daniel and Teal'c joined Jack in the Conference room to watch the rest of the security tapes.

They watched as Sam walked to her car, unlocked it and got in. She drove out the front gate and onto the public roadway without an incident. About five minutes later a blue sedan drove past the gate in the same direction as Sam.

"Was that not the same automobile that we saw at Pete Shanahan's place of residence?" Teal'c asked.

"I think Teal'c's right." Daniel said with apprehension.

Jack rewound the tape and stopped it as the blue Sedan passed in front of the well-lit gate. The licenses plate was barely readable. Jack wrote the numbers down. "I think it's too much of a coincidence not to check this out. I've got a friend at the Department of Motor Vehicles. I'm going to give him a call to see if he can help identify the driver."

General Hammond and Jacob walked in as Jack picked up the phone to make his call. General Hammond announced that they were exhuming the body and bringing her here for Dr. Brightman to get a DNA sample.

"Are you sure …okay… Thanks … Bye." Jack said hanging up the phone.

"Well?" Daniel was inpatient.

"It's a government issued car with regular plates." Jack answered disappointed.

"Why not issue a government plate?" Daniel asked, clearly not understanding.

"Because it's used for undercover jobs." Jack said solemnly. He knew it would be difficult to find out who the driver was without tipping off Detective Shanahan.

"What's going on?" Jacob did not like being left in the dark, especially when it concerned his daughter.

"We have reason to believe a blue automobile …"

"Sedan" Jack added.

Teal'c bowed his head, "My apologizes O'Neill. We have reason to believe a blue Sedan followed Colonel Carter as she made her exit from the SGC gates the morning we last saw her."

"It looked like the same car we saw at Pete's house when we went to see him earlier today."

The five men tried to determine who the driver was without involving too many people. It was finally decided that they would call Agent Barrett, the NID agent that had helped Sam on several occasions to see if he could assist them.

As they were deciding to take a break, a call came in from the infirmary to inform them that the body had been delivered and that the medical personnel were checking the DNA.

Daniel and Teal'c left to call Agent Barrett. General Hammond was calling the President to extend his leave a little longer. Jacob excused himself without explaining where he was going and Jack stated he was going to the commissary.

Jacob knew exactly where he was going. He just wasn't sure if he had enough courage to find the answer he was looking for. He walked into the darkened cold room. There was only one light on over the table. It appeared as if everyone had left.

'Are you sure about this Jacob?' Selmak, Jacob's symbiote, asked.

'No, but it's the only way I will ever know for sure.'

'Are you prepared for what you will find?'

'I don't know.' Tears fell from Jacob's eyes as he stood looking down at the closed body bag on the table.

'If it's not her, then at least I still have hope.'

'And if it is?'

Jacob didn't answer. Visions flashed through his mind of another time and another body he had to identify. He remembered the suffocating shock of seeing his wife lying there. His world stopped at that moment as tears blurred his vision until the doctor covered her face once again. He remembered the nausea that washed over him at the realization that his wife was gone. He had always thought he would be the first to go, but he was wrong. The first to go was his wife and now here he stood years later to identify his only daughter.

Jacob's hands were trembling as he reached for the zipper on the closed black bag. When the shaking became too fierce he put his hands back to his side as he tried to mentally prepare himself. He didn't hear the person addressing him from the door. It wasn't until the person stood directly across from him that he realized he wasn't alone anymore. Jacob looked up to see Jack's watery eyes staring back at him.

"Couldn't stay way either?" Jack asked.

"I had to know."

"Yeah. Me too."

"I'm just not sure I can …"

"I know." Jack let out a long sigh. "I know."

"This is the only way we will know for sure, without any doubts."

"I agree."

Jacob reached up and slowly unzipped the bag and folded the sides down in order for them to see the victim's face.

Both men took in a sharp breath.

Their eyes were wide with shock.

They continued to stare down at the face to make sure and tears continued to roll down their faces.

Their minds were trying to confirm what their eyes were telling them.

Jacob looked up at Jack. "It's not her."

"No. it's not." Jack said as the tears of relief continued to fall.

It was little hard for them to tell at first because of the accident, but the right side of her face gave them the identification they needed.

"So, where is my little girl, Jack?"

"I don't know, but we're going to find her."

Sam was startled awake from the same nightmare as last time; a dark shadow of a man was suffocating her and just about the time she could make out any features on the man's face she woke up. She wasn't sure how much time had past since she arrived at this place. Her world was now limited to a 10'x 10' room with concrete walls, floor, and ceiling. One light bulb was dangling from the ceiling illuminating the drab accommodations. There was a mattress on the floor where she was currently laying. A desk and chair beside the mattress were the only other 'décor' in the sparse room. There was a toilet of sorts in the corner. A regular steel door appeared to be the only entrance, with a trap door at the bottom, apparently to slide food in, a tray laid on the floor a few inches away as evidence.

Sam rubbed her temple as she tried to recall how she got here.

She remembered leaving the base and a car speeding up behind her blinking its lights, and then she saw the blue lights flashing on his dashboard. She pulled to the shoulder of the road and waited for the officer. She wasn't sure why she was being pulled over since she wasn't speeding. She thought about calling the General just as a safety net, in case something went wrong, but decided against it because of the early morning hour.

She saw the Officer get out of his car, but before she could get a good look at him he focused his flashlight in her side mirror, preventing her from seeing anything. The spot light on his car was preventing her from seeing through the rear view window. She knew this was all protocol to ensure the Officers safety. Therefore she wasn't really worried.

As he approached she rolled her window down. He blinded her with his flashlight as she spoke. "What did I do, Officer?"

A cloth covered her mouth and nose in response. She tried to jerk away and fight back, but she was caught by her own seat belt, limiting her movement. As she was trying to remove his hand from her face she felt the sting of a needle brick her arm through her BDU's, and then blackness.

The next thing she knew she was here. She hadn't seen or heard anyone since she was kidnapped. She was worried about Daniel and Teal'c, because they would be the first to notice she was missing. She could picture their worried faces as they informed the General she was missing. She could see the General fiddling with something to work off his anxiety, all the while showing no emotion. She hated putting them through that.

She had forgotten she was going to see Pete.

She knew by now that Daniel and Teal'c along with the General were probably combing every inch of Colorado Springs trying to find her. She wasn't sure if the kidnapper just abandoned her car on the side of the road, which she hoped he did. That would at least provide them with a starting place and proof that she was kidnapped. If her kidnapper had ditched her car somewhere then she would have to wait a little longer. 'They'll find me. I know they will. Come on guys.' She kept repeating to herself when the walls starting closing in on her.

What Sam did not see in her small room was the hidden camera that was focused on the mattress and desk. She could be seen anywhere around the room except when she used the 'facilities'.

"Has she woken up again?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't seem to be completely alert. How much of that stuff did you give her?"

"Well with the protein marker I had to make sure the drugs were strong enough to knock her out."

"You almost killed her. I knew I should have done it. We don't want anything to happen to her."

"I know. I know. Robert wants her alive."

"Look, just give him a call and let him know she's awake."

"Alright. I'll call from the car. I've got to get back. See you later." The kidnapper left the building and got into a blue sedan.

TBC