Chapter 13!
Sue was blissful at the moment. After the fast song, the DJ transitioned to a slower, more melodic beat. She could still feel the beat of the song pulsing through the soles of her heels, and could almost hear the chorus through her hearing aid.
" Can you feel it Sue? Can you feel the music?" Jack asked, turning her face towards his. She nodded slowly, smiling at him with a look of sheer bliss downing her precious features.
Celine Dion's "Falling into You" graced Jacks attentive ears, and he began to slowly sway with the beat, holding Sue close to him. He placed her right hand over his heart, and pulled her close, pressing his newly shaven cheek against her hair, breathing in the soft floral scent of her shampoo.
They swayed together, turning and spinning every so often, whenever they felt the need to move.
The song soon ended, and a huskier, male counterpart replaced Celine's melodic, romantic voice, and Jack slowed as Frank Sinatra started his famous " All the Way."
" Shall we go mingle a bit more?" Jack asked his dance partner, whose beautiful hazel eyes were transfixed on his pure blue ones.
" I suppose that is mostly what we came to do. Don't most of the men here know Special Agent Stone?" Leave it too Sue to bring up work in a romantic environment such as this. Jack laughed.
" I would major a bet that almost everyone here has at least had lunch with the man." He responded sullenly.
Sue smiled and tightened her intertwined fingers with his. " Do you supposed they know when Agent Stone will be back from his trip?"
Jack rolled his eyes and dodged the hand that was playfully aimed at his forehead. " I supposed a few of them might. You aren't going to give this up tonight are you?"
Sue shook her head and looked up at him innocently, " Why just stand around faking small talk when you can get some real information on something you need?"
Jack just shrugged and took her over to a group of men and women. After a few minutes of mild interrogation, they found that Special Agent Stone was due back from his overseas trip to Arabia in two short days.
Both Jack and Sue politely thanked the group, smiled, and backed away. They found a nearby table that had just been filled with fresh snacks and champagne.
"Jack, do you realize that in two short days, we could completely solve this case, and have Laura back safe and sound?" Sue could feel the anxiety and excitement bubbling in her center. She reached for her glass of champagne and took a generous sip.
" What makes you think that talking to Stone will solve the entire case, Sue?" Jack trusted her instinct, but everything about this case confused him. " All of his buddies think he is in Arabia, and unless he conned over 40 people into lying for him, we don't really have a case against him." Jack picked some green grapes off of a silver platter next to him, and popped them in, one by one.
Sue smirked at him. " It's not like we haven't heard of something like that happening before. We have had cases where they have lied to hundreds of people. Admit it, the only reason why you think he is innocent is because if he is guilty, it gives a bad name to the FBI." Sue instantly regretted the last part of her argument.
Jack bit back a rude retort, not wanting this night to be ruined by the already stressful case. He wiped his exhaustion off his face and sighed.
" Jack, I am sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound so…-"
" Right? Truthful? Sincere?"
"Well I was thinking more along the lines of harsh, rude or mean. But I appreciate your words more." She gave him a weak grin and took another sip of her champagne.
Suddenly, Jack jerked his head towards the entryway, which was a mere fifteen feet from their table. Sue followed his gaze until her eyes landed on a tall, scraggly man, dressed in a wrinkled and lopsided suit, and the dark consequence of not shaving rough on his features. The way he walked made him seem drunk. " Jack," She whispered softly. "Is he…drunk?" She placed a hand over her heart as if to protect herself.
" That man is not only drunk, he is a drunk Special Agent Stone." Jack tore his gaze from the man long enough to bare his shocked face at Sue.
Stone swayed against the usher who was trying to hold him up, and walked into the room, the smell of whiskey drifting all the way to Jack and Sue's table. He slobbered a bit, as if trying to speak. He began swaying side to side, spit and whiskey falling to the floor from his drunken lips. " Whoooze Jaack Huddzen? I wanna see Jaack Huddzen in fronna mee nowah!" Stone slurred his words together, making it difficult for Sue to read his lips.
She began to understand when Jack stood up, graceful and cautious, and walked slowly towards the drunkard. " That would be me. I'm Jack Hudson."
As soon as Jack confirmed himself, the drunken Stone lunged towards him. He had pretty good aim for a drunken man, but Jack's reflexes were much quicker. He jumped away, half expecting the jump, and put a hand up as if surrendering.
" Hey man, I don't want to start anything you can't finish." He motioned for the ushers to restrain Stone, since he was just a heap on the floor. Jack then pulled out his cell, and immediately called the Ohio State Police, requesting back up along with two FBI agents. He hung up and turned to Stone again. " I'll advise you to not move unless your told, this room is fully of FBI agents who are sober enough to put you in a choke hold."
" Awe, c'mon Agent Hudson. Cut Stone some slack, he is mourning his wife and kid. He didn't mean anything." A man behind Jack, Agent Carlyle, shouted loudly in Stone's defense. Jack turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
" I don't mean to cause mutiny between friends and co-workers, but we have reason to suspect Agent Stone as an accomplice to his wife and daughter's kidnapping. We were going to bring him into custody when he arrived back in the states, but I am sure when I check with Customs at the airport, they will have no record of and Agent Stone leaving the city, let alone the country."
There was a knock at the entry doors, and Jack stepped over Stone and the ushers holding him down to get to the door. When he opened it, he revealed the officers and agents he called in earlier.
" Stone is behind me, don't worry, you can't mistake him. I haven't read him his rights yet, or cuffed him. I figured you could do all the fun stuff." He moved out of the way to let the hoard of officers in, but they weren't ready to move quite yet.
" What exactly are we booking him on, sir?" A young officer at the front of the small group asked.
Jack stared at him, formulating his answer quickly. " Reckless endangerment, trespassing, and purgery." He motioned for the young officer to go through.
A muffled sound came from Stone, and all eyes turned down to him. " What was that, Stone, I couldn't understand you." Jack taunted. He was angry, but he wouldn't let Stone get to him.
" I dinna commit purjry. I waze whre I waze." Stone slurred as best as he could, considering he was currently doing a face plant.
" Just cuff him and get him to the nearest station. I want to be the first to talk to him." Jack ordered, knowing full well his authority on this case.
He didn't mean to, but he forgot all about the blonde with him earlier, until her comforting hands touched his elbow slightly. " Jack, we need to let the team get up to date. They think we are still barely reading Dr. Larksin's files."
Jack nodded, placing his hand at her waist, and steering her towards the entry-way doors, and his rental. " We'll call him after we get to interrogate that-"
" Alright, Jack. I get it."
Chapter 14
Sue watched through the two-sided glass as Jack dug into Stone's befuddled brain.
" How do you know Berisone ?" Jack barked at Stone, his anger evident in his features. He paced the room, waiting for an answer.
" Berisone is my kin. My uncle is his father. We grew up together, and went separate ways after high school." Stone cradled his head, the hangover pounding in his temples.
Jack stopped pacing, and faced Stone again. " You mean, you knew about Melina all this time, and you didn't tell your wife about her sister? What kind of a husband are you?"
Sue winced, she could see how angry and confused Jack was, and she wanted to help, she just didn't know how. She didn't want to interrupt the interrogation, in fear of angering Jack even more. But she did want to just sit there and do nothing. Then an idea sparked her.
She motioned to one of the uniformed officers guarding her door for protection, and he walked over quietly.
" Yes, ma'am." He asked politely.
" Please get me a laptop with Internet and my purse from the reception area, I need to make a phone call to Washington."
The officer nodded and left the room, a young female officer replacing his post. Sue smiled at her, but the young woman did not smile back.
Soon after, the male officer reappeared with her purse and a narrow black case. " Here you are ma'am, anything else?" The man stood there, waiting.
" No, that will be all officer… Colegrove. Thank you for your assistance."
Sue turned on the computer and logged on the internet. She quickly opened up the FBI site, and typed in a few nouns. When what she was looking for popped up on the screen, she smiled and pulled out her blackberry.
After she dialed Tara's cell, she started to read the page in front of her, waiting for Tara to pick up.
" Hello?" popped up onto her small screen, and Sue smiled before typing.
SUE:" Tara? It's Sue."
" Umm, this is Bobby, Sue."
Sue's eyes went wide, and she blushed, then resumed typing, her hands a bit shaky from all the excitement.
SUE:" Oh, I must have dialed the wrong number, I'm sorry, Bobby."
Sue waited before terminating the conversation. She read the words as they appeared on the darkened screen.
BOBBY:" This is Tara's number, I just had the convenience of picking it up."
Sue raised her eyebrow,
SUE: "The convenience, huh? Is Tara available, or is she currently, uh, inconvenienced?"
BOBBY:" Hold on, I'll get her."
TARA: "Hey Sue!"
SUE: " Tara, where are you?"
TARA: "Umm, nowhere in particular."
SUE: "Right, I didn't know Bobby's apartment was no where. Where's that street again?"
TARA: "Did Bobby tells you? Oh, Sue, please don't tell everyone, we wanted to break the news softly."
SUE: "Don't worry, I'll leave the fun stuff to you. Hey, I called cause I need you to send me the analyzed footage of Laura and Barrone. I want to see what it is that he showed her."
TARA: " Oh, I was going to call you tomorrow, the object was an open silver locket, with the initials BJW engraved on in, and a photo of Laura, her mother, father and Melina on one side, and Laura and Melina on another."
SUE: " Laura had a locket too, with her initials engraved in it, with a photo of a baby in it, but the infant had dark brown hair, Laura has reddish blonde hair. I wonder if the photos in the locket are Melina, and Laura thought they were photos of herself. But why would Barrone show the locket as a way of enticing her?"
TARA: "Leverage, maybe?"
SUE: " Oh, I almost forgot, Jack and I are at the county jail, interrogating Stone as we speak. I was on the internet trying to connect Stone with Berisone, Melina's uncle, and Barrone, the man who kidnapped Laura and Bethany. Guess what? Barrone and Berisone were caught smuggling Hungarian teens over the border to the US and then to Canada. The agent who arrested them was Stone, who later helped the defense by stating in his testimony that he didn't actually see Barrone and Berisone at the sight with the children. They left with a slap on the hand and a year probation."
TARA: " Wow, all that and it is still one big, not so happy family."
SUE: "Yeah, that's not all, Melina was on board on of the ships, exporting healthy American teens for black market adoptions."
TARA: " Small world."
Sue laughed and glanced through the window at Jack, who looked like he was about to wrap up.
SUE: " Tara, I have to go, Jack is almost ready to go. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?"
TARA: " Bye Sue."
After switching off her blackberry, Sue did the same to the computer, and smiled. Bobby and Tara, her and Jack. Who next, Lucy and Myles, again? Eh!
Sue laughed to herself, and stood up, placed the computer back in the case, and handed over to the male officer. " Thank you, again."
She felt a tap at her shoulder, and turned to see Jack. " Hey, I have some news." She motioned to her blackberry on the table. " I just talked to Tara, and Bobby, the object Barrone showed Laura was Brooke Weber's locket, which matched Laura and Melina's. Inside was a two photos, one of the family, including Melina, and one with Laura and Melina as babies."
Jack raised a brow, and sighed. " I have news too, Stone admitted to being an accomplice in Laura's kidnapping, and attempted murder."
Jack, thinking fast, grabbed Sue's shoulders as she began to fall, a cry of anguish escaping her lips.
One word followed, a tear falling in unison with her words. " Murdered?"