Chapter 14:

It didn't matter how much Jack reassured her that none of it was her fault, Sue still felt awful. She couldn't understand what she had done wrong, or why Greg had gotten so angry. She begged Jack to just forget about it and let Greg go so she could move on, forgive and forget about it all but to Jack, it was all too suspicious. And he wanted his revenge. It amazed him, how she could be so hopeful and still see the good in another person, even one that had hurt her.

"I can't just forget it Sue." Jack said to her in frustration. She was trying to just pretend like it didn't happen and he knew he couldn't just let it go. "Maybe there is good in him, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any consequences for his actions. He's going to pay for what he did to you." Sue saw the anger in Jacks eyes as he stood up and stared out the window. She got up too, and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned around and stared into her eyes.

"I don't want you to hate him. You need to forgive him too. Being angry is only going to hurt yourself more. I don't want that." She said quietly. He gave her a weak smile and nodded.

"I still need to find him though." Jack said. "I'm not going to risk him hurting you again. Tara will be here in about an hour. She's going to stay here with you while Lucy's gone in case you need anything." Sue gave him a small smile and nodded. She tried to hold back a yawn. She hadn't slept well the evening before and it had been a long day. Jack went to the medicine cabinet to get one of her sleeping pills. They sat down again on the couch as she took the pill with a glass of water. "I'm sorry to have caused so much trouble for you today. I know the drug bust is a big case and you wasted your day taking care of me." She said softly.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Jack replied. "You're more important to me than any case. Ted understood, and Myles and Tara are still working on the case. I could never have forgiven myself if I would have let this all slide. Enough about work - I want you to head to bed." She gave him a quick smile, then leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He smiled back, thankful that she was okay. "I'll stay until Tara gets here. Just get a good sleep and I'll come check on you tomorrow."

"Thanks Jack." Sue responded. "Goodnight." She then went into her bedroom and shut the door. About an hour later Tara turned up with her laptop. Jack filled her in on everything, and then headed back to the bullpen to help Bobby and D find Greg. He knew Sue was right – He knew he had to forgive him too but Jack was also going to find him and make sure he never hurt anyone ever again, especially Sue.

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It was the evening before the day of the drug bust. The past hours had gone by slowly. Ever since Jack had left Sue's house that evening two days ago, he had barely left the bullpen, except to shower and check on Sue. Lucy was given a week vacation to take care of her dad. Sue had called her, promising to her that she was fine, so Lucy finally relented to taking some time off. Tara had been staying with Sue at her place, and they were both looking up more on Brendan Pratner. Jack was angry with Tara at first for letting Sue work, but Tara managed to convince him that she wasn't doing much and it was keeping her preoccupied as she rested. Sue didn't talk anymore about Greg and what happened. She just left it up to Bobby, D and Jack to deal with the rest. She just wanted to forget it had ever happened.

The coffee had been brewing for 2 days straight. Myles seemed to be getting nowhere. He had no idea where the drug exchange was going to take place. He just knew when it would be happening and were completely clueless as to the rest. What made matters worse is they seemed to have lost Joshua Cain, whom they had been following the last couple of days. He almost disappeared into thin air. Pratner was still nowhere to be found. Things were looking hopeless. Myles was completely frustrated. Jack, Bobby and D seemed to be getting nowhere with the search for Greg either and began to wonder if maybe he left the country as there were no tracks as to his whereabouts.

"I'm getting Tara to see if maybe he's been using a fake name. She put his picture out with the airport authority hoping maybe someone will recognize him so we can get his real name and track him down," said Bobby to the other guys. Tara was working double shift, both cases - with Sue's help. Finally she got a break. Tara's phone rang at Sue's apartment.

"That was the airport authority. A flight attendant recognized Greg's picture. Apparently he flew in from LA a few days ago, which of course we already knew. Apparently he came under the name Landon Miller. They just sent me a copy of his passport. No one has left DC under that name, so he might still be around. I'm going to look up Landon Miller to see if we can get more information on him. Just let me call the boys back at the bullpen with the good news." Sue nodded, as she watched Tara talk to the guys about Greg. She was typing on her computer at the same time, looking up more about Landon Miller, hoping to find a lead as to where he was. Levi suddenly jumped up on Sue. She realized the doorbell must have ringed. Tara was still occupied on the phone.

It must be Jack, checking up on us again, Sue thought happily. She silently admitted to herself that, she didn't really mind the extra attention Jack was giving her after everything that had happened. Tara was still busy talking, as Sue walked to the door to answer it.

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"Who is it?" whispered Jack to Bobby as he talked on the phone.

"Tara – she has a lead on Greg. Used the name Landon Miller. She's looking him up right now on the computer to see if she can find any leads. Yup Tara, still here." Bobby returned to talking to her about Landon Miller as Jack watched silently, thankful that they finally had a hope in finding the guy. "Tara – I'm going to put you on speaker phone okay?" Bobby asked.

"Sure." She replied, as Bobby pressed the button so Jack and D could listen in. "Wait a second guys – I think I found something. Oh my gosh!" Tara exclaimed.

"WHAT?" said all 3 men at once.

"Landon Miller is an alias for Brendan Pratner! Greg is Pratner!" Tara turned around to tell Sue and saw her walking to the front door. "Sue?" All the men looked at each other confused, not sure of what was happening at the apartment. All they knew is that they needed to get Sue and Tara out of there as soon as possible. Then all of the sudden they heard Tara cry for help. In the background they could hear her screams along with Levi's barks. They heard a few loud bangs and the dog went suddenly quiet, as did Tara. Jack, D and Bobby all froze, unable to move as Myles ran over the Bobby's desk.

Then the phone line went dead.