A/N - Thanks for the reviews! I hope to have two chapters up this week.

Chapter 3 – Pursuit Under The Gun

Samantha's heart jumped into her throat at Van Doren's command, and she stole a nervous glance over at Vivian and Danny as she hurried down the hall. Barely in her office, Van Doren growled, " Sit." Pacing with her hands on her hips, she finally said with controlled rage, "Agent Spade, I just received a rather short and cryptic message from Agent Malone. He said he was quitting. He gave me a combination to a safe in his house where I could go pick up his weapon, badge and credentials. He told me not to send a team to find him." She let the news settle and watched Samantha's face blanche as she hung her head. Starting again, she said, "Agent Spade, what the hell happened last night? I checked the security logs. Agent Malone left about 9:30 pm. Willy at the security desk said he was a mess. You left about 10 pm in what Willy described as a "whirlwind."

Samantha could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She certainly never counted on this. She knew she cut him bad, but never thought he would leave the FBI. With her heart in shambles, but painfully aware of Van Doren's angry glare boring into her, she raised her eyes and said, "Agent Van Doren, I need to take a few days personal leave. Please." Van Doren studied the young agent's scared but pleading eyes and with a softer voice said, "Today is Wednesday. If you are not back by Monday morning, you will be terminated and I will process Agent Malone's discharge papers." Samantha swallowed hard, thanked her and headed for the door. Van Doren's voice stopped her before she left as she said, "Go find him, Samantha, and bring him back. We all need him here."

Almost running back to the bullpen, she told Danny and Vivian she was taking some personal time and turned to go. But Danny said angrily, " Oh no you don't, sister! You owe us some explanations. What the hell is going on around here?" Vivian took a softer role and said, "Samantha, come sit down and talk to us. I know you need help. Maybe we can give it to you." She sighed, slumped into her chair and poured out, " You're right. I'm sorry. Last night Jack asked me out to dinner, but Martin overheard him and went all protective commando. I thought they were going to tear into each other." She shook her head at the memory and continued. "Anyway, I ripped into Martin and he stormed off. And then……I ripped into Jack and well; I said something in anger that hurt him very deeply. He left before I could stop him and apologize. I waited at his apartment until four this morning, but he never showed. I was hoping he would finally come in so I could talk to him." By now her voice was quivering heavily and her eyes were misty but she went on, " He called Van Doren and said he was quitting. She has given me till Monday morning to find him before she processes his paperwork."

Vivian and Danny sat stunned at her revelation. Samantha moved first and said, "I can't just sit here. I have to go find him. I have to make this right" and she turned to leave. But Vivian stood and said, "Wait. You can't do this by yourself. There are too many angles to check and not very much time. I will start running his financials. He will have to have cash or use his credit cards to go wherever he is going. Danny, you start with transportation hubs. Check the airports, bus stations, and trains. I'm sure he didn't take the government-issued car; it's too easy to track. Samantha, you canvass the area around his apartment. Someone might have seen him leave." As she talked, Vivian pulled out the protocol file and handed each of them an 8x10 and 5x7 photo of Jack. This was Samantha's undoing as she struggled mightily to keep her emotions in check when she saw the picture. Vivian stole a glance at Danny and said, "Look, the procedure is the same. We need to get a sense of how big a lead he has on us." Danny nodded in agreement and said, " You know, Jack is going to use every trick in the book to stay below the radar screen. If anyone knows how, he does." They all nodded quietly, then turned to the tasks at hand.

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Jack drove for a few hours up Route 37 and was relieved to be putting the city farther behind him. The towns were getting farther and farther apart and getting less populated as he traveled. He pulled over in a little town called Pleasanton and found a café with gas pumps out front. After filling up the Jeep, he settled into a booth and was studying his map when the waitress said, " Where you heading, good lookin'?" He smiled slightly and said, " Not sure really, but some place quiet and off the beaten path." She nodded slowly and said, "I know what you mean. Let me see your map for a sec." She traced her finger a little over a path then said, " This map isn't very detailed for the mountains. Let me get you one over here by the counter and show you a few nice places you might be interested in."

She returned shortly with a detailed regional map and pointed saying, " Here, this little place called Lindseyton is really pretty and it isn't more than a couple of hours from here. Why don't I get you today's blue plate special while you think about it." Jack thanked her as she headed to the kitchen and he absently looked at the map figuring Lindseyton was as good as any place to officially collapse. After picking at his roast beef dinner, he was heading out the door when the waitress told him, "Mister, I don't know what is haunting you, and it surely isn't any of my business. But, whatever happened or whatever someone said, if they know how miserable they made you, they will want to make it right." Jack swallowed hard, nodded his head, and headed back on the road towards Lindseyton.

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Samantha had talked to nearly everyone in Jack's building, showing his picture over and over, but no one claimed to have seen a thing. Reluctantly, and only after seeing her badge, did the manager tell her he found a check from Mr. Malone to cover the next two months rent in the night depository. He also reluctantly opened Jack's apartment for her and stood aside. Samantha suddenly realized she had never been in his apartment. As she tentatively stepped in, it was obvious from the looks of things that Maria took every decent piece of furniture. The apartment was furnished with only the bare necessities. The kitchen trash held a wide assortment of take–out containers, the drawers of the chest in his bedroom were pulled out and mostly empty and it appeared that only casual clothes were missing. When she saw the phone cord jerked from the wall, she actually touched the phone softly and said to herself, "I'm so sorry. I need to talk to you so badly."

Her cell phone jerked her back to reality as she answered quickly, "Spade." Vivian spoke, "Any luck canvassing the apartment?" "No," she sighed, "I'm hitting a dead end in here. Danny was right about him being careful." Viv tapped her pencil and said, "Well, I might have something. Jack withdrew $500 from an ATM at the corner of Bowery and Chambers at 11:45 last night. We got the tape and we can see him flagging a taxi down. The tech guys did a great job and picked up cab # 430 on a Yellow Cab. Go track this cabbie down and see what he remembers." Samantha saw a glimmer of hope and asked, "What about Danny. Any luck on public transportation?" "No, nothing yet," Viv said, " but he is working the airports first. Said he would call as soon as he found something."

After several frustrating and precious hours, Samantha finally found the driver of cab # 430: Mr. Habib Moustelyilla. After flashing her badge, she showed Habib Jack's picture and could tell immediately he recognized him. Her heart beat a little faster and Habib asked, "What this guy do? He bad guy or what?" Samantha pressed, " Where did you take him last night?" After thinking about it, Habib answered, " He not say much. First I think he not know where he go. But finally he want bus station." Samantha physically leaned closer to the cabbie as she asked firmly, " Which station." Habib grinned, " Oh yes. Guess that be helpful. New York has many bus stations. This man want the one in Queens. I take him to Jackson Heights."

Thanking the cabbie, Samantha quickly phoned Danny, " Hey, the cabbie from the ATM says he took Jack to a bus station in Jackson Heights." Danny listened then said, "Okay, great. I got nothing at the airports, but I figured that might be the case. He wouldn't want his name on a flight manifest. Why don't you come to the office so we can re-group?" Reluctantly, Samantha agreed. Although she didn't want to leave the field, especially after getting a lead, she knew following procedure was the best….Jack taught her that. Glancing at her watch, she was shocked at how late itwas getting and she hurried back to the office to meet with Danny and Vivian.

TBC