Chapter 16:

It had taken some more fussing and fighting but finally the police captain in charge had given permission to Jack to try to reach Miranda. She was probably having her cell phone with her as her parents had told them that it wasn't among the things left in her private room at home. It was worth a try after all.

He had punched the number into his own cell, waiting for any answer, but there hadn't been. He had tried over and over again, only reaching her mail box, but never getting an actual answer. But he wouldn't give up – the girl was probably scared half to death and completely overwhelmed with the situation she had maneuvered herself into. Answering her cell phone probably was one of her last worries.

The police captain however had started giving him uneasy and impatient looks some minutes ago already. Jack didn't react to him, didn't care about him. He was absolutely sure that Miranda was up there in that tower and that this was the only way he could reach her.

Finally – after almost twenty minutes of trying – there was a reaction. He was getting a free sign as somebody answered the call. There was silence on the other end of the line for a few more moments before a shaky voice of a young woman answered the phone.

"Who is this?"

"Miranda – my name is Jack Malone, I'm with the FBI. We're searching for you. I want you to not hang up on me alright?"

She didn't answer him and he hadn't expected her to, but at least she hadn't immediately hung up on her. There was still a chance for him to reach her and make her listen to her. But he needed to be extremely careful. If he would scare her off by whatever he was telling her, he wouldn't be able to help her to get out of this situation alive.

If he would lose her, could not make her listen any more, then police would be forced to get inside the building and take her down – for the safety of everyone else in there. And Jack himself was too much personally involved in this, caring for one of the injured victims and being responsible for getting Danny out of there alive as he could risk any further delay or any more shooting.

He needed to convince Miranda to give up – it was as simple as that. Just that in her mental state, in her desperation – finding the right words to achieve that was a very difficult task...

"Don't be afraid, Miranda, you don't need to talk to me, you don't need to tell me where you are. I just want you to listen to me... There are a lot of people who care for you and who deeply wish for you to come back home to them. Your father has been very upset about your disappearance, as has been your class teacher and your friend Helen from college... I won't force you to do anything that you do not want, I just want you to think about it, think about returning home..."

Still there was no reaction from her, he wasn't even sure she was actually listening to him. Taking the situation she was in into consideration, it wasn't much of a surprise. She had about a million other thoughts to occupy her mind with. He definitely was her smallest problem – but as long as he was still able to talk to her he had a chance.

"I do understand that you had a good reason for running away, Miranda. I know that you have been in trouble and that nobody was listening to you, I know that you feeled like nobody cared for you, but that's not true. I can prove it to you, but you have to come back home for it."

He could hear her breathing quicken as he talked to her, which told him two things – she was close to the phone and he had probably just managed to upset her. Which wasn't a good thing after all. He had no idea what she would be doing in her weakened state of mind if he would upset her.

"Miranda, please don't be afraid. I don't mean you any harm. I know it's hard to believe but I really just want to help you, I want you to feel safe. I already told you, you don't need to tell me where you are and I won't force you to come home, I just want you to consider it a possibility."

Her breathing seemed to calm down and he could hear her cross the room over and over again. She was thinking, desperately thinking about what to do next, how to react to his words and maybe even what to tell him. He needed her to pick up that goddamn phone, she needed to tell him that she was willing to give up.

He knew that by being sympathetic and telling her that he cared he maybe would be able to reach her trust, but it would take time. She had spent most of her life in hiding her true feelings and doing what others – especially her mother – expected from her. He wouldn't break through this that easily.

The only other thing he could do, the one other chance to get a hold on her, was a very risky thing. He could try to directly confront her with what he knew, with his knowledge about her reason for doing what she did up there in that school tower.

Of course he needed to be careful with his words, but he didn't have that many other options. And the more important thing he lacked of was time. He needed to finally find a solution to this problem and taking almost an hour on getting the girl on the phone and convincing her to even talk to her, wasn't the best way to get his injured agent out of the line of fire.

"Miranda – I do know what happened to you, I know what Lukas Wilson did to you. I know why you are doing this."

More moments of the unbearable silence were following his confession, but at least she didn't scream, her breath didn't quicken and she didn't end the call. She took her time, considering what to do now, thinking carefully. But then she decided – decided to answer.

„Hello?"