"Okay, Ceel. Ready to go to school?" Samantha asked her daughter as she took another swallow of coffee before they had to leave.
"Yea. Where's daddy?" Cecilia asked as she picked up her small backpack.
"He had to go into work early. But he'll be with me when I pick you up from school this afternoon."
"Okay." Cecilia walked out of front door followed closely by her mom. And unknown to Samantha, this would be one of the longest days of her life.
"Hey, Danny, did you get the address of the step-father yet? I think he might know something about the drugs."
"They're not drugs, Samantha, they are illegal prescriptions." Danny threw back as Samantha as he finished up a call.
"Whatever. He had to get the valium and Zoloft from somewhere. The step-dad is a pharmacist, and if he gave Carl those medicines, who knows what else he gave him." Samantha went back to her paper work but figured they'd end up finding a dead body. Carl Freeman had been missing for almost four days. Martin had to leave at dawn to drive to Connecticut where the boy's father and step-mother lived, also where he was last seen.
"Spade." Samantha answered her ringing phone, "Hey, Viv. Have you talked to him…but he's okay...Great, thanks for calling." Samantha hung up and turned toward Danny, "The case is closed. Carl Freeman was checked into a hospital under his fake i.d., Sean Hitchcock. He's in a coma. Apparently he was hit by a car. His parents i.d. him. The case is closed." Samantha was somewhat relieved that the boy was found alive, but his chances of surviving were minimal.
"Great. I'll call Martin and Jack in Connecticut." Danny said already dialing the number.
"Okay." Samantha went over to the whiteboard and took down the picture of the blond haired boy and wiped the board clean. It was nearly noon and Sam hoped that Martin would make it back in time to pick Cecilia from school.
"I'm gonna get some coffee. Do you want anything?" Danny asked after he hung up the phone.
"No, thanks. I'm good." Samantha sat back down at her desk.
"Are you okay?"
"Yea," Samantha smiled, "I'm great."
"Oh-kay" Danny said in a sing-songy voice and walked out of the bullpen. Sam was fidgety and couldn't keep still. She should be happy; she was going to marry the man she loves and has a child with. She still felt something was missing, but she was probably just being selfish. She had thought she was pregnant for about a day, but didn't tell anyone. It was until Martin found the box that she even told him. She wasn't sure if she did want to have another baby. Maybe in a few years when Martin and she and Cecilia were more settled, but not now considering Martin had only been home a few months. Maybe they were rushing everything too much. Samantha shook away the bad feelings and walked back to her desk. She had no idea that within the next hour, her life would be changed.
"Spade." Sam said as she answered her cell phone. She didn't recognize the number so her hopes of it being Martin were smothered.
"Samantha, hi, this is Miss Carole at Cecilia's school."
"Oh, yes hi."
"Cecilia isn't feeling too well and the nurse thought it would be best if she went home for the rest of the day. If you too busy at work she could stay in the nurse's office for a few hours."
"No, I'll pick her up. I'm actually finished here." Samantha stood up and begun packing up her things. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Great. Goodbye."
"Bye." Samantha hung up her phone and waved at Danny to come to her. "Hey, Danny, Cecilia isn't feeling well."
"What's wrong? Is it bad?" Danny being Danny, he was overly concerned about Cecilia.
"I don't think so. She just had the flu, so maybe it's that. But you know Cecilia, she'll never be sick for very long."
"That's our Cecilia," Danny smiled, "Go. I'll cover for you. Not that there is anything to cover."
"Thanks, Danny. I'll call Martin from the car."
"Tell Ceel hi for me." Danny smiled as Samantha rushed out after nodding to him.
"Hi, baby." Samantha picked up her daughter and held her tightly in her arms.
"Hi, mommy." Cecilia said tiredly and rested against her mothers shoulders and begun to fall asleep.
"Let's go home." Samantha said quietly to her daughter.
"Hey, it's me. Cecilia wasn't feeling to well at school and I'm taking her home. Danny can fill you in. I'll see you later. I love you." Samantha left a message on Martin's cell phone and carefully put a sleeping Cecilia in the back of the car without paying too much attention to her surroundings. When Samantha opened the driver's side door she saw a strange man sitting in the driver's seat.
"Who are you?" Samantha instinctively reached for her gun in its holster, but then remembered she left it in the glove compartment. She never brought the gun into the school: it scared little kids and she never thought preschool teachers posed too much threat.
"You'll drive." The man said. Samantha couldn't make out his face as he had a hat that hung over his eyes. He was tanned skin, like he had spent too much time in the sun, and badly needed to shave. He had dark hair that hung over his ears and peaked thought the hat. The man moved to the passenger side and pulled a gun out of his coat pocket. "Get in, now." Samantha nervously checked on her sleeping daughter and climbed into the front seat.
"What do you want?" Samantha asked as calm as possible as she closed the car doors.
"I want to have a little chat. Start driving."
"Where should I drive too?" Samantha pulled out of the parking lot and waited for a response. The man rattled off an address
"My daughter is sick. She needs to go home. Please, let me drop her off somewhere..."
"Lady, I'm not stupid. You'd drop her off at the FBI building and have me killed."
"No, I won't tell anyone. Please…for her sake, not mine."
"She'll be fine." The man pulled out the gun again but kept it low so it wouldn't be seen by others. Samantha nodded and continued driving to the address which she would later know as an abandoned warehouse out in the middle of nowhere.
"Can I get you anything?" The man asked as he watched Samantha hold her almost awake daughter.
"She'll need water, and a blanket, and maybe a place to lie down also." Sam said.
"Okay. Put her over there," the man pointed to a bed with covers, "I'll get the water in a minute." Samantha kissed her daughters cheek and put her on the bed. Samantha knew the man was watching her so she carefully took her cell phone out of her pocket and put it in Cecilia's coat pocket. The most was swift and she doubted the man saw her.
"Come with me, I don't want you to try to do anything." Samantha obeyed and followed the man.
"What do you want?" She asked again
"Not now!" He yelled and took a water bottle and a can of beer out of a small refrigerator and shut it closed with his foot. "Give this to the girl, and then sit in that chair over there." Samantha nodded and knew not to try anything risky this time and simply gave the water to her daughter and sat down in the hard chair.
"I'm going to have to tie you up, so you don't try anything." He mumbled and searched for a roll of duct tape.
"Who are you?" Sam asked.
"You can call me Jim." He said and begun tying her hands and feet together. Then Jim took a cloth and tied it around her mouth. "Just for now. I'm going to make a call now. You'll be able to talk when I let you." Samantha nodded and glanced over at Cecilia, who had drifted into a fevered sleep.
"Fitzgerald." Martin answered his cell phone as he walked into the bullpen.
"Martin, Martin, Martin." A man chuckled on the other line.
"Who is this?"
"Oh, that's not important right now. What is important is that time is running out for two people you love." Martin froze.
"What do you want!"
"What is it with you people? The pretty blond kept asking me the same thing. Oh, what's her name? Cecilia? Oh, wait, that's your daughter. Samantha! Yes, that's it."
"What did you do to them?"
"Nothing, for now. But I really need some money. You see, my mother is sick and my sister just had a baby and I just got fired from work. So, I'm going to ask for some money in exchange for their lives."
"How much?" Martin asked as the rest of the team gathered around him.
"$100,000 for the girl. To start off with. Maybe I'll ransom the lady off too, but I could just kill her."
"I'll pay whatever you want, just don't hurt them!" Martin nearly yelled into the phone.
"Have the money in cash by midnight tonight. I'll call you with the location." The man hung up the phone and Martin didn't breath. He didn't swallow or shout or even blink. He stood in shook for nearly eternity when he looked up at his coworkers and friends. "He's going to kill them both."