Chapter 25

xxxxxxxxxxx

From the waist up Samantha Spade looked like a calm, professional agent. But if anyone were to look under the table they would see her leg bouncing up and down like a jackhammer. The waiting was killing her. They were sitting in the tech room waiting for the call for instructions on where to make the ransom drop. She glanced over at the clock on the wall and saw the second hand on the clock click to 11:15 am.

She looked over at Mac who was slurping his coffee in long sips. She sighed irritably as she glanced across the conference table at Victor and Beth who were sitting and waiting for the ransom call and hopefully another chance to talk to Martin. Beth looked like she was barely breathing while Victor's nostrils flared with each passing minute.

Jack sat on a chair in the corner of the room. He was reading through a report on Harry Davidge. It wasn't good. It seems Harry was a life long criminal with a history of robbery, possession, grand theft, and assault and batttery. He had been released from prison ten months prior and he had one strike left before having to serve a mandatory life sentence which meant that he basically had nothing left to lose. This made him a very dangerous man.

Needing to get out of the room and move around for a bit, Sam stood up and said, "I'll be right back. I'm just going down the hall."

Victor and Beth nodded at her while Jack just looked up a brief second before returning his attention to the file. Mac simply eyed her over the rim of his coffee cup as he continued loudly sucking down his beverage.

Sam walked out and headed down the hall to the ladies room. When she entered she went straight to the sink and splashed cold water on her face. She needed to keep her wits about her and she knew that being up for over 30 hours straight was starting to takes it toll. She wished she could take a shower and freshen up. She closed her eyes as the memory of Martin in her shower entered her mind.

Sam rolled over and stretched out her arms to find the other side of the bed empty. She opened her eyes and looked around the bedroom for any sign of Martin. She heard the shower running and what sounded like someone singing. She got out of bed wearing a white tank and undies and began walking slowly to her bathroom. The door was ajar so she pushed it open further with her ears straining to recognize the song Martin was belting out. She looked inside and could see his silhouette through the glass door to her shower.

"Some people call me the space cowboy, yeah. Some call me the gangster of love. Some people call me Maurice, cause I speak of the pompatus of love….People talk about me, baby, say I'm doin' you wrong, doin' you wrong…Well, don't you worry baby, don't worry, cause I'm right here, right here, right here, right here at home…" She smiled as Martin lathered the shampoo into his hair and spiked it up like a mini Mohawk. She held her fingers to her lips hoping to stifle a laugh. She grinned widely at hearing the normally reserved Martin Fitzgerald being so carefree while singing the classic Steve Miller song. "Cause I'm a picker. I'm a grinner. I'm a lover and I'm a sinner…I play my music in the sun. I'm a joker. I'm a smoker. I'm a midnight toker…I sure don't want to hurt no one…"

She could not suppress her mirth a moment longer and began laughing loudly. Martin stopped his singing and slid the shower door open a crack to look out at her. He had a mortified look on his face and nervously asked, "How long have you been standing there?"

Sam's lips twitched into an evil grin. "Long enough to know you can't sing."

He gave her a dimpled grin and replied, "Yeah but I make up for it with enthusiasm." He flicked his soapy fingers at her causing some suds to spray across the bathroom floor. Wiggling his eyebrows up and down he asked, "You want to join me?"

Sam leaned against the doorframe, folded her arms and replied, "Why? You want to sing a duet?"

"Why? Why you ask?" Martin feigned a hurt look before balling his hand into a fist, lifting it to his mouth like a microphone and sang, "Because you're the cutest thing that I ever did see…I really love your peaches want to shake your tree. Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time…Ooo-eee baby, I'll sure show you a good time…."

Sam shook her head and laughed before pulling the tank over her head as she replied, "I'll join you but don't you dare start referring to anything of mine as 'peaches'…."

Sam looked up to see her reflection in the mirror. There were small water droplets on her face so she reached over and pulled some paper towels from the dispenser. She patted her face dry with the coarse paper and tossed it into the trash can. She glanced back at the mirror to find her own sad eyes looking back at her. She inhaled a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom with renewed determination.

When she entered the room she saw Victor staring at the phone as if he were mentally willing it to ring. Beth gave her a sad smile before looking back down at her hands. Not wanting to sit, Sam walked over to the wall and leaned against it. She met Jack's eyes and she saw that he looked as worried as she felt.

The silence was broken by the shrill ringing of Victor's cell phone. Sam and Jack rushed over to the recording equipment and put the headset on their ears as Jack nodded to Victor to answer.

"Hello?" Victor answered.

"You will drop the money off at the last bench on the far northern end of Bethesda Terrace at noon today. Leave the money under the bench and walk away. Do not bring any friends either in uniform or undercover because I will be watching. As soon as I have the money and am a safe distance away I will call you and tell you where you can find your son."

"I want to talk to Martin. I need assurance that he is okay." Victor insisted.

"I've just sent you a video clip that should assure you he is well." Harry replied sounding entirely too self confident for Sam's liking. "Of course, how long he remains that way is entirely up to you. Remember: one million dollars, Bethesda Terrace, far bench on the north end, noon today." The line went dead.

Jack and Sam took off their headsets and rushed over to Victor's side as he pressed the buttons to look at the video clip.

The grainy clip began to play and there was Martin looking pale and weak on the screen. He was handcuffed and holding up today's New York Times. The wall behind him was a non-descript backdrop and he looked cold and wet. Sam noticed the front of his shirt was bloody and ripped. She felt her blood boil at seeing Martin injured and being held against his will. Martin coughed before he began to speak, "Dad, I'm fine. He will not hurt me as long as he gets the money. You must follow his instructions and pay the ransom so I can come home. Please do exactly as he says."

The video held on Martin's face for a quick beat before it ended. Victor lowered his eyes and said, "It looks like he was rehearsed but at least we know that he is alive."

Beth swallowed and fearfully said, "That clip was recorded earlier today. How can we be sure that he is still alive?"

"We can't." Sam breathed out. "We just have to pray that this Harry is telling us the truth."

They were all quiet a beat before Jack spoke up. "Send that clip to Mac so he can see if he can get any information off of it." Jack directed as he picked up his own cell phone. Victor nodded his head and began to send the clip. "I'll send some agents to Central Park right now to start surveillance."

Victor bit his lip and for a moment Sam thought that he might argue that he was going to follow Harry's directions and not have agents there but he nodded his head in agreement.

"We should get going." Victor said as he reached down for the black duffle back by his chair. He turned to his wife and said, "Beth, you'll have to stay here but I will bring our son back."

"I'm counting on it." Beth replied as she moved to in to kiss him and they hugged tightly before Victor pulled away and headed out of the room and down the hall.

Sam followed him from behind and they stood at the elevator waiting for the lift to arrive. Jack came alongside them a moment later and said, "I have several agents who will be there in few minutes. Victor, are you sure you are okay to do the drop?"

"Absolutely." Victor replied.

"Where do you want me Jack?" Sam asked needing something to do.

"I want you to stay in the van and help coordinate things from there. He might know what you look like if Jake showed him the photos and we don't want to alarm him." Jack answered as the elevator doors opened and the three of them boarded.

She nodded her head and leaned back against the elevator door. She couldn't explain it but she had a really bad feeling about the ransom drop. And an even worse one about what Harry might have done to Martin after the clip was recorded and proof of life was established.

Sam squeezed her eyes shut and thought: Hang on Marty. I'm going to get you back.