Pain

Chapter 1

Amy Smith stood uneasily against the kitchen counter as her mother wrote quickly on a piece of paper.

"Amy this is seriously the last time I'm writing you a note to explain your absence. The next time you feel like skipping biology class, you'll have to face detention," her mother said with a frustrated look on her face, handing her the note with a sigh. Amy had become more and more secluded these past few months, and she felt as if she was slowly losing her daughter she had once been so close to.

"I know, I know Mom, save it for a time when I feel like listening," Amy hastily turned and shoved open the front door, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over one shoulder.

The door closed, and with it slowly disappeared the figure of Amy Smith.

12 Hours Missing

Danny Taylor skillfully balanced five coffees on top of eachother as he entered the office, walking over to Jack Malone, who sat at his desk with his head in his hands.

"Hey Jack, rough night?" Danny said with a smirk, placing a coffee in front of him.

"You have no idea, I get woken up at 3 am by this girls' mother who just realizes her daughter hasn't been home from school yet." Jack slid the photograph of Amy Smith's school photo across the desk to Danny as he took a sip from the coffee.

"Talk about parenting. How can you not notice your kid hasn't come back from school before you go to bed?" Danny shook his head solemnly as he read her file, "Amy Smith, sixteen, goes to St. Mike's Catholic School in Queens."

"Her mother said she's been coming home after dark lately, so she went to bed without thinking twice," Jack said, reading her school file, " She's been on the honour roll for the past few years, active in school sports and clubs, no apparent bullies, friends with everyone apparently."

Danny glanced up, "Speaking of friends, where's Sam and Martin? Don't tell me I brought these coffees for nothing."

"They're on special assignments in Manhattan, and Viv's taking some vacation time. Looks like it's just me and you," Jack said seriously as he stood up, "Let's go and talk to Amy's mother, if it's not school she has a problem with then it's probably at home."

Chapter Two

16 Hours Missing

Mrs. Smith sat on the edge of the couch, her hands folded in her lab, her face expressionless.

"Mrs.Smith," Jack began, asking the most difficult question to begin with, "Did you and Amy have any problems at home?"

Mrs. Smith slowly focused her attention on Jack, "No, not at all. We always got along, lately she had become secluded and moody, never telling me where she was going or who she was with."

"What about her father?" Jack questioned, as he noticed all the photographs were of Amy and Mrs. Smith.

She shook her head, "Gone, as soon as I was pregnant. Great guy."

"I'll bet. Did she ever mention any problems at school, with friends perhaps?"

"No, I never knew if she had a boyfriend, her friends were all good girls, always getting good grades." Mrs. Smith put her face in her hands.

"Do you mind giving me a list of their names so I can ask them a few questions?" Jack said as he pulled out his notepad.

Upstairs, Amy's bedroom.

Jack entered the room and closed the door behind him quietly.

"Amy and her mom got along fine, up until the past few weeks. I'm thinking she fell into the wrong crowd."

"Well, kids change. Not everyone wants to tell their parents everything they do," Danny pulled open the top drawer of her dresser, "I'm guessing she wasn't telling her mom about this."

Jack walked over and glanced in the drawer. "Drugs, not enough to be a dealer though. Her mother said her friends were all good kids, looks like there's a lot about Amy Mrs. Smith didn't know about"

Danny began busying himself in Amy's closet, while Jack sat down at her computer.

"We should bring her computer to the techs, they'll check her emails and chat conversations to see who she's been with lately, I'll bet anything she's been hanging around with other girls, ones her mother doesn't approve of."

"I'm thinking her mother won't approve of this either," Danny pulled out a small brown box from underneath a pile of clothing at the top shelf of her closet, Jack's head turned quickly. "Pills, bottles of them, all prescribed to a Mrs. Abigail Smith. I'm guessing her mother didn't know Amy had taken them."

"What are they?"

"Depressants."

Chapter Three

20 hours missing

Office

"Abigail says she didn't realize they were missing, I can't imagine how considering there were about 5 bottles in there. Claims she needed them after she switched jobs a few years ago." Jack sat down at his desk, "Techs just sent us a copy of all her chats and email within the past few weeks, apparently the list of friends her mother gave us is not the list of friends she has on her email. There's one in particular, Katie James, she's been talking to her a lot lately. I think we should go visit St.Mike's and see what Katie might know."

"Before we talk to Katie I think there's someone else here that needs a talking to," Danny slid his copy of her conversations across the desk, "Kyle Leeson, apparently she's been getting her drugs from him. Maybe we should have a little chat with this Mr.Leeson."

St.Michael's Catholic School

Kyle Leeson opened the door forcefully, entered the nurse's office and slammed it shut behind him.

"Kyle Leeson. What a pleasure to meet you. I'm Jack Malone with the FBI," Jack motioned towards the chair on the other side of the desk he sat at, "Please, take a seat."

Kyle remained where he was. He towered over Jack in height, and his blue eyes surveyed him suspiciously.

"Why am I here? I'm not sick"

"I'd like to ask you a few questions about Amy Smith. Do you know her?" Jack held up the smiling school photo of Amy.

Kyle slowly sat down, waving his blonde hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah I've talked to her once or twice. I'm not friends with her or anything. What is this about?"

Jack stared intently at him. "In case you haven't realized, Amy has been missing for about 20 hours now. You didn't suspect anything when she hadn't asked you for drugs?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't deal drugs. Now if you don't mind, I'm missing lunch." Kyle stood up and began walking towards the door.

"Kyle, I don't give a damn how you're wasting your life, but I do if you're bringing other people down with you. I want to find out where this girl is, and I have a feeling she told you something. I can talk to your principal and get him to open your locker so I can search it, or would you like to co-operate with me?"

Kyle opened the door, then turned to Jack, "Listen, I don't know where the hell Amy is, all I know is that she came to me a few months ago, and she's been a regular since then. She hasn't told me anything about her, except that she stole the money from her mom to pay me."

Kyle waved his blonde hair out of his eyes again and closed the door behind him.

Science Room

Danny and Jack sat on desks in the middle of the empty science room. Katie James, a short, brown haired girl entered slowly. She stared at Danny and Jack with a look of confusion and fear.

Danny stood up and smiled, "Nice to meet you Katie. I'm Agent Danny Taylor, and this is Agent Jack Malone for the FBI."

Katie backed away as Danny approached her. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. Your friend Amy is missing and we were wondering if you could help us find her."

Katie sat on top of the desk as Danny and Jack stood across from her.

"She's missing?" Katie looked from Danny to Jack, "Amy and I started to hang out in the summer. She had grown away from her old friends, and I met her at a party."

"Did she ever tell you about your home life? Her relationship with her mom?" Jack gazed at Katie as her eyes dropped to the floor.

"She told me she used to be so close with her, but lately she was really pissing her off."

"When did she start doing drugs and taking her mom's medication?"

Katie's eyes shot to Danny immediately. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Look, I understand you and Amy have a great friendship and you're trying to save her, but she's missing, and now is not the time to keep secrets from us, " Jack pulled out her chat conversations, "You were the person she most talked to online. She must've come to you whenever she had a problem."

Katie sighed and stared at Jack. "She told me she started drugs to get away from the pain. She said her mom was dating this real ass, David. She had a lot of lousy boyfriends, but David was the worst. He would yell and scream at her for not closing a door quietly, but when her mom was around he was a completely different person."

Jack shifted uneasily at the mention of lousy boyfriends. A vivid image of Hannah and Kate entered his mind and then quickly left.

"Did he do anything else to her?"

Katie eyed Jack. "She told me he once chased her and kicked her down the stairs. That's it. She didn't know how to get help because no one would believe her, and it was only one time that he actually laid a hand on her."

The bell rang to start last period.

"She probably ran away. Amy and I were so close, I don't know why she wouldn't tell me. Please find her." Katie exited the room silently.

Chapter Four

Smith Home

25 hours missing

Abigail Smith sat at the kitchen table, her head in her hands.

"Mrs.Smith," Jack began, "Does your ex boyfriend David still have contact with Amy?"

Abigail raised her head to look at Jack. "Of course not. He moved to Florida last summer. I don't see what this has to do with Amy."

"Apparently David liked to make Amy's life hell right under your own roof. Tell me you didn't notice anything. Just like the pills."

Tears flowed down Abigail's face. "I can't believe I didn't do anything about it. I knew what he was doing to her from the very start. I read her chat conversations to Katie sometimes. I just couldn't say anything to David because we were short on cash and his job was secure."

Jack gave her a look of disgust. "You chose money over your daughter's wellbeing. You knew she took the pills. You didn't say anything to her because you thought that if she took the pills she would forget all the pain you and David caused her. Now you have to live with the fact that whatever happens to your daughter is on you. Does Amy have access to a gun?"

Abigail immediately stood up and walked over to the kitchen cabinet. She pulled out the drawer, realizing the gun wasn't there, began to spill the contents onto the floor. "It's not here. The only person who knew about the gun was me."

"Do you think Amy is capable of hurting someone or herself?"

Abigail thought for a moment. "No, she could never hurt someone else." She began to cry again.

Jack walked to the front door, opened it, and turned to face Abigail. "I know this is hard to imagine, but Amy may try and hurt herself if we don't find her soon."

Chapter Five

30 hours missing

St.Mike's Catholic School, 11 pm

Jack and Danny stood in the parking lot of the dark school.

"Katie told me that the janitor leaves the back door open to clean, and her and Amy would come in here at night." Danny began to walk towards the door.

"She probably has a gun, and without the depressants or drugs there's a definite chance she's suicidal. If you locate her, call for back up," Both agents entered the back door, "Danny you check the second level while I search this floor."

Danny silently climbed the staircase, grabbing his flashlight and gun.

Jack walked through the second pair of glass doors and shone his flashlight into the dark office. He turned and looked into the cafeteria, where a single light shone. All the tables and chairs had been shoved to one side of the room. He shone his flashlight against the shadows of the tables, and then along the other side of the room. A lone figure sat against the wall.

Jack turned off his flashlight and instinctively placed his hand on his gun. The smiling photo of Amy appeared in his head and he immediately released his gun. He whispered into his radio, "Danny, I found her. She's in the cafeteria."

He opened the cafeteria doors, entered, and closed them silently behind him. Amy immediately stood up.

"Hi Amy. My name's Jack, I'm with the FBI. I've been looking for you."

Amy remained silent, but backed away along the wall. Jack watched as she reached down to pick up the gun that was laying at her feet.

"Katie told me you would be here. She's a good friend."

Amy nodded and slid down to the ground slowly. She had a firm grip on the gun.

"Is it ok if I sit down?" Jack slowly approached the wall a few feet away and sat down against it.

"I know what an ass David was, and I know that your mom didn't do a thing about it. That was wrong Amy, and she knows it. She's sorry." Jack looked directly at Amy, who was staring at the floor.

"You took your mom's gun, but you don't really want to use it. You have so many people that care about you."

Amy laughed. "Yeah, like who?"

"Katie for one, your mom, and me. There are a lot of people Amy."

"Don't try and use all that bullshit negotiation with me. You just want me to give myself up so you can go home to your terrific family without any problems."

Jack shook his head. "There's no family. My wife took my two daughters to Chicago. I barely see them."

Jack saw Amy loosen her grip on the handle. "Tough break. I'm sorry you'll have to fill out a lot of paperwork after this."

Jack looked Amy directly in the eyes. "This isn't about me. I know you don't want to end your life like this. You have so much more to experience in your life Amy. Don't just give that all up."

"Did you tell my mom that I've been taking her medication?" Amy met Jack's eyes for the first time.

"She knew all along. I never told her about the drugs."

Amy pointed the gun to her temple. "I just want this pain to end. All of it. I want it to go away." A tear ran down her cheek.

"Amy, listen to me. Don't end it like this. Please. Your mom, Katie, everyone wants you to come home safely. That's why they asked me to find you. They care about you."

Jack extended his hand. Amy dropped the gun and placed it into his open palm. Jack wrapped his arm around her and she cried into his chest.

Danny opened the cafeteria doors with backup behind him, and stopped when he saw Jack and Amy. Jack looked up and Danny smiled. He motioned for the backup to leave.

Slowly Jack stood up, still embracing Amy, and led her outside.