Chapter 12

As the afternoon wore on, they'd settled back into their old routine. After Jack had cleaned up the kitchen as promised, he went with Sue to take Levi for his walk.

While they hadn't intended to, it was well over two hours by the time they made in back to the cabin. The cold mountain air had chilled them to the bone. While Jack started a fire, Sue went to put on some hot cocoa.

"Here you go," Sue announced ,coming into the living room with two steaming mugs.

THANK-YOU Jack signed, turning from the blazing fire to accept a cup. When he accidentally brushed her hand with his, he gasped, "My Lord, Sue, your hands are like ice!"

Taking the mugs from her, he cradled her hands in his, leading her over to the sofa. Sitting facing each other, Jack began rubbing her hands between his, trying to warm them. Sue was looking at their hands, so he had to dip his head to get her to look up at him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were this cold?" he questioned, upset that she might have gotten frostbite out there while he and Levi were playing. "Where were your gloves?"

"Don't yell at me," she stated indignantly, trying to pull her hands from his. "I was wearing the only gloves I have with me."

"I'm sorry," Jack said calmly, refusing to release her hands. "I care about you and don't want anything happening to you," he admitted, his eyes pleading for understanding.

"I care about you too, Jack," Sue declared. "But I'm a big girl."

That's an understatement! Jack thought, his eyes drifting from her face for a moment before he caught himself.

"I can take care of myself." She noticed the slight wavering of Jack's eyes and thought she saw something in them when he looked at her. However, when he looked up, whatever was there was gone, so she decided to ignore it. "In our rush to leave last night, er, this morning," Sue smiled, rewarded when he grinned back at her, "I forgot to pack my thicker gloves. I tried to keep my hands in my pockets, but I guess I didn't realize just how cold I'd gotten until we got back here."

"Oh, I'll call Bobby and get him to buy you a pair on their way here tomorrow," Jack said, moving to get up from the sofa. This time Sue refused to let go of their hands, so Jack had to sit back down.

"I'LL call Lucy, and she can get mine from the apartment to send with Bobby tomorrow," Sue asserted. With the look she had, Jack knew not to argue so he nodded, releasing her to go to the TTY.

"Besides, no telling what Bobby would pick up," she stressed, crinkling up her nose in mock disgust. "The man has no taste when it comes to fashion," Sue joked, laughing as she dialed the relay number.

Chapter 13

The sunlight peeked in through the open curtains waking Jack. Not really one to welcome the morning, he opened his eyes slowly, stretching his legs out on the sofa where he laid. Looking around the room, he knew he must have fallen asleep while he and Sue were working on her case notes last night.

He went to get into a more comfortable position when he finally realized he wasn't alone as he felt the weight of something lying on his chest. Looking down at the swath of golden hair, he tightened his arm gently around her sleeping figure.

Now this is something I could definitely get used to, Jack thought to himself as he watched Sue sleep.

Jack didn't know how long he'd laid there watching her before she finally began to stir. Her eyes still closed, he felt her rub her cheek against his chest, and he drew he held his breath as his thoughts began to stray. When her hand unfolded against his stomach caressing him through his shirt, Jack had to reach down to still its movement.

Opening her eyes, Sue saw the buttons of the blue shirt Jack was wearing as well as the hand that held hers against his stomach, and it suddenly occurred to her where she was. Her color rose as embarrassment set in. She tried to sit up, but Jack's arm around her shoulders held her in place. Sue slowly raised her eyes to look up at him, seeing a lazy smile on this face.

"Good morning," he said simply, hoping she wouldn't bolt at their situation.

"Morning," Sue replied shyly, still not sure what to make of how she woke up. She had to admit she liked the idea of waking up in Jack's arms everyday and wasn't sure if that thought scared her or excited her. Noticing Jack was talking, she concentrated on reading what he was saying.

"I guess this stuff can't be too exciting if we BOTH fall asleep in the middle of it," he joked, pointing at the papers they'd put together on the case so far.

"Yeah, I feel sorry for the team having to go through all this," she smiled. "At least we get a vacation out of it."

For a moment, they just laid there staring at each other, lost in their own thoughts. Both of them struggled to fight the strong urges building inside them, knowing it was a losing battle. Jack's arms tightened around her, drawing her close as her hand slinked across his chest. Their eyes drifted close as their mouths hovered mere inches from each other.

"Levi," they both exclaimed as the furry canine took that moment to jump onto the sofa, jarring them apart.

"He probably needs to go out," Sue admitted apologetic, her mind still jumbled from her desire. She peeked up at Jack through veiled eyes, a red tinge dusting her cheeks.

"You go take a shower, and I'll take him for his walk," Jack suggested. When he saw she was going to argue, he put a finger up to her lips to silence her. "Bobby will be here soon," he reminded her, thankful when she nodding in agreement.

Swinging his legs off the sofa, Jack helped her up. Their eyes met again for a fleeting moment before Sue turned towards the bedrooms. He watched her head off to the shower, dark desire still in his eyes, wondering if the look he saw in her eyes mirrored the yearning he knew he felt.

"Come on, Levi," Jack called, heading for the door. "Maybe the walk will cool me off."

Chapter 14

"You were supposed to turn back there at that gas station," Bobby hollered, getting out of his car, stomping over to where Myles had stopped and was sitting in the car examining the map.

"You couldn't find your way out of a paper bag, Koala Boy," Myles replied calmly, flipping the map over to getting a better view. "I'm the one with the map so I believe we'll use my directions," the blonde agent declared haughtily, refusing to even look up at the Aussie as he lean on the car.

"Well, your directions haven't gotten us there yet, have they?" Bobby declared frustrated.

"Just a minor set back," Myles stated, still perusing the map. Bobby slammed his hand against the car door in annoyance as a truck driver walked passed, heading into the diner to get something to eat.

"Is there a problem?" the burly man asked, eying them both distrustfully.

"Yeah, mate," Bobby said, turning to greet the stranger. "Einstein here doesn't know how to read a map, and we missed the turn back at that gas station," he pointed back down the street the way they had come. "Only he doesn't believe me, and now we're stuck here while he tries to figure out where we are," he continued, rolling his eyes in Myles' direction.

"Well, maybe I can help," the man offered. "Or I can get someone inside, if I don't know where it is? The name's Luke Giorgio," he stated, offering his hand with a toothless grin.

"Bobby Manning, and that drongo is Myles Leland," Bobby replied, shaking his hand.

"Charmed, I'm sure," Myles murmured, barely turning his head in the man's direction as he continued to search the map. With a raise of his eyebrows in Bobby's direction and a shake of his head, Luke dropped the hand he was presenting to Myles.

"So where you heading," Luke questioned Bobby.

"Billy Davies place on Orchard Pond," Bobby told him, placing his hands in his pockets as he waiting for the directions.

"Well, I hate to tell you, buddy," Luke said, knocking on the window to get Myles' attention. "Your friend here is right."

Having been vindicated, Bobby smiled smugly at Myles as he stared in disbelief. Bobby never liked to admit he had problems with directions. However, after going through that intersection back there twice last night, once before Sue woke up, he knew he remembered it.

"If you go back there and make a right," Luke told them, looking back at Bobby. "Follow that road until it forks. Take the left fork and Orchard Pond is the first dirt road on the left."

"Got it," Bobby stated, shaking the robust hand again. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem," Luke grinned. "Just don't let him lead next time," he pointed at Myles, and then tipping his hat, sauntered off into the diner.

"You can follow me now!" Bobby ordered, turning on his heal back to the car he drove. With a self-satisfied smirk, he got behind the wheel and pulled out of the parking lot back on to the road. Checking his mirror once to make sure Myles was following, Bobby began to hum along to the song on the radio.

Chapter 15

D looked up from the paperwork he was trying to complete, glancing around the almost empty office. Tara was bent over her computer, concentrating on the audio tape surveillance she was trying to transcribe. Lucy sat behind her desk, working diligently at completing overdue case documents for Randy.

To a casual observer, it would seem like a normal day, but for D most noticeable were the four empty desks by the windows. While two of his fellow agents had voluntarily left the office today, he missed his other co-workers, even though it was only the second day they were in seclusion. However, anytime one of the team was missing, everyone was affected.

Unable to take the quiet of the bullpen any longer, D grabbed some files off his desk. Using them as an excuse for his remaining co-workers, he made his way to Carrie Peters' office. For his sanity, he had to find out what was going on, because he needed the team back together.

Entering the office that Carrie's team used, D observed the camaraderie and activity that he was missing. Mike Grail and Dale Newman, two of the team agents, were huddled with Carrie around the whiteboard, reviewing the evidence that had already been collected. Katherine Grissom, their computer specialist, was typing feverishly on her laptop. D hoped their activity meant they might have some new information.

"Hey, Carrie," D called. "How about providing a wayward agent with some refuge!" he smiled as he approached.

"D, glad you're here," Carrie said. "We might have some new information on our stalker AND possibly who is dealing the stolen documents."

"And?" D questioned, looking from one agent to another. "You mean we're looking for two people?"

"At least two," Mike replied, handing D a file of new information. "From what we've been able to find out from the documents Thomas got from her informant before he was killed, the documents are being stolen through someone in civilian Information Technology section over at the Pentagon."

"We've confirmed they are the only ones that have security access through the firewall, enabling them to pass the documents," Dale verified, showing D the data from the Pentagon's intelligence team.

"Right, because briefcases and such are not allowed in the part of the building that houses those classified documents," D recalled from a previous case they'd worked on involving that department, while he perused the information received.

"So one or more of the civilian IT personnel are probably involved, but…" Carrie started, not sure how to share the next piece of information.

"But what?" D questioned, worried about what she had to say. D was finally thinking the case might soon be over, but now he was tense again.

"But we checked on the employees for the time that Dunne was killed and all of them were accounted for at work," Carrie told him, knowing that she'd just put a damper on the little bit of information they did have.

Someone else was shooting at Jack and Sue, D took a deep breath. Lowering his eyes to the floor, he tried to calm the emotions flowing through him, anger at the person tearing his family apart and frustration at not being able to do anything about it. At least we are getting closer to who is stealing the documents, he thought, looking back up at the others.

"So what do we do now?" D wondered.

"We've got SOG on four of our primary suspects," Carrie explained, moving to the board to point out the pictures. "Sam Burton, Kyle Jarrett, Sara McDaniel, and Tabitha Ford."

"Hopefully, one of them will lead us to the stalker," Mike continued. "If not, we'll pick them up the next time they try to pass any documents."

"But if they are doing it through the computers, how are you going to catch them?" D asked.

"Katherine has spyware installed, but cloaked, on each of their systems," Dale clarified, acknowledging their computer person across the room. "Anything they do on their computers she can see, but they can't see her."

"Impressive," D admitted. "You and Tara need to get together," he told her, before turning back to the others to get more information on the case. While not happy, D was satisfied this team was working hard to bring his team back together as soon as possible.