Chapter 52

"Nothing on the Kyle Jarrett, D. SOG is at his house, but no one has seen him since last night," Tara stated disappointedly as she entered Bobby's hospital room. "The neighbors said he seemed very agitated the last couple of days."

D and Myles turned his room into 'command central' so Bobby could help while they followed up on leads. Unfortunately, right now their leads were few and far between, and the men were getting very discouraged. Tara's news didn't help their morale.

"What else?" Bobby questioned from the bed, seeing the petite blonde was holding something back.

"Ah, Jarrett's wife hasn't been seen in three weeks," Tara continued, looking from one man to the other. "About the same time the documents started going missing."

"That's strange," D declared, his brow furrowing as he considered the new information.

"So we've got nothing!" Myles groaned, rubbing his tired eyes. "What do we do now?"

"Well, you could start with saying hello," came a voice from behind Tara at the door.

As one, four pairs of eyes turned toward the sound and saw a familiar blonde standing in the doorway with a teenage girl. Bobby and Tara shared a meaningful glance as they both wondered what she was doing here.

"Allie," D acknowledged, shuffling some papers he was holding.

"What are you doing here?" Myles asked abruptly, cringing slightly at the glares he received from his teammates. "What?"

"This is my niece, Kimberly Jo," Allie replied with a smile. Same old Myles, she thought suppressing her laughter. "She sang tonight at the festival out on the Mall and I came to hear her," she explained, moving into the room.

"Oh, congratulations, Kimberly Jo," Tara exclaimed, coming forward to shake the young girl's hand. "That festival is hard to get into so for you to be able to do it at such a young age, you must be good."

"Thank you," Kimberly Jo whispered, her face turning red with embarrassment as she looked at her feet.

"We went by the office, but they told me about your accident, Bobby," Allie explained, moving to his beside. "I hope you're doing okay?" she inquired, taking his offered hand.

"As well as can be expected, shelia," Bobby confirmed, squeezing his buddy's old girlfriend's hand. "What were you doing at the office?" he wondered.

"Well, Jack left so quickly earlier, I…" she started, jumping when Myles grabbed her arm spinning her around.

"You've seen Jack? When? Where?" Myles demanded, his eyes blazing.

"Yes," Allie stammered nervously as Myles' fingers bit into the flesh of her arm. "I saw him earlier…over at the Mall when Kimberly Jo sang," she clarified, worried about the look of desperation she was seeing in the blonde agents face.

"Allie, it's very important," Bobby stated firmly from behind her as D pulled Myles away form her. "How long ago did you see Jack?"

"About two hours ago, he happened to walk passed where I was standing waiting for the concert to start," Allie began turning back to Bobby. "Why? What's wrong?" she questioned, seeing the others' faces drop. "Bobby?" her voice took on a hint of worry for her friend.

"Sorry, Allie," Bobby finally said, sharing a frustrated look with his coworkers. "Jack disappeared from the hospital several hours ago. We received information that suggests Jack has been kidnapped…about the same time he probably left you."

"Disappeared? Kidnapped?" Allie stared in disbelief. "What are you doing about it?" she pleaded, stalking over to Myles and D.

"We've got every bit of manpower we have looking for him." D took her arm, walking her to the door passed where Kimberly Jo was standing. "We'd really like to talk, but we have a lot to do to find Jack…"

Suddenly, the door flew open again, this time Nurse Sav burst into the room. Bobby sat up gingerly in the bed as he saw the frantic look on her face.

"Sue's gone!" Sav cried breathlessly, coming to a stop in the middle of the group. "She was seen leaving the hospital with a man."

"What did the man look like?" Tara questioned, taking her arm trying to calm her down.

"Tall, white male, brown hair, curly," Sav told them. "Brenda said he was wearing a leather jacket with a gray turtleneck."

"That sounds like Troy!" Bobby called from his bed. "What would they be doing leaving the hospital? He was supposed to take her back to her room." He sat up in bed, throwing the covers off and swinging his legs off the side.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tara pushed him back.

"We need to find her!" he cried, struggling against her until Myles come over.

"We will, but you need to stay here," Myles asserted, helping Tara get him back into bed. "Tara, keep an eye on him."

"We don't need anyone else disappearing," D agreed. "We'll find Sue and Jack," he proclaimed.

Myles and D stormed out of the room, leaving the four ladies and Bobby in their wake. As the door shut, they could hear both of them calling commands to the other agents in the hallway.

Bobby leaned back heavily on the pillows, frustrated that he wasn't even able to help his two best friends when they needed him most. When he felt a small hand take his, he looked up into Tara's hazel eyes, a message of worry and comfort passing between them.

Chapter 53

Jack could feel his heart racing, almost like it did when he had the heart attack. When Sue's disappeared into the dark abyss above them, a part of Jack went with her.

"Please be safe," he whispered not taking his eyes of the opening.

Jack jumped when Troy touched his arm concerned. He'd forgotten the other man was in there when he spoke.

SORRY, Jack signed, then ran his hand through is already disheveled hair. CAREFUL HER, ME HOPE, he explained.

UNDERSTAND, Troy replied with a knowing grin. He was worried too about his friend going alone, since they didn't know what she'd encounter.

With a tired grimace, Jack turned and slowly walked towards the other side of the room. All the while his ears were straining for any sound from the vent, hoping that he'd soon hear the door creaking open.

Everyone had told him he was destined to be with Sue. Despite the attraction he felt for her, Jack didn't want to believe them. However, it didn't take long before he began accepting the truth that had been nagging his soul.

The truth weighed heavily on him as they continued to work together. He searched for ways to be with her outside of work while he struggled with the feelings he had. Would she accept me? he'd wondered for a long time. Am I good enough for her?

Now the burden Jack had been carrying was gone. Sue had not only accepted him as more than just a friend, but they were started to work on a real relationship. The talk he'd had with Sav forced him to think about things he'd taken for granted that was as important as breathing.

"Jack."

Spinning back to the vent, Jack thought he'd heard her voice calling him. He wanted to call out to her, but he knew it was useless.

In his mind's eye, Jack could almost see her in front of him. Her soft hair glistened golden in the light as she looked up at him. He glimpsed the love he had for her in the quiet pools of her eyes.

Her image disappeared as a rumbling crash resonated through the room. Jack's heart sunk as he realized the noise came from the vent.

"No," Jack muttered softly, his hands planted on the wall below the opening. "Please, no!"

Chapter 54

Jack didn't know how long he'd stood there, eyes transfixed on the vent opening as if he could will her back into the room. Subconsciously, he knew Troy was trying to get his attention, but he couldn't look away. I never should have let her go, he admonished himself.

Clinking sounds at the door finally spurred him into action. Turning to Troy, Jack pointed towards the door, and then motioned him to the wall beside it. The two men stood on each side of the sealed opening, ready to pounce on whoever came in.

Slowly, the door creaked open, and Jack looked at Troy letting him know with a quick shift of his eyes. Troy nodded briefly his understanding, ready to use his street smarts to help them get out of there. Both men sprung forward ready to attack the intruder when they stopped, eyes widening in shock.

"Sue," Jack cried, pulling her abruptly into his arms. Pulling her tight to him, he closed his eyes to bury his face into her hair. I'm never going to let her go again, he swore silently.

He felt her push at his chest and reluctantly released her but kept his hands on her shoulders as he looked at her. It was then that Jack noticed her severely disheveled look. Her sweater was dirty and blood dripped from a small cut on her forehead.

"What happened?" Jack questioned when she finally looked up at him.

The dazed look in her eyes caused an uneasy nervousness washed over him. Listening closely he could her a gasping, strained sound in her breathing. Jack glanced up at Troy, concern on both of their faces. Sue wasn't focusing on what he was saying and from the look in her eyes, he doubted she could even see them clearly.

Troy made a small cross on his left upper arm with his right index and middle fingers. Jack nodded stiffly, his meaning very clear. Quickly sweeping Sue into his arms, he followed Troy out of the room, knowing time might not be on their side.