Disclaimer: Don't own the characters. Not making money off of them
Rating: K+ (Genfic, just a little of violence).
What is it about? A kid is missing, some strange things happened all around and the team have to find out what, why and who is behind all of the...'twisted facts' in the case.
Characters: All of them, well, lets think a little... Oh! I forgot somebody... well, guess you all know who...
Big thanks Laurel for Betaing this and for being so patient to me.
Part 3
20 HOURS MISSING
Martin left the boy sleeping and began to search the place. There was a small bathroom, inside he saw a sink, small counter, and a toilet. The items on the counter caused him to stop short; there was a child's toothbrush, and toothpaste, some little kid's toothpaste with Elmo on the label, a bottle of kid's soap, again, with Elmo on the label. Martin thought for a moment as his mind flashed back to the Hoskins' house; in the bathroom Brian used was the same toothpaste and soap. Someone knew what the Hoskins bought for Brian and made sure it was here? Who?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the lock on the door clicking.
Someone was coming inside the room. Martin's first thought was to protect Brian. He started from the little bathroom intending to get between the kidnapper and Brian, as he moved quickly pain slammed into his brain from the earlier blow to his head, and his weakening body caused him to stumble against the man who had already entered the room.
The man's reaction was immediate; believing he was being attacked, his fist shot out and solidly connected with Martin's jaw knocking him back against the wall. Martin was stunned briefly, but his concern for Brian jolted him into action as he saw a second figure go by the first and head for Brian.
"Stay away from him."
The moment the words left Martin's mouth he was doubled over as the big man's fist slammed mercilessly into his stomach. Another blow to the back of his neck caused him to crumple to the floor. His last conscious act was to raise his left arm in defense as he saw a booted foot aimed to his head. The boot connected solidly with his forearm and he heard a crack...then the pain and the darkness descended.
"Brian..."
At the office...
ack, Sam, and Viv were at the small conference table in the bullpen reviewing their information.
Sam had a lot of information she'd gathered from the phone records on Peter Hoskins so she said "In the last week leading up to the kidnapping there were a lot of phone calls from two Chinese companies. The calls came in to his home, work, his cell. Calls would come in at all hours of the days, some short, some long. I suspect the short ones, less than two minutes, were probably messages to his voice mail or answering machine. We haven't taped a single call coming in to his home or his office phones?".
"No," growled Jack as he looked up at Sam when she stopped speaking, "But he did get a phone call that he wouldn't tell Danny or I about when we went to his house after Martin was taken."
"Sam, have you found out who owns these companies? I want to cross-check the names against Hoskins' financial records."
Sam shook her head at Vivian and then rubbed her eyes briefly. "I don't have the names yet, these companies have so many layers, but I should be able to get through the maze of 'dummy' corporations, and third parties shortly."
"Good, as soon as you get that info tell it to me; with Peter working for a trading company that is heavy into business in the Orient, there may be something there to give us a fresh angle."
Just as Vivian finished her statement Danny popped into the room from Mac's office.
"We've just received a video that has both Brian and Martin's kidnappings on it."
Stunned the three agents stared at each other for a moment and then rose in unison to follow Danny to Mac's office. As they entered, Mac turned to them and smiled a grimly.
"The latest and greatest weapon in the Neighborhood Watch program." He told the three newcomers. "We got very, very lucky. This neighborhood just joined in a new program that is experimenting with putting surveillance cameras on
light posts, and corner poles in order to try to keep crime at bay in the neighborhood. The whole neighborhood voted on the trial, and the majority wanted to try the cameras for three months.
The cameras were installed two and a half weeks ago."
With that introduction he pushed a button and the footage began to play.
They were able to see almost everything, even the partial of the van's plates. The van and the two men with guns in both kidnappings were the same.
They felt the fear in the boy's face when he was taken from his mother by two masked men, he was crying and kicking, but that didn't stop the men in their job. In the other they could see Martin getting out of the house almost delivering himself to one of the masked men who hit him with the butt of a gun in his head and just throw him in the van.
"Mac, did you get anything from the plates?"
Mac looked up at Jack and shook his head. "Not yet, I'm working on it, as soon as I have anything, you'll be the first to know."
"What about tracking the van through the streets by the traffic control cameras?"
Vivian and Sam both voiced the question simultaneously, there was a brief moment when they both smiled at each other, easing a little of the worry on their tired faces.
"I'll see what I can do, traffic control is sending the files to me from the time period, I should have it shortly...it will take time."
"Time is something we may not have..." Jack spoke quietly but grimly. His mind was reviewing the case from all angles, taking a child was bold, cruel...taking the agent, in broad daylight, from the very house, of the very child that was kidnapped...that was dangerous. Dangerous because these men were determined, focused, unafraid...why weren't they afraid?
Jack hated not having answers, he hated his team being in trouble, he hated not knowing what was going on.
"Danny, I want you to go back to the Hoskins', talk to them, look over the house again. Martin said that there was something wrong there, you need to find it. They are not suspects at this point but at the very least Peter is hiding something. You were there yesterday;.." Yesterday, Jack thought, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours, but already it was 'yesterday' when Brian, and then Martin had been taken, Jack felt like a week had already passed..."you were there yesterday morning, you saw the house, you'll know if something is missing."
"I'm taking the lab photos with me to compare while I'm there." With that Danny turned away and reached for the door.
"Danny," Jack's voice was low and Danny turned quickly to see what concerned his boss. "Don't get caught by Hoskins...or anybody else."
Danny nodded once, left the room and stopped in the bullpen long enough to grab his gun, coat, and the file with the photos; then he was gone.
Jack went back to his office, leaving Vivian and Sam working with Mac on the traffic photos that had just been transmitted to the technician's computer.
Sighing deeply he settled behind his desk, picked up the files and started reviewing all the information thus far; he was missing something, they all were, what was it?
Back at the warehouse...
Someone was pulling on him. No, pushing him. No, oh forget it, he was just too tired. The darkness swirled back around him and he felt himself drift away again. Just as he got comfortable, floating on a sea of darkness he felt it again. This time the feeling was joined by a sound.
An insistent, small, high pitched sound. Someone was yelling at him, demanding him to do something.
Tired.
Too tired to do whatever was expected of him. Just as he started to drift towards the darkness a small child's face flashed through his mind.
He had a vague sense of crawling to a little boy who lay curled up and sleeping on a blanket on a floor. Geez, he thought, what did I eat last night to have a dream like that.
Tired.
Brian. The name burned in his brain. Brian, that's the little boy, four years old, big eyes, peanut butter and jelly on his fingers, on his face. Little Brian, who he promised to protect, promised to hold tight while he slept so he wouldn't be scared. I was crawling, that thought formed in Martin's fuzzy, pain-filled head. I crawled to Brian and gathered him into
my arms so he would be protected and sleep. Huh, well, that solves that.
Still tired.
"Martin, wake up! You're scaring me!" Brian's voice was becoming more shrill as he struggled against Martin's right arm. When he had awakened, he had found himself held against Martin's chest by his right arm. He had
tried to wiggle loose, but couldn't move Martin. The more he struggled, the tighter Martin had held him; determined, even in his exhausted state to keep his promise to protect Brian.
"Martin, I'm scared!" Brian screamed again and then he pushed his back against Martin that caused Martin to shift his left arm around, as soon as his arm moved a painful scream came out of Martin's mouth. Suddenly,
Martin was awake, the fog that had settled in his brain lifted and he was jolted back to the reality of being beaten, bloody, hungry, and trapped with a child in a warehouse.
"Sorry Brian, I guess I was really sleepy."
Brian watched Martin stand up slowly, cradling his left arm.
"Martin, are you hurt? What happened?"
"Hey little man, nothing to worry about. Last night I climbed on a chair to reach the windows and I fell down. It's okay, just a little bruise on my arm." Wanting to change the subject quickly Martin took a quick look around the room. "Did they bring your breakfast yet?"
"No, I'm hungry."
"All right, why don't you go to the bathroom, wash your hands and face while I find out about your breakfast." Martin smiled as he saw the little face brighten and then Brian obediently went into the bathroom. Just before he reached the door Brian stopped, turned around and came back to Martin.
"Does it hurt?"
Martin smiled as the little boy with big eyes, pointed to his arm and repeated his question.
"Does it hurt?"
"Just a little." Just a LOT would be the truth Martin thought. But in this case, Brian didn't need the truth, he needed the lie, he needed to be reassured. When did I get so good at knowing what kids need?
Seeming to be reassured Brian nodded and then went into the bathroom to clean up.
Martin stood in front of the door and spoke loud enough to be heard from the other side. At least he hoped it was loud enough, of course, he also hoped that someone on the other side cared to answer.
"The kid needs to eat, please. He's so little, you have to get something for him."
The voice answered him back, "I suppose you want something too."
It was more a sarcastic taunt than a question. Martin chose to ignore it and repeated his plea for the Brian's sake.
"Get away from the door, any wise moves like last night and he'll get nothing."
Martin moved to the other side of the room, and then called out again; "You can go ahead, I'm far away from the door."
One of the men entered the room and left a small milk container, a bowl with cereal, a spoon and an apple.
"Next time could you bring him some crayons and paper." After all, you know
what kind of toothpaste and soap he uses, I'm sure you know that he likes to draw as well. Martin kept that thought to himself, but he knew it wasn't coincidence that the soap and toothpaste here was the same as at Brian's
house
The man just looked at him, no expression, no hint of anger, or any emotion
on his face and then went out the door closing it firmly behind him.
After a few minutes had passed, Martin called out to Brian.
"Brian, are you OK in there?"
At that moment the bathroom door opened and Brian came out. His hair was wet, sticking up in all directions, his face, neck, and hands were scrubbed clean.
"Yes, Martin. I washed my hands, and my face. Look at me!"
Martin could hear the pride in the little voice. Four years old and showing so much independence. A special little kid. Martin kneeled down in front of Brian and combed his hair neatly with his fingers.
"You clean up pretty good little man. Let's eat." Martin led Brian to the food, opened the milk and added it to the cereal and then handed Brian the spoon. He sat beside Brian and picked up a bottle of water that was sitting on the floor.
Brian picked up the spoon and was about to dip it into the bowl, in the way only little children can, small hand fisted around the spoon, elbow stuck up high into the air, and then he stopped. His face filled with concern as he peaked up at Martin through his thick eyelashes. "You are not hungry
Martin?"
"No, it's all yours."
"But, I don't like to eat alone."
"I'm right here; got my water." Martin could see Brian wasn't convinced so he tried something that seemed to work with one of his nephews. "Let's try a game while you eat."
He saw that he had Brian's attention now on the 'game' instead of the fact that Martin didn't have anything to eat; so he pressed forward.
"How about 'Simon Says'"
"Yeah, Simon Says is cool!" Brian was bouncing on the floor now. He was seated cross legged on the floor and bouncing with excitement.
"Okay, Simon Says put a spoonful of cereal in your mouth without spilling any milk from the spoon." Martin watched as Brian carefully scooped some cereal from the bowl and then carefully got it into his mouth. With the 'job' successfully completed Brian's face split into a huge grin, and all
the milk and cereal that he had so carefully gotten into his mouth spilled down his chin, onto his shirt and onto the floor. This caused Brian to giggle and fall over sideways as he laughed.
Martin couldn't stop grinning as he realized what had happened. 'Simon' had only said to get the cereal into his mouth without spilling milk from the
spoon. 'Simon' hadn't actually told Brian to eat it. Unbelievable, Martin thought, starting to laugh himself, he couldn't stop it even though it made his ribs ache and his head start to pound again. A four-year old beats me at Simon Says. I hope Vivian and Jack never hear about this.
So Martin tried again and was more specific with his commands. Brian giggled, and ate and breakfast quickly disappeared. Martin continued to drink his water and tried to block out the pain in his body, but it was becoming harder, he was starting to feel weak from the lack of food. He needed to immobilize his arm, but knew he wouldn't be able to do it one-handed. As much as he didn't want Brian to be concerned he was going to need his help. So he decided to make it into a game.
"Brian, do you want to help me build something?"
"Sure, Martin, what are we making."
"Well, we are going to tear up some cloth, and tie it around some pieces of wood and make a splint. That's what is used to make something that is weak, or tired, into something stronger." Martin could see that Brian didn't understand so he decided to just keep the little boy busy and maybe,
hopefully, he wouldn't become scared or worry about his arm.
Martin had seen some small pieces of wood discarded in a corner and he picked them up and brought them over to where Brian was seated. Then he managed to pull his tie off, remove his shirt and get his t-shirt off.
Carefully he put his shirt back on and then, painfully tore his t-shirt into strips using his mouth and his right arm. Martin exaggerated each groan and moan so Brian would think he was playing. At first Brian was concerned, but
when he saw Martin grinning at him, he began to copy each moan and then start to laugh. As Martin laughed back at him, Brian laughed harder. Before Brian knew it, he had helped Martin position two pieces of wood around his left arm and held onto the strips tight as Martin tied them around. Then,
with his eyes wide and full of mischief, Martin leaned close to Brian, and took the strip of cloth in his mouth and pulled it tight, while his right hand pulled.
At last it was done. Martin wanted nothing more than to groan out loud for real, close his eyes and ride out the pain. But he couldn't, Brian had to think the game was for real. Brian studied him for a full minute and Martin thought he had failed in his effort to make this out to be a game.
Then Brian picked up Martin's tie and dropped it around Martin's head, then carefully he eased Martin's left arm into the loop.
At this Brian decided the 'game' was finished. Proudly he gently patted Martin's splint and then walked over to his blanket and sat down, his little eyes beginning to blink with sleep.
Martin was feeling dizzy and tired, positioning his arm was painful and he needed a break He walked over to Brian, sat down, leaned back against the wall and with his good arm gathered Brian against him. Softly he began to tell stories of warriors and dragons, his nephew liked dragons and had a whole series of books about warriors and dragons. Martin used his voice to make different voices for each character.
"Hey, big, green, dragon, I will take you to the king, he wants to see you!" said the little warrior.
Brian snuggled close on his lap and giggled when even the dragons could talk.
He would giggle and his eyes were big as saucers as Martin's voice boomed like thunder and the 'dragon' said;" No, you don't, I'm toooooo big for you, I'll have you as my dinner!"
Martin was getting more and more tired and he quickly finished the tale with the valiant little warrior capturing the dragon, tying him up and delivering him to the king.
With the kingdom safe; Brian was satisfied and his eyes softly closed, his breathing became slow and steady, and he slept. Despite his pain and weakness, Martin smiled, closed his eyes, leaned his head back against the wall, and he slept; one arm protectively wrapped around Brian.
TBC