Jack and Jacob stepped through the doorway of the small diner, quickly spotting Mark in the back corner, hidden by the shadows. They quickly slipped into the booth next to him. Jack ran his hand through his hair. Trying to pretend this was a mission was going to be harder than he thought. He had to treat this like he didn't care. If he let his feelings get in the way this time, it could mean the life of the one person he cared for more than life itself.
"Mark, what's going on?" Jacob leaned forward, staring into his son's eyes.
Mark glanced around the diner, trying to make sure nobody could hear what they were saying. "First, Jack, what did you do to my sister?" The man shot a glare Jack's way.
"Son, it's not Jack's fault."
"Uh, I don't know if that's exactly true, Sir." Jack's eyes wouldn't leave the table, or the napkin his fingers had twisted into knots.
"That's neither here nor there at the moment. Mark, what do you know about Sam?" Jacob interrupted the looks the men were giving each other.
Mark sighed. "She showed up at the house last night. She was wearing what I'm guessing to be Jacky Boy here's shirt and pants. Something had upset her, but she wouldn't tell me what. She laid down in the guest room for a few hours then took off. A buddy of mine told me not ten minutes before you arrived that the car she was driving was found at the bus depot. And that's about it. She didn't want me to let anybody know she had been here, I presumed it was because she had gone AWOL, but when I mentioned Jack, remembering him from D.C., she seemed even more upset." He leaned back in the booth, tossing his napkin on the table, more at Jack than anything else.
"She saw an entire family murdered," Jack cut in. He was frustrated with Mark's attitude towards him. Couldn't he see that he was trying to help? 'I love your sister, you asshole.' "Mark," Jack said, calming down just a bit. "Sam's life is in danger. I... We need to find her."
"I'll take you to her car." Mark stood, indicating they follow him.