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Chapter 2

May 2004 - Three months earlier

Danny Taylor sat slumped in his chair, trying to figure out how he was going to keep his head upright without the aide of his hands. Strewn on the table in front of him were a half empty coffee cup, a bottled water, a half eaten doughnut, the foil wrapping from his paracetamol tablets and a large stack of phone records that had been put on the desk in front of him just five minutes previously.

He groaned and popped another tablet, chasing down with a mouthful of now lukewarm coffee. He eyed the stack of phone records in front of him, all of which belonged to their latest missing person, Annette Hooper, a 28 year old medical student who disappeared two nights previously after an argument with her boyfriend.

"Well you look like shit" A disembodied voice reached Danny's ear and he turned to see Martin Fitzgerald crossing the room towards him looking even more like the front cover of GQ than usual. His light brown suit was expensive, well cut and the matching cream shirt and tie looked new.

"Shouldn't you be at home, starching your underwear or whatever it is you Ivy Leager's do on days off?" Danny finished the sentence with a loud "A-tish-oo!"

"God bless you" Martin replied dryly before sitting down across from him at the table. "Day off got cancelled, and I think you should be the one at home, by the looks of it…." As he spoke Martin produced a slim flask from a bag in his hand and placed it on the table in front of Danny. "Drink this" he commanded "I can't listen to you coughing and sneezing all day long"

Danny unscrewed the lid of the flask and sniffed suspiciously at the contents. "What is it?"

"Ah, if I told you that, I'd have to kill you" he began, and then noting the rising irritation on his partner's expression he continued "It's the patented Fitzgerald cold cure, guaranteed to make you feel better. Normally it's got about a half bottle of booze, but you have the 'virgin' version" he added, slightly awkwardly.

Danny smiled at the agent before putting the flask to his lips and swallowing down a mouthful of the think syrupy concoction.

"Tastes like four day old soup" he complained, wiping his lips with a tissue.

"Yeah, I know, Mom used to mix it with orange juice when we were little, so it didn't taste as bad" Martin paused, before adding "Until Dad found out…. 'You are too soft for your own good Martin, drink it like a man!' Martin smiled ruefully as he spoke and stood up, adjusting his tie. "Speaking of which, I have to go."

"Where too?" Danny gulped down another mouthful from the flask and grimaced.

"Oh you know, a little father son bonding time. Dad's in town 'on business' so he's fitting me in from half seven to eight. Just enough time to find out what my intentions are for the next six months." Martin laughed as he spoke, passing the statement off as a joke. "Ill catch up with you later, enjoy those phone records"

And so Martin passed through onto the corridor waving at Vivian Johnson who was just exiting the elevator.

Danny however, knew a little bit about the mighty Victor Fitzgerald, both from Jack and from conversations and passing comments from Martin himself, and he knew their relationship was strained at best. At that moment in time though, he also knew that his head felt decidedly less woozy than it had for the past three days. "Thanks Fitz' he said silently, before turning to answer Viv's good morning with a smile of his own.

"Whats up with Martin?" she added, look's like he's going to an interview.

"Breakfast with the mighty Vic" Danny quipped before throwing the dark skinned agent a knowing look.

Before anything could be discussed further however, Jack and Sam entered and talk turned to the latest case. Jack began without his usual good morning, and judging by the looks Sam was giving them, Danny and Viv knew that their boss was not in a good mood that day.

"Alright, Annette Hooper" he began without preamble. "28 years old, medical student in NYU. We know she had a boyfriend, Karl……Karl Woodward" Jack flicked through the papers in his hand as he spoke. "He says nothing was wrong, they hadn't argued, as far as he knew everything was fine." "Danny, what have you got?"

"Well I havent gotten through all of these records, but I do know that she made a couple of hundred calls to one number, the medical dept of NYU. Now she always got transferred to the same extension, which as it happens belongs to her Anatomy professor, Dr Jim Calbraith."

"What else?" Jack added his tone almost irritable.

Danny merely raised an eyebrow at Sam, sitting across the table before continuing. "That's about all I know so far, there are some other numbers that I need to trace, but I only got these records about an hour ago. Some hold up with the phone company."

"Some 'hold up' could cost this girl's life" Jack snapped "Sam, you and Vivian head over to the college and see this professor; I'm going to speak to her boyfriend again. Danny, keep looking at those records.

"What about Fitz, he'll be back in twenty minutes and I……." Danny began,

"Just worry about doing your own job Taylor and leave Martin to me ok?" And with that Jack walked out of the Bullpen.

"Ouch" Danny put his hand over his heart dramatically. "What's eating him?"

"Got me." Tall blond Samantha Spade sat back in her chair. "I met him in the elevator this morning and he wouldn't even say hello, just grunted at me! I think it's something to do with Martin though" she added thoughtfully.

"When isnt it…a….a…..a-tish-oo!" Danny groaned and reached for a tissue.

"Come on Sam, I don't want to catch anymore germs of misery boy here, and I don't fancy making Jack any angrier that he is."

Danny shook his head before turning his attention back to the stack of records in front of him.

'It's gonna be a long day'……