Hey everyone, sorry for the delay, if only I could win the lottery and give up my day job. Thanks so much for your reviews; I too love a bit of Martin Angst!

Chapter 12

July 2004

There was silence in the small dimly lit café save the click of coffee cups, Jack drained the last of his coffee cup and pushed away his half eaten french fries. Danny was sitting staring at this plate, and Jack knew the dark haired agent was still trying to understand why Martin Fitzgerald had left them in the dark for so long.

"You know staring at the burger isn't gonna get it inside of you any quicker." Jack was rewarded with a half smile from the younger man.

"You know, beating yourself up isn't going to help." Jack ventured. "We didn't know, none of us, and we maybe never would have if this hadn't happened. Hell we all have shit in our pasts we'd rather forget, "Jack paused briefly. "You included Taylor."

"Yeah, but that was an accident" Danny looked over at his boss, "There was nothing anyone could do." he continued, referring to his parent's death in a road accidents many years previously. "This, this is sick…… Jameson is one sick b&&&&&d, using a kid like that. And as for old man Fitzgerald…" here Danny trailed off before continuing in a quieter voice.

"Look, I know shit happens Jack but I wish, I don't know, that he'd felt he could tell us. He obviously didn't. And even with that mighty stick up his ass he's still a colleague, hell, a friend."

There was an awkward pause, filled with the shrill sounds of a cell phone ringing. Jack put the phone to his ear.

"Malone…………….uh huh………you got an address?...ok yeah thanks…"

Danny leaned over the desk to see what Jack was scribbling on the paper napkin in front of him. He looked up as his boss flipped his phone shut and, rising took a twenty dollar bill out of his wallet and left it on the table.

"We got a name and possible address for Jameson's girlfriend." …

&&&&&&

Sam and Vivian meanwhile were sitting across from a giant. Or at least that was the best way that Sam could describe him later. Antonio Marquis was 6ft 6 inches tall and probably weighed 250 pounds in his stocking feet. He was completely bald and every available inch of his body save his face was completely covered in tattoos. Snakes ran down both arms and a huge cobweb covered the back and top of his head.

All of which made it practically impossible for either agent to keep a straight face when the man spoke, his voice was as soft and feminine as either of theirs!

He told the two agents very little. Yes, he had shared a cell with Stan Jameson for almost three years now. No, he didn't really know him that well, Jameson was very quiet as a rule, he kept himself to himself. Yes he did talk about the kidnapping and what had happened, but never mentioned Martin or never said anything to make Marquis believe that he was looking for revenge. Jameson worked in the kitchen and in the library, he read a lot, so much so that some of the inmates had nicknamed him 'Bookie'

"All in all it would seem that Jameson was pretty much a reformed character" Vivian said half an hour later as the two agents made their way down the long corridors that led out of the prison.

"So it would seem," Sam agreed. "Hardly the kind of man that would bash his old flat mate over the head and then kidnap someone. But then maybe our big friendly giant there wasn't telling the truth."

"Maybe" Viv nodded. "But I think he was. You never do know though, Jameson might have been keeping it all in, you know, storing up all that anger and resentment all these years."

"Which doesn't help us find Martin." Sam looked glum.

"No." Vivian sighed. "I wish he'd been a little less stubborn about all this."

"That's Martin for you, why share something when you can deal with it yourself, why open up? And it's not as if any of us probed too deeply either. I mean I just thought he was ill, you know... he was pale and quiet, I just thought it was the flu…." she trailed off…"It's been five days."

"Martins a good agent, he's clever, he knows that he has to cooperate with whoever has him, I'm sure he wont do anything to jeopardize himself and further….." she caught the look of disbelief in Samantha's eyes at her words. "At least I hope not." she concluded.

&&&&&&

The house on Delmar Avenue was empty and looked like it had been for sometime now. A couple of the upstairs windows were broken and as they walked up the front steps Danny could see a piece of torn net curtain blowing through cracks in the glass.

"Doesn't look like anyone has lived here for a while." The agent commented as they knocked on the front door, which swung open obligingly for them.

Inside everything was completely covered in dust, the battered armchairs and carpets stank of stale urine and were covered in stains. Syringes, used condoms and trash lay think on the floor. Jack wrinkled his nose up in distaste. "Seems like someone IS living here, although I can't say I think a lot of their housekeeping skills.

"I'll check upstairs" Danny motioned toward the rickety staircase and as he made his way up kept one hand on his gun. He wasn't prepared the sight of a young woman lying curled up in a ball on a old dirty mattress in one of the bedrooms. Her hair, long and lank had obviously not been washed for weeks. Danny squatted down beside the girl and reached out one arm towards her hesitantly.

Instinctively the girl cowered and shrank further back against the wall.

"Hey, look I'm an FBI agent, my names Danny, I want to help you. What's your name?" He showed the girl his badge as he spoke.

She looked up, and her face was a mass of bruising, similarly there were ligature marks across her neck. Danny sucked in his breath inwardly cursing whoever had done that to the girl.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

The girl, looking Danny up and down, obviously believed him, for she started to speak slowly and deliberately. She was probably no more than 17 or 18 with a strong Southern accent.

"This guy, he came in shoutin' and yellin', said he was lookin' for someone. I…I was here on my own, my boyfriend, he went off a few days back, ain't seem him since...This guy he was crazy, he started beatin on me cos I didn't know where his brother was, like it was ma fault.

"His brother?" Danny looked confused. "Are you Stan Jameson's girlfriend?"

The girl nodded. "Uh huh, I met him the day he got out of prison, he was so sweet and nice and he told me he was straight and he was stayin' with some friend of his, he wuz gonna take me outta here, but then he just took off one day and didn't come back."

"And this guy who came round and did this to you?" Danny motioned to the bruises.

"I think it wuz his brother, he said he had one… Michael or something…apparently he ain't all there in the head, least that's what Stan said…… they don't get on, somethin' about what Stan did and how it ruined the family…"

A creak behind them made the girl jump and Danny saw Jack standing there, a strange expression on his face…." He motioned the younger agent out into the hall.

"What's up?" Danny asked, noting Jack's asked expression….

"Just got a call from NYPD, they found a body three blocks from here."

"Not….."Danny began, but he couldn't bring himself to say it…

"No, not Martin……." Jack paused, noting the agents sigh of relief… "According to his ID, its Stan Jameson…."