A/N – I'm glad you all like it so far – stay tuned!
Chapter 6:
Jack realized as he headed into the airport that he had no idea where Sue was. Since there was no point paging her on the intercom, he pulled out his cell phone and paged her blackberry. He hurried down the empty airport searching for any sign of her, waiting for an answer. He spotted her before he had a chance to receive any message back. Jack could see her pulling out her blackberry from her purse. The way her shoulders were slumped, Jack knew that the last few days had been hell for her. He just wished she would let him in to help her get through it.
He walked up behind her as Levi recognized him and leapt over to him. Sue noticed and turned around. Neither of them said anything, as they stood in the middle of the airport waiting area, alone. Jack couldn't help but noticed the bags that had accentuated under her eyes, and her exhausted and drained face. She just looked at him with sad eyes, before signing slowly, 'I'm sorry.' Jack shook his head and went over and took her into his arms and held her tightly, thankful she was safe.
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She was silent the entire ride back to her place. Jack had barely heard two words from her, and while driving, couldn't get her attention to try and start a conversation. He helped with her bags up to her place. He could tell she was trying to avoid the confrontation they both knew was coming, but Jack could also tell she had a lot going on in her mind, processing thoughts he couldn't even comprehend.
"Thanks for bringing me home. I'll see you tomorrow?" She said quietly, still occasionally avoiding his gaze. Jack felt his worry and concern overtake his rational.
"You're joking right?" She looked at him with pitiful eyes. "Let's re-cap for a second! You disappear for two days; I can't get a hold of you. I'm sick with worry. You call me from the airport, looking like death warmed over, and you think we're not going to talk about this?" Immediately Jack regretted lashing out at her, as he saw her flinch back at his words, and tears form in her eyes.
"Don't yell at me. I can't deal with this and you yelling at me!" She walked away and slammed her bedroom door. He followed her, but could hear the lock click, shutting him out, destroying all his hope in figuring out what was wrong.
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"She slammed the door and locked it?" Bobby said, astonished.
"Something's really wrong Bobby." Jack responded desperately. "You should see her."
"Don't leave her alone. Is she safe in her room, she wouldn't do something…" Bobby trailed off. Jack would have never even considered something like that, coming from Sue, but after her behavior since she got home, he didn't know what to think anymore.
"That's why I called. Can you handle this murder case without me for today? I'm not leaving until I find out what happened to make her leave so suddenly and why she's so upset." He hung up, and sat back down on Sue's couch, running his hands through his hair, frustrated, but poised for the long wait ahead.
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"I'm guessing Jack's not coming in?" Dimitrius asked Bobby as he hung up the phone. Bobby shook his head.
"He's really worried."
"We all are, but Jack is just as stubborn as she is, and I think we all know how much he cares about her, even though he's not willing to admit it. He'll take care of her." Myles added. Tara joined in,
"What about Lucy? Should we maybe contact her? If something's wrong she might be able to help…"
"If Lucy finds out about this, she's going to be on the next flight home. If things get worse, we'll consider it, but until we know more, maybe we should hold off. In case it's not necessary." Myles suggested.
"Unfortunately, we still need to work this case too. We'll keep checking in with Jack, and for now, he can work the sidelines and take care of the first priority – making sure Sue's okay." Dimitrius said, moving to the front. "The murder of the Vander family. It looked like the wife was killed first, trying to protect her 2 children; Dad came in, was also killed before he…went to the children. We're still trying to figure out if they knew whoever did this."
"How's the forensic evidence coming?" Bobby asked.
"We think whoever did this may have shaved all his hair off before going in. Most likely pre-meditated because there was no hair or skin evidence anywhere. All of the blood belongs to the victims. The biggest lead we have is the note he left at the crime scene." Dimitrius concluded. "Everyone keep looking, talk to your sources. We need to find this guy, incase he strikes again and destroys another family."
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Jack could feel himself drifting off on Sue's couch. Levi was at his feet, after having finally moved away from Sue's door. He looked at the clock, which read 1 am, but vowed to stay there until he had a chance to talk to her. Even if it meant he sat there until dawn.
With the lack of sleep in the last few days, from sitting up wondering where Sue was, he could feel his eyes getting heavier. Next thing he knew he opened his eyes and saw Sue putting a blanket on top of him. Still half asleep, he said,
"Are you okay?" She didn't answer his question,
"You should've gone home." He sat up, reacquainting himself and gaining more clarity. He glanced at the clock that read 4:30am. "I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry for blowing up at you Jack." She said quietly, as she took the seat beside him on the couch.
"I'm sorry for pushing but I wish you would tell me what's wrong. I want to help." The tears started streaming down her face, as Jack grabbed her hand and held on to it.
"I know you want to help, and I appreciate it so much, but I really need to work this out for myself first. I need to process all the thoughts going on in my head and clear them before I'm ready to talk about it yet."
"Did something bad happen?" She nodded.
"I'm so sorry Sue." Sue started to sob as Jack pulled her closer to his chest. Minutes later once her sobs died down, he looked and noticed she had passed out from exhaustion again. Without trying to wake her, he reached and grabbed the blanket to cover them both up, before closing his own tired eyes, his arm still tight around her shoulders.