Sorry for the delay! Monday was a holiday, and I forgot yesterday was Thursday! Thanks to Justine for writing to remind me of my posting duties! g> Thanks as always to the people who are reviewing this and appreciation to beta extraordinaire Diane!

Too Good to be True
By: Mariel

Chapter 5

Armed with Jack's cell number, a key to his apartment, and cautionary words as to how little time he'd have to see her in the immediate future, Janice headed for the elevator. She could feel Jack's eyes on her back as she left and felt a rush of happiness at seeing him again. The happiness, however, was heavily tinged with concern. Though she had no doubt that he was glad to see her, there was a sadness about him that belied his assurances that all was well. Mentally deciding to tell her editors it was going to take her longer to get her story than she'd originally anticipated, she strode through the open elevator door and pushed the button for the main lobby. She'd had her own reasons for running away to New York, her own reasons for running towards Jack ...but seeing him like this changed everything.

As the door to Janice's elevator door closed, another opened. Danny and Martin stepped out and headed directly to the bullpen.

As they entered their common work area, Samantha turned and smiled at the two returning men. "You look pleased with yourselves."

"You'll never guess who our friend was waiting for," Danny responded as he slumped into his chair at the conference table. His eyes shone, and the air of triumph about him was unmistakable.

Vivian swivelled her chair around to look at him. "You're probably right," she said, her voice filled with amusement. Raising one eyebrow, she asked, "But perhaps we should let Jack in on your news, too?"

Martin, who had been about to sit down, paused and said, "I'll go make sure he knows we're back."

Since he and Samantha had begun a relationship, Martin had felt uneasy in the older man's presence. He did his best to offset that feeling by doing small things like this. It gave him contact, so that things appeared to be normal, but left him in no danger of prolonged interaction. It seemed to be an arrangement that worked well for both of them. Jack, he had noticed, rarely made any move to ever speak with him privately, either - at least not since the 'I know' conversation, when Jack had told him he knew about their relationship.

Rapping his knuckles on the open door, he told his boss, "We're back. It was worth waiting around for."

Jack looked up from the papers he was examining. A wry smile accompanying his words, he said, "And since you aren't spilling the beans, I assume Danny has threatened you with bodily harm if you do?" He looked at the paper he was holding, then back up at Martin, his face turned serious. "I have to finish this. I'll only be a minute." That said, he turned back to his reading.

Feeling dismissed, and wondering idly what Jack had been reading, Martin went back to join the others.

Jack arrived only moments later.

Looking at Danny, he took his seat at the head of the table and said, "So, I understand sitting around in the car this afternoon was worth the effort."

Danny grinned. "I think so. The person Mr. Blackwell was waiting for was none other than Stefano Rossi."

Jack frowned at the familiar name. "Rossi's running extortion here for the Mafia, isn't he?"

"That's what they say," Danny agreed. "Interesting that he's suddenly interested in Blackwell. He was there less than thirty minutes. When he left, we followed him, but he just went to his apartment over in Queens. If we're gonna tail him, we'll need more people."

"We'll wait on that until we've spoken with Victoria Newbury." Jack told him. Looking over at Vivian, he said, "When we're finished here, give a call to Organized Crime and see what they can tell us about a connection between Rossi and the Blackwells. I can't see how his visit is simply coincidental to Georgina's disappearance."

"Could it be a kidnapping?" Martin asked.

Jack shrugged dismissively. "If it were, why? It wouldn't fit Rossi's style, so my guess is, no. I'm willing to bet he knows something we want to know, though."

A flash of insight made him also willing to bet he was going to get some sort of reaction from Virginia Newbury when Rossi's name was mentioned. Stifling a sense of satisfaction that he'd had to wait to talk to her, he asked Martin and Danny to fill him in on the impressions they'd gained from speaking to the husband.

He remained silent for a moment when the two men were finished their report, then provided an oral summation:

"Okay. So this is what we've got. As far as we know, Georgina has been missing for about twenty-six hours. The sister seemed frantic with worry when she reported Georgina missing, but I strongly suspect that before doing so, she very cooly and efficiently cleared out all traces of Georgina's personal life from the house. The husband was phoned about her disappearance but claims he's not worried because she's 'dropped out of sight' as he puts it, before. When questioned further, however, he clams up and puts the onus on the sister to provide information. The husband has also made some interesting 'friends', if Rossi's presence is anything to go by." He paused and looked down at his notes. Tapping his pen on the table twice, he looked up. "They all know something they're not telling us. We need to find out what that something is."

Information in a report he'd been handed earlier made his heart heavy. Georgina Blackwell had hung with some pretty seedy characters before straightening out her life and marrying Blackwell. Victoria had, too. In some ways New York was a small town, so it may have been that Rossi had been a part of that life too, and had become part of it again. If that were so, it didn't appear the reappearance had brought them any good.

Turning to Samantha, he said, "It's almost time for us to speak with her. Maybe we'll learn a little more this time." Putting his pen in his inside breast pocket, he told Danny: "I need you to hang around Jeff Blackwell's place. Keep an eye on where he goes and who he sees." On impulse, he told Vivian, "After you talk to Organized Crime, find out what Georgina did in her spare time. She had plenty of it, and from the look of her filing cabinet she likely kept records of some sort. We need to find out what those records were about." Turning to the last person to be assigned a task, he said, "Martin, go over Georgina's phone records again, and compare them with her husband's. See who they speak to regularly. See who they've got in common. Go back at least six months."

Martin nodded, disappointed at being kept in the office. Ignoring a good-natured punch to his arm as Danny rose and left, he turned his thoughts to endless rows of numbers. A smile from Samantha as she passed, however, brightened his mood. He'd see her tonight, if they managed to leave work. Pleased with the thought, he rose and walked towards his desk a happier man.

-XXX-

Victoria Newbury stood as they entered her office. Dressed in a pale pink silk suit, and with every strawberry blonde hair perfectly in place, she looked cooly calm and confident. Closer examination, however, revealed carefully covered shadows beneath her eyes and a tenseness in her movements that belied the relaxed front she was trying to maintain. She smiled briefly in greeting, then waved a manicured hand towards leather-bound chairs placed in front of her massive mahogany desk. "Please, have a seat. My assistant told me you phoned. I'm sorry I was unavailable. We've been having a few difficulties in preparing for an upcoming event, and I had to deal with them."

"We need to ask you a few more questions," Jack said.

She frowned as she sat down. "I think I've told you everything I can."

Jack ignored her comment and proceeded to show her he didn't believe her. Abruptly, he said, "We've been to your sister's house. The neighbours report that your car was in the driveway for hours the evening she disappeared. The place has obviously been cleared out - there's no garbage, no mail, and there are files missing from her office. There are also no address books or any other items of personal significance. Any particular reason you decided to play housemaid before phoning in her disappearance?"

Jack saw Victoria's eye flicker, but it was the only outward sign he got that his question disturbed her.

Her mask firmly in place, Victoria squared her shoulders and raised one curved eyebrow. "Agent Malone, I don't play housemaid. I have neither the time nor the inclination," she said in a haughty tone. "I was at my sister's home for hours that night waiting for her, but I did not clean it. She's quite capable of hiring people for that. Remember, her boys were away. She may have taken the opportunity to clean out her filing cabinet and throw a few things away. What you saw is the result of that. Besides: how could the garbage being taken out affect your investigation?"

Jack kept his voice patient. "Mrs. Newbury, more than the garbage was removed. As I said, we found no address book, no recent mail - opened or otherwise - and her filing cabinet has a number of empty hanging files that were once filled. You spent the evening going through her things before calling us. I need to know why."

Victoria moved uncomfortably. "I don't know what you're talking about," she insisted.

"Then perhaps you can tell us about the relationship between Stefano Rossi and your sister."

Victoria's dark eyes widened. "I'm sorry, who?"

"Stefano Rossi."

Avoiding his eyes, she looked down at her desk. Shaking her head slowly, she said, "No, I'm sorry. I don't believe I've ever heard that name."

Jack was having none of it. "Perhaps you need more time to think. I believe he's become a regular at some of your more exclusive charity functions," he prodded. Stefano Rossi, he knew, had been trying for years to buy his way into legitimacy. Contributing generously to local charitable events had been one means of doing so.

Victoria began to lose some of her calm facade. Plucking at papers set in front of her, she looked across at him. "I don't know what to say. Rossi is a common Italian name in New York, Agent Malone. It's possible there's a Stefano among them, but that he would have anything to do with my sister is very unlikely."

"Do you know where your sister is, Mrs. Newbury?"

Her brows drew together in a frown. "I'm the one who reported her missing. Would I have gone to the trouble of calling you people in if I'd known where she was?"

Jack sat back and regarded her with dark eyes. "I don't know. Would you have?"

End
Chapter 5

Too Good To Be True