Here's the next chapter. Thanks to the folks who take the time to review...and Diane, you beta'd this a long time ago and it's changed a bit since then, but thanks for your eagle eye

Too Good To Be True
By: Mariel

Chapter 7

Nina told them she'd known Georgina for 'years and years'. Standing in the brightly lit basement area that held two old washers and huge, industrial-sized dryer, the petite, thirty-something Filipino woman smiled as she talked, her dark eyes twinkling as she busied herself with piles of bed linens that sat in large baskets on the floor.

"I hope you do not mind," she said in a melodic Phillipine accent. Indicating the baskets with a capable hand, she explained, "These have to be done before I go. The beds are stripped every morning. It is my day for folding and getting the linen ready for tonight. I have just the pillow cases and the double sheets left to do."

She took a moment to get Jack and Samantha two folding chairs to sit down on and then resumed her work. They spoke for a while as the woman folded the pillow cases and piled them on a table. At first, Nina seemed reluctant to speak, but as her concern for her friend's wellbeing grew, she became more open.

"Georgina is a special woman. I do not know what I would have done without her," Nina admitted. "I came to this country to marry my husband. I soon learned he was very rough. I thought that was his way, and tried to please him, but it got worse and worse. When he beat me so bad I could not get up for a while, I knew I had to get away. I tried, but he found me and took me back with him. The next time he got angry, I ended up in hospital. When I got out, I fled to a shelter, but he found me again. I was scared, but had to go back with him." She shrugged her shoulders. "I had no choice. Where else could I go?" She paused a moment, her eyes taking on a faraway look. "He broke my leg with a bat the next week. He swore if I ever tried leaving him again, he would kill me." Turning dark eyes to meet theirs, she added, "I had no reason not to believe him.

The pillow cases finished, she bent down to pick up a sheet. "I could never have moved here without help. It is nice to be in a big city and walk down the street without looking over my shoulder. I would never have been able to do that in his city." She shook her head. "Georgina is a good woman. I hope nothing has happened to her."

Jack's eyes sharpened, but he kept his tone casual. "Georgina helped you move here?"

Nina paused, then stretched her arms wide to try to fold the large sheet in half. Her face partially covered, she replied vaguely, "I met people who knew her..." She stopped speaking to try to rescue an errant corner that had eluded her grasp and dropped to the floor.

Jack frowned, thought a moment, and then changed the topic. "Do you know of anyone who might have a grudge against her? Someone who might wish her harm?" When Nina dropped the uncooperative sheet corner a second time, he rose and wordlessly put out his hands to take one end of it. Nina paused in surprise and then obliged with a smile. Silently, they began a sheet-folding minuet as they talked.

"I cannot think of anyone in particular," she said, as they pulled the sheet tight and folded it, her right to the left, twice. "We do not get a lot of men coming here - just the really persistent ones, or the drunk ones... the ones who are really angry. Sometimes, the women go back with them. We try to make sure they know what they are doing when they choose to go. We tell them no matter what, those men do not own them. They do not have the right to harm them. The men do not like that, but I can not think of any man who has been particularly threatening toward Georgina." She and Jack stepped towards each other, met, and folded the length of sheet into a neat half. She took the remaining rectangle, folded it neatly into a square, and moved to put it on a table that held several piles of already-folded linen.

Samantha watched in disbelief as Jack took off his jacket, slung it onto his vacant chair, and then bent down to pick another sheet out of the basket. Clearing her throat, she asked, "Have you noticed anything different about her lately? Has she seemed nervous, talked about going away for a while, or anything like that?"

Nina paused to think, then shook her head and took the end of the sheet Jack passed to her. Resuming her dance with Jack, she said, "No, I'm sorry. Everything just seemed to be normal. I know she was scheduled for a few more hours here because her boys are with their father for a while, but that is the only change I know of."

"There's nothing else?"

Jack's question, gently asked, seemed to trouble the woman for some reason. A slight frown crossed Nina's features. She looked away. "No, I don't think so," she told them.

They continued to speak until the sheets were all folded, then the two agents prepared to leave. They were about to go out the door when Nina said in a hestitant voice, "Agent Malone?"

Jack turned.

"If I think of anything I will give you a call, I promise."

Jack regarded her with dark eyes. Nina wasn't saying all she knew, but she was withholding that information for a reason that was important to her.

"Don't wait too long, Nina," he cautioned, mentally deciding to contact her first thing in the morning if they got nowhere with their investigation that night.

The woman nodded.

-XXX-

Samantha glanced at him as they left the shelter. "You were awfully easy on her, weren't you, Jack? She knew far more than she was telling." Instinct had told her that he had not expected her to come in as 'bad cop', but she was uncertain as to why he had been so lenient.

Jack shrugged. "With her past, if she felt threatened or pressured she'd build up a wall we'd never get through. She knows more, but isn't sure it's relevant. Or isn't sure it's safe to tell us. Telling us might be betraying a trust that's important to her. If she decides we have to know, we will."

"And we can let her decide that?"

"We can't very well force her to talk," he said. "We have her phone numbers. If we don't hear from her, we'll call her," he said, indicating he could be patient, but not forever. "We'll get more from her if she talks to us willingly. I don't think she is directly involved in Georgina's disappearance, but she knows something about Georgina's life that we don't. I want to know what that is."

Jack's phone rang, preventing Samantha from commenting further. He listened a moment, his shoulders slumping. "Tell them I'll be right there," he said, before flipping his phone closed.

His posture and expression told Samantha what he was about to say before he even opened his mouth. She steeled herself.

"They just found the body of a woman that matches Georgina's description in a dumpster near the Battery Tunnel."

She stared at him in shock. For some reason, she hadn't expected this. She'd been sure that in the next day or so they would find Georgina, reunite her with her two sons, and they would all live happily ever after.

That's what she always thought. It was what kept her going.

"So it's out of our hands, now," she said, her voice faint with disappointment. Fighting the sinking feeling in her stomach, she looked at the door they had just exited, wondering how the news would affect the people who worked within.

"I'm going over there. You can get a cab back to the office, if you like," Jack told her.

She turned her gaze towards him, immediately understanding his need to put closure onto things by going to the site, even though if it was indeed Georgina's body that had been found, the case was no longer theirs.

"No, I'll go, too," she said, regretting the days gone by when she could have reached out to him.

Wordlessly they strode towards their car.

-XXX-

Martin looked up as Samantha and Jack entered the bullpen.

"Nothing new's come in, so I guess we can go," he said, sorry that the woman was dead, but also looking forward to an evening off for the first time in almost a week.

"Looks like it," Jack agreed. Looking at Samantha, he said, "Bring me your report, and we're done for the day." Looking at them both, he said, "Tomorrow morning, I want you two to have a look at Nina's history. Martin, Samantha can give you the details we already know. I want to know where she comes from, how long she's been in the country, and who she was with before she ended up in New York."

Samantha looked at him closely, her curiousity pricked. Jack was onto something. Years ago, she'd have been looking forward to talking to him about it after work. They'd have remained behind, and then, after everyone had left, gone for coffee...or to her apartment for dinner and an evening together. Now, she knew she'd finish up her work and probably go to Martin's. As Jack walked away, she stifled a sigh.

"Feel like coming to my place afterwards?" Martin asked in a low voice once Jack was out of hearing range.

Samantha nodded wordlessly.

"I'll wait for you, then," he said. "I can get a head start on this Nina person Jack's so hot on."

Refusing to rise to the bait, Samantha ignored his tone and quickly wrote down the woman's full name and address on a slip of paper. "Here's what we know so far," she said. "Knock yourself out."

-XXX-

About forty-five minutes later, Samantha stood in Jack's office doorway. Looking up, he motioned for her to come in while he continued his phone conversation.

"Yeah, that'd be good. Want me to pick something up?" He paused a moment, wrote a couple words on a paper in front of him. "That's it?" he asked. He listened to the reply, smiled, and said goodbye. Raising his head to look at her, he asked, "All set?"

She nodded, for some reason sure that it had been his English friend on the other end of the line. Resisting the urge to ask, she said, "It's all here. It doesn't feel right, though. This is the part I hate about this job. Now other people get to do the investigation into what happened."

Her comment was a subtle question as to why he was having them continue an investigation that was to all intents and purposes over. Not that she was opposed to the idea.She wasn't certain what had drawn her to this woman, but Georgina's death bothered her. Perfect life, a giving spirit, lovely kids...and an untimely death. It didn't seem fair, somehow.

"I'll keep my ear to the ground about what they find," was Jack's disappointingly vague reply.

She smiled faintly. "Thanks." Hestitating a moment, she then asked in a casual tone, "Was that your friend you were speaking to?"

"Yeah. I promised her I'd call when we were finished. I figured that meant in a couple of days."

She could hear the regret in his voice that it had been Georgina's body that had been found, not the living, breathing woman they had hoped to bring back to her children, but she could also tell he was looking forward to seeing his friend.

"At least we're going to get a bit of down time," she offered. Thinking Jack certainly hadn't wasted any time in calling the Janice woman, she finished, "It's been a while since we've been case-free. It'll be nice to go home for a decent sleep."

Jack smiled, his eyes trailing towards the bullpen. His expression became unreadable as he inclined his head towards their common work area and said, "Speaking of which, I believe there's someone waiting for you."

Samantha turned. Martin, having seen her walk towards Jack's office, was now leaning against her desk and regarding them discreetly. Stifling a quick surge of irritation, she suppressed a sigh. He worried every time she and Jack were alone together. She could understand, to some extent, why. Sometimes, however, the constant surveillance was wearing - and, when Jack noticed it, embarrassing.

"Yeah," she said. "I guess I'd better go. Have a good evening with your friend," she offered.

"Thanks," Jack said. "I will."

Still, she found herself lingering. "I guess it'll be nice to re-live old times."

Jack was disappointingly reticent in his reply. "It will be. We've a lot to catch up on."

Rising, he gathered the jacket he'd hung on the back of his chair. These moments with Samantha, when her eyes seemed not-quite-happy and filled with question always affected him. It made him want to tell her to send Martin home. It made him want to open his arms and enfold her in them. It made him want to tell her, yes, he still loved her, and always would...It-

Hardening his heart against what he knew it shouldn't be feeling, he turned towards her. Choices had been made long ago. He refused to dwell on regrets. She was where she needed to be and he- well, he was okay. He would manage.

"You have a good night, too," he said, motioning for her to precede him out the door.

End
Chapter 7
Too Good To Be True