Title: Privilege

Author: NightMage

Rating: maybe PG13, to be safe.

Summary: The team gets very, very frustrated with doctor-patient privilege! And Sam deals with a problem of her own. My very first M/S fic. Please R&R!

NOTES:

Again, thanx to everyone who R&Red. I know, my summary still doesn't make sense... I hope to get to it in this chapter, but I don't know if I will because I haven't written it yet. That sounds stupid, but oh well. And, I'm sorry if some of the official stuff isn't acurate, deal with it :-p

Spikey the Neon BlowFish: all I can say is, I hope it stays with you on rainy days.

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Chapter 4
THE SHRINK

"If I tell you who I was calling –"

Danny interrupted Cai. "Oh, so now you were on that street corner."

"If I tell you, can I leave?"

Danny hesitated. Obviously, she didn't realize that without probable cause, she could leave whenever she wanted to. For a second, Danny struggled – would it be right to take advantage of her ignorance? He mentally scolded himself. Hell, yeah. Whatever got the job done, as long as it didn't hurt anybody.

"Sure, if it's true."

"...I was calling a friend of my... mother's."

"Does this friend have a name?"

"Yeah... Nancy."

"Nancy what?"

Cai tugged a stray thread out of her shirt sleeve. "I don't know.

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Martin sat down at his desk, started shifting through his paperwork, and sighed.

"Hey."

Martin looked up. Danny stood in front of him, with his coat on. "You going somewhere?"

"Driving Cai Sanford home." Danny nodded his head toward the door. Martin looked over and saw the girl standing there self-consciously, waiting.

"Listen." Danny leaned down over Martin's desk. "Cai says she was calling a friend of her mom's from that phone booth, a Nancy someone. Now, Cai's mother's name is Rissa Thompson, and, according to the file, she walked out when Cai was three. Apparently she still visits. I ran her through the search engine– she lives at 915 Kennan Road, Wooddale. Do me a favor?"

"Run over to Wooddale and ask Mom what Nancy's last name is?"

"You got it. Oh, and," Danny glanced at him slyly. "Samantha doesn't look too busy at the moment. Maybe you could invite her to come with you." Smirking, he turned and left with Cai.

Martin scowled at Danny's retreating back, then glanced over at Samantha. She was staring at a huge vase of screaming-pink flowers, which was sticking out from under her desk. What? Where did those come from? Oh well, no matter. Martin steeled himself, then walked over.

"Hey, Samantha."

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Some old lady was looking at him funny. Maybe she could see that he was not actually talking to anyone on the phone. Damn. He probably looked pretty stupid standing with a broken phone to his ear and staring across the street at the FBI building. Had been for an hour or so. But he had to see her. God, she was gorgeous.

Oh, hell, there she was now! She was coming out of the building! Maybe he'd run over and introduce himself. No, no wait, a man was coming out after her. Who was he? Boyfriend? No, he couldn't be, she couldn't have a boyfriend already. No, it must be a colleague, a fellow agent.

They were getting into a car. License plate? FTZGERLD. Must be a custom plate. His or hers? Well, he'd find out when they went home for the night.

That old lady was still looking at him suspiciously. He guessed that was his cue to leave.

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"I haven't done anything illegal." Rissa Thompson glared at the two agents on her doorstep and began to close the door in their faces.

Samantha stepped forward. "Ms. Thompson, it's about your daughter."

Ms. Thompson hesitated, then spat, "Whatever it is, Carl put her up to it."

Samantha continued, "This has nothing to do with your ex-husband. We need to know about your friend - Nancy?"

Now Ms. Thompson pulled open the door. "What's she got to do with Cai?" She demanded.

Martin backed up a little from where Sam had started. "Ms. Thompson, I'm agent Fitzgerald, this is Agent Spade, FBI. A friend of your daughter's, Carolynn Casper, has gone missing. Now, there's something Cai's not telling us, and it may be important. She made a call to someone she claims is a friend of yours, a Nancy Someone."

Martin stopped. Ms. Thompson looked confused. "Well, Nancy Dawson, I suppose. She's an official shrink, but she listens to me for free. And you know, with Carl and all..."

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SEARCHING... SEARCHING... MATCH FOUND. Nancy Dawson, age 38, psychiatrist, Terracotta Road, Building 19, Floor 7. Samantha went to tell Martin.

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"You can go in now." The secretary pointed to the door, and went back to her computer. Martin and Sam stood up and entered the psychiatrist's office.

Nancy Dawson rose to meet them as they walked in. "Hello, take a seat. I was told you were from the FBI? Is there a problem?"

Samantha cut right to the chase. "Cai Sanford called you from a payphone on Jefferson three days ago; could you tell us what that call was about?

"What is this concerning?"

"A friend of Cai's, a Carolynn Casper, went missing the same day," Martin explained briefly. "Cai is hiding something that could be important."

Nancy Dawson sighed and shifted some papers on her desk. "Well, I would love to help you, but unfortunately I'm not allowed to disclose anything my client and I have discussed."

Samantha leaned forward. "Ms. Dawson, anything you know could be vital to the investigation."

Martin blinked. Danny had said the exact same thing to Cai.

Ms. Dawson shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't help you."

Samantha grimaced, then thought of something. "So, Cai Sanford is a paying patient? This isn't just a favor for her mother?"

Ms. Dawson looked uncomfortable. "Yes..."

"Who pays? Rissa?"

"Um, well..." She cleared her throat. "Actually, I'm not sure I should divulge the source. But yes, if you must know, Cai Sanford's sessions are payed for."

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