Jackie is back from holiday, so on with the story.
Supporting Rumors - Part 32
"Ahem."
They broke their kiss and Sam straightened up and blushed as she saw General Hammond standing in the doorway.
"Sorry to interrupt ..."
"George, come on in, take a load off ..."
"Sir," said Sam, standing a little stiffly, her fingers brushing at the hem of her blouse.
"Please, Sam, sit," said George with a smile as he closed the door and came to stand beside her. She sat and as she did so, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "I just called to give you some news about the shooter."
Jack straightened a little and gave George his 'okay, hurry up, I'm waiting' look.
"Wish I could have gotten your attention so easily in briefings, Jack," joked George. "Homeland Security acted on an anonymous tip off and they've taken someone into custody."
"And?" Jack's prompted, his eyebrows rising expectantly.
George sighed. "There's very little doubt that they've got the right man, but they're still looking for the motive. He won't admit to anything. At the moment all they have to go on is forensic evidence."
"Got a name?"
"Minucos. Ettan Minucos."
Jack started visibly. "WHAT? Him?"
"Jack?" asked Sam, worried by his reaction.
"You know the man?" George took a step closer.
"We had him checked out - he's just a nutter!"
"Do you have any idea why he would shoot you?"
Jack shook his head. "He wasn't even threatening in the letters. He wrote me a couple of times … the usual thing you know, aliens, you know the usual government conspiracies … but he checked out harmless, no history of ..."
George looked on gravely as Jack spoke, then sighed heavily. "I'll pass this information on. They may want to interview you again."
"This means he was targeting you," said Sam.
Jack shrugged. "Probably, but why? I only sent the usual thank you, duly noted response, nothing for him to get so upset with me about and that was, well, months ago."
"Why do you remember the name? Don't you get a lot of letters like that?"
"Stacks, but he sort of coincided with when I first started. He was uh, well my first nut job."
"How would he know where you were going to be if you didn't know yourself?" asked Sam as the thought occurred to her.
"It was a high powered rifle," explained George, "I'll check if the place he shot from could have targeted both exits. If not ..."
Jack nodded. "The meeting was regarding an Area 51 security matter. There were some pretty big wigs there, why the hell he picked on me ..."
Sam exchanged a look with Hammond. Jack never seemed to realize just how vital he actually was in the grand scheme of things.
"We'll find out. He isn't going anywhere. What we need to be sure of though is if he was acting alone. I'll keep you up to speed."
"Thanks George, appreciate it."
"I'll leave you in peace now." George made his way to the door and opened it. He turned around, his hand on the handle. "You can get back to what you were doing before I interrupted." The twinkle in his eyes lit his face and as the door closed behind him, Sam was left with her mouth open while a wide smile spread over Jack's features.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
TBC
A little note from me on the subject of the story not being very positive up until this point. Jack is paralyzed from the chest down after being almost killed only a short while ago – good reason for either him or the people close to him to not be too upbeat. I think Jackie has written everyone's reactions in a very realistic manner. But then I'm biased. - Flatkatsi
