US Courthouse

Martin arrived outside the courtroom as the door opened and people began to flow out. He pushed through, hardly bothering to apologise in his haste to find Danny.

Danny was standing talking with the ADA, Hannah Standish, a well endowed, attractive blonde in her early 30's. Martin could see that Danny was turning on the charm and that it was working, ADA Standish was playing with her hair and thrusting her chest out to eye popping effect. The defence attorney was clearly smitten and was throwing envious glances at Danny.

Martin forced his way through to where Danny was standing still oblivious to Martin's presence. He smiled grimly to himself, in a huge black cloud there was a least a sliver of a silver lining for Danny; he would be spared the 'experience' that was Hannah Standish. As Martin had discovered a few weeks earlier, with ADA Standish appearances were very definitely misleading...he shuddered as he remembered how the evening had ended, it had been such a turnoff...

'Danny'

Danny looked up, surprised to see Martin standing a few feet a way. He opened his mouth to ask him what he was doing here and then closed it again; if Martin was here it must be a case and it must be urgent. His gaze shifted briefly back to Hannah Standish; he didn't know if he was bothered or not that it looked as if he was going to have to pass on her offer of a drink so she could 'de-brief him after his testimony'. She certainly wasn't subtle……….'

Martin arrived at his side and the look in his eye had Danny frowning, it must be something serious…..he watched as Hannah Standish shot Martin a coy look which Martin ignored completely

'Hello Martin, I haven't seen you for a while' she purred

Danny shot Martin an incredulous look. She was purring and that could only mean……

Martin ignored Hannah Standish and looked at Danny; his voice sounded strained 'We need to get going'

Danny mentally raised an eyebrow; it wasn't like Martin to ignore someone like that; normally he displayed impecable manners whatever the situation. He sent an apologetic look at Hannah Standish and followed Martin out of the courtroom.

Martin walked swiftly down the hallway, away from the crowds with Danny following; as they reached a quieter area Martin felt Danny grab his arm and turn him so they were facing each other; 'What the hell's going on?'

Martin looked around and spotted an alcove with a bench in it; it was set back from the corridor and afforded the users a degree of privacy. He started to move toward it but Danny kept hold of his arm and refused to move 'Martin, what's going on?'

Martin saw the mulish look on Danny's face and spoke quietly 'This is important Danny'. The protests died on Danny's lips and he followed Martin to stand by the bench.

Martin didn't bother with any preamble 'A three year old girl was snatched from Central Park late this morning, her name is Molly McCardle' As he watched for Danny's reaction Martin was aware he was holding his breath, hoping, praying……..

He saw Danny was staring at him blankly, trying to understand why Martin was behaving as he was then Danny spoke slowly; 'Ok, well, what does Jack need me to do?'

Martin had to make a conscious effort to breath; he knew Danny was good at his job but surely no-one was that good? OK, time for the next bombshell; 'Her mother is a Dr Caitlin McCardle…''

Now he saw the reaction….

'I know her' Danny's voice was flat, controlled, and Martin had a sudden memory of a diner in San Diego

'Yeh, well, its all water under the bridge. You know the usual 'love of your life cheats on you with her rich, handsome very successful ex boyfriend.'

'I know you do'

Danny looked hard at Martin, comprehension flooding his eyes 'Is my relationship with her part of this investigation?' Danny sounded dangerous now and Martin remembered another time he had heard that particular note in his voice

'You screwed my brother'

On that occasion Martin had had to pull Danny off the punk who had double crossed his brother in a drugs deal.

Before Martin could answer, his cell phone rang………..

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Press Conference – FBI Office, New York

Caitlin stood waiting for the start of the press conference; she felt strangely disconnected from everything going on around her, as if she was hovering above the room and watching herself. She felt Jack's hand on her arm and she turned to look at him

'Remember, make eye contact with the cameras, make sure you use Molly's name as much as possible, appeal directly to whoever has taken Molly but don't threaten any reprisals and don't be afraid to show emotion.'

She nodded and then turned back to stare at the door to the pressroom, a man standing next to the door turned and nodded at Jack; she felt him place his hand on her elbow and gently move her forward.

Walking into the noise and the lights she felt as if she had run into a wall; breathing seemed difficult and her legs felt as if they were made from concrete. She could feel herself start to shake, the panic and fear that she had pushed down inside herself all day rising to the surface. She felt Jack's hand on her back 'Are you OK?' she could hear the concern in his voice; she could see a picture of Molly on the screen at the back of the room……………..she managed to draw breath and fighting hard to stay in control managed to nod her head.

Jack was concerned; he had felt her reaction when she walked into the room. He knew she was on a knife edge……….he stood in front of a battery of microphones and began to speak

Caitlin stood staring at the picture of Molly on the monitor at the back of the room as Jack spoke, telling them about Molly, where she had been taken from, when she had been taken, showing the sketches of the suspects. She felt him touch her on the arm and she realised he had finished; she stepped up to the microphones.

'I want to ask whoever has Molly to please bring her back' she heard her voice but didn't recognise it, 'I know you love Molly and will take good care of her but she needs to come home now, and I want to tell Molly that I love you sweetheart and that I can't wait to see you again….' She felt her control going and felt the tears pouring down her face as Jack gently steered her away from the microphones

'Dr McCardle is it true that you have refused to let Molly's father see her and that the FBI believe he has taken Molly because of this?'

Caitlin felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach; she stared into the melee of reporters trying to see who had asked the question, 'No…..' she felt her throat contract and no more words would come, she looked frantically at Jack

Jack stepped forward to the microphones 'We are pursuing a number of leads and at this point we won't be commenting on any of them….' But he couldn't finish before he was interrupted.

'Isn't it a conflict of interest for your team to be investigating this case Agent Malone when one of your team members, Special Agent Danny Taylor, is Molly's father?'

The room went silent; Jack knew that he had to get Caitlin out of the room…..then the silence ended as reporters began screaming questions ……

'Has he been questioned…?'

'Does he have an alibi……?'

'Is he in custody…?'

Jack grabbed Caitlin and bundled her through the door to the relative sanctuary on the other side.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

US Courthouse

Martin shot an apologetic look a Danny and answered his cell; 'Fitzgerald'

'Martin it's Jack, are you with Danny?'

The tone of Jack's voice told Martin that something was wrong 'Yes'

'Where are you?'

'Still at the Courthouse, what's wrong?'

'The press know that Danny is Molly's father and want to know if he's being questioned.'

'Shit'

'You need to get him back here as quickly as you can and when you get here take him to my office, not Van Doren's. I'm putting Caitlin in Van Doren's office, it's quieter and after what she's just been through she needs somewhere quiet to sit. Under no circumstances is Danny to go anywhere near her until we have sorted out exactly what happened four years ago, understand?' Before waiting to hear Martin's reply Jack continued 'And if he wont stay put then handcuff him to the fucking chair.' Jack sounded furious.

'Right' Martin ended the call and looked at Danny who was staring back at him, his face a mix of confusion and anger with a healthy dose of suspicion thrown in

'Why is my relationship with a woman I dated over four years ago part of an investigation into a missing child?' Danny didn't raise his voice but Martin could hear the anger bubbling under the surface

'I need you to tell me what happened between you and Caitlin' Martin kept his voice calm and looked Danny square in the eyes, managing not to flinch at the expression he could see there

Danny stared at him as if he grown another head or possibly a forked tail 'What do you mean 'what happened' between us; she cheated on me, I dumped her' Danny's voice sounded as harsh and angry as his words.

'Tell me how it ended, why did you think that she was cheating on you?'

Danny opened his mouth to refuse, to tell Martin to go and fuck himself but Martin spoke before he could form the words; look either you talk to me or you talk to Jack and believe me when I tell you that I would definitely opt for talking to me'

Danny sat down abruptly on the bench and rubbed his eyes. He looked up at Martin for a moment, his face impassive then indicated with his hand that Martin should sit down too.

Staring sightlessly into the distance Danny started to talk; 'We met at this diner across from the hospital one night after her shift had finished. She was stunning and I couldn't believe it when she said she would have dinner with me. We sat there in a booth at the back of the diner and we talked all night, I don't really remember what about but I know I didn't want that night to end. I asked her to go out with me on the Saturday night and we went to this club I know that plays Latin music and we danced all night. We ended up at her bed sit and that was it really, the only time we weren't together after that was when one of us was at work.'

Danny looked down at his hands and then at Martin; 'I'd never met anyone like her; she was clever, funny, beautiful…… and I fell in love with her. We had been together just over 5 months when I asked her if she wanted to get a place together. She said yes………..' Martin saw that Danny's eyes had darkened and he was frowning as he continued 'It must have been the next day that I got a phone call to tell me she was seeing her ex boyfriend. He was a Surgeon at NYU and I knew she was still friendly with him. I ignored it but I got a couple more and………….' Danny's face was twisted in pain at the memory, 'I went to the hospital to speak to her. I got there and saw her making out with him….'

Danny's hands were balled into fists, the knuckles showing white and his jaw was rigid

'She came home that night as if nothing was wrong, telling me what a bad day it had been and how tired she was and I just lost it. I must have woken up half her block yelling at her, telling her I knew what was going on. She threw me out and told me she never wanted to see me again'

Danny stared at the floor; Martin left him to his thoughts for a couple of minutes

'Are you sure she was cheating on you?'

Danny's head jerked up, a furious look on his face 'Well if I wasn't then I certainly was when she upped and moved to San Francisco with him TWO WEEKS later.'

Martin took a deep breath and feeling his way carefully 'So did you speak to her at all after you left that night?'

Danny scowled 'I got a couple of phone messages along the line of 'we need to talk' but I was too angry. I called her back and left a message telling her I didn't want to talk and that we were finished.'

'Right, you didn't get a letter from her at all?'

'Letter? No I didn't get a letter, what the hell would she write to me about?' Danny sounded scathing; Martin felt a small sense of relief, he was absolutely certain that Danny was telling the truth but…..

'And what about the following year, did you hear from her then?'

Danny's expression gave him the answer before the words left his lips 'No I didn't;' he spoke slowly enunciating each word separately.

Martin sat back aware of the churning emotions within him. He knew Danny well enough to know when he was telling the truth and Martin was absolutely sure that everything he had just heard was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. What it didn't explain was what happened to the second letter and why Caitlin would lie about pushing the first under Danny's door…….. something Danny had said that day in San Diego sprang unbidden into his mind

'Women are better liars…it's proven'

Martin thought that maybe Danny had called it right in this case….

'Martin?' there was a dangerous note to Danny's voice; Martin could feel his mind scrambling….

'Martin, why does my relationship with Caitlin have anything to do with her daughter being kidnapped……………..' Danny paused and shook his head 'I didn't even know she had a daughter'

Martin took a deep breath and looked Danny in the eye 'When we were doing the background checks on Caitlin we found out that there is no father listed on Molly's birth certificate'

Danny snorted but stopped at the look on Martin's face

'We asked her who the father was and she was reluctant to say anything at first but eventually we discovered his name…' Martin paused and looked at Danny

'Nick fucking Hollander' Danny made no effort to disguise his anger

'No, no its you. You're Molly's father'