Chapter 6:
Sam stepped out of her apartment. It was about noon and she really needed to buy some food. The cupboards as well as the fridge greeted her with emptiness.
She locked the door behind her and was just about to step down the stairs when she heard a voice from behind.
"Samantha?"
It was her neighbor Mr. Franklin living next door. He was a retiree whose wife had died a couple of years ago. From that time on he had lived alone. Every now and then he asked Sam to bring him something from the supermarket or the drugstore which was on the way.
"Hallo, Mr. Franklin." She smiled at the old man when she turned around.
"Are you still on vacation?"
She nodded.
"I should have been an FBI agent. " He said jokingly.
"Probably." Sam didn't know why, but conversations with the old man always made her feel a little less invisible in the big city and sometimes she really liked it.
"I was wondering, if you were heading for the supermarket and could bring this from the pharmacy?" He held out a prescription.
Sam nodded. "Sure."
She was wondering how Mr. Franklin always seemed to pick the right time to open the door so he would run into her. But she knew that he was unbelievably curious in a cute way.
"That's too kind, dear." He said when she took the prescription and then he hesitated for a second as if he wanted to add something. Sam looked at him expectantly.
"I didn't mean to pry on you, of course, but I was wondering if you were seeing Martin again?"
Sam had to chuckle. That came out so innocent that she couldn't be the least bit angry with her neighbor for taking an interest in her private life.
"I am seeing Martin again." she responded.
Mr. Franklin beamed. "I'm really glad. He is an amiable boy. I always liked him."
He sounded like a father being satisfied with his daughter's choice of man.
"I'll be back in about an hour with your medicine, okay?" Sam took two steps in the direction of the stairs.
"Yes, take care, dear." Mr. Franklin called after her.
"As always." She said stepping down the stairs.
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"Okay, thanks. Yeah, we'll be back within the hour." Danny said to the person on the other end of his cell phone. Then he hung up and put the phone back into the pocket of his coat. He turned to Martin who had already opened the car and was now heading for the driver's door.
"That was Jack. Guess what..." He paused for a moment to give Martin the chance to say something. His friend just shrugged so Danny continued.
"Mildred Lewis just called her friend Lioba Anderson. Obviously she hasn't come home, because she had fallen asleep in her boyfriend's apartment and then slept through. She was afraid to call her parents and didn't dare to go home."
"I wouldn't have dared to do that either. Is she on the way home now?"
Danny got into the car and Martin started the engine.
"According to Jack she is." Danny leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment.
Martin looked at him.
"You tired?" he asked
"Only slightly," he supported his statement with a yawn, "But hopefully I'll be home a little earlier today. That is, if no one calls in a missing person."
"That would be a first: Getting home at the regular time..." Martin said, but of course he hoped that this would be the case today.
"I'm sure Jack still has loads of paperwork to keep us from going home too early." Danny sighed.
"I bet he does."
"So," The typical grin already appeared on Danny's face so Martin could prepare himself of what was about to come, "you're going to see Sam tonight?"
Martin threw a look of played irritation at him, but Danny didn't even stop smiling.
"I might see Sam tonight, yes." He finally gave in.
"That's good. Send her my best wishes then."
"I'll see what I can do."
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Of course there was paperwork waiting for them when they had successfully beaten New York City traffic and were back at the office.
It took Martin till late in the afternoon before he could finally lean back in his chair stretching his arms out.
"I'm done!" He said not succeeding to suppress a yawn.
"Lucky you..." He heard Vivian's voice from her bullpen, "I still got enough work for another hour. And there I was thinking that I'd be home on time today."
"We all were." Danny couldn't conceal a sarcastic undertone. It wasn't directed towards Vivian, but more towards Jack though he wasn't even present.
"But this needs to be done eventually. Why not now?" Elena asked.
Danny turned around and looked at her as if he wanted to make sure she really had said what he had just heard.
"This is an easy one! Because I'd rather do it some night when I am sitting here anyway and have nothing better to do."
Martin watched his friend explaining this to Elena with amusement while he stuffed his belongings in his bag.
"Okay, guys, I'm off. See you tomorrow."
"Bye, Martin." Vivian waved and Elena said her good-byes too.
"See you tomorrow." Danny said with a broad knowing grin on his face.
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As soon as Martin had stepped out of the FBI building he reached for his phone to call Sam. Of course she knew that he would be coming by after work, but she probably wouldn't expect him to be that early. Because considering the time he usually left the office it still was early.
He quickly dialed the number of her home phone. It was saved in his cell phone, but he still knew her number by heart and he felt that entering it manually was easier.
He could hear it ringing. It continued for twenty seconds and then he had the answering machine.
"This is Samantha Spade. I'm not at home, obviously. Just leave a message and I'll call you back ASAP."
Martin hung up. He couldn't get rid of a strange feeling that began to rise in him. She could be anywhere, there was no reason to get worried, but he just couldn't shake it off.
He tried her cell phone next.
"Come on, Sam!" He nervously walked up and down in front of the huge building, "Pick up the phone! Please!" He knew that she couldn't hear him, but it made him feel better to speak his thoughts out loud.
At a certain point he lost track on how long he had let it ring, but she still hadn't answered it.
He forced himself to calm down. This could all be mere coincidence. He ended the call and sighed.
The thing that frightened him about this was that Sam might have got cold feet about them being together and didn't want to answer her phone although she was there. But she had seemed so calm this morning that he hadn't thought about that to happen so far.
He tried both numbers again, but still didn't get anyone.
"Dammit!" He said a little too loud, because he could see people staring at him, but he didn't care about what they thought. Damn them, too, he thought in defiance.
He thought about heading to his apartment instead, but if she really was home and there was a problem it needed to be sorted out. That was why he needed to be at Sam's as quickly as possible and he hoped that he was just making a fuss about a problem that didn't exist.
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Martin knocked at her door for the third time now.
"Sam, if you're there open the door, please." He tried hard to hear if there were any noises coming from inside.
But nothing stirred in Sam's apartment.
He could however hear that another door was opened and only a moment later the old Mr. Franklin living next door come in sight.
"Oh, Martin, it's you. I heard strange noises and thought I'd better have a look, but it's only you I see."
"I'm sorry if I have disturbed you."
Mr. Franklin shook his head and chuckled.
"No, you didn't disturb me. I'm always happy when I'm given a reason to rise from my armchair." The smile on his face faded away when he looked into Martin's worried face.
"You don't happen to know where Sam is, do you?" Martin knew that Mr. Franklin was a curious fellow and if he was lucky he might have seen something this time.
"Well, yes and no. That's why I'm so glad to see you actually." Martin hoped that further elaboration of this bizarre answer would follow and Mr. Franklin didn't disappointed him.
"She left for the supermarket and wanted to go to the pharmacy for me to get my pills, you know for my back and my arthritis, but she has been gone for a couple of hours now."
Martin was relieved and even more concerned at the same time. On the one hand he was relieved that he probably wasn't the reason she didn't answer her phone, but on the other hand he was worried that something might have happened to her.
"When did she leave?" He asked quickly finding his professionalism. It was his job to find missing persons after all.
"About twelve. And she said she would be back in an hour." Mr. Franklin took of his glasses and blinked a couple of times "You don't suppose something has happened to her, do you? I mean, she seemed so positive this morning. I haven't seen her like that in a long time."
Martin tried to block his emotions as good as he could so he could think properly. This could after all just be a big misunderstanding.
"Did she mention where she wanted to go?"
Mr. Franklin shook his head. "No, she didn't, but I guess to the same supermarket she always goes to. It's only a couple of blocks. And she gets my medicine at Hardy's."
Martin took a step towards the stairs.
"I'm gonna see if I can find her."
"Don't worry, son, I'm sure she is okay and will be home soon."
Martin hoped that the old man was right, but he had to look for her nevertheless.
End Chapter 6...
A/N: As this wasn't really much I'm gonna updat asap... but I have a football match tomorrow and I need to learn for plant physiology... But on monday!
