Chapter 7:

Jack winced as Sam burst into his office without any warning and without a word of apology.

He had been going through the files of the latest cases Danny had been working on to find some sort of connection, some hint that would point to his attackers. Now he had been disturbed and he shot a miserable and slightly enraged look at the invader. But by her words all the hard feelings were forgotten for the moment.

"There's a call!"

"Who is it?"

He was slightly confused – the unit was receiving calls all over and she wouldn't rush in here every time the phone rang. But he had a slight feeling of knowing what this was about and why Sam was that excited about it. Maybe this was the connection he had been searching for.

"I don't know, she didn't state a name, but she asked for Danny and she made clear, that she didn't wanna talk to anyone else. She seemed pretty surprised when he didn't answer the phone – and afraid."

"Which line? Is she still hanging on?"

"She's still waiting and we're already trying to track the call. It's line 3."

Jack picked up the phone and took a moment to focus before he addressed the unknown speaker on the other end of the line. Hopefully she wouldn't hang up on him immediately, hopefully she would listen and he would get the chance to find that connection he had been searching for so desperately.

"Hello."

"Who the hell are you?"

"My name's Jack Malone – I'm Agent Taylor's superior..."

"I already told that lady that I wouldn't speak with anyone else. So where is he and why the bloody hell doesn't he answer his phone? What happened to him?"

Her last question caused Jack to remember his own one in hospital and the answer he had received from Dr. Collins. He needed some seconds to get a hold on his feelings and piece the words for an answer together. But his hesitation – the silence – seemed to last long enough to make the woman on the other end realize something. He didn't know what it was, he just could hear in her voice that she was terrified by her realization.

"Dios mio – perdoname!"

And then, without another chance for Jack to react and keep her holding the line any longer, it went dead. But his skills with Spanish were well enough to understand what she had been saying – "Lord forgive me"...

They needed to find this woman – she knew what had happened to Danny, knew it although Jack hadn't even said a single word about. She probably even knew better than he did. He rushed out of the room, shooting a questioning look at Sam, who was standing besides one of the agents from technical, tracking the call. Her words were a salvation as she finally spoke up.

"Got it! The call came from Brooklyn, a former industrial area, probably an abandoned warehouse. That's about 15 minutes from here. If we are lucky we will reach the place before she's able to escape. Maybe she doesn't even leave..."

"Sam, Martin – you gonna join me. Viv, I want you to coordinate this with the local police. I want the roads closed and everybody who is leaving the area checked. As a crude profile I'd say – female, approximately 20 to 40 with a hispanic background. We're gonna call in as soon as we're there."

With a little bit of federal pressure to local police and a lot of luck – the drive to the location of the call luckily just took them some more than ten minutes. Sam was still surprised they weren't already dead, the way the senior agent had been driving. It was obvious that he was desperate to get there as soon as ever possible. She had a look on the print with the track of the call and then had a look at the surrounding, pointing to an old, abandoned, several stocks high brick building with broken windows.

"That's gotta be it, that's where the call came from."

Jack stopped the car in front of the building and silently ordered Martin to the back entrance, he and Sam were getting inside through the front door. He ordered them to possibly not shoot at the caller – he didn't want her to get injured and he didn't believe her to be armed. He simply wanted to talk to her – find out what she knew about Danny , why she –probably- knew about his condition and in which way they were connected.

The first floor, a formerly fabrication hall was clear. There was nobody to be seen, no sign of any living, human being. Jack didn't wanna waste time. Maybe she had a position, from where she could spot them and would be warned. If she escaped they probably would never be able to find her and she – for sure – wouldn't call again.

He spotted the wooden stairs to the second floor and gave a sign to Sam to follow him. He tried to get upstairs as silent as he was able to, but the wood was old, he couldn't help the fact that it creaked. He listened carefully but he couldn't hear any sound as he arrived up there.

Suddenly, without warning and without actually expecting it, he saw a rapid movement from the corner of his eyes. She was still here! He had hoped for it, but he hadn't really believed in it. With another sign to Sam he started to follow the escaping woman. He was surprised that he hadn't heard her and that was still a bad thing – he wouldn't hear her, wouldn't hear if she hid somewhere and would sneak on him from behind. She was careful, she seemed to have known that they were coming and she had put up some security measures to not get caught.

But luck seemed to be on his side since that call had emerged. He had no idea why he did it, but by instinct he checked one of the rooms left to him first – like he knew it was the right thing to do. Gun trained at arming position, he opened the door and was confronted with a young, beautiful woman with long dark hair. Her chest was rising heavily from the running and desperation, but also fury stood in her eyes – no sign of fear. But the most important and alarming thing right now, was the fact, that she was holding a gun in her hands, directly pointing at him.

"Don't you dare to come in here. You won't get any information from me and you will never find what you're searching for! You won't force me to join you – I'd rather die than join you by will! The truth will be revealed – no matter what you do – or what you've already done... Goddamn bastard! Nice move – that phone call."

He had no idea what she was talking about, but the one thing he knew was, that she believed he was somebody else than he actually was, someone who wanted to harm her, or even kill her. He needed to convince her, that he just wanted to talk to her, that he really was with the FBI and that he wouldn't harm her. What he was doing next was a risky thing, but he really needed her to trust him and he needed her to believe him that she could do that. He lowered his arm, holding the gun, put it down and defensively rose his hands.

"I'm not here to harm you and I don't want any documents. I'm not who you think I am. We have been talking on the phone and I really am with the FBI. I just wish to talk to you, want to know which connection you got to Agent Taylor. I need to find out what happened..."

He looked in her face and saw the feelings of desperation and anger die down. Surprise appeared on her face and she really seemed to listen to him. She listened to what he said, but she wouldn't put down her gun, she wouldn't trust him. He needed to find some prove, some way to make her lower her gun, before Sam or Martin would find them and the situation would escalate.

"What the hell did happen – what happened to Agent Taylor? Why didn't he answer his phone?"

He would tell her the truth. He was pretty sure – due to her reaction on the phone – that she already had an idea of what had happened to Danny. She probably was pretty near to the actual reality with her thoughts.

"Agent Taylor,..., he's in hospital – he was severely injured and the doctors aren't sure he's gonna survive..."

He didn't even need any more words to try to convince her. His answer seemed to let her physically break down. He had no idea what caused her reaction, but he believed to see guilt flash in her eyes. She lowered her gun and heavily sat down on the wooden chair near the window.

"Good lord – what have I done?"