Chapter 26:

Jack had driven down to the Court House, taking Vivian with him this morning. Today the judge in charge of the Chilean's case would decide, if the evidence available was enough to permit a trial about their crimes and a decision about sending them back to Chile.

He and Elizabeth had agreed to meet at court, although he had repeatedly offered her to take her with him. She hadn't wanted that however – rather from a lack of trust or because she still felt uncomfortable around him due to what had happened just because she had asked for help. He didn't push her – she was a grown up woman and able to decide on her own.

However her unwillingness now resulted in them being forced to wait for her arrival. The trial was set for 10:30 and it was already past ten - the time they had agreed on to meet here. She was late and he wasn't able to explain it – as eager as she had been about justice finally being served on the people she had tried to track down for the past two years.

Still he and Vivian were forced to wait for her and so far there was not even the slightest sign of her arrival. Neither was there any explanation for her being late – she hadn't called him or anyone else of the team, she simply wasn't there. He was nervous about that and it was visible to Vivian.

„Wasn't she supposed to come here today – present her evidence and testify against them?"

He nodded absent minded, his eyes still fixed on the entrance doors of the official building, hoping to detect Elizabeth's face. He ordered himself to stay calm and tried to convince himself that she was simply late. Maybe she hadn't gotten up in time, had been held back by some neighbor, had missed the sub... There were about a million reasons why she would be late.

His mind however was fixed on the one reason for her not being here that was really worrisome. He feared she had been kept from coming here – had been kidnapped or even killed. After everything he knew about the Chileans so far, it seemed like a pretty reasonable explanation.

He had wanted her to be kept under surveillance. Had asked her to agree to the protection being offered to her, but she had denied that. She had been convinced that she had been able to protect herself, and that apart from that, there was no reason to protect here because she wasn't an important part. Her evidence was speaking for itself and it was in the hands of FBI. Killing her would be of no use and neither would it make any sense.

But Jack had the slight impression that sense and reason wasn't something to be expected by that group of murderers and torturers. They hadn't needed a good reason to kill people before – they definitely wouldn't need one this time. Apart from that, they probably took Elizabeth's investigation personal.

They didn't believe that they had done anything wrong, that the task´ they had done, the duty they had fulfilled some twenty years ago in their home country had been a rightful one. They had acted out in loyalty to the government and had obeyed to the orders given to them. That they had done so with pleasure was a completely different thing.

But now Elizabeth had come up – representing the loved ones of those people they had tortured and killed. She had come here with a file full of cruelties and painful memories and she had accused them of a crime. She had come here to take them back and have them sentenced for a crime, which – in their eyes – they never committed. Of course they were infuriated about her actions...

Coming back to her believe that killing her was senseless... The attack on Danny had neither been useful nor reasonable. The evidence he had gathered could have been taken from him without doing what had been done to him. But it had happened none the less – the Chileans had taken this one personal, too.

And this was exactly the reason for Jack's discomfort about Elizabeth not showing up. That nagging sensation,that feeling in the pit of his stomach, which told him something was terribly wrong... He was taken back to the situation around him, when Vivian addressed him once again.

"You think something happened to her."

She didn't even bother to put it as a question and as she already seemed to know the answer, he didn't provide her with one. His emotions must have been clearly showing on his face. Like she had been able to read from his features what he had been thinking about. But after the past days' events and the stuff Elizabeth had told them about the Chileans, that wasn't much of a surprise.

"I'll see if I can reach her. Hopefully she's just late."

He flipped his cell open, dialing the number to Elizabeth's apartment. He could hear the phone ringing for several times before he hung up again and tried her cell – with the very same result. He even tried at the office – hoping she had called or been there to explain why she was late, but nobody had heard from her. Finally he put the cell away, facing Vivian.

"I can't reach her. She definitely should be here by now. She wouldn't miss this trial – for nothing in the world. She has put two and a half years of her life into this, she would never give up now, being so close to serving justice and getting what all these families want."

"Do you think they took her – or killed her?"

"It's the best explanation... But if they did, they won't tell us."

"But it's not making any sense, Jack. The evidence is there, they can't prevent being sentenced."

"They managed to delay the trial – as long as Elizabeth will not be able to present her evidence today, the hearing will be reset. The judge will keep it on hold as long as Elizabeth isn't found."

"If they really took her, we won't find her then. I mean, these guys are good, they managed to hide a mass grave for more then twenty years, they will manage to hide her."

She was right – it was close to hopeless to try and find her, if Beth really had been taken by the Chileans. But they didn't know that for sure. Chances – although they were low – were that maybe there was some other explanation and it was their responsibility to find out.

"So what do you wanna do about it now?"

"We have to try to find her. But for the moment we need to prevent the judge from setting the Chileans free, which he most definitely will do for the moment, if Elizabeth won't testify. I have that certain feeling it would be better if they were kept in federal custody."