Chapter 44:

Jack felt exhausted – physically and emotionally – he just couldn't put it any other way. It had been a horrible day so far: Elizabeth Tejar's death had been confirmed, Danny had suffered from a breakdown and just moments ago he had finally been able to hang up on the Chilean's lawyer who had argued with him about further procedure, openly accusing him to violate the rights of his clients, and having to hear the demand of setting these bastards free over and over again.

There had been moments during that phone call, he had simply wished to yell at the lawyer – especially when he came up with the violation of rights´ talk. Jack's emotions had been boiling right under the surface while he was asking himself if the damn lawyer had any idea what it felt like for the people who's rights really had been violated by his clients.

Luckily the phone call had ended before he had lost his patience with the guy, before he had actually started to yell at him – and it had been close to the edge, he knew that. Right then, Vivian entered his office, showing him a sympathetic smile – obviously the anger was still clearly showing on his face.

„Bad news?"

„I just was on the phone with the Chilean's lawyer – not a pleasant talk after all."

He hadn't expected her to respond to this – there was nothing to say about it. They had all known that their chances of keeping this group of torturers and murderers had been extremely low since the only real evidence they had, had been destroyed. Now, he was left with the uncomfortable, hurtful truth - that they had lost.

„They will get free – it's as easy as that. There is no more evidence left we could use, no one left to press charges and neither can we prove that they are responsible for both of those events. So as long as Danny doesn't give his testimony and presses charges against these guys – we have nothing at hand to keep them under arrest. We have to let them go."

Vivian frowned by his words, and he wasn't really sure what caused it. Of course, this was the most unfair and unpleasant outcome of events they could have been provided with, but she had most definitely been aware of that facts already. However her agitation had been caused by something else.

"He doesn't remember what happened to him, so what's he supposed to testify? Actually we should be damn grateful about this particular fact."

It had happened once again, he was forced to lie due to the things he knew and had no right to tell anyone about it. He knew Danny had been lying about his memory – or the lack of it. He simply wasn't able to talk about it – even if that meant to set his attackers free. He wasn't to blame for his reaction in any way – but still it meant for Jack to be dishonest with Vivian.

"Right... you're right. They will most definitely get free then."

They both knew she was right – there was nothing they could do. The coroner examining Elizabeth's body had been their one last hope, but actually this hope had been pretty pointless. Her body had been in the water for several days before she had been found. All the evidence – if there ever had been any – had been washed away, leaving them with absolutely nothing helpful.

Actually there was nothing else left to say about this whole matter, but Vivian didn't seem willing to leave his office. She was still sitting there, looking at him in a way that definitely told him something was bothering her, something apart from the Chileans and the fact that they had to be set free.

"Jack, what is it that you and Danny are hiding from us? What is it that we are not allowed to know about? What's wrong with the two of you?"

That had been unexpected and Jack was barely able to hide his surprise. He hadn't expected her to approach him that openly on the matter. And he didn't feel comfortable about it for it once again meant that he had to lie, which he really had gotten tired of by now.

"Pardon me!"

"Oh come on – Danny has been avoiding you since he returned, he hasn't been talking to you, he barely ever looks at you and this morning in your office you were fighting with each other. Something is definitely wrong."

He was angry with her, angry about her curiosity. They had agreed to try not to treat Danny differently, giving him a chance to restart the life he had been living before the assault. They had agreed on being careful and sensitive with him and now Vivian was telling him she had kept a close eye on Danny's reaction

"So you have spied on him?"

"I haven't been spying on him. There was no need to. His reactions were hard not to notice."

She was right and he knew it – actually he had known it from the beginning. Being angry with her simply had been easier than admitting his own discomfort about keeping information from her. It had been unpreventable – these people he was working with were trained to see through people's behavior right to the core of the emotion. And with Danny it didn't need a psychologist to see that there was something wrong, that he was hiding something.

"I'm sorry, Viv – I can't tell you. I have no right to – it's up to Danny to tell you about it or not."

He had expected her to insist against his decision, but surprisingly she didn't. They both knew that Danny's behavior was having an effect on their every day work and although he had no right to inform anyone about Danny's condition, he still had the responsibility to have this team - he was superior of - working at it's best. But he couldn't guarantee that right now, not without exposing Danny.

"This thing you can't tell me about... It's the reason he barely ever talks to you, the reason why you were fighting?"

It wasn't much of a question any more. His reaction had been too obvious to still have this in question.

"Yes."

"Then I guess it's better not to know about it."

He didn't say anything in return. She was right and he was aware of that, the expression on her face was enough to tell him that she knew, he didn't need to confirm her words.

She got up from the chair she was sitting in, heading for the door to leave him alone. But she hesitated, turning back to him.

"You have to try to convince him, Jack. You have to make him see that he's the only one who can bring these guys down, the only one who's able to serve justice. He needs to testify against them."

He looked at her with some surprise. He hadn't been aware he had been that easy to read, hadn't expected her to notice, that Danny had actually been lying about his memory of the incident. Jack himself was no longer willing to bend the truth – he just gave in, confirming her suspicion.

"I know."

She nodded thoughtfully and then finally left, left him alone with the decision. She was right – but this was nothing he wanted to do, wasn't even sure of how to do it. Jack knew that Danny felt deeply embarrassed about the fact that Jack knew about the assault – that was the reason for Danny's inability to act normal around him and now it was Jack's task not only to talk about this extremely sensitive matter with Danny, but to convince him to tell it to others as well.

But Danny had to – it was as simple as that. Not only to serve justice and have the Chileans to go to prison for what they did – to him, to Beth and to several hundred other people – but for his one sake and sanity. He had to work through the ordeal he had been forced to endure and this was his one chance to do so. It would be helpful. But if he wasn't able to help himself – no one would.