AN: This chapter is shorter than what I've been putting out, but figured something was better than nothing. Fair warning. More questions than answers in this one. I'll make the next one nice and long.

Jonny's mood deflated even further when he looked at the caller ID.

'Fuck,' he thought in frustration.

It was Race. Again. Race had been calling him every hour on the hour, but Jonny did not have anything new to report. At least not over the phone. He knew the reverse was also true. Race was incredibly brief the first time Jonny had called him from Jacksonville. Jonny was not sure why, but he followed Race's lead anyway. Each call after that only served to ratchet up Jonny's frustration. He was anxious to get back to the island. He wanted to be where Jessie was and he wanted to have a conversation with Race in person.

Jonny also wanted it to be Jade on the other end of the ringing phone. He had left her three messages.

"Race," he greeted lamely.

"Progress?"

"Yes on the first thing. No on the second."

"Likely or not likely?"

"I still have a lot of data to sift through. It's more manual than anticipated. Would be faster with help."

"I'll call Jade," he offered.

"NO. What about…"

"No Jonny."

"I don't understand. Race, at this point, what's the diff…"

"Finish what you started there," Race cut him off. "I'll explain later. Call if you need me."

It took every ounce of patience Jonny had not to push for more. Instead, he hung up and tossed the phone into the center console. Then he turned back to the computer and tried to steady his breathing so he could focus better. He was perpetually reminding himself that Race would have a reason. He had to trust that.

"You two are talking in code now?" Estella asked in confusion.

Jonny ignored her and kept working through the case files. The only thing he wanted more in that moment than Jessie was to call his brother and ask for help.

XXX

"Where is my son?" Benton demanded.

"Sir…"

"Stop calling me that," Benton interrupted. "I've been cooperative the last few hours. Now I'm preparing to go above your head, Director. You've isolated me from my son. You've been questioning us both for hours…to no end I might add. I've told you everything I know. So have Phil and Hadji…I'm sure of that. Stop this now."

"You say they've told me everything," Director Bartlett nodded. "And yet…I still don't know how Mr. Bannon came upon that body before I did. You're not leaving this room until you help me figure that out. How about you call him again?"

"He's clearly not taking my calls," Benton growled. "How many times are you gonna make me try?"

"Until I get what I want," the Director said condescendingly.

"If Race is not answering, he has a good reason. He's out there trying to find his daughter," Benton defended.

"He's interfering in an ongoing investigation," the Director snarled. "And I know you're helping him."

"I'm not helping anyone," Benton responded. "I'm wasting hours away in this room. That helps no one. Especially not these young women that are in danger. One of whom I happen to love very much. And if she does not come home safely and YOU have interfered with that…"

"What?"

Benton shook his head and smiled grimly. "I'll go above your head," he threatened subtly and then stood. "Like I said."

XXX

Estella graduated to the front seat of Jonny's car, but Jonny had long ago gone quiet again. At least it felt like forever to her. Too much time was passing. Too much time for her to think about all the pointless arguments and wasted moments over the last few years.

Jessie opened her bedroom door and the surprise on her face was immediate. "Mom," she smiled and quickly pulled the older woman into the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, it's not every day that my little girl gets into Harvard," Estella announced proudly. "I had to come and tell you how happy I am in person."

Jessie was beaming. "Jonny was gonna take me out tonight, but I could be tempted with a better offer since it's you."

"I'm honored," Estella laughed, sitting on Jessie's bed and patting the spot beside her. "This is so amazing. I was bragging about you to complete strangers the whole trip. College is the BEST time of your life," Estella gushed. "I would go back in a heartbeat."

"You may have mentioned that once or twice," Jessie rolled her eyes playfully.

"You'll learn so much about yourself being on your own for the first time, spreading your wings…meeting new people," Estella said wistfully. "I'm so pleased."

Jessie sighed loudly. "Please don't go there. We agreed to a cease fire on the topic of my relationship. Remember?"

"Oh…I didn't even mention his name," Estella said calmly.

"Subtly is not your strong suit, mother."

"Sweetheart…"

"Please don't ruin this visit," Jessie begged. "Please. You're not gonna get your way on this unless Jonny and I make that decision. And I really don't see that happening. Get used to him."

"You seem incredibly confident," Estella said in awe.

"I am," Jessie grinned.

"You're so young, sweetie."

"MOM."

"I want to talk about it. Please?" Estella asked. "I don't want to fight."

"There's no point though. We fundamentally disagree."

"Make me understand."

"Is that even possible?" Jessie laughed.

"I'm not sure," Estella admitted. "I just don't want to see you with a broken heart."

"You want me to break his though?" Jessie raised an eyebrow.

"Young men like him are resilient."

"Young men like him," Jessie repeated. "Do you know why I'm so confident?" Jessie tried to ask patiently.

"Because you're in love with him," Estella said softly. "I know that. I can see it."

"That's such a small part of the reason, mom."

"It's not, sweetie. Those feelings are so overwhelming the first time."

"I'm not blinded by my feelings for him anymore. Not completely anyway. I was," Jessie admitted. "I was for a really long time and it was confusing and overwhelming like you said. Jonny and I almost let our own insecurities ruin the whole thing more than once, but then something amazing happened," she smiled.

"What?"

"He let his guard down, mom. Completely. He let me in," Jessie's face lit up. "I'm so confident because I know exactly how he feels about me. He tells me all the time."

The sudden anger in Jonny's voice made Estella jump.

"I don't understand why this is taking so long, Jade? I've been sitting out here for THREE hours…DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN." Estella watched Jonny close his eyes and take a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I know you're doing everything you can. I'm just…it's been twenty hours…Yeah, thank you. Bye."

"Jonny?" Estella tried.

"DAMNIT," he screamed, slamming on the steering wheel and punching the dashboard. "This is unacceptable." He was breathing heavily and Estella was not completely sure where his anger was directed.

"Seems like Jade is doing all she can," Estella offered.

"I know," Jonny growled. "She's not the one I'm mad at. It's unacceptable that Jess is in this position. I should've been there. I…"

"It's not your fault," Estella insisted. "You couldn't have prevented this…"

"I WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS," Jonny turned to meet her shocked gaze. "I'd have killed this bastard before letting him touch her. She'd probably…no definitely," he laughed. "…be so mad at me right now." His eyes started to well just thinking about her all fired up at him. He knew exactly how it would have gone.

"Why?"

"Because I would've been incapable of letting her out of my sight for the rest of the day," he smiled. "I would've crowded her. She'd let me for a while, but eventually she'd get frustrated and call me out for overreacting. I wouldn't apologize for one second of it though, which would make her yell at me on reflex alone," he paused. "She'd be so mad at me right now, but she'd also be safe in my arms. I know it. I know it, Estella."

Estella had no time to absorb his profession before he was gone. He did not even shut the car door.

Jonny was rushing toward the Jackal the moment the door across the street opened and began hurling questions from the middle of the street. "What do you have? Out with it," he demanded expectantly.

The Jackal lifted his hands and gestured for Jonny to calm down. "I do have something…"

"What?" Jonny interrupted. "Where is it?" The Jackal had nothing in his hands so Jonny looked down, but did not see anything in his waistband either.

"What's going on?" Estella ran up and asked.

"Mark here was just about to tell me," Jonny sneered. "Isn't that right?" The Jackal looked surprised at hearing his name. "I know who you are, Mark. Now tell me what you found."

Mark swallowed, but stood his ground. "We need to negotiate first. There's a matter of my compensation."

"Excuse me?" Jonny was shocked. "You work for Jade."

"I know who you are," Mark laughed nervously. "I think you can afford it."

On principle, Jonny did not want to give this guy a dime. However, he knew he had the money from Race's bag handy and did not want to waste more time. "I have almost nine hundred dollars cash in the car," he growled.

Mark shook his head no. "That's not good enough. Like I said, I know who you are."

Jonny closed his eyes and took two deep breaths, willing himself to stay calm. "Where's the information?" Jonny demanded. Then he stalked forward until Mark's back was pressed into the door. Mark had nowhere to go unless it was through Jonny.

"You won't find it without me," Mark's voice wavered.

Jonny clenched his fists. "I'll get you whatever you want if your information pans out." Jonny said it slowly and stared Mark down. "…but my patience is running out."

"Jonny," Estella grabbed his upper arm and tried to pull him back. He was visibly shaking and it was making her nervous.

Jonny did not turn away from Mark, but gently pushed Estella away. "Get back in the car," he ordered her. "Mark?" he prompted.

"I'm gonna need to get paid in advance," Mark insisted.

Jonny saw red. Then he lunged forward and pressed his forearm into Mark's throat roughly. Both of Mark's hands shot up and tried to pull Jonny's arm away, but he could not get any leverage.

"Jonny…" Estella tried again.

"Be quiet or get in the car, Estella. I'm serious."

"Get off me," Mark choked out.

"Last chance. What did you find?" Jonny repeated. Mark tried to shake his head no beneath Jonny's hold.

"JONNY DON'T," Estella screamed, but her scream was cut off by Mark's scream of pain after Jonny plunged the knife he had been carrying around into Mark's thigh.

"Ahhh…What are you doing?" Mark said desperately. "Please…stop. Stop. Stop," he cried out and then shifted his eyes to Estella. "Please help."

"Shut the fuck up," Jonny yelled into Mark's face, which was getting redder by the minute. "Shut up and listen to me, Mark. You really picked the wrong guy on the wrong day," he breathed heavily. "And if you don't tell me what I want to know, I WILL twist this knife. I'll make sure you never walk without a limp again. LOOK AT ME. She can't help you."

"I'll call the cops," Mark threatened.

"To tell them what?" Jonny laughed without humor and twisted the knife a little to the right.

"Stop….stop," Mark begged. "Cameras. There are cameras."

"There are no cameras on this street," Jonny said through his teeth. "Do you think I'm fucking stupid?" He twisted the knife another half inch.

"Stop…Please stop…Jade…Jade she…"

"LIKES ME MORE THAN SHE LIKES YOU," Jonny shouted and flicked his wrist to the right again.

"No…don't…don't…stop,"

"Jonny please," Estella begged. "I don't think he knows anything."

"Mark, I feel like I haven't made myself clear," Jonny spoke over Estella. "Look me in the eye so I know you understand," he then demanded and waited until Mark's eyes shot up to his. "Have you ever loved something more than you love yourself?"

Jonny continued when Mark showed no sign of answering. "I have. I do. The girl I love more than anything else is in danger right now. I need this information to help her and I'm not leaving here without it. So the only question is how much damage I cause before you give it to me." Jonny waited a beat to see if the flood gates would open. "Make me prove it and I will. I'm feeling a little desperate right now. Like I may have nothing to lose. Have you ever felt that way, Mark?" Another beat. "You have three seconds. One…Two…"

"INSIDE. Inside this door on the third step. The access card is in my waistband…" Mark coughed.

"Estella," Jonny said calmly and then pulled Mark away from the door and slammed him into the adjacent wall.

Estella jumped at hearing her name, but snapped out of it quickly to lift Mark's shirt and grab the access card. She nervously dropped it before getting her bearings and finding her way inside the building. There was a manila envelope folded and sitting right on the third step just as Mark said. Estella grabbed it without any further hesitation and ran back outside, waving it in the air.

"Alright," she swallowed. "You can let him go now. We have what we came for, Jonny."

Jonny did not budge.

"Let me go," Mark begged. "I gave you what you wanted, man."

Jonny sighed. "Mark, I don't think we've reached that point in our relationship yet where I can trust you. Open it up, Estella. Read it to me."

"Shit," Estella growled and teared at the envelope wildly. She pulled out two sheets of paper and squinted to try and read them in the dark. "I'm not sure what I'm looking at," her voice shook. "Something from the Fulton County School District…"

"It is Lena," Jonny sagged. After finding her Instagram account, Jonny had easily found her Facebook profile which mentioned that she was a teacher in Atlanta. Mark used the change in Jonny's posture to try and slip away, but Jonny quickly regained his composure and threw Mark back against the wall. "Is it Lena Barnes?" Jonny asked him.

"Yes," Mark whispered. "I was able to identify her using the print you gave me. She's a teacher so her prints are on file."

"Did you find anything else?' Jonny asked.

"No," Mark answered immediately. "I swear. I tried to find a missing person report, but…"

"I know," Jonny interrupted. "I already looked for one." He was afraid of this. "Shit." Jonny pulled the knife out slowly and then threw Mark to the ground. "I'll be sure to tell Jade how helpful you were," he looked down in disgust. "Let's go, Estella. I have an idea. You drive."

XXX

"What are you doing?" Estella asked as they approached the bridge that would lead them back to the island. It had taken her a few minutes to work up the courage to say something. She was not scared of Jonny. When she really thought about it, she was not even sure that she actually disapproved of his actions. She was not sure of anything anymore, especially her opinion of the young man her daughter was so devoted to. "Shouldn't we call Race?" she added.

Jonny shook his head. "No. I need to talk to him in person."

"Why?" she asked nervously.

"I'm not sure," Jonny admitted.

"You're scaring me even more," she swallowed.

"That's not my intention."

"I know," she sighed. "Shouldn't…um shouldn't you throw that knife over the bridge or something?" she asked. Still nervous. "Get rid of the evidence?"

"There are cameras on the bridge," he shot back matter-of-factly. He showed no remorse for his actions.

"Of course," she laughed morosely. "What was I thinking?" She looked over at him briefly and then softened slightly. "You must be exhausted, Jonny."

"No more than you," he deflected.

"Have you made any progress on your search of the Director?" she asked.

"Yes," he nodded.

"Anything you can share?" The exhaustion was clear in her voice.

"No." He said it so firmly that she decided to let it go.

She turned toward him again when she felt him staring at her out of her peripheral. His response had been firm, but the look on his face was not. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he sagged in his seat and closed his eyes.

"I FUCKING love you, baby. Do you know that?" he slurred.

"I'm aware," Jessie responded dryly, grabbing the hand he had on her face and placing it back in his lap. "Now keep your hands to yourself. I'm trying to drive." She was not nearly as annoyed as she was pretending to be, but she was annoyed.

"You're the coolest AND hottest girlfriend. Seriously," he grinned and then started laughing hysterically. "That sounded contradictory, but it wasn't. You know what I mean. You're the best. Such a good birthday. Thank you."

She sighed. "Do you plan on remembering any of it, Hotshot?"

"Beautiful, I'll NEVER forget the way your ass looks in these pants," he flirted and deftly slipped a hand onto her thigh.

"Jonny," she admonished, grabbing his hand again and placing it back on his own thigh.

"Are you mad at me or something?" he asked. A confused look crossed his face.

"Or something," she shot back.

"What did I do, Ace?"

"Nothing. Tonight didn't turn out like I planned is all," she trailed off. "…but it's not the end of the world. I'm glad you had fun. That was the point of the party."

"You don't sound very happy," he pointed out.

She huffed in frustration. "I just didn't expect you to get drunk, Jonny. And I definitely didn't expect to overhear that conversation with your friends."

"They're just jealous, Jess. Ignore it."

"Yeah," she snorted. "They didn't sound jealous at all. They sounded baffled."

"They were drunk and…"

"Do they always do that?" she cut him off uncomfortably and swallowed, but continued before he could answer. "They were grilling you about why you'd focus all your time on just one girl…just me when you could have…"

"Since when do you give a fuck what my idiot friends think?" he scoffed. "YOU are my best friend and certainly the only other opinion that matters besides mine when it comes to our relationship. And you're hardly just one girl to me. You're not just SOME girl," he reiterated when she stayed quiet. "Give me a break. SOME girl wouldn't last more than a day with me."

Jessie shook her head and laughed softly at him. She thought it was cute how genuinely clueless he was at times.

"What?" he insisted.

"I think that was their point, babe..."

"Huh?"

"You could pull numbers," she tried to joke. "You ain't ugly, my love."

"Aww. That's the nicest thing you've said to me all day."

"It is not!"

"I'm teasing," he laughed. "Tell me you know I have no interest in pulling numbers as you so eloquently put it."

"I do," she shrugged. "I was only pointing out that you could and apparently your friends like to point it out too."

"I could jump into twenty degree water," he sighed. "Doesn't mean I wanna. That would be fucking stupid. Just like it would be fucking stupid for me to ever lose you."

"I know," she promised. "It was just hard to hear. Caught me off guard."

"Did you happen to hear anything I said?" he questioned. "Or did you only listen to them?"

She was quiet for a while.

"I'll take that as you only listened to them," Jonny said quietly and rubbed his temples. "This night took a turn. My head is starting to hurt."

"Fuck…I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's your birthday. I don't wanna make the day about me."

"Technically, my birthday was over two hours ago," he nodded toward the clock in the dashboard. "Besides, I really don't want part of my bday memories to be you doubting my love or intentions."

"I don't," she insisted. "Hearing you say that out loud makes me feel ridiculous."

"I love you," he whispered. "And I actually feel bad for those idiots."

"Your friends?"

"Yes," he nodded heavily. "Because they'll never have what I have with you. They don't appreciate that quality is so much more important than quantity. And if they ever make you feel this way again I'll…"

"Stop, that's not necessary…" she interrupted and peeked over at him. He was giving her that grin she loved. The one that melted her heart.

"I'll unleash all kinds of hell, baby."

"Jonny Quest…I love you," she whispered, pulling her car into the next empty lot. She wanted to apologize. She parked and turned off the ignition. Then she swiftly unclicked her seatbelt and climbed into his lap. "Hi," she breathed against his lips.

"I love you too," he breathed back, framing his hands around her face.

"How much?" she smiled.

"Desperately," he panted. "And I really…really really love it when you do that," his voice caught and his eyelids became heavy.

"What?" she teased, rolling her hips into his again and then biting his bottom lip.

"That," he mumbled. "Your teasing will be the end of me, Jess."

"You taste like whiskey," she complained, but then kissed him deeply anyway.

He slipped both his hands into the back pockets of her jeans and encouraged the movement of her hips. "I wasn't kidding about these pants," he groaned when she came up for air. He bit her bottom lip in return. "I was dumb to go off with my friends. I should've been watching you dance in these pants all night. So sexy. So perfect for me."

"Mmm," she hummed, shifting to kiss his neck.

"Don't stop," he rushed, thrusting his hips up to meet hers when she stopped moving over him in favor of focusing on his neck. He could not help it. "I dream about you, Jess. I dream about this all the time now."

"Tell me," she breathed in his ear.

"No more talking," he begged, gripping her hips and trying to get her to move with him. "Please."

"No relief for you until you tell me," she teased.

"You're seriously overestimating my self control," he groaned.

She giggled into his neck, but then began grinding slowly against him again. His eyes rolled into the back of his head. "Thank you." He felt out of control. "You're the best fucking birthday gift."

"Tell me," she whispered against his lips.

"Anything," he responded incoherently. "Anything. What do you want me to say? Just don't stop again."

"Is this what I do in your dreams?" she clarified.

"Yes…no."

"What's different?"

"I'm inside you," he blurted out honestly, arching up wildly. "God…I want that, Jessie."

"I dream about that too," she panted, bracing an arm against the roof of the car. "Every inch of you."

"Baby," he begged, pulling her down for a hard kiss. "I wake up throbbing. You're not there and I just wanna..."

"What do you wanna do?" she insisted.

"Walk across the hall and make you mine," he growled. "I didn't know it was possible to want something so much."

"I'm here right now, love."

"I can feel that. Fuck…and you feel so good."

"I have one more present for you, Hotshot"

"What's that?"

She sat back and gave him a devilish grin. Then her hand went to his zipper.

"To be clear, I don't want our first time to be in the front seat of a car while I'm half drunk," he breathed heavily, but made no move to stop her. He just stared at her hand as she undid his zipper.

"Not EXACTLY what I had in mind," she smiled and then slipped down onto the floor mat between his legs.

Jonny closed his eyes and leaned back against the headrest. "Yes," he sighed and threaded a hand into her hair. "I need this. I need you. So much."

"Happy birthday, baby."

"I love you," he said again and moaned when her mouth closed around him. "You have no idea how much I love you."