Setting: Sunday, April 20, 1997: Chicago:
Jason looked over the room. "Has anything been moved since the woman left?" The room seemed to be well-ordered but no hospital bassinet sat near the mother's bed. The lack of a new delivery gift basket also seemed conspicuous.
The Chicago cop shook his head. "No. I'll take you to the room. Claire was moved in here as soon as we realized what had happened. We've got a patrolman stationed at the door so no one will interfere with the scene."
As troubling as having a police officer as a victim felt, it helped. He had been able to control the crime scene and keep it as pristine as possible for the coming investigation. Not many people would have had enough self-discipline to think of such a thing.
Gently squeezing Claire's hand, Mac turned and led Jason from the room, leaving the young trainee with the young mother.
"Okay, ask me," Claire surprised Derek by saying, her voice wavering with her attempt to remain in control.
Derek turned and looked at her. "Ask you?"
Claire nodded and gestured towards the chair nearest her bed. "Sit, Chocolate Honey. Mac called Jace in because he's got profiling skills. He's one of the leading authorities in the field." She smiled tremulously and watched Derek walk over and slip onto the chair. "So, if you're his trainee, he must be teaching you profiling."
"Ah," Derek nodded and smiled back. "Yes, he is."
"Good." Claire straightened in the bed and took a deep breath. "I don't mind going through this more than once, so you can practice your skills on me. Ask away."
Running a hand down his trousers leg, Derek sighed. "Look, Sugar, I appreciate the offer, but the profile questions won't be easy. I think it's better if we wait for Gideon."
A frown settled on the woman's tired face. She leaned back into the bed and turned her face away, her posture stiff with displeasure.
He hated upsetting her after what she'd been through, but Derek had seen people break down with only one run through some of the necessary questions. He was new at working with the profiles and had to rely on the thick sheaf of pages; he hadn't memorized the questions yet. If a victim saw the document, consisting of over twenty pages of questions, the case might seem hopeless. True, the document mainly asked about the scene itself, but that many pages were sure to scare any victim.
Claire Taylor merely looked at Derek, interrupting his thoughts. "Honey, I'm married to a cop. I work for law enforcement. I know the reasons behind waiting, but the longer I wait, the further she gets away." The brunette shuddered and seemed to sink into the hospital bed, as if losing the strength she'd found a moment before. "I actually want to answer the questions twice. I think it would help."
Surprise flitted across Derek's handsome face. "How could it help?"
"If my answers differ, we'll find where I'm fuzzy. The second time might trigger more information. And with two different people asking, I'll have two different assessments. I know you won't ask me every question in your form, but the ones I can answer, I will." She raised pain-filled blue eyes and reached one hand to touch Derek's arm. "Come on, Chocolate Honey," she offered a wavering smile, "it'll give me a feeling of being useful. I'm stuck in this bed for several days."
He couldn't argue with her determination. Derek nodded and flipped open the file, pulling out a pen and some blank sheets of paper from the back. "Okay, we'll start with the same questions I already asked earlier . . ." he instructed and wrote each answer as she gave it.
When they arrived at the room at the end of the hall, Jason identified himself to the patrol cop stationed there. He apparently ignored the man as he looked into the room, but Jason Gideon was very observant. He noticed things many didn't pick up on; his attitude was cultivated to get others to relax.
Once inside the room, he noticed the disarray of the bedclothes, as well as the blood on the bed liner, unchanged at Mac's insistence. He gestured towards it casually, to test Mac's reaction. "Blood?"
Mac nodded and sighed, worry in his every movement. "Claire hemorrhaged for several hours. They got the bleeding under control but not stopped." He looked at his former Marine. "It was a very difficult delivery, Gideon. The doctor's already making predictions that Claire shouldn't carry another." Mac's voice flared in frustration and anger. "He had to bring that up right after Maggie was taken." Mac's blue eyes darkened in further pain. "No bedside manner."
Jason turned to his former superior officer and frowned, his brown eyes narrowing in concentration. "My wife would have switched doctors."
"This wasn't her normal doctor." Mac shook his head. "Her doctor's on maneuvers. And, yes, we've got this guy detained in case he was part of this. The hospital's pissed because they had to scramble to find another delivery doctor to replace him, but they're working with it."
"And the nurse?" Jason turned fully to Mac, studying his old friend. The Chicago cop remained in control, barely. Jason had seen him this way before: after the Beirut bombing. Mac Taylor seemed to thrive on high stress situations, but after the action ended, he was prone to becoming a bit overwhelmed. He'd even been known to make decisions he regretted within a few hours. Jason wondered which decisions Mac had made that he'd regret this time.
Mac stayed still in the doorway to the hospital room. His eyes roved the entire scene, but it wasn't clear whether the man saw his surroundings or not. He didn't speak for some time but when he did his voice sounded low and serious. "She seemed familiar but I couldn't place her. I'm sure I've seen her around the hospital before, but I can't pinpoint any specific times or dates."
Slowly, Mac's eyes widened and he turned to Jason completely. "Wait, she shouldn't be here."
Jason didn't take his eyes from Mac. "You remember something?"
Mac nodded. "Claire was scheduled to deliver on base, but the bleeding started so quickly we went to the closest hospital. If we've seen that nurse, it was on base. We don't normally use the civilian hospitals."
A single nod and Jason turned crisply and strode from the room, his bearing suspiciously military in that moment. Mac followed as Jason strode directly to the lead Chicago agent and told him what they'd found out. This could be the breakthrough they needed: a possible military perpetrator.
The agent turned and gave commands to extend the search to the base, especially the base hospital staff.
Turning to Mac, Jason gestured back towards the guarded room. "Let's see what else you can remember, Mac." They strode back into the room, intensity vibrating from both former Marines.