Setting: Sunday, April 20, 1997, Late Evening; Chicago:

Several hours had passed yet the hospital staff did nothing to hinder the investigation or the activities of the FBI agents. The delivery doctor and other staff were interviewed, base security was contacted, and other new mothers carefully approached to gather information on the actions of the unknown suspect, or UNSUB, as Jason Gideon referred to her. Finally, Jason and his protégé sat down with local law enforcement, Chicago's FBI investigators, and the victim's father, Mac Taylor. Normally the family would have been excluded, but Jason made an exception for the assistant supervisor of the crime lab; though, he did forbid Claire Taylor, the victim's mother, from attendance.

When all had gathered, Jason Gideon turned to the lead police investigator for the case. "Have you found anything more on the nurse?" He felt it best to include local law enforcement as much as possible: less professional friction made for better end cooperation.

"Yeah," the man said. "Admin says they had a few volunteers come in from the base because several regular nurses are out with the flu and one from an insulin overdose. The only military nurse unaccounted for from the sign-in register is a woman named Lieutenant Taylor." Mac stiffened as the cop looked at him and finished, "no first name."

"No first name?" Derek asked leaning slightly forward.

The cop frowned and nodded. "Right. Said military doesn't use 'em so she never answers to one."

"She said Lieutenant Taylor?" Mac asked, his voice neutral, his expression closed.

Suddenly, the cop seemed to get the link and turned widening brown eyes on the crime lab investigator. "Damn . . ."

Jason interrupted, "and what did the base say about her?"

The same cop, Officer Gerrin, tore his eyes away from his colleague and looked at the profiler. "Said she didn't exist. Said there is no Lieutenant Taylor on record." He picked up his notes. "Also said they mustered all the Taylor's and all were accounted for, so they pulled a surprise drill and mustered all hospital staff." He looked up. "Only three didn't show up."

Mac's hands tightened on the arms of his chair, but he didn't interrupt. 'Could we have Maggie back this very night?' He held his desperate question.

"One was a Petty Officer Davis who's in the hospital for an appendectomy. They checked and she's still there." Gerrin read from his notes. "Second is a Lieutenant Shyver who's now considered AWOL."

"Shyver?" Derek nodded and picked up the description of their UNSUB. "What's the lieutenant look like?" He hoped the locals had been thorough enough to ask.

They had. Officer Gerrin gave Derek a penetrating look as he recited, "six foot African-American woman with glasses and a limp from a recent fight with Shore Patrol."

"Damn," one of the Chicago FBI Agents swore, "not our UNSUB."

"No, sir, I didn't think so, but I wanted to be thorough." Gerrin looked back at his notes. "The third," he continued without request, "is a Commander Lisa Maynard who's been on leave for two days. According to her fellow nurses, she had been planning a trip to Florida for a week's stay. The base is trying to reach her but she hasn't been in touch. Her plan included booking a catamaran though, so she may be out of range."

Flinging a pen down in frustration the Chicago agent blew out his breath in disgust. "So, not from the base."

"I think she may be," Mac interrupted quietly, a stricken look in his blue eyes. "The UNSUB was calling herself Lieutenant Taylor and Commander Maynard is missing." He ignored the curious and confused looks on the other investigator's faces as he met Jason's widening brown eyes.

Jason didn't disappoint. "Ensign Maynard was your nurse after Beirut . . . when you were still a Marine Lieutenant."

Mac nodded as the room broke into surprised responses: some exclaiming, others standing.

"Everyone!" Jason raised his normally quiet voice to regain control. "We have a profile and a suspect."

The lead investigator, Gerrin, shook his head in disgust. "What do we need with a profile now? We already have a suspect!"

Derek shook his head. "A profile can tell you how to handle her so the danger to the infant is less."

That drew every investigator's attention. No one wanted to see little Magnolia Taylor hurt.

Finally, Jason filled the void. "We are most likely dealing with a deliberate attack. It's personal. This woman feels she has a connection with Mac . . . possibly even a romantic relationship based on their past history when she took care of him." Jason frowned softly, his normal lecturer's tone coming to the fore. "The UNSUB is delusional and may believe Mac is in love with her. She may even believe the infant is hers. She will hide in order to protect her perceived child, but she won't go far. She'll want to stay close to Mac." Jason turned his eyes directly on Mac when he added "Claire will in all probability be her next target. The UNSUB will need to replace who she sees as the 'other' woman, the interloper in her own relationship with Mac."

Derek jumped in before the others could respond. "You'll need to get NCIS, the military crime investigators, involved since the UNSUB is a navy nurse who's probably gone AWOL. You'll need to handle this woman carefully. If she thinks there's a threat to her relationship to Mac, she may kill the infant and hide out. She's waited for fifteen years in the background. She's prepared to wait even longer."

One investigator raised her hand and asked "what kind of protection for Mrs. Taylor should we have?"

Jason sighed. "If Claire stays local, so will the UNSUB. The greatest protection could be to keep a twenty-four hour guard on the Taylors, but nothing obvious or the UNSUB may feel threatened. Moving around will probably keep the UNSUB too busy trying to find them to do any harm for the near future, but it's no guarantee and will make locating the UNSUB and the infant harder."

He turned back to his old military supervisor. "Mac, that will be up to you and Claire."

Mac nodded grimly as he sat back in his unyielding chair. He was only distantly aware of the sudden preparations to find his daughter, concerned with the new prospect that his wife, too, was in very real danger.