Chapter Eight: Ramblin' Man

The day dragged on rather impossibly long. He thought that sitting at his desk and keeping out of the investigation would be helpful, would keep him from losing his mind. Boy had he been wrong. Being at the office as their go-to-guy left him waiting for their phone calls and in between calls he could feel his heart rate increase. But each time before panic could set in the phone would ring. He spent a lot of his time running background checks on people that turned out to be clients of Danny's. Though at one point he did run a check on someone in the building that Sam thought could be a suspect. During a lull around two in the afternoon he decided to check-up on Danny's brother, just to learn more about the guy since Danny didn't talk about him all that much. He typed in the man's name and read the police reports. He was nearly done when his cell phone began to ring. This put him off guard because the others had been calling on the office phone. Frowning he looked at the caller ID.

"Hello?" he answered when he saw that it was Danny's number.

Again he could hear things going on in the background but couldn't quite make anything out. After a minute or two the connection ended and he found himself listening to dead air. He flipped the phone shut and closed his eyes, holding back the wave of emotion that threatened to sweep him away. He thought that staying in the office would help remove him from the case but instead he'd been thrown right back in. He slammed a fist down on the top of his desk and enjoyed the pain that coursed through his knuckles. He dropped the phone. Then fished around in his suit jacket for the bottle of pills. Carrying them on his body was a risk that he was willing to take if it meant having them near when he needed them. Like right now. Without the others around he was free to pop one of the little white pills and he did just that, chasing it down with a swig of water.

Then the black phone on his desk rang and everything began again. This time it was Jack having him check-up on someone. It turned out to be another dead end. As did the three calls following. All the people were checked off the list and Martin soon realized that they were winding their way back down to square one. He hated being back where they started. And what made it even worse was that he didn't have to try stalling the investigation; it was going nowhere to begin with.

When the others finally returned to the office he beat it out of there like a bat out of hell. There was somewhere in particular that he wanted to go. In the few times that Danny talked highly of his brother he mentioned that Rafi worked at an auto body shop. The place had been listed on his record under the employment section so it didn't take long for Martin to locate the shop. When he got there, though, he felt a little overdressed for the place. He didn't plan on sticking around to begin with. He just wanted to talk with Rafi and see if the guy could be of any help to him. The look he got from the clerk behind the counter when he asked for Rafi wasn't exactly a look of trust. Maybe coming to the guy's place of business hadn't been such a bright idea. But he needed to talk with Danny's brother. He waited quietly until Rafi came through the door.

"What the hell do you want now?" he asked, rolling his eyes in frustration. "I already told you that I got no idea where my brother is; leave me alone."

"Can we talk somewhere private?" Martin inquired. He looked at the few guys milling around the garage. Every once in a while one of them would look at him.

Rafi threw down the rag he'd been wiping his hands with. "You got some place in mind?"

"Well…no, to be honest I don't," he replied, ashamed to admit it.

"Fine," sighed Rafi. "We can go 'round back. The employee parking lot should be pretty empty right about now."

Martin let Rafi lead the way, wondering if it was such a good idea to be following an ex-con out into a dark parking lot blocked from the street. He wished that he hadn't left his gun back in his car. Why had he done that? What he wanted to tell Rafi…there was no way of predicting how the other guy would react. Martin just prayed that he wouldn't get his ass kicked. Stepping into the night the sounds of the city were somewhat muffled in the space between the buildings. Three cars and a motorcycle were all that remained in the parking lot. He instantly knew which one belonged to Rafi because it had been listed in the records.

"So what is it that you've come to accuse me of now?" Rafi asked, his hands on his hips. There was a mean glint in his eyes.

Martin put up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I didn't come here to accuse you of anything. I was just wondering if I could ask for your help…"

"How many times I gotta tell you that I don't know anything?"

"I want you to help me find Danny…in ways that aren't exactly lawful."

That caught Rafi off guard. "Is this some sort of trap?"

"No," Martin shook his head. "Danny's my friend and…well…there's a few complications that keep me from doing my job. Officially. So I want to do it little more…covertly, if you will."

"No friend of my brother would be dumb enough to make a deal with me."

"Just hear me out…"

"Alright, fine, you get five minutes," Rafi answered. This time he crossed his arms over his chest.

Martin smiled. "I won't even need that long."