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chapter eight

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if you're cold, i'll keep you warm
and if you're low, just hold on
'cause i will be your safety
oh, don't leave home
-Dido, "Don't Leave Home"

xx

Jesus Christ, Samantha! What are you doing?

She still wasn't sure what had come over her, but the words had left her lips of their on volition.

Sure, she had found him attractive when she'd first met him. It would have been hard not to. But this? This was verging on insanity.

Did you forget who he is? Who his father is?

But then he smiles back at her, and she doesn't recognize the feeling deep in her chest. It felt almost like her heart was fluttering.

"Hey Sam?"

Oh, great. Jack. At least this isn't awkward.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for saving my ass in there. I couldn't get her to focus on one thing long enough to open up about it."

She nodded in acknowledgement, and felt both men's eyes on her. She wouldn't allow the situation to get out of hand, and when she spoke she was all professionalism. "Have we been in contact with local PD?"

"They're setting up a perimeter, but they're waiting for us. They'll be in touch if anything goes down."

Jack turned to answer his phone, and Samantha heaved a sigh. She wished, just for once, she could let things be a little less complicated.

It happened almost as a reflex, then, that she reached her hand out and clasped his, squeezing it reassuringly.

"This is great news," she echoed his words from earlier.

"It is," he replied, and it didn't take her special agent instincts to know that he was referring to more than just Kelsey and Bridget.

As quickly as it happened, though, the moment was over. Her G woman demeanor returned, and their hands dropped down to their sides.

As she walked away, Samantha Spade was all professionalism once again. All but her right hand, that was still tingling from the contact.

xx

1:55 am

eight hours missing

"Team 2, are you in position?" Jack's voice echoed over the two-way radios.

Samantha surveyed her surroundings, giving a nod in Naomi's direction.

"Team 2 in position," Naomi gave the go ahead.

The two women were on either side of the back door to the farmhouse, which was exactly as Noreen had described. Danny and Vivian were around at the front door, while Jack and a local deputy were guarding the side door. After a fairly heated argument with his wife, Victor had remained with his family at the local police station, but they had been instructed to get in touch as soon as they knew anything further.

"Everyone's in position. We'll go on my count," Jack's voice instructed, just a few minutes later.

Samantha drew her weapon and held it close to her side.

"One... two..." came Jack's count. "Now!"

"FBI! Open up!" she shouted. When there was no answer, she and Naomi immediately moved to break down the door. The wood was old and rotting, and it caved easily under the impact.

The inside of the house was completely in dark, barring a few patches of moonlight that shone through the windows.

"Kitchen is clear," she heard Naomi say over the radio as she made her way up the narrow staircase to the second floor.

One by one, she heard her colleagues rapidly give the "all clear" signals throughout the lower floor of the farmhouse as she cleared the master bedroom and bathroom on the upper level.

She was about to make her way into the second bedroom when she heard Danny's voice call over the radio, "We've got a suspect down! I repeat: a suspect is down!"

She paused to listen to the scene downstairs, inwardly pleading that nothing had happened to either of the girls. "What happened?" Vivian's voice joined Danny's.

"Multiple gunshots to the head, neck, chest and abdomen," Danny was saying. "From the looks of it, Justina's been dead for a couple of hours."

"We didn't get any noise disturbance reports?" Naomi's voice joined the other two.

"No neighbors close enough to have heard anything," the deputy replied.

She could hear the commotion carry from downstairs as the rest of the team joined Danny, and turned back to her task at hand. She couldn't let her guard down; Aguilar could be in the other room, listening to everything and waiting for his chance to ambush her.

A member of the local PD passed by the foot of the stairwell, and she motioned for him to join her upstairs.

"Thanks," she mouthed to the younger man as he reached the top step. She then beckoned him to follow her into the second bedroom.

She threw the door open and brandished her weapon at all corners of the room. Nothing.

"Upstairs is all clear," she spoke into the radio. But it looked like someone had been there recently.

She brought out her flashlight and shone it around the room, illuminating it with the soft beam. She gasped as she noticed that two twin beds had been made up. In the back corner of the room, she saw one of the girls' tiny shoes.

"Kelsey?" She called. "Bridget?"

No answer.

"Girls, it's okay. You're safe now." She moved to the back wall of the room, where the door to the closet was shut. "I'm going to open the door, don't be afraid, okay?"

Still no answer, so Samantha pushed on the door. It didn't budge.

"Girls, if you're in there, I want you to move as far away from the door as you can. I'm going to have to break down the door and I don't want you to get hurt. I'm going to count to three, okay?"

She waited for a few seconds, and as she drew in a breath to start counting she heard a child's voice carry through the door.

"Okay," the voice was breathy and small.

"Kelsey?" Samantha called out.

"Yes?" the voice answered back.

"My name is Samantha," she said, knowing it was important to identify herself. "I work with the FBI, just like your grandfather. We're going to get you out of there. Can you tell me, is your sister in there with you?"

"Uh-huh," came the reply.

"Okay, I'm going to have to break down the door. Can you move as far away from it as possible?" She heard a few scurrying noises, then continued. "Okay, on the count of three. One... two... three."

Samantha leaned her weight against the door, finding that it took a little more effort and pressure than it did to break the door downstairs. She leaned in against her sore shoulder and winced in pain, but finally managed to force the door down.

Inside the small closet, her eyes adjusted to the enclosed darkness, and she saw two extremely tired, very terrified, but essentially unhurt young girls staring up at her with big blue eyes she instantly recognized as their mother's -- and uncle's.

"Hey," she said, inching slowly closer to them, not wanting to frighten them any further. "I'm Samantha."

Kelsey studied Samantha intensely, finally eyeing her dark jacket with bright FBI lettering. "You work with Grandpa?" she asked.

"I do," she nodded. "Your family has been very worried about you two. I need to call them and tell them that you're alright. Is that okay?"

Kelsey nodded; Bridget remained silent, her focus only on her older sister.

"Jack," Samantha spoke into her radio. "Jack, I've got the girls. They were locked in a closet, but they look basically unharmed."

"Good. Any sign of Aguilar?"

"Nothing, just the girls."

"Okay. We need to canvas the surrounding area because it looks like Aguilar took off, but I think you should stay with the girls until their family gets here."

"Alright, I have a member of the local PD up here with me. I'm going to send him down to you, and I'll take the girls to the medics. Let me know if you find anything." Samantha waved at the younger man, and he nodded before he retreated down the stairwell.

"Will do," Jack said. She had turned her attention back to the girls when she heard him speak again, softer this time. "Sam?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"Good work tonight."

Strangely enough, his words didn't make her heart stop like they used to. She supposed she was tired and stressed, that she was preoccupied with the task at hand. She ended the transmission without saying anything further.

"Kelsey?" she stooped down to the young girls, who still hadn't moved from their position at the corner of the closet. "Who put you two in here?"

Kelsey's eyes grew wide with fear, and her voice came out softly. "I did."

"Okay," she said finally. "We don't have to talk about this now. We can do it later, after you see your mom and dad. How does that sound?" Kelsey nodded. "Right now, we just want to get you out of here. Can you come with me?"

Samantha leaned down to pick Bridget up, but Bridget clung to her older sister, not wanting to let go of her grip on Kelsey's hand.

"Bridget had an accident," Kelsey announced, and Samantha remembered Caroline frantically mentioning something about how Bridget still wore diapers at night. "She was scared."

Samantha wanted to get the little girl out of her wet clothes but knew that she couldn't until they had been examined at the hospital. The girls looked physically okay, but these were still the Deputy Director's granddaughters and the Senator's nieces. If there was any chance of abuse, she couldn't risk destroying evidence.

"It's okay to be scared," she said. "I would have been scared too. But I've got you now, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Okay?"

Kelsey nodded and forced Bridget to let go of her hand. This time, when Samantha bent down to pick up the toddler, Bridget came willingly and buried her face in Samantha's neck.

"It's alright, it's alright. I've got you," she soothed, still somewhat unsure of herself but whispering what came naturally. She moved Bridget's long brown curls out of her face before holding her hand out to Kelsey.

It was difficult moving down the narrow stairwell with the two girls, but Samantha managed. She quickly turned the girls towards where the back door had once been, warning Kelsey to be careful as she dodged the pieces of wood that now adorned the floor.

She noticed that Kelsey clutched her hand a little bit tighter as they passed by the pantry on the way out, and she saw the blood that was spattered against the pantry door for the first time.

This must have been where Justina was shot, she thought to herself, glad that Bridget's face was buried in her hair.

Once Samantha navigated their way outside, she immediately led the girls to the flashing lights of the rescue squad.

"Where are we going, Samantha?" Kelsey's eyes bore up at her.

"We have to go to the hospital so that the doctors can make sure that you're both okay," she said. "I'm going to call your mom and dad, and have them meet us there."

"Ma'am?" one paramedic called to her.

"I'm Special Agent Spade," she said. "I'll be riding with them."

The paramedic identified himself as Derrick before moving to take Bridget from Samantha's arms.

"Sam!" the little girl cries out, tightening her grip around Samantha's neck.

"It's okay," she told Derrick. "I've got her."

She motioned to Kelsey to go with Derrick, grateful that Kelsey let go of her hand long enough for Derrick to lift her onto the stretcher inside the ambulance.

Samantha then took her free hand and dialed the Deputy Director's direct line.

"Fitzgerald," the voice on the other end breathed. Samantha's own breath caught in her throat as she realized for the first time that Victor Fitzgerald was a man and not just a looming presence in the Bureau. He sounded like a father and a grandfather, and the realization startled her.

"Deputy Director Fitzgerald, this is Special Agent Spade. We've got the girls; I'm with them right now. We're on our way to --?" Samantha paused and turned to Derrick, who had his hand on Kelsey's wrist like he was feeling for her pulse.

"Mary Immaculate," he said.

"Mary Immaculate."

"We're on our way," Victor replied. She heard his voice as he informed the rest of his family, and she thought he had forgotten the call was still connected when he spoke again. "Agent Spade?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Thank you."

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