Dangerous Secrets
Chapter 3: Threatened
Samantha stepped into her apartment and switched the lights on. She let out a breath that she had been holding in ever since she left the office that day. She felt utterly helpless. She'd at least thought that Jack would be sensitive and just restrict her to the office doing paperwork for the time being. 'Hell sleeping with your boss has got to have some pointers right?' She cringed at the thought, 'that's not fair to Jack, and that's not why it happened- besides that was a long time ago.' Sam put her things down and made her way over to the kitchen. After she finished devouring a sandwich she headed off to bed.
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"I see you found the key I left for you," Lisa slowly and sleepily moved herself over towards the right side of the bed in order to allow Sam a space to climb in. The blonde agent slipped in under the covers beside her, immediately wrapping her arms around Lisa's waist so that they were spooning. Lisa, still half asleep, was about to nod off again until she felt Samantha slowly blazing a trail of soft, warm kisses down the back of her neck. She felt Sam chuckle into the crook of her neck. Lisa groggily responded, "Are you laughing at me, Ms. Spade?"
Sam responded in a husky tone, "I didn't realize that a doctor's idea of sleep attire consisted of a tank top and old sweat pants."
Now fully awake, Lisa rolled over so that she was facing Sam, "And I didn't realize that it was typical of federal agents to sleep in the nude," she replied, her tone becoming equally charged as well. Samantha, unable to wait any longer responded to her challenge with a slow kiss, which quickly intensified.
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Sam awoke with a start. She rolled over to glance at her alarm clock. It was 10:25 am. Usually she'd automatically wake up around six everyday 'I must have been really tired.' The dream had felt so real that she'd half expected to feel Lisa's warmth beside her as the brunette hogged all of the covers the way she usually did. She felt her heart sink as reality came crashing back into focus. Sam wished that her last conversation with her lover had been a better one. Then she remembered something. She grabbed her phone and dialed Jack immediately.
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28 hours missing
The team, minus one, sat around the white board as Jack updated the information and finished briefing everyone again. He added a line to Lisa's time line '11 pm argument with Samantha'. Jack heard his phone ring and excused himself to his office, he recognized Samantha's number and immediately picked up the receiver.
"Malone."
"Jack, it's me," her voice sounded hesitant, "I thought of something that might be important."
"Shoot."
"Well it's about the argument we had- she said that someone knew about our relationship and that they threatened to report her-"
Jack cut her off with annoyance, "Why couldn't you just tell me this earlier when I asked you?"
"I didn't seem relevant at the time," she paused, "and I wasn't ready to tell you about us- at least not yet."
"Why Sam? I'm you're friend and I told you that you could talk to me about anything."
'Yea right' she thought, "Will you report us?" She sounded genuinely concerned.
There was a pause before he responded, "Well you're both involved in an unethical relationship and technically I'm required to."
"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black!"
"Sam,you know that I have to file a report! And it doesn't help that I had to put you on record. If you'd told me earlier I could have took you off the case and this would never have been an issue. But now I have to put you and Dr. Harris in the report."
"Well you didn't have to file a report about us!" Jack got ready to speak, but Sam continued talking. "So you're telling me its okay to sleep with a colleague as long as that colleague is you?"
"Sam that's not fair-"
"No, I'll tell you what's not fair," her voice was raised, "not fair is having my personal life spread all over the office!"
Jack replied sarcastically, "Well its not like it'd be the first time! Hell, you should be used to it by now. Who's next? Danny? Elena? Vivian? We're all just dying to know what happens in the next installment of your sex life."
There was a long silence. Samantha debated hanging up the phone, but Jack finally responded. "Look I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean that. You know I wouldn't give you any trouble, but I can't guarantee that the people up top will turn a blind eye." There was no response on her end so he tried to change the subject. When Jack finally spoke up he sounded tired, "So did she tell you who knew about your relationship?"
"No, I'm not even sure if they're a man or woman, but I'm guessing it's probably a guy."
"Okay, thanks." Jack hung up the phone and went back over to the rest of the team. "Well I just got off the phone with Sam and she said that Lisa thought that someone knew about their relationship and was threatening to report it."
Danny looked a little hopeful, "You think this could be our guy?"
"With our current evidence it could be a bologna sandwich for all we know," Jack was tired and frustrated. Nothing was more irritating than having hardly anything to go on. "What do we know about the other patient she was transferring: Jason Foster?"
Danny spoke up, "Well even with the warrant I wasn't able to find anything in particular that would point towards abducting one's psychiatrist. No history of violence." Danny handed out a picture of Jason.
Jack nodded and continued, "Martin, were you able to get a hold of this guy?"
"Actually he's supposed to be away on a fishing trip. He supposedly left two days before Dr. Harris' disappearance."
"Were you able to verify that?"
"No, but that would be difficult to verify anyway since we have no idea as to where his ideal fishing spot might be, and he doesn't seem to have any friends that we could ask."
"All right. Well, check his phone records and in the meantime we'll just have to keep looking. There's not much else we can go on."
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Samantha felt like an idiot. Now she understood why agents were booted from cases that were too personal. Of course it always made sense in theory, but she had never really understood until now. Unfortunately she had screwed up big time while learning that lesson. Of course they would search Lisa's phone records and find her DNA in the apartment. How could she have not considered that? Its was as though she had encased herself in a deluded bubble of self denial ever since she'd heard the news.
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." Sam berated herself as she paced throughout her apartment agitatedly. She felt like she was about to explode. She decided that a jog might help her deal with her nervous energy for the time being. She took a quick shower and slipped into some comfortable navy blue track pants and a gray tank top. She quickly tied her hair back in a pony tail, grabbed her keys, and left. She made sure to lock the door on her way out.
An hour and a half later a very sweaty Samantha made her way back to her apartment. She took out her keys to open the door. As soon as she inserted the key into the lock the first thing she noticed was that the bolt lock was not on. Sam carefully opened the door and slowly entered. She scanned the room carefully for any indication that someone else might was inside. She warily made her way into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife, seeing as how she'd left her gun in her bedroom. She went through her apartment checking the bathroom, closets, and any place that someone might be able to hide. Finally satisfied that she had found no one, she made her way back into the living room. That's when she noticed a note on the coffee table. She picked it up and read it, 'I know what you are and I will destroy you'.
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The phone rang on Danny's desk; however, Danny was not in the office at the moment. Vivian happened to be nearby so she walked over and answered the phone, "Johnson here."
"Viv!" Samantha said in a tone that indicated relief. "It's me, Sam."
"Hey Sam, everything okay?"
A number of countless issues flooded Sam's thoughts at her question. 'No, everything is not okay!' What she actually said was, "I need to talk to Jack. I called his cell and his office phone and he's not picking up." She sounded mildly frantic.
"Jack is in an interview right now. What's the matter?"
"I don't think that the kidnapper is just some random nut, I think it's a hate thing. I just received a death threat."
"Did you see anyone?"
"No, when I got back from my jog this morning someone had been in my apartment. They left a nasty note on my coffee table," Sam paused for a minute, "Viv?"
"Yes?"
"I know Jack told me not to come to the office, but can I come in right now just to drop off this note?" 'and avoid my stalker' she added mentally.
"Sam, that's not a good idea. I'll tell Jack and we'll come to you."
"All right," Sam sighed, "Oh and Viv?"
"Yes?"
"My gun is missing."
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Samantha sat in her living room on the couch trying to watch TV. The reality of the situation was that the sound of the TV made her feel like she wasn't alone in the apartment and that made her feel a little better. There was a knock on the door. Sam carefully got up and looked through the peep hole before opening the door. She took the chain off and invited Jack, Vivian, and Martin inside. 'Jesus, bring a swat team why don't ya.'
"Hey guys, thanks for coming."
"Where's the note?" Jack said impatiently. Samantha was surprised at the curtness of his tone. She handed him the note, he looked at it and then showed it to Martin and Vivian. Vivian wrapped it in a little plastic bag for forensics.
"Around what time did you find this?"
"Well I went for a jog right after I talked to you earlier, so," she thought for a moment, "Around an hour and a half after we talked." Jack just nodded in response.
"Would you like to sit down?" Sam motioned towards her living room area. Vivian smiled and took a seat on the couch, Jack sat next to her on the other side of it. Martin sat on a nearby love seat. Samantha was still standing. "Can I get anyone something to drink- coffee, lemonade, water?"
Jack shook his head, Martin shook his head as well, "No thanks."
"I'll have a coffee," Vivian requested. Sam nodded and went into the kitchen, after a few moments she returned with two cups of coffee. She handed a mug to Vivian and sat down in a nearby recliner and took a swig from her own cup.
"Sam, have you seen this man before," Vivian showed her a picture of Jason.
Samantha leaned forward to take a look, "He looks vaguely familiar somehow, but I can't figure why." She took another sip of her coffee. "Who is he?"
Jack responded, "His name is Jason Foster, he's one of Dr. Harris' other patients, well the only other patient that is being transferred for reasons that are...not obvious," he said the last few words with a hint of hostility.
"Oh, well that's probably why I recognize him, maybe from the waiting room."
Vivian continued, "Sam, did Lisa ever mention anything about other patients that she had."
"Oh yea, she tells me about the wackos all the time." She laughed.
Jack looked uncomfortable, Sam noticed this and back peddled, "Oh well I mean, not like detailed stuff, just like..."
Jack replied, "So she tells you confidential information about her patients," he sounded exceptionally crabby at the moment.
'Way to dig the hole deeper'. "Um no, are you sure you don't want something to drink?" Sam asked quickly.
He got ready to say no, "'Kay great! I'll get you lemonade," Samantha quickly got up from her chair and went into the kitchen. 'Stupid stupid stupid.' She berated herself once more. Vivian gave Martin a look and they both smiled slightly, although mentally they were busting up. Samantha came back and handed Jack lemonade. He took it and kind of looked at it.
Jack rolled his eyes, "Sam," he sounded exasperated, "I told you I didn't want one."
"I know," she smiled, "but you need one." 'And an enema', she thought. Martin snickered and tried to hide it by coughing which only made the situation even more awkward. He looked up at everyone and smiled, his eyes twinkling as he did so, he couldn't wait to tell Danny about this. Vivian covered her smile by taking an exceptionally long sip of her coffee.
Jack just stared at Samantha. He looked bored and gave her a look that said 'I am not amused'. He put the lemonade down on the table and immediately got back to business. "Did Dr. Harris tell you anything relevant?" He said impatiently. It was bad enough that Samantha had to be directly involved in the investigation in this kind of capacity, but he also felt like she was wasting his time, and if he was completely honest with himself he'd be able to identify that other emotion he was experiencing as extreme jealousy.
"Well I'm not sure, she would usually just mention things that were odd or comical in some way," she paused to think, "But I can't recall her ever mentioning someone that was dangerous." Noticing that Jack was now actually looking angry, Vivian decided she needed to take control of the interview. "So she never mentioned anyone named, Jason?"
"Well no, we never discuss their names because she's not supposed to-"
Jack shot back sarcastically, "We've already entered the realm of'not supposed to,"obviously implying their relationship.
Sam told herself that she wouldn't rise to the bait, but she just couldn't help it- that was below the belt. "Pot and kettle, Jack," she paused and reiterated more slowly, "Pot. And kettle." She could understand him grilling her in interrogation, but this was her home damn it and she was being cooperative.
Vivian and Martin fidgeted uncomfortably. They, of course, knew exactly what was being referred too- even if Sam and Jack had tried to keep their past affair a secret, it was hard to hide that from an office full of detectives. And then of course there was Martin. Vivian tried to put the conversation back on track, "Samantha, please continue."
Sam calmed down a little and diverted her attention to Vivian. Martin was still fidgeting- suddenly wishing he had asked for something to drink, "What were we talking about?"
"So Dr. Harris never referred to anyone matching Jason's description?"
"Well I don't know, she wouldn't have physically described anyone..." She looked over at Jack who looked calm, but was still radiating quiet rage. "Where is this guy now?"
Martin piped up, "He's supposed to be on a fishing trip, but we were not able to verify that."
Samantha's eyes suddenly lit up with recognition, "She did mention this guy who likes fishing...to the point of obsession- total nut job," she trailed off looking to be in deep thought. "He would always invite her to go fishing with him, she would just laugh and politely refuse using the excuse: 'oh I can't date a patient'." Samantha immediately blushed at the hypocrisy of her statement and decided to shift the focus immediately. "Do you think this is the guy who's harassing me?"
"We're trying to figure that out." Vivian said.
"Well I think that's all we need to know," Jack stood up, "I've assigned a security detail, they'll be sitting right outside your apartment building should you have any problems." Jack went to the door and exited, Vivian and Martin stood up and headed out, although they left more slowly than Jack. Sam grabbed Martin's arm on the way out-
"Can't you tell me anything about what's going on?"
"We still don't know much Sam, but we'll keep you updated." Vivian had already left and Martin was about to turn to leave as well; however, he had a nagging question that he'd been wanting to ask Samantha for a while and it had been driving him crazy.
"Hey Sam, can I ask you something?"
"You just did."
He chuckled at himself, "Um, are you like a..." he trailed off suddenly.
"Hmmm?"
"Areyoualesbian," he asked rapidly, she almost missed the question completely.
"I wondered when you'd ask, Marty," she chuckled and shrugged, "bisexual."
He tried to cover the fact that he felt awkward, "Oh well, its just when we were dating you never mentioned it."
"Well it was a bit of a moot point, wasn't it?"
"Yea, I guess," he felt a little silly. "Well take care." Martin left and Sam shut the door behind him.