The envelope still hadn't been opened. Anna eyed it warily as she sat at her desk, and wanted to open it, but wasn't sure that she should. The confession she had made to Danielle a few days before still echoed in her head. She wanted it to go away, but she knew that it wouldn't, because it was true…She'd fallen for him, and hard, and now she had a letter in front of her that would either make her feel better or make everything worse.
She opened it. Suddenly the temptation of knowing what was inside had become too hard to resist. A bracelet came out, and she recognized it as the one she thought she'd lost the night she'd run away.
"Talk about a Cinderella story," she muttered, to herself, since no one else was there. It was Sunday and the office was like her refuge now. The reporters had finally gotten a hold of her address on the island. Along with the bracelet, however, a slip of paper had come. Anna reached for it, and read.
"I've been a jerk, and I'm sorry. I'd like to see you, whenever you're willing." No signature, not that she really needed one. She shook her head. "Nice, Jack."
There was silence when she finished talking. Glancing at the clock, Anna bit her lip for a moment, to the point where she drew blood. The office door opened.
"Anna," said Danielle's voice, "We have a problem."
Anna gave her a startled look. "What problem?" she said, anxiously. "Jack's all right, isn't he?"
"That depends on your definition of all right," said Danielle, calmly, "I think you need to come with me."
Anna grabbed her coat at once, and they left.
When they got to the prison, they were taken to the interview room right off. Kelly was already there, on the other side of the room in tears. Jack, on the other hand, looked furious.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, of Danielle. "You knew, you were here…why the hell didn't you say anything?"
"Because she knew this would happen!" Kelly yelled at him, wiping furiously at her eyes. "You think I wanted this to happen?"
"Apparently I don't know what you want! If I find out you had anything to do with this, so help me, Kelly, you'll regret it!"
"You son of a…" Kelly trailed off, incensed. "How dare you threaten me! If I'd known it would go this far….you're the one to blame for this!"
Danielle whistled loudly, startling everyone present. "Enough!" she said, firmly, "No one is to blame here! For heaven's sake, we're all lawyers here, I'm sure we can find a way to figure this all out, and keep it civilized!"
Jack snorted. "I doubt it," he said flatly. "This is what happens, either side of the aisle, people don't like one thing or the other, so they take it out on people who have nothing to do with anything!"
"Don't you think I'd have told the police if I knew anything?" Kelly demanded, rounding on him at once. "Forgive me for thinking you deserved to know!"
"Forget it. This is the last straw, Kelly, to think that you would sit here and do nothing…"
"Oh, like hell I've done nothing, you're the one stuck in this place, not me!"
"Damn it, Kelly, I swear if this is one of your clients out on parole and looking for some kind of vengeance…!"
"All right, that's it!" Anna yelled finally, to make herself heard before Kelly could retort. "You, out. Danielle, go with her. I will stay in here. Move, now."
The three older lawyers stared at her; she stared back. After a moment, they did as she'd told them. The sound of the door closing echoed behind Kelly and Danielle, and then there was silence.
"She knows something," said Jack, glowering at the door. "I don't know it for sure, but something isn't right here."
"Well, of course something isn't right, but for heaven's sake, Jack…"
"Don't lecture me. I don't want to hear it, all right? I have enough to deal with it as it is. I can't do a damn thing about my daughter being missing, because I'm stuck in this place, and I shouldn't even be here!"
"I know you shouldn't be. Why the hell do you think I'm here?" Anna trailed off, and ran a frustrated hand over her face before going on. "What exactly did Kelly tell you?"
"That our daughter's missing," Jack told her, sarcastically. "That she 'doesn't know anything', but the police are working on it. And that it'd probably be in everyone's best interest if I quit being stubborn and took what the prosecution's still offering."
"They're still offering?" Anna asked, startled. "I'd have thought Holloway would've pulled out when you first refused."
"Apparently, Connie's got more of a handle on this trial than she's letting on. She won't let him drop the offer. I'd love to know how the hell Kelly thinks it'd be in everyone's best interest, if she doesn't know anything."
"I think she's just upset, and that she doesn't want to have to deal with this trial on top of everything else," Anna started, but Jack cut her off.
"She's already pawned this off on you," he said. "You shouldn't have to deal with it either. This is my problem."
"Well, I haven't seen you jumping at the chance to defend yourself. Is there something you aren't telling me, or am I reading too far between the lines?"
The remark brought a faint smile to his face. "I don't know if I'd do as good of a job," he admitted finally. "I should say I'd be a lot better at prosecuting myself."
Anna shook her head. "Even the best prosecutors know how to defend themselves," she said mildly. "I'm surprised the guards didn't come in here, with all the shouting."
"Suppose they're used to it between other inmates and their own lawyers," said Jack, and shook his head. "Never thought I'd refer to myself that way."
"You shouldn't," Anna told him. "I might not be one of those that thrives under pressure, but I promise you, sooner or later, something's going to come up, and this will all be over."
"I don't know what I was thinking, letting Kelly get involved in this in the first place, but no…suppose you want to call me an idiot now, no?"
"As a matter of fact, I don't." Anna trailed off for a moment and sighed. "I know this isn't easy for you, and I doubt it's easy for any of us that happen to be involved, either, but something's going to come up."
"You know, Anna…once upon a time, I'd have been inclined to believe you."
The calls had been coming in all day, but there had been no solid leads until now. They stood in an abandoned lot on Staten Island, watching as CSU worked. Blood had been found, and a book that had a familiar name inside. There was blood on the cover.
"This doesn't look good," Nina said quietly, and then, "I heard from Rubirosa. McCoy knows his daughter's missing."
Ed swore softly under his breath. "Damn," he said, and shook his head. "We're gonna have to keep this under wraps if we don't want any more issues. We heard anything from the defense?"
"Flynn's trying to get a continuance," Nina replied. "For at least a few days. Wants to give him time to deal with it."
"I doubt any father's gonna take just a few days to deal with the fact that his kid is missing," Ed pointed out. "I'm not even a father, and I know that."
"You might be one day," said Nina, and motioned to the scene in front of them. "What would you be feeling if this was your kid?"
"Sure as hell wouldn't just be sitting there," said Ed, and then, "You know, there's no way the prosecution can run with the theories that the papers have been spouting."
"Sure they can," said Nina. "Holloway's probably going to try it and have one of three things happen."
"What three things?"
"Either Rubirosa's going to kick his ass, Branch is going to fire him, or Flynn's going to rip him a new one."
"Well, I guess we're just going to have to wait and see what this is all about then," said Ed, and then, "I doubt it's just about McCoy anymore."
"Why wouldn't it be just about him?" Nina asked, giving her partner a startled look, and he sighed.
"Because if this really is Galinet, then she'd have gotten what she wanted just by planting enough for the prosecution to be able to nail McCoy, that's why," he said. "Kidnapping his daughter? That's overkill, if you ask me. I have the feeling that she might be holding the disappearance over Monahan's head."
"Could be why Monahan's not talking?"
"I'd say it is. If she thinks Galinet's capable of hurting her kid, then she wouldn't want to say anything else to us."
"But that would mean she's lied to us and had spoken to Galinet, or was speaking to Galinet when we came around." Nina pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her pocket; Ed watched for a moment and shook his head.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. "Now's not the time for a word search, Cassady. We've got more important things to worry about."
"It's not a word search. I've been fooling around with letters, though," said Nina, without looking up at him. "Galinet was an English teacher before the trial, right?"
"Right," said Ed, slowly, "Where are you going with this?"
"I have the feeling," said Nina, as she continued working, "That she'd have changed her name to something that would use all the letters of her name, so she could stay true to herself, somewhat, no matter what else changes. Haven't I already told you this?"
"If you have, I don't remember hearing it," said Ed, "What do you think you're going to get by screwing around with letters?"
"A name," said Nina, and finally looked up, holding the sheet of paper out to him. "Look here."
And he did, and there was a name, plain as day, circled, between everything else Nina had tried to work out. A name that was familiar, since they'd spoken to the one who held it earlier on. He looked up at Nina, and shook his head as he spoke.
"Natalie Grant."
They stormed the brownstone. Rubirosa had the warrant to them in record time, and they went in, kicking doors and looking everywhere they could think of.
"Nothing," Nina said, a frustrated sigh escaping her when she came up from the basement to meet Ed and the other detectives on the main floor. "Absolutely nothing."
"She's gotta be coming back here," said Ed, as the other detectives dispersed to look again. "Clothes and shoes in the closet. It doesn't look like anything's been taken."
"A chance she'll come back within the next few days?" Nina asked, and he shrugged.
"Could be," he said. "The APB would have let her know that we were onto her; it was under her real name. Could be why she took Rebecca in the first place."
"Leverage," said Nina, and then, "She wanted McCoy convicted, but Kelly Monahan took the case, and she freaked out because she knows Monahan was likely to get him acquitted."
"So she takes Rebecca, holds it over Monahan's head, tells her to either railroad him or drop the case," said Ed, slowly, and Nina nodded.
"So Monahan does, and lets Flynn take over again, and lies to us when we go to question her," she said. "Maybe we should go after her, and threaten to charge her with obstruction of justice and hindering prosecution?"
"Don't know if we'll get the hindering prosecution, but obstruction of justice, definitely. Maybe accessory."
"To what, murder or kidnapping?"
"Both. Even if Rubirosa can't actually make the charges, it could possibly scare her into giving up Galinet."
"And if it doesn't? Galinet had to have threatened her with something to make her lie to us; Monahan's never had lying to the cops as part of her reputation from what I've heard."
"No, she hasn't. But the blood and Rebecca's book on the island, that had to have been a warning."
"All right…" Nina trailed off for a moment, and then went on, slowly. "So, one of us waits here with someone else, for Galinet to come back, and the other goes after Monahan?"
"That could work," Ed said, and paused for a moment. "Actually, I think it would work better if we did both. We can nail Monahan right now, and come back to wait for Galinet."
"And if she comes back and leaves again while we're gone?" Nina asked, eyeing him skeptically.
"That's why we leave a couple of uniforms sitting on the place. They'll be able to get a hold of us if she comes."
"Plainclothes. It'll look too suspicious if we leave a squad car sitting outside the place. She'll know. She'll ditch before they even have the chance to see her, and then we'll be screwed. She'll think Monahan gave it all up."
"Monahan's going to give it all up whether she likes it or not."