Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!

Warning of foul language—don't be offended—bad guys often swear.

CHAPTER 3 – Wild Goose Chase

10.5 hours missing

"Martin," Jack pulled the younger man out of his memory, "How did you get Leon to talk?"

Martin ran his fingers though his hair, "I got his friend, Patrick Sands, to come in and basically lie to Leon. Patrick told him," Martin stopped mid sentence. "Patrick! Of course, how dumb could I be? Patrick wasn't just Leon's friend, it turns out they were lovers too. And I got Patrick to roll on Leon because Patrick was jealous of the women Leon would sleep with. Leon couldn't make up his mind which team he wanted to play for. How stupid could I be?!"

Danny lay a hand on Martin's shoulder, "Don't be so hard on yourself, man. You've done great by getting this far! Is Leon out? What would he do and where would he go?"

"I don't know if he's out…I'll have to check, but there's an old ranch upstate that belonged to Leon's grandfather or somebody. Patrick said they went there for their trysts," Martin began thumbing though the papers looking for the address.

Jack looked over Martin's shoulder and noted the address, "Martin, why don't you and Elena head up there? We'll keep searching on this end and check on Leon's residential status," Jack shot Elena a look that said, 'keep him occupied and under control.' She nodded at his unspoken command and grabbed her coat and purse, "Come on, Martin, let's beat the traffic."

13 hours missing

Danny signed for a small package and walked back to the tech room, opening it as he moved. There was no return label, simple block printing in black ballpoint addressed the packaged to the entire missing persons unit and inside was an unmarked DVD. Danny reached the tech room and popped the disk into the waiting machine. His heart contracted as the simple home video began to play, the focus going in and out as who ever was working the camera zoomed in on a pale and still blindfolded Samantha Spade. Danny could hear the man behind the camera ask Sam a question in a harsh whisper, "Tell me, do you love Martin Fitzgerald?"

15 hours missing

Elena and Martin stepped off the elevator and headed straight for the bullpen. Jack and the rest of the team were wearily going over notes and checking phone records and credit card statements. Vivian was the first to notice they were back, "Anything?"

"No one's been there in months," Elena stated, "The dust was so thick, if a mouse had been there, we'd have known."

Martin didn't say anything. What could he add? Two and a half hours wasted and they were no closer to finding her than when they had left.

Jack grabbed something off the table and approached Martin, "This came shortly after you left. We've seen it, and I know you'll want privacy. Use my office," he pressed a DVD into the other man's hand and gave him a gentle push in the right direction.

Martin took a step or two and turned, "Jack, be straight with me. Is she dead?" He had to know, didn't want to know, and feared knowing all in the same heartbeat.

"No. She's not dead," Jack watched as Martin released the breath he was holding. "But, she says things I think you'll want to hear, and you don't need us," he gestured to the rest of the team, "watching your every reaction."

Martin looked at the other members of the team. Danny refused to meet his gaze and Vivian gave him a look he couldn't quite decipher. What was on the disk? Only one way to find out; he nodded to Jack and headed for his office.

Jack had a small television set on the bookcase. Hannah and Kate watched movies here when they came to visit. On rare occasions, the team watched Viv's home movies of Reggie playing basketball or Jack's amateur attempts to capture Kate's dance recital, and, on one special occasion, Elena shared a short movie Gracie made of the two of them making cookies. Martin ran a hand over the screen to clear the dust and put the disk into the slot. He grabbed the remote and hit play.