Chapter 3

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Sam walked down the hall alongside Danny as they speculated on just how to proceed on the case with the child kidnapped here in New Jersey and hard to reach parents in Los Angeles. Danny argued that since the Grimaldi's were not included in the profits of their creation maybe the parents staged their son's abduction so that they wouldn't be suspected of selling the insider information. She believed that something far more sinister was going on but wasn't yet ready to make any guesses.

She entered the bullpen first and headed to her desk, casting a glance at Viv and Henry Saunders both sitting at their desks talking on their phones. Henry had curly salt and pepper hair and bulbous bug eyes. He had been with the team for a year now but she still knew very little about him. When Martin joined the team he tried so hard to get to know everyone. She often caught him watching and studying to find out what motivated each member of the team, trying so hard to fit in. Henry however came in everyday, did his work by the book and then went home; never offering up much more than talk about the latest case.

Henry hung up the phone before punching in a phone number again. He repeated this several times before giving up and saying, "It's no use. Richie's parents aren't answering their cell phones."

Sam sat down and asked, "What about the hotel?"

"They said that they could not be reached in their room either," Henry replied as she slumped back on his chair. "Jack told me to keep trying but I stopped leaving messages after number eight."

Viv spun around in her chair. She was in charge of going through the Grimaldi's bank records. "I don't know about you but I am getting a very nervous feeling my gut."

Sam frowned and nodded. "What about on Elena's end?"

Viv shook her head and said, "It's been almost ten hours since Richie was taken and still no ransom call and we still can't reach the parents. Something's not tracking."

"Do you think whoever took Richie may have done something to his parents as well?" she asked.

"Maybe," Viv replied before looking at something behind Sam.

She turned around in her chair and saw Jack approach. He was limping a little bit and she knew that he had been putting off knee surgery but if he didn't do something soon Van Doren would most likely retract his field status. She hung up the phone, deciding to wait to hear what Jack had to say.

He stood just outside the perimeter of their desks and asked what everyone had learned so far. Once he was updated he looked at Danny and Sam saying, "I want you both the head over to LA and track the Grimaldi's down yourself. I'll call ahead to their field office and arrange for some help."

"Um, Jack," Danny said. "Sofie's birthday is Sunday and I promised her I would be there."

"Sorry Danny but you and Sam are the only ones who don't have to appear in court this week," Jack replied crisply before adding, "So let's hope we find Richie quickly." He nodded at Sam long enough to make her uncomfortable before heading back to his office.

Sam looked over at Danny who was worriedly bouncing his knee up and down. She smiled at him and said, "Hey, it's Monday. I'm sure we will be back before you know it."

He gave her a grateful smile and replied, "I'm sure you're right. I just don't want to disappoint her."

She knew that he was trying really hard to bond with the young girl since he and Elena were getting more serious. She waggled her eyebrows in sympathy before quickly saying, "So do you want to call travel to book the tickets or do you want me to do it?"

He laughed and said, "Since you are giving me the choice you get to do it." He turned around to face his computer monitor and said, "Besides, I need to check and see how my fantasy football team is doing. Martin was in the lead but my guys kicked ass yesterday."

Sam picked up her phone and called Susie in travel so she could book their plane tickets and hotel. While she was on hold waiting for Susie to find them the earliest and most economical flight she glanced over at Danny who was chuckling at something he was typing up on his email. She guessed that he was sending Martin a message letting him know that his team was now in the lead.

So far this is as much as she knew about Martin's life now. He kept in touch with Danny via emails about sports or whatever else men talked about but she lost contact with him over a year ago. She knew that once he had learned about Jack that he most likely would not want to continue their friendship but it still stung to not know how he was or what he was doing. She just globbed onto to whatever scraps of information Danny would dole out – her pride not letting her inquire too deeply. Not that she was sure Danny would share much if she had asked. He had taken on the role of Martin's protector, still not forgiving her for how she treated Martin in light of her relationship with Jack.

She had hoped that when Martin left that they would have kept the promises they made but it seemed that they both ended up being like every other friendship born out of a working relationship. Promises were made to keep in touch but over time the emails became scarce until they didn't even bother to include each other in even the joke email forwards.

X0X

"Excuse me," Sam apologized as she bumped into Bonnie the receptionist. Bonnie gave her a smile that it was alright before turning to finish her conversation with Daphne from the forensics lab about what happened on their favorite TV show.

Martin's farewell party was in full swing and it seemed he garnered a bigger turnout than the annual Christmas party. There were people from all different levels in the bureau who liked Martin enough to attend and bid him farewell. Jack was the only one visibly absent, he avoided parties at all costs but she knew that he had taken a minute earlier in the day to wish Martin good luck.

She mingled for a bit, moving from agent to agent engaging in small chit chat that primarily focused on who she thought might be replacing Martin. Once they realized that she didn't have any information the conversation would turn to talk about work gossip and since she refused to engage in rumors about work drama she would excuse herself and walk away.

She scanned the crowd, looking for Martin when she finally spotted him standing on the balcony chatting with Kenny from the mailroom, a few agents from Domestic Terrorism, and Simon from accounting. Judging by Martin's animated hand gestures they were talking about baseball. When he finished talking the men all laughed heartily before jumping in to share their own tales.

She stood there watching him for a beat, remembering how just a few years ago she watched him from a distance at the Christmas party when they were still in the early stages of dating. She had told him that he made her happy and at the time she believed it. It was just sad to know that a few months later it had all come crashing down. And then he got shot and she almost lost him entirely. So from that day on she did her best to try and reclaim their friendship. She thought they were doing great but then she found out about his narcotics addiction. Even though she felt guilty that it took her too long to realize that he had become dependent on painkillers she took comfort in helping him admit he had a problem and that he needed to ask for help. Sometimes she was still surprised that the two of them could go through so much together and still be friends.

She saw Martin tilt his cup in the air before excusing himself and heading back inside. Seeing an opportunity, she maneuvered closer to the refreshments table to try and intercept him. He was pouring himself another cup of spiked punch before studying what munchies he could eat when she walked up behind him.

"Hey," she said softly.

He turned around and with a big grin said, "Hey, are you having a good time?" He picked up a chocolate chip cookie and bit into it, crumbs falling on his tie.

"Yeah, I am," she replied as she reached over to brush them off. He lowered his eyes to watch her hand moving across his chest. She suddenly got very self conscious at how intimate the gesture might seem so she pulled her hand back. "It's quite a turn out. I think almost the whole building is here."

"Who would have thought that so many people would be happy to see me leave?" He gave her a small smile and took a drink.

"Everyone just wants to say goodbye before you go," she replied, toying with the plastic cup in her hand, needing to keep her hands busy. "You're going to be missed."

He was quiet for a beat before he looked at her softly and said, "I'm going to miss being here, too."

She nodded her head, her lips curving up into a smile. She looked into his eyes, old feelings and new ones swimming around in her blood. She knew that there was still so much left unsaid between them but neither one willing to make that first step. Feeling very aware of the big elephant sitting in the room she tried to deflect and recover, saying, "But it's not like we're never going to talk again right? There's the phone and email."

He nodded his heat a little too enthusiastic so that it looked like he was just doing it to placate her. "Yeah, of course, we'll still talk. You can't get rid of me that easy."

"I never want to get rid of you Martin," she whispered.

He stared at her for a long moment and opened his mouth to say something when Andrew from White Collar stepped over, asking Martin to tell some of the guys about a case from a few years ago. He told Andrew to give him a minute and once the other agent was out of ear shot he looked at her and said, "I better get back to mingling."

"Sure, yeah, you are the guest of honor," she replied, not quite sure if she regretted that the moment from earlier was gone or relieved. "I better get going anyway. After all, tomorrow we are going to be down an agent."

He laughed and said, "You guys will be fine." He took a breath and stepped forward, pulling her into a quick hug. "Goodbye, Sam."

"Hey, it's not goodbye," she replied as he released her from the embrace. "It's see you later. We're going to keep in touch, right."

"Yeah, of course," he assured her. Andrew called him over so he said, "I better go..."

"Of course," she replied.

He looked at her one last time before turning away and walking to the rowdy group of men. She glanced at him as he addressed the bunch, his voice growing louder and more excited. He had a big smile on his face and was laughing at something Andrew said. She felt confident that they would remain friends and were parting on good terms so she put her glass of punch down and exited the room.