Chapter 6

XXXXXXX

As soon as Danny pulled the car into a space next to Martin's, Sam opened the door and stepped out before he had even removed the key from the ignition. She walked around and stood next to the cement pillar, trying to not appear as frustrated and angry as she felt.

Martin exited his car and she heard him still hiccupping, but they were further apart than before. He looked embarrassed but still offered her a grin. She tried to return it but the only thing she could conjure up was a tight lipped smile. His expression fell and she knew that he knew she was upset. A look of concern crossed his face and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but the moment Danny approached he seemed to just let it go. He pulled two pieces of paper out of his jacket and handed one sheet to Danny saying, "Why don't we split up duties. One team can take the Expo in the Kentia Hall which is on the lower level and the other team can go check out the seminars over in the Concourse Meeting Hall which is on the second level. There's a map of the center on the other side if you need it."

Danny scanned the sheet and nodded his head. "Great, why don't you and me take the Expo and let Sam and Chao check-out the seminars?"

Martin's eyes darted between her and Danny, he was obviously curious about what was going on but just nodded and said, "Yeah, sure." He handed the sheet he was holding to her and said, "Here you go, according to the itinerary I know both Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Grimaldi were scheduled to attend the seminar in room 401." He took a step back and added, "And Sam," she looked up to see his blue eyes filled with humor as he finished, "If Chao gets fresh or anything you have my permission to knock him around."

He winked at his junior agent who just laughed and said, "Don't worry, boss man. You know I don't want to have to go to another one of those sex discrimination work shops."

Sam accepted the sheet of paper and gave Martin a grateful smile for trying to ease the obvious tension of the moment. "Don't worry. I'll keep him in line." She took a breath and asked, "So do you want to meet back here in a few hours?"

"Um, I don't know," he replied. He tongue darted out as he considered he question before he finally said, "Let's just keep in touch and take it as it goes. But just in case why don't you hold onto these?" he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out the car keys, handing them to her. "That way if you guys get a lead and need it you have it."

She clutched the keys in her hand, looked at him questioningly and asked, "Wow, you trust me to do the driving?"

"Of course," he replied matter-of-factly bringing a grin to her lips. "Besides, I'll be with Danny so the only other life in peril will be Chao's." He turned to the other agent, put his hands on his shoulders, looked him straight in the eye and said, "Good luck and be sure to wear your seat belt."

With that, he laughed and started walking down the corridor with Danny. She could hear the two men chatting but wasn't able to decipher what was being said although she couldn't help but worry that Danny would be bad mouthing her to Martin. Realizing that it was no use to stress out about it, Martin knew just about all of the things there is to know about her so she turned to Chao and said, "I guess we should get to it."

He laughed and turned to start walking beside her. "According to the map we can take the escalator up to the concourse and the meeting room will be down that hall and to the left."

She nodded her head as the two of them began walking in relative silence. A group of seminar attendees were walking past them in the opposite direction so Chao moved a little closer to give them space and his hand accidentally brushed against hers. She looked at him and jokingly said, "Watch it, Chao. No means no. Do you want to take that sex discrimination work shop again?"

He blushed and laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender. "No! I got it, hands off, I got it."

She smiled and asked, "So is there some inside story there?"

"It's stupid," he replied, shaking his head bemusedly. "A few months ago a secretary filed a sex discrimination suit against our AD so everyone had to attend those work shops – which was fine – except they make you do those scenarios or reenactments or whatever. The instructor made me play the role of the sexually domineering power player or whatever with Molly, one of the female agents, and it was just so absurd. Instead of looking like a serious exercise it came off like a ridiculous Saturday Night Live sketch."

"Why?"

He slowed his pace and eyed her warily before saying, "Well, for one thing I'm gay." He paused, waiting for her to react and when he realized she wasn't judging him he finished, "And for another thing, Molly is a hard core dyke." He held up his hands and said, "Her words, not mine." He picked up his pace again and finished, "Anyway, everyone knows that about us so to watch me, a five foot five Chinese gay man, try to act sexually aggressive to a six foot black woman who looks like she could crush me with her foot was pretty hilarious. It's been an on-going joke ever since."

"I can imagine," she replied with a grin as she stepped on to the escalator. She thought about how this agent knew a lot about Martin's life now so in her most casual voice she asked, "So what's it like to work for Martin? Is he a good SAC?"

"Oh, yeah, he's great," Chao quickly replied. "We were all pretty worried he was going to be some incompetent jerk who was just riding his daddy's coat tails but he proved us all wrong right away. He works the cases just as hard and unlike a lot of other SAC's he actually tries to get to really know us. He makes sure that we take time off to spend with our families and don't lose any annual leave. In this job, that's pretty rare. Another plus for me is that he isn't the least bit homophobic which makes my life much easier. He even came to mine and my partner, Mark's commitment ceremony." He looked at her and in a low conspiratorial voice said, "And let me tell you, a lot of my friends were devastated when they found out that he wasn't gay."

"They didn't know?"

"He was new in town so no one knew anything about him and he also came to my gay wedding ceremony by himself," Chao replied cheerfully. "Factor in the fact that he is good looking and friendly, it wasn't that easy to tell."

XXX

Chao stood in the sunshine with a wide smile on his face as he watches the crowd of his closest family and friends. Mark came to stand next to him, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and saying, "Quite a turn out, Mr. Bening."

Chao laughed and replied, "I told you, I'm keeping my maiden name." He gave Mark a quick peck on the lips when he spotted, Sorrel, his best friend from college, walking up to them with a big grin.

"Congratulations boys," she greeted, planting kisses on each of their cheeks. "It was a beautiful ceremony."

"Whew, I'm just so glad that part is over," Mark exclaimed, removing his arm and doing a dance pose. "Now I just want to start the drinking and dancing."

Chao rolled his eyes in mock annoyance and with a smile directed to Sorrel he said, "He only married me because he needs an excuse for a party."

"Come on, move along. It's our turn to congratulate the happy couple," his friend Nash ordered as he playfully scooted Sorrel over so he and Trent could get near. She slapped his arm jokingly but did as instructed. Nash pulled Chao into a hug and said, "Congratulations, you're now an old married hag."

"Don't you mean an old married fag?" Trent joked.

"Don't start," Chao warned, wagging his finger at his friend. "Are you having fun?"

"I am but Nash here has been eyeing the newbie hottie standing over by the buffet table," Trent said as he jerked his chin to where Martin was standing. Chao looked over to see him piling some stuffed mushroom caps on his plate and chatting with his elderly aunt. "What's his deal? Gay, straight or taken?"

Chao shook his head and said, "Sorry, ladies, he is straight."

"Damn, what a waste," Nash lamented with his eyes on Martin. "Are you sure?"

Chao laughed and replied, "I'm pretty sure but it's not easy to ask your boss about his sexual orientation."

Mark gently rubbed his shoulder and said, "It's simple: you tell him you have two sets of tickets: one to see a football game and another to see Mariah Carey in concert. If he chooses football he's straight."

"Not necessarily, I'd take the football game. All that male aggression pounding into one another, those tight shiny pants that hold those firm butts, and don't forget the slapping on the rear," Trent cooed. "I'd take that over Mariah any day."

Chao shook his head and laughed. "You guys are terrible." He excused himself and walked over to where Martin stood, wanting to thank him for coming and also to give him a heads up in case anyone decided to approach him. As he neared he could hear his auntie going on about how he wouldn't let her serve her famous jellyfish salad. He couldn't get her to understand that it might not be the best dish to leave out for a buffet style dinner.

"It is my specialty but he tell me no. So I bring duck but it not as good," she declared as she motioned to the meat on Martin's plate.

Martin took a bite of the seasoned fowl and smiled as he chewed. "I think it tastes delicious."

"You like?" she asked. He nodded his head and took another bite. She grinned and reached over for the big ladle and put another heaping serving on his plate. "Here, you eat more."

"I see you've met my favorite auntie," Chao said to Martin who had a mouthful of her duck so he just smiled and nodded. With his arm around his auntie he said, "You might have to go get some more, look how quickly it is going."

She beamed with pride before getting a little scowl on her face and saying, "I have more in kitchen. Be right back." She smiled at him and shoved a plate in his hand ordering, "Eat, eat. Too skinny."

As soon as she wandered off to get more of her duck he turned to Martin and said, "Thanks for humoring her. She's really stubborn."

Martin smiled and said, "Hey, I wasn't lying this is really good." He looked over in the direction that his aunt disappeared and added, "It's nice that she came to support you."

"Yeah, it's surprising sometimes who you can count on. My parents, who were both raised in America, aren't speaking to me but my elderly aunt who spent most of her life in China accepts me completely," Chao commented with an audible sigh. His lips twitched into a grin and he added, "It probably helps that Mark likes to play mahjong with her." He started serving himself and casually asked, "So are you having a good time?"

"You bet," Martin replied cheerfully. "I just wish I knew there was going to be so much good food, I would've worn my sweat pants." He glanced around at all of Chao's fashionably dressed guests and added, "But I'm glad I didn't. I would have looked like a slob around all your friends. It's like I am at a GQ party."

"Well, when I tell you something you might wish you had," Chao lamely segued. "I need to give you a friendly little warning: some of my friends may hit on you."

Martin paused, holding his fork up mid-air and said, "Something tells me you don't mean your female friends."

"Nope, although some do have a lot of feminine energy," he replied with a shrug. "Sorry, it's just you are here by yourself, they don't know you…"

"Don't sweat it. I knew it was going to be a gamble coming alone," Martin said as he returned his focus to his food. "Consider me warned."

"You know, I do have some single straight friends who are girls," Chao offered up. "I could introduce you."

Martin stopped chewing and shook his head. "No, that's okay. Thanks though."

"Left your heart in New York City?" Chao asked when he saw Martin's expression fall. "Sorry, too personal, sorry."

"It's okay. Yeah, it's something like that," he replied. Just then Nash and Trent walked by practically oogling Martin so he quickly stopped and said, "You know, maybe you should introduce me to some of those women after all."

"Come on, you can meet my friend, Sorrel," Chao said as he ushered Martin to her table. "I like to think of her as the Grace to my Will."

XXX

"He was a really good sport about it," Chao said as they reached their floor and headed down the hall to the meeting room. He reached over and opened the door, saying, "Plus, it made Sorrel happy to think she actually had a chance with a guy that she met at one of my parties."

"Oh, lucky her," Sam replied over enthusiastically as a feeling of jealousy churned in her belly. She knew she had not right feeling that way but there it was – the ugly green eyed monster rearing its head.

"Not really. Nothing ever came of it," Chao replied. "Whoever the girl was back in New York it took him a long time to get over her. I was beginning to think he never would until he met Rachel."

She stopped short and repeated, "Rachel?"

"Yeah, they've been together for almost six months. She's fabulous, if she was a man I would date her," Chao replied as he entered the conference room. He was completely oblivious to her crestfallen expression as he said, "Okay, we're here. How do you want to do the interviews?"

"Um," she uttered, unable to process what he was saying – all she wanted to know was who in the hell was Rachel. But she also knew that work came first, she would just have to find out later. She scanned the crowd of about thirty conference attendees as they milled around waiting for the seminar to begin and said, "Um, I'll go left and you go right."

"Meet you back in the middle," Chao said over his shoulder as he went off to start his interviews.

Sam watched him disappear into the crowd before stepping to the left towards two men chatting nearby sipping coffee. As she approached she pulled out her badge and said, "Excuse me, I'm special agent Samantha Spade."

"Hello," both men replied.

She pulled out the photos of the three doctors and said, "I was wondering if either of you know a Dr. Shapiro, Dr. Rose Grimaldi, or Dr. Will Grimaldi?"

"Sorry, I don't know them," one of the men replied as he perused the photos.

The other man, with silver hair and thin wire rimmed glasses examined the photo more closely and said, "I don't know Dr. Shapiro but I do know the Grimaldi's. In fact I was hoping to chat with Will after today's seminar but I haven't seen him at all today. "

"When was the last time you saw him…Dr….?" she asked, tucking the photos back into her pocket.

"Dr. Ian Glasgow," he replied as he scratched his chin. "Um, I guess it would have been the first day of the conference. I ran into him downstairs in the main lobby next to the kiosk with all the flyers."

XXX

Ian was going through his gift bag, pulling out various pens and notepads labeled with different names of pharmaceutical drugs. He pulled out a penlight and was clicking it on and off, when he spotted Dr. Grimaldi lingering near a payphone with a nervous expression on his face and wringing his hands worriedly. He was a slight man with thin blonde hair, and small heavy lidded eyes.

"Excuse me, are you Dr. Grimaldi?" Ian asked as he approached; a wide smile evident on his face.

Dr. Grimaldi went still and replied, "Yes?"

"Hello, I'm Dr. Ian Glasgow from NeuroTech," he extended his hand but Dr. Grimaldi made no move to reciprocate. When he realized that there was no handshake forthcoming he pulled his hand back and said, "I've been following you and your wife's work. I read your report in the Oxford Journal and I was very curious as to your findings on how to contain air born pathogens so that they can be used to target more directly. Do you think...?"

Suddenly the pay phone rang and Dr. Grimaldi rushed to answer it. "Hello? I want to talk to… I can't do that." Ian watched as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. "I understand but that is going to take time." He glanced at Ian as he listened intently to whatever the caller was saying before finally replying, "I can't guarantee results without… Alright but please let me talk to him. No, wait!" He held the phone against his ears for a long beat before finally hanging it up. He set the phone back on the receiver and rested head against the wall, taking a few deep albeit shaky breaths.

Ian stepped closer asking, "Is everything alright?"

Dr. Grimaldi quickly recovered and looked up, shaking his head. "Yeah, sure, I'm fine but I need to go see about something." He stepped back and said, "Please excuse me," before turning and hurriedly walking to the elevator.

XXX

"I figured he was stressed out about some sort of project he was working on," Ian finished. "That maybe he was one of those brilliant yet eccentric scientists."

"And you haven't seen him since?" she asked and Ian shook his head. She pulled out her notepad and began jotting down notes asking, "How about his wife, Rose?"

"No, I haven't seen her at all actually," Ian replied when a gentleman stood at the podium at the front of the room asking everyone to take a seat. "If you'll excuse me, I really don't want to miss anything."

"Yes, of course," she replied. "Thank you for your help."

She watched as everyone started taking their seats and the presenter dimmed the lights to begin the slide show. Chao came up next to her and whispered, "I got squat. No one knew any of our missing doctors. You get anything?"

She flipped her notebook shut and said, "Yup, we have to get the phone records for the payphones downstairs." She turned and exited the room with Chao.

As they rode the escalator back down it took every ounce of will power she had to not ask for more details about Rachel. She knew it was absurd that she should feel so jealous considering all that she and Martin had been through in the past but there was no denying that after seeing him today, old feelings that she thought had faded were rising back up to the surface. Suddenly Danny's words of warning echoed in her mind, "We've all moved on…" She sighed heavily realizing that deep down she had always thought that Martin would be there waiting for her, frozen in time. It pained her to think that was kind of how Jack had been with her and she did the same thing. The only difference was that while she stuck around and made her second mistake with Jack, Martin had wised up to her. He knew better and had not only moved away but he moved on – without her.