Chapter 7
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"Okay, I have something," Sam announced as she walked into the conference room where Chao was sitting at one end typing on a laptop. They ran the pay phone records for all incoming calls but the most likely phone call was made from a prepaid disposable cell phone. So they came back to the office to try and pinpoint the cell phone tower that the call was transmitted and focus their investigation on that area. "We traced the call to a phone tower near the corner of Ord and Yale." She placed a Thomas Guide on the table and pointed to a highlighted section. "This is the perimeter for that area."
"Okay, let's see what we got here," he replied as he started typing up the coordinates. The screen laid out the district. "That's Chinatown. It's a big tourist area with lots restaurants and shops."
"Great, lots of people who can come and go without being noticed," Sam grumbled. She sat back down on her chair and sighed heavily. "Basically we're back to square one."
"Looks that way," Chao agreed.
Sam rubbed the back of her neck and said, "Well, we have the disposable cell so we can try and trace it back to the retailer and go from there. Maybe we'll get lucky and this guy used a credit card to buy it or something."
"I'm on it." Chao started researching it on the laptop when he suddenly broke out into a laugh.
"What's so funny?" she asked as she leaned forward, craning her head around to see what he found so amusing. On the monitor was a picture of a Golden Retriever leaping into a lake holding a bright yellow plastic chicken in its mouth. "Is that your dog?"
"Nah, its Rachel's dog," Chao replied as closed the he closed the file and clicked to open another. "I'm using Martin's laptop and I clicked on the wrong icon. I hit his photo file."
Sam tried to act as casual as possible as he typed while secretly trying to gleam as much info as possible about Rachel. "Cute dog. What's his name?"
"Tanner," he replied. "Tanner the Cupid."
"That's his name?" she asked, secretly enjoying learning that this Rachel woman was silly enough to name her dog something so ridiculous.
"Not really, it's just Tanner but I added 'the cupid' because he is the reason that Martin met Rachel…"
XXX
Chao was standing at the counter in the break room making a cup of coffee when Martin wandered in with his wrist wrapped up in a bandage. He tapped his spoon on the rim of his coffee cup before tossing it in the sink and nodding to the wrist, asked, "What happened to you?"
Martin shrugged his shoulders, looking embarrassed as he said, "I was out running at Great Falls early this morning when I got knocked down by the biggest Golden Retriever I've ever seen." He walked over and pulled out a mug of his own and poured himself a cup of coffee. "He had to be easily over ninety pounds."
He shook his head and replied, "Where was the owner?"
"She came running after the dog like five seconds later," he replied with a small smile on his face. "Apparently the dog spotted some ducks and became so fixated on them he broke off his leash and bolted." He put the carafe back on the warmer and reached over for some creamer. "She kept apologizing and trying to help me up while trying to call the dog back over so he would stop tormenting the ducks." He laughed softly as he stirred the cream into his coffee. "It was actually really funny."
With a smirk on his face Chao said, "Funny huh?"
"I guess you had to be there," Martin replied, looking self-conscious. "Anyway, as soon as she got him back on the leash she insisted on driving me to the ER to check my wrist." He tossed the discarded creamer packets in the wastebasket and with an evident smile on his face he finished, "Turns out she's a doctor at Arlington Hospital who just transferred here from Portland. She explained that right now everything is still new and exciting to Tanner, that's the dog's name. She said that they're still trying to figure out a routine but until then the dog is acting on pure instinct." The entire time he was talking his lips were curved up into a grin. "She likes to run Tanner up at Great Falls since it looks a little like Portland. I told her that I used to live in Seattle and that's why I like running there, too." He mixed the cream into his coffee with a plastic stirrer before putting it in his mouth, holding it between his teeth like a cowboy from the old west would hold a toothpick. "So, Rachel, that's her name, Rachel examined my arm and did an x-ray but it's just a sprain so I should be fine in no time."
Chao watched him bemusedly before saying, "You and Rachel seem to have a lot in common. New to town, lived in the Northwest, like to go running…"
"Hey, I grew up in Arlington. It's not a new town to me," Martin quickly replied.
"But you do have a lot in common," he replied just as fast. "I guess the million dollar question is when are you going to see her again?"
Martin grinned widely and replied, "We're having dinner Friday." He brought the cup to his lips and finished, "But she's buying. You know, so I won't sue her for damages or emotional stress."
"Nothing like a first date disguised as lawsuit prevention," Chao joked as they both exited the break room.
XXX
"And that as they say is that," Chao finished. "They've been together ever since."
Sam released a forced laugh and replied, "That is a funny story."
"Yeah," he replied before his tone went professional and he said, "Okay, it looks like that particular phone number can be traced back to a Best Buy in Washington, D.C. I'll contact that store and see if they can dig up a receipt or something."
"Good, um, I'm going to go grab a soda," she said as she stood up. "You want anything?"
As he started dialing the phone he looked up at her and said, "Yeah, I'll take a Mountain Dew. Thanks."
Sam made her way to the break room and fished into her pockets for some loose change. She couldn't believe how her stomach was churning at hearing about the way that Martin had meet Rachel in such a cute way. Worse yet, he met the kind of girl she had always thought he would prefer: someone who probably wanted that 2.5 kids and white picket fence life. Hell, she already had the Golden Retriever. She shook her head, wondering why she felt such an irrational jealousy. She and Martin have been over for years. He may have been the one to say the words but she knew that she played as big a hand in ending it as he did. They just weren't meant to be. She thought he wanted more than she believed she would ever be capable of giving. Besides, she couldn't deny that there was a part of her that felt that Jack was the one she belonged with. He knew her dark secrets and she knew most of his – particularly since their relationship was one of them. Unfortunately it seemed that what they had was mostly built up in her head. That fantasy couldn't hold a candle to the realities of who they were. Maybe that was what she was feeling right now, that seeing Martin again was causing her to create a fantasy in her head of what she had with him and what they could be. That must be it.
With a frustrated sigh Sam dropped some coins into the machine and pressed the button. One can dropped down into the bin and when she bent over to pull it out she heard Danny's voice behind her.
"Hey," he said.
She sighed, not wanting to engage in another fight with him. She stood up and looked at him with an expression as cool as the icy drink she was holding as she mentally prepared herself for another argument. "Hey."
"Chao told us that you guys traced the call to the pay phone from a disposable cell phone," he said looking visibly uncomfortable. "But he's hoping to track it through the store it was purchased at, that's good."
She had to admit that it pleased her to see him like that and said, "Yeah, we're working on it. What about on your end?"
"We struck out. No one remembers seeing any of them. It's like they all disappeared before the conference even began," he replied. The air was thick with tension when he stepped closer and glanced around to make sure no one else was listening nearby. "Look, I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier."
"Really," she replied, slightly taken aback. She clicked the tab on her can of soda and asked, "What's with the sudden change of heart?"
"I talked to Martin and he told me," Danny said softly, his voice tinged with regret. "He told me that he knew about your history with Jack before the two of you ever got together."
"Oh," she uttered, stunned to say anything else.
"Yeah, he told me to back off and cut you some slack," Danny said as he lowered his head closer to hers. "That we're all adults and know what we are doing so I should just butt out and be a good friend." He paused and licked his lips. "Something I know I haven't been to you in a long time."
"It's okay," she replied quietly, nodding her head slowly. She was suddenly overcome with emotion Surprised that Martin and Danny had never discussed any of this until today but more surprised by Martin. If anything, he had more of a right to be angry and hurt than Danny did but instead he was defending her choices.
"No, it's not. I just thought…," he began before pausing to regroup. "I just thought I was protecting him by not ever talking about it with him before but turns out he had known all along and he thought he was protecting both of us by not mentioning that he had known the whole time."
Sensing an opportunity to finally clear the air and come clean she said, "Danny, it's not that I didn't trust you I just didn't want to put you in the position of having to lie for me if it ever came up. It had to be a secret for so many reasons that it wouldn't have been fair to tell you knowing you would have to hide it too."
His lips curved up into a grin and he said, "Secrets. They're a bitch."
Sam nodded head knowingly and said, "Yeah, tell me about it." She saw Danny look at her funny and release a soft laugh. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just Martin said the same thing once," he replied before waving it off saying, "Never mind, anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry that I reacted the way I did. I guess it just upset me to learn that I was the last one to know."
Sam tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears and said, "Danny, it was over so quickly that there didn't seem any point in telling you. That, and I was worried you would treat me differently if you knew."
Danny nodded his head solemnly and said, "I guess considering the way I reacted you were right." He shook his head and looked at her asking, "Why is it that when we are all so busy looking out for each other all we end up doing is causing more hurt?"
"I don't know," she replied with a shrug.
He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes asking, "So, are we okay? Do you accept my apology?"
"We're cool." She nodded and smiled.
"Great," he replied with a smile in return.
"Hey." They both turned around to see Martin and Chao standing in the doorway looking at them. Martin's eyes were darting between them before he said, "We were thinking of going out to grab something to eat. You guys in?"
"Sure," Danny replied as he turned and started to where they stood. "Where do you guys want to go?"
Martin grinned widely and said, "How about Chinese?"
Sam smiled as she stepped over and asked, "Are you thinking of anywhere in particular? Maybe some place in Chinatown?"
"You know what they say: two birds, one stone," Martin replied with a wink. "This way, we get to eat and maybe if we're lucky, one of the employees may have seen one of the doctors at some point."
She folded her eyes and gave him a look of amused skepticism. "There are over seventy places to shop, visit, or dine. What makes you think the one restaurant we eat at will have any relevant information?"
"Where's your sense of optimism?"
Her lips twitched into a grin and she replied, "I must have forgotten to pack it."
His eyes met hers, sending a warm familiar quickening through her as he said, "Well then, let me remind you what Confucius say: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
"You win," she replied with a laugh as she moved join the group of men. "But I wouldn't put too much stock into what he says because he also said: Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Because I don't know about you but as much as I love my job I know for a fact I work hard at it."
"Don't go knocking Confucius," Martin laughed softly as he reached over, placing his hand on the small of her back to move her out the door ahead of them. While he seemed really casual about it, the warmth of his palm felt intimate and familiar. When he dropped his hand away quickly she couldn't help but wonder if it made him feel the same way. She glanced at him and he looked self-conscious as he shoved his hands into his pocket and led the way to the elevator.
She inhaled quickly, trying to steady the waves of emotions flooding through her, missing when he could once touch her so freely. So in an equally casual tone she said, "I'm not knocking him, I think he is very wise."
Martin nodded his head as he reached the elevator and pressed the call button. Seconds later the elevator doors slid open and they stepped inside. She stood next to Martin, her eyes and his glancing at each other, both looking unsure and melancholy.
As Chao entered the elevator, completely oblivious to what was going on between her and Martin he smiled and said, "I'm impressed that you two non-Asians are tossing around so many Confucius quotes."
"We used to order a lot of take-out back in New York," Danny commented with his eyes on her. She knew that he must have noticed something going on between her and Martin. He smiled at Chao and said, "We went through a lot of fortune cookies."
Chao smiled, completely oblivious to the charged air between the three other agents and as the doors to the elevator started to close he said, "Well, as your Chinese representative I feel compelled to share my personal favorite Confucius pearl of wisdom: To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; so to begin, we must first set our hearts right."