Chapter 17
XXXXXXX
"I don't think your ribs are broken but we won't know for sure until you get to the hospital," the EMT explained as she ran her fingers over Martin's ribcage. "That bruise is already looking pretty nasty."
"I'm fine," Martin grumbled. He might have been more believable if he wasn't wincing when he said it. Sam sighed, realizing that whatever vulnerability he may have confessed to her earlier, he was now hiding it behind a tough veneer.
"Agent," the EMT replied, taking a step back. She pointed to the scar on his chest and said, "You've had your chest cracked open before and while your Kevlar may have protected you from getting shot again the pressure from the bullet hit you square in the chest where you are most vulnerable. That's why your breathing was affected." She yanked off her gloves and finished, "You need to get examined by a physician."
He started putting his shirt back on and began, "I told you, I'm fi…"
"Martin, you're not fine," Sam interrupted. "You need to go to the hospital." He paused mid-button and looked up at her, ready to argue his case. She looked at him softly and placed her hand on his forearm. "Come on, do it for me."
He stared at her for a long beat before nodding his head in surrender. He glanced at the EMT, a smile playing on his lips. "I guess I'm going to the hospital." The EMT smiled gratefully at Sam before prepping the ambulance to take Martin. He grimaced as he maneuvered himself on the gurney so he could lie down. He looked pointedly at Sam and asked, "Is Frasier still inside?"
She nodded her head solemnly and glanced in the direction of the entrance to the warehouse. There were several agents milling around, mournful expressions on their faces. One of Frasier's agents was killed during the raid. He was wearing his Kevlar vest, just like Martin, but it doesn't work when someone is shot in the head. Two EMTs emerged through the doorway escorting a gurney with a body bag on top. All of the agents and LAPD stepped aside, clearing a path to the waiting hearse. Sam felt a lump in her throat at knowing just how close it could have been Martin being loaded into the back of that car. She lowered her eyes, looking away from the scene. She took a deep breath and glanced at Martin who was watching the hearse drive away. While he was still staring straight ahead she ran her fingers over his hand and gave a gentle squeeze. "Thank you."
He looked at her hand in his and squeezed back. He tiled his head to meet her eyes and replied, "You're welcome."
She smiled down at him, still holding his hand in hers. She heard footsteps approaching and then heard Danny's voice.
"Hey," he greeted them as he neared. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Martin replied, suddenly pulling his hand away from hers, resting it on his chest. Sam's hand went cold at the loss of his touch so she dropped it to her side and looked over to face Danny as Martin continued talking. "Did you find the doctors?"
"Yeah," Danny replied, eyeing her curiously before refocusing on Martin. "They were locked up in a storage room. They're okay but we're having them checked out by paramedics. Chao's with them."
"Good," Martin replied. "Have you interviewed them yet?"
"No," he replied, shaking his head. "Frasier is interrogating one of the men we apprehended to try and find out where the Grimaldi's son is being held. I wanted to wait until we know a little more."
"Good idea," Martin said as the EMT walked back over and released the brakes on the stretcher telling him that they were ready to go. Danny helped them load the gurney, telling Martin that he would meet up with him later to let him know what they find out before walking back to the building.
Sam started to board the ambulance when Martin shook his head and motioned for her to stop. "You don't have to come, Sam. I'll be fine. You should stay here and talk to the doctors."
She tried to conceal the hurt that he didn't want her to accompany him, particularly in light of what happened earlier. One step forward, two steps back. She bit her lip and then replied, "I'm sure Danny and Chao have the situation under control. I can…"
He looked at her and said, "No, it's okay, really. They're going to need all the help they can get and I'm sure it's just going to be a lot of boring waiting around at the hospital." He fiddled his fingers nervously as he softly said, "I'm really okay, Sam. I'd feel better if you were here…handling things."
She wanted to protest that between Frasier and Danny the situation would be fine but she reluctantly nodded her head and said, "Okay."
"Thanks," he said as the EMT closed the doors to the ambulance.
She stood there watching the ambulance drive off. Through the windows she could see Martin tilt his head back, a worried expression on his face. She wanted to chase after the vehicle and tell him how incredibly, powerfully touched she felt by what he did earlier. To tell him…how loved it made her feel. But instead, she just kept her feet firmly in place and stared as the red taillights disappeared around a corner.
As soon as he was gone she took a deep breath and turned around on her heels, striding purposefully towards the building. As much as she knew that she and Martin had a lot to talk about after what he did she also knew that she was an agent and now was the time for work. She entered the now crowded main floor, brushing past the numerous officers and agents collecting evidence. Danny was interviewing Dr. Shapiro while Chao was standing across the room with Frasier talking to a young Asian man in handcuffs. She started towards them when she spotted the Grimaldi's off to the side. They were sitting on some wooden crates, huddled close together, wrapped in navy blue blankets while an agent stood nearby holding sentry.
She relaxed her posture and walked carefully up to the couple. Will Grimaldi was holding Rose close to him, kissing her on the temple and whispering reassuring things to her. They both looked up at her as she approached.
"Have you heard anything about our son yet?" Will asked. He had a black eye and a bruise on his cheek. "We keep asking but no one will tell us anything."
"We are doing everything we can to track Richie down," Sam replied as confidently as she could as she sat down on a crate next to them. "I'd like to ask you some questions if you're up to it."
They both nodded their heads but it was Rose who replied, "You need to know we aren't terrorists. We didn't want to help them but they threatened to kill Richie if we resisted…"
XXX
"The symposium titled, 'Magic and Technology' sounds pretty interesting," Rose said as she flipped through the conference itinerary. She was sitting on the bed, her back propped up by three pillows. She watched as Will plugged his laptop in to charge and asked, "What do you think? Do you want to go to that one? It is scheduled for nine."
He flipped open his laptop and said, "Can't we sleep in a little longer and attend one at a more reasonable time, like noon?"
"Will, we are here for work," Rose replied with a smile as she lowered the sheet of paper.
"We can play a little hooky." He logged on to his email and laughed. "Don't be such a nerd."
She balled up the paper and tossed it at him. "Takes one to know one."
He was still laughing when an instant message popped onto the screen. He read the message and visibly paled. Rose noticed his pallor and asked, "What is it?"
"I think you need to come over here," he said, motioning for her to see something on the monitor.
She stood up and crossed over to where he sat. She placed her hand on his shoulder and looked at the screen. On the IM box there was a picture of Richie sitting in a dark room. Underneath the picture it read, 'If you ever want to see your son again you will do as instructed.'
XXX
Rose wiped her eyes. "Then we got a phone call to go to the pier and not to call the police or they would kill Richie."
"What happened at the pier?" she asked, writing down some notes in her notepad.
"There was a man there and he told us to get in a black SUV. He put black cloth bags over our heads so we couldn't see where we were being taken," he replied. He reached over and held Rose's hand tightly as Sam watched; her heart filling with envy at their obvious love for one another. He looked Sam in the eye and said, "They brought us here…"
XXX
Will felt a tug on the bag and suddenly it was yanked off. It took him a minute to adjust to the light and when he did, he saw Rose sitting next to him looking scared. He gave her a reassuring look when Paik entered the room.
Paik's expression was cool and unreadable. He walked up them, studying them as he took each step. When he reached them, he sat down on a chair and said, "I'm sorry for the methods we had to use to get you here but," he leaned back and finished, "secrecy is of the utmost importance."
Will found his voice and asked, "Where is our son?"
"He is safe…for now," Paik replied. "But how long he remains that way is entirely up to your cooperation."
"We don't have a lot of money," Rose began, her voice quivering.
Paik smiled evilly and leaned in close to Rose. "It isn't money that I want." He reached up and ran his hand seductively over her face before poking her in the forehead with his index finger. "I want what is in there."
Will and Rose shared a confused and nervous look. Will cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry, we don't understand."
Paik laughed and leaned back, staring at Will. "I want you to do for me what you have done for Juno."
He swallowed and replied, "You want us to conduct research for you?"
"No, I'm not looking to research anything new," Paik said as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I want you to copy the work you have done on making Anthrax weapon ready."
"We can't do that…" Will argued, choking up. "We can't help you kill hundreds, possibly thousands of people."
Paik smiled and pulled out his cell phone. "If that is really how you feel," he dialed and waited for whomever he was calling to answer. Will looked nervously over at Rose when Paik said into his phone, "Kill the boy."
"WAIT!" Rose shouted. "We'll do it!"
Paik paused, studying Rose carefully before he finally said, "Never mind. Let the boy be – for now," He hung up the phone and eyed Rose. "If you try and cross me in any way I won't just kill your son but," without warning, he raised his fist and punched Will in the face. "I will obliterate your entire family."
Will's face was throbbing with pain as he looked over to his wife. With tears streaming down her face, Rose nodded in understanding.
XXX
"We knew that by cooperating him we were risking so many lives but…" Will squeezed Rose's hand tightly and finished, "He is our son."
"I understand," Sam soothed.
"Hey," Chao announced. She turned around and saw him walking up to them. He introduced himself to the Grimadli's and when they asked if he had heard anything about their son he replied, "We're working on it." He gestured for the agent standing by to come over and said, "In the meantime I am going to have Agent Devon here take you to the bureau office." As the couple started getting up he looked at Sam and said, "Agent Spade, can I talk to you?"
Sam nodded and softly said to the Grimaldi's, "Please excuse me." She stood up and walked over to Chao, feeling the couple watching her every step of the way.
Chao leaned in close to her and whispered, "We got the guy to talk. He said that he thinks they are holding the boy in an apartment in Brooklyn." He handed her a slip of paper and finished, "We need for you to call your team in New York and have them check it out."
She took the slip of paper and pulled out her cell phone to call Jack. It rang twice.
"Malone," Jack answered groggily.
It hadn't even occurred to her what time it was back in New York. She glanced at her watch to see that it was close to six in the morning back on the east coast. "Hey Jack, it's Sam."
His voice perked up and he said, "Hey, what's up?"
She was surprised that he might actually think she was calling for personal reasons. She sighed and crisply said, "We have a possible location where Richie may be held."
"Oh," he replied, sounding disappointed that she wasn't calling just to talk to him. "Where?"
"An apartment in Queens," she replied before quickly rattling off the address.
"How did you find out?" he asked.
"We've located the missing doctors," she replied.
"Did you find out who orchestrated the whole thing?"
"Yeah," she replied before giving him the short version of events. She told him that Danny had killed the ringleader but left out how Martin had saved her life. She didn't know why exactly but at the moment it felt too sacred to share with Jack. "We're pretty sure that the main players are dead but we're still conducting interviews."
"Okay, I'll call Viv and we'll head over to Brooklyn," he said. Judging by his muffled voice she knew he was moving around his apartment getting ready to head out. She gestured to Chao that the situation was going to be handled so he walked away, pulling out his own cell phone and dialing. Jack coughed to clear his throat and said, "Tell Martin I will call him back as soon as I can to let him know how it turns out."
"You've been talking to Martin about the case?" she asked. She didn't know but she was surprised by this revelation.
"Yeah," Jack replied. "He didn't mention it?"
"No, he didn't," she replied. She didn't know why but for some reason she was caught off guard. Of course Martin would have been talking to Jack. They were both SAC's now and their cases were connected. She guessed that when he said he didn't want to talk to her about Jack he meant it quite literally. She looked over as the coroner examined the body of one of the terrorists and felt her stomach twist up into a knot. "Don't call Martin. He's, uh, he's going to be unavailable for the next few hours," in an instant her voice cracked and she had to force herself to finish, "Just call me or Danny. We can relay the message."
"Why isn't he around?" Jack asked, concerned.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, mentally praying that she could reign in her emotions. Now was not the time. "He, uh, he was shot," she breathed out. "He was wearing his Kevlar but they need to get him checked out."
Jack was quiet for a long moment before finally replying, "I'll call you as soon as I know if we have Richie."
"Okay," she said. She started to pull the phone away from her ear when she heard Jack say her name. "Yeah?"
"Tell Martin…just tell him I hope he's okay," Jack promptly replied before hanging up.
She clicked off her phone and took a deep breath pressed it against her chest. She took a few breaths to steady herself. Old and new emotions were crashing against the surface and she felt woozy. She felt anxious, like she wanted to run out of this factory and just keep running, run out, run away. But run where? New York? Kenosha? The womb?
No, she knew where she wanted to run to so she tucked her cell phone into her pocket and walked out of the factory to go to the hospital.