As Martin got off of the elevator at the office he heard a commotion down the hallway by the interrogation rooms. "This is bogus! I didn't do nothing!" a skinny young black man was shouting.
"Enough already" Sam said shortly "I told you we have some questions for you now just take a seat!" Another male agent opened the door and unceremoniously ushered him into the interrogation room.
"Hey" Martin walked over to Sam, "Is that Turbo?"
"Yeah" she smirked at him. "He's living up to his name too. Are you ready for this?" she indicated to the door with a set of folders in her hand.
"As I'll ever be" he sighed. "Let's do this." They opened the door the other agent stepped out as they walked in.
"Darnell Thompson… I'm Special Agent Spade, this is Special Agent Fitzgerald." Sam said as they took seats opposite him at the table.
"Yeah so …what you want from me?" Thompson shrugged.
"We've got some questions about Frankie Cortez…" Sam said as Martin took out his notebook.
"Never heard of him." Thompson shrugged.
"Really?" Sam looked at him and opened a folder. She pulled a black and white photo out of the folder and showed it to him. "Isn't that you in the passenger seat?" she pointed to the picture. "And that would be Frankie driving. This was taken early Sunday morning, about 15 minutes before you were involved in a head-on collision on the Brooklyn Expressway."
"Ok so I knows him. You got dog on ice already what you want from me?" he sat back and crossed his arms.
"We want to know what happened to Michael Cortez and Stephen Parker." Martin said tapping his pen on his notebook.
"Aw man that was all Frankie too… if he hadn't brought his whiney assed little bro along we wouldn't be here." Thompson shook his head.
"Well we are here so what happened after the wreck?" Sam asked him.
"I split." Thompson said simply. "I seen what happened to that lady, Mikey's cryin' like a little baby on the phone to some dude and I knew the cops was comin' so I hopped the railing and split."
"Was that before or after you attacked Stephen Parker?" Martin asked.
"I don't know no Stephen Parker?" Thompson said adamantly.
Martin looked at Sam and she set a mini cassette player on the table. She pushed the play button and played the 911 tape. Thompson listened with no sign of emotion. "Yeah so?" he shrugged "You ain't got jack" he said smugly.
Martin smiled and got up. He walked over to the phone on the wall and pressed three buttons. "Hi Louise, it's Martin in 4, yeah can you do that voice print for me? Sure I'll hold." He smiled at Thompson. "We'll have forensic proof that that was you in the background fighting with Parker in a few minutes… or do you want to save the trouble?"
"You can't do that!" Thompson sat up.
"Oh yes we can!" Sam said quietly. "Now cut the crap and tell us what happened?"
Thompson looked from Martin to Sam and back. "Louise… perfect match… thanks yeah you can send that to the DA." He hung up and walked back over. "Right now we can put you at the scene and in direct contact with Parker… you want to rethink your story?"
"I didn't do nothing to him" Thompson insisted. "I might have intimated that something could happen, but I was just talking trash!" he looked mildly panicked. "Look that guy was going off on one, wailing and crying and talking crazy saying they'd killed his wife… Mikey was trying to convince him it wasn't her. Pops took a swing at me. I was gonna drop him but Frankie got between us and when we realized he was calling the cops we took off. Mikey stayed with him."
"And that's the last you saw of them?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, Frankie and me split up and I figured I needed to get outta town for a bit so I went up to visit my bro. I got the train outta Penn Station. You can check I had to sign in up there…"
"We will." Martin looked at Sam, she nodded. "Sit tight." They got up leaving him in the interrogation room. "Ok," Martin said once they were outside and the door was shut. "What do you think?" he asked her.
"I think you're going to Attica." She grinned.
"Yeah, me too" He pouted. She laughed and walked off down the corridor. As he watched her going, he was distracted by Vivian. She was on the phone and looking concerned. I wonder if that's Danny. He thought. He would soon find out, she hung up and signaled him to come to her. Sam was already there waiting to fill her and Jack in on what Thompson had told them.
"Right, Thompson's admitting to trash talking and wanting to take a swing at Parker but nothing more than that." Sam said as they gathered in the bullpen. "He claims he went to Attica to visit his brother… he took the 6:30 out of Penn Station."
"We'll see about that." Martin nodded. "How are you doing with the info on the brother… Malique?" he asked Jack.
"It's slow going but I've called in a few favors." Jack said and looked at his notes. "He went down for statutory rape of a 14 year old."
"And they made a deal on that?" Vivian was appalled, they all were.
"He was also running drugs and was a key point in a major operation, so they made a deal with the devil." Jack nodded.
"Do we know who they were looking to take down?" Martin asked.
"The operation was headed by Alvaro Montoya." Jack said "He'd been a major supplier for almost 20 years. There's a long list of known associates, if this Malique was one of them we've got good odds that both his brother and Frankie Cortez are on that list."
"It could have been one of them who attacked Mia… Miss Parker." Martin said.
"At this point anything is possible." Vivian said. "There's no point trying to get to Attica tonight." She looked at Martin. "Why don't you run through the list and see if any of them match the description she gave you?" Martin nodded.
"Ok, I'm going to go try and get the rest of the information on Malique Thompson." Jack said.
"I'll check on the lab results, Quantico should have something for us by now." Sam said.
"I'll give Martin a hand." Vivian stood up as Sam and Jack each went off to tackle their chosen assignments. Vivian made a point of watching them leave before she turned to Martin. "Can you start without me?" she asked him.
"Sure," he said confused.
"Danny called." She said "He's ok, he wants to talk. I told him I'd meet him at Vito's… damn 5 minutes ago!" she looked at her watch.
"You'd better get going." Martin said glumly looking at the huge list being printed out. He'd be here most of the night going through them and he'd wanted to check on Mia. I can't believe I'm calling her that now… he thought to himself.
She seemed to sense he was thinking about Amelia. "I'll be as quick as I can. Do you want me to tell him about Miss Parker?"
"Tell me what about her?" They were both startled to hear Danny's voice behind them. They turned to see him standing there with his hands in his pockets. "What about Mia?"
"Danny! I told you I'd meet you at Vito's!" Vivian said sounding a bit like an exasperated mother.
"I know… I was restless… I'm sorry…" he said "Now what about Mia?"
"Maybe we should take this somewhere more private." Vivian said.
"What's happened to her?" Danny said the fear growing in his voice and his eyes.
"She's going to be fine." Martin said quietly looking down at his desk.
"What do you mean she's going to be fine? One of you, tell me… what's happened to Mia?" Danny demanded.
"Danny," Martin looked him squarely in the eye "Just take it easy, it's all under control."
Danny pulled himself away from Martin's gaze. He looked at Martins face, his eyes lingering on the bruise, "Oh god Martin… I'm sorry…" he started to say, but Martin held up his hand and stopped him.
"Don't worry about it brother." He said softly. "Why don't we go grab a cup of coffee and we can fill you in on everything."
"Looks like you've got a ton to wade through." Danny nodded to the growing pile on Martin's printer.
"Yeah I do." Martin conceded.
"So why don't you get started and I'll take Danny and get him up to speed like we'd planned" Vivian said firmly. They both nodded knowing her tone well enough not to argue with her.
"We'll talk later." Martin put his hand on Danny's shoulder. They looked into each other's eyes each silently forgiving and thanking the other. Danny nodded and followed Vivian down the hall.
Vivian found them an empty conference room at the quiet end of the office. Danny was glad to see it was also as far away from Jack's office as they could get and still be in the department. She made them each a coffee and closed the door. She sat looking at him as he absentmindedly stirred his coffee. She was amazed at how quickly he was changing his emotional gears, running from anger to grief to hopeful desperation. You'd see a different side of him in the blink of an eye.
This Danny she hated to see, the quiet, subdued, beaten Danny. It was a side of himself he rarely let people see, preferring to hide behind bravado. She was sure he'd chew broken glass before he'd admit he was hurting emotionally. But she knew she could get this Danny to talk.
"Do you want to start or should I?" she asked him gently.
"How much do you know about my connection to Parker and Mia?" he asked quietly.
"I know you were his foster son for almost a year, and you kept in touch with them after you moved back in with your brother." She said. Danny nodded. "I also know that the car wreck that killed your parents killed Louisa Parker." Danny looked at her a wounded, hunted look in his eyes. "You ran away from there on the anniversary of the accident. Amelia blames herself for your running away… why don't you fill in the rest for me?"
Danny looked down at his coffee his hands were shaking again. "I didn't know until that night that her mom was in the car we'd run into…" he said quietly. "Mia and Mr. P. they were the best thing to happen to me since my folks died. I finally had someone I could depend on. Someone I could trust… and to find out I did that to them…" he shook his head.
"What did you do Danny?" Vivian asked him.
He looked up at her, his eyes almost black as he looked at her. She swore she could see straight into his soul and see his heart breaking as she watched him. He licked his lips, his mouth was dry, and in barely a whisper he said "I killed them."
She didn't speak. She didn't react. She simply reached out and put her hand over his. That was all it took, that subtle touch, for him to know he could carry on with out fear of retribution, rejection or retaliation. "I tried to get my dad to stop picking on my mom… he turned to yell at me and lost control of the car." She couldn't help thinking that he sounded like a lost little boy. "If I'd just kept my mouth shut like Rafi always told me to do when he was yelling at her… they'd all still be here."
"You don't know that." She said gently.
"No, but Rafi was right… I should have kept my mouth shut… and if he could be right about that, what else could he be right about?" Danny shook his head. "I've always tried so hard, to stay away from him after that. I knew I was just one wrong step from being like him… like he said I'd turn out… it terrifies me."
"You won't turn out like him." Vivian said firmly, "You haven't. …have you?"
"No… but look at how I've treated Mia… How could I do that to her... to someone I lo…" he bit down on the last word, pressing his lips together. He drew a deep breath. "Please, Viv, tell me what's gone on with the case? How can I help? I need something to focus on or I'm afraid I'm going to… I need to do something."
"Well first I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to get involved, you're too close emotionally to the victim and his family." she said.
"Is that you or the Bureau talking?" he asked with a hint of the cynical smirk she'd come to love over the years of working with him.
"A little bit of both." She smiled at him, she couldn't help herself. "Right…" she sighed. She slowly filled him in on the developments of the case. He was sitting staring at her, leaning on his elbows, his hands folded and pressed to his mouth to keep himself from interrupting. "She called Martin, after the attack. He took her to Bellevue for treatment and she's in a safe house now."
"I need to see her." Danny said quietly. "I don't know if she will see me. I need to tell her, I'm sorry… for so many things…"
"Maybe you should give her a day to settle down. Martin's been looking after her." She watched his reaction to that bit of information.
"Good," he nodded "that's good. She needs someone like him… someone she can count on…"
"I got the impression that's what she thought of you." Vivian said.
"She was right." Danny shook his head. "She doesn't know me. I don't think she wants to know me… not anymore."
"You should give her a chance to tell you that for herself." Vivian said. She noticed movement outside the door and looked up. It was Martin. She waved him inside.
"Sorry Viv but I've narrowed down the suspect pool and I thought we should try to get her to do a photo ID." He had a stack of wrap sheets in his hand.
"Ok put it together and go see her." Vivian nodded.
"Me too…" Danny said. "I'd like to come too." He looked from Vivian to Martin and back. "Please…" against her better judgment Vivian nodded.
"It's fine with me." Martin nodded, "But, let me talk to her first. Let me prepare her, I don't think she could cope with another surprise visit." He regretted the impact his words had on Danny, but he was going to protect Amelia at all costs, even if he had to hurt Danny's feelings in the process. Danny nodded, as Vivian watched him desperately holding up the walls he'd built around himself. She knew they were crumbling and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
Danny sat watching Martin put the wrap sheets and photos in order. "So who's there now?" Danny asked him.
"Franklin and Archie." Martin said without looking up. "I had planned to relieve him tonight. I think Ted was going to take over for Archie." Danny nodded. "Ok that's everything," Martin put a thick file into a laptop bag. "Did you bring your side arm?"
Danny nodded as he stood up "Portal to portal, it's S.O.P."
"Ok good." Martin nodded. "Are you sure you're up to this?" he asked out of concern. He saw Danny had taken it the wrong way. "Look I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to do anything rash that you might regret later."
"Martin, it's too late for that." Danny said and led the way to the elevator.
"Tell me something I don't know." Martin muttered to himself as he followed.
Martin unlocked the car and put his bag in the back seat. He smiled slightly as Danny got into the passenger seat without a complaint. Danny usually preferred to drive. Danny was stoically silent as Martin drove out of the parking garage. The safe house was a 30 minute drive but with the end of rush hour traffic it could take a lot longer. Danny sighed as they got caught at yet another traffic light. Martin looked at him "What's been happening with you these last few days?" he asked. "You seem like you're in a really bad place. Why didn't you call me?"
Danny let out a cynical half chuckle "Where's the house? Yonkers? We might have enough time then."
"Oh we've got time." Martin grinned. "It's cross town."
"Might as well have put it in Yonkers the traffic wouldn't be so bad… Hey! Look at that jerk!" He pointed to a car trying to pull on to the pavement to get around a stopped car. "Hey, what are you doing?" Danny yelled at the driver through his window.
Martin couldn't help but laugh as the driver gestured at Danny and kept going. "Some people have no respect for the law." He teased Danny. Danny sat back shaking his head. "So…" Martin said again. "What happened between you and Mia?"
Danny looked at him surprised not by the question but rather the familiar and almost intimate way Martin said her name. "What did she tell you?" Danny asked.
Martin couldn't hide his smile. It was so like Danny to deflect the difficult questions trying to avoid dealing with the emotional issues. "Pretty much everything," he said, "but I wanted to hear it from you. She was so devastated when you left. She still has Tonto…"
Danny smiled sadly. "Does she?" he asked and looked out of the window lost in his thoughts. He was amazed that he remembered it so clearly. They were at Coney Island. It was one of the few times Mr. Parker had come with them. They were playing games and eating hot dog. Mia had her hair down… "What?" Danny asked looking at Martin.
"I said she showed me a picture of the two of you at Coney Island. When you won the bear for her, you looked really happy together. It must have been something pretty awful to make you leave like that." Martin was weaving their way through traffic.
"Yeah it was…" Danny said. Martin didn't press him. He could tell Danny was steeling himself to see Amelia.
"I'm sure if you talk to her, explain it, she'll understand…" Martin looked at him again.
"You know her better than I do now." Danny said a bitter tinge to his voice.
"Not really." Martin shook his head. "How do you figure?"
Danny looked at him unbelievingly. "You're calling her Mia… you've spent the night with her…"
"We were talking… she was upset… I was hoping to get something useful for the case!"
"So that's why you stayed?" Martin couldn't miss the note of jealousy in Danny's voice.
"No Danny, I stayed because I thought she was someone you cared about and I wasn't just going to dump her and run when she was hurting and in trouble…" Martin shot at him. "Christ! You're my friend… my best friend… I thought you'd want me to look after her! Did you know she's been sober for ten years? She was afraid of slipping… so while you walked your demons away, I sat with her and we talked hers though…"
"She's in AA?" Danny shook his head. "Parker didn't drink."
"Mia did. She started when she was 16." Martin said.
"I didn't know." Danny said softly. "Why did she start?"
"I think you should ask her that." Martin said.
"…if she'll speak to me." Danny was looking down at his hands. He had his keys in his hand. He lightly fingered the pressed penny.
"Let me talk to her first… get her ready. You'll just have to take it slowly." Martin said as he parked the car. He pulled out his phone. "Franklin, it's Fitzgerald and Taylor."
"All clear" Franklin replied, "Come on in."
"Are you ready?" Martin asked Danny.
"As I'll ever be..." Danny shrugged. They got out of the car and surveyed the street. Happy that they weren't being observed, Martin took out his laptop and they went up the steps. Franklin opened the door and let them in.
"How's it been?" Martin asked by way of greeting.
"She hasn't made a sound since you dropped her off." Franklin said locking the door behind them. "I went up and checked on her, she looks like she's asleep… just kinda curled up on the bed"
They had moved into the living room where the surveillance equipment was set up. They greeted Ted and Archie. "Has everything else been quiet?" Martin asked.
"So far not a sound," Archie nodded, "no unusual movement anywhere on the street."
"We'll pick up anything if there is." Ted said getting set up in Archie's place.
"Ok great." Martin nodded. "We'll take it from here." He said to Franklin.
"Cool, I'll see you at 8." He nodded Martin followed him and Archie to the door locking it behind them. He stopped and looked up the stairs. He strained to hear anything but all was silent. Danny was watching from the living room doorway. Martin motioned for him to wait and he quietly went up the stairs.
The upstairs hall was dark except for the bathroom light. He saw Amelia's door was shut. He knocked softly. "Come in" he heard her quiet voice.
He opened the door and stepped half inside. "Mia?" he saw her lying on the bed just where he'd left her, still in the hospital scrubs and hugging the bear. "Mia, are you Ok?"
"Martin." She sat up slowly, "You came back!" she brushed her long hair back over her shoulder. "Where's the light?" she reached over and turned the bedside light on. He watched her holding on to her ribs as she straightened up.
"I told you I'd be back." He smiled and came into the room pushing the door nearly shut behind him. "How are you? Have you eaten anything?"
"No… I'm not really hungry." She sat up straight and rubbed her neck. "Is there anything new?"
"There have been some developments but we need to look more deeply into some things. You really should eat something… I could order some Chinese?"
"You can get food delivered here? I thought it was a safe house?" She was confused.
"It goes to the house next door," he explained "it's empty."
"Oh," she tried to smile. "Ow!" she put her hand to her lips. "Maybe some soup, something easy." she conceded. "I think I brought my wallet." She started to get up but he stopped her.
"Don't worry, the Bureau is picking up the bill." he smiled, she could tell he was nervous about something.
"What else wrong Martin?" she looked at him. He couldn't help but blush slightly.
"There is someone here to see you." He said gently. "…you don't have to if you don't want to… but I think it would be good… for both of you."
"Where's Danny?" she asked.
"Downstairs." Martin said quietly, he should have known she'd figure it out. He walked over to her. "Do you want to talk to him?" Amelia put her head down and thought for a long moment. She felt Martin brush her hair back gently. "Mia, I think you two need to talk. You can't keep letting this eat away at you. If you're not ready I'll send him home."
She looked up at Martin and into his kind blue eyes. "No, I'll talk to him now." she sighed and then she tried to smile at him, through the bruising and swelling he saw a glimmer of the wicked smile that had captured him the first time he saw it. "I'll do my best not to hit him this time!"
Martin couldn't hide his own giggle at that. "Ok" he smiled. "I'll go get him if you're ready." She nodded and stood up.
"I'm ready as I'll ever be." she said. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, before going back downstairs. She went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. "Oh god," she shook her head before gently running a brush through her long hair. She went back out and sat on the bed, willing herself to be calm while she waited.
Danny was standing at the foot of the stairs waiting for Martin. "How is she?" he asked him quietly.
"She's holding her own." Martin nodded. "She wants to see you. Are you ready?" Danny looked ready to run again but he nodded "Don't worry," Martin tried to reassure him. "She did promise not to hit you again." He tried to tease Danny. Danny gave him a half smile before steeling himself and slowly walking up the steps.