Chapter 7

"Agent Price?" The day after his conversation with the others, Vin picked up the phone and called the man.

"Yes?"

"This is Vin Tanner, do you have time to meet with me?"

For a moment Darrell could only gape at the phone. He hadn't expected to hear from the man so soon. Quickly recovering he confirmed he had time. "When would you like to talk?"

A part of him wanted to say never but he had made up his mind to investigate. Having made up his mind Vin didn't see any reason to delay. "Now if you're free."

"Of course. Would you prefer to come to the FBI building or should I come to you?"

"I reckon I'd be more comfortable here."

Darrell nodded, he had expected as much. "I'll be there within the hour." If the lights and traffic were with him he could easily make it in half that time.

"I'll be expecting you." Hanging up the phone Vin turned to JD. "Can you see what you can find out JD?"

"Already on it Vin," JD called, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

Vin grinned, he should have known.

A scant thirty minutes later Agent Price stepped into the bullpen of Team Seven's offices. "Agent Tanner," he greeted the younger man, his hand extended.

Vin stood and shook the other man's hand. "Agent Price. You mind if my team joins us?"

"That is entirely up to you Agent Tanner." Having seen the way the men had come to the young agent's defense the day before Darrell couldn't say he was surprised by the request.

Vin nodded. "Conference room's over there." A few minutes later the eight men , following introductions, were seated around the table. "How sure are you that I'm this missing kid?"

Pulling a photo from the file he handed it over. "The only thing that could convince me further is a paternity test," Darrell answered.

Vin stared down at a young man wearing his face. The hair was a little shorter, the eyes less haunted, but those were subtle differences. "How soon can a test be done?" he asked after several minutes of staring at the picture.

"I can arrange one for later today," Darrell replied.

"You already have samples from them?" Vin asked, unable to hide his surprise.

"I asked for samples as soon as we knew about you Agent Tanner. In spite of the identical appearance of you and your twin the FBI wouldn't close the case without absolute proof that you are in fact the missing child."

"What's his name?" Vin asked, "My. ..the other kid," he added. Vin had suddenly realized he didn't know the name of the man who could be his brother.

"Brick, his name is Brick McKenna."

"What do you know about the kidnapping, the particulars I mean?" Chris asked.

Darrell opened the file. "The first hint of a problem came at a little after 10 a.m. on May 27th 1970. Two nurses went to the nursery to ready the McKenna twins for discharge. Finding one of them missing they thought perhaps he had been taken for a bath or some last minute tests. It didn't take long for the nurses to realize the child wasn't in the hospital."

"Were there any cameras?" JD asked.

Darrell shook his head. "Unfortunately no, such things weren't nearly as common in the early 70s as they are now. The local police were contacted, followed shortly by the state police and the FBI. A thorough search was conducted but no trace of Brock was..."

"Brock?" Buck cackled, "your name was Brock?"

"What of it Bucklin?" Vin grinned, emphasizing his friend's name.

Buck might have continued the teasing if it hadn't been for the glare Chris sent his way. "Uh, nothing, nothing at all Vin." He said nothing when the others laughed at his obvious discomfort.

"Interviews were conducted but nobody had seen anything unusual," Price continued. "Thinking we might be dealing with a grieving mother we checked the hospital records. We found only one woman who had recently lost a child. Just a few days before the birth of the twins as a matter of fact."

"It wasn't her?" Josiah asked.

"No."

"By the way you responded are we correct in assuming there was no doubt?" Ezra asked.

"None whatsoever," Price confirmed. "The woman cooperated fully with the investigation. She opened her home to the agents, submitted to intensive questioning and even took a polygraph test. There was never anything to indicate she was involved in the kidnapping. No ransom note was ever received; in fact there was no contact of any kind from the kidnapper. " He paused to take a drink of water. "Now in the past couple of weeks I have looked into the case. As I told you before Agent Tanner we know Cynthia Tanner adopted you, the adoption taking place shortly after the kidnapping. There hasn't been time yet to track down those who knew Ms. Tanner so I can't tell you if she was involved."

"I want Josiah to accompany you for the interviews."

"What? Agent Tanner I assure you that isn't necessary," Darrell tried to argue.

"You don't seem like a bad man Agent Price but you don't know me," Vin said. "Josiah's my friend, he'll ask the necessary questions but he'll be respectful of my mother's memory too."

He could see this was important to the young agent. It wasn't what could be considered standard procedure but it wasn't as if the man was untrained. "It's unusual, but I suppose since he is a federal agent it would be okay," Darrell finally agreed.

"Thank you. How long for the paternity tests?"

"I'll order a rush on the results, we should know something in a couple of days." Truthfully Darrell was sure the test would confirm Tanner's identity as Brock McKenna. "Do you have any other questions Agent Tanner?"

Vin shook his head. He actually had several questions but they could wait for the results of the test. Vin only hoped those unable to be answered by the test would be answered by the ongoing investigation.

"I'll make the arrangements for the test then," Darrell said. Pushing his chair back he stood up. As he passed behind Tanner he placed a hand on the young man's shoulder and bent down. "Jack McKenna wanted me to tell you that he never stopped looking," he whispered softly. Straightening to his full height he quietly left the room. He would pass on the rest of the message once the test results were in.

Vin bit his lip and nodded. He hadn't wanted to believe it but having seen the picture of Brick he was sure the test would prove he was the missing McKenna child. Knowing they had never stopped looking touched a hollow spot on his soul, bringing a small measure of comfort to the lonely, hurting child he had been.

"You okay Vin?" Chris quietly asked. He wondered if he was going to have to track Agent Price down and introduce him to some procedures of the Navy Seals.

Vin looked into the concerned face of his friend. "I'm fine cowboy," he assured the blond.

TBC...

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