Chapter 19
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Jack tossed his suitcase on the bed, walked over to the window and drew back the curtains to take in the view of the city. They were staying at the Crowne Plaza Hamilton so his room directly overlooked Franklin Park. He could see people out enjoying the beautiful summer day: parents with their kids in strollers, tourists stopping to take photos, suits on their coffee breaks. He wondered how his girls were enjoying their first summer in Chicago. The house was right on the lake, were they swimming everyday? Had they made friends with the neighborhood kids? Maybe after the hearing is over he should take a little detour flight to Chicago and see how they are doing.
Sighing, he turned back and sat down at the desk to do a final read through of the case file before it was time to meet Martin for dinner.
Jack was happy that Martin was awake and well. And relieved; he had been holding Martin's spot on the team open for as long as possible but in the past two weeks Van Doren had been pressuring him to find a permanent replacement. He was only able to borrow Paul Turner and other agents for so long. A position on a Missing Persons unit in New York was too prime to keep vacant for long. Jack chuckled to himself; leave it to Golden Boy Fitzgerald to wake up just in time to save his job. He really was a lucky SOB. Jack quickly checked himself: Martin was in a coma for two months; that was not lucky.
He heard a knock on his door and walked over opening it to find Sam and Viv on the other side.
"Hey Jack. Sam and I are going to head down the bar and get a drink before we leave to the restaurant. Care to join us?" Viv asked.
"Sure. Hang on." Jack went back into the room and grabbed his room key card off the table. "Let's go."
Viv and Sam started ahead. "What about Danny?" Jack asked as they passed by Danny's closed door.
"He said he'd meet us down there in a few." Viv replied.
Sam glanced back as she added, "We think he is on the phone with Emma."
"Oh, right." Jack smirked.
Sam reached the elevator first so she pressed the button and crossed her arms as she stood there waiting. Viv and Jack exchanged glances. Sam had told them on their way to the airport that Martin had called her and wanted to meet them for dinner. The plan was to meet at a restaurant around the corner from the hotel. Jack noticed that while Sam was very happy sharing the news from Martin, the closer they got to D.C. the more introspective she got. She had been pretty nervous the entire flight over and now seemed completely preoccupied.
Jack glanced at Sam and smiled. She returned his smile as the elevator doors dinged and opened up. They stepped into the elevator when they heard someone shout, "Hold it, wait for me!"
They turned round to see Danny hustling to catch up. Jack extended his arm to hold open the elevator doors as Danny rushed in to join them.
"Hey." Danny said breathless.
"I thought you were going to meet us later." Viv commented with a tinge of humor. "Couldn't get a hold of Emma?"
Danny paused and gave Viv annoyed glance and said. "No, one of the nurses said she was with a patient." He said the words forlornly with eyes like a sad puppy.
Viv looked him over and laughingly commented, "Oh, man, you've got it bad."
Jack couldn't help but laugh in agreement.
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The four team members were in good spirits as they entered Scalo's. It was a local Italian restaurant that Martin recommended claiming they served great food and it was close to the hotel.
Jack approached the hostess to give him his name for the wait-list.
"Good evening, welcome to Scalo's. How many are in your party?" The hostess was blonde, young, and entirely too perky.
"There'll be five of us. We are still waiting for one more." Jack replied.
The hostess glanced up from the notebook and asked, "Would your name be Jack Malone?"
"Yes." Jack answered, slightly surprised.
She smiled. "Mr. Fitzgerald has already arrived. Follow me." She grabbed a stack of menus and motioned for the group to follow her.
Jack turned to face the team and each one of them had expressions tinged with nervousness and excitement. They all followed the hostess and Jack spotted Martin sitting at a large table near the rear of the restaurant. He looked like the Martin he remembered, just paler and skinnier.
Martin must have sensed them approaching because as they neared he looked up and smiled.
