Authors Note: Another note of thanks to DianeM for being an awesome beta. In this installment the casefile gets wrapped up and there's some serious movement on the J/S front. If you are reading this and have the time to review I'd be interested in knowing what you were thinking at the end of the last chapter and this one. While I suppose the ending is a foregone conclusion I'd still be interested to know what you guys were thinking about Alex and how that situation would play out. That sort of pacing and foreshadowing is something I want to work on for original works so any comments much appreciated. Thank you and enjoy!
FBI Headquarters
That evening
Alex checked her watch; she hadn't got a call, so she was due to meet Jack in a few minutes. Thinking about him always made her smile. There wasn't a word to properly describe what he was to her. They were both a little old for it to be boyfriend; lover could fit, but in her mind that implied a relationship built on sex. Although there was definitely nothing to complain about in that area, there was just so much more. She was falling for him and more than a little afraid of that. The last few months had been intense with the shooting, his divorce; the ramifications of his job almost change. She didn't, couldn't know whether he felt the same.
"Hey, you," she heard and behind her she felt a solid presence. Hands came to rest gently at her sides, skimming the top of her thighs. His breath was hot on the back of her neck. She turned round and they shared a long, slow kiss. "Ready to go?" Jack asked.
"Always,"
FBI Headquarters
The next day
"Danny, report," Danny looked up from his cup of coffee and shot his boss a death glare. He'd been up late last night at an AA meeting and Jack, the king of sleepless nights, was annoyingly chipper this morning.
"Nothing new on Fennings just the embezzlement stuff from before, although there's no withdrawals to suggest he paid Chloe off. As for Sanchez, he did have a big deposit in his bank account the day before Chloe went missing. He's been away for the last three weeks on vacation, but he's back today." Jack scowled. How had they missed this pay-off three months ago. The answer was simple: the shooting had put them all off-kilter and Max Fennings' suicide had allowed them to quickly close the case. There had been no tying up of loose ends like there was normally.
Martin picked up where Danny had tailed off, "Ted Simmonds is in the wind. He quit his job at the studio three weeks after Chloe disappeared. After that there's nothing. However, the studio does mandatory random drug testing. When I called yesterday they found that they still had a vial of Simmonds' blood. I've put a rush DNA on it." Jack opened his mouth to ask why he'd do that when Viv interrupted.
"Simmonds doesn't exist, Jack. There's nothing before he started at BL Studios, when he just seemed to pop out of thin air. I checked through his phone records again and there are several phone calls between his apartment and Tony Mercury's pizza parlor. Whoever he is, there's some connection between him and that murder case twenty years ago."
"I spoke with a couple of my contacts in the PD and apparently their organized crime unit has been in contact with Mercury. It seems he's trying to negotiate coming out of hiding. Apparently, he didn't know that Martin and Danny were with the FBI; he thought they were local gang members who he'd been having trouble with."
"Me, a gangbanger?" Martin laughed, "Now, I've heard everything," Sam smiled and shrugged.
"It takes all sorts,"
"Sir," Derek, the street agent from downstairs, was back, "Here are your DNA results, sir," he said as he handed a file to Jack.
Jack flipped open the file, "Yes! Ted Simmonds aka Ted Watts, brother to the late Jimmy Watts, the addict and boyfriend of Chloe's roommate who was killed the same night as Eddie Mercury."
"You think he was out for revenge?" Martin asked. "What made him wait twenty years?"
"That's something we'll have to ask him," Jack said, "Viv has the Californian office tracked down Chloe Larson yet?"
"Not yet. She's not living in LA or San Francisco; the small town country records take longer to check. They should have something by later today,"
"All right, well I guess we're just going to have to wait. Meanwhile, the Black case, I talked to Officer Rodreguiez and . . ."
FBI Headquarters
That afternoon
"Sam, the Californian office has brought in Ted and Chloe; they've set up a video interview in the conference room." Jack poked his head round the corner of the bullpen. Sam nodded, saved and closed the report she'd been working on for the Black case. Danny and Martin had gone to arrest Will Steer and Viv was notifying the wife. She did not envy her that. She then followed Jack to the conference room and took a seat. On the screen in front of her she could see a suntanned couple, holding hands and apparently happy. While she liked to find missing persons alive and well, a part of her was annoyed, particularly when the missing person knew the trouble they were causing.
"Miss Larson, Mr. Watts, I'm Jack Malone with the New York office of the FBI. I'm in charge of your missing person's case. Why don't you start the story from the very beginning," Chloe and Ted exchanged a long look before Ted started speaking.
"Jimmy Watts was my brother. I knew he was a lowlife and so when he wound up dead, I was sad but I didn't think much of it. However, about a year ago I got a call from Michelle Bygraves. She'd got some form of cancer and was loopy on drugs. All I managed to get from the conversation was that she blamed herself for Jimmy's death and something about her roommate. For the first time I really looked at my brother's death, there wasn't a lot available. No one seemed to care about his death; the murder of a mafia guy was much more important. I wanted to know what happened, so I moved to New York and got a job with BL Studios. I thought I could get to know Chloe and then finally find out the truth."
"Did you intend to harm Miss Larson," Sam asked, unable to believe that he'd uproot his whole life for a brother he didn't profess to have cared about much just to hear a story.
Ted hesitated, "In truth I'm not sure what my early intentions were. Life wasn't going so great for me at the time I got the call. I'd just been made redundant; my girlfriend of four years dumped me for another guy. One thing I know for certain is that once I started to get to know her, even before she told me what happened, I could never have hurt her." Ted looked over at Chloe and gave her a warm, tender smile. "Everything would have been fine. I would have had to have come clean about my identity, but I didn't see that as a major obstacle. Then the Mafia found out."
"What do you mean?" Jack asked, his eyes narrowing.
"I had talked to Tony Mercury. It seems stupid looking back on it; I just thought he'd have more information. It restarted his interest in the case. At the time the police had somehow managed to protect the identities of Michelle, her brother Peter and, of course, Chloe. My questioning meant that he found Chloe. He wanted answers like me, but more than that, he wanted revenge. I had to get her out; the possible danger to her made me realize how much I loved her, how I couldn't bear to live without her. So I confessed and persuaded her to leave town. She was mad at me for weeks afterwards, but it's worked out."
"Are we in a lot of trouble, Agent Malone?" Chloe asked, her hand clutching convulsively at Ted's.
"You've wasted federal time, Miss Larson . . ."
"Actually it's Mrs. Watts now," Chloe interrupted.
"Mrs. Watts, as I was saying, you've wasted federal time. You knew we were looking for you, we feared the worst. I'll have to talk with my superior to see if you are to be charged. Now, why don't you tell me exactly what happened twenty years ago. I understand from the case file that you were less than co-operative then as well."
"Yes," Chloe looked down, her eyes becoming haunted. Sam was reminded that she'd been at the office late at night. That night twenty years ago had definitely left its mark. "Here's what happened . . ."
~ Flashback twenty years ago ~
A black, automatic glock pistol was lying on the table. Two clips for the gun were next to it, one already in the chamber. The acrid smell of gunpowder rose up to assault her nostrils. The gun had already been used once that evening. Slowly she reached down, pausing slightly when the cool, smooth steel touched her hand. The gun made her feel a little safer, which was why they'd bought it in the first place -- for protection. She moved forward and pushed the door, wincing as it creaked. She gagged at the sight in front of her, blood everywhere, pooling in a pattern and then moving into drag markings towards the fire escape, one of the only apartments in the building to have their own. The feeling of the gun in her hand did nothing to comfort her as her eyes followed the trail of blood to the body, Jimmy, Michelle's boyfriend. Suddenly a man swung in the window from the fire escape, she screamed and reflexively pulled the trigger. The gun didn't fire.
"The safeties back on," Peter explained. Peter was Michelle's brother. Peter had killed Jimmy. "Now help me with him; we need to clean up a little bit in here."
"I don't . . ."
"He sold Michelle to Eddie Mercury to help pay off his drug debt. When Michelle sad no, Eddie he . . . he took it anyway. Now help me." Numb with shock, Chloe put the gun down on the side and followed Peter's lead.
~ End flashback twenty years ago ~
"That's what happened," Chloe finished. Jack nodded. There was no statute of limitations on murder, so he'd call the PD, have them pick up Peter Bygraves. He was out of borrowed time.
FBI Headquarters
A couple of hours later
Viv rapped gently on Jack's office door. She'd decided to do something that would rock the boundaries of their friendship, and given its recent tender state, she was loathe to do that. However, she couldn't not say anything, not any longer, not when rumours were saying it was getting pretty serious.
"Hey, two cases in one day, not a bad day's work," Jack smiled. With each second that passed, his smile disappeared a little more, something was bothering Viv. "How'd it go with the wife?"
"The same as it always goes," Viv replied, taking a seat in front of the desk. "Jack, as your friend, I have to say something,"
"I take it this isn't case related," Jack quipped. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to like it. Viv didn't call him on many decisions on the job; she called him on even less in his personal life. In fact, the only time he could remember her doing so, apart from the now infamous bullpen fight, was when he'd been with Samantha for the first time. She'd been forced to cover for him with Maria, and she'd told him in no uncertain terms that she wasn't happy about that and told him to get it together.
"No, Jack it's about Alex." Viv held up her hand to stall the forthcoming protest. "I wasn't going to say anything, just let you work through it on your own, but she's really starting to care about you Jack and that's not fair."
"I don't know what . . . "
"Let me finish. I knew about you and Samantha, probably almost before you knew about it yourselves. When you had your affair I wasn't surprised. What did surprise me is that it wasn't just an affair. You fell for her, Jack, and she fell for you. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, she still has feelings for you if her reaction to you moving to Chicago was any indication. Anyway, that's not important; what is important is that Alex is Sam's double."
"What?" Jack queried faintly.
"I don't understand how you can't have noticed, Jack. Now, I could be wrong about this. You could be with her for her, but if you're not, if you're with her because of who she reminds you of, stop it now before it's too late. Be careful, Jack," Viv warned, standing up. She'd said her piece, and she hoped Jack had listened.