Chapter 27

The hospital was on full alert. Being in the nation's capital, the medical personnel trained often for emergencies. However, the shooting of one FBI agent and the disappearance of two others had them all on edge.

Special Agent Shawn Johnson was found near death in the stairwell, unable to provide clues to what happened. As soon as Savannah heard the news, she hurried to the agents' rooms he was supposed to be guarding and found them both empty. The bullet holes in the wall over the bed propelled her to call Jack.

Now, watching the agents work, the young nurse admired the devotion and loyalty they had for each other. The petite brunette agent, Carrie Peters, was back with her team, as well as everyone that worked with Myles and Hannah. Nothing will stop them until they find their friends, Savannah thought as they scurried around her, each with their own tasks but working towards a common goal.

"What have we got?" D asked loudly as he stepped out of the elevator, the last to arrive.

"Johnson was shot at close range in the south stairwell just down the hall from Hannah's room," Mike Grail called back, knowing that in Dimitrius' role as acting supervisor he was basically in charge. "Blood evidence indicates that was the primary scene, so we feel he was probably lured in there by something or someone," the big burly man added. Although officially a member of Carrie's team, he'd gotten to know Myles on the Jinn Girvan case several months back and felt like he'd lost one of his own.

"Most likely, the same someone that ransacked Myles' room and shot up Hannah's," Jack commented, coming to stand beside the nurses' station where everyone had begun to congregate.

"Hannah and Myles?" D questioned; the look on the black man's face clearly indicated he wasn't looking forward to the answer.

"No sign of them being hurt," Tara responded, her worry clouded slightly by the faint hint of morning sickness that was beginning to rear its ugly head. "They don't show up on any of the security cameras as having left the hospital, but we've done a thorough sweep," she stated as Bobby put his hand comfortingly on her back, rubbing up and down.

"How do a nearly crippled man and a blind woman just get up and walk out of the hospital with no one seeing them?" D demanded angrily, upset at the situation and the lack of answers.

Unable to respond, Jack glanced at the other agents surrounding him. He knew they had the same question, but just had not vocalized it. The connection between the disappearance and the ongoing bombings around the city weighed heavily on their minds.

"If they did make it out of the hospital on their own," Carrie spoke up as an idea slowly formed in her head. "How would they have left the area?" she asked, looking around to see if anyone else was following her train of thought.

"A cab!" Tara exclaimed excitedly.

"Exactly," Carrie confirmed with a smile, turning toward two of her team with orders. "Mike, Dale, check all the cab companies, looking for fares initiating here in the last two hours," she told them before they rushed off to do her bidding.

"If we can isolate any fares with a male and female passenger, we can pinpoint their destination," Bobby nodded as he shifted impatiently, wanting to do something but knowing that the two other men had it covered.

In the flurry of activity, no one noticed the way Tara held to the nurses' station counter with one hand, the other pressed over her stomach. She took several deep breaths as she tried to control the growing queasiness that threatened to overtake her.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" a familiar voice penetrated her thoughts. Looking up, Tara met the concerned eyes of her dark-haired friend.

"Fine, Jack," she lied, a fake smile pasted on her face. "I'm fine. It's just a baby!" she insisted when it was evident that her former team leader didn't believe her.

"I want you to take it easy, Tara," Jack cautioned, his hands rubbing up and down her arms comfortingly. "I'll tell D to pull rank if I have to," he teased with a brotherly wink.

"Oh, he would just love that," Tara smirked, feeling the nausea abate slightly. "He's been worse than Bobby since we found out I was pregnant," she admitted with a grin.

"Well, it's just hard for us to think of Bobby as a dad," Jack confessed seriously. "It's almost as bad as learning Myles was an organ donor," he joked, immediately regretting what he said when he saw Tara tear up.

"I'm sorry," Tara apologized, trying to wipe her eyes discretely.

"Hey, it's okay. We're going to find them," Jack comforted, pulling the petite agent into a hug.

"I know," Tara sniffed, resting her head on his shoulder briefly before looking up at him with a watery smile. "Hormones."

"Ahh… Well, as long as you weren't tearing up over Myles, I think I can handle it," Jack smiled, tightening his arm around her shoulders as she laughed.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be working, Sparky?" Bobby's booming voice interrupted their lightheartedness. "Get your mitts off my wife," he joked threateningly as Tara stepped past his best friend and into his arms.

"Well, someone had to pay attention to me, since you were so caught up playing 'tough guy' for Carrie and Sue," Tara teased, lifting her smiling face for a brief kiss.

Before Bobby could respond, the shrill ring of his cell phone interrupted their blithe banter, returning their thoughts to the missing agents. Like the others, he hoped it was information, while praying it wasn't bad news. Almost reluctantly, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and flipped it open.

"Manning," he barked into the phone, his eyes widening in surprise when he heard the voice on the other end. "HANNAH! Where are you? Are you okay? Where's Myles? What can you tell me about what happened?" he shouted, getting everyone's attention. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack signaling for someone to trace the call.

"Nothing, Bobby, if you don't give me a chance to talk," her laughing voice came over the phone clearly. "We're together, and we're fine. I really don't know where we're at, but Myles brought us to a friend's house that he thought was safe."

"Myles has a friend?" Bobby muttered, not realizing he said it aloud until his wife slapped his arm. "That's okay, shelia. Can you tell me what happened? Why did you leave the hospital?" he asked, knowing the longer he kept her on the phone the easier it would be to find her. At the same time, he didn't want to the call to last too long, in case someone else had the same idea.

"Bobby, someone shot at us," Hannah explained tentatively. "I don't know if it is related to the bombing investigations, but Special Agent Johnson wasn't there like he should have been."

"I know, shelia. We found Shawn in the stairwell," Bobby told her, running a hand through his hair worriedly.

"Oh my, is he okay?" she asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"He was shot and lost a lot of blood. He's in surgery right now, but the doctors don't know if he's going to make it," Bobby stated honestly, and was met with silence on the other end of the phone line. "Hannah? Are you okay?" he questioned, worrying that the truth might have been too much for her. He'd never withheld anything from her before and hadn't planned on now, but the longer the stillness stretched on, he began to panic.

"I'm okay," Hannah finally responded, her voice barely above a whisper. "That's why we had to run, Bobby."

"Huh?"

"We can't let anyone else get hurt because of us," Hannah maintained stiffly, void of any emotion. "Make sure someone takes care of Anne. He might go after her if he can't find us," she whispered as Bobby frantically waved to Jack to hurry up the trace.

"Hannah, everything will be okay," Bobby assured her, his intense frown belying his calm tone. "Jack and I'll come get you and put you into protective custody until we can find this guy..."

"No, Bobby," Hannah cut him off sharply. "Don't try to find us. Don't put anyone else into danger until we can figure out what we're up against."

"Hannah, you can't do this alone," Bobby pleaded, desperate to keep her on the phone with him. "Let us help!"

"You can't, Bobby," Hannah declared sadly. "Myles and I have something on this guy, and until we figure it out...I can't do that, Bobby. Take care of everyone," she stated just before the phone line went dead.

"HANNAH!" Bobby cried uselessly, slapping his phone shut as he turned to his best friend. "Please tell me you got a location," he begged, his eyes full of worry.

"Sorry, Bobby," Jack apologized regretfully.

"We narrowed it down to about a hundred square mile area of northern Virginia just outside the city, but Hannah knew what she was doing," his wife told him, her hands reaching out to comfort him despite the others watching. Tara jumped with Bobby slammed his hand down with a bang on the counter at the nurses' station.

A knowing glance passed between the petite blonde and her husband's best friend. They knew Bobby was taking the disappearance the hardest. He'd grown close to Hannah in Texas and, in spite of all their arguing, he really cared about the tall New Englander.

"Hey, we might still be able to find them with the information Mike and Dale get from the cab companies," Jack tried to reassure him. Bobby nodded stiffly, his mind distracted with the fear that the bomber would find them first.

It was a thought all of them shared, but no one wanted to express as they continued to wait for information.