Without A Trace - Paternity Eternal

Summary: Another day, another case...but its Martin who's missing. Is the team ready for the secrets they will divulge?

Disclaimer: I own nothing...unfortunately

Chapter Four: Cold Case

Eleven Hours Missing

Jack and Sam left the tech room and entered the bullpen to relay the news. Sam threw herself onto a chair and sighed. Her migraine crept back up on her, making her head throb painfully. Jack leant against Elena's desk and addressed the team. "Martin got carjacked."

"Well Suzanne Lake didn't," interjected Vivian. She came further into the group holding a folder and gave Anya a worried glance. The girl seemed oblivious, so Vivian continued. "I got a hold of her case file. It turns out that the case is still open because they haven't been able to confirm the identity of the perps."

"If it wasn't a carjacking, what was it?" asked Danny.

"A confrontation gone bad. There was a security camera that recorded the whole thing, but their faces were never revealed. They only had one witness," Vivian indicated Anya. "She was too traumatised to give a detailed statement, and she couldn't identify the perps from a line up."

"When you say a non-detailed statement, what do you mean?" inquired Sam.

Vivian turned a few pages of the file until she found the statement. "She says: 'mommy took me to the car when the two bad men appeared. They argued. The big bad man shot mommy, then they ran away. Mommy didn't move.'"

"That's vague, they would have gotten that from the security footage," Elena commented. "So what's the theory; whoever killed Suzanne has now got Martin?"

"It looks like, but there was only one guy in the garage, and every witness has said there are two," Danny pointed out.

"Maybe that was only one of them, and he's taking Martin to the other guy for whatever reason," Jack stated. He dreaded to think what had happened between the carjacking and now. "Jessica Lake said that she overheard two men talking about paternity. Maybe it's a revenge thing. They killed the mother..."

He left the sentence hanging, not wanting to finish his thought. "Sam, me and you are gonna go have another chat with Jessica."

Jessie waited for them to come back. They tell her he's missing and that they hadn't even looked for her niece, and then they leave. Every terrible scenario flashed across her mind. And every single one of them echoed with the thought; it's all your fault.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of two agents. Jack entered with a tired face but with purpose. His tall, blonde partner followed suit as he took a seat opposite her. "Have you found him yet? Where's Anya?"

"You'll find that we ask the questions here not you," replied Jack curtly. He seemed to have run out of patience.

The female partner gave him a look and then smiled reassuringly. "Although Martin is still missing, we have managed to locate Anya. She is right here and is perfectly safe. My name is Samantha Spade, by the way."

Jessie decided that she liked Samantha. Even in this situation she seemed so much calmer and more collected than anybody else. Even though, with all her experience of traumatic situations and their victims, Jessie knew that Samantha was hiding her fears under the surface.

Jack pulled out a manila file that Jessie recognised as a case file, and she held her breath. If they had listened to what she said before, it should be her sister's case. Jack confirmed it when he flicked open the file and there was a beaming photo of her deceased sister.

"We believe the answer to finding Martin is in your sister's case, so I have a few questions to ask you," began Jack. He pulled out a particular sheet, glanced at it and continued. "This is a still from the security footage at the scene. Are these the two men you saw?"

Jessie stared hard at the photo he laid out in front of her. It was blurry and in greyscale. Both of the men's faces were distorted. All manner of emotions ran through her; burning anger, the need for revenge, and an intense sense of worry that hadn't left her since she had overheard the conversation. Jessie shrugged helplessly. "I didn't see the men very well. It was behind and at a funny angle. Even if I had, this photo is useless."

Sam nodded slightly in agreement, but Jack was getting antsy. "Okay then," he huffed. "What can you tell us about the perps? Did they use names?"

"No, they didn't use names," Jessie replied, frustrated at her uselessness. "One was older, I'd place him late thirties, a heavy smoker judging by how deep his voice was. He sounded slightly drunk, he slurred. The other was younger, he was nervous about something. He's the one who claims to be Anya's father. I...I may be going out on a limb here, but I think they were related. Possibly brothers."

Leaning forward, Sam picked up the photo and studied it. "One of the men is taller, the one behind," she pointed at the photo to show Jack. "Maybe he's the older brother. He's the one who shot the vic."

"It sounded like he was the one with the plan," Jessie agreed.

"That's great," interrupted Jack sarcastically. "But we still don't have an ID. No name, no nothing."

Sam decisively ignored him and pulled out another photo. This one was from Martin's garage that morning, depicting the man who had climbed into the back of his car. "How about him? Do you recognise him?"

Again, Jessie stared at the picture, urging some sort of useful response. "I'm sorry. I...I don't know who that is."

Jack huffed and went to stand up and leave. "Well, thank you for your time and assistance Miss Lake."

"Wait," Jessie halted his exit. "Can I see Anya?"

"You are currently a suspect in the kidnapping of Special Agent Martin Fitzgerald," Jack spoke harshly and officially. "You may not have contact with the child. Sam, read her her rights."

As Jack and Sam left the interview room they were immediately intercepted by Danny. "What is it?" they asked urgently.

"They found Martin's car!" he exclaimed. "It was on a back road on the edge of the city, about 10 miles from his apartment."

"Was he in it?" asked Sam, fearing that she already knew the answer. Danny shook his head sadly.

"Local PD is securing a perimeter. We got forensics going over it now."

Twelve Hours Missing

The road was devoid of life and in the middle of nowhere. A hedge ran the length of one side and fields surrounded the area. Everything was completely deserted. Including Martin's car. The front end was smashed from its collision with a lamppost, the back end was damaged and the middle was battered. Danny, Sam and Jack climbed out of their FBI standard issue truck and approached the scene.

Jack flashed his badge at a uniformed cop and indicated the car. "What happened?"

"A patrol car came by to investigate about an hour ago after a passer-by phoned it in," explained the cop. Jack raised his eyebrows at the idea of a 'passer-by' on this road. "They were lost, but they continued on after phoning it in. The patrol found the car like this. It was empty and they haven't touched anything."

"Alright, thank you," Jack nodded to the officer and joined Sam and Danny who were standing by the car wreck. Sam appeared upset; and backed away just as he approached. "What is it?"

Danny answered, looking worried. "Forensics found blood on the driver's seat and steering wheel. Preliminary tests confirm its Martin's blood type."

Jack rubbed his tired face. He stepped toward the car and peered through the smashed glass that used to be a window. The dark red stains were clearly visible against the light leather upholstery. "There doesn't seem to be too much, so he's not badly hurt."

Somehow, this didn't reduce Sam's stricken face, or the amount of panic and worry that had built up within her. Another man stepped up to talk to them. He wore a black jacket with the word FORENSICS clearly written across the back.

"Fitzgerald's car was run off the road. Two sets of tire treads have been found and we've taken samples of the paint work back to the lab for analysis. We should have the results soon," he reported. Jack nodded his thanks and the man returned to his work.

"So there are other people involved," Danny deducted masterfully.

Sam sighed. "Maybe the guy who was in the car with Martin was told to bring him out here and stop to wait for the brothers, but Martin didn't pull over and they forced them off the road."

"Or," hypothesized Jack, "they were trying to make it look like an accident, but it didn't quite work out as planned."

Sam cringed at Jack's use of the word 'it' to avoid saying what he was thinking. Maybe the perps were trying to make Martin's death look like an accident. She fought back the tears that threatened.

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Will they find Martin...alive? All is to be revealed!!! (Please Review!)

Thanks to rebandmel for reviewing! :D