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
Author's Note: Lot's more Martin in this chapter ;)
Chapter Five: Futility
Thirteen Hours Missing
Vivian sat behind her desk, trying desperately to concentrate on the information on the computer screen, but failing. She felt useless. She needed to be out there looking for her friend, not stuck in an office delving into his personal life. She sighed heavily.
Elena sat at the centre table pouring over papers, files and records. Vivian glanced past her to the photo on the whiteboard. Martin's smiling face beamed back at her, causing a pang of guilt echo through her body. Why hadn't they found him yet? They had to get a break in the case soon, maybe the car would come up with something. It had been almost thirteen hours, and the only motive they had come up with pointed to the worst case scenario. There just had to be something.
She pressed his hands against her eyes in frustration and attempted to focus again on the screen. Then the phone rang. Vivian blinked a couple of times, staring at the ringing device. Realising the phone was still ringing she picked it up off the hook. "Johnson."
"Is this the FBI Office? He gave me a number," came a voice over the line.
"Yes, this is the FBI, and who are you?" Vivian asked, already assuming that it was a prank caller.
"My name is Andy Walker," the man introduced himself. "I kidnapped an FBI Agent this morning called Martin Fitzgerald."
Vivian sat bolt upright in her chair and signalled Elena desperately. "Where is he?"
"24, Spalding Street," replied Andy.
Vivian scribbled down the address. "What is your location?"
"I'm coming to you. He said that if I told you everything I knew he'd help me get out of this," Andy cut the line.
"Hello?" asked Vivian to the dial tone. She placed the receiver down and looked up at Elena who had just appeared behind her. Jack, Danny and Sam's timing couldn't have been better as they crossed the office heading towards them. "We got an address, and a witness."
From the outside, 24 Spalding Street looked pretty ordinary. The neighbourhood was run down, but alive with activity. Kids ruled the streets with their bikes and families walked the sidewalks. The two FBI vans and a handful of police cars sped down the street and halted haphazardly in front of the house.
Sam, Elena and Jack climbed out of one and Danny and Vivian from the other. They all drew their weapons and approached the house cautiously. There was no sign of activity. Jack signalled for Danny and Elena to go round the back, as he and Sam headed towards the front door, Vivian slightly behind to provide cover.
He rapped his knuckled against the door loudly. "FBI! Open Up!" When there was no response he indicated for Sam to kick the door down.
Jack entered first, scanning the room. It was a small reception area that was devoid from furniture. The hallway led straight into the front room and there were stairs to the right. "Clear!"
Sam followed closely behind and headed for the front room. Vivian entered and went straight for the stairs. Jack approached a closed door, and kicked it open. The kitchen was empty. He heard Vivian shout clear from upstairs as Danny and Elena entered the back door.
The breath was knocked out of Sam as she saw the front room. The walls were bare and her footsteps echoed around the emptiness of the room. She stared at the dark red stain on the floor that she recognised instantly as blood. The tears she had been fighting all day began to slide down her face.
They had been too late. The perps had already moved on, taking Martin with them. There was so much blood. Sam feared the worse.
She heard someone coming from behind and quickly wiped at her tears. Jack placed a hand on her shoulder, seeing what she was looking at. "It's alright Sam, we're gonna find him."
Sam just nodded, wanting to believe Jack. She wondered if he knew about her relationship with Martin. Although it had been over for a long time, old feelings die hard.
" Hey, I just got a call from the office," Vivian interrupted. "The tipster, Andy Walker just arrived. They've got him in interview room 2."
Fourteen Hours Missing
Andy waited patiently, conflicting emotions building inside him. Part of him wanted to escape, to just run away from everything. The rest of him knew that he had to help. He had to atone for what he'd done.
Suddenly the door to the room burst open. Two agents entered and introduced themselves. A tall man and young woman, both of Latino heritage sat opposite him at the desk. "I am Special Agent Danny Taylor and this is Special Agent Elena Delgado. We need to know everything you do."
Andy visibly flinched at the prospect of telling his story. But he knew he had to, the look the guy had given him before he'd run...he had to do this. "It wasn't my idea. They came to me. Told me they could solve all my problems if I just helped them out. I had no idea he was FBI!"
"Okay," Elena interrupted. "So you got in Martin's car and waited for him. Then what happened?"
"Well, I...I threatened him with the gun, like they told me to," Andy continued. "That's when I found out he was FBI. I didn't even know his name. They just told me the car, and the location to drive him to. So I made him drive, I wasn't meant to be at the house until 11am, so I made him drive around quite a bit. We took the scenic route..."
*Flashback 10:47am*
"..but then there was a change in plans."
Andy sat on the backseat, directly behind Martin, the gun still trained in him. They had left the city and were heading along the country road. It was deserted. Martin had stayed carefully silent the whole journey, to which Andy was thankful. He didn't want to have to hurt him.
About a half-mile behind them appeared a red truck. It was moving quickly and catching up to them. Martin had spotted it in the rear-view mirror. "Anyone you know?"
Andy's quick and nervous eyes darted around. He watched the truck close the distance between them, panicking. He had to be at the location in ten minutes. He was going to get there and get his money; then he was going to go home to his wife like nothing had happened.
The driver of the red truck had other ideas. It smashed into the back of their car, throwing them forwards. The gun flailed in Andy's hands as Martin fought with the wheel to keep the car under control. "What the hell is this?"
"Just keep driving!" Andy yelled back. The red truck slammed into them again. This time, along with the sound of the bending metal, a loud bang rang in his ears. He heard Martin cry out in pain from the driver's seat. He let go of the wheel for a second to place a hand on his leg.
It was long enough for the car to swerve completely out of control. The car slammed into the lamppost, the shockwave pinning Andy to his seat.
A few seconds past. As Andy blearily opened his eyes he could just make out the sound of the engine hissing and Martin groaning. He leant forward to investigate. Blood poured from the gunshot wound in his thigh. Andy stared at the gun he held in his hands.
*End Flashback*
"You shot him?" exclaimed Danny, his anger boiling. Elena placed a hand on his arm to calm him. He was immediately grateful for her presence. "Okay, so what happened next?"
Andy looked nervously at Danny, and then spoke directly to Elena. "It was them in the truck. The brothers. They called themselves Jay and Eddie; I have no idea if that's their real names. They got out their van and came over. The big one, Eddie, looked in on Martin; he looked pretty pissed. Then Jay grabbed me and put me in their truck. Eddie dragged Martin out and put him in the truck too, and then we drove to Spalding Street."
Elena pulled out the security photo from the Suzanne Lake case and showed it to Andy. "Are these the two men? Eddie and Jay?"
He stared at the photos for a few seconds. "It's difficult to make out, but it could be them."
"Okay, so what happened at Spalding Street?" prompted Elena. Danny had stayed silent, relying on Elena to lead the interrogation.
"Everything had gone wrong," Andy continued. "I was meant to be home free at this point. I wasn't meant to be there. They bought us into the house and locked us in the front room. They left us for a couple of hours, I don't know why. I helped him with his leg...he was bleeding bad. He asked me how I'd gotten involved..."
*Flashback*
"Why do you wanna know?" asked Andy incredulous. They sat leaning against the wall side by side. Martin had his belt tied around his leg as a tourniquet and held a cloth they had been given against the wound. The pool of blood was slowing spreading.
"I'm curious how a guy like you ended up kidnapping and shooting a Federal Agent," Martin smiled despite his blood loss. "I can't believe I got taken out by a civilian."
"I've never fired a gun before," Andy looked guiltily at the wound .Martin smirked and muttered something along the lines of 'typical' under his breath. "They came to me. They knew about my wife. She's got leukaemia; we're not insured and I couldn't afford the treatment. They said that if I hid in the back of a car, told the driver to drive to a specific location and then left without a word, they'd pay me enough to help her."
"This'll teach ya not to do anything illegal huh?" Martin replied. He flinched as pain spiked in his leg and he leaned forward to apply more pressure. "What time is it?"
"About 7:30pm," Andy glanced at his watch. "Why?"
"Wow, I've been missing for eleven hours," Martin chuckled sourly. "I wonder if anyone's noticed. They probably just think I'm late. Then again, Janie may have called it in when I didn't show up."
"Is Janie a girlfriend?" asked Andy.
"Nah, she's the babysitter."
"You've got a kid?" Andy enquired surprised. The guilt he'd been feeling all day instantly doubled.
"I've got a daughter, her name's Anya. She's eight," smiled Martin. He had no idea why he was telling a complete stranger this when he hadn't even told his colleagues. It just seemed like a good idea. Maybe the blood loss was making him delirious.
"I'm so sorry, I truly am," apologised Andy. "I didn't know."
"No one does." Martin muttered forlornly. He tried to shift into a more comfortable position and was rewarded with more pain.
Suddenly they heard the door unlock. Martin stared at the door expectantly while Andy shrunk away in fear. The door opened and the two men entered. The taller, older one was tough looking and mean as if he had lived a hard life. His eyes were hardened and he appeared emotionless. He quickly introduced himself as Eddie. The younger one, Jay, though muscled up with a strong physique like his brother, was more nervous and angry.
"Good evening lads," greeted Eddie with a sneer. He glared at Martin with unmasked fury. "Glad to see you're still alive. Thought you might have bled out by now."
"Sorry to disappoint." Martin felt quite smug that he was conscious enough to retort, but he knew it wouldn't last long, the edge of his vision was beginning to fade. "What the hell do you want?"
It was Jay who replied. He stepped forward and crouched in front of Martin, leaning into his face. "I want to know where my daughter is."
"Your daughter? How should I know?" Martin became more alert, a difficult feat considering how little blood was still left in his body to pump to his brain.
"Because we know that following her mother's death she was sent to the so called 'father'. And that would be you," Eddie interrupted. Martin's mind raced, they were talking about Anya. How did they know? What did they know about Suzanne's death? "Now, Andy here was meant to take care of you while we found the girl, but when we got there she was gone."
"She's eight years old you dumbass, she would be at school," informed Martin. Jay appeared confused for a second; obviously that simple idea hadn't crossed his mind. Eddie on the other hand got angry. He shoved his brother out of the way gripped the collar of Martin's shirt.
"You're gonna tell me where she is right now!" he ordered. Eddie let go of his collar when he didn't reply, and stood up. He placed a shoe on the bullet wound and stepped down hard. Martin let out a scream of agony that he desperately suppressed into a groan. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction. "Tell me!"
"I don't know!" he cried out. Eddie let up the pressure on the wound and crouched down beside his victim. Martin's breathing came out in short gasps, his voice growing faint. "I don't know okay. She went to school this morning; that was the last time I saw her."
"That's the last time you're ever gonna see her," Eddie threatened, his voice quiet and menacing. Martin feared that he was right.
"...then they left the room. But they didn't close the door properly."
*End Flashback*
And yes, that is where I'm going to leave you hanging. ;)
Thanks to irishtwins04 for reviewing!