When Mac arrived at the St. Marie's orphanage there were already quite a few officers out front and the black SUV's parked in front told him that the FBI had arrived. Mac walked into the orphanage and could feel the tension in the air around him. He walked into the living room and spotted Ms. Hallaway sitting on the couch with a tissue in her hand. A tall, blonde woman, who he assumed was Agent McKinley, was sitting beside her, trying to comfort her. There was a male agent sitting at a table working setting up a system to trace the calls from the Orphanages' phone. Both women looked up as Mac approached them and Agent McKinley stood and held out her hand.
"Agent Anna McKinley," she said as Mac took her hand.
"Detective Mac Taylor," Mac said as he shook it and then he released it and turned to Ms. Hallaway, who looked on the brink of panic. He sat down next to her and placed a hand on her back.
"It's going to be alright Ms. Hallaway…we'll find Max," Max said reassuringly.
"Call me Josie...I can't believe it I just left the room for three minutes and I came back and he was…gone," Josie said and burst into tears.
"Did they call you?" Mac asked her softly.
"I was looking everywhere for Max and then the phone rang…they said they wanted forty-six thousand dollars or they would hurt Max…I don't have that kind of money," Josie said through tears.
"Don't worry Josie we will sort all this out and we will get Max back," Mac said and got up to talk to Agent McKinley, who was in the kitchen.
"Do you have any leads on the call?" Mac asked.
"No they used an automated voice and the call was made from a telephone booth in the Bronx…which is being examined for any evidence. Whoever these people are…they are smart and quick and have been planning this for a while," she said.
"Any evidence found at the telephone booth or here can be sent to my lab to be analyzed," Mac said and McKinley laughed.
"Of course this will be a fight of jurisdiction…but as you know the Bureau has a lab that is perfectly capable of analyzing evidence," McKinley said.
"I don't care about jurisdiction, but I do care about Max and if I can find a little piece of evidence…anything at all that can bring Max home safe…I would like the chance to be able to," Mac said. McKinley thought about it briefly while staring at Mac and weighing her options.
"Fine…but anything you find is to be reported back immediately to me," she said and then walked out of the room. Mac sighed and looked around the small kitchen. It had pictures of Josie with small children, including Max. Mac was about to leave the kitchen when he looked to his left and saw three pairs of eyes staring at him from the stairs. He smiled and approached two little girls and a little boy, who lived at the Orphanage. The two little girls were wearing multi-colored dresses and looked to be about three or four years old and the boy was wearing jeans and a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and looked about two.
"Hi I'm Detective Taylor," Mac said crouching in front of them and showing them his badge. The little boy's eyes lit up as he looked at the badge and smiled.
"Max gone?" the little boy asked as Mac handed him his badge to look at.
"Yes but me and the rest of my team are going to work as hard as we can to find him ok?" Mac told them and they all nodded.
"Do you remember anything before Max left?" Mac asked and they all shook their heads no. "Ok why don't you go and sit with Ms. Hallaway…I think she's lonely," Mac said as the little boy handed him back his badge.
"Josie sad?" the little boy asked.
"Yeah Josie's sad," Mac said and all three of the kids ran into the living room to be with her. Mac stood up and put his badge back on his belt. He smiled to himself when he heard Josie say "Hey guys" as the children all rushed to her and laugh for the first time since Max had gone missing. He was still in the kitchen when he heard a voice behind him.
"You're pretty good with kids…did you know Max well?" he heard McKinley say from behind him. He turned around.
"I met Max a few weeks ago when he was at a murder scene…we asked him questions but he didn't know anything and while we processed his clothes he stayed with me," Mac said rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.
"And you bonded? McKinley said filling in the blanks.
"Yeah…he's a smart little boy," Mac said and looked up at McKinley for the first time since the start of the conversation. "I'm going to find him…I owe him that much," Mac said. McKinley nodded and as they stood there, Mac's phone rang and he left the room to answer it.
McKinley watched him leave and couldn't help but feel a little affection towards the Detective…he had a kind heart and he obviously took his job seriously…not to mention he was handsome. She was quickly pulled out of her thoughts and scolded herself just as her phone rang.
"McKinley," she said.
"This is Georgia…we've got the telephone processed," a woman's voice on the other end said.
"Good send it to the NY Crime Lab," McKinley said.
"If you say so," Georgia said and then hung up. McKinley stood holding her phone…it was time to find Max…before it's too late and truthfully they needed all the help they could get.