"What is going on?!" Charlotte screamed three hours later. "Why won't anyone talk to me?" It was nine, the girls' bedtime, and they weren't home yet. No one, not even Martin, would tell them what was going on, and the frustration, worry, and guilt became too much.
"Shh, Charlotte," Lily placed her hand on her shoulder, "I know this is tough, but you have to have faith. Agent Johnson, Martin, and the entire team are running down every bit of information. They will bring them home safe. We have to believe that."
"Lil, can I see you for a minute?" Martin called her over after he got off the phone.
"What? What's going on? What do you know?" Charlotte almost tackled him.
"I'll bring you up to speed in a minute, Mrs. George. Just let me speak to Lily."
"Don't do that, Martin." Lily politely scolded when they were alone in the hallway. "Don't there-there her. She's your friend and she's falling apart."
"Yeah, well, so is this case, Lil. We've exhausted every lead, every tip, that has come up and we're getting nothing, but I agree with what Viv said an hour ago. These guys are good, but they don't know missing persons. I really do think that we should call in Jack, Danny, Sam, and Elena."
"Martin, this is a senator's family."
"We've handled high profile cases before and resolved them with the kids coming back unharmed."
"We've had this discussion before, Martin. Jack has no tact and while his methods work, they are not always the most legal solutions. This has to be handled by the book because we are under a very large microscope held by the press. There cannot be even a hint of impropriety. Viv and you are more than capable of resolving this with a positive outcome. Now, tell me what you need and I will strong arm a warrant."
He sighed. He loved her, but she could be so stubborn and narrow-minded. In her mind, Jack Malone was a rogue agent who everyone hated to love. His methods were over the line occasionally, but he got results, results that reunited families, and they needed results, and the trained agents, at that moment.
Lily understood what Martin was saying, but she also understood what it would look like if they were to call in Jack Malone and the rest of the team. It would give Vivian a black eye, the appearance that she couldn't handle the investigation, and she didn't need that. Suffering a blemish on like that would take years to correct.
Vivian told Martin to go home to shower and get some rest around three the next morning and he really couldn't argue. He was exhausted and they were still no closer to finding Shannon and Elizabeth than they were twelve hours before. When he walked into Lily's apartment, he found her asleep on the couch still fully dressed, a file open on her lap, and a law book over her chest. This case had taken its toll on her as well, though he hadn't seen it until that moment. She was trying to walk a tightrope. Todd was her friend but he was also a US Senator. She couldn't risk a misstep given how high profile the case was, but she wanted to do everything in her power to find her godchildren. As he drove home, he finally understood why she couldn't be seen bringing in outside agents.
"I called in Agents Taylor and Spade. They'll be here in the morning." Lily mumbled as she undressed.
"I thought you said,"
"You and Viv need the bodies and I specifically requested that Jack Malone not come down."
"We could really use him, but thank you, Lil."
Four hours of sleep was not nearly enough to be as alert as she needed to be, but it was all she was going to get. There were two new agents coming who had to be briefed, clearance, and introduced to Todd and Charlotte because that was the only way the two girls were coming home. "Samantha, Danny, thank you for coming."
"Hi Lily." Samantha smiled a professional smile as she and Danny were shown into the well-dressed and appointed office. "I wish I could say it was good to be here."
"It will be as soon as we find these girls." She forced a smile. "Before I take you over to the senator's house, I need your assurances that there will be no issues reporting to me or Vivian and this investigation will continue to run by the book. Stepping through that office door placed you in one of the world's largest fish bowls. Everything you do will be noticed and over-analyzed. Even if you don't see cameras, expect that there is a sleazy reporter behind every tree. It is because of these facts that you were selected to join this investigation." She watched Danny smirk. "You think I'm laying it on thick?"
"A little. Lily, we are here to do a job. To bring the missing kids home safe. Our job isn't going to change just because these are the daughters of a US senator."
"Actually, your job does change within the beltway. There are questions that are inappropriate to ask Senator George, places that you will not be allowed to go regardless of where the investigation leads, and you need to remember that every question you ask will be reported about on the eleven o'clock news. If you ask a question or investigate an area that may be embarrassing to the senator and his family, your career with the Bureau will be over and you will not be able to get another job in the law enforcement arena. Not even a mall will hire you. Am I making myself clear?"
"Who will we be asking the embarrassing questions to?" Samantha questioned.
"Myself or Senator George's aide, Roger, but I do believe that Agent Johnson has already asked the hard questions."
"I'm sure she has. When will we be meeting up with her and Martin?"
"Right now. Follow me."
Vivian met the Mercedes sedan in the driveway of the old Virginia estate. She'd gotten used to seeing Lily arriving in that car and knew who she had brought with her that particular morning and she was grateful. The conversation the previous night between the two of them had been eye opening. Lily had been hesitant to bring any agents from another team in for fear that it would tarnish Vivian's reputation. At that point, working on the case they were working, Vivian hadn't much cared about her reputation. She needed trained agents.
"Morning, Lil." Todd managed leaning against the kitchen island staring at his coffee cup. "Any news?"
"I just got here. I'll let you know after I talk to Vivian and Martin." Her smile was weak as she touched his arm, all of her old feelings of friendship and not professional distance taking over. "We brought two more Missing Persons agents down from New York this morning. I'm sure that they will find something. Hang in there, Todd."
He couldn't help himself. He hugged her. At that moment, he wasn't a senator, he was a father, and she wasn't his subordinate, she was his friend. "Lil, I don't know what I would do if you weren't here."
Martin watched Lily rub Todd's back as he fell apart. When they first started dating, he'd gotten jealous of how much time she was spending with Todd George, given that he was her ex, but he'd come to see that there was nothing between them. At least there was nothing she reciprocated. It was obvious at times that he was still in love with her, but Lily thought of him as nothing more than a good friend and colleague. "Lily, can I see you for a minute?"
"I'm just going to get brought up to speed. I'll be right back." She found Todd's eyes and saw a great sadness as he touched her cheek. "I promise."
"No, Lily, there's something I need to discuss with Martin first. It's time. I just need you to promise me that if this comes out, you won't think any less of me."
"Todd, what is it?"
He shook his head. "I can't tell you, Lil. I just can't."
"But you can tell Martin? What's going on?"
It suddenly hit him what Todd wanted to talk about. Ever since the girls had been taken, Todd hadn't wanted to speak to anyone besides Lily. There was only one topic that could get him to push her away. "It's OK, Lily. Why don't you go find Charlotte and see how she's doing?"
"You know what he's talking about, don't you?"
"Yes, Honey, I do." When he looked into her eyes, he saw a flash of recognition, but she it quickly faded. "Please, go check on Charlotte."
"Now she knows." Todd fought tears and turned his back after Lily left the room, closing the door behind her. "This day just keeps getting better."
"She doesn't know, Senator. I'm sure she thinks it's just an affair. Do you want to tell me why you risked her finding out?"
"Because I slipped. About two months ago, I sprained my ankle playing tennis and two Motrin just wasn't cutting it. I had a moment of weakness and had Roger call the guy who takes care of The Hill. I didn't even think about it until I found the empty bottle in my office yesterday."
"Do you owe him money?"
"No." Todd turned around, the fire back in him. "I always pay my debts."
"Has he threatened you?"
"I don't know, but if he found out who Roger worked for," he let his statement fade. "I have a squeaky clean image and a tough drug policy. I'd be an easy target." He took a breath. "That was two months ago, Martin. Do you really think this has anything to do with the girls' disappearance?"
"I don't know, but I have to run this down, and it would have been nice to know this yesterday." He pulled out his notepad. "I need you to write down this guy's information."
"You can't tell him I sent you. If he's not involved, I don't want him thinking I sent the FBI after him." The fear twisted his stomach into a knot. "Martin,"
"We'll be as discreet as we can be, Todd, but we will also do what we have to do to get your girls back home."
He nodded. "Talk to Roger. He knows all the information."
"He told you about that?" Roger looked at Martin shocked. He'd been with Senator George for five years and had only found out about his addiction when he'd been sent to fetch a more powerful painkiller than Advil. "Why would he tell you that?"
"Roger," Danny spoke up, "you need to focus here. All you need to know is that we know, we're not interested in busting you for anything, and we need that information. OK?"
Martin smirked. It was so good to work with someone who wasn't interested in being politically correct again. "Roger, please, this is vital to the girls' safety. Where do we find this supplier?"
"The Lola Grill over on F Street. He sits at the end of the bar after four in the afternoon." The lanky overachiever in the designer suit wrote all the information in Martin's notepad.
"Great, now, do you think this guy knew who you were running your errand for?" Danny questioned.
"No, no, not at all. I would go to him for other senators and when Senator George approached me, I just added it into the order. He never had any idea nor did he care." He looked at the two agents with concern. "Am I going to lose my job?"
"Not today, but you might want to just say no the next time someone asks you to run that errand."
Martin stifled a laugh as Roger scurried away after Danny's comment. "How do you want to play this? We could go over now and wake him up."
"That might tip our hand. Little Roger doesn't even know his real name so I don't know how we are going to find his apartment. Something tells me there are a lot of Mr. Smiths even in the D.C. phonebook."
His laugh was forgotten when a car matching the description of the nanny's vehicle turned into the driveway. "Get out of the car!" Drawing their weapons, he and Danny approached the car. "Shut off the engine and get out of the car slowly!"
"What's going on?" The girl said in a thick Southern drawl.
Martin grabbed her and pushed her against the hood. "Where are they? Where are the girls?"
"I dropped them off at camp."
"You dropped them off at camp?" Danny leaned down to stare at the crazy woman. "What camp?"
"Camp Jefferson over in Fairfax. They wanted to go and I thought it was good for them to get away, to be with kids their own age."
"Did it enter your head that wasn't your decision?" Martin pulled her up and threw her at another agent. "Get her out of here."
Lily ran out from the kitchen when the commotion started and watched in shock as the nanny was arrested. "Gloria? How could you? You were a member of the family?" She shook her head before addressing the agent escorting the twenty-something blonde. "Take her to my office. I'll handle this."
Virginia had some beautiful country, but Martin never saw it. Doing sixty on the backroads with the lights and sirens going on the FBI signature sedan wasn't conducive to taking in the sights. This was the best information they had to get the girls back. Vivian had called when they pulled away from the house and confirmed that Shannon and Elizabeth were there. That had been all they needed to hear. He'd stepped on the accelerator and the Bureau-issued Impala had answered with a smooth and steady increase in power and speed that hadn't cooled until he'd needed to turn into the camp's main gate.
"Uncle Martin!" Both girls cried out in unison and ran to the familiar man in a suit.
"Hey. Are you guys alright?" He gave both of the girls a quick once over before he knelt to hug them, making sure there were no bruises or cuts that a paramedic might need to look at them for. "We're going to get you home now. Your parents are waiting."
"Why did Gloria bring us here? We hated it here." The older girl, Shannon, said through her tears.
"I know you did, Sweetheart, but it's over now. C'mon, let's go home."
"Are Mom and Daddy mad at us?"
"No one is mad at you. They both love you very much and can't wait to see you."
"I told Shannon you and Auntie Lily would come to find us. I told her." The five-year-old, Elizabeth, crudely wiped her face as they walked out to the waiting car.
"I'm sure you did, Lizzie, and you were right because your Auntie Lily is the one who asked me to come find you. All of us love you both a whole lot and very happy you are safe." He smiled and touched the girl's head.
"I want to ride with you, Uncle Martin." Shannon started crying again when Vivian went to put the girls in another sedan. "Why can't we ride with you?"
"Because I need to go help Lily with Gloria right now and then the two of us are going to be over tomorrow to see you. OK?"
"I guess."
Todd and Charlotte both cried when the girls walked though the threshold to the grand estate and knelt down to embrace both at once. Vivian smiled and backed out slowly, not wanting to ruin the reuniting, thinking of her own son back in New York. Lily had given the team the weekend off and Vivian suddenly thought she'd catch an Amtrak to Penn Station.