Dimitrius and Steve escorted Tara back to the hotel to grab her things, plus Lucy's and Sue's so no one would steal them. They'd informed SOG on their developments and demanded that they have them watching the hotel and the beach house to be on the safe side. Dimitrius had also gotten a hold of Ted Garret to inform him of the situation. Ted told them to spread out a dragnet for the entire state of California, though D assured him that they were sure White was somewhere within their radius.
In the mean time, Jack and Bobby lingered at the hospital with Myles. Bobby and Myles were both sitting quietly in the waiting room sipping coffee while Jack sat with Sue in her hospital room as Mark, Jessie, and Amanda did their rounds. "We still have the whereabouts of White's purchases to trace." Bobby spoke up.
"Mmm-hmm." Myles nodded with a grunt. He couldn't believe it. Out of all the situations they'd dealt with, this one was different to him: Sue had actually been hurt this time, and...and Lucy, Lucy his ex-girlfriend who enjoyed reminding him of where they stood in their friendship but kept things from getting dull, was missing! She was in real danger, and Myles personally felt rotten inside, imagining the ugly reality of what might happen to her if it was White who'd taken her. "I sure wish we'd hear from Sloan soon, with those pictures."
"Aye." Bobby agreed.
Mark quietly tip-toed into Sue's hospital room, so not to disturb Jack. The handsome young agent was sitting defeated in the chair next to Sue's bed. Levi was sitting close to Jack with his sad head in Jack's lap. Jack stared straight ahead, a concoction of longing, anger, fear, frustration, and sadness etched all over his whole being. Mark gazed empathetically, his heart swelling with warmth at the obvious deep care and concern Jack held for the woman who lay unconscious just a foot away from him. Levi tilted his head toward the good doctor and moaned. Jack glanced in his direction. "Oh, Mark." He said quietly. "Sorry, I didn't even know you were there."
"Aw, that's all right." Mark waved it off and stepped closer. "How are you holding up?"
"I've been better." Jack mumbled. "Don't worry. I'll be okay." Mark looked down at Levi and knelt next to him, rubbing behind the dog's ears. Levi placed his paw on Mark's arm.
"Well, my shift's over," Mark explained to Jack. "I'm gonna head to the house and help Tara get settled."
"Yeah. Thank you for letting her stay, Dr. Sloan. We'll feel much better knowing she won't be residing at the hotel anymore." Jack said fervently.
"Oh, it's only my pleasure. She's quite sharp."
"She is." Jack agreed, but it wasn't heartfelt.
"Jack," Mark said in a more serious tone, "I know you're worried about Sue. And Lucy." He touched the agent's shoulder. "But Sue's getting the best care possible, she's in the right place she needs to be right now, and she's under the hands of the best doctors in Los Angeles. And there's no better cop in the city than Steve." He spoke with pride, maybe a bit of prejudice, and above all, sincerity and admiration. "Take my word, Jack. You couldn't have a better man working with your team. You're very lucky to have him helping you."
Jack nodded quietly. He did disagree with the wise older man. Mark had said that they couldn't have a better man than Steve helping them solve this case and find Lucy. Well, that was where Mark was wrong in Jack's eyes. Mark was the extra brilliant mind that they were fortunate to have on their side. He was the one who'd singled out White and noticed other little things that ordinary people wouldn't. If it wasn't for him, they might still have been running around in circles, wondering if White was even in the sunny state.
"Well, I should get going." Mark patted his shoulder. "And please, call me if you need anything."
"Thank you," Jack whispered, also giving the hand sign for thank you. Mark smiled and bent over to give Levi an encouraging stroke under his furry chin. The dog gulped and touched the doctor's hand with his paw. "Wait a minute, please." Jack spoke up as Mark started to walk out. Mark turned to face him. Jack stood up from his chair and walked over to him. Mark waited and listened. The agent seemed to be having trouble getting his words out.
"Look, uh..." Jack began. "We really appreciate everything you've done, Dr. Sloan. You've helped us more than we ever imagined. We're lucky to have you on our side."
"Oh, it's nothing, really." Mark shook his head. "This is all for the cause of justice."
"I...I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'd like you to keep working with us. We've got to find Lucy! And I honestly feel we can't do it alone. Mark, please, if there's anything you can think of or come up with that you think will help us find her, please don't hesitate to share it with us!" Jack sadly glanced back at Sue. "I...I don't want anyone else to end up in here like this."
"Or worse." Mark added. "Especially your friends."
"Yeah." Jack nodded. "Do you think Sue will be all right?"
"I'm sure she will, Jack." Mark said fervently. "I've seen patients in much worse shape than her make a complete recovery." His mind went especially to Steve and his nearly fatal shooting by Gordon Gonzalez almost two years ago. He could still remember the drilling terror he'd felt watching his son lay listless day after day, living on life support with little hope of healing. And Mark thanked God every day that his son was back on his feet, just as determined and full of vigor as ever! "I think she has a good chance of making a full recovery, Jack. It's just going to take some time. And with all the love and friendship she has..." he stared closely at Jack with a twinkle in his eyes, "I don't see any reason why she shouldn't pull through this." Jack's shoulders sagged with a bit of relief. "Now, you take it easy and try to stay calm." Mark instructed. "Steve's jumping on his connections and he'll let you know as soon as he has something. In the mean time, Amanda and Delores are here, and Jessie's here if you need anything or if Sue needs anything, okay?"
"Okay." Jack said.
"It'll be all right, son. Take care, Jack. And don't hesitate if you need something."
"Thank you." Jack weakly smiled. Mark left the room and Jack slumped back down in his chair, with Levi close by. He stared endlessly at Sue. He reached out and held her hand. "We'll find Lucy L-U-C-Y, S-U-E Sue." He signed with his fingers.
"Hi, Mark." Amanda smiled at her friend as he entered her pathology lab.
"Hi. I'm leaving now. But please call me if there's any change in Sue's condition." Mark said.
"Of course. Do you think White did this?"
"Who else could it have been?"
"Right. Well, I'll talk to you later."
"Mmm-hmm." Mark nodded and left. He waved to Myles and Bobby in the waiting room. They both stood and came over to him.
"You mind if I go with you?" Myles asked. "If there's any developments I want to be there."
"Sure." Mark agreed.
"I'll stay here with Jack." Bobby sighed.
"That's good. And keep an eye on him. He's feeling pretty down right now, but I'm sure you know that."
"Right, oh." Bobby whispered and went to see his best friend. Jack was still sitting there. Levi glanced up at the Aussie but remained on the floor. Bobby didn't say anything and neither did Jack. Bobby just walked over to him and stood at his side, both in silent pondering but gratification for the other's company.
"Well, here's our guest room," Steve said to Tara. "I hope it'll be okay."
"It's fine." Tara nodded. "Thanks." She set her tote on the floor and Dimitrius brought in Sue's and Lucy's luggage.
"Thanks a lot, Lt. I'm sure she'll be safer here." Dimitrius spoke.
"I'm sure I will." Tara smiled. Then she immediately dug into her bag and pulled out her laptop and earpiece. She walked straight into the den and set her station up. Steve couldn't help admiring the way she stayed right in top of things and got right down to business.
"Nothing from forensics yet." He said as they followed her. "But they should be calling any minute." Right then, Mark and Myles walked into the house. "Dad, any change?" Steve inquired hopefully and Dimitrius and Tara both looked up unexpectedly. Mark shook his head.
"I'm gonna see if there's anything else on here we can pick up." Tara cleared her throat and went back to her laptop. "By the way, how's Levi?"
"He's really sad. I think we'll let Levi stay at the hospital." Mark stated. "I don't have the heart right now to pry him away."
"That's a good idea. He and Sue are inseparable." Dimitrius answered.
"And I wouldn't worry about clearance from administration. Once we explain to Norman what's going on, he'll make the exception." Mark added. Finally, Steve's cell phone rang and he wasted no time answering it.
"Yeah? It's me," and he walked away. D, Tara, Myles, and Mark all waited with baited breath. It seemed like forever before Steve returned though it was only two minutes. "Well, it turns out that the storage locker where the Jay-Jay's Pizza expired stock has been kept. Looks like the lock was broken with a sledgehammer. They found it two sheds away in the bushes. Unfortunately, there were no prints. Yes, a uniform jacket and cap were stolen and a stack of pizza boxes, but no other signs of any missing items. Oh! And they found the jacket and cap ditched in a dumpster a block away from your hotel. They're running it right now for DNA."
"Have you gotten a rush on those snapshots?" Myles asked.
"Yeah, they should be here any minute." Steve replied. As if on cue, there was a rapid knocking on the front door. Mark answered it and let Cheryl in. "Cheryl, you got the pics?"
"Yep." She nodded, handing the envelope over to him. He pulled out the pictures and distributed them. They all gazed deeply at the subjects on the hard copy screenshots."You recognize him?"
"No." Myles sighed.
"Nope." Dimitrius added.
"Dr. Sloan, do you have a screen movie projector?" Tara asked.
"Sure do. I'll go get it." Mark said.
"What you got, Tara?" D asked.
"Let's try to run our suspect's face imaging through the biometrics system. I know the pics are a bit blurry, but let's see if it turns up anything." Tara replied. Mark returned and with Steve's help, quickly set up the projector and flashed the light from it on the fireplace. Tara typed flawlessly and within minutes they had their result.
"Looks like we've got a match." Steve stated, relieved to have some identity on the thug who'd grabbed Lucy.
"Only, it's not who you think." Mark corrected him, standing behind Tara.
"What?" Myles gaped.
"Look, it's not Jeff White who's eyes and nose match up with the man in the photo. It's Howard Lance."
"So, not only is Lance most likely providing White with his poisons, he's decided to join his cause." Dimitrius said in an annoyed tone. "How brotherly. We'd better call Jack, let him know how much we found out."
"Nice work, Tara." Mark smiled, patting her shoulder. She just smiled back.
"Very proficient." Steve added with admiration.
"Any more irregular activity on White's credit card records?" Cheryl asked.
"Nothing's popped up yet, but we're watching it closely." Tara replied.
"Unfortunately, we still have no footage on what exactly happened to Sue," Mark explained, "all we have is a theory."
"Though I professionally think it's the closest to the truth." Myles spoke.
"Well, keep working on it, and Steve? Call us the minute you get anything suspicious or concrete." Cheryl said as she walked out.
"Same to you." Steve eyed her.
Jack wasn't excited when he heard the news, but at least it was something. It was a few steps closer to finding Lucy, but still not enough. They still had no address to look up, nothing absolute to lead them to that location, and still no reason they could come up with for why White was doing this so outside his regular lifestyle.
I'm very sorry that I took so long to write this chapter. I had many clues and positions that I debated on whether to put them in here or not. But if I don't put everything in here at once, that'll mean more chapters!
