Ok, sorry this is late! Act 2, Scene 3 of When in Doubt is here! When we last left our heroes, pie was being consumed in light of some useful and long-awaited information! Did the pie help? Read and review!

-GPP

Back at the office, Mary was silent as Stan emerged from his office. She watched him go out of the corner of her eye and felt a pang of guilt. Stan was the closest thing she had to a father figure, and yet she could not bring herself to be grateful for the information he had shared.

Marshall shot him an apologetic look as he hung his head and ducked back to his desk and began typing furiously into his keyboard. This whole case was breaking is heart; the quicker he could help her get it resolved, the quicker she could get the closure she needed.

Mary busied her hands with paperwork, but her mind stayed stubbornly fixed on Stan's story. She dismissed a traitorous thought that Stan might be making at least part of the story up. He was Stan; he wouldn't do that.

He also typed a quick email to Stan apologizing on Mary's behalf and telling him that she was indeed grateful; or at least, she would be in the future.

In a moment of weakness, he also typed an email to Mary containing only an emoticon heart.

Half an hour after returning to the office Mary couldn't take it anymore. She shot Marshall a look that told him to stay at his desk and slipped into Stan's office without knocking. She shut the door behind her and closed the blinds.

Marshall strained to hear what was going on behind the door, but to no avail. He resigned himself to waiting until she came back out.

Stan jumped as the door to his office slammed.

"I know," Mary said, holding up a hand to stop Stan from speaking, "you already risked your job, mine and Marshall's by telling me what you did... I know that." She paced for a moment before turning to face him head on.

Stan opted to remain silent as his Inspector vented.

"The FBI has everything they need to track him down now, and if he's run out on a second family and dodged the program then I hope they find him..." her voice broke but she pressed on, "but I need to find him first."

"Why's that, Mary?"

She glared incredulously at him. She couldn't believe he needed to ask her that. They were in the business of making people disappear, never to be seen again. Often at the behest of the Feds... how could he of all people not understand why she needed to see James first, before the FBI stole him away from her again?

Stan sighed. He knew when he was defeated. "As his former Inspector, I may be able to pull some strings; seeing as the FBI is out to compromise his identity, I could say it's for the safety of the witness."

Mary gave him a half smile. "Thank you, Stan." Not wanting to give him a chance to change his mind she hurried out of the office.

Stan rubbed the pads of his fingers against his throbbing temples. He knew he'd done right by his job; he wasn't so sure he'd done right by his Inspector. Though she didn't act like it, Mary was very fragile. Her father's disappearance had always been a sore spot for her.

Frankly, he'd been amazed at how quickly Marshall was able to earn her trust and respect. He was 100% sure that Marshall was the first man she'd trusted since her father walked out.

Stan had never lied to her. Everything he had told Marshall and Mary was true. One had to have a death wish to even consider lying to Mary. He knew he'd be in trouble if he didn't have a damn good reason as to why he told a secured witness's family of his whereabouts, but he knew with equal certainty that James's life would be in danger should the FBI find him. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself before picking up the phone and calling his superior.

It's just another witness who's gotten in trouble; nothing more.

"Hello, Sir, Chief Inspector McQueen here," Stan put on his authoritative voice, "There's something you and I need to discuss."

Three weeks and four days later, the marshals found themselves with no promising leads. Mary's hope, which has bloomed bright when Stan promised to do his best, had withered and died. The only bright spot was that the FBI didn't seem to be having any more luck than they were.
"Perhaps we're going about this all wrong," Marshall threw his pen down on the desk in a rare moment of anxiety.

Mary sighed. They'd tried all the tricks she knew and some Marshall knew that she didn't. Without a single promising lead, she was ready to throw in the towel. It was only the threat that Faber might succeed where she'd failed that drove her onwards.

"He must have been relocated; you said Lauren told Jinx that he'd disappeared?"

"Without his family? Again?"

"Again, he's more than likely ashamed of his past. We need to dig into his recent affairs, which means contacting Scott and Lauren."

Mary groaned, "Can you do it?"

"I can do it, but they don't know me and may feel more at ease with my presence rather than yours."

She knew she was a coward; however, the idea of questioning James Shannon's second family about his whereabouts made her feel sick. She groaned again, "OK. I have a few vacation days left. I guess I'm going to Florida."

"There are worse places you could be going," Marshall grinned over at her, "Just think... you, me, palm trees, a hammock..." his eyes clouded over as his imagination ran wild.

"You'll come?" She hated the naked, needy hope in her voice.

"Do you really have to ask?" Marshall stood up to walk over to her.

"I thought we had established by now that I know nothing about anything," she said, glaring at her computer.

"And I thought we'd established that I was going to be with you every step of the way..." Marshall was now standing behind her.

Mary swivelled her chair so she could look up at him. "You might have to remind me of that now and then," she said in a small voice.

Marshall braced his arms against her armrests and leaned in close. "Anytime. I will always be right here," his voice got low and he leaned in to kiss her on the forehead then the nose and finally the lips.

Mary returned the kiss, one hand rising up to run through his soft hair before she pulled back. "If we're going on vacation, we'd better get some work done."

Marshall pouted as he turned to go back to his desk. "Spoil sport," he said before launching a spitball at her.

She chuckled, and resisted the urge to send one flying back in his direction. Instead, she focused on getting through the paperwork littering her desk as quickly as possible.

An hour passed as the partners continued their work. Suddenly, Marshall became very excited.
"Mare! Mare get over here!"

"If this is another user review for the phantom key stroker, I will end you."

"No, it's better! I found him," Marshall whispered in awe to his screen.

"What?" Mary was on her feet and behind his desk in a matter of seconds.

"Surveillance at the Miami train depot places him in Miami, FL the day before yesterday."
"But..." She stared at his screen, "How did you find it?"

His eyes glinted with accomplishment as he looked to his partner, "I have my ways; an old college buddy owed me a favor."

She squeezed his shoulder, but couldn't tear her eyes from the screen. "How soon can we be in Florida?"

"I'll make the travel arrangements and we can hopefully be there by morning," Marshall wrapped his arms around her waist to bring her into his lap. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder as they watched the screen.

Mary leaned back against him, eyes still glued to the fuzzy surveillance photo on Marshall's monitor. She'd found him. After all these years to see him there, still wearing the same leather bomber jacket; even in the ridiculously hot Miami station. His hair was thinner but it was him.

"I love you; you know that right, Mare?"

She nodded silently, but she wasn't really listening. Her head was twirling in time to a one-word song, Daddy.