Redemption

Chapter Forty-Five

Things were certainly going as planned and he was very pleased. When he'd begun this little project, he never expected it to go as well as it was. His minions were hard at work appeasing him and his list of victims was slowly diminishing. When they were finished with those useless meat-sacks, there would only be one more step to take before it would all be over. The last step was revenge and how sweet it would be.

His last attempt had been flawed and he'd underestimated the powers against him. He would take care of them; this time and he would make sure he was successful in his takedown.

A sneer crossed his lips as he thought of how he'd been thwarted. They were smarter than they looked and he would need to compensate for that. But, there was only one more day left until this was all over. One more day and he would have them right where he wanted them. They wouldn't see it coming and they would be more than devastated by losing one of their own. Oh, yes, they would pay.

His chuckle reverberated hollowly against the empty walls of his make-shift nerve center. He had everything he needed at this moment at his fingertips and it would prove more useful than he ever could have imagined. He never knew the FBI had such an active social life and he wondered if their people upstairs would like to be informed of such fraternization.

His grin widened as a video e-mail was being sent.

Hamal's Flower Shop was Jack and Bobby's first priority of the day. Neither cared that they were supposed to have a briefing with Danni's team in less than an hour, because they had more than enough time to finish up here and get to the Hoover Building with time to spare.

Bobby still wasn't pleased that Danni would be working on this case with him, though there was little he could do to stop it. Now, that he knew Dessa was involved, though, it wouldn't make it any easier to work beside her. He'd figured it would be fun to work along side her team once again, but when that little tidbit was divulged to him, panic spread wildly through him. All they needed was one mishap and she would end up on a slab in the coroner's office. He didn't want that… for any of them.

"So, did you ask her, yet?" Jack asked as he rifled through some papers and not looking up at his best friend. Conversation had been scarce as they searched, though there was no point to keep quiet. They were allowed to be there and look for the evidence they needed. Something had to be done to keep up morale, though that wasn't exactly the question Bobby wanted to talk about. He knew if he answered that, he would more than likely reveal that he'd let Danni know what was bothering their friend.

"Nah, not yet, mate." 'Good answer,' he told himself. If he kept his answers short and simple, he wouldn't let it slip. He made sure to read whatever he'd picked up before her threw it aside. He didn't want that to have been what they were looking for and he'd thrown it away because he didn't want something stupid to leave his mouth. He was thinking that this was going to be harder than he first imagined.

"So, what's stopping you?"

"Nothing."

"Well, there's got to be something, otherwise you would have asked her already."

"Things just seem to come up whenever I want to ask her. It's not her fault or mine… it's just everyone else's. I've thought about asking her while in bed, but that's not very romantic, now is it?" His last question just came out without thinking and he couldn't help but be embarrassed. He and Jack had talked about his past girlfriends in that way before, but never about Danni. It just seemed a little too awkward, because no matter what, she was still Sue's cousin; someone she thought of as a sister.

Jack stopped what he was doing to look up at Bobby. The way he phrased that question caught his attention and he could help but chuckle because of it. That was a little more information than he wanted to know about his best friend and his girl, even if he didn't explicitly describe whatever actions would be taking place at that point. It was like he would be talking about his sister. He shuddered at the thought. It was creepy if he reflected about it too long. "Well, who's been interrupting you?" He lowered his head back to his pile of papers. Time was definitely running out. They needed to find what they were looking for now.

"Oh, her parents, work, Sue." The name had slipped out of the Aussie's mouth before he realized it had crossed his lips.

"Sue?" Jack asked, his head perking up once again. He cleared his throat in that usual nonchalant manner which made him act as if he didn't care when he really did. "She's been over?"

Bobby chuckled. He could see the visible signs of sweat beginning to bead upon Jack's forehead. He wouldn't reveal what he knew about Jack and Sue's relationship. He would tell a half-truth if need be. Of course, he would torture his friend, first. "Having trouble with the missus?"

Jack rolled his eyes and lowered his head to hide his blush. The answer to that was a definite no, though he couldn't let him know that. But, as he tried to come up with a good cover, nothing would come to him. As much as he would love to refute it, it would just as much love to shout it from the rooftops. He'd said the words he'd feared to say, yet he was a coward when he'd said them. He knew she hadn't heard him and that was why he had made a quick escape.

It hadn't been the right time to say it, yet he couldn't hold back. He loved Sue with all his heart and he wanted nothing more than to tell her so. Of course, with every passing day and every compromising piece of information incorporated with this case, it was becoming even more and more of a problem. He didn't want to end up telling her with the possibility of never coming back to the safety of her arms. It was a thought that chilled him to the bone, but it was true. With Dessa, anything was possible. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." His tone was soft, distressed. He'd really made a mess of everything, hadn't he?

Bobby gazed at his friend who'd paused his searching to think about his actions. The Aussie felt for Jack's distress even if he couldn't quite understand what he was going through. He was lucky enough to not have to deal with that sordid problem. "Trouble in paradise?" he asked with a bit of a teasing tone. He only asked the question to lighten the mood, which it did but not to the extent he was hoping for. He saw Jack smile, but not in the way he usually did when the question was asked. "You want to talk about it?"

The team leader shook his head as he went back to work. He gave a soft sniffle—one of sorrow—and hoped Bobby hadn't notice. Though, if his friend had, he didn't acknowledge it. "I have to figure some things out on my own." He checked his watch and saw how much time had passed. They had been there for a lot longer than it seemed. "We'd better get to the bullpen. I don't think we're going to find what we're looking for."

Bobby nodded and set down the papers he was holding. He'd set his jacket aside so it would be easier to go through things and he picked it up to put it back on, knocking a small shoebox onto the ground. He hadn't noticed it before when he set the jacket down, but now he wished he had. They could have been out of there at least an hour ago. "Whoa! What's this?" he asked with a grin. He bent down to pick up the photographs that spilled out of it, his eyes resting on one in particular. "Talk about dumb luck," he muttered to himself as he got back to his feet. He looked at Jack with a look of accomplishment, waving the photograph between his fingers.

"What is it?" Jack's brown eyes were furrowed in confusion as he saw the faded print in his friend's clutches.

"Just the thing we've been looking for."