Jay and Kevin paced the floor in front of the cage. "Where's Hank"?
"I don't know dog, maybe he showed that kid around a bit".
"Yeah but it's been hours. It's not like him to keep us out in the dark like this".
Alvin walked down. "Still no Hank"?
Jay shook his head.
"I'll give him a call maybe he brought Flanigan back to the Academy and is chatting with Caitlin".
He dialed Hank's number but got no answer.
Caitlin was at her desk when her phone rang. It was Hank. Seeing how late it was getting, she was more than certain that he was calling to give her an update on how Sam had done.
"Hey you. How'd it go"?
"Hello, Hank wishes he could talk to you right now but he's a little tied up".
"Sam"? said Caitlin as she recognized his voice. "Let me talk to Hank".
"That's not going to be possible".
She stood upon hearing his voice change. "Sam, what have you done"?
"Hank and I have some unfinished business".
"Where are you? We can work this out, I'm sure there's a way".
"All in due time Caitlin. I hope you don't mind my calling you Caitlin"?
She didn't respond.
"First of all, no outside communications on your behalf, otherwise the game is over. I need $100,000. When that's done, let me know and I'll give you the location where you can meet us".
With that he hung up and looked at Hank. "The party is just starting"!
Caitlin grabbed her keys and headed to Hank's house. She didn't have that kind of money but she knew he did. She grabbed the hidden spare key and let herself into the house. She went into the basement, removed the shelves and entered the code. She hoped that Hank hadn't changed it. It opened immediately. She gave a sigh of relief as she took the duffle bag she had taken with her and started to put the money in it as she counted.
When she was done, as she entered the kitchen, she called Hank's phone back. "I've got your money. Where do you want to meet"?
"Janesville. I'll text you the address when we hang up".
"That's in Wisconsin! It's a two-hour drive".
"Sorry, I couldn't let anyone bother us. Hurry because for every fifteen minutes you are over the two-hour drive, Hank is not going to like what I'm going to do to him"!
"Don't hurt him, please".
"Clock's ticking Caitlin. Be on time"!
As she got in her car, her mobile rang, it was Alvin. "Hey babe", she said as naturally as possible.
"Hey, have you seen or heard from Hank"?
"No why"?
"He didn't come back from the field. He was with that Flanigan kid. Did you see him"?
"Yes. I saw him at the Academy. I guess Hank must have dropped him off then went and done something".
"Without telling us"?
"You know Hank".
"Where are you"?
"I've got a few errands to run then a late meeting at the Academy. I don't know when I'll be home. Don't wait up for me, OK".
"OK. Take it easy".
"I will".
The minute she hung up, it rang again.
"I thought I said no communications"!
"Look, if I didn't pick up he would have kept calling and gotten suspicious. I don't want anyone to get hurt Sam".
Alvin and the rest of the team pulled up at Hank's house. His car wasn't there. Al took the spare key and opened the house. They entered slowly, guns ready. They cleared the ground floor and upstairs room very quickly.
"Down here", yelled Jay.
They all rushed down. Caitlin had not put back the shelves. They looked at the safe and in the dust on the floor.
"Someone's been here", said Adam.
Alvin nodded. "Too small to be Hank's footprints".
"The safe has not been forced so whoever opened it, knew the combination".
Kevin looked at Alvin. "Who knows the combination to this safe"?
"Aside from Hank, most probably no one", said Jay.
Alvin stared at the safe and started to worry. "Caitlin knows the combination and from the look of those footprints, I'd say it's her size"!
"But what would Caitlin be doing here and in his safe"?
"That's a good question".
Al tried calling Caitlin again.
She looked at her phone as it rang. She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head.
He quickly dialed the Academy as he headed back upstairs. Minutes later, he hung up as the rest of the team joined him.
"Something's wrong. There's no meeting tonight and someone saw Caitlin leave the Academy in a hurry. And Flanigan never came back and is unaccounted for".
"Why would Caitlin lie about all of that"? asked Adam.
Kim looked at them. "Ok, let's take a step back and evaluate what we know. Hank and Flanigan were supposed to drive back together, but neither one of them made it. We got no distress call from Hank and he's not picking up his phone. Caitlin made a great cover up story, came here and opened up Hank's safe. Most probably for money and now she's not picking up her phone".
Jay looked at her. "So what are we missing"?
"Well if she came for money then there aren't too many reasons behind it, maybe a ransom? For Hank and Flanigan? And maybe she can't talk"!
Alvin shook his head. If he had thought that her getting strangled was terrible, then this was his worst possible nightmare. Caitlin had gone alone to potentially save Hank and that kid.
He shook his head. "No, she's smart, she'd find another way to tell me where she is. I know her".
"We've looked everywhere and there's nothing here Al", said Adam. "There's no note, nothing".
"There's got to be"!
"But there isn't"! yelled Adam. As much as he wanted to help them out, it was obvious that they were out of luck.
"What about geolocating her phone"? said Kevin.
"We can't", said Jay. "We'd need a warrant for that".
"Kevin, call tech and see what they can find".
"Alvin, we can't do that", said Jay again.
"I don't give a rat's ass about a warrant. I have probable cause that she's in danger and that's enough"!
Kevin called the tech guys as Alvin paced the floor and kept trying to call Caitlin, only this time, he went right to voicemail.
Kevin came back. "Tech says it's impossible, someone is blocking the signal".
They all started talking at the same time. "Everybody quiet"! yelled out Alvin. He looked around the room. "Come on baby, I know you left me something, I know you did. You wouldn't go handle this on your own, not anymore". He walked into the other room as the others followed. "You would be very careful so that no one would see it or notice it". He closed his eyes as the other's watched. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and ran to the bottom of the stairs that headed upstairs. He climbed the stairs two by two as Jay and Adam followed behind.
He sprung the bathroom door open and looked inside. He turned on the hot water faucet. He looked at Jay and Adam. "Shut the door and turn the fan off".
The shut the door behind them and flipped the fan off.
As the bathroom was middle-sized it took time. It wasn't going fast enough. Alvin turned on the shower to maximum temperature and returned in front of the sink. Slowly steam filled the room. Jay and Adam's eyes filled with admiration and disbelief. Alvin nodded as he looked at the mirror. Before leaving the house, she had done the same and written on the mirror the location where she was headed. Once the steam gone and the mirror dried, it was invisible to the eye.
"I'll be damned", said Jay.
Alvin took a picture of the mirror and they rushed downstairs to meet the rest of them.
"OK. Everybody gear up, we're headed for Janesville and my guess is that Caitlin has an hour on us, so we'd better hurry"!