TBITC Chp. 22

Jack sat up gingerly and leaned against the nearest wall. He heard footsteps outside the front door, and instinctively drew his weapon. He knew that Alexx would be fighting mad, and he had no intention to harm her, but he needed her to think rationally. And the quickest way to get someone to do that, in his experience, was to point a gun at them. So he waited. Alexx was the first one through the door, the other's apparently wanted to give her space. She looked at Jack, her eyes cold, but at the same time full of pain and sorrow. He opened his mouth to say something, but Alexx held up a hand, signaling him that she didn't want to hear it, and went to the bedroom. A few seconds later, he heard the door slam, and then lock.

Then he remembered being kicked in the ribs. He touched his right ribcage, assessing his injuries as Horatio and Meagan walked through the door. Meagan walked over to him and knelt down. "Do you mind if I take a look?"

"Sure. I don't think anything's broken, just hurts like a bitch." Jack said, then he at her apologetically. "Sorry."

She smiled. "It's alright. I got used to it a longtime ago."

"Are you alright, son?" Horatio asked.

"Yeah, I've had worse. Why didn't you shoot Stickler?"

From the door, Jack heard laughter. "What'd I say?"

"What we've all been wanting to say for five years. I've never seen someone take such pleasure in making others miserable." Ryan said.

"Where's Alexx?"

"Bedroom." Jack said. Eric moved past them, going down the hall to the room he and Calleigh were sharing. Jack assumed he was going to get Calleigh to try and talk to Alexx. He wished them luck, only because he'd had none where the good doctor was concerned.

Meagan moved back and Jack looked at her. "So, am I going to live?"

"Yeah, you'll be sore for a couple of days, but you'll live."

Jack nodded, his jaw set in a determined line. Then he pushed himself up off the floor. "You're going after them, aren't you?" Meagan asked. She could see the same question on the rest of their faces.

"Of course. You wanna come? We could always use another gun."

Meagan hesitated, and looked at Horatio. "I wouldn't ask, except I don't really feel right going into combat with a bunch of cops," he looked at his father and Ryan. "No offense, but I need someone who can shoot first and ask questions later, and you were an army medic for ten years. You saw action in the gulf, the first time around. You were wounded twice, thus two purple hearts. But the second time you received a bronze star for valor, a result of…" Jack stopped when she held up a hand, nodding her assent to his request.

"I know what it was for." She said, a faraway look in her eyes suddenly, like she was remembering. With that, Meagan turned and went to her bedroom. She moved around quietly so as not to wake Madison. But she thought that would be hard to do, as the girl could sleep through anything. Meagan thought it was a product of Madison's living situation with her mother, Suzanne Barnham. Meagan resolved that if she ever got her hands on Madison's biological mother, she would 'explain' to the woman that children were to be treasured, loved and protected. After Horatio and Jack finished with Suzie, of course. She smiled, as she surmised that Jack had the same thoughts about Clavo Cruz. Except she knew that Jack wouldn't just capture Clavo, throw him in jail for the rest of his natural life and let bygones be bygones.

She quickly dressed in jeans and dark blue polo shirt. Then she went to her suitcase and pulled out a small of the back holster, a Sig Sauer P-239 .40 pistol and a two spare magazines. After placing the weapon and holster on the small of her back, she sat on the bed and watched Madison sleep.

Unlike everyone else, save Ken, Mike and Horatio, she cut Jack some slack because she could understand why he was doing what he was doing. If Madison had been hurt the way Sam had been, she would've done the same thing. Madison turned in her sleep and her eyes fluttered. She saw Meagan and smiled sleepily. "Aunty Meagan, are you leaving?" she asked, sleepily.

Meagan leaned forward, smiling and smoothing some curls out of Madison's face. "Yes, baby, but I'll be back. I've just got to help Jack with something, ok?"

"Ok, be careful." Madison said, and turned over falling back to sleep.

"I will." Meagan whispered, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on the girls' cheek.

Then she grabbed a light jacket, to hide her weapon, and left the room.

000

Meagan found Horatio, Jack, Mike, Kenny and Pavel in the study, going over the plan of attack and some intelligence that Mike and Kenny had gathered. They all turned when she entered the room, and she suddenly felt self-conscious. "So, any news?" she asked, because she felt she had to say something.

"Yeah, apparently SEALs can think for themselves." Jack said, a poor attempt at humor.

Mike and Kenny both flipped him the finger, and cursed him in foreign languages. But Meagan, Horatio and Pavel could tell it was just comrades in arms bantering back and forth, totally at ease with each other because they had survived a baptism of fire, more than once. "We placed tracking devices in the DCF bitches car. We could follow her now, or we can wait and let the GPS device track her movements."

"What will they think up next?" Meagan asked, smiling.

"Are you armed?" Jack asked. In response, she half turned and he saw the butt of a Sig Sauer pistol protruding from a holster at the small of her back. "Want something bigger?" he asked.

Meagan stuck out her lower lip and consider the question for a minute, then shrugged and said, "Sure, why not. What do you have?"

Pavel stepped forward and considered the woman in front of him. "I think an MP-5K or a Benelli M4 shotgun. Which do you prefer?"

This time she didn't have to think about it. "I'll take the MP-5. Thanks, Pavel."

"You're welcome." He said, and grabbed the weapon from a cabinet behind his desk.

Meagan took the weapon and felt infinitely better about whatever they might run into. "Ready?" Jack asked.

"Lead the way, Captain."

"Yes, Major." Jack said, as he, Kenny and Mike left the room.

She turned to Horatio "Are you ok with this?"

He nodded. "Yes, just be careful. You and Jack are too important to me to loose either of you."

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "I promise. Don't worry." She said and left the room.

I won't, Horatio thought.

000

Horatio stood by the front window, and watched them leave. He prayed for their safe return and that Sam would be protected, whatever he might suffer. "Is it always like this?" Chlorinda Delko asked, standing at his side.

Horatio turned and looked at her. "In truth, Mrs., Delko…"

She smiled. "Horatio, you've known my Eric for many years. You're family. Call me Chlorinda, please."

He smiled in return. "In truth, Chlorinda, I don't really know what its like. Jack and I were estrange for ten years, and are only just reconciling."

Chlorinda Delko seemed shocked by this, and hurt for the man that her son considered a second father. "I'm sorry, Horatio. I don't mean to be forward, but what caused it?"

"I caught a case involving the Mala Noche about ten years ago, it was a high profile shooting. We caught the man who carried out the hit," Horatio chuckled, "I say man, but in reality he was just a fifteen year old boy."

Chlorinda nodded, understanding. "Their all too young."

"Anyway, Jack called after a particularly nasty piece of business that he and Ken were involved in Eastern Europe. He wanted to bring Jenny and Matt down for a visit. And, foolish, I said sure." When she didn't interrupt, he continued. "I should've…" he sighed, as if a heavy weight was returning to him.

"I should've seen it coming. Two days after they arrived, the Noche's hit us at a restaurant. Matthew was killed instantly. Jenny hung on for two days. Then she asked Jack point blank if her baby was dead and, because the doctor's had told him she wouldn't survive, he told her the truth. She died later that night."

They were quiet for a few minutes, before Chlorinda said. "That's awful. How old was he?"

Horatio fixed his eyes on the middle distance before answering. "He was three years old."

Chlorinda crossed herself and looked away. Neither of them moved from the window for a longtime.

000

"Turn left up here." Ken said from the front passenger seat of the BMW. Jack was driving, Mike and Meagan were in the back seat. Jack did as instructed. The tracking device on Ken's laptop blinked steadily, indicating that the target vehicle had stopped moving. All four checked their surroundings and realized they were on Embassy Row, the street that held a good number, but not all of the foreign consulates in Miami. "Check out the flag." Jack said.

"Baracas. Isn't that where Clavo's from?" Mike asked.

"Yep, it is."

"Now why would a social worker and an internal affairs detective deliver a child back to the man who molested him? I mean Stetler's a prick, but this?" Jack asked. Sure he hated Stetler like the rest of them, but he didn't want to believe the man was that depraved.

"Someone's coming out." Meagan said.

Jack had brought a digital camera with a telephoto lens and night vision amplifier, just in case. He raised it to his eye and held the trigger down for fifteen seconds as the man walked out of the gate and to his car. Then he scrolled through the photos, looking at each intently, before finding the clearest one. He stared at the photograph for twenty seconds. Then he swore, because he recognized the man as IAB Chief Rick Stetler.

000

A/N: I added character Bios for Jack, Mike and Kenny on my profile page, if anyone's interested. Thanks for reading.