Blinded

Chapter 13

Jack felt anxious. It was Tuesday morning and Bobby and Sue had not yet arrived. His foot was tapping anxiously on the floor, despite having talked to Bobby only 5 minutes earlier that they were still 10 minutes from leaving her hotel as Sue was running a bit late.

"Is she okay?" Jack asked Bobby. He didn't like this. He should be the one picking her up. He heard Bobby sigh.

"She's okay mate. I get the sense she didn't get much sleep last night then slept through her alarm – or rather Levi slept through his. When I got to her door she was in a mad panic. I told her to take her time, there was no rush. She's just finishing getting ready now. We'll be there soon. 30 minutes tops."

"Thanks Bobby. Keep her safe." Jack responded back to his friend.

"Of course, Jack. See you soon."

Despite the conversation, Jack knew he wouldn't feel at ease until he could see her with his own eyes – but he understood.

He had gotten so little sleep last night, having gone to the morgue late yesterday afternoon. As the coroner had lifted the shroud, Jack saw the empty, still and grey face of Marty Pavone, frozen in death and with a look of grief etched permanently into the lines of his face.

What must his last moments have been like. Did he go first, or did he have to watch her die? Was he scared? Did he know who did this?

"What was cause of death?" Jack asked quietly.

"I still have to do a full autopsy. Gayle Pavone died of a single gunshot wound to the forehead, though had sustained many other injuries, some multiple days old. Marty Pavone also likely died of a gunshot wound to the chest but had evidence of cranial trauma. I'll know more by tomorrow." Jack nodded solemnly. He didn't want to ask but needed to know.

"Any signs of sexual assault?" The coroner looked at Jack with pity. Without words, he could tell this was personal. He had heard about this case and knew that the victims were a former AUSA and his wife. The coroner took a deep breath.

"There is some evidence, yes." Jack paled. The coroner busied himself as Jack looked upon Marty's face again.

"I'm so sorry Marty." He whispered to his friend before reaching for the shroud and covering his face.

That was the face that had haunted him through the night. At one point he had texted Sue about 1am, not surprised to see her ready response. It had been three small words. I miss you. She had responded in kind. Now he just wanted to see her.

He was broken out of his revery when Tara came over to his desk.

"Where's Sue and Bobby?" She asked Jack, knowing he would have insight into why they were late.

"They're coming – they should be here in about 15 minutes. Sue was running a bit late this morning." Tara nodded.

"I'm so worried about her. When she gets in, I want to set up a secondary tracker on her blackberry. One that will continue to work even if the phone is shut off or battery dies. It's new technology, small that runs off its own solar power source." Jack gave Tara a weak smile and nodded.

"Any luck with the IP address?" Tara returned a frown, clearly frustrated.

"No. This guy is good. I wonder…" she paused. "I feel like he must have some inside connections somehow." Jack glanced up at her.

"What makes you say that?" He quickly responded.

"It's a bit of a gut feeling. His ability not to have his communications traced yet get the contact information of Sue and Marty. Something just doesn't fit right. It's like he's using our own technology against us." Jack wracked his brain. It was like it was like he could almost see a face when D came bursting into the bullpen.

"They've ID's the body from last week. Her name was Michelle Baker." Myles and Lucy both immediately stood, moving towards Tara's desk.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Lucy asked.

"Because she was part of a case during Sue's first year with us." D responded. Tara was frantically typing into her keyboard, voicing the information once it had been found.

"She went by Missy. She was the friend of Sandra Martin, who was suspected of being killed by…"

"Pete Hadley." Jack finished, his stomach clenching.

"But they didn't end up being able to charge Pete with Sandra's death. I remember Marty…". Myles stopped for a moment. "Marty brought the charges against him for illegal distribution of narcotics, grand theft and theft of government property, but even though he wanted to try, they didn't think they had enough evidence to make the murder charges stick. He was convicted of the first three though, but he made a deal and was given 15 years in prison."

"He certainly would fit the bill of someone with a vendetta against both Marty and Sue." Tara added in.

"Boss? A young man poked his head into the bullpen, looking for D.

"What is it Daniel?" D responded, nodding to the young man. He was on the secondary team helping out on the case.

"Metro PD just called. Said it was urgent." D moved towards his old desk phone and picked up, as the rest continued to talk.

"Tara, look up where Pete Hadley is now." Myles asked. Guilt was starting to settle into his stomach. He had volunteered Sue for that case.

It was one of the first times during the early days of their tenuous relationship he had decided to openly show his trust in her. He was ashamed to remember how he had acted in those early days, but then despite his efforts to extend a hand of comradery, remembered his guilt for having pulled her into the mess Pete Hadley had created. Still, in the end, they had been victorious in finding justice, but was this now revenge delayed?

"Jack." Tara stopped, as she pulled up a file to project on the screen. Jack didn't have time to read what he said when D came over.

"There's been an accident."

-STFBE-

Sue looked out the window of Bobby's SUV. She hated the feeling of being rushed, even though Bobby had reassured her multiple times to just take her time. She had tossed and turned for hours, only to finally succumb to exhaustion around 5am. Levi had bounded on top of her when Bobby had knocked on the door, which she had embarrassingly had to answer in her robe. Her head felt like it was spinning, and she just wanted to get to the bullpen. To see Jack. She felt a gentle tap on her arm as they sat at the red light.

"Are you okay Sheila?" Bobby asked, his eyes brimming with concern. Sue tried to muster up a small smile.

"I'm okay Bobby. I didn't sleep well last night." He sighed.

"I can't even imagine. I had trouble myself, thinking about Marty and Gayle…". She nodded. He turned to her again after checking the light was still red.

"We'll figure this out you know." He reached over and gave her hand a small squeeze. It was a gesture of friendship, different than the times Jack had reached over and done the same but she appreciated it nonetheless. Somehow Bobby always had a way of making things feel a bit more positive.

She also knew he was Jack's best friend. After their conversation the other night, she felt she needed to confide in him, as an ally.

"Bobby?" Sue started. He responded in affirmation as the light turned green and they started to move again. "I'm worried about Jack." Bobby shot her a quick glance.

"I'm worried about him too. Worried about both of you."

"Bobby, you have to promise me, that if something does happen, you'll make sure he's okay?" She asked quietly. Bobby continued to stare ahead. "This man got to Marty. We know there's a chance he'll get to me…" she started.

"Sue. Jack won't be okay if something happens to you. None of us will, but especially Jack." Sue bit her lip. "You know that right?" He turned to look at her. She nodded and turned to look out her passenger window again, absorbing what Bobby had said.

She saw the van in the split second before he felt his arm swing across her body, the intense jarring feeling of impact and the scream that she didn't have time to make was lost in the blackness that followed.