DISCLAIMER: I do not own the world or characters from Without A Trace- I just borrowed them for while. ;-) Any original characters belong to me.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Dangerous Secrets
By Semerket
Chapter 1
"Why are you breaking up with me?" Samantha followed Lisa into the kitchen area of the apartment. She ran her fingers through her blonde hair in frustration. Lisa began to absently put clean dishes away in an attempt to ease her own discomfort.
Lisa was exasperated, "I told you already-"
"You told me in an email!" Samantha exclaimed in angry disbelief.
"Sam, I-"
"Why?" Samantha tried to keep the hurt out of her voice, but failed miserably as she became a torrent of emotion.
"Someone knows, Sam," Lisa said, her voice almost a whisper.
Samantha was tearing up, "I don't care who knows! So what if someone knows? Does this person have proof or is it just speculation?"
"They said they'd report me! I could lose my job and my license!" Lisa was crying now. "Samantha, I told you in the beginning what would happen if someone found out."
"But that was five months ago when we were just fuck buddies!" She took a step towards Lisa and softened her tone. "We've become so much more. Lisa, you can't just walk away from this...from me!"
"Sam, we can't," Lisa said as she placed her hand on her cheek in an attempt to placate her. Sam jerked away angrily in response.
"Is this," Sam struggled for the term, "'person' just some lame excuse to break up with me? Is that what this is?"
Lisa was now angry as well, "I didn't make this up Samantha! I don't really want to end it-"
"Then why are you trying to?" Samantha was as confused as she was frustrated. "You're just like Jack! You don't know what you want and I just end up getting burned in the process!"
"Bull shit! Don't project your failed relationships on me! This isn't some office gossip where the most you'll get is a slap on the wrist or at the worst- a transfer. I'm talking about my entire medical career! Does that mean anything to you?"
"Yes, it means a lot. It means you've just been using me!"
"Oh, we used each other. Don't try to make me look like the bad guy. You knew what you were getting into the moment you crawled into my bed!"
"Did you ever love me?" Lisa avoided eye contact and looked for something else to invest her anxiety in. Seeing that Lisa was about to reach for a bowl on the counter, Samantha grabbed it and tossed it angrily near Lisa's feet.
Lisa marched over to Sam and slapped her hard. "How dare you come in here and act this way!This is my home!"
"I'm sorry," she said sarcastically through unshed tears. "It used to be 'our' home." Then Sam felt something warm and moist dripping from her face. She realized that she was having a nosebleed. She wiped her nose and stormed out of Lisa's apartment.
Samantha Spade spent most of her drive to work mulling over the drama from the previous night. After she had arrived back at her apartment she called Lisa to apologize. She hated that she'd given in, especially since she had every intention of being mad at her, but as soon as she heard Lisa's voice she'd melted. 'Damn you for doing this to me.'
She couldn't stop herself from replaying Lisa's words in her mind. They had more or less made up, but there were still serious issues that needed to be addressed. All Lisa could offer her was a feeble "I'm sorry" for slapping her and an even more sorry attempt to calm her down. Sam was still fuming as she told Lisa that it was 'okay' and that she 'understood'. But what was there to understand? Lisa was panicking and as a result she was trying to dump her.
'This sucks,' she thought glumly as she sat at her desk and pretended to look busy. Lisa had weaseled her way out of the conversation by putting it off until tomorrow and Sam was even more furious for letting her get away with it. She remembered Lisa saying that she 'needed time to think'. 'What's there to think about? How dare she.' "Maybe I should tell my shrink about this- oh wait, she is my shrink," Samantha growled quietly under her breath. 'I thought men were frustrating!'
There hadn't been any major cases lately so her morning was mostly paperwork and filing reports. About an hour after Samantha had arrived Jack came over and announced that they had a new case. 'Finally, something else to think about.'
Sam headed towards the conference room along with her fellow agents in tow. They were engaged in friendly small talk as they walked into the room. Their conversations abruptly coming to an end as they all took a seat around a table, signally Jack that he should begin.
"Dr. Lisa Harris has just been reported missing." Jack announced to his team of agents. "She failed to show up for work this morning and no one has been able to reach her. It's unclear at this point as to whether or not she went missing last night or this morning, but current evidence points towards possible kidnapping." Jack placed a picture of her on the white dry erase board.
Samantha Spade's eyes practically bulged out of her head with surprise. Several months prior, Samantha had been assigned to see a psychiatrist, that psychiatrist happened to be a certain beautiful brunette named Lisa Harris. Several months after their sessions began they formed a mutual attraction, one that eventually escalated into a full-blown love affair. They had managed to keep their relationship completely unknown to the people around them. They had to; not only was it unethical for Dr. Harris to be involved with one of her patients, but they were also colleagues as well.
Naturally everyone was surprised to discover that their latest case was someone whom they were all familiar with; however, for Samantha it was the most miserable situation she could possibly fathom. Not only was her lover missing, but she also had to decide whether to come forward about the nature of their relationship. Could she really do that? Not only could it jeopardize Lisa's career, but it would undoubtedly put her under scrutiny. Not to mention that her relationship with the victim would automatically get her booted from the case. This was bad.
Jack passed around a few files for everyone to look at, "Danny, I want you to check out Dr. Harris' office to see if we can find anything useful over there. And Martin, I want you to question her staff and see if you can find any patients that could be potential suspects. Elena, you check her phone records." Jack turned his attention to Vivian and Samantha, "I want you two to go check out her apartment. I need to stay here to make some phone calls."
Danny flipped through the file he'd been handed, "So who called it in? It hasn't been twenty four hours has it?"
"Her receptionist called it in. Said Lisa called her early this morning from her cellphone when she stopped talking mid sentence. She claims she heard muffled cries."
"Does she know where she was calling from?" Danny probed.
"Nope."
Jack noticed that at some point during his briefing he had managed to lose Agent Spade's attention. After he dismissed everyone and sent them off to their assigned tasks he turned his attention to Sam who sat glued to her seat and lost in thought. "Sam?" He said once they were alone. "You okay?" Sam came out of her reverie and looked at her boss.
"Oh yea. Sure..." For a moment she looked as though she wanted to say something.
Jack noticed her response and spoke up, "Sam, I know you probably knew her better than most of us-"
Samantha quickly cut him off, "No, I'm fine. I'm just really shocked. That's all."
Jack continued, "We all are, but since you've spent the most time with her and we have so little to go on, I was wondering if she might have mentioned something to you during one of your sessions?"
Samantha thought for a moment then carefully responded, "During our sessions I'm the one that does most of the talking." Suddenly the blonde was bombarded with steamy images of light touches and soft lips; a subtle blush crept up her neck. "But if I can think of anything I'll let you know. I can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt her."
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"My last session with her was on Tuesday."
Sam was cut off by the phone ringing, Jack apologized as he answered it. Sam saw this as an opportunity to escape her boss' scrutiny so she quickly stood up and headed off to her desk leaving a confused Jack looking after her retreating form. 'I wonder what that was about', he thought to himself.
Samantha went over to check in with the rest of her teammates. Sam tried to fight the urge to go into a panic as she realized that their relationship would inevitably be discovered. 'If I can just keep it secret long enough to find her.' Vivian walked over to Samantha, "You ready to head out?" Samantha nodded and grabbed her coat.
7 hours missing
Samantha and Vivian entered the opulent lobby of the apartment building. The pair took in their surroundings as they made their way to the elevator. "What was the number again?" Vivian asked.
"Its 309, I believe." Sam tried to remain calm. Then something suddenly occurred to Samantha: 'what about the message I left her the other day!?' Sam swore inwardly. How would she explain this to Vivian? The two agents took the elevator to the 3rd floor. Lisa's apartment wasn't far from the elevator. Vivian unlocked the door, noting that there did not appear to be any kind of forced entry. Once inside the apartment they scanned the general vicinity. The interior was spacious and well furnished, reflecting the same kind of luxury that the lobby had initially hinted at.
At that moment Vivian's cell phone beeped. She answered it and hovered in the living room while Agent Spade walked further into the apartment and began searching for signs that something was amiss. Since Samantha had spent so much time inside Lisa's apartment she made extra efforts to appear unfamiliar in her surroundings to avoid any suspicion. Vivian snapped her phone shut and walked over to Samantha who was now making her way towards the kitchen.
"Sam, that was Jack calling, he says that the people from forensics are on their way now. In the meantime I'm going to go speak to some of the neighbors," Samantha nodded, considering the danger that one of the neighbors might recognize her from moments were she and Lisa had been less than discreet about their relationship, she decided to avoid them at all costs.
"I'm going to stay here and check out the rest of the apartment."
"Alright," Vivian turned and walked out the door.
Sam now found herself alone in Lisa's apartment. 'This is my opportunity!' She made her way to the answering machine, she noticed there were three messages that had been recorded. She listened to the messages, the first two were telemarketers and the last one was from her. "Hey baby, its Sam, I just wanted to apologize for-" then there was a 'click' indicating that Lisa had answered the phone. Sam immediately deleted it because it would just lead the investigation in the wrong direction: her direction. Not to mention the explaining she would have to do later. With that taken care of, she then made her way into the bedroom, which looked untouched. As she scanned the apartment, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. She made her way back into the living area as she felt a lump begin to form in the back of her throat. 'What if they never found her? Or what if she didn't survive?' Sam felt the tears coming, but as soon as they were about to fall she took a deep breath and tried her best to stop them.
*Crunch, crunch.* Samantha was jolted from her peaceful slumber by a rather obtrusive sound. Sam mumbled a little under her breath, still refusing to open her eyes. *CRUNCH* The blonde woman, realizing where she was, slowly opened her eyes. The first sight that greeted her was the extremely bright glow of the television, which was made brighter because the lights were off and it was sometime in the middle of the night. She recoiled a little and put her hand over her eyes.
Then she remembered snuggling up to Lisa on her living room couch. Lisa was laying on her back and Sam was lying on top of her face down- she had fallen asleep while watching TV. Her head was resting on the brunette's torso.
She realized that her tranquil stupor had been interrupted by Lisa who was now munching on, Sam lifted her head to investigate, onion rings. "Hey sleepyhead," Lisa noticed Sam was awake again. Sam pouted, which garnered her a loud guffaw from Lisa. "Onion ring?" She smiled broadly and moved the small bag in her direction.
Sam pouted even more and whined, "Your breath smells like onions."
Lisa laughed at her lover's state of grumpiness, she replied by blowing her breath in the blonde's pretty face. Samantha crinkled up her nose, which tickled Lisa even more, "Ew, no! No, stop." Samantha whined trying to push her away. Lisa took the opportunity to tickle Sam ruthlessly causing her to practically fall off the couch.
"Stop...or," Samantha spoke between laughs, "I'll pee!"
Lisa was laughing too, but made no effort to cease her assault, "Not on me you won't."
Sam let out a loud squeal, which only encouraged Lisa, "Please-"
Lisa managed to tickle Sam to the point where her face was bright red and she was beginning to cry. It was also getting harder for her to breathe. Lisa eventually stopped her intense onslaught and sat up all the way on the couch. Sam quickly moved into a sitting position slightly out of Lisa's reach. Sam glared at her, "You," she said between breaths, "are evil!"
"Why Samantha, I had no idea that you were so ticklish," she said innocently with a devilish smirk on her face. "It appears that I have discovered one of your weaknesses."
Samantha smirked, "Do you want to know my other weakness?"
"Do tell."
"I don't trust you. Promise you won't tickle me." Sam complained comically.
"Okay, okay, done with the tickling…for tonight." Samantha stuck out her tongue. "So tell me already."
Sam moved closer to Lisa and put her lips next to her ear, "It's you," she said seductively. The information hardly had time to register with Lisa because no sooner than she'd heard the words Samantha's lips where on hers. They explored each other's mouth passionately for a few moments. They finally pulled apart both needing air. Sam smiled coyly, "And did I mention that I love onion rings?"
Vivian decided to start with the apartments that were closest to the victim's. She walked over to 308 and knocked on the door. A short elderly woman answered the door. "Hello, can I help you?" She asked with genuine interest.
Vivian flashed her badge, "Hello, I'm Agent Vivian Johnson and I'm with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. I would like to ask you a few questions about your neighbor."
The woman looked taken aback. "Oh my, has something happened?" Vivian was about to respond, but she continued speaking. "Is this about the shouting last night?"
Vivian was interested. "You heard shouting last night, Ma'am?"
"Yes it was coming from Lisa's place next door," she said conspiratorially and motioned in the direction of Lisa's apartment. "She's a very nice woman. She feeds my cats sometimes when I'm out of town. Has something happened to her?" She asked with genuine concern.
"We're trying to figure that out ma'am," Vivian continued, "Could you hear what was being said next door?"
"No, but it was two women having an argument- a very loud one at that. It woke my cats up."
"Did you see anyone entering or leaving your neighbor's apartment last night?"
She thought for a moment. "Well I didn't see anyone go in, but I'm guessing it was that blonde lady that visits her sometimes...a friend I suppose, maybe a relative."
"Blond woman? Can you describe her please."
"Well she's about this tall and...well she has blonde hair. She's pretty. Other than that I can't say I know much about her. Around the same age as Lisa I guess."
Vivian jotted a few things down on her small note pad. "Do you know what time the argument took place or how long it lasted?
"I was already in bed when the voices woke me up so I'm not sure when the fight started and I'm not sure how long it went on either, but they woke me up around eleven."
Vivian thanked the woman for her time and went to the apartment on the other side of Lisa's. She knocked on the door and a gruff middle-aged man answered. He poked his head out the door, "Yea?"
"I'm Vivian Johnson and I'm with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me." The man immediately stiffened when she flashed him her badge.
"What about?" He asked looking uncomfortable.
"About your neighbor Lisa Harris- the woman from 309." The man relaxed immediately when he realized it wasn't about him.
He sounded bored, "Well what about her?"
"Did you hear any shouting last night around 11 pm?" Vivian readied her pen and note pad.
He thought for a moment. "Nah, I work pretty late and I usually get home around eleven thirty- sometimes after twelve."
"Did you see a blonde woman entering or leaving your neighbor's apartment last night?" His eyes immediately lit up with recognition.
"Oh, I see blondie hangin' around all the time," he snorted with contempt. "I saw her last night as I was getting off the elevator and she looked mad as hell," he chuckled a little at that.
"Do you have any idea why she may have been upset?" The man only shrugged at that.
Vivian looked thoughtful for a moment. "So you've seen the blonde woman with Ms. Harris frequently?"
"Quite frequently."
"Do you know her name or anything else about her?"
"Not really," he thought for a moment, "But if you ask me I'd guess they were more than friends."
'Suck it up Spade, this isn't the time to cry', she thought to herself with annoyance. That's when she noticed Lisa's laptop bag on a chair in her bedroom. She grabbed it and looked inside. "Bingo!" she mumbled to herself. Lisa's email might be able to tell them something about her whereabouts. 'Or it might tell them a little too much', Sam thought hesitantly. Knowing full well that they frequently communicated via email Samantha decided she would try to be the one to investigate her computer- that way she could look for suspicious email and delete herself from the laptop, essentially killing two birds with one stone. Samantha continued to search the bedroom for anything out of the ordinary.
Vivian decided to go back into the apartment to check in with Samantha- after all it looked like they may have found a potential suspect or at the very least a useful witness. As Vivian first entered the apartment she did not immediately see Samantha, but could hear some movement in the bedroom. She found the blonde agent very focused as she searched through a drawer, as though looking for something specific. She made a mental note that Samantha looked as though she may have been crying a few moments before.
"Find anything?" Samantha flinched, startled at the voice that came from behind her.
"Not much, but I found her laptop, we might be able to find something from her email account," Vivian nodded. "Anything from the neighbors?"
Vivian paused for a moment and watched Samantha carefully, "Not anyone on this floor, it doesn't seem as though they knew the doctor very well."
"Figures," Samantha mumbled. Vivian decided to check out the apartment as well. She headed off towards the kitchen realizing that an argument that could be heard through the wall had to have taken place somewhere on that side of the apartment. She immediately noticed that something seemed a bit off in the kitchen. She noticed that there was quite a bit of broken glass in the garbage can as well as a small drop of what appeared to be blood on the floor. Agent Johnson had never known Samantha to be anything less than thorough in her work, but this was definitely relevant. 'So why didn't Sam mention it?' Vivian took a sample of the ominous little red spot and sealed it up into a tiny plastic evidence bag for processing later. The forensics team could do the rest.
Chapter 2
12 hours missing
Sam sat at her desk surfing for any possible shred of evidence on Lisa's laptop, but she had a sinking feeling that it wouldn't really yield anything. As she opened the email application she cast a glance over her shoulder just to make sure no one was about to come up behind her as she deleted certain personal email. They may figure it out sooner or later, but they didn't need those kinds of details. Sam blushed at the thought.
At the same time on the other side of the room, Vivian went into Jack's office; she waited patiently as he finished up his phone call. "Hey Vivian, got any leads for me?"
"Yes, I think I may," Vivian paused for a moment and glanced at Samantha sitting across the main room at her desk. Vivian then walked over and shut the door to Jack's office. Jack noticed this and glanced at Samantha as well, "Something wrong, Viv?"
Vivian hated to have to make such an accusation towards one of her team mates- one of her friends, but she wasn't sure what to make of their trip to Dr. Harris' apartment. "Jack, I don't know how to say this exactly," Jack now looked concerned, "But I think Sam might be involved somehow." There. She'd said it and she knew she might regret it, but Sam's odd behavior was at least worth mentioning. Jack was on his feet immediately and he began to pace as he shot her dubious looks.
"You can't be serious, Viv!" He couldn't believe it, but he knew Vivian was generally very objective when working on a case, a quality that made her a major asset to the team. She would never make such an accusation without cause.
"I know how it sounds Jack, but you weren't there," she paused, "You didn't see the way she was acting. She was more emotionally invested than usual and of course she tried to hide it the way she usually does, but something was off about her."
"Well Dr. Harris is her psychiatrist and she's worried about her and," Jack trailed off as he searched for an explanation.
"I know that. But there were some subtle things that I found in Lisa's apartment, things that even a rookie would probably notice, but Sam- she didn't say much about it."
Jack shrugged noncommittally, "Well maybe she just didn't notice it. She was probably distracted, maybe I should have sent Danny, or Martin-"
"When I talked to some of the neighbors they said that a blonde woman fitting Samantha's description was seen at Lisa's apartment last night sometime between eleven and eleven thirty." Jack waited respectfully for Vivian to finish what he felt was a nonsensical tirade. "One witness describes her as angry as she left the apartment, another witness claims she heard a loud argument coming from Dr. Harris' apartment." Jack looked uneasy for a moment. "Apparently the 'blonde woman' has been seen with Dr. Harris frequently."
"So...you think this blonde may have been Sam?" Jack looked incredulous.
'Is it really that shocking?', Vivian thought acidly. She was getting frustrated, "Well I don't know, I'm just looking at all possibilities here. And it's not like she doesn't already have a connection to Dr. Harris." She took Jack's non response as a sign to continue, "When I checked out the victim's kitchen I noticed there was quite a bit of broken glass in the garbage can, as well as a few very small spots that resembled blood-"
Jack cut her off, "You send it in for processing?"
Vivian put her hands on hips and looked at him with annoyance, "Jack, how long have I worked here?" Jack put his hands up and digressed, then motioned for her to continue. "Anyway we'll know a little when forensics is finished. I put general DNA on priority so we should have the results soon."
Jack looked lost in thought. He glanced up at Sam momentarily. She looked so beautiful as she stared intently at the laptop she was working on. Samantha, who in his eyes could do no wrong. "So you really think she's involved? What could possibly be her motive?" He said the last word as though it had a bitter taste.
"I don't know if she's involved in her disappearance, but I think that she knows a lot more than she's let on," Vivian glanced back in Sam's direction, "I also question her motive for wanting to go through Dr. Harris' laptop."
At that moment Danny walked past on his way to his desk with a file in hand. Jack made eye contact with him and waved him over to his office immediately. Danny opened the door and shut it behind himself as he entered, "Hey guys."
Jack sat back down in his chair, "So did you find anything useful?"
Danny addressed both of the occupants in the room,"Well, they were very careful about what I was allowed to access- 'doctor-patient confidentiality' and all, but I was able to find out that she was in the process of transferring three of her patients to different psychiatrists." Danny glanced at a paper in his file, "One of them is a man named Jason Foster, agent Leslie Miller, and the other patient is Samantha." Vivian immediately shot Jack a glance.
"So were you able to find out why she felt the need to transfer them?"
Danny looked disappointed, "Well that's where the confidentiality thing becomes a problem for us. I couldn't just look at their medical files- not without a warrant. We already talked to Agent Miller- she's transferring to a Los Angeles division and she checks out otherwise, which eliminates her as a possibility. But at least with Sam you could always just ask her."
Jack looked at both of them, giving Vivian a knowing look, "I think I'll do just that." Danny nodded and left Jack's office.
As if on cue the fax machine in Jack's office came to life and began printing. He walked over and grabbed the paperwork, "It's from forensics, the only other person's DNA that was found in the apartment belonged to...Samantha Spade."
Vivian hovered over Jack's shoulder as he was reading. "Is it just residual DNA from her being in the apartment earlier?"
Jack bit his lower lip, "It can't be. There's way too much of it. Prints everywhere. Prints in the kitchen, some on the broken glass..." He trailed off as he read the long list, "bedroom, bathroom- she couldn't have possibly contaminated the scene to this extent!" He looked at Vivian, and then directed his gaze to Sam at her desk.
"What about the blood sample I picked up?"
"Sam as well," Jack sighed with frustration and turned and banged his fist on the desk. The sound it created was loud enough to get the attention of a few others in the office, Samantha included. "Viv, send her to my office. And get her away from that damn computer!" Vivian nodded and made a beeline towards Agent Spade's desk. Samantha watched the exchange inquisitively, she couldn't hear what was being said, but it couldn't be good and judging by the look she just received it was probably about her.
Vivian approached the blonde-haired woman who was looking at her expectantly, "Jack needs to see you in his office." Samantha nodded and looked as though she was about to close a window on the computer, but then Vivian said, "He wants to see you now and don't touch the computer." Samantha looked more than a bit surprised at Vivian's tone. It was one of distrust and mild irritation. The interaction did not go unnoticed by Danny or Elena who were busy working at their desks. They gave each other questioning looks.
Samantha opened the door to Jack's office and stepped in hesitantly, cracking the door behind her. "You wanted to see me, Jack?" He just motioned for her to sit down on the other side of his desk. Jack suddenly felt tired, 'Why did she have to put me in this position?'
He shut his eyes and massaged his temples for a moment before speaking. He opened his eyes and looked at her with annoyance, "Do you know why you're here?"
She looked around, "Um, no." It sounded more like a question than an affirmative response. It also sounded like a lie. And Jack hated that she was lying to him of all people. He tried to control his frustration as it bubbled near the surface just waiting for a reason to erupt.
"Why is your DNA all over her apartment?"
She hesitated for a moment, "I was searching through her things today. I didn't wear gloves, but," he cut her off sounding more irritated than before.
"I'm going to ask you the question again, Sam. Why is your DNA in her apartment?"
She was about to repeat her previous answer, "I told you I-"
That was the last straw for Jack, he slammed his palms down on his desk, "Damn it, Sam! How could you do this? I know you're lying. You could have compromised our investigation!" He said angrily, not quite shouting, but loud enough to be heard through his slightly open office door. At that moment Martin happened to be heading to Jack's office when he caught the last part of what Jack said. He stopped dead in his tracks. Realizing it was probably a private conversation, he turned and went back towards his desk. Jack saw his retreating form and jumped up from his seat and slammed the door to his office. He turned back to Samantha "Did you tamper with the evidence?" He asked her earnestly.
She let out a sigh and tried to think of a response. "What the hell were you thinking?" Samantha had never been on the receiving end of 'angry Jack' before and she was more than a little bit
intimidated. "You do realize that I have to interrogate you formally on record- you've just made yourself our primary suspect!" Jack said unkindly as he paced around his office.
"Why can't you just ask me now?"
He barked, "Because you are obviously having trouble answering the questions!"
Martin went over to where the rest of the team was sitting. They had arranged themselves in such a way so that they could have a clear view through the window of Jack's office door. Everyone was watching with intense curiosity as they witnessed Jack go on a full blown tirade. Once he shut the door, they couldn't really hear what he was saying, but based on his passionate gesturing they could tell he wasn't a happy camper. A few minutes later Jack emerged from his office and made his way over to the rest of the team. They immediately tried to look busy as he approached so as not to incur his wrath. It also did not escape anyone's notice that Sam was still sitting in his office.
He approached Martin first, "Were you able to get anything from her coworkers?" He was still upset, but he was trying not to take it out on them.
"Unfortunately no, no one seemed to have a clue as to her disappearance," as soon as Martin finished Jack turned his attention to Elena.
"Elena, phone records. Now," he said brusquely.
A little surprised at his tone, Elena proceeded, "Well there weren't many calls in the last few days- a few to her office, but the majority of the calls were to," she paused and glanced in the direction of his office, "Samantha. Several were made to her home phone and several made to her cell- to and from."
Jack just took a deep breath, "Okay Danny and Elena, work on getting a warrant- there's a chance that we might have to search her apartment." They both just looked at each other uncomfortably- Sam wasn't going to like that.
He looked over to Martin, "Martin, escort Agent Spade to interrogation room #1, please." Martin blanched at the thought.
"Whoa, is Samantha a suspect?" Martin asked with surprise, giving him the same attitude that Jack had given Vivian earlier.
Jack hesitated for a moment, "Maybe." Everyone looked around at each other. "Everyone is dismissed."
They all slowly got up and went their separate ways.
Jack peered over Vivian's shoulder at the laptop she was now checking, "Whatcha got?"
Vivian sighed, "Well she did try to delete most of her email to Dr. Harris, but what's left on her computer doesn't really tell us much, other than confirm the fact that they associate outside of work."
"Nice work, Viv."
Martin walked Samantha to the interrogation room. The walk over had mostly been a quiet one, he could tell that she was angry. What could he say to her? He felt the need to reassure her, but how could he do that if he still wasn't exactly sure about what was going on. Samantha was completely lost in thought, 'How could I be so stupid! If I'd been honest earlier this wouldn't be happening- this is going to suck.'A part of Sam selfishly blamed Lisa for her current predicament.
As they entered the room Samantha sat down at the small table. Martin hovered for a moment trying to think of something to say, but Sam beat him to it, "Martin, I know the drill- relax already. You're making me nervous." She tried to offer him a small smile to encourage him, but it didn't relieve much of the tension. Martin gave her a small smile in return and walked out of the room.
Sam sat in the room waiting for Jack to arrive. In all the years she had worked for the Bureau and questioned witnesses and possible suspects she had never imagined that she'd find herself on the other side of the table. Jack nodded to Vivian and Martin, who were standing on the other side of the observation glass. He entered the drab interrogation room and shut the door behind himself. After sitting down at the table opposite Samantha, he looked her in the eye and said, "Lets get this over with, shall we?" Samantha waited expectantly for him to continue. "When was the last time you saw Dr. Harris?"
The logical part of her knew it would be easier if she told the truth, but her fear of being removed from the case overwhelmed her common sense. Samantha spoke carefully avoiding too much eye contact, "My last session was on Tuesday-"
"When was the last time you saw Dr. Harris?" Samantha stared at Jack. "Sam, don't make this any more difficult than it already is." She looked away. He softened his tone. "Were you at her apartment last night around eleven?"
"Yea." She mumbled.
"What for?"
"There was something that I needed to discuss with her."
"And it couldn't wait until your next session?"
"Well..." she shifted uncomfortably.
"Well what?" he asked impatiently.
"It was unrelated to our sessions, but she was fine when I left."
"So you and Dr. Harris are friends outside of work?"
Sam paused, "Yes," it sounded a bit like a question.
"Isn't that a little odd, Sam? I mean most people don't hang out with their psychiatrists outside of their sessions."
"Maybe," she spoke more to his tie than to his face.
Jack became flabbergasted. "How about answers that are complete sentences."
Samantha replied quickly, "Look, I went to her place around eleven. I wasn't there for more than twenty minutes. Then I left."
"Did you have an argument with Dr. Harris last night?"
"We had a...disagreement, yes."
"Did this 'disagreement' involve shouting and things getting broken?"
"Something might have fallen."
"Why is your blood at the scene, Samantha?"
"I had a nosebleed." Jack raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Things," Samantha hesitated, "Got a little physical, but nothing big."
Jack allowed himself to chuckle at the absurdity, "So let me get this straight. You showed up at your psychiatrists' apartment and then she...punched you in the face?" He asked not believing what he was hearing. Not for the first time that day, he seriously considered ripping his hair out.
Sam let out a loud guffaw, Jack immediately frowned indicating that he did not see the humor in the situation. "Jack, she didn't exactly punch me...more like a slap, that coincidentally caused a nosebleed. I know it sounds lame as hell, but that's what happened. I never laid a finger on her. I left right after that."
"Okay, now we're making some progress here." Jack cleared his throat and leaned forward in his seat a little, "So you went to her place to 'discuss' something and the two of you 'fell out'?"
Sam shrugged, "More or less."
"Do you visit her at her apartment often?"
Samantha rolled her eyes, "Define often," she said with some hostility in her voice. He tilted his head and glared at her, "I suppose so, yes."
"So we can assume that the two of you are good friends then?"
"Yes," she said quietly.
"And you get along well for the most part?"
"Mmhmm."
"Then why was she transferring you to another doctor?"
Sam looked like a deer caught in the headlights, then she looked at the table nervously, "I don't know." Jack fought the urge to pull his hair out.
"Yes you do, Sam!"
"We've been seeing each other," she said quickly.
"Yes," he said testily, "We've established that the two of you are friends."
She spoke slowly and looked him in the eye, "No, I mean we've been seeing each other."
Now Jack looked like a deer caught in the headlights, "Wait, you mean you're having a....sexual relationship with your...." Jack trailed off as his brain went into shock. In the observation room, Martin's train of thought also derailed at the revelation he'd just heard, Vivian simply raised an eyebrow- she'd already suspected. Sam sat there, waiting patiently for him to find his words.
"So," he said awkwardly. Now he was the one shifting uncomfortably. 'Well that explains the DNA in the bedroom', he thought, his arousal warring with his jealousy. He looked dazed for a moment, "What were we just talking about?"
"We were just talking about how I'm involved in an illicit sexual relationship with my psychiatrist who is now missing," Samantha stated matter of factly. 'Now I can watch you squirm for a while,' she thought.
Jack was trying to keep his jaw from dropping, "Right." He cleared his throat unnecessarily.
"So," he cleared his throat again, "Tell me about it," he squeaked uncharacteristically.
Sam couldn't keep the annoyance or sarcasm from coming through, "What exactly do you want to know, Jack?"
"Is that why she's transferring you to another..."
"Of course!"
"So the argument was more like a... spat?" He said the last word as though it was foreign to him.
She gave him a look that said 'duh'. He just looked at her for a few moments. Underneath her sarcasm and defensiveness, he could see that she was hurting. After all, it wasn't just her doctor that was missing; it was her lover, not to mention the potential repercussions of such a relationship in the Bureau. He could tell that Sam had had more then enough of his questions; he also knew that she didn't have anything to do with the doctor's disappearance, not that he ever really believed she could be capable anyway. He decided that he would look into other leads for the time being. If they could find any.
He softened his tone. "Sam," he touched her hand as it was resting on the table. He could see that she was tearing up a little, "I understand that this is difficult for you," he looked for something to say, "but you do realize that I have to take you off the case?" She looked ready to protest, but he stopped her, "I understand why you did what you did, but that still doesn't make it okay-"
"You can't reassign me!" she sounded a little desperate, her carefully crafted facade finally cracking under the stress and scrutiny.
"I'm not reassigning you," he paused, unsure as to how she would take the news. "I'm sending you home for a while."
"A while?" she looked at him with puppy dog eyes, "But-"
"No 'buts' Sam, go get your things, you are dismissed. And as for the investigation: you are not to interfere in any way. If you have information that may help us contact me immediately, beyond that I don't want to see you here until I call you in, is that understood?" He stood up and put his hand on her shoulder.
She sighed, "Yes."
Chapter 3
Samantha stepped into her apartment and switched the lights on. She let out a breath that she had been holding in ever since she left the office that day. She felt utterly helpless. She'd at least thought that Jack would be sensitive and just restrict her to the office doing paperwork for the time being. 'Hell sleeping with your boss has got to have some pointers right?' She cringed at the thought, 'that's not fair to Jack, and that's not why it happened- besides that was a long time ago.' Sam put her things down and made her way over to the kitchen. After she finished devouring a sandwich she headed off to bed.
"I see you found the key I left for you," Lisa slowly and sleepily moved herself over towards the right side of the bed in order to allow Sam a space to climb in. The blonde agent slipped in under the covers beside her, immediately wrapping her arms around Lisa's waist so that they were spooning. Lisa, still half asleep, was about to nod off again until she felt Samantha slowly blazing a trail of soft, warm kisses down the back of her neck. She felt Sam chuckle into the crook of her neck. Lisa groggily responded, "Are you laughing at me, Ms. Spade?"
Sam responded in a husky tone, "I didn't realize that a doctor's idea of sleep attire consisted of a tank top and old sweat pants."
Now fully awake, Lisa rolled over so that she was facing Sam, "And I didn't realize that it was typical of federal agents to sleep in the nude," she replied, her tone becoming equally charged as well. Samantha, unable to wait any longer responded to her challenge with a slow kiss, which quickly intensified.
Sam awoke with a start. She rolled over to glance at her alarm clock. It was 10:25 am. Usually she'd automatically wake up around six everyday 'I must have been really tired.' The dream had felt so real that she'd half expected to feel Lisa's warmth beside her as the brunette hogged all of the covers the way she usually did. She felt her heart sink as reality came crashing back into focus. Sam wished that her last conversation with her lover had been a better one. Then she remembered something. She grabbed her phone and dialed Jack immediately.
28 hours missing
The team, minus one, sat around the white board as Jack updated the information and finished briefing everyone again. He added a line to Lisa's time line '11 pm argument with Samantha'. Jack heard his phone ring and excused himself to his office, he recognized Samantha's number and immediately picked up the receiver.
"Malone."
"Jack, it's me," her voice sounded hesitant, "I thought of something that might be important."
"Shoot."
"Well it's about the argument we had- she said that someone knew about our relationship and that they threatened to report her-"
Jack cut her off with annoyance, "Why couldn't you just tell me this earlier when I asked you?"
"It didn't seem relevant at the time," she paused, "and I wasn't ready to tell you about us- at least not yet."
"Why Sam? I'm you're friend and I told you that you could talk to me about anything."
'Yea right' she thought, "Will you report us?" She sounded genuinely concerned.
There was a pause before he responded, "Well you're both involved in an unethical relationship and technically I'm required to."
"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black!"
"Sam, you know that I have to file a report! And it doesn't help that I had to put you on record. If you'd told me earlier I could have took you off the case and this would never have been an issue. But now I have to put you and Dr. Harris in the report."
"Well you didn't have to file a report about us!" Jack got ready to speak, but Sam continued talking. "So you're telling me it's okay to sleep with a colleague as long as that colleague is you?"
"Sam that's not fair-"
"No, I'll tell you what's not fair," her voice was raised, "not fair is having my personal life spread all over the office!"
Jack replied sarcastically, "Well it's not like it'd be the first time! Hell, you should be used to it by now. Who's next? Danny? Elena? Vivian? We're all just dying to know what happens in the next installment of your sex life."
There was a long silence. Samantha debated hanging up the phone, but Jack finally responded. "Look I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean that. You know I wouldn't give you any trouble, but I can't guarantee that the people up top will turn a blind eye." There was no response on her end so he tried to change the subject. When Jack finally spoke up he sounded tired, "So did she tell you who knew about your relationship?"
"No, I'm not even sure if they're a man or woman, but I'm guessing it's probably a guy."
"Okay, thanks." Jack hung up the phone and went back over to the rest of the team. "Well I just got off the phone with Sam and she said that Lisa thought that someone knew about their relationship and was threatening to report it."
Danny looked a little hopeful, "You think this could be our guy?"
"With our current evidence it could be a bologna sandwich for all we know," Jack was tired and frustrated. Nothing was more irritating than having hardly anything to go on. "What do we know about the other patient she was transferring: Jason Foster?"
Danny spoke up, "Well even with the warrant I wasn't able to find anything in particular that would point towards abducting one's psychiatrist. No history of violence." Danny handed out a picture of Jason.
Jack nodded and continued, "Martin, were you able to get a hold of this guy?"
"Actually he's supposed to be away on a fishing trip. He supposedly left two days before Dr. Harris' disappearance."
"Were you able to verify that?"
"No, but that would be difficult to verify anyway since we have no idea as to where his ideal fishing spot might be, and he doesn't seem to have any friends that we could ask."
"All right. Well, check his phone records and in the meantime we'll just have to keep looking. There's not much else we can go on."
Samantha felt like an idiot. Now she understood why agents were booted from cases that were too personal. Of course it always made sense in theory, but she had never really understood until now. Unfortunately she had screwed up big time while learning that lesson. Of course they would search Lisa's phone records and find her DNA in the apartment. How could she have not considered that? It was as though she had encased herself in a deluded bubble of self denial ever since she'd heard the news.
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid." Sam berated herself as she paced throughout her apartment agitatedly. She felt like she was about to explode. She decided that a jog might help her deal with her nervous energy for the time being. She took a quick shower and slipped into some comfortable navy blue track pants and a gray tank top. She quickly tied her hair back in a pony tail, grabbed her keys, and left. She made sure to lock the door on her way out.
An hour and a half later a very sweaty Samantha made her way back to her apartment. She took out her keys to open the door. As soon as she inserted the key into the lock the first thing she noticed was that the bolt lock was not on. Sam carefully opened the door and slowly entered. She scanned the room carefully for any indication that someone else might was inside. She warily made her way into the kitchen and grabbed a butcher knife, seeing as how she'd left her gun in her bedroom. She went through her apartment checking the bathroom, closets, and any place that someone might be able to hide. Finally satisfied that she had found no one, she made her way back into the living room. That's when she noticed a note on the coffee table. She picked it up and read it, 'I know what you are and I will destroy you'.
The phone rang on Danny's desk; however, Danny was not in the office at the moment. Vivian happened to be nearby so she walked over and answered the phone, "Johnson here."
"Viv!" Samantha said in a tone that indicated relief. "It's me, Sam."
"Hey Sam, everything okay?"
A number of countless issues flooded Sam's thoughts at her question. 'No, everything is not okay!' What she actually said was, "I need to talk to Jack. I called his cell and his office phone and he's not picking up." She sounded mildly frantic.
"Jack is in an interview right now. What's the matter?"
"I don't think that the kidnapper is just some random nut, I think it's a hate thing. I just received a death threat."
"Did you see anyone?"
"No, when I got back from my jog this morning someone had been in my apartment. They left a nasty note on my coffee table," Sam paused for a minute, "Viv?"
"Yes?"
"I know Jack told me not to come to the office, but can I come in right now just to drop off this note?" 'and avoid my stalker' she added mentally.
"Sam, that's not a good idea. I'll tell Jack and we'll come to you."
"All right," Sam sighed, "Oh and Viv?"
"Yes?"
"My gun is missing."
Samantha sat in her living room on the couch trying to watch TV. The reality of the situation was that the sound of the TV made her feel like she wasn't alone in the apartment and that made her feel a little better. There was a knock on the door. Sam carefully got up and looked through the peep hole before opening the door. She took the chain off and invited Jack, Vivian, and Martin inside. 'Jesus, bring a swat team why don't ya.'
"Hey guys, thanks for coming."
"Where's the note?" Jack said impatiently. Samantha was surprised at the curtness of his tone. She handed him the note, he looked at it and then showed it to Martin and Vivian. Vivian wrapped it in a little plastic bag for forensics.
"Around what time did you find this?"
"Well I went for a jog right after I talked to you earlier, so," she thought for a moment, "Around an hour and a half after we talked." Jack just nodded in response.
"Would you like to sit down?" Sam motioned towards her living room area. Vivian smiled and took a seat on the couch, Jack sat next to her on the other side of it. Martin sat on a nearby love seat. Samantha was still standing. "Can I get anyone something to drink- coffee, lemonade, water?"
Jack shook his head, Martin shook his head as well, "No thanks."
"I'll have a coffee," Vivian requested. Sam nodded and went into the kitchen, after a few moments she returned with two cups of coffee. She handed a mug to Vivian and sat down in a nearby recliner and took a swig from her own cup.
"Sam, have you seen this man before," Vivian showed her a picture of Jason.
Samantha leaned forward to take a look, "He looks vaguely familiar somehow, but I can't figure why." She took another sip of her coffee. "Who is he?"
Jack responded, "His name is Jason Foster, he's one of Dr. Harris' other patients, well the only other patient that is being transferred for reasons that are...not obvious," he said the last few words with a hint of hostility.
"Oh, well that's probably why I recognize him, maybe from the waiting room."
Vivian continued, "Sam, did Lisa ever mention anything about other patients that she had."
"Oh yea, she tells me about the wackos all the time." She laughed.
Jack looked uncomfortable, Sam noticed this and back peddled, "Oh well I mean, not like detailed stuff, just like..."
Jack replied, "So she tells you confidential information about her patients," he sounded exceptionally crabby at the moment.
'Way to dig the hole deeper'. "Um no, are you sure you don't want something to drink?" Sam asked quickly.
He got ready to say no, "'Kay great! I'll get you lemonade," Samantha quickly got up from her chair and went into the kitchen. 'Stupid stupid stupid.' She berated herself once more. Vivian gave Martin a look and they both smiled slightly, although mentally they were busting up. Samantha came back and handed Jack lemonade. He took it and kind of looked at it.
Jack rolled his eyes, "Sam," he sounded exasperated, "I told you I didn't want one."
"I know," she smiled, "but you need one." 'And an enema', she thought. Martin snickered and tried to hide it by coughing which only made the situation even more awkward. He looked up at everyone and smiled, his eyes twinkling as he did so, he couldn't wait to tell Danny about this. Vivian covered her smile by taking an exceptionally long sip of her coffee.
Jack just stared at Samantha. He looked bored and gave her a look that said 'I am not amused'. He put the lemonade down on the table and immediately got back to business. "Did Dr. Harris tell you anything relevant?" He said impatiently. It was bad enough that Samantha had to be directly involved in the investigation in this kind of capacity, but he also felt like she was wasting his time, and if he was completely honest with himself he'd be able to identify that other emotion he was experiencing as extreme jealousy.
"Well I'm not sure, she would usually just mention things that were odd or comical in some way," she paused to think, "But I can't recall her ever mentioning someone that was dangerous." Noticing that Jack was now actually looking angry, Vivian decided she needed to take control of the interview. "So she never mentioned anyone named, Jason?"
"Well no, we never discuss their names because she's not supposed to-"
Jack shot back sarcastically, "We've already entered the realm of 'not supposed to," obviously implying their relationship.
Sam told herself that she wouldn't rise to the bait, but she just couldn't help it- that was below the belt. "Pot and kettle, Jack," she paused and reiterated more slowly, "Pot. And kettle." She could understand him grilling her in interrogation, but this was her home damn it and she was being cooperative.
Vivian and Martin fidgeted uncomfortably. They, of course, knew exactly what was being referred to- even if Sam and Jack had tried to keep their past affair a secret, it was hard to hide that from an office full of detectives. And then of course there was Martin. Vivian tried to put the conversation back on track, "Samantha, please continue."
Sam calmed down a little and diverted her attention to Vivian. Martin was still fidgeting- suddenly wishing he had asked for something to drink, "What were we talking about?"
"So Dr. Harris never referred to anyone matching Jason's description?"
"Well I don't know, she wouldn't have physically described anyone..." She looked over at Jack who looked calm, but was still radiating quiet rage. "Where is this guy now?"
Martin piped up, "He's supposed to be on a fishing trip, but we were not able to verify that."
Samantha's eyes suddenly lit up with recognition, "She did mention this guy who likes fishing...to the point of obsession- total nut job," she trailed off looking to be in deep thought. "He would always invite her to go fishing with him, she would just laugh and politely refuse using the excuse: 'oh I can't date a patient'." Samantha immediately blushed at the hypocrisy of her statement and decided to shift the focus immediately. "Do you think this is the guy who's harassing me?"
"We're trying to figure that out." Vivian said.
"Well I think that's all we need to know," Jack stood up, "I've assigned a security detail, they'll be sitting right outside your apartment building should you have any problems." Jack went to the door and exited, Vivian and Martin stood up and headed out, although they left more slowly than Jack. Sam grabbed Martin's arm on the way out-
"Can't you tell me anything about what's going on?"
"We still don't know much Sam, but we'll keep you updated." Vivian had already left and Martin was about to turn to leave as well; however, he had a nagging question that he'd been wanting to ask Samantha for a while and it had been driving him crazy.
"Hey Sam, can I ask you something?"
"You just did."
He chuckled at himself, "Um, are you like a..." he trailed off suddenly.
"Hmmm?"
He asked rapidly, "Are you a lesbian?" She almost missed the question completely.
"I wondered when you'd ask, Marty," she chuckled and shrugged, "bisexual."
He tried to cover the fact that he felt awkward, "Oh well, it's just when we were dating you never mentioned it."
"Well it was a bit of a moot point, wasn't it?"
"Yea, I guess," he felt a little silly. "Well take care." Martin left and Sam shut the door behind him.
Chapter 4
Lisa awoke in an unfamiliar location. What time is it? She tried to recall the events leading up to her current predicament. The last thing she could remember was heading to her car on the way to work, but she'd never made it to the car. She took a moment to take in her surroundings. She appeared to be in some kind of cabin, she didn't hear any traffic sounds so she assumed that she had to be somewhere outside of the city. She made a mental note that it was still day time, but it was still dark in the room because the curtains were drawn. She was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, her arms were tied behind her and her feet were bound as well. Her mouth was also gagged. Judging by her headache, she assumed she had either been knocked unconscious or most likely drugged. Lisa thought she could taste a hint of some chemical on her mouth. Beyond that she appeared to be uninjured.
Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching. She saw her captor out of the corner of her eye, it looked like Jason Foster.
"Good morning, beautiful," he said calmly as though he were her best friend. She mumbled something incoherent in response. "Ah, let me remove that." He opened one of the curtains in order to allow more light in. He then moved to her side and removed the gag from her mouth. She knew he was unstable, but she didn't realize he would ever be capable of all this. He was on enough medication to calm a horse- unless he stopped taking that medication.
"So how are we this morning?" He sounded like a nurse or a caretaker.
"Um, where am I?"
"We're at my cabin."
"Why?" She asked calmly. If she learned anything in college it was the number one golden rule of psychiatry: humor the maniac.
"Because we're going fishing together, remember?" He spoke to her as though she was the one sounding crazy.
She feigned interest, "So why don't you untie me and we can go-"
He suddenly became angry,"No! I'm not stupid, you're just lying- you lie all the time!" He was irrational and disgusted.
Why me? "I've never lied to you, Jason," she replied calmly.
"Yes you have," he growled.
"About what?" She asked genuinely confused.
"You said we couldn't be together, but now I know the real reason!" He looked ready to cry.
'Ah, so you sent the email.' He calmed down suddenly and continued, "But that's all right, I understand now- I understand what you're going through, and I'll take care of it."
"Take care of what?"
"Agent Spade. It's her fault we can't be together. You're all the same!"
'Dr. Reynard always gives me the craziest ones!' "Jason, Samantha has nothing to do with any of this." She spoke very calmly in an attempt to dissuade him.
"Oh but she does," He reached out and stroked her face, it took almost everything Lisa had not to recoil in disgust for fear of setting him off. "She's confused you...corrupted you, but don't worry I will destroy her."
35 hours missing
It was late into the afternoon and the team still sat around their desks trying to piece together the evidence. Danny continued, "My theory is that this Jason guy asks Dr. Harris out every time he sees her. She always says no, and then maybe his invitations make her uncomfortable… and after a while she…"
"Tries to transfer him," Vivian finished his sentence.
"But does he know about the transfer?" Elena asked.
There was a silence for a moment and then Jack asked, "Or more importantly does he know about Samantha? If he's already unstable it could have set him off."
Martin walked over, "Hey, apparently Jason goes by five other names. Under the name George Bennington, he owns a cabin by a lake, it's about a four hour drive from here."
"Okay, Vivian, Elena, and Martin- go check out this cabin."
Later that night
After Samantha finished washing up her dishes she tried to watch a little bit of TV. Finally tired of watching stupid infomercials, she decided to get ready for bed and slipped into a pair of cotton pajama pants and a gray t-shirt. I doubt I'll be getting much sleep, but it's worth a try. Samantha turned her light out and was on the brink of sleep when she heard a sound coming from the living room. It sounded like someone struggling with the lock on her front door. She jumped out of bed and grabbed the butcher knife that she now kept on the night stand- it wasn't her gun, but it was better than nothing. Then she grabbed her phone and dialed the security detail. Samantha knew she didn't have much time before whoever was at the door made it in, so she left her phone on the bed, knowing that the security detail would check on her to see why she called.
She quickly and quietly made her way through her dark apartment and crouched behind a recliner so that her position would be shielded from the intruder. She realized that getting to the door would be a little problematic since he most likely had her gun. Finally the door popped open. She couldn't make out the person's face in the dark, but she could tell it was a man and a tall one at that. She could also tell that he was wearing a ski mask.
He shut the door behind himself as he felt around for a light switch and flicked it on. He began to slowly make his way near the chair Sam was crouched behind. 'Here goes nothing', she thought. As soon as he walked near the recliner, he caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye and turned quickly. Sam immediately saw his reaction and slammed into him knocking him to the ground. The attacker saw that she had a knife and tried to wrestle it away from her.
He was so much bigger than her that even though Sam was putting all her strength into the struggle he was quickly and easily gaining the upper hand. He managed to pin her on her back, but he was still having trouble getting the knife away from her, that's when the blonde kneed him in the crotch as hard as she could. He immediately let out a yelp and relinquished his grip on her wrists. He placed his left hand on the ground to support his body and used his other hand to attempt to shield his ailing crotch.
She took the opportunity to stab him in his left hand almost pinning it to the floor. "You bitch!" He yowled and punched Samantha in the face as hard as he could. The force of the blow caused Sam to hit the back of her head against the floor, disorienting her momentarily. She screamed for help hoping that someone would hear her.
He cradled his wounded hand and stood up. Then with his good arm he shakily pulled out a gun, Samantha saw him reach for his weapon and forced herself off of the ground with a strength she didn't even know she possessed and lunged at him one more time. She succeeded in knocking him backwards. Then he pulled the trigger at point blank range.
Time seemed to slow down for Sam as she felt a strong impact, then numbness in her lower abdomen as she fell to the floor. Her attacker, realizing that someone would have heard the gunshot, ran towards the door. He also noticed that he hadn't quite finished the job as a dazed Sam tried to stand up. He aimed the gun, Samantha noticing this tried to take cover behind her coffee table, but was unable to move fast enough as he fired at her. Then he ran out the door and down the hall still clutching his bleeding hand.
Sam officially felt like crap. She tried to assess her injuries without panicking- the first thing that she noticed was that she was soaking wet, and the smell of blood immediately invaded her nostrils. She suddenly felt faint and disoriented and it was becoming harder and harder to keep her eyes open. She knew she was too weak to get up, but made the effort anyways. She managed to roll herself over on her stomach and drag her way in the direction of the front door, leaving a trail of blood behind her- 'Someone has got to find me'. She realized that she must have taken a bullet in the shoulder since she was only able to use her left arm to pull herself forward. She made it less than five feet before she just couldn't go any further and the pain in her abdomen was now too excruciating- she rolled onto her back and tried to call out, but instead of sound coming out she coughed up blood. She suddenly felt disoriented again, then she noticed someone was hovering over her.
"This is Agent Tillman, I need an ambulance at," She understood snippets of what was being said. She felt someone applying pressure to her abdomen and lifted her head slightly to see another agent trying to stop the bleeding. The agent who was on the phone was saying something to her. She could see his lips moving, but she couldn't hear any sound. Then her world faded to black.
Vivian, Danny and Elena pulled out their guns and carefully entered the dark cabin. "FBI freeze!" Vivian was the first to notice a figure tied to a chair.
"Dr. Harris, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, but he left hours ago. He said he was going after Samantha!"
Vivian got on her phone and called Jack.
Jack and Danny raced through hospital doors on their way to the ER. Danny practically slid up to the receptionist's desk. "We're here to see Samantha Spade." The receptionist thought for a moment.
"Oh she just came in not too long ago- she's still in surgery," she said sympathetically. She then directed them to a man in scrubs who was rushing past. As soon as he saw them he slowed down.
"Are either of you related to or close to Ms. Spade?"
They both blurted out "Yes!" simultaneously which got them a strange look from the doctor. Jack inquired, "How bad is she?"
The doctor continued, "Well she was shot twice- once in the abdomen and once in the shoulder blade. The bullet passed all the way through her shoulder and we were able to patch it up quickly." The doctor paused for a moment. Jack knew there would be a 'but'. "However, we had a hard time removing the bullet from her abdomen- it left a lot of internal bleeding. We're giving her a blood transfusion as we speak. She also suffered a minor concussion-"
"But will she be okay?" Danny asked impatiently.
"If she makes it through the night, then it'll definitely improve her chances. I'm actually more concerned about her head injury. It'll make it harder for her to regain consciousness, combine that with massive blood loss- I'm afraid she might slip into a coma." Jack nodded solemnly. Danny turned and took a seat in the waiting area.
Jack followed, but right before he could sit down his phone rang, he saw Vivian's name and answered it. "Viv tell me you have good news."
"I do. We found Dr. Harris."
"Is she-"
"She's alright, but there was no sign of Jason."
"Don't worry about Jason, we've already got him." Jack said hastily.
"Really? When?"
"Viv, some thing's happened, I need you to get to St. Joseph's Hospital."
Vivian was almost afraid to ask, "Is everyone okay?"
"No, Sam was shot and she's in surgery right now."
Samantha awoke from what had felt like an endless fog. As she slowly regained consciousness she tried to open her eyelids, but it was just too hard for her at the moment so she kept her eyes shut. She managed to deduce based on the stiff bed she was lying on and the rhythmic beeping sound that she was in a hospital. 'Damn it! she thought, Well it's better than being dead I guess.'
That's when she felt a warm hand stroking her palm gently. She was able to make out a sad voice, "I love you Sam, I'm sorry for everything, sorry for all of this." It was Lisa! She shouted at her mentally. She desperately wanted to respond to her lover, but her body just wouldn't wake up. 'Does this mean she's okay? Wait, am I okay? But she was just too tired to speak and sleep quickly reclaimed her before anyone knew that she could hear them.
One month later...
Lisa walked into the living room of her apartment trying to suppress a chuckle as Sam went on a tirade. "The man tried to kill me! He might have killed you!" Samantha could not believe what she was hearing, "Doesn't that bother you at all?"
"Of course it bothers me," Lisa said rolling her eyes, "But I can't condemn the man- he's not evil, he's ill. He should be in a mental institution- not a maximum security prison. He can't even function without being heavily medicated..."
"Yea, well you're not the one who was shot...twice! A little 'security' wouldn't hurt." Samantha complained. Lisa sighed, she knew there would be no convincing Sam and at the prospect of another argument she decided to change the subject. Samantha plopped down next to Lisa on the couch, grimacing as she did so. The brunette became concerned.
"So how are you feeling?"
"Better." Samantha replied offering Lisa a smile. Her right arm was still in a sling and her side was still sore, but she would be fine.
"Will you be ready to testify on Wednesday?"
"Just you try and stop me." Samantha said passionately. She then leaned in and rested her head on Lisa's shoulder.
"I'll take that as a yes." Lisa chuckled.
"But changing the subject...have you seen my black jacket?" Sam looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can't remember if I left it here or at my apartment."
Lisa paused for a moment seeing her possible segue. "Um Sam, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."
Sam lifted her head off of her shoulder and sat up giving Lisa her full attention. Paranoia immediately got the best of her. "Is something wrong?"
"Oh no, everything is fine." Lisa cleared her throat a little nervously. "Actually, I wanted to ask you if maybe you wanted to move in with me?" Sam looked like a deer caught in the headlights. The brunette became concerned by the other woman's reaction and started babbling. "If you're not ready I won't take it personally. I just figured that you wouldn't have to go back and forth between my place and your place and you spend so much time over here anyways-"
"No!" Lisa looked startled for a moment. "No, I mean yes! I would love to move in with you." Sam smiled at her sincerely.
"Really?" Lisa wasn't quite convinced.
"Of Course." Sam leaned in giving her a soft kiss on her lips as she snuggled into her arms.
The End