Chapter 3

Vivian was the first to regain her composure. She sighed deeply, "Well, it sounds as if we have to hurry. I don't know what's gotten into that man. We solved the case and Sean Collins is back home safely. So why would he give up now?"

"Maybe that's just one piece of the puzzle. I mean, his wife and daughters left him and he is alone again just like in his teenage years when his mother committed suicide. Not to mention that his father was never around because he was a soldier," Danny guessed. "As far as we know," he went on, "he doesn't have a lot of friends either."

"Ok, that's what we do next," Vivian said decisively. "Danny, you go see Maria Malone and ask her if she might know where Jack is. Martin, you go to Jack's apartment and question the neighbours but keep in mind that you are not allowed to use your badge. Tell them you are just a friend. Sam you should go home and we'll call you if we find anything. I'll try to find out whom Jack called during the past few days. Come on guys, we need to concentrate now. We've done this many times before."

Sam slowly shook her head. "I can't sit around and do nothing. I might know some places he loves to go to. Let me drive around and give it a try." Her voice was full of distress but Vivian knew that once Samantha had her heart set on something, she wasn't about to give up on it. Vivian nodded, "We'll meet here again at 7 pm. If you find anything, give me a call."

They all separated and every agent hoped that they would find their boss in time.

At Maria's apartment

Danny rapped on the door of Maria Malone's apartment and she opened it with a look of horror, "Danny! Oh my God, did you find him?" she asked, fearing the answer.

"Hello Mrs. Malone, no, we are still searching for him. That's why I'm here. Maybe you could help us. We are not allowed to handle the case officially, so I'm here as Jack's friend not as his colleague." Danny explained.

"Come on in," Maria offered and Danny could tell that she had been crying.

"Jack has so many people in his life who care about him," he thought, "maybe he just isn't aware of it."

"Are the girls here?" Danny asked, but Maria shook her head.

"No, I sent them to school because I didn't want them to sit around and wait. They both were pretty upset after Jack came here this morning."

"What did he say?" Danny wanted to know.

"Well, Jack spoke to them alone. I only know what Hanna told me. I thought this was about next weekend, they were supposed to go on a special daddy daughter date, so I let them talk while getting ready for work. But after he was gone, I found Hanna crying and Kate upset and they told me that Jack had said that he was going to move somewhere else and that he wasn't sure when they would see him again." She swallowed and went on: "That's not Jack. I mean, we have our difficulties in our marriage but he loves his daughters more than anything else in this world and he wouldn't let them down if this wasn't serious. And I never thought he would leave me for good," she added quietly.

Danny just nodded sympathetically. Then he asked: "Do you have any idea where Jack might want to go?"

"Well, there is a house in Philadelphia where he always went when we fought. It belongs to friends of ours; Linda and Dave Gardner. I tried to call them but they wouldn't answer the phone."

"That's good," Danny assured her, "please keep on trying. Any other ideas?"

Maria slowly shook her head. "No, nothing else."

Danny stood up and thanked her, than left the apartment and called Vivian about the house only to find out that she already knew about it from Sam.

In fact, Vivian, Martin and Sam were already on their way there. Martin had not had any luck with Jack's neighbours because they didn't know him very well. Some of them hadn't even seen him. Vivian had found out that Jack had called someone in Philadelphia six times during the last 24 hours. The name on the phone record was Peter Loyd and he was a professional therapist. As soon as Vivian had found out about him and the house she had called Martin and Sam. They drove there separately so Vivian could see the shrink while Martin and Sam checked on the friends' house.

When they arrived at the Gardners' house, Martin and Sam shared a look as they saw Jack's car sitting in the driveway. Before Martin could say anything, Sam had jumped out of the car, running towards the front door. Martin followed her quickly. As they found the door wide open a chill shot down Samantha's back.

Martin laid his hand on her shoulder, "Why don't you wait outside and I'll see if he's in there," he suggested, trying to keep his voice calm. An unsettling feeling crept over Martin as the weight of the situation hit him.

"No, I wanna come," Sam whispered.

To be continued...