Disclaimers are in chapter 1

Chapter 8

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

Leaving Mitchell and Clark outside to check the perimeter and the shed that doubled as a garage Jack and the rest of the team took in the small space inside the hunting/fishing cabin. It was a relatively small structure with a full working kitchen, bathroom, bedroom off the back and an alcove where another sleeping area was arranged. The area of interest to the team was the main room that was approximately 15 feet by 15 feet square.

In the main room was a couch, a large coffee table made of oak, very sturdy, a couple of straight backed chairs with cushions on them a large stone fireplace and a couple of tables that had lamps on them. One wall was filled with shelve that were jammed full of books and framed pictures. Alone on the counter that separated the kitchen from the main room was Martin's gun complete and spare clip.

On the floor under the large picture window was a stain that looked to all to be dried blood as well as small area of dried vomit. To the right of the picture window that looked over the lake at the back of the cabin was a side table that had been swept clean. The pictures, magazines and lamp that had in all likelihood formerly sat atop that table were strewn across the floor. Danny knelt down as the beam of his flashlight picked up the dark stains that dotted the floor in an erratic pattern.

"Jack, I think there's more blood over here."

Jack shone his beam on the floor and followed the blood drops. "All right. Martin's gun is here he had to have been here at some point. What do we think happened here?"

"Well, there's no sign of Cameron Reed." Clark appeared in the front entrance of the cabin just as Jack voiced his question. "We checked the perimeter, nothing and the shed has recent tire imprints but there's no vehicle in there now."

"I don't think Reed left us that trail to come here if he planned to leave with Martin. I think he was telling us to come here in order to find Martin." Elena spoke up.

"That makes sense since he didn't have to tip us to his location unless he wanted to and if didn't want us here, why leave Martin's gun, let's run with that theory for now. If Reed left Martin here for us to find, where is Martin?" Jack shone his flashlight beam across the interior intersecting occasionally with the beams from Sam and Vivian as they came out from checking in more detail the bathroom, alcove and bedroom.

"If I'm Martin," Danny started, "And I'm lying on this floor here," he pointed to the spot under the window where the dried pool of blood remained, "And I woke up I'd be disoriented and probably can't see anything, especially since it's only just getting to be light and --" Danny paused a moment as Vivian reached out and flicked a light switch next to her on the wall which caused nothing to happen, "—and it appears the electricity is currently not turned on, what do I do?"

Sam crouched down and studied the blood on the floor, the broken lamp and scattered items. "I try to find a light, I try to get help."

"But," Vivian brainstormed, "I'm hurt, I'm alone, I might be tied in some manner so I stumble, break this lamp, obviously from these blood drops I've cut something and I stagger around and –"

"—and out the door of the cabin." Elena finished. "The cabin door was open when we arrived."

The group moved to the front porch and looked around. Unfortunately it had started to rain earlier and the rain had continued to fall heavily so any blood drops or footprints had washed away.

"So he's somewhere out here. Everyone fan out, use the cabin as our center. We'll go seven across, no more than 30 feet between each other and we'll go in one direction first and then another. Viv –"

"Already on it, Jack." Vivian pulled her cell phone out and called the state police for additional back up as well as an ambulance to come to their location.

The team tramped through the woods carefully lifting up low hanging branches and slowly sweeping their flashlight beams side to side overlapping each others' arc. In ten minutes they were already out of direct line of sight from the. The rain continued to fall making the visibility poor although it was already well past dawn.

The agents shivered inside their warm jackets and wondered how Martin was doing. No one knew what he had been wearing when he disappeared but it was unlikely he had on hiking books and a water resistant jacket. They climbed a small rise and started down the other side slowly sweeping their beams back and forth. Jack's cell phone rang and he paused to answer. It was the sheriff indicating some of the back-up units had arrived and were up at the cabin.

Mitchell and Clark volunteered to head back up, explain the situation and lead additional teams in the search. Nodding his appreciation Jack watched them go and then he and his team spread out a bit more to take up the space. They only moved a few more paces when Danny's beam reflected off something at the far edge of his beam.

"I got something over here." Everyone stayed in their spot while Danny, who was on the left edge of the group, ran forward. He tripped right at the end over a tree root that rose slightly out of the ground and almost sprawled face first on the ground. He went down on one knee in the soft wet earth and his right hand reached out to stop his headlong motion and instead of encountering ferns and other undergrowth, his hand encountered cotton that is a cotton jersey that was soaked and covered a soaked, cold and motionless Martin. Danny shone his flashlight full on Martin's form and saw what its beam had reflected off of, handcuffs.

Danny knelt down next to Martin who was lying prone on the ground. He reached forward to his neck and felt the weak and erratic pulse beating there. He let his breath out in relief and simultaneously reached into his pocket for his handcuff key and raised his head to yell for the others. "He's here, I've got him!"

Freeing Martin from the cuffs he angrily tossed them aside and then gently lifted Martin up and over and then settled on the ground holding Martin against him trying to keep him partially off the cold ground, Martin was limp and offered no resistance or any sign that he knew anyone was there. Danny looked up and saw the others running towards him.

"Watch out for the root!" He pointed and stopped Jack from following him to the ground at the last moment. Stepping over the root Jack's eyes widened as he saw Martin's still pale form cradled against Danny. Jack immediately unzipped his jacket and knelt down and placed it over Martin's torso.

"He's alive, barely. I've got a real weak pulse." Danny looked up at the others.

Elena was already pulling out her cell phone to call Mitchell and tell them they found him and to bring the paramedics. She headed back up to help guide the medical help in.

Vivian and Sam knelt on either side of Martin and took in his appearance.

Vivian shone her light on the Martin's head and everyone could see the large area of swelling, the purplish color and the smear of blood that had begun to trickle again probably from the recent movement. The rest of his face bore scratches but as the rain fell on him it started to wash off some of the mud that covered his features.

Sam leaned back and unzipped her jacket. "He's got to be freezing." She laid her jacket over his chest as well knowing it would do little good but it seemed better than watching the rain continue to soak him. She reached her hand out and touched his cheek and that confirmed her thought as she felt his cold skin.

"He's cold." She looked at Danny who easily saw the fear in her eyes. Danny tightened his hold as if trying to impart his own warmth. He could feel the tremors in Martin's body from the cold.

Jack shone his light down Martin's legs but with all the mud it was hard to see if there was any blood. Danny leaned close, "Martin, come on, Martin, can you hear me?"

Vivian and Sam each took one of his hands and held on tightly trying to get any reaction from their injured team member.

Jack didn't like the fact that Martin remained still and cold showing no sign of a reaction to his team members. He put his hand to Martin's neck and felt the weak and unsteady pulse that Danny had reported and he felt the coldness of Martin's skin. He leaned closer and realized that he could hear a wheezing as Martin breathed.

He looked to the side and met Vivian's concerned face and was about to speak when he heard shouts and they all looked up to see Elena jogging through the woods leading the EMTs to their position.

Wilkes-Barre General Hospital

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Sam hated that sound and at the same time occasionally found herself waiting for it and fearing it wouldn't come. She sighed and laid Martin's still hand back on the blanket. At least he felt a little warmer now. She stood and stretched her aching back and paced around the room a few times before stopping at the window and peering between the slats of the blinds. It was still raining out.

She turned back and looked at the still form lying beneath the layers of blankets. To her relief as well as everyone else's Martin had not needed to be put on a ventilator but the doctor had ordered an oxygen mask to aid in his breathing.

The ER team had cleaned all the blood and mud, removed his soaked clothes and started an IV solution that was warmed to help restore heat to his body. He had been placed in the Cat Scan machine which showed significant swelling on his brain as well as evidence of prior internal bleeding in the skull that while it had stopped and was not a large area of bleeding did cause swelling and pressure inside his skull.

He didn't have any neck or spinal injuries or any broken bones for that matter although his body was a maze of scrapes and bruises no doubt from his fall back at the park that resulted in his cell phone being at the base of the hill as well as his disoriented stumbling in the cabin and his ultimate fall in the forest.

The diagnosis that was finally given to the team as they waited impatiently in the ER waiting area was severe concussion, stage 2 hypothermia brought on by the blood loss from the head injury which caused shock to settle in as well as spending an unknown period of time in the cool early spring rain. The best estimate by the medical team was that Martin had probably been exposed to the elements for anywhere between two to five hours before he had been found. They were lucky; had this been winter that would have been too long in his condition.

The rest of his injuries were minor in comparison cuts, scrapes, bruises, a few lacerations the most serious of them requiring stitches was to his upper left arm that had likely impacted with the lamp when it broke thus leaving the small blood trail in the cabin.

Dr. Griffin's prognosis was guarded at this time. Martin's head injury and lack of treatment for well over 24 hours was a serious factor. His shallow breathing and slow heart rate were more symptomatic of his hypothermic condition than any respiratory complications but he was concerned that Martin could develop bronchitis or more seriously pneumonia if they weren't careful

Dr. Griffin warned them that it was unlikely Martin would regain consciousness for several hours and more likely not even until Wednesday. Sam and the others realized with some astonishment it was only 11:00 a.m. Tuesday morning when they heard this news. What with having been awakened with the news of Martin's disappearance and the resultant search and ultimate rescue 29 hours later, it felt more like weeks rather than barely a day and a half had passed.

They had to remind themselves it was only Tuesday although all of them felt they had already put in a full week of work. Since Cameron was missing and no one was certain where he was or whether he truly planned to lead them to Martin's rescue and thus was not coming after him Jack had determined that he was to be under guard at all times while in the hospital. The local police readily volunteered to assist as did the Pennsylvania troopers, the brotherhood of the blue didn't care whether state or federal was fallen, Martin was one of them and they were willing to protect and serve.

Sam, Viv and the rest of the team arranged a vigil of their own and quickly grabbed rooms at the nearest hotel and changed into warm clothes from their ready bags and while some of them tried to catch up on their sleep, Sam returned to be with Martin and Jack worked with the local authorities to bring them up to speed on the situation as well as update Van Doren who in turn updated Director Fitzgerald.

Sam returned to Martin's side and picked up his limp hand and held it gently between hers. Unconsciously she rubbed her thumb soothingly over his hand as she watched him sleep sleep she thought, when someone is unconscious, is it really possible to say they're sleeping?

"I know the doctor said you're not supposed to wake up for a while, in fact, not even today. I just wish you'd give some indication that you are trying to wake up…I don't know. I'm just not used to you being so still and it's too much like – like when you were shot. You need to stop making this a habit because I –" Sam sighed and stopped. She was so tired and just didn't know what to say.

"I don't know if you can hear me. I don't know if you know you're safe. I don't know if you know you're warm and getting fluids and lots of oxygen, but I want you to know that none of us, not Jack, Danny, Viv, Elena or me ever doubted you for a moment and even though Mitchell and Clark had their doubts, they don't now. So I don't know if that makes you feel any better, Martin, I don't even know if you ever knew that you were a suspect or – God, Martin, I'm so tired. I don't even know what to say. I hope you can feel me holding your hand and I'm just going to keep holding your hand for awhile."

A couple hours later Vivian found Sam seated beside Martin, his hand held gently between both of hers with her thumb gently rubbing his hand and her eyes fixed upon his face.

"Sam," Vivian softly called as she entered the ICU room and stepped up behind the blonde agent.

"Hey, Viv," Sam tiredly whispered.

"Has there been any change?"

"No, he just lies there, no movement, oxygen flowing through the mask, blankets bundled on top of him that stupid machine beep, beep, beep keeping track of his heart rate and respiration. I swear, Viv, I both love and hate that beep, beep, beep sound."

"I know, honey, I know." Vivian walked to the other side of the bed and sat so that she faced the door and pulled the other chair close to Martin's side. She reached out and laid her hand gently on his face careful not to touch the large injury on his head. He still felt cool to the touch; a quick glance at the monitor told her his temperature was now up to 97 degrees F. that was an improvement over the 95.5 F when he was admitted in Stage 2 hypothermia.

"Looks like the blankets and the warm IV fluids are working." Vivian nodded up at the temperature reading.

"Yeah, so I guess that's been a change. I know the doctor said he doesn't expect Martin to wake up it's just that seeing him so…so still is scary."

"I know. Brings back other memories doesn't it?" Vivian's voice was kind and gentle. She knew that Sam had suffered when Martin had been shot and since she, herself, was in another hospital recovering from heart surgery she hadn't been able or allowed to visit him in the hospital. She was allowed to visit him once at his apartment but by then he was almost ready to come back to work so she had no memories of him still and quiet and hovering between life and death.

"It's time for you to head back to the hotel and get some shut eye. One of the officers is going to drive you back since his shift on guard duty has ended as well. It's already 4:00 p.m. and that means I've got the next four hours. So go, get some rest, have something to eat, fill the rest of the team in. I'll call if there's any change."

Sam nodded and after a moment she gently released Martin's hand, leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his forehead and then slipped out of the room, pausing at the door to look back at both of them. Vivian's attention was focused on Martin as one hand held on to his staying clear of the IV ports and the other hand gently rested on the top of his head.

7:00 a.m. ICU

Wednesday May 23, 2007

The first thing that registered was the incessant beeping from somewhere in the background, the second thing was the feeling of being cocooned in softness and warmth, the third was that something was pressed over his nose and mouth and the fourth was pain from abused arm and shoulder muscles as he slowly moved an arm and fumbled with the object on his face.

A new sound registered over the beeping sound as his hand pushed weakly at whatever was on his mouth, "Leave it alone, it's helping you."

At the same time as the voice spoke he felt a hand gently take his fumbling hand and push it back down on the bed. He forced his eyes open and watched as a blurry face swam into focus. For a moment he felt panic as he thought it was the face of someone evil who he had trusted and had been plaguing his mind but then in the next moment his vision cleared enough and he took in the rumpled, unshaven, exhausted face of Jack.

"Jack" between the oxygen mask and his weakness it wasn't more than a breathless whisper but Jack could see Martin's mouth open inside the mask.

"Good morning, Sleepyhead." Jack watched Martin's eyes flutter shut and then watched as he forced them back open and tried to focus again on him.

"Don't try so hard I'm not getting any prettier." Jack watched as Martin struggled to focus on the meaning of his words and then apparently give up as the effort was too much.

"You're in a hospital and you're going to be all right. We'll fill you in on the rest later."

Jack figured that was about all he had time to say as Martin was rapidly fading back out. He hoped those words reached his agent's brain enough to give him the rest he desperately needed. In another moment Martin was relaxed back into the mattress and under the blankets, his breathing evened out and Jack knew he was asleep.

He heard a soft clearing of a throat and turned to see Victor Fitzgerald standing at the door to Martin's room. He moved away from the bed and walked to the door. Victor's eyes remained on his son's still form barely visible under the blankets and oxygen mask.

"Victor."

"Jack, you and your team did fantastic work, Paula briefed me pretty thoroughly and Agents Mitchell and Johnson filled me in as well."

"Did they." Jack kept his voice carefully neutral but Victor easily read the slight scowl and the lifted eyebrow for the irritation that was just below the surface.

"Yes, Agent Mitchell filled me in completely on his part in all this and while if I had been here I'm not sure I would have handled it as well as you did – " a remark that had both men exchanging skeptical looks that ended in small snorts with accompany turns of the lip into a grin – "I do understand his single-minded focus. I seem to recall being in a similar position myself when it came to Martin."

Jack gave a small nod and the two men left it at. "Have you spoken to his doctor?" Jack asked, changing the subject.

"Yes. He told me that Martin's vitals have improved steadily throughout the night. His temperature is almost normal and that while his recent lab work does show signs of infection he's confident the course of antibiotics they have him on will deal with that and that his fluid levels and electrolytes and all that will balance out in the next day or so. He's probably going to remove the oxygen mask that Martin found so annoying, so that's a good sign as well.

They've scheduled another Cat Scan for later today to check the swelling in his skull but all his brain functions are showing normal readings and judging from his reactions just now, I'd say we're on the right track."

"That's good news." Jack nodded. He'd known most of that already but it was good to hear it again. "Victor, not all the news is good though regarding this case. I'm sure when Agents Johnson and Mitchell briefed you they also briefed you on the fact that this Cameron Reed got away?"

"Yeah, and actually I just got a piece of news that I'm bringing you in regard to that. Pennsylvania Troopers found his car."

Jack perked up, this was indeed news. "Where?"

In short-term parking at the Wilkes-Barre airport; it was parked so that it was taking up two spots which is why the airport security took note of it. They matched the license number to the APB and called it in. The troopers opened the vehicle and inside was the parking ticket stamped with the time he entered the lot. It was stamped 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning."

Jack was stunned that bastard was at the airport when they were arriving! Then he shook his head, no in all likelihood he just left the vehicle there and took another one or grabbed a cab.

"I know, Jack, I thought the same thing," Victor had watched the emotions cross Jack's face, watched him come to the same conclusions he had. "The troopers are going through the security tapes and canvassing the ticket counter personnel, however, a quick check of all passenger manifests for flights that departed within the next few hours show that a Cameron Reed bought a one way ticket for a flight that departed at 6:10 a.m. He never boarded it but there are also several purchased around the same timeframe for different airlines by people who paid cash. We're tracking down those ticket agents to see if they remember Reed but for now he seems to have vanished."

Jack nodded in frustration before stifling a yawn. "I'm going to see if I can track down a decent cup of coffee."

"Thanks again, Jack."

The two men shook hands and as Jack headed out of the unit, Victor stepped into his son's room and took up the spot Jack had recently vacated by Martin's side.

The rest of the day passed in brief moments of wakefulness. Martin would open his eyes; recognize his father or a different member of the team by his side. Sometimes a nurse or even the doctor would be there and ask him questions, shine a light in his eyes and then gently tell him he was doing fine. Each time this happened seemed like the first time to Martin as he rarely remembered the time before.

Martin didn't register the passage of time so he had no way of knowing that two days had passed and it was now Friday May 25th. He also didn't know that aside from Danny and his father, the rest of the team had had to return to New York and close up at least his missing person's part of the case. Mitchell and Clark were still in town working with the local police agencies, and tearing apart Cameron's cabin looking for any clues.

This time when Martin peeled his eyes open he was immediately aware that he felt an overall sense of tiredness in his body, his arms and shoulders ached incessantly and that he was extremely grateful the light in the room was dim because the pounding in his head was pretty horrific and having suffered a migraine or two in his day he knew that, if there was bright light, he would suffer more. He turned his head only to regret the movement as soon as he had begun it as the pounding in his head turned to sharp daggers.

He squeezed his eyes shut and his breath came in shallow gasps as he struggled against the pain. Through the haze he heard the sound of movement and felt a hand lightly touch his upper arm and a voice spoke to him.

"Take it easy, pal. Don't move your head, you won't like it."

Danny kept his hand lightly on Martin's arm and watched as his breathing settled after a minute or two as he adjusted to the pain. When his breathing evened out again he watched as Martin opened his eyes part way and stared up at him. He could see enough to note that the pupils were irregular but for once the eyes seemed to focus and he saw recognition and remembrance as well as pain in Martin's eyes and on his face.

"I'd ask how you're feeling but –" Danny stopped and gave a small shrug as if to say 'what's the point?'

Martin's face twitched a little and he breathed out the word 'warm.'

Danny was concerned and checked the monitor to the side that gave a reading of Martin's blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and temperature. His temperature read 99 F.

He reached out and put his hand on Martin's forehead, receiving a scowl for his efforts but didn't feel any heat radiating.

"Don't look at me that way, if you think I'm going to test your temperature with my lips, you got hit harder on the head than any of us thought."

"No fever…not cold." Martin whispered.

"Oh, well…then okay." Danny sat back and watched as Martin slowly and with no small amount of grimaces of discomfort shifted to a slightly more comfortable position in bed.

"What happened?" Martin whispered.

"What do you remember?"

Danny watched as Martin's eyes unfocused a bit as he searched through his foggy brain for a clear memory. He reached out when Martin's hand came off the mattress and reached for his head.

"Don't, just leave it alone."

Martin scowled a bit and then haltingly as if not sure started to speak "We were working cases of …there was a possible connection to other murders. I remember two agents, Mitchell and Clark?" Martin looked to Danny for confirmation and received a small nod so he continued to search his aching brain for answers.

"I remember talking to Jack and thinking that something was there that I recognized and then…Oh, my God, the woman, the park, Danny!" Martin struggled to sit up only to have the pain that had just settle to a tolerable level slice through his brain again leaving him gasping for air and struggling with nausea and gripping the edge of the bed trying not to fall off as it felt like the bed was going to dump him on the floor.

Danny hit the nurse call button this time as any color that had been in Martin's face disappeared in an instant and his heart rate and respiration sped up on the monitor. A nurse appeared quickly and looked from Martin to Danny as she stepped up to his side.

"He tried to sit up and this happened."

She nodded and took a quick look at the read outs and then adjusted the oxygen flow a little higher through the nasal cannula that Martin had graduated to from the prior oxygen mask. Then she patted Danny on the shoulder as she said, "I'll be right back."

Danny watched as Martin slowly relaxed again as the dizzying pain subsided slightly. Martin didn't open his eyes and his hands still held the edge of the bed but his grip had lessened a bit. In a moment the nurse was back with a cold pack wrapped in a washcloth, gently she spoke to Martin as she placed the cold pack on the top of his head. She stayed there gently soothing him for another couple of minutes until Martin's read outs returned to their prior setting as the wave of pain subsided again.

"Okay, Mr. Fitzgerald, that's real good, you're doing fine. Try to remember not to move your head quickly or you'll have another of these moments and I can tell that wasn't much fun for you. Leave the ice pack on your head; it should help alleviate some of the pain. I'll bring another blanket so your friend can put it over you if you get cold. The doctor is on his way and he'll talk to you about medication for the pain."

"Thanks." Martin softly gasped out the word not daring to open his eyes or to try for anything more; he was just glad that awful moment had passed.

The nurse left the room and Danny let Martin rest quietly for a moment or two more before he put his hand lightly on Martin's arm again. "If you promise not to make any stupid moves like that again I'll fill you in briefly."

"Okay." Martin breathed out softly, keeping his eyes closed.

"First things first, Rachel Sanders, the woman you saved, is going to be okay, and from what she told Sam and Vivian when they talked with her yesterday, is that she's glad you're going to be okay as well." Danny watched Martin slowly open his eyes careful not to move as he didn't want a repeat of the pain that was slowly subsiding in his head.

Seeing a faint glimmer of light in Martin's eyes he briefly outlined the call to Jack about Martin's car and finding Rachel Sanders, Mitchell and Clark's assumption that Martin was their killer, the team's search at the park turning up his cell phone, the blood and the access road where Reed had likely brought his car to remove Martin from the scene, Sam and Viv's discovery of the list at his apartment as well as cracking his password on his computer and finding the list with the various names including Cameron Reed's. Rachel waking up and identifying Martin as her savior and then later confirming that it was Cameron Reed that had attacked her as well as the two anomalous EZ-Pass scans near Crystal Lake and the correlation with that location and an earlier murder that led them to their finally locating Martin.

Throughout Danny's abbreviated account of the past two days Martin kept his eyes closed but he didn't miss a word. As he listened he heard Danny mention several times how no one on the team suspected he was guilty and that they all kept championing him to Mitchell and Clark that there was no way he could have done these things.

When Danny was done Martin remained silent and still. He knew Danny was waiting and he knew Danny wasn't fooled into thinking he was asleep. Finally he cracked open his eyes and saw Danny leaning forward a bit watching him with a concerned look.

"What are you thinking about, Martin?"

"You kept saying that you never believed I was the killer."

"That's right, no one, not Jack, Viv, Elena, Sam, heck even Van Doren said there was no way and Lucy, she didn't like Mitchell and Clark any more than any of us."

"You didn't doubt me either?"

"Are you kidding; I know you Fitzgerald, you're no angel, none of us are, but you couldn't have done those things. I know you, we all know you; there's just no way."

Martin gave a small sad smile and for several moments he was quiet, his eyes closed then Danny heard him whisper as if under his breath "I thought I knew Cam, too."

"Yeah, I know, Martin. I'm so sorry." He leaned back in his chair and watched as Martin's breathing slowed and evened out and his features relaxed and after several minutes he knew Martin had drifted off to sleep.

One month later.

June 18th, 2007:

Martin had been back at work for a week. He was allowed back to work under the condition that he only work in the office and for only eight hours a day, a rule he had routinely and studiously ignored for this last week. He was still plagued with sudden and skull-splitting headaches that usually left him nauseas and shivering.

Earlier this week he had been working alone in the conference room where he was able to spread out the many maps he was using to track phone calls, recent business travel flights and rental cars. He remembered highlighting a travel reservation, matching it up to a corresponding rental car receipt when the next thing he remembered was realizing the lights in the conference room were dim and there was an ice pack wrapped in a cloth resting gently on the back of his neck while Elena sat, her chair turned to face his, and she was holding him steady in the chair with one hand while the other kept the ice pack in place on his neck.

The doctor indicated these attacks should subside over time, and he was having weekly checkups to ensure his recovery was on track. Jack was adamant that Martin not work in the field until the doctor cleared him and also made sure that at all times at least one other member of the team stayed in the office with Martin, not only due to his sudden headaches but out of concern for his safety.

Martin didn't share his concern, not that Jack was surprised. Cameron, he reasoned had had every opportunity to kill him and yet hadn't, in fact, to the contrary he had made certain that Martin could be found. Jack retorted that even though they had located him in time it was very close and that Cameron's little trail in no way guaranteed that Martin would be alive when they arrived and, in fact, had been on the death's very door upon their arrival.

Martin was sitting at the small conference table in the bullpen going through their latest missing person's phone calls and financial records looking for any unusual activity or repetitive calls to numbers that his family hadn't already identified. He was beginning to note a pattern of phone calls and was highlighting some lines when his concentration was interrupted by the ringing of his phone at his desk.

Laying down the highlighter he stood up and walked the few paces to his desk and grabbed his phone. From where he was standing he could see across the hall into Jack's office. Apparently it was Jack's day to baby sit him as Jack was in his office interviewing a coworker of their missing man and the rest of the team was out in the field.

"Agent Fitzgerald."

"Hello, Martin."

Martin felt his skin chill instantly while at the same time tiny beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Cameron." Martin used every ounce of his training and experience to keep his voice steady, even still the name came out in little more than a whisper.

"That's right, old friend. Don't bother with the trace; it's a disposable cell phone."

Martin stood stock still barely able to breath, staring across the hall straight at Jack who was still interviewing the coworker.

"I'm glad you're going to be okay. I've been keeping tabs on you; don't know if you knew that. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry I hit you so hard and caused you so much damage, but I have to tell you that was some kind of a ride. Laying out enough clues for your team to follow, escaping just before they got there, I bet they're still kicking themselves to realize that we were all in the same airport at the same time.

Do they know I watched them land and race through the security checkpoint as they rushed to rescue you? Bet they don't. Wish I could see the looks on their faces when you tell them that, if they had been just a little less focused on getting to you and were paying a little more attention to their surroundings, they would have seen me. I was, what is the phrase, "hiding in plain sight" that morning in Wilkes-Barre. If I had wanted to, I could have reached out and tapped Jack Malone on the shoulder as he went by me he was that close now that was a rush of excitement.

I really must go. I just wanted to call and tell you I'm glad you're better and back at work; I'm back at work as well. Our paths may cross again, part of me hopes so, you do make the chase exciting and again, give my thanks to your team for their single-minded focus on your safety because without that, I would have been caught and there would be no more excitement for me, no more thrill of the hunt, thrill of the kill.

Take care, Martin, until we meet again."

With that the connection was broken. Martin continued to stand silent and unmoving. Across the hall Jack looked up from his interview and saw Martin standing there, phone dangling from his hand, face ashen, eyes filled with revulsion and shock. Excusing himself from his interview Jack opened the office door, his eyes never leaving Martin's face as he covered the distance between his office and Martin's desk.

The End

(May 2007)