Chapter 10

Brent leaned against the doorframe of Jac’s small kitchen. Felicity was rummaging around in the fridge. He noticed the pan on the stove. “Foraging?”

She bolted up and turned around. “I almost jumped in the fridge.” He smirked at her. “I thought I’d put something that resembled food together for us.” She looked towards the living room. “You don’t think Jacinda will mind, do you?”

He crossed his arms loosely in front of him and shook his head. “No, she won’t. After Reid holds her down and pours more tea into her, she’ll have some oatmeal to settle her stomach.”

Felicity wrinkled up her nose. “Can’t blame her, have you smelled that tea?” He shook his head. “You don’t want to, trust me.” She waved a hand towards the stove. “I’m afraid I don’t even know how to cook anything with meat, so hopefully the soup and tray I’m making will be all right.”

“Have you never eaten meat?”

She turned to cut up the cheese. “When I was a child. The doctors had me try no meat, they believed maybe it was contributing to my …” She smirked at him. “Episodes. It’s very hard to go back to eating it when you’ve been without it. The taste and texture is…”

“Eww?” he offered with a smirk.

“Close enough.” She set the cheese on the tray and moved over to the stove and picked up the lid to stir. “You don’t notice the grease until you haven’t had it for a long time.” Picking up the lid again, she dropped it quickly on the pot. Shaking her hand, she looked down.

Brent was behind her taking her hand to look down at it. He turned her smaller hand over in his own; she’d burned the side of her thumb. Without releasing her hand, he moved over to the sink and turned the water on. He held her hand under the cold water. “Better?” She nodded. His head was bent down beside hers; he tried not to inhale the subtle scent she wore. It went straight to places he shouldn’t be thinking about in Jacinda’s kitchen.

Turning more towards him, she smiled up at him. “Thank you.”

He flipped the tap off and handed her the towel sitting on the counter. Handing it to her, he should have stepped back; he knew this. Of course, he rarely listened to that little voice that told him what he should do and took her hand to hold it in his and check the burn.

“You must think I’m a bit of a klutz. The first time we met I fell in the door and threw everything on the floor and now I can’t heat soup without injury.” She looked up at him.

Shrugging, he stood there and continued to hold her hand. “I think you’re a lady with entirely too much on her mind.”

Felicity’s eyes moved over his face, taking in the smooth lines. They stopped on his green eyes. “You have very pretty eyes.” She said it softly.

Leaning his free hand against the counter, he leaned down trying to bridge the height difference. “I think that’s supposed to be my line.”

She smiled. “I’ve never been very good at following guidelines.” Their faces were only a few inches apart at this point.

“No?”

His voice had dropped to a whisper. She looked into his eyes to see a playful suggestion. “No. Not at all.” She stood her ground and refused to be the one to look away.

He moved his face even closer, not looking away from the sparkling blue eyes. “I’d like to explore this…” He watched her tongue dart out and lick her lower lip. He wanted. “Conversation - further. But Sandy just flew through the door and we’re all about to catch hell for letting Jac do what she did.” He straightened up and looked down at her hand again. “I’ll go see if Jac has any burn ointment.” He smiled when she just nodded at him.

Felicity continued to stand and lean against the sink for a moment. Her hand didn’t even hurt; presently she didn’t care if she had a hand. Her hormones had kicked into overdrive, and she wanted to whimper. Letting out a slow breath, she moved back over to the stove and turned the burner off. Shaking her head to clear it, she started opening cupboards to find bowls.

Carrying the tray out, she set it on the table and glanced over to see Sandy sitting on the edge of the couch looking worried. Standing there, she waited until they looked over. “I made some soup.” She grinned at Jac. “I’ve put the water on for oatmeal.”

Jac almost looked relieved about the interruption. “Thanks.” She looked from Reid and then back to Sandy. “Go eat.”

Sandy got up and walked over to the table. She shook her head and then sighed. Smirking at Felicity she sat down. “I can’t even yell at you, because you don’t know any better.”

Felicity laughed. “If it would make you feel better Doctor, go right ahead and yell at me.”

Sandy looked at her for a moment, pleased she’d settled into this odd little group of her favorite people so well. “I can’t yell at someone with such fabulous taste in footwear.” They both looked down at her boots.

Felicity shrugged. “Saved by my boots, I’ll have to remember that.” She motioned to Brent. “Sit, I’ll just go get the oatmeal ready.”

Reid sat beside Jac on the couch. They both watched Felicity come in and sit down. Jac leaned against him. “Thanks for feeding everyone, it’s harder for them to yell at me if their mouths are full.”

Felicity laughed softly. “I was just trying to feel useful. It’s too bad Sandy had to leave before she finished.”

Jac grinned. “I didn’t realize she’d been called to begin with. She probably ran out in the middle of a session.”

Felicity folded one leg underneath her body. “Are you feeling up to telling us now? I’ve been going out of my mind trying to decipher what you said.”

Jac took a few slow breaths. “I think I can manage to fill in the blanks before I have another nap.”

Brent perched on the edge of the chair. “You said there’s been more than one?”

Jac nodded. “Yes, the person that was there with the boy – he’d been there before and was tired of being the one to have to sit in that crappy little shack with them during phase one.”

Felicity looked from one detective to the other. “Phase one?” Her heart thudded in her chest. “Like the first step to a process?”

Reid got up and moved away from Jac. “This is a ring.” He spoke to himself. Brent nodded.

Felicity leaned forward and regarded them. “A ring?” She looked at Jacinda for an explanation.

She just closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “He was thinking of the money, it was the only reason he put up with it.” She opened her eyes and looked at Reid. “He was mad that he didn’t get to stay at the hotel with them each time. He wondered if they could find a new location for him, he was tired of two nights without power…”

Brent pulled out his notebook and started writing things down. “Any idea of where the hotel was? Did he think about it at all?”

Jac closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “He couldn’t wait to dump him off at Dusty’s …” She huffed out a breath. “That’s as far as I got before Reid grabbed me.” She gave Felicity an apologetic look. “I’m sorry.”

Felicity slid to the edge of the chair. “Don’t be. You have far more than I possibly could have come up with.” She put her hand on her chest to steady herself.

Brent stopped and looked at Reid. “We need to get down to the station. Find out the owner of that shack. Do a run on any motel in a two-hundred-mile radius that has dusty in the name.”

Reid nodded and pulled out his phone. “Find out exactly where the boy was taken from; see how far it is from the cabin. See if they picked up any prints. I have to call Alec and see where she is, we’re going to need her in on this to run possibilities through.” He wandered from the room while he dialed the phone.

Felicity was shocked they came up with all of that from the few things that Jac had just told them. She stood up and placed a hand on Brent’s arm. “Do you think this a kidnapping ring of some sort?”

He stopped writing and looked at her. “It’s looking like it.” He put the notebook into his pocket. “We have a better chance of tracking them if this is something they’ve done more than once.” He looked over at Jac, who was nodding off again. “Can you stay here with Jac so we can get down to the station and get going on this?”

She nodded. “So what are you going to do?”

“See if we can find this Dusty’s – then we’re going on a field trip.”

“Oh.”

He squeezed her hand before stepping over to his jacket. “We’ll be back in a while; Reid isn’t going to leave her for too long.” He ducked his head into the kitchen to see if Reid was still on the phone. “If you see anything else, call.” He pulled a card out of his pocket and wrote on the back of it. Handing it to her, he went out the door.

Felicity stood there for a moment before Reid came flying out of the kitchen. He looked around for a second and then looked at the door. “He went to the station.” He frowned. “Go. I’ll stay with Jacinda until you can get back here.”

“Thanks.” Going over to the couch he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. “See if you can trick some more tea into her if she wakes up.” He headed towards the door and paused with his hand on the handle. “I don’t know if she has them every time, but there might be nightmares.”

Felicity sighed. “Nightmares are something I know too much about.” She offered him an encouraging smile. “Go, I’ll call if I need to.” She waved the card Brent had given her and watched him go flying out the door as his partner had done.

***

Brent looked up briefly as Reid walked in. “Felicity, stay with Jac?”

Reid nodded. “What do have so far?”

Brent sat back. “Alec will be back shortly. We’re waiting on prints and confirmation of the owner of the shack.” He motioned towards the computer. “I’m just running the name of the motel now.”

Reid came over and looked over his shoulder at the screen. “Fifty hits. How far away are they?”

Brent glanced at the screen. “They have to be reasonably close still.” Reid gave him a puzzled look. “Felicity said she can get on a bus and get out of range of them – so there is a distance involved.”

Reid leaned his hip against the desk. “So you’re thinking they just circle around the same area, moving locations often until the deals are final?”

Brent shrugged. “It sounds plausible at this point.” He leaned back in the chair and studied his partner. “First thing you’re not going to like is we have to talk to the Captain.”

Reid grinned. “I can deal with that. What do you mean first, what else aren’t I going to like?”

Brent sighed. “We’re going to need Jac’s help.”

Reid scowled. “Not just for research?” Brent shook his head. Reid straightened off the desk and glared out the window. “As a last resort.”

“Agreed.” Brent glanced at the clock. “How open do you think Alec is?”

Reid spun around and gave him a puzzled look. “Open to what exactly?”

Brent rubbed the bridge of his nose. “To cluing her in on everything.”

Reid hissed. “That’s not our call.”

“No, I know it’s not. I think we should talk to Jac and Felicity about it though. The more help the better and we’re not going to be able to snowball over the details with Alec for too long.”

Reid turned and looked at the door. “We’ll leave it up to them.” He smirked. “Personally, I’d be happier if everyone here thought we were just damn good instead of exposing Jac.”

Brent leaned back to the keyboard. “We are damn good. Go fill the captain in and see if we can get clearance for a road trip.”

Reid nodded and went out the door again.

***

Felicity looked up from the book she was trying to focus on reading as Jac sighed. She smiled over at her. “Hi.”

Jac wiped a hand over her face. “How long have I been out?”

“A few hours.”

“Wow, I didn’t think that little trip would take that much out of me.”

Felicity set the book down and stood up. “How are you feeling?”

Jac sat up slowly. “Not too bad actually.” She looked around. “What did I miss?”

Felicity sighed. “They flew out the door and I haven’t heard a word.”

“Really?” She stood up slowly, testing her legs. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not one for sitting and being patient.”

Felicity laughed. “Yeah, it’s not one of my strengths either.”

Jac nodded. “Okay then. Let me go splash my face a bit and then I’ll see if I can find out anything for us.”

“Please.”

Jac set the phone down and turned to look at Felicity. “They’re digging and organizing.”

Felicity raised her eyebrows. “Organizing what?”

Jac shrugged. “I don’t know. I was told not to worry about it and get some rest – they might be a few hours yet.” She pursed her lips together. “Do you drive?” Felicity shook her head. “Right, I guess you shouldn’t. I shouldn’t right now either.”

Felicity grinned. “I’ll split the cost of a cab with you though.”

Grinning Jac picked up the phone Brent and Reid were leaning over a map when they walked into the office. Reid straightened up and went quickly over to Jac. “Why aren’t you at home resting?”

She glared up at him. “I did.” She stood with both of her hands on her hips.

“You shouldn’t be out running around.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

He opened his mouth, and then shut it quickly. “I just don’t want you to overdo it.”

Jac sighed. “I’m fine, really.” She reached up and touched his face.

Felicity had moved over to stand beside Brent. She tried to look anywhere but at the couple now making sappy faces at each other. Looking up at Brent she smiled. “Hi.”

He chuckled and grinned back at her. “Hi.”

She looked at the map. “So, what’s happening here?”

Brent handed her the list of motels and motioned towards the map. “We’re planning a road trip.”

She read the list and then looked at the map. “I love road trips.”

Glancing over his shoulder at Reid coaxing Jac to sit down, he turned back and grinned at her. “I’m glad because I think I’ll take you so I have someone to talk to when they start.”

“Excellent.” She looked over at the frustrated-looking woman who was trying really hard not to yell at the over-concerned man. “We’re going on a road trip, Jac.” She ignored the frown Reid gave her. Smirking she looked back up at Brent. “When do we leave?”

“We’ll head out first thing in the morning.” He looked over at the couple talking quietly. “The captain is clearing the way for us, Alec is going to stay here and do any running we need done.”

“I have a fax machine and portable … everything, so we can have a traveling office if needed.”

“I’m not sure what a portable everything is, but we’ll take it.” He rubbed his jaw. “I’m not sure if we’re taking one or two cars at this point though, so try to keep it down to the bare minimum.”

She laughed. “Detective Jordan, I may be the only person that can fit an entire household in a few bags.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.” He looked over at the two that were now more in the corner than they had been. “Let me finish up a few details here, and then I’ll give you a lift home.”

She nodded and looked down at the map again. “Take your time.”