The quiet room was suffocating. The walls seemed to close in on him from the second he'd sank down onto the plush seating. Mike Bernstein wasn't used to ever feeling so helpless. His knees were weak and panic fluttered in his chest as he pressed the palm of his hands against his eyeballs in hope that he'd wake up and discover that this was all a dream.
His soulmate really was having her body carved into by surgeons trying to save her life and the life of their baby. The nurse had asked him to make a decision if worst came to worse and he found it so easy to make it frightened him. No matter what happened he wanted Autumn to live. It pained him greatly to chose her over the baby.
The truth was they could always have another baby, hell they could always a adopt but he could not possibly live without Autumn, and he knew selfishly that there wasn't a chance in hell he could care for their baby without her. He knew himself well enough to know that that child would be rejected if it lived and she did not.
He cradled his head in his hands wondering how he could be facing this moment alone. His mother had wanted nothing to do with him after discovering he was keeping the baby he'd conceived out of wedlock. It wasn't about the fact he wasn't married to Autumn, it was the fact that she was white.
His father, and Autumn's parents had passed away some time ago. He knew the other were busy at the scene, trying to piece together what had happened. He knew it was important for them to find Kate and Daniel, especially when there was nothing more they could do for Autumn.
There were no hard feelings about the accident, a least not yet. He knew it wasn't in Kate's nature to have taken Daniel and ran. There were so many things that didn't make sense and he had so many regrets.
He wished he'd been able to hand his case over, he wished he trusted John Hagen enough to actually turn up for work and run with this lead instead of calling with something more important at the last minute.
He rubbed his gritty eyes with his hands.
It wasn't fair to blame Hagen, despite the fact he openly detested the man.
The door to the quiet room opened and Bernstein rose his head expectantly, the dread rolling around his stomach.
Tim Speedle shut the door behind him, his dark eyes studying Bernstein as he stepped towards him. Bernstein rubbed his hand across the top of his head as Speedle dropped down besides him. The two of them didn't speak for a moment. Speedle clasped his hands together, his fingers knotted as he pressed them to his forehead, his eyes closed. Bernstein looked at his own hands, his resolve breaking as he spoke the words he'd been frightened of saying since Autumn had been admitted.
"I think I'm going to lose her."
Bernstein's eyes began to burn as he spoke, he clenched his jaw and drew in a deep breath.
"Autumn's really strong." Speedle said, rubbing the bridge of his nose trying to relieve the tension in his head. "And so are you."
Bernstein swallowed hard, he bit his bottom lip before putting his hands on the back of his head and staring up at the ceiling.
"I picked her over the baby." He submitted into the restless cool air.
Speedle bowed his head and nodded.
"I would have too."
The silence stretched between them before Bernstein spoke again.
"Is there any sign of them?" he asked quietly.
Speedle ran his hands through his dark curly hair,before shaking his head.
"People can't just vanish, Kate can't just vanish like that, she would have left some clue, or a mark or something." Speed said out loud.
Really he was voicing the worst possible ideas that flitted around his head. Maybe Kate couldn't leave a clue, and that made him consider why.
"If Jessica just wanted Daniel she wouldn't have gone to the trouble of taking Kate. Kate would be harder to deal with." Bernstein reasoned. "She would have just left her at the scene."
Speedle put his head in his hands.
"Kate has some ties to the Mob, back in New York there's a pretty big tag on her head." Tim submitted, pursing his lips together.
"You think Jessica's buddied up with someone?" Bernstein asked thoughtfully.
"I know there's no way she's taken Kate, she wouldn't be able to handle her." Tim responded honestly.
"Which means someone else has. The Mob are the only ones with motive." Bernstein concluded.
"There's someone else." Tim said quietly, gazing down at his hands. "I think it's awfully strange that John Hagen hasn't shown his face in the station house since Kate's been missing."
"Hagen's deranged but to actually take Kate?" Bernstein shook his head in disagreement.
"He's done it before." Tim said softly.
"That was opportunity. Kate was already there and drunk." Bernstein reasoned. "This was planned, Hagen doesn't do planning otherwise we would have seen evidence of it, stuff like stalking or something."
"I think there's more to him than that, I think there's a while other level to him we haven't seen yet. I think the restraining order pushed him over the edge. He couldn't touch her anymore, he couldn't speak to her. I bet that drove him crazy." Tim responded angrily as he thought about the other man's hands on Kate's body.
"I'm saying you need to be sure about this." Bernstein fixed Speedle with a stubborn frown. "He's a cop. You need to have evidence to support that theory, and if you get it..."
Bernstein's gaze shifted to the shadow of a nurse walking past the shaded window. His voice dropped an octave as he thought about Autumn lying helpless across the front two seats of the car as it smoked and caught fire.
"I'll bury him."
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The airport was packed, people were breezing in and out, carrying hold alls and dragging carry cases. Miami International had been Jessica's choice of airport. She was taking the kid to Mexico in three hours time and had paid a ridiculous amount to have his forger get them done on such short notice. Joe hadn't questioned how she'd gotten the money, just that she had it.
The airport were already on high security alert on the look out for the names Jessica Wilks and Daniel Speedle, so the passports were under the names of a mother and son he'd stolen from this afternoon. They were excellent fakes, his forger was one of the best.
It was the kid he spotted first, the dark eyes and curly dark hair were unmistakable, just as the child's expression of woe as he sat across the table stabbing at his milkshake. Jessica sat across from him, her newly dyed black hair glistening in the light her face buried in a gossip magazine. She was paying no heed to her anxious child.
This was a bad idea, Joe thought as he approached them. He'd been lulled over by Jessica's begging and pleading, and eventually the money. She'd told him the father was abusing the kid and she'd lost the court case because him and his girlfriend were cops.
He'd been thorough a similar experience when he was a kid, hence why he'd finally decided to participate in her idea, now he could see she had played on a story he had told her one night when they were high.
It wasn't right. His stomach twisted and his insides suddenly felt horribly wrong. Just like they had when he'd seen the lady cop sprawled out in the back seat of Hagen's car. He already knew what Hagen was going to do and for some reason it knotted his stomach.
Joe didn't like cops, he never had but that lady cop reminded him of his sister Lori, and the thought of her being locked in a cold dark place, possibly bleeding to death inside, hit him hard. The only reason he'd participated in Hagen's end of the bargain was because the guy had threatened to take him in on trumped up charges. He knew Hagen had planted a kilo of heroin on Jimmy G, when he'd refused to give him an alibi four years ago after the shooting of some Undercover Cop.
Jessica was waving to him now. She was beaming as he stepped towards her automatically. He wasn't sure what he was going to do but he had to do something. This wasn't right and that little boy sat stirring his milkshake was wrenching at his insides.
Jessica and him embraced, the envelope passing between them and sliding into her pocket as her lips brushed his cheek.
"Both passports are there." he whispered, before they drew away from each other.
"Is the coke..." she murmured
"Tucked into the first passport." Joe informed her, taking a step back.
"It's just a little something to tide me over. I'm such a nervous flyer." she giggled, before taking off towards the bathrooms.
"Hey, what about the kid?" Joe called after her, irritated with her behavior.
"You watch him for a sec." she said blowing him a kiss.
Joe exhaled deeply through his nose, knowing an opportunity when he saw one. He slid into the seat across from the kid. Daniel watched him reproachfully before reverting his gaze back down towards his chocolate milkshake.
"Hey kid, who'd you like better? Your mom or your dad?" Joe asked quickly.
Daniel rose his head to meet Joe's eyes.
"My daddy, he always reads me stories, and takes me to cool places. I want Kate and him to get married so she can be my mommy." Daniel confided in the tall colored man.
Kate...
The name of the lady cop Hagen had taken.
He had made a terrible mistake.
Joe rose to his feet, Daniel followed his ascent with interest, especially when Joe crouched down next to his seat. The older man pointed through the crowd at a uniformed customs officer.
"Kid, you see that man in the uniform?"
Daniel nodded.
"He's part of the airport police. I want you to go over to him and tell him you've been kidnapped and who you and your dad are. Tell him your mom is in the bathroom doing blow..."
Joe paused as he rooted through his pockets for something.
"Is he going to take me home?" Daniel asked as Joe withdrew a folded piece of paper out of his pocket.
It was a map of the Cemetery where the Crypt was. The place was old school and hadn't been used in decades. Joe used it for holding his drugs sometimes. He'd drawn a map for Hagen, who had scoffed at the idea.
"Yea the police man will take you back to your dad." Joe confirmed.
"And Kate?" Daniel questioned, his eyes wide and puppy-like.
Joe sighed.
"Your dad's gonna need to find her." Joe passed the folded map to Daniel. "When you get to your dad or whoever is in charge, I want you to give this map to them and tell them this is where your lady cop is. Tell them it's urgent and they need to hurry. You got that?"
Daniel took the map and put it into his pocket. He climbed off his seat, Joe helped him put his backpack on before urging the kid in the direction of the Customs officer.
"Thank you." Daniel uttered before taking a brave step into the crowd.
"Just tell them about the map. Don't forget." Joe reminded him.
"I won't." Daniel promised before being swallowed up by a group of English tourists.
Joe made for the nearest exit, leaving Jessica's bag and purse clearly on the cafe table, hoping and praying that the kid would make it home in one piece.