Hear No Evil - Chapter 37

The next morning, Sue and Jack were up before the Thomas’. They had grabbed a quick breakfast and were now on their way to meet Sue’s former speech teacher, Barbara Casey.

Sue couldn’t deny that she was apprehensive about seeing the woman that she had dubbed the “iron witch” when she was a girl. She had attended lessons four times a week after school and for a couple of hours on a Saturday. She’d hated her mother for making her go. At that age, she didn’t understand why she was being made to do something that she didn’t want to do. All she wanted to do was play with her brothers. Looking back, she now understood that she probably wouldn’t be where she was now if her mother hadn’t pushed her when she was younger.

She came back to reality when the car slowed and she looked up at the building that she had visited so regularly as a child. It hadn’t changed and still looked as dark and foreboding as she remembered. She took a deep breath and stepped out the car, waiting for Jack on the sidewalk. She watched him grab a file off the back seat, knowing that it contained the files on the four missing women.

When he joined her on the sidewalk and they walked up to the building. She smiled when she felt Jack’s hand move to the small of her back. It was a simple touch that he had done so many times, but now had so many other meanings.

As they entered, Sue immediately headed for the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor. Memories of the times she had been there flooded back and she began to feel like that little girl again. She felt Jack take her hand and squeeze it gently, letting her know that he was there and she wasn’t alone.

After a few seconds, the elevator stopped and they stepped out. Sue led Jack the short distance to Barbara Casey’s office and they knocked and waited. She saw Jack nod and he took the door handle and pushed the door open. She walked into the office closely followed by Jack.

As they walked in, Sue saw Ms Casey sat at her desk. Her reading glasses perched on the end of her nose as she flipped through some paperwork. Apart from a few more wrinkles and greying hair, the older woman hadn’t changed much since she’d last seen her. Hearing them come in, she stood and smiled at the both.

“You must be agents Hudson and Thomas. I’m Barbara Casey. What can I do for you?”

Sue and Jack sat in the two chairs that Ms Casey indicated. Looking across at Jack, she saw him nod, indicating for her to take the lead. Sue took a deep breath and spoke.

“Ms Casey, you probably don’t remember me but……”
“Of course I remember you dear, you are Carla and Paul’s little girl. Not so little now I see and working for the FBI. I always thought that out of all my students, you would be the one to make something of your life. I’m glad to see that I wasn’t wrong.”

Sue smiled up and her former teacher and instantly relaxed. She wasn’t as nasty as she remembered. Then again, she was only an eight year old girl back then and anyone who made her do something she didn’t like was nasty.

“What was it you wanted to see me about?” She asked.
“It’s about another of your students, Rosemary Prince. Do you remember her?” Jack said.
“Rosemary? I haven’t heard from her in over a year. She was my student at around the same time as Sue here. We kept in regular contact, used to talk several times a week and then the contact just stopped. Never knew why. I figured she had moved and lost my contact details. When I tried to ring her, the number had been disconnected. Is everything okay with her?” She asked and Jack sensed that her concern for her former student was genuine.
“Actually Ms Casey, she has gone missing. She is the fourth woman to go missing in the last few weeks. All of the women are from Ohio and all of them are oral deaf.” Sue explained.
“Oh my word. Do you have any leads?” She asked them.
“We have nothing at the moment, other than the connections between the women. We need you to look at the files of the other women, see if you knew them, maybe taught them when they were younger.”
“Of course, anything I can do to help.”

Jack smiled at her and handed her the files on the other women. Ms Casey sat back at her desk and opened the file, pushing her glasses further onto her nose. Sue watched as she flicked through the information and then took her glasses off and placed them on the desk, lowering her head into her hands.

“Ms Casey? Is everything okay?” Sue asked her.
“I’m not sure Sue. I knew all of these women. I taught all of them. What’s even stranger is that I taught them all at the same time as Rosemary and you.”

Both Jack and Sue watched as she walked over to her filing cabinet and pulled out five files and handed them to Jack. He read the names out loud.

“Claire Williams, Sophie Morgan, Maria Lopez, Rosemary Prince and Susan Thomas.”
“I taught all five girls at the same time on different days and at different times. I don’t know if any of them actually knew each other.”

Ms Casey looked at Sue who shook her head and turned to Jack.

“I didn’t know the first three girls. I only knew Rosemary from deaf club, not when I was a girl. In all the time I knew her, I never knew she attended the same teacher as I did.” Sue said, still surprised by Ms Casey’s revelation.
“Ms Casey, are there any other students that you taught at the same time as these five women?” Jack asked.
“Agent Hudson, teaching was my only means of income back then. I had many students and most of them were during the two years that I taught Sue and Rosemary. The other three only came to me for a few weeks. For some reason, they stopped coming and their parents found a new teacher. They never did explain why.”
“Okay, thank you for your time Ms Casey. If you think of anything else, please let me know.”

He placed the five files back on her desk and handed her his business card. Ms Casey smiled at him and then turned to Sue as she stood.

“Sue, I am so pleased to see that all those hours you spent with me were worthwhile. Your parents must be so proud of you. I know I am.”
“Thank you Ms Casey.”

With those words, Jack and Sue said their goodbyes and left Mrs Casey’s office. As the waited for the elevator, Jack looked at Sue. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking and was wondering how she felt after the meeting with the woman she hadn’t seen in almost 14 years, especially seeing as she appeared to be a link between all four of the missing woman.

They were back in the car less than five minutes later and Jack had to bite his tongue to stop himself asking her if she was okay for what must have been the hundredth time since they had been given the case. Instead, he just reached across and took her hand. When she looked at him, he smiled and squeezed her hand, accepting the smile she gave him in response as he pulled off into traffic.

Hear No Evil - Chapter 15

After Lucy's call, Jack had woven in and out of DC traffic and they had walked into the bullpen ten minutes later to find everyone already there. Everyone looked up when they entered and Jack watched as his best friend grinned at them. He turned his eyes away and he inwardly groaned, recognising that look anywhere. Bobby knew and he had feeling he knew who had told him.

"So guys, how was the first date?" Bobby said as he clapped him on the back, confirming Jack's earlier thoughts.

Jack tucked his tongue in his cheek, trying his hardest to avoid looking at his friend who he knew was grinning widely. Instead, he turned to Sue and watched as looked at Lucy, an accusing look on her face. He grinned to when he saw Lucy shrug and walk over to her.

"You didn't expect me to know about you two and not tell anyone?" Lucy said as she came to stand next to Sue. "It would have been around the building in super quick time anyway. Everyone has been waiting for the day that you two finally came to your senses and admitted how you feel."

Jack looked between the two women and Sue's cheeks flooded with colour. He had to smile at how easily that happened to her. He began to wonder if simple words could make her blush like that, what colour would her cheeks go when they were alone together?

At that moment Garrett walked into the bullpen, grabbing everyone's attention. Knowing that their relationship was against bureau policy, Jack instinctively moved away from Sue and went to lean on his own desk. He felt bad doing it but Sue's smile and small nod told her that she understood. He nodded his head towards Garrett as he started to speak.

"I'm sorry to drag you all in here when you'd been given a few days off but a high profile case has come to our attention and it's been assigned to us at the request of the Director himself."
"The Director?" Jack queried.
"Yes Jack. He requested this team for reasons that will become clear." Garrett paused and looked at each member, knowing he had their full attention. "I trust you have all heard about the kidnappings that have occurred over the last two weeks."

Garrett paused as all the team nodded.

"It would be hard not to. They've been all over the news." Lucy said, as curious as the rest of the team.
"That's right Miss Dotson." He paused again. "The case has been given to us because all of the victims have something in common." Garrett said as he turned to face Sue. "All of the victims are oral deaf."

Garrett watched his team as they all looked at Sue, trying not to make it glaringly oblivious that they were doing so. Jack moved from his desk to sit beside her on hers, his hand covering Sue's, a move that didn't go unnoticed by anyone. Garrett cleared his throat before continuing.

"I have the files on all three of the missing women right here." He said as he held the files up to show them. "I have no doubt that you will all give 100% on this case as you do every case." Garrett paused for a moment and looked each of the team in the eye. "I don't need to tell you what needs to be done. I want this person found before another woman goes missing." Pausing again he handed the files to Jack. "Jack, do your magic." He said as he turned to Sue. "Thomas, can I have a word please."

Glancing at Jack as he squeezed her hand and smiled his encouragement, Sue moved from her desk and met Garrett in the hallway outside the bullpen.

"I think you know what I am going to say Sue. If you don't want to get involved with this case I will understand. It's close to home for you. No one will think any less of you for pulling out."

Sue smiled up at their supervisor, appreciating that he had thought of her wellbeing in this way.

"I appreciate you giving me the choice sir but I shall be fine. If all of the missing women were deaf, chances are their parents and friends might be too. While Lucy and Jack are improving day after day, I'm the only one fluent enough in ASL to communicate effectively."

She watched Garrett nodded and smiled.

"You have me there Thomas." He said as he paused. Against his better judgement, he nodded. "Okay, but only if you are sure? If you think it's getting too much for you, let me or Jack know. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir. Thank you."

Garrett turned and walked into his office, leaving Sue to return to the bullpen. As she entered, she saw Jack watching her, an unspoken question in his eyes. Sue recognised the look straightaway and nodded to him, smiling back when he smiled at her. She kept her eyes on him as Jack walked over to Tara and gave her the files on the three women, images of the kiss they'd shared less than an hour ago filling her mind. She felt the blush on her cheeks and forced herself to come back to the present as she watched Tara push a few buttons on her keyboard. Tara gave the files back to Jack and a picture of a young woman appeared on the big screen for everyone to see.

"The first woman is Claire Williams, 26 years old. She lives in D.C with her mom, dad and two brothers. She was last seen at college eating her lunch in the corner of the park opposite. Her friends have said that one minute she was there, the next minute she was gone. Metro checked the scene and said that there was no evidence of a struggle so she may have known who took her."

Tara pressed a few buttons on her keyboard and another image appeared, this time a woman of similar age came onto the screen.

"Girl number two is Sophie Morgan, 25 years old. She is an only child and lives in D.C with her dad. She moved to D.C a little over a year ago when her dad suffered a stroke. Mom died three years ago of a drug overdose. Police concluded that it was an accidental death and that suicide was not intended. Sophie went missing after leaving one of her friends at the local cinema to walk the five minutes to her house. She never made it back."

The last picture was of the latest girl to go missing.

"Our latest girl is Maria Lopez, 27 years old, lives with her mom, brother and sister in D.C. No dad on the scene, from what we can tell. It appears that he walked out when Maria's younger sister was born, two years later. Apparently, all three children are deaf or have hearing difficulties and dad couldn't cope with it. Maria went missing after swim class. Her brother was meant to pick her up but was late due to traffic. When he got there she was nowhere to be seen. A friend said that she saw her waiting by the front gates. One of her sneakers was found on a grass verge about five yards away. At present, it is the only piece of evidence we have."

As Jack finished, the screen went blank and he turned to the team, casting a quick glance in Sue's direction.

"Tara, I want you to begin doing background checks on the immediate families to see if there are any other connections apart from them being deaf. Bobby, I want you to go over the evidence that was collected at all of the scenes, see if there are any similarities there. Myles, D, I want you to visit each of the crime scenes again, see if anyone saw anything or heard anything that we don't already know about. Sometimes things can come back to people after a few days. Get any CCTV cameras that haven't already been checked, I'm willing to bet that the cinema had some and the complex where Maria swam. Lucy, can you gather a list of the girls' closest friends at school, in the neighbourhood where they live, anything like that."

When Jack finished speaking the whole bullpen came to life as everyone started their assigned tasks. Myles and D grabbed their coats and left the bullpen. Tara's fingers were already flying over the keyboard and Lucy already had the phone glued to her ear. Smiling as his team got to work, he looked across at Sue, who was staring into space.

Standing, he took a few steps until he stood in front of her, seeing the sad look that marred her normally worry free face. Crouching in front of her, he took her hand. She looked up at him and smiled. He could see the worry in her blue eyes and her smile didn't quite light up her face like it usually did.

"You going be okay with this?" He asked her in a hushed voice as he took her other hand in his.
"I'd be lying if I said that it didn't bother me." Sue said with a sigh, "I'll be fine though. Thank you for worrying."
"Hey, it's my job to worry now. That is, if you don't mind?" Jack said as he smiled.
"I don't mind Jack. In fact, it's actually kind of nice knowing that you worry about me."

Jack held her gaze, getting lost in those deep blue eyes. Finally forcing his eyes away from hers, he looked down at their joined hands, his thumb brushing across her knuckles. Turning her hand over, he drew small circles on her palm, smiling when her fingers closed over his and she smiled. At any other time he would have pulled away, not wanting anyone to notice their brief moment, but now it didn't seem to matter. He didn't care who saw them together.

Lifting his eyes to look at her, he noticed Lucy watching them. Meeting her gaze, he saw her smile at him and look away quickly. She had been their strongest supporter from day one and had been trying to get them together since she'd joined the team. She'd pulled him up many times for not admitting how he felt about her. At those times, he hadn't been ready to admit how he felt to himself, at least not how deep those feelings ran.

He remembered back to Bobby's birthday party during their first case. He had felt so bad when Rhonda had turned up when he and Sue were talking outside his apartment. As they'd been talking, he'd felt those familiar feelings and he knew that Sue was a woman he wanted to get to know better. He also knew he couldn't do that with another woman in his life so he had finished with Rhonda the following week.

Apart from his mother and his sister, Sue had been only woman who held a place in his heart from the moment he'd bought her onto the team. He knew she was special. Seeing her come into the bullpen on her first day and leave, closely followed by Levi had intrigued him. Her unique abilities were what made him notice her, what made him want her in his team and ultimately in his life.

Giving her one last smile, he squeezed her hands and returned to his desk, dreading the amount of e-mails that he knew would be waiting for him.