Hear No Evil - Chapter 31

They arrived back at the bullpen to a flurry of activity. Myles was having an animated conversation with someone on the phone. The amount of gesticulating he was doing with his free hand told Jack that whoever it was on the phone wasn’t in the Bostonian’s good books. Bobby was having what looked like a rather heated debate with someone who Jack didn’t recognise and Tara was busy running between her desk and the printer. Lucy was nowhere to be seen. As Sue was about to sit, Tara spotted them and came rushing over.

“Jack, Sue, I think we have a break in the case, we found a connection between the women apart from them all being deaf. They were all born and raised in Ohio!”

Jack immediately turned to Sue and saw the look that crossed her face. This was getting a little too close to home and too close to Sue. He knew that if all of the women lived in DC, were oral deaf and came from Ohio, then Sue could be at risk. As he looked at her he felt an overwhelming urge to do nothing put protect her. He knew that she would think he was being silly and they had no reason to suspect that whoever took the women would be after her too but the coincidences were a little too much for him to ignore. At that moment Bobby spotted Jack and Sue by Tara’s desk and strode over to them. 

“I take it Tara has told you what we have found.” Jack nodded. “So you know the situation that this puts us in. What do we do about Sue?” 

Jack knew that Sue was right by him and would be reading the conversation between him and Bobby.  

“Excuse me, I am standing right here you know.” Bobby looked at her, suitably chastised, “Nothing is going to be done about me at this stage. I appreciate your concern guys but we have no reason to suspect that this person is after me so until we do, there is no point worrying.” 

She deliberately looked at Bobby to make her point before looking back to Jack, recognising the look on his face.   

“I don’t need to be protected Jack.”

“Okay, but the first sign that this guy is after you we are putting you into a safe house.” He smiled when Sue nodded. “Good. Tara, this is a list of Rosemary White’s friends from back in Ohio. Her husband said she kept in touch with quite a few of her friends from back home. Seeing as we now have the Ohio connection, I think that we may find that someone on this list could be connected to the others in some way. Let me know as soon as you find anything.”

Tara took the list off Jack and immediately started working her magic.  He turned back to Sue and took her hand.

“Come with me, I wanna talk to you.”

Despite her initial resistance, Jack led Sue to a nearby conference room. After checking that it was empty, he led her inside and closed the door. As he turned the lock, he stood in front of her and pulled her to him into a warm embrace. He felt her relax against him as her arms wrapped around his back and he heard her sigh, her head resting on his shoulder.   

He loved just holding her like this. If he had his way, they would stay like this forever and he would never let her go. Unfortunately, he knew that this wasn’t possible as he slowly pulled her away from him, but kept her in the circle of his arms.

“I know I’ve asked this before, and you’re probably getting sick of me saying it, but are you sure you’re all right? I mean with this case?”

Jack watched her as she sighed, her hands moving to rest on his upper arms. He could tell that she was thinking as her fingers absently played with the material of his shirt. He had to wonder what she was thinking about. She began to chew on her bottom lip, a small gesture that she did often, but whenever he saw her do it, he wanted to kiss her and this time was no exception.  

“I would be lying if I said that the thought of me being next haven’t crossed my mind. All of these women appear to have done nothing wrong other than being deaf. I know that some people think that being deaf is a liability and that we shouldn’t be allowed into normal society, including me……” She stopped when Jack cut her off with a finger to her lips.

“Now you stop right there. Don’t you ever think that you are a liability to any one. Everyone in that bullpen is a changed person since you came onto the team. I have never seen Bobby being so considerate towards others and what you have done with Myles is nothing short of amazing.” Sue smiled at his comments. “As for me, you have affected me in so many ways that I can’t even begin to tell you how my life has changed. You have opened my eyes to a whole new world and I will always be thankful that you came into my life. If we even get the slightest hint that this person is in any way after you, I shall be the first one to do something about it. I am not going to do anything to risk losing you.”

Jack tightened his hold on her and watched as she smiled, her hands snaking round his back.

“Now this is one of the things I love about you. You always look out for me and try to protect me. But for your information Special Agent Hudson, this isn't one of my favourite cases, but I will be okay with it, I promise.”
“Good.” Jack said as he placed a kiss on her nose “Now, how about I take you and Levi out for dinner tonight? Chinese, Mexican or Italian?”

“Erm……Chinese tonight I think” Sue said.
“Chinese it is. Let’s get back before the guys come looking for us.” 

Placing a quick kiss to her lips, Jack released hid hold on her and took her hand as he unlocked the conference room door and they both headed back towards the bullpen.