"Do you need the bathroom before I shower?"
Danny shook his head, hoping that Martin could see that despite the covers. He was counting on getting a little more sleep in by the time Martin was showered.
"Okay. Why don't you call Jack for an update while I'm in there? Save us some time."
His smile over the plan to get more sleep quickly turned into a frown as Martin shot down his plans. Sure, he had seniority on Martin, and could simply refuse to call, insisting that Martin do it instead. But Martin had a point. They still needed to go downstairs for breakfast, so calling New York now would give them more time to eat. Danny tossed the covers back, wishing that he'd paid more attention at the check-in desk. He knew that the place offered a breakfast, but he had no idea just what kind of breakfast it would end up being. In some places, a Continental Breakfast still meant pastries, coffee, tea and milk and maybe juice. In other places, it meant waffles, eggs, cereals, and the pastries and assorted other breakfast items one found in the more traditional places.
Scratching his belly, Danny grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand and dialed Jack's office number. While he was pretty sure that Jack and the others were still working, he didn't feel like taking the chance that Jack might have gone off somewhere to nap. By calling the office, he would get to talk to someone, even if it wasn't Jack. But Jack was awake, and he let Danny know that they were going through the tapes from Lairs Delights, and had a possible lead. When Larabee had left the store, a woman had stopped him in the doorway, and it looked as if they knew one another. They were now checking other days to see if she was a regular customer, and also to see if she'd run into Larabee when he'd been there on Tuesday. When they finished looking at the tapes, Jack was going to have the woman's image sent to both Danny and Martin's cell phones, so they could see if anyone from Larabee's office recognized her.
Danny ended the call and tossed his phone to the side, remembering that he wanted to ask Martin about his hunch that Larabee had gone shopping at a sex store. The sound of the shower came to a sudden stop, and Danny couldn't help but imagine how Martin looked right then, with water beading along his skin; skin that was flushed slightly from the hot water. It was so easy to see one lone water droplet making its way down Martin's belly and to the base of his cock, following that to the cockhead, where it would quiver for a few seconds before dropping to the bottom of the tub. Danny's cock stirred and began to tent his shorts, and he was tempted to see if he could get himself off before Martin returned, but sanity got the better of him. He could jerk off in the shower, where there was less chance of being caught by the object of his fantasies.
Danny got to his feet and grabbed his clothes for the day, holding them so that they'd cover his erection. He sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for Martin to exit the bathroom. After what felt to be twenty minutes, but was actually only five, the door opened and Martin stepped out into the room, wearing one of the large bath towels and nothing else.
"It's all yours," Martin said as he walked over to the dresser and began to get his own clothes out.
Danny's cock jumped at Martin's words, wishing that the man meant that what Danny was seeing was all his, but Danny had less of a worry due to the strategic placement of his own clothing. "Thanks. I'll fill you in on what Jack had to say later."
"Okay."
Danny headed for the bathroom, and he paused in the doorway, looking back at Martin. It was early enough that there wasn't much natural light seeping in from around the curtains, so the only light in the room was that from the bathroom. Taking a second look, Danny thought that there was something wrong with Martin's body. If he didn't know any better, he'd have sworn that as he'd passed Martin, he'd seen lash marks on Martin's shoulders, and that he'd seen love bites on Martin's belly reflected in the mirror. The love bites could easily be explained by a new girlfriend. But the lash marks? Danny had never heard Martin talking about letting a woman take a whip to him, but then again, that could explain how Martin knew what could be bought at Lairs Delights. Shaking his head, Danny headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He was imagining seeing things in the near darkness of the room, that was all. Martin Fitzgerald was too straight-laced to be indulging in that kind of sexual activity. Hell, the man probably insisted on having sex with the lights off, he was that straight-laced.
Danny showered, then shaved and began to dress. Whenever he traveled, Danny always packed the same way; black socks, white undershorts and undershirt, and shirts, ties and suits that matched one another. That way, he could grab his clothes in the darkened room and not have to worry about whether or not they would match. He brushed his teeth and put on his dress shirt, then stepped out of the bathroom to grab his suit.
Martin was already dressed, and was seated on the edge of the nearest bed putting on his shoes. He'd opened the drapes and the early morning light was flooding the room. It wasn't the brightest light, too early for that. But it was enough for Danny to wonder if Martin had turned on any lights when picking out what he was going to wear. Or even if he'd had the lights on at home when he packed. If he didn't know better, Danny would have sworn that Martin was color blind, but he'd heard the man describe suspects and vehicles accurately, so he knew that Martin didn't have a problem recognizing his colors. No, his problem seemed to be with recognizing which colors went together and which did not.
Danny pulled on his suit pants. "You know Fitzie, one of these days, I'm going to have to take you shopping. Someone has to teach you how to pick out clothing that goes together."
Martin looked up, a slight smile on his face. "And you think that you could teach me that? I'll have you know that I already know that just about any shirt color goes with blue jeans. What else is there to know?"
Ah yes. Martin's penchant for casual dress was a pair of Levi 501s and a T-shirt or sweatshirt of some kind. If it was colder weather, you might even catch Martin wearing a shirt over his T-shirt, or even wearing a sweater. The man would never make the cover of "GQ".
Danny finished tucking his shirt in, then zipped up his pants and walked over to Martin. "Well, for one thing. You could learn that a burgundy and white striped tie doesn't really go with a blue and white striped shirt and dark brown suit."
Martin's smile grew, and Danny felt his heart flutter at that sight. Damn, but he loved it when Martin smiled! "In your world, maybe. And I've got on burgundy socks and brown shoes, so that sort of ties it all together."
Danny sighed heavily to let Martin know that he was trying his fashion patience. He stepped in front of the dresser and began to knot his tie. "At least we can rest easy that nobody will ever look at you and automatically know that you're a Fed. Not that you don't do your best to try for that look. But no, you'll never stand out that way."
Martin got to his feet. "You say that as if it's a bad thing."
Danny looked at his own reflection, then over at Martin and shuddered. Compared to Martin, he looked like an advertisement for Armani. Not that he could ever afford an Armani suit, but damn, sometimes Martin's suits looked like the sale rack at K-Mart. The really irritating thing though, was that Martin didn't buy cheap suits. There were people out there who designed those hideous things, then put high price tags on them and had the gall to let someone walk out of the shop with one of those suits! Danny looked back at his reflection; white shirt, dark blue suit, dark blue tie with light blue stripes in it. Danny had brought one other shirt with him, and it was also mostly white, but with light blue stripes running through it. His other suit was a gray one with blue pinstripes. His other tie was a solid medium blue color. And then there was the shirt and tie he'd worn on the plane.
"Here. You ready to go?" Martin asked as he handed out Danny's suit coat, cell phone, gun and badge. "I'm starving."
"The day you're not starving is the day I personally drive you to the emergency room," Danny replied as he clipped on the gun and shield, then put on his coat and slipped his phone into a pocket. He picked up his badge from the dresser top, then nodded. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
"Let's go." Leading the way, Martin opened the door and they headed for the elevators. As they made their way to the lobby, Danny told Martin what Jack had told him.
"Hopefully someone there will recognize her," Martin said, but he no longer looked as cheerful as he had when they'd stepped into the elevator. Having a suspect was a good thing, or so Danny thought.
"Maybe he has a girl on the side that he's kept quiet about?" Danny wondered out loud. "If so, then I wonder if she knew about what Larabee was up to every night? Maybe she got jealous and got back at him?"
"Maybe."
The elevator doors opened up and Danny grinned as the aroma of freshly made waffles hit him. It was going to be a good breakfast after all, even if he did have to make the waffles himself.
Danny had been in Heaven over by the waffle maker. They had put out two kinds of batter, one regular and one buttermilk, and Danny couldn't resist making one of each. There were pecans chopped up for people to put in their oatmeal, and Danny had added some to each waffle. Once the waffles were ready, he threw all health concerns to the wind and added liberal amounts of butter to each waffle, then smothered them with real maple syrup. Danny grabbed a cup of coffee then went to where Martin was already seated.
As he cut into his waffles, Danny glanced over at Martin, then frowned as he saw that his normally starving partner was picking at oatmeal of all things. Martin never ate healthy food, and Danny had fully expected to come to the table to find that Martin had a plate full of bacon and eggs, toast on the side, coffee and juice.
"Second time around?" Danny asked. He might have taken more time making the waffles than he'd thought, and Martin could have already eaten one meal.
"No." Martin scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal. "Not just as hungry as I thought."
Danny speared a cut section of a waffle and held it out toward Martin. "Try this. Buttermilk with pecans."
Martin shook his head. "No thanks. I don't think my stomach can handle the syrup right now."
Danny frowned. Martin never complained about having anything sweet first thing in the morning, either. Taking a bite, Danny closed his eyes in appreciation of the medley of tastes in that one bite. Buttermilk, syrup and the pecans all melded together to form the perfect bite. They ate in silence, which wasn't all that unusual. Both of them liked their food, and being together in silence just seemed natural. But this silence didn't feel comfortable at all, and Danny could feel a tension coming from Martin that he didn't particularly like feeling. Martin had been in a good mood back in their room, but now Danny found himself glad that he wouldn't be seeing Martin all day. A tense, sad or upset Martin tended to be a pissy-acting Martin, and that just brought out all kinds of unkind things on Danny's part. Mostly they were attempts to get Martin into a better mood. It was odd that Danny could drive a sad or upset Martin into anger and then into a good mood, but was unable to drive a sad or upset Martin directly into that same good mood. The one time he'd mentioned it to Viv, she'd replied that it was karma and that Danny simply deserved being on the receiving end of righteous Fitzgerald anger.
Danny felt movement to the side and he looked up as Martin got to his feet. "We should get on the road."
Danny saw that while he'd eaten almost all of his waffles, Martin had barely eaten half of his oatmeal. "Sure. I'd like to grab a bagel for later."
"I'll take care of this." Martin said as he began to gather up the debris from breakfast.
"Thanks." Danny went over to the bagels and grabbed two of them, one for him and one for Martin. Whatever it was that was bothering Martin would pass, and then he'd be hungry and thankful for the food.
Danny met Martin at the door and handed the napkin wrapped bagel to him. "It's a raisin bagel, in case you get hungry later."
"Thanks." Martin shoved the bagel into his pocket. "Did you want to drive?"
"Sure." Martin tossed the car keys to him and they headed to the parking lot. As he got settled behind the wheel, Danny found himself looking over at Martin, trying to determine if Martin was simply feeling low or if he was coming down with something. Martin preferred to do the driving whenever they went anywhere, and the times when Danny did drive, it was because he'd insisted on it. It was rare for Martin to come straight out and ask him if he wanted to drive.
Danny took a quick look at the map that the car rental company had provided them, and then he headed out. They were just ahead of the morning rush, and it didn't take all that long for them to reach the downtown area. Danny turned into the parking garage and easily found a spot. Then they headed upstairs to check in with the local FBI office. The secretary there called downstairs to security and then let them know that Team 7 was not yet in the building. Having nothing better to do, Danny and Martin went to the break room and had more coffee. Martin had grabbed the sports page from a newspaper that someone had left behind, and Danny made do with the front section. They'd been there for about ten minutes when the secretary came back to tell them that some of the members of Team 7 were arriving. She gave them the floor number, and Danny followed Martin to the elevators.
Federal buildings might look different from one another on the outside, but once you were inside the building itself, each and every floor seemed identical. When they stepped out onto the 11th Floor, it was easy enough to find Team 7's office area. There were a few men already in the bullpen, and Danny led the way inside.
"I'm looking for Vin Tanner," Danny said as he held out his badge to show the first person he saw, a tall, mustached man with dark hair. Since they were all Feds, he didn't see the need to add titles to the introductions. "I'm Danny Taylor, and this is Martin Fitzgerald…"
The sound of someone choking, or rather trying to not choke came from behind him, and Danny turned around in time to watch as Martin rushed off in the direction of the men's room. Frowning, Danny turned back around and this time he found himself face to face with a man who looked enough like Martin to be mistaken for his twin.
"I'm Vin Tanner," the other man said, his voice slightly raspy and with a decidedly Texas lilt to it. "Your partner okay?"
Danny knew he was staring, but he couldn't help it. Vin Tanner's hair was the same color as Martin's, but it was long enough to curl along the collar of his shirt. It made Danny wonder if Martin's hair would curl that way if he let it get that long.
The guy with the mustache looked at Danny questioningly and Danny knew that he'd seen Martin and had noticed the resemblance. Apparently though, Martin had rushed out before anyone else had seen him.
Danny looked back at Vin Tanner. "I don't think he's feeling well. He barely ate breakfast. We got in late and didn't get much sleep."
"That, and the time zone difference, can certainly mess you up," someone said, and Danny turned slightly to his right to see that the speaker was a tall, African-American man.
"Seems that way. We can get started without Martin. I don't know all of what Jack told you, but we were thinking that we could cover more ground if we split up. I'll stay here and talk with most of you as we go over old cases, and Martin will go out to Mr. Larabee's house to see if he can find any leads there."
The three men nodded, and the one with the mustache pointed to a chair. "Might as well get comfortable. We've got two more men coming in, Ezra Standish and Josiah Sanchez. Another team member is here, but he's in Chris's office getting the computer turned on in case you need to access it. Ah, J.D.," the man smiled at the much younger looking man who emerged from the nearby, glass-walled office. "This is Danny Taylor, one of the FBI agents sent from New York. Agent Taylor, this is J.D. Dunne. He's more or less our computer expert."
Danny nodded in greeting. "It'll be easier if you guys just stick with my first name, and Martin won't mind that, either." Danny sat down at the chair indicated. "And you are?"
"Ah, shit, sorry about that," the man said with a nervous laugh. "Chris being missing has just…" he shook his head.
"What he's tryin' to say is that he's Buck Wilmington," Tanner said.
"Exactly," Buck agreed.
"That this is Nathan Jackson," Tanner added.
Danny knew that Buck Wilmington was Larabee's former partner from the Denver P.D., and would be a good source of information about Larabee's past. He couldn't help but wonder if Wilmington knew about what it was that Larabee liked to do with other men. Hell, he wondered if any of them had any clue about what apparently turned on their boss.
"We do have one possible lead," Danny told them. "As Mr. Larabee was headed for the conference center yesterday, he stopped off to do some shopping. As he was leaving the store, a woman stopped him at the door. According to my boss, they seemed to know one another, and he's going to be sending her picture to us. He first wanted to make sure that Mr. Larabee hadn't seen this woman earlier in the week, at another visit to that store. We've got enough to look through without chasing false leads."
The others agreed with that, and they all settled in to wait for Martin and the rest of Team 7.
Wilmington kept looking from Danny to Tanner, and he couldn't help himself any longer. "Okay, so am I the only one who noticed just how much Vin and your partner look alike?"
Danny grinned. "I noticed it right off."
Jackson shook his head. "Sorry. All I saw was his back as he headed for the men's room. Speaking of which, he's been in there for a bit. Someone should go check on him."
"I'll go. I know that your minds have been working overtime since yesterday, but I'd like for you to think back over the past few weeks. Was Mr. Larabee acting oddly, or did anything happen that had him worried or upset? Any little thing, no matter how inconsequential you think it might be, can be a help to us."
Danny headed for the men's room, leaving them to their thoughts. He knew that if it was Jack missing, he'd be hard pressed to pinpoint any one thing that would have upset the man. Jack got upset or angry with people and incidents on a regular basis, so it'd be difficult to try to nail down one thing that stood out more than the others.
When Danny stepped into the men's room, he saw that Martin was at the sink, rinsing out his mouth. He looked pale to Danny's eyes, but that could have also been the horrible lighting in the room. "You okay, partner?"
Martin nodded as he spit out the water. "Sorry about that."
"Your stomach upset or was it just the surprise of seeing your own face on someone else's body?" Danny asked.
Martin looked at him sharply, then quickly returned his attention to the sink. "A bit of both," he admitted as he began to splash water on his face.
"Okay." Danny grabbed some paper towels and handed them to Martin once the man was done. "Most of the team is here. We're waiting on two of them. The one who looks like you is Vin Tanner, the second-in-command."
Martin closed his eyes and Danny swore that the man became paler. "Name mean anything to you?"
Martin shook his head, then opened his eyes. "No. Go on."
"The guy with the mustache is Buck Wilmington. He was Larabee's partner when they were on the Denver P.D. together." Martin nodded. "The black guy is Nathan Jackson, and the young guy is J.D. Dunne. He's already got Larabee's computer booted up for us. We're waiting on Ezra Standish and Josiah Sanchez. I let them know about the woman, and also about our plans to split things up. They were good with that idea."
"Who's going to the house with me?" Martin asked as he balled up the used paper towels and tossed them away.
"We didn't talk about that yet. I can ask Tanner to go with you, give you two a chance to get to know one another and find out if you might be related," Danny said, only half-joking. Two people couldn't look that much alike and not be related.
Martin shook his head. "I'd prefer to not be left alone with him."
The door was pushed open and Jackson stuck his head through the opening. "Ezra and Josiah just got here."
"Thanks," Danny said. He noticed that Jackson was looking intently at Martin. "His stomach was a bit upset."
"I *can* talk, you know," Martin said as he stepped toward the door. "I'm Martin Fitzgerald."
"Nathan Jackson. Aside from knowing my way around explosives, I'm also the team's tactical medic. So if your stomach keeps bothering you, let me know and I can find something around here to help get it settled down."
"I appreciate that, but I think I'm just over-tired and reacting to the time change," Martin said.
Danny followed Martin and Jackson back to the bullpen. The other two team members were there, a nicely dressed man who looked to be about his age, and an older man. They were quickly introduced as Ezra Standish and Josiah Sanchez. Everyone except Wilmington and Tanner seemed to want to stare from Martin to Tanner, and Danny was expecting a flurry of questions about their resemblance, but none came.
Wilmington got to his feet. "Danny told us about the idea of splitting up, so I'm going to take you to Chris's place," he said to Martin. "You two might as well know now that we're not just co-workers. Chris is our friend and we hang out together. We've each got keys to one another's homes. Or apartments as the case might be."
Martin nodded. "I'm ready to go when you are."
"Let's go. The sooner we get done there, the sooner we can go over to the precinct house and go over the old cases from when Chris was a cop. I was there yesterday and had them all pulled out and set aside in an interrogation room for us."
Martin nodded, then waved goodbye to Danny as he followed Wilmington out of the bullpen.
Danny settled into a chair at what looked to be an unused desk, then he turned his attention to the rest of the team. "All right. Why don't we start by talking about last week. I understand that Mr. Larabee had been asked to give a presentation at this conference? Was he excited about that, worried about it?"
Part Seven