Without a Trace

Author's note--*cringes* I'm so sorry, you guys. My heart is beating so fast right now because of what I'm about to do...

Edit: I finally fixed the French phrase! I didn't bold it or anything, but if you're a returning reader, you know where it is! (I also updated the Chapter Note about it at the bottom) And if you're a new reader, bear with me--I'm not crazy!--and hopefully reading the Chapter Note will make it make sense to you. lol

Also, since I changed it, the responses to the reviews below (obviously) don't reflect the changes, but you'll see that when you get to Chapter 16...that's when I finally came back and fixed it!

BTW...I AM crazy! ;) Just ask any of my current recurring readers!
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Without a Trace

SIX HOURS MISSING

Draco had gotten very tired of waiting, and he walked down the hall, asking for Samantha Spade’s office. He rounded the corner just in time to see Harry’s face go white, his lips moving, and then everyone around the table sprang into motion, crowding around Harry’s desk. Draco pushed open the glass and crept up behind them, peering over the shoulders of the agents hunched around Harry’s computer monitor.

All of the FBI agents shot to Harry’s desk, and he frantically booted up his computer. He typed in his password, opened his inbox, and stared in horror at the most recent email sent. The title of the email read “15 Minutes”—which Harry didn’t understand, but the other agents exchanged worried glances—and it was from sweetrevenge2@gmail.com.

Hi Harry-sweetie. So sorry to bother you in your new life, but this was just too perfect an opportunity to pass up! Tell him that this is what happens to traitors and cowards. His little one looks just like his father and grandfather, don’t you think? I hope you enjoy Draco’s anguish; I know I certainly am! Could I trouble you to pass on a message to Pansy for me? Tell her that she’s too good for him and that Blaise is a much better fit for her. She shouldn’t fret about her little boy; tell her to forget about Parker and have untainted and unspoiled babies with Blaise. Ta, darling!

Love always,
Narcissa


Hi Jack. This is quite a blast from the past, isn’t it? I received the most delightful phone call about six months ago, and even though I know you are just itching to have at me again, I couldn’t resist. I know this one is a little young for my taste, but I will be enjoying my 15 minutes with him. Tell you what, I’ll take 15 minutes for you, too. You can appreciate that, can’t you? I’m sure this ‘beautiful young boy’ will be quite exquisite, and who knows? I might just keep him! Enjoy the video!

Yours,
Graham Spaulding

A strangled cry went up from behind the agents as Harry went to click on the attachment entitled “Parker”. They all whipped around to see Draco Malfoy with his hand clapped over his mouth, and Elena and Sam stepped forward to support him. Sam began talking to him in a low voice, but Draco insisted on seeing the video. Jack allowed it, and Draco stood there, shaking, with Sam’s hand on his shoulder. Harry opened the attachment, turning the volume of his speakers up.

It wasn’t a very good picture at first—too blurry—but as soon as the camera came into sharp focus, Draco instantly recognized the hotel lobby where his family was staying, with Narcissa holding Parker! She looked very gaunt and skinny, but she was wearing an elegant outfit, and the smile on her face was huge as she nuzzled against her grandson. She stood in front of the reception desk, cooing softly to the little boy and tickling him, making him laugh. Draco gripped the back of Harry’s chair, and Samantha’s hand tightened on his shoulder. Elena moved closer on Draco’s other side, ready to grab him if the blonde should go down.

“Isn’t this wonderful, dear? The kids will be so surprised!” the unknown camera man exclaimed happily, and Jack’s blood ran cold. He recognized that voice. Beside him, Martin paled. Narcissa looked at the camera with a smile an angel would be envious of.

“Yes, hello, darling, my son and his wife are staying here at this hotel. My name is Narcissa Malfoy, and this is my grandson, Parker. Draco and Pansy asked me to watch him this afternoon, and I was hoping you could let me into their room to grab an extra sweater for this little guy. We were thinking of going on a boat ride, and I just didn’t want him to get cold,” Narcissa was talking to one of the desk assistants, who was smiling and nodding and holding her hand out to Parker for a ‘high-five’.

“Yes, but of course, madam,” the girl replied. “This little charmer is one of the sweetest little guys I’ve ever met! Here is the room key. We can’t have him getting sick now, can we? You are such a cutie, yes, you are!” She tickled Parker, and Draco managed a small smile through his tears to hear his son’s laughter.

The video followed Narcissa and Parker through the lobby, up the elevator, and into the room. Draco’s eyes widened as he recognized their suite. They went straight to the bedroom, and Narcissa set Parker on the edge of the bed, looking just past the camera as it wobbled for a second and steadied, as if it had been set down on a flat surface. Narcissa stepped out of the camera’s sight. Graham Spaulding came into view, waving and smiling at the camera, and picking Parker up. He tossed the little boy up in the air a little and swung him around, making the child cackle in delight.

Jack’s entire body clenched, and he balled his hands into fists, watching the child molester on screen. Narcissa reentered the frame, setting Draco’s suitcase on the bed, opening it, and pawing through it while Spaulding played with Parker. They all watched as she pulled several sets of Parker’s clothing out of the suitcase, holding up a pair of his small underwear where Spaulding and the camera could see, winking mischievously. Spaulding licked his lips and grinned. Once she had pulled out all of the little boy’s clothes that Draco and Pansy had packed, she closed the suitcase and came around to the other side, sitting on the bed. Spaulding sat down beside Narcissa, holding the blonde child in his lap, and the man looked directly into the camera, smiling.

“Hello Jack. Hello Martin. It’s good to see you again; well, I hope it’s good for you, seeing me. Danny, Vivian, and Samantha, it’s a shame we never interacted much. Elena, we’ve never had the pleasure of meeting, and Harry,” Graham shook his head, nudging Narcissa a little. “Harry, we are very grateful to you for coming here and working with these fine FBI agents. You’ve never heard of me, have you? You’ve been working with Jack Malone for six years now, and he’s never mentioned me once, has he? I thought not. You see, Jack and I go way back. He’s just a little upset with me because he keeps messing up my cases when he catches me. Jack, how I wish I could be there to see your face right now!” Narcissa jumped in, putting her arm around Graham’s shoulders and using the other to stroke the baby-fine blonde hair of Draco’s child.

“Pansy, sweetheart, I am so sorry for whatever misery you must be going through right now. I hope that this video comforts you, and it’s time you realized what a pathetic little coward my son is. He’s not worthy of you, dear, and Blaise tells me you two are quite the hot item. Pansy, go to Blaise and be happy. Think of this as a horrible nightmare from which you are about to awake, in which you dreamt you had a son, but when you wake up, you will not. Go marry Blaise, and have lots of strong, pure-blood Zabinis who can carry on our proud family traditions. My line ended when my husband, the last of the true Malfoys, died. Draco isn’t fit to breathe air.

“Draco,” his mother’s voice was still dripping with honey, but he recognized the arrogant sneer that curled her lip. He had picked that up from her. “Draco, my son, how can you possibly have turned out so wrong? Your father and I loved you, gave you everything, and you turned your back on us. The Dark Lord gave you a task, which you failed. You disappoint me. You were given a chance to redeem yourself, which you also squandered when you refused the Dark Mark. And now, your poor father is dead; but I bet you didn’t expect to see me, did you?” Narcissa giggled. “I escaped from Azkaban, as you can see. Dreadful place, that. They should have sent YOU there for being a little bastard, not me. Luckily, Severus was oh-so-kind enough to put me in touch with Blaise and Pansy. Let her go, darling, she’s too good for you. And imagine our surprise when Severus found out that our precious Chosen One had fled to America! He did so much research—that’s how we found Graham, you know—”

“Narcissa, love, don’t spoil all of their fun! I know you’re English and therefore ignorant of our American ways, but the FBI agents love nothing better than to find the clues to the puzzle, and you’ll make them sad if you tell all of the secrets,” Graham broke in, lifting his hand to pet Parker’s head as well. Jack shifted angrily, and Draco cried out again, reaching for Harry’s computer as if he could stop all of this madness. Sam pulled him back, wrapping her arm around his shoulders to comfort him as much as possible. Elena threaded her arm around Draco’s waist, and he sagged between the two women. When he dropped his hands, he was too distraught to notice that one of them landed on Harry’s shoulder. Distracted and horrified by the video, Harry’s mind registered subconsciously that something was on his shoulder, and he absently reached up, laying his hand atop the pale one. Narcissa’s smile vanished as her face twisted into a playful pout.

“But Graham, this video is about Draco and Harry, not your sodding agents. Anyway, sorry, dears, for the language. I’m almost finished, don’t worry. Draco, when Blaise told me that you were coming to visit New York, I just knew I would have to see you! Don’t blame yourself for not watching Parker, honey; Graham is an expert at this sort of thing, and there is nothing you could have done to prevent it. He followed you for most of the day, actually, and just waited for his opportunity. He really could have been a Slytherin, you know. I only wish I could see your heartbreak; I bet now you regret not killing that old fool Dumbledore and joining us, don’t you? As far as I am concerned, you are disowned from the Malfoy name, and that line ended with your father. Unfortunately, your little darling here—he looks so much like Lucius, doesn’t he—won’t make it into adulthood. Consider this your sentence for the sins of your life. You robbed me of my rightful child by turning out to be the spiteful brat you are, so I shall repay you in kind by robbing you of your child.

“Now, Harry, we haven’t forgotten about you! You did indeed kill our Dark Lord, and so I hope you are reasonably confident that your own little alcoholic bitch of a wife keeps an eye on your twin brats. They do look an awful lot like you, don’t they?” Harry stopped breathing. “And now, it is time for us to say good-bye. Harry, it was a great pleasure knowing you, and it does my heart good to see that at least one of you has the guts to kill someone, even if it was my leader. Mon fils, allez-vous faire voir. Au revoir!” Narcissa blew a kiss into the camera. Graham grasped Parker under his arms and hoisted the little boy until he was standing on Graham’s thighs, leaning back against the man’s chest, as Graham put his arms around the little boy and angled his face alongside Parker’s.

“Jack, I hate to say this, but Narcissa is right. Parker, can you say bye-bye to Daddy? Can you say bye-bye? Look there at the camera and tell your daddy good-bye.” Graham pointed at the camera, speaking to the child. Parker’s face suddenly drooped, feeling a change in the mood. He craned his head back to look at Narcissa, who smiled reassuringly. She got up and walked toward the camera and out of range. Parker’s head whipped around, following her, and then looked back at the camera, presumably because Narcissa was pointing at it. The edge of her dress was just visible on the left side of the frame.

“It’s okay, baby. Just say bye to Daddy,” she encouraged. Parker smiled, looking straight into the camera. He raised his hand and waved.

“Bye-bye, Daddy,” he said cheerfully, not understanding at all why he was being told to say this. “I lub you!” The little blonde mimicked Narcissa by kissing his palm noisily and ‘throwing’ the kiss in the direction of the camera. Graham beamed at the little boy, snuggling him closer. He placed his hand on the little boy’s stomach and began to rub in slow, suggestive circles as he grinned at the camera again.

“We have to go now,” he leaned forward conspiratorially, leering. “It’s time for my fifteen minutes. And after that, YOUR fifteen minutes!” The video ended abruptly as the camera was shut off. There was dead silence for about a split second before everyone exploded.

* * * * *

Draco, despite Sam and Elena’s hold on him, crashed to the floor, sobbing. The two female agents were still trying to keep him upright, so they were pulled down with him. Samantha kept Draco from hitting his head, and tears fell from her own eyes. She smoothed Draco’s hair, cradling his head in her lap. Samantha remembered the Spaulding cases, and her heart broke for the little boy. Elena was choked up as well, but she hadn’t been around, so it wasn’t as close for her. She had heard several things in the video that were foreign, and she was curious to find out about them, even though now wasn’t the time. She rubbed the wailing blonde’s back comfortingly.

Vivian was clutching Danny’s arm, the two of them just staring at Harry’s computer. They had met Spaulding, but due to a sloppy investigation, he had been dismissed of all charges of child molestation and gone free. Vivian had a son of her own in high school, and she felt sick for the young man on the floor. Danny looked slightly ill; he was the joker and the wise-cracker of the group, but the video had rendered him speechless. Martin buried his head in his hands, muttering under his breath. He had been with Jack the last time they arrested Spaulding, and he had testified in court at the hearing. Martin had also been the one to find Spaulding’s last victim, a seventeen year old who was left tied up and naked in a cave for Spaulding to come back and rape him. The victim had very nearly died, and it was Jack’s pressure on Spaulding that had saved the boy’s life while simultaneously giving the judge grounds for dismissing all charges due to a constitutional violation of Spaulding’s rights.

Jack was absolutely livid by the time the video was over, and he spun around and punched his fist through the half-wall next to Harry’s desk. It went flying, but luckily, there was nothing behind it. Jack stood there, panting, his eyes glazed over with memory. Harry, meanwhile, had stopped breathing when Narcissa suggested that his daughters might be next. He grabbed his phone and punched in the numbers for Ginny’s cell phone wildly, his blood pounding in his ears as the phone rang unhurriedly.

“Hello?” Harry very nearly fell over with relief when his wife picked up the phone.

“Ginny!” he screamed. “Ginny, where are Lily and Molly?”

“Harry? Harry, what’s wrong? Calm down!”

“FUCK, Ginny, where are the girls? They’re with you, right? I mean, you’re looking at them right now, right? WHERE ARE YOU?”

“We’re at home, Harry. We went to the park to get some ice cream earlier, but we’re back home now. Yeah, the girls are in their room, playing. What’s wrong with you?” Ginny sounded confused, and she had to hold the phone away from her ear each time it was Harry’s turn to talk.

“Go to their room! GET TO WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM BOTH, and then tell me they are safe!” Harry jumped up and paced, pulling at his thick black hair with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone. “ARE THEY OKAY?”

“Yes, Harry, yes, they’re right here. I’m looking right at them. Uh-oh, hang on, Lily’s taking the phone away from me!”

“Daddy, is that you?” a small voice came over the line. Harry burst into spontaneous tears.

“Yes, baby, it’s me. Is your sister there with you?”

“Yeah, she is. We went to the park with Mommy. I got strawberry ice cream, and Molly got chocolate! Those are good choices, aren’t they?”

“Sounds delicious, princess. Hey, put Molly on for a minute, will you, please?”

“Okay, Daddy! I love you!”

“Hi, Daddy!” Harry’s other daughter sounded upbeat, utterly unaware of the tears streaming down her father’s face at hearing their voices.

“Hi, angel. It sounds like you had a good day, huh?”

“Well, we missed you, Daddy, but we had fun in the park.”

“I missed you too, Molly.” Harry could hear a whispered conversation in the background and Ginny’s voice saying, “Tell him what?” Molly came back to the line.

“Daddy, I have something to tell you. When we were in the park, Lily and I sneaked away from Mommy for a second. She was on the phone and didn’t notice, but we hid in the bushes. An’ a man came up to us and hid with us. He was smiling and nice, and he said that he wanted to tell us a secret that we should only tell to you the next time we talked to you. We’re sorry, Daddy. We didn’t mean to be bad,” Molly’s voice sounded regretful. Harry’s heart seized up again, but he quickly reassured his daughter.

“It’s okay, cupcake. You weren’t bad at all. Did the man tell you his name?”

“No, he just said to tell you that our green eyes must mean we are really lucky, and that after today, you would spend more time with us. He said you might even take us to see the fireworks tonight! Is that true, Daddy?” Before he could answer, Lily took the phone.

“Daddy, he tugged on mine and Molly’s ponytails. He tickled our tummies a little and left. I didn’t like him, Daddy, and my tummy felt funny after he touched me. Then we went back to Mommy and got ice cream. We didn’t tell Mommy because that man told us not to. He said that the secret was only for you and us.”

“You did perfect, princess. Thank you for telling me the secret. Now I need you to do something else for me, okay? I need you and your sister to pack your jammies in a suitcase, along with a couple of sleeping bags and pillows. You can bring some toys and crayons, too, but can you do that for me, baby?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“Good. Now, put Mommy back on the line, and go get ready. I love you, Lily.”

“Harry, what on earth is going on?” Ginny sounded confused and exasperated.

“Ginny, listen to me. That guy in the park was a child molester. He’s the lead suspect in my current investigation, and right now, you and the girls are in danger. Don’t let them out of your sight for a second. I told Lily to get their things packed, and then take them with you to our bedroom while you get your own stuff. Then, get the car and come here. Don’t take your eyes off them for even a second, Ginny, ONE SECOND, do you hear me? Just get them here as fast as you can,” Harry’s voice was low and deadly. Ginny was more afraid than she had been in her entire life.

“Okay, Harry. We’ll be there in half an hour,” Ginny knew better than to question her husband. In his six years as an FBI agent, she knew there was the potential to make enemies; she knew that other agents’ families had been threatened, and she and Harry had come up with a plan, just in case, but this was the first time they had ever actually needed to use it, and Ginny was scared to death.
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Chapter notes:

1. If there is someone who already has sweetrevenge2@gmail.com as their email address, I apologize. I just made it up off the top of my head because it fit the story.

2. Graham Spaulding's "15 minutes". If you are not familiar with WOaT, then this might not exactly make sense. Spaulding was a recurring criminal that Jack Malone could never quite seem to catch. He preyed on young men (13-17 year olds, I think), so the fact that he's gone after a three year old is, in my mind, a little bit out of character for him, BUT because he knew it would totally irk Jack, he decided to do it.

The "15 minutes" refers to one particular episode when a 17 year old boy went missing from a private academy, of which Spaulding was the Headmaster (don't ask how a pedophile got a job at a school...I don't know). Anyway, Jack and Martin caught Spaulding, and they were driving him out to, basically, the middle of nowhere. Jack promised Spaulding he would give him "15 minutes alone" with the boy if Spaulding would just tell the agents where the boy was. Unable to resist, Spaulding agrees. He directs Jack and Martin to a cave, where they found the boy tied up, naked, and drugged so that Spaulding could have sex with him later. (It was also below freezing temperature in the cave, so the boy would have died if he had been there much longer.)

Spaulding was sitting in the back of the car. Jack waited outside the car, and Martin went to the cave to check. He reported back that the boy was there. Spaulding leans out of the car and says, "Agent Malone, do I get my fifteen minutes now?" while licking his lips. Jack leans over and replied, "Your fifteen minutes are up."

A later episode is the trial of Graham Spaulding for this particular case. The judge was forced to throw out the pornographic evidence Danny took from Spaulding's house because it was seized illegally; then the judge threw out Spaulding's confession in the car because he had asked for a lawyer and was ignored. That constituted a violation of his rights, and so all evidence or confessions obtained after that point were considered invalid, so the court couldn't hear it. That was the Prosecution's entire case (the boy clammed up on the witness stand; he couldn't testify with Spaulding staring at him from the defendant's table) and so the judge was forced to dismiss the charges against Spaulding, despite the fact that everyone knew he did it and that he had taken Jack and Martin right to the boy.

As he walked out of the courtroom, Graham Spaulding leaned over to Jack and whispered, "Looks like my fifteen minutes aren't up, after all." So that's where this is coming into play; Spaulding is taunting Jack with his "fifteen minutes" with Parker and opening the wound deeper by insinuating that he would take another "fifteen minutes" for Jack as well. Creepy, huh?

3. I had no particular hotel in mind, which is why it never gets named properly. That particular detail is not important for the written story, although if you were watching this episode, obviously you would see it on the "video". Pretend like it's your favorite top-posh, five-star hotel in New York City. :)

4. Original note Mon fils, allez-vous se faire voir chez les grecs. Au revoir! This is French for (I hope) "My son, go to Hell. Good-bye!" (Any betas out there know French? lol)

I can read a sentence out of the dictionary in a fairly good French accent, but I'm shite at understanding it, and I've never studied the grammar in-depth. So if anyone out there speaks French, did I translate it right? (I did a TON of research on Google to come up with this phrase.) I was going for something along the lines of elegant, yet nasty and insulting, because Narcissa Malfoy IS, after all, a "lady" and leave it to her to use French (such a beautiful language) to be degrading. I think this particular phrasing of "Go to Hell" is considered more formal, so my thought is that she's using formality with her son, when she should be using the informal, which (to me) would be a sign of ultimate disgrace because it means he is a stranger to her; disowned.

5. Updated note Mon fils, allez-vous faire voir This means "My son, go to Hell" as well, but I finally figured out what the difference is, etc. The first one (above) is a literary/dictionary/paper reference, but when actually spoken out loud (in France) it IS an insult and people will understand it as "go to hell" but it's more comical than threatening, which is totally NOT the tone I wanted to portray. (And this is coming from the authority of a native French speaker...from France, and confirmed by the lovely Draca Malfoy)

However, parents wouldn't tell their children to "go to Hell" anyway because it's so vulgar (in France), but Narcissa isn't exactly your run-of-the-mill, stay-at-home-baking-pies soccer mom. She uses the formal (instead of the familiar) because she's from the highest of the upper crusted, aristocratic wizarding families, and this phrasing is more vulgar than the chez les grecs one while still managing to be..."elegant" and high-class. She used French because she didn't want to curse in front of Parker (being a lady and all) and just sort of showing off her aristocracy, snobbiness, and 'superiority' because she can insult someone in another language. (This is the part where we all go "ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh" like we're supposed to be impressed haha)

Author's note--Okay, now I'm seriously wondering who is more upset right now; you guys because of what you just read or me for knowing what I did to you! Seriously, I've got this whole "angst" thing down perfectly. I have a knot in my stomach. I'll respond to the few reviews I've gotten--thank you, guys!--which is also why I'm posting this now, instead of tonight. So now I can feel bad all day long about traumatizing you guys. haha HOWEVER I did consider ending the chapter as soon as the video ended (with the "everyone exploded" line) but I think I gave myself an ulcer, so I continued it to a slightly-less-bad point. Plus, it made it longer and I only have to split it into 2 parts intead of 3 now.

KLS--Keep guessing! Thanks a lot! You make me smile! YES, there will be intensity at the end (somehow, I just don't feel right interrupting our regularly scheduled WOaT for a Harry/Draco sex scene...so I'll make it up to you guys at the end! Hopefully that'll be acceptable) I just LOVE when Draco throws around some French phrases during sex (THERE's a good foreshadowing for the future! :D I'm already working on the research for some good French sex! haha)

Angelica--Here is more! Thanks for your review, and because you asked!

sneakypoo2--Really? Wow...I'm very flattered! Thank you very much! Hopefully the chapter you just read won't give you nightmares :(

EmeraldGrey--*groan* Why do I get the feeling you're no longer on your seat after reading this chapter?

I enjoy responding to the people who take the time to review. If you can do me that favor, I can do it for you. (Besides, if you haven't noticed already, I DO like to talk!) You are really sweet to say that, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Thanks for the advice! *sigh* I used to teach 3-6 year olds at martial arts, so I've "been" a mother without actually having given birth. I called all of them "mine" (they were "my" Little Dragons haha) I also used to baby sit all the time and teach kindergarteners...and Sunday School...so I know that I can be patient with children when I have to be. But as far as patience when waiting for things like updates (and reviews)...I'm still hopeless! *big grin*

And since you requested it, THE NEXT INSTALLMENT! (but I'm still not convinced I did you guys a favor)


Good news, though! I am just finishing the VERRRRRY end, and it's FUCKING GREAT! Thanks, as always, for reading, reviewing, and then coming back to read some more!