Without A Trace Chapter Six

[yassharrar]

11th June 11.20am

I gave Chris directions to where we lived and when we got there he pulled into the driveway, once we were inside the house I took a quick look around to see if Jared had come home, he had not.

Chris sat down on the sofa and his eyes landed on the shoe box. “What the hell is that stuff?”

“It's Jared's, from his childhood. He goes through it sometimes hoping to find something new and I kind of done the same thing today when he ran.” I told him.

I tried phoning Jared again on the off chance that his mobile might be on. I was about to hang up when Jared finally answered.

“Hello.” He said.

“Jay baby, it's me.”

“Hi Jen.”

“Jesus fucking Christ Jared are you OK? Where are you?”

“I'm fine Jen.”

“Baby... come home please.”

“I don't know Jen.” There seemed to be a lot of noise in the background as he was talking.

“When are you coming back Jared?” I asked him.

“I said I don't know Jen, I just need some time, I told you that in my letter.” He said.

“Say hi to Jared for me.” Chris said from the living room.

“Who was that?” Jared asked.

“Chris Kane.”

“What is he doing at our house Jen?” Jared asked.

“I went to see him, I had the crazy idea that you might have gone to visit him.” I replied.

“So he is at our house now?”

“Yeah he is and I am glad that I went to see him Jay,” I hesitated for a moment before continuing. “As he told me a few things about that night that you do not know about.”

“Like what Jensen?”

So I told him everything that Chris had told me. When I had finished there was nothing but road noise on the other end of the phone.

“Jared you still there?”

“Yeah I’m here Jen but I don't know what all that means.”

“Neither do I.”

“Look Jen there's a lot of traffic on the road, so I’m gonna go for now.” He said.

“Come home soon Jay... please, I really miss you and love you.”

“Bye Jen.” He said as he put down the phone.

I walked back into the living room and sat opposite Chris, he then handed me a newspaper clipping, the one of Jared standing with his football team.

“That looks like Jared in that one.” he said.

“Yeah I know.” I said as I took the clipping.

“The pictures off though.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“Well I don't recognize anyone else in the picture. It's nobody from his school back then, plus the names wrong.” He said pointing to the names under the picture of the players from left to right.

I shrugged my shoulders. “OK, so newspapers sometimes get names wrong.” I replied as I looked at the picture again which gave every ones name. Jared was standing second from the left but the name where his should have been read Jeff Marcus, I stared at it for a moment and then spoke again.

“Does the name Jeff Marcus mean anything to you?” I asked Chris.

He shook his head at me. “Nope,” He said as he took the clipping back from me. “But that is pretty fucking curious.”

Chris flipped the clipping over to see if he could read the text on the back but it seemed that the clipping had been kept for the picture only. He kept looking at the small piece of paper then asked me to fire up the pc, when the pc was up and running I spoke.

“Why did you ask me to put the computer on?”

“Well there's bits and pieces of a news story on the back of the paper involving a Michael’s mews and Manchester, so you can throw them key words in to google and see what comes up.” He replied.

It didn't take long for the search to come back. “There's a Michael’s Mews in Rochdale Manchester.” I said.

“So this is most likely from a local paper in Rochdale.” he said.

“OK, but why is Jared in a Manchester newspaper with a different name?” I said turning to face him.

“Did you ever stop to think that it's not a mistake?” Chris asked me.

“What do you mean?”

“Well maybe it's not a picture of Jared, maybe it's a picture of Jeff Marcus.”

I sat there for a minute to let his comment sink in. “So what your saying is that there are two people with the same face out there. One being Jeff Marcus and the other being my Jared?”

“Fuck if I know, but it seems to be the only thing that makes sence to me.” He said.

I turned back to the pc and went to 192.com to see if I could find Jeff Marcus's phone number, the search came up with nothing so I just tried the last name and there seemed to be a handful of Marcus's in Rochdale.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I said pointing to the screen for Chris to look at. “There's no Jeff Marcus here but there is a Gerald Marcus listed here on Sloan Road in Rochdale.”

“Wasn't Gerald... Jared's fathers name?” Chris asked.

“Yeah it was,” I said as I grabbed a pen and wrote down the number. “I'm gonna give this number a call.”

“Are you fucking crazy?” Chris shouted.

“What?”

“Look Jensen I don't know what you have found here, but what are you gonna say when you call on your home phone, if they have caller id then they will know your number right away. Now maybe they know who you are or maybe they don't but either way you don't want to be tipping your hand do you?”

“Alright... so what do you think I should do then Chris, just leave it?” I asked getting irritated.

“No idiot use this, it's disposable.” He said handing me his mobile.

I took the phone from him and dialled the number, it took a couple of rings before someone picked up.

“Hello how can I help you?” A woman s voice asked me.

“Is Jeff there please?” I asked her wondering what the hell I was going to do or say if he did come to the phone.

“I'm sorry but he's not here at the moment, may I ask who is calling please?” She asked.

“That's alright I can try again in a little while.” I said.

“Actually he will not be here later either.”

“Oh OK... do you know when I might be able to reach him?”

“No sorry he is out of town at the moment.”

“Oh of course, I’m sorry,” I said. “He did mention to me that he was going down to London, I must have forgot.”

“He did?” She asked me starting to sound suspicious.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure about that?” she asked sounding really pissed off.

“Well I could be wrong, listen I will catch him later, it's no biggy.” I said as the call was already getting out of control. Chris who had been listening in to the call drew a line across his throat letting me know that I should end the call, so I did without saying anything else and handed the phone back to Chris.

“Seems to me like you got the right place.” he said.

“So the Jeff Marcus in that picture lives in Rochdale Manchester, at a house where the phone is listed under the name Gerald Marcus and Jared's father specifically kept that clipping of said J Marcus in his drawer.”

Neither of us said anything as we were both trying to get our heads around this. After a few minutes when I could not think of anything to do about all of this I asked Chris his opinion.

“You got any ideas?” I asked him.

“Well maybe... this Jeff Marcus according to that woman is still out of town, which means he is probably still here in this area. So unless he has friends here he is most likely staying in a local Bed and Breakfast.” As he finished speaking he pulled out his phone and made a call.

“Hey it's me, I need you to do something for me straight away OK?” Then Chris told whoever was on the other end of the line to get tweddle dum and tweddle dee as I had called them and start looking in to the local B and B's in Battersea, Brixton and Clapham for a guy called Jeff Marcus from Rochdale, Manchester. He also told them not to do anything if they found him. Once he had finished he finally looked over at me and spoke.

“If Jeff Marcus is in the area they will find him.” He said with a lot of confidence.

=======================

Chris and I were headed to Clapham so I could get my car, as we pulled up behind my car his phone rang.

“Hello.” He said and listened for a few moments. “OK wait for me there.”

“They found him at the Queenstown Road Inn.” He told me.

“OK I’ll follow you in my car.” I said about to get out of his car.

“No forget your car Jensen, we'll just use mine it will be quicker.” He replied hitting the gas and speeding off.

When we reached the Bed and Breakfast 35 minutes later Chris pulled in to the drive and powered down his window so that he could speak to tweedle dee who gave him the room number that Jeff Marcus was staying in.

We parked the car in front of the reception area then walked over to the room where Jeff Marcus was staying.

“Here it is.” Chris said walking up to the door.

“I want to talk to him first Chris, so please don't do anything crazy.” I said to him.

Chris just gave me a dismissive wave as we made it to the door, when we reached the door we noticed that it was already slightly open so Chris gently knocked.

“Mr Marcus it's the manager, we have a bit of a problem and we need to talk to you.” Chris shouted through the door.

“He's gone.” A voice said which startled both myself and Chris, when we turned around there was a maid standing there staring at us.

“What?” Chris asked her.

“He checked out about 10 minutes ago.” She told us as she walked away.

When she left we pushed the door open and strode in, the bed was a mess as was the rest of the room. “It looks like he left in a hurry.” I said

Tweedle dum appeared in the doorway then. “Is he here boss?” He asked.

Chris whirled around and walked straight up to him with a look of malice in his eyes and then he shoved tweedle dum against the wall. “How fucking long ago did you guys find out that he was here?”

“We called you as soon as we found out.” He told Chris.

“Really then why the fucking hell did he check out 10 minutes ago and you didn't see him?” Chris shouted as he stormed out of the room.

Just as I followed Chris out of the room I saw him approach the maid.

“What kind of car was he driving?” He asked her, handing her a 50 pound note.

She slipped the money in to her pocket. “It was a red Nissan Primera with tinted black windows.” She replied.

Fucking hell that is the same car Jared said he kept seeing following him. I thought to myself starting to get really worried.

“Thank you.” Chris said to her as we headed back to his car.

“Fucking hell,” Chris said. “Shit... shit.”

“What now?” I said having no clue what to do next.

“You need to pack a small overnight bag.” Chris said.

“What?”

“I think your only option left is to go to Rochdale and you can not get there and back plus do everything that you need to do in a day.” He replied.

“Maybe your right, since he has checked out it makes sence that he would go home.” I said.

“And even if he isn't it looks like Rochdale is the only place we are going to get any answers at the moment.” Chris said as he started the car and drove.

==========================

11th June 6pm

We were making good time on the M6 and once we neared junction 19 which was our turn off I tried Jared again but got no answer so I tried the home number without any real expectation that he would be there and I was right, he wasn't. Maybe that was a blessing though as I would rather call him when I had some real news and hopefully after this trip I would have some.

I was about to put the phone away when it rang making me jump.

“Hello?” I said.

“Jensen?” It was Jeff calling.

“Hi Jeff.”

“Have you heard from Jared yet?” He asked.

“Yep I spoke to him before I left, but he didn't tell me where he was.”

“What do you mean before you left? Where are you?”

“We are just about to get off the M6 at junction 19 heading for Manchester.” I told him.

“Who is we?” He asked me.

“It's a long story Jeff and it seems to be getting longer as I go along.”

What are you doing Jensen?” He asked me sounding worried.

“I maybe going on a wild goose chase, but there's a chance I may have found Jared's father.” I told him.

“Are you fucking kidding me Jensen?”

“Nope.”

“Come on Jensen, he has got to be dead after all of these years, if he didn't die that night.” He said.

“Maybe? I don't really know. All I do know is that we are on our way to an address where the phone is listed under the name Gerald Marcus.”

“Jenson look I don't think you should even be attempting this, you don't know what kind of situation your walking in to.”

“I know Jeff, but I am with someone who knows how to handle himself in all kind of situations.” I said looking over at Chris and hanging up the phone.

When we reached Rochdale 4 and a half hours after we left, the cars headlights caught the street signs and it wasn't long until we found Sloan road. Chris turned left and drove slowly down the street while I looked for number 12.

When we found the house we were looking for Chris drove straight past and parked about a hundred and fifty yards away. There was no car in the driveway so we must have beat Jeff Marcus here, there was a wheelchair ramp from the entrance of the garden up to the door which we walked up and stood at the door together. ”Show time.” Chris said as I rang the doorbell.

=========================

11th June 6.45pm

It was about 2 minutes before the door opened just a crack and a woman who was at least in her early sixties and in a wheelchair with a blanket over her lap peered out at us.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

“Mrs Marcus?” I asked.

“Yes I’m Mrs Marcus.” She replied.

“I'm sorry to disturb you when it's so late, but are you Mrs Gerald Marcus?” I asked.

“Yes I am Maggie Marcus and your right it is late so what do you want?” She said with an edge to her voice, I was actually quite surprised that she was not more fearful of two strange men at her door, but I let the thought slip to the back of my mind as I sniffed the air and smelt the nice aroma coming from inside.

“Are you baking?” I asked.

“Yes a cheese cake for my son, he is coming home soon.” She snapped out.

“Oh that's good because that's actually who we are here to see.” I said.

“What do you want with Jeff?” She asked.

I wasn't sure what to say at that point so Chris took over. “Where is Jeff right now Mrs Marcus?”

“Who the hell are you?” She asked deflecting our question.

“I'm afraid were the ones asking the questions at the moment Mrs Marcus, so again where is your son?” He asked her in a gentle tone which quite shocked me as I didn't think Chris could do gentle.

“You still have not told me who you are.” Was her only reply.

“Maybe we could talk to your husband Gerald?” I said.

“He's not here,” She said. “He's in the hospital.”

That took me by surprise. “Oh I’m sorry,” I said. “Is that the hospital that we saw driving up here?”

“Yes,” She said. “He's been there for three months, I have to take a cab every day to see him.” She replied.

“Your son can't take you?” Chris asked.

“He's had things to do.” She said inching her wheelchair forward as if to close the door.

“I hope it's nothing serious with your husband?” I asked.

“My husband is dying,” She said. “He's got prostate cancer and it's only a matter of time now before he dies,” she hesitated then looked at me. “Are you the one who phoned here looking for Jeff?”

“Yes I am,” I said. “I need to get in touch with him quite urgently.”

“You said he told you he was going to London?” She said with venom in her voice.

“I believe that's what he told me.” I said to her.

“Bullshit he never told you that, I asked him. He told me that he didn't tell anybody where he was going, so how in the hell did you know where he was?”

“I think we should continue this inside.” Chris said moving forward.

Maggie Marcus held on to her wheels as she spoke. “I don't fucking think so.”

“Well I do.” Chris said as he forced his way in to the house with me behind him.

“Hey be careful with her Chris.” I told him.

“Don't worry it's just cold outside and we don't want Mrs Marcus here to get sick now do we?” He said as he closed the door behind us. “Look Jensen we need to stop pussy footing around, so just ask your questions so that we can find Jared.” He said to me.

“Who the fuck are you two?” Maggie Marcus spat out.

“Mrs Marcus my name is Jensen Ackles and my husbands name is Jared... Jared Padalecki-Ackles.” I told her.

She just stared at me her mouth hanging open, speechless.

“I take that name means something to you,” I said. “My husbands name means something to you?”

She still said nothing.

“Jeff is Jared's brother isn't he?” I asked

She glared at me then her eyes filled with hatred. “Don't you dare fucking say that.” She said.

“Why because it's true?” I asked.

“I want to make a phone call,” She said. “I demand to use the phone.”

“Who do you want to call?” Chris asked.

“That's none of your business.” She told him.

Chris looked over to me before speaking. “She is going to call Jeff, she wants to warn him and that's not a good idea.” He said calmly while holding on to her wheelchair.

“I know,” I said looking at him. “I need to go to the hospital to see Gerald Marcus.”

“You can't go and see him, he's very sick and can not be disturbed.” Maggie shouted.

“Maybe I can disturb him long enough to ask him some questions.” I told her.

“No you can't... visiting hours are over and besides he is in a coma.” She said.

Well if he is a coma she should not care whether I went to see him or not. “Lets go to the hospital anyway.” I said to Chris.

“If we leave her she is going to call Jeff and warn him that we are here.” He said to me.

“Shit your right... what if you stay here while I go to the hospital?” I asked him.

“That's fine with me.” He said while tossing me his car keys.

“What room number is your husband in?” I asked her.

She just sat there and glared at me stubbornly.

“Tell me what room he is in now or Chris here will not be so nice any more.”

She sat there thinking for a minute and probably realized that I could find out anyway when I reached the hospital. “Room 39, first floor.”

=========================

11th June 8.30 pm

When I reached the hospital I parked the car and walked straight in hoping that I was not stopped on the way, I took the stairs to the first floor then walked straight on to the ward. Luck seemed to be on my side as there was no nurse at the reception, so I turned left and started looking for room numbers until I found 39.

The door was slightly open and the room was mostly in darkness except for the light mounted by the bed. I walked in and quietly shut the door behind me and when I turned around I got my first glimpse at the man in the bed, he was in his late sixties and was quite thin probably due to the chemo.

I moved around to the far side of the bed and sat down in the chair by his bed, I studied Gerald Marcus's face searching for something there that would remind me of Jared. I reached out and gently touched his arm as he snored slightly.

“Gerald.” I whispered.

He sniffed and shifted unconsciously.

“Gerald.” I called again rubbing his arm back and forth.

His eyes fluttered open and he sniffed again, he saw me and blinked hard a couple of times letting his eyes adjust and focus.

“Who...”

“Gerald Padalecki?” I said before he could say anything else.

That not only bought his eyes in to focus but made him turn his head sharply towards me. “Who are you?” He whispered.

“Your son in law.” Was my very blunt reply.

Chapter Seven