Nightingale (Sequel to Solider Boy)

Forty-Two

"Missing?" Steve repeated, looking up at Bucky who had probably turned very pale. It made sense. His heart had quit beating. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I went over to her apartment to check on her and she's not home. And yes, I called her and she didn't answer. I've also checked the library, Central Park and she's not there either."

"Maybe she went to a museum or something?" Steve suggested. Sharon scoffed over the phone.

"She never goes to the museum, not alone. I even had the nurses page her and she didn't pick that up either." 

Oh shit. Bucky's silent heart dropped into his stomach hearing that. Melody always had her cell phone with her, but her pager was her life. She always had it, always answered it and it didn't matter what she was doing. 

"Calm down," Steve said in a firm voice. It was probably for both their benefit. "It might have died."

Bucky shook his head even as Sharon laughed without humor. "That's a very, very slim possibility. I've already called the police but from the looks of her apartment I don't think this is something they can handle."

Bucky found his voice. "Why?" He had no idea where he'd found the ability to speak, but he had and Steve was looking at him with wide eyes. The message in the blue iris were loud and clear, they said: what the hell are you doing? 

"Because at first glance there's nothing wrong here. No sign of a struggle or forced entry."

"What about that boyfriend of hers?" Steve suggested, "The other doctor?"

"Mel broke things off with him the same day she came out of the coma. She's not with him. Besides, he's been at work all all day, he couldn't have had anything to do with this." 

"So nothing's off at her apartment?" Steve continued. "And her ex was cleared?"

"I never said nothing was wrong. Her stethoscope is gone."

"Maybe she left it at work," Steve offered reasonably but Sharon scoffed.

"No, she has two stethoscopes. She leaves one here."

"Why?"

"Because I showed up half dead on her doorstep once," Sharon said icily. "It's never gone from this place, ever. And the picture of her and I from college, that's gone too. Proof she knows a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Well, a former agent anyways."

 Her words were tense, Bucky couldn't see Sharon, but in his mind's eye, he could see her scanning her surroundings, looking for answers when all she could see so far were questions. And each was more troublesome than the last.

Bucky felt goosebumps rise over his skin. The missing photo was proof Melody knew an agent and provided her face too. The degrees on the wall and stethoscope proved she was a doctor and that narrowed things down even more.  Surgeons didn't work in clinics. They worked in hospitals and given the location of her apartment, it narrowed down the list further.

Bucky began to tremble and he leaned back against the sink. He knew these signs. He'd used them all himself for decades when he was out on a mission. Find the potential target, confirm you had the right person, watch for a while, gather information and then strike. This had all the makings of a trap. But by who? Bucky's first thought when to Hydra, they had infiltrated S.H.E.I.L.D. sometime ago. It'd make sense they were tracking down anyone with ties to it. Anyone who they thought might have information they wanted. They'd do anything to get it from her too...

Bile began to rise up in his throat, but he bit it back. Hydra was the worst of what could've done this, but they weren't the only suspects either. Stark and the lawmakers behind the Accords could've had a hand in it too.  Sharon's ties to Steve were fairly well known (even if the full extent was still a secret) and her friendship with Melody was common knowledge to those who knew either woman. Questioning Sharon directly with no proof would've been too tricky. She was a high-ranking official in her own right, not someone they could question without causing uproar in several departments they had to work with.