Title: Cruel Misunderstandings
Author: Dreamscape and Gypsy
Rating: R – sexual content, violence, discussion of murder and rape.
Summary: When ghosts from Donovan's past start to turn up dead, the team turns to an outsider for help...with the case and their very lives.
Disclaimer: We don't own UC: Undercover or it's characters. All original characters belong to us. Don't sue...you'd only get our clones and they only listen to us. ~g~
Authors Note: You might want to read "A Shock to the System" and "Another Shock" for more background on Shay. And please check out "Frankie and Eric" –a UC fic by Gypsy for more background on Francesca Battles
Chapter One
The motel was secluded from the main highway and the gods smiled upon him as he made his way around the buildings. Most of the streetlights were out and the cloudy night sky blocked the moon and stars adding to the darkness.
First pulling on a pair of latex gloves, he jimmied the lock of an unoccupied room and opened the door quietly before returning to his vehicle. Scurrying around back, he opened the trunk, lifted the bundle into his arms and carried it inside. His confidence was high; he would not be caught, could not be deterred from his mission.
He placed the bundle on the bed carefully and returned to close the door to work without disturbance in the darkness. No need to turn on any lights, his night vision was very good.
He returned to the bed and unwrapped the bundle. This one was very beautiful, almost as beautiful as the beauty queen the night before. He arranged her the way he wanted to see and remember her and then he leaned over to kiss her cold lips. "Thank you, my love. I will never forget you."
He closed the door quietly behind him and walked slowly to his car. Sliding in behind the wheel, he reached over, still wearing the latex gloves, opened the glove compartment and removed the CD he had placed there earlier. "One more stop," he said aloud, turning the key in the ignition.
Parking the car a few blocks from his destination, he first slid the CD into a manila envelope and scribbled the name "Frank Donovan" on the front before peeling off the strip to seal it. He walked the remaining blocks until he reached the rundown warehouse that housed the special operations unit. He slid the envelope through the small mail slit in the door, turned and walked away.
************
A whistle from the room on the ground floor caught his attention. It was a familiar sound; Cody had discovered something interesting. He moved to the doorway.
"Find something, Cody?" Alex asked, shuffling the pages of her newspaper.
"Yeah, wait 'til you hear this!" he answered.
"Holy shit!" Alex exclaimed as she read an article that captured her attention.
"What's going on?" Jake asked as he entered from the break room followed by Shay.
"Cody just found something on the 'net, but hang on a sec, Cody...listen to this," she insisted as she read from the newspaper. "Former Miss Illinois, LeighAnne Carruthers was found dead yesterday in a local motel. The police refuse to release any details of her death, but will confirm that the former beauty queen was murdered."
"That's horrible," Shay said as she sat next to Alex and glanced at the article. "What a beautiful woman she was."
"She was," Alex agreed. "Such a shame. Cody, what was it you had to tell us," Alex asked.
"Oddly enough...do you remember Darinda Blake?" he asked.
"Sure," Jake replied. "Blonde, five foot ten, legs that went on for miles."
Alex laughed. "Yes, that...and she was a female cop...thirty-sixth precinct, if I remember."
Cody nodded. "Right. She was found dead at a local motel this morning. The police aren't releasing any details about her death either, except that it was murder."
Shay felt that familiar tingle at the back of her neck from the times she had worked with the Violent Crimes Task Force in Atlanta. This had the bells ringing in her mind and her "spider sense" was going off like sirens blaring. "Cody, can you get me the Coroner's reports on those two murders," she asked, but received no answer.
Shay looked up to see her three teammates staring up at Frank's office. She followed their gaze and found him standing in his doorway. He refused to look directly at her; instead, he looked downward and drew back into his office.
Alex shook her head and clucked her tongue.
"What? What's going on?" Shay asked, perplexed.
For a moment, everyone was silent. Shay understood and sighed. "It's okay, guys. I realize Frank had relationships before I came along. I'm cool with it."
Jake nodded. "Yeah, Shay. He dated her for a couple months. It was never anything serious."
"Jake...it's cool. You don't have to defend his past to me." She fingered her wedding band and diamond engagement ring. "He's my husband, and I love him. His past is his past. We all have one."
The gang nodded in agreement.
"If you'll excuse me...I want to make sure he's okay," she said with a touch of sadness in her voice.
Rapping her knuckles on the doorframe lightly, she entered his office and approached him as he sat in his chair, his face buried in his hands. She touched his shoulder tenderly and was shocked when he shrugged her off.
"Go back to work, Shay," he ordered gruffly.
"But," she began but was cut off.
He sat up quickly and fixed her with a cold glare. "I said, go back to work."
"Frank, I know you're hurting, she was a friend."
He stood up and ushered her to the door. "I don't need counseling, Agent Donovan."
Shay was about to respond when Cody called for her to come back down and look at the coroner's reports and photographs he had accessed. Shay gave Frank a "this isn't over by a long shot" look and hurried to Cody's computer.
"Can you put the pictures up side-by-side," she asked as she leaned over his shoulder to get a better look.
"No prob," he replied.
She studied the photographs for a moment while Jake and Alex read the reports that Cody had printed out. "Hmmm," she murmured and pushed Cody out of the way to lean in closer.
"Hey!" he protested.
"Sorry, bucko," Shay said with a laugh. "Yeah, look...no blood on the bed. These women weren't killed in these rooms. They were placed in these rooms for a reason."
"Why is that," Alex asked, checking out the photos.
Shrugging, Shay said, "Possibly just so they would be found quickly. Does the report say the cause of death?"
Jake tossed her an odd look. "Shay, hon, they've been stabbed like a million times. Don't you think that alone would be the cause of death?"
Again she shrugged. "On the surface, yes. But look at their necks...see the deep bruises? These women have been strangled. Before or after they were abused sexually?" she wondered aloud.
"How'd you know that?" Alex asked, handing Shay the report. Alex pointed to one of the paragraphs. "Theory is that they were still alive during the abuse and strangulation was not the cause of death. It was the multiple stab wounds that killed them."
Shay paced the room deep in thought. According to the report, the killer left no semen and traces of latex were found showing a condom was used. She was half tempted to call her old boss, Bryce Davencourt and get him on these murders, but she had to be sure it was truly a case for the VCTF first. "Cody," she said loudly, turning to face him. "Do a nationwide search of the police databases and look for victims that were found in this manner."
Cody frowned and shrugged, but started clicking away at his keyboard. She was getting as good as Frank at ordering him around.
************
12am the digital clock screamed silently at her through the darkness of the room. She had gone to bed hours ago after putting Little Jake and Ariel Sage down for the night. Frank had shut himself off in the study and refused to speak to anyone. Tossing the covers off, she decided enough was enough.
She stopped at Jake's room and looked in on her eighteen-month-old son. He slept peacefully in his crib, unaware of the mounting tension growing between his parents. She smiled softly thinking of the day the adoption paperwork was finalized making Frank his legal father. They had laughed about the boy's name now being Donovan Jacob Donovan when Frank had asked her to marry him in the little hospital in Bucamaranga and decided to legally change his name to Jacob Franklin Donovan. He was now "Little Jake" and his godfather had become "Uncle Jake".
She touched a gentle hand to his cheek. "Sleep tight, my little man," she whispered as she closed the door tightly behind her.
She padded quietly across the hall to the baby's nursery. Three-month-old Ariel had turned onto her stomach and lay sucking her thumb while she slept. Her little mouth worked in earnest as her eyes twitched beneath her closed eyelids. Her dark hair and slightly olive complexion was so like her daddy's and if her eyes were open, there was no doubt that Frank Donovan lurked within those caramel eyes.
Shay opened the door to the study slowly, he sat in the leather executive chair with his back to the door and his feet propped up on the windowsill. Moving closer in the dimly lit room, she saw the bottle of Jack Daniels on the corner of the desk; a brand new bottle with a quarter of the liquid missing.
He heard her approaching and dropped his feet from the sill and turned the chair abruptly eliciting a startled gasp from her. "Go to bed, Shay," he ordered harshly.
"Franklin Donovan, you're drunk," she accused.
"And, what of it? Now, go to bed," he growled. He was not in the mood to talk; he only wanted to be left alone.
She took the crystal tumbler he held loosely within his long fingers and set it on the desk before lowering herself to his lap and curled up in the chair with him. "Tiger, whatever it is, you know you can talk to me."
He felt the comfort of her body as she molded against him and laid her head on his shoulder. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her close. He wanted to tell her the truth but something urged him to hold it back from her. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, but did not speak.
Shay sighed heavily but did not prod. Frank Donovan was not a man to push and prod. Sooner or later he would let her in; he always did. She would content herself with that knowledge for now and be there when the damn broke.
************