***
Earlier that morning"Struggle all you want, Mrs. Donovan," a voice called out to her from across the room, "but be assured you will not leave this facility until your husband caves to my demands."
Shay's head whipped up at the sound of the threat. Her attempt at freeing herself from the handcuffs that held her arms behind her back was forgotten for the moment. She tried desperately to recognize the voice, but it was unfamiliar to her.
It killed her inside knowing that Frank was struggling with the decision of doing what this cretin asked or attempting to find her. She had no idea what the vulture wanted, but she hoped frantically that her husband did not do as he was asked. Whatever it was, to kidnap her into coercing him to fulfill the request, it had to be something awful, something that would destroy him. Shay could not live with that.
"What's the point in all of this?" she demanded, her head following the sound of footsteps as they paced the room.
"As I said, it is of no concern of yours," Mitchell Wingard insisted as he turned hate-filled amber eyes onto the wife of Frank Donovan. "You'll be held here until your husband carries out his duty."
Shay felt a hand encircle her upper arm just before she was pulled roughly to her feet. She jerked her shoulder in an attempt to remove the hand but was unsuccessful. "What duty? The man does his duty every damn day!"
"Tsk, tsk," he admonished acidly. "Such loyalty for the traitor. I don't believe he deserves it...from you...or anyone."
She had no other choice but to go along with the man as she was dragged from the room. "How can you call him a traitor?" she asked incredulously. No sooner had the question left her lips than she was shoved through another doorway and pushed carelessly down onto a cot.
"I will call the bastard anything I like," he assured. "This will be your home for the remainder of your stay with us. I suggest you behave, unless you wish your children to be without both parents."
Shay's mouth gaped open at the thought of her children being orphaned. Sweet Jesus! This man means to see Frank dead before this is over. Her own safety and well-being was never a concern; her only thoughts were for her husband.
Her ears registered the sound of the door opening and closing and, deciding she was now alone, she began struggling with her bonds once again. Her wrists were beginning to become raw from the metal scraping against her tender flesh, but the thoughts of her husband and children made the pain bearable.
She strained her shoulder against the side of her head frantically trying to loosen the blindfold so that she could, at the very least, see her surroundings. It still angered her that she had allowed herself to be taken.
Three vehicles had surrounded her car after she had dropped the babies off at her father's house and had run her off the road. Although she had pulled her gun and was about to exit the car to make a hasty escape on foot, she hadn't been fast enough and she was grabbed the moment the car door opened.
Slammed up against the side of the car, the air had been knocked from her lungs and she could not breathe, although she struggled forcefully against the arms that held her. She managed to get in a few solid punches and kicks before she was rendered unconscious by the solid blow from the butt end of an attacker's gun to her cheekbone.
She could not fathom what these people wanted from Frank, what duty they felt needed to be done. Calling him a traitor had thrown her. What could Frank have done to warrant such a title? There was no sense to any of it, but the sad reality was that she was being held captive to force her husband to do something he had obviously refused to do.
It had been apparent from what her captor said earlier in the room as he spoke into, what she assumed, was some kind of recording device...video most likely. Something to show Frank just what or who was at stake if he did not do as he was instructed. Shay felt the bile rise in her throat at the thought of him following through on whatever the task might be.
Why was it that he had neglected to mention this to her? He had to have been contacted recently and yet he had not said one word about it. They had made a promise...no more secrets. She vowed to herself when she got her hands on him again, after she gave him a thorough loving, she would kick his ass for breaking that promise.
She readied herself for the pain of what she was about to do. Her thoughts turned back to the last time she had been forced to do this little trick. Donovan's team had been sent in to extract her from Uribe and Espinosa's compound in Bucamaranga, Colombia, after she had been discovered as DEA.
Shay, then under the guise of Fallon Dumas, sat with an unconscious Frank Donovan for countless hours after witnessing his torture at the hands of Armando Uribe's vengeance riddled brother, Roberto. There had been many times during those hours she waited for him to awaken that she wondered why he had risked his life on such a foolish mission. Only after she had returned to his life after a brief absence had he told her that if he had not been under the direct orders of her father he would not have.
At the time, her father, Thomas Renquist, headed the CIA. Frank had no idea that he was being sent in to rescue Thomas' daughter. He felt absolutely no allegiance to the CIA, but he did have respect for the man who had set the task before him. He could have bucked the system and called Thomas' bluff, but it was not in him to refuse the man. For whatever reason, Frank had sensed his desperation and their past together would not allow him to pass on the mission. So, under orders from the Director of the CIA, he went after Fallon Dumas.
Shay worked her thumb into position to give it the hard yank that would dislocate it and allow her to slip out of the cuffs. It had been the trick that allowed her and Frank to escape Uribe's clutches. She never had been able to determine the exact moment she fell head over heels for him, but she was fairly certain it was during the moments he had been tortured so vilely by Uribe. His strength and courage had overwhelmed her and she had never felt such pain in her own heart while witnessing the pain of another. The hours she sat with him afterwards, trying to offer comfort while his body was wracked with shakes and convulsions was heartbreaking.
One hard pull and she would be free of the cuffs and could try to escape. She needed to get to Frank before he made a decision out of pure desperation. In her heart, she knew he would do whatever they asked. He knew this monster, the man that was holding her, and he knew the consequences if he did not do as they asked. Shay did not want to be the reason for his ultimate destruction. Whatever his task, it would surely scar him and she would lose the man that was Frank Donovan.
She wrapped the fingers of her right hand around her left thumb, gripping it tightly. As she closed her eyes and gave it a hard tug, she bit down on her lip to stifle the cry of pain that threatened. She whimpered slightly as she tugged the cuff from her left hand and with a harsh curse, she pushed her thumb back into place.
"That was highly unnecessary, Agent Donovan."
Shay's head whipped up toward the voice. It was not the same man who had dragged her into the room. Had he been here the entire time? She was sure the door never opened after the other man had left. "Who are you?"
"See for yourself," he suggested as he reached down and removed the blindfold from her eyes. He waited until her vision cleared then knelt before her, unlocking the remaining cuff and removing it from her wrist. "Pretty handy trick."
Shay shrugged, holding back the urge to attack the sandy haired man with all she was worth. "Whatever. Who are you?" He was about a foot shorter than her husband and a bit on the gangly side. She was sure she could take him easily enough.
"Name's Derek, if it matters," he replied loosely. "I'll be keeping an eye on you while you're here."
"Let me go, please," she pleaded urgently. "I don't understand what this is all about, but..."
Derek stood and moved away from her. "Please, don't. It won't change a thing. I'm under orders," he informed her. "You can talk until you're blue in the face, but I have my orders."
Shay sat back, leaning against the wall, only slightly defeated. There was something about this man, something that he held in his hazel eyes that told her he was not so attached to his orders. She could be wrong...but what if she was right?
***
"Time to share, Donovan," Alex commented as he reached for his jacket and pulled out his car keys.
Frank shook his head and shrugged into the garment. "No time, Alex."
She made a move to go after him when he headed for the door, but he was stopped when Jake stepped in his path.
Frank released an irritated breath and scrubbed his hand over his jaw. "Let me put this as delicately as I can...get the hell out of my way!"
Jake's response was to fold his arms over his chest and stare Frank down.
"Fine," Frank spat, reaching out and taking Jake by the shoulders. One hard shove and Jake landed on his backside. "I'll only say this once. Stay the hell out of this. Shay's life is at stake and you will not interfere." He strode purposefully to the door without looking back.
"We have every right to..." Jake began.
Donovan spun on his heel, his eyes blazing with anger. "NO! You have no right," he insisted. "She is my wife as well as an agent under my charge. I hold all the cards here, Jake. Don't fuck with this...you'll only get her killed."
"Frank," Alex inserted softly.
He shook his head. "Trust me on this, Alex. Please. I promise you that Shay will be fine...I guarantee it."
Alex nodded and reached for Jake when he pulled himself to his feet and made a move for Frank. "No, Jake...let it go."
After Frank disappeared through the doorway, Jake released a heated breath. "I can't let it go, Alex."
"Neither can I, Jake...neither can I," she admitted. "But pushing him when he's like this will only result in the two of you coming to blows, and he'd knock the shit out of you. Can't you understand?" she asked as she lit a cigarette, her eyes raking over him. "She's all he's seeing now, he'll focus on that only. He'll do what it takes to see that she's released unharmed."
"But what exactly will it take?" he asked anxiously.
"That's something we'll have to find out," Cody interjected, finally joining in the conversation.
"Where do we start?"
"I traced the call he received, Alex," Cody informed her. "It was a cell phone and unidentifiable. Mean anything to you?"
Jake nodded. "Just as our cell numbers cannot be identified by outsiders. The call he received was from someone in our government."
"Bingo."
***
To be continued...