A/N: I don't own any of the characters; they belong to Tess Gerritsen, Janet Tamaro and TNT.
I also want to take a moment to thank you who are reading this story and leaving reviews. You are a large part of what makes writing worthwhile. Thanks again! ~ Candy
Chapter Four
At the sound of the gunshots, Doyle's enforcer panicked and turned the boat around. "Boss, we can't risk this!" Once Cavanaugh and the lookout had killed one another, it was evident that Doyle's only option was to leave as quickly and stealthily as he had arrived.
It wasn't until a while later, once they were far from the reach of the Coast Guard or any other law enforcement, that Doyle took the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. "Come to the marina," he said in a low tone. "I hope it isn't too late."
The person on the other end of the phone knew exactly what Doyle meant, replying with only one sentence before disconnecting.
When Maura saw the unusual light in the sky, she was still lucid enough to categorize it in her mind with her typical logic. As the one source of light divided into several ribbons of multicolor streaks, she watched and recalled that hallucinations were a symptom of worsening hypothermia. What she didn't expect was the sensation of being lifted into the air by those very lights and their entrancing rhythm.
They spun her high above the water and transported her back toward the city, up and over places she'd seen every day and always considered ordinary. But from this vantage point, they took on an entirely new perspective. She didn't feel cold anymore, nor was she thinking about the rain. They were things of the distant past, fading from memory. Maura was beginning to adapt to this strange feeling of detachment when a ribbon of crimson light suddenly zoomed past her, shining on the bloodstains still evident on her dress. She knew at once that she must find out what had happened to Jane and Frankie.
She found herself only slowing down as she approached the inevitable pull of those for whom she cared the most. They were all in or near that second floor waiting room, so that was where she must go as well. In the blink of an eye, Maura was standing in front of the floor to ceiling window.
Angela was staring out through another portion of the same window, gazing absently at the courtyard below, but didn't seem to notice Maura standing there. Neither did Frank Sr.
She tiptoed across the room to the bank of chairs where Frost and Korsak were sitting. Frost was stirring his coffee and Korsak was working a crossword puzzle. "Did you hear anything about Jane?" she asked.
Neither man looked up or acknowledged her, which made her heart skip a beat. Something was definitely amiss.
"Korsak? Frost?" she spoke a little louder, becoming alarmed. She was again met with only silence as each man merely continued what he had been doing before.
Suddenly a doctor came through the double doors and stopped in front of Angela and Frank Sr. "Jane is out of surgery now, she made it through." For the second time that day, the weary parent s sobbed tears of relief. Both of their children had survived. "The damage was extensive due to internal bleeding, but she will recover."
Maura felt tears pour from her eyes, and she didn't try to keep them back. The horrible wait was finally over. Korsak dropped his newspaper and green pen he'd been using for the crossword, and Frost spilled the newly stirred coffee all over his jacket.
Korsak's cell phone rang with a piercing tone. He picked it up, frowned when he didn't recognize the number, and answered. "We'll be right there." He hung up and turned to Frost. "They found her."
As Korsak spoke to the person on the other end of the phone, Maura was abruptly pulled away from the room by the ribbons of light. They were much swifter than before, filled with a new intensity. Within seconds she was back in the rowboat. Her body felt heavier and colder than it had previously, and the darkness returned instantly.
The marina was abuzz with activity when Korsak and Frost arrived. Crime scene investigators were processing Cavanaugh's boat and retrieving the bodies killed in the gunfire exchange from the water. Some were taken aback to discover that someone like Cavanaugh would have been on the scene of a drug-related shootout, but while others had long suspected illegal activity, there was not yet any proof.
Korsak and Frost paid little attention to the crime scene and the rumors surrounding it; they had come with only one goal, to find Maura. Frost called the Coast Guard while they were en route to the docks because the tip Korsak received had not specified an exact location, so they wanted all possible assistance. Such instances of Frost's quick thinking had helped Korsak overcome his previous resentment of the younger detective. He still wished Jane would have chosen to remain as his own partner, but he now thought of Frost as one of the team.
One of the Coast Guard motioned to them. "Climb aboard," he said with a sense of urgency. "Our helicopters have spotted the location of the rowboat."
"Rowboat?" Korsak was confused. "We don't know any details. Is Dr. Isles all right?"
"We don't know yet." The other man looked regretful that he couldn't provide Korsak and Frost with any information.
Neither Korsak nor Frost were prepared to see what the searchlights revealed when they flooded their beams into the boat. Maura was lying inside, still as death. Her half-closed eyes were glazed over and appeared to be unseeing. Korsak jumped into the boat and gently picked her up in his arms.
He checked for a pulse on the side of her neck and saw the needle marks. Of course, he thought. They drugged her. Probably repeatedly.
"Is she," Frost's words nearly caught in his throat, "alive?"
"Barely," Korsak answered. "I can hardly feel her pulse, but it's there." For now.
"Maura?" he whispered softly in her ear, not wanting to startle her if she was at all conscious. "Can you hear me?" there was no response. "It's Korsak," he continued. "We've been looking all over for you." He tried to hide the tears creeping onto his voice. "Please hold on just a little longer." He held her closer to try to warm her icy skin.
The paramedics were already waiting when the boat docked. Korsak quickly handed Maura over to them, then stood back with Frost. It seemed there was nothing more they could do, and it was at that point that both men realized how deeply exhausted they had become. Within minutes the paramedics were ready to take Maura to the hospital, already treating her hypothermia with warm intravenous fluids and heated, humidified oxygen. The two men followed close behind in their car, speeding through the streets.
In her room, Jane was having a strange dream. She had awakened briefly when her parents were at last allowed to see her after the surgery. Now she was waking up again, thoroughly confused and still more than half asleep due to the effects of post-operative medications.
"What's wrong, Janie?" Her father asked, concerned. "Are you in pain? Do I need to get a doctor?"
She shook her head slowly. "Where's Maura? I-I dreamed she was on a boat… needed something… I pushed a lantern over. But she was sinking…in-in the ocean. I tried to get her out..."
"It's OK, Janie," Frank Sr. said in a soothing voice. "You were just having a dream. Just go back to sleep now. Maura should be here to see you soon." He prayed that he was correct.
Korsak and Frost waited nearly all night for any news on Maura's condition. She was in the emergency room for hours as the doctors kept treating the hypothermia as well as the effect of the drugs she'd been given by the kidnappers. As the sun was rising, the head of the trauma department came to speak with Korsak and Frost.
"She's stable for now," he said, "and her temperature is back up to normal. What really surprised us was the toxicology results. Whoever drugged her clearly did not intend for her to survive the kidnapping, or else they wouldn't have used this kind of quantity or combination. In most cases, it would be a lethal dose."
The two men were aghast. "So what's going to happen to Maura? Is she going to be all right?" Frost asked in a thin voice.
"We're giving her fluids to make the poisons leave her system faster than they would do normally. Their effects may last longer, though, because they slowed her heart rate until it nearly stopped and have made it impossible for her to breathe without a ventilator for now. And then after the toxins have left her body, she'll be kept unconscious for a few days so she can heal further. Maura's very lucky that you arrived at the marina when you did, because even fifteen minutes more would have been too long. I'm cautiously optimistic, as long as there are no complications."
The two detectives thanked the doctor and went upstairs to tell Frank Sr. and Angela the latest information on Maura.