(Chapter 3)
The two officers have not yet discovered them, so when the blond woman suddenly screams in a threatening tone, Donna can see them flinch in surprise for a micro second before they are trying to locate the source of the sound. "DO NOT COME ANY CLOSER, OR I WILL SHOOT HER!"
Donna winces, as she can feel the other woman moving behind her, pressing the gun straight to the side her head. Just when Donna had thought the fear could not get any worse, the feeling of death pressed against her temple convinces her otherwise. She closes her eyes, wishing that the technique for all those breathing exercises she had learned in yoga classes, hadn't been wiped from her memory in that moment.
The two men finally find them, watching them intently through the thick glass wall that is separating them from their target. "Please, Mrs. Nightingale, drop your weapon and then we can talk about whatever it is that you want."
"I want to talk to Harvey Specter and I want to talk to him now. So you better bring him to me! Until then, I have nothing to say to you! And if you don't leave right now, I will hurt her, do you understand?" Right until this second, Donna still hadn't been entirely sure if the woman would have it in her to actually pull the trigger if push came to shove. Hearing the callousness and anger in her voice however, Donna no longer has any doubt that she would do it if necessary.
"Alright, alright. We will see what we can do about Mr. Specter. In the meantime, what do you say about me staying with you in exchange for Ms. Paulsen?" suggests the taller of the two police officers, his posture poised and straight. Donna can see how the other one is scanning the area, taking in all the details of the layout.
"I say I'd much rather have Ms. Paulsen stay here with me if I want to ensure that Mr. Specter shows up. So you can save all your words and psychological tricks and just leave us the hell alone until you return with what I want!"
The two police men look at each other for a moment, communicating wordlessly before returning their attention back to the hostage and its taker. "Alright. We will be in contact. And please, stay calm until we return." The leading officer takes one last look at Donna, nodding encouragingly in her direction, before the two of them retreat and disappear through the door. Donna's heart sinks, the hope she had felt only seconds before being knocked out by terror with a single punch straight to the gut.
"Is this really necessary?" Donna hisses, as the Nightingale woman pulls the gun away and for the first time in what seems like forever, Donna can finally take a deep breath. "You know, if you are really ready to kill me, the least you could do is tell me what I might be dying for." Donna tentatively touches her temple, almost fearing the weapon had left a visible mark while realizing that it had undoubtedly left an everlasting, invisible mark. And she doesn't know what is worse.
"I just need to talk to Harvey Specter. And if he is not ready to help me, I want to look into his eyes and see his expression when I hurt him as much as he hurt me, when he took away the one thing I loved the most."
While all the names and cases and files that Harvey had ever taken care of rattle through her mind, Donna also tries to come up with a way to get to learn more about the woman. Normally, she would have no trouble whatsoever to get all the information she wanted or needed, her smile and charm and wit always the way to any men's and most women's heart. But in this situation, a smile or witty response would get her nothing except for maybe a bullet in her head and she is not ready for that just yet. So she stays calm, cautious and with just the right amount for curiosity. "That is a very cryptic explanation."
"And it is the only one you will get for now. There is a time for talking and there is a time for silence. Right now it is the latter. So please, just shut up!"
Donna contemplates saying more but decides against it, knowing that she won't get any more answers out of her, if she does not want to talk.
"No. You know what? Let's try calling Harvey again," the gunwoman says after a couple of moments, nodding in the direction of the telephone. Sighing, Donna picks up the phone, hitting speed dial number 1 this time around. Just like the other times, the call goes to voice mail after a couple of rings. Over the next hour, they repeat this game over and over again and with every failed attempt, Donna can feel the agitation in the other woman rise.
She was just about to push Donna to pick up the phone again, when it starts to ring on its own, making Donna's heart stop for one moment. When she doesn't recognize the number however, she hesitates to answer.
"Come on. Pick it up and put it on speaker. And no games, remember," the Nightingale reminds her and to emphasize her request, she puts the gun back to Donna's head, the terror of the sensation not getting the least bit easier.
"Zane, Specter, Litt, Donna Paulsen speaking."
"Ms. Paulsen, this is Lieutenant Matthew Hill. I'm the leading officer in this case. I trust I'm on speaker?" The man on the other end of the line introduces himself.
"Yes, you are, Mr. Hill," Donna answers, relieved that the police still seems to work on getting her out of this situation.
"Melanie Nightingale?" Mr. Hill says, his voice firm yet friendly.
"Do you have Mr. Specter with you?" The woman asks straightforwardly.
"We are working on it. In the meantime, is there anything else we can do for you?"
"I already told your colleagues. I only want to talk with Harvey Specter. Get him in here. Otherwise I have nothing to say!"
"Mrs. Nightingale, wait. We promise we will get you Mr. Specter. But I'm sure you know how these things work. We give you something, you give us something in return," the Lieutenant tries to wager but Donna knows the second the words leave his mouth that there would be no bargaining happening right now.
"There is nothing I can give you, because I sure as hell will not give you Ms. Paulsen," Melanie replies, anger clearly audible in every word.
"Can you at least promise not to hurt her," sounds the deep voice of the police man through the line.
"For now. But bring me Mr. Specter or I will not guarantee for her safety," is all Melanie says before she ends the call.
Donna falls silent for a while, not wanting to anger the other woman any further. Her own heartbeat is slowly returning to its normal rate after the phone call had heightened all of her senses. For a moment, she had believed that Harvey was finally calling back. And it had scared the shit out of her because as much as she longs to hear his voice, she does not want to have him anywhere near here. As so often in the last hours, the conflicts in her head seem to become too much. She wants to be brave and yet fear puts all these horrific pictures inside of her head that make it almost impossible to think clearly. Over and over again she tries to come up with ways to get herself out of this mess. Any other situation, she is sure she could handle, but she knows that her usual methods to handle trouble are to no avail here. So the redhead remains silent, hating the fact that there is nothing that she can do.
Donna has no idea if another five minutes or five hours have gone by, when she hears and feels her cellphone vibrating on her desk. Her heart leaps and breaks at the same time, when his face finally shows up on the display, announcing the incoming call. There is nothing Donna wants more than to let herself be calmed by his presence. And simultaneously she knows that once she'll answer his call, he would be in grave danger, either because she wouldn't be able to keep him away or because he would be too chivalrously to stay away.
"You know the drill. Pick it up. And don't say or do anything stupid," Melanie repeats, holding the gun to Donna's head. A wave of panic rolls over Donna, crushing her lungs and making it impossible to breath. Tears well in her eyes and she hates herself for showing weakness when all she wants to do is be brave. For herself. And for him. So she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and musters all the strength that she can find, before picking up the phone.
"Hey Harvey," she greets him, anxiously awaiting his reply.
"Hey Donna. Everything okay? I've never had ten missed calls from you before. Ever. If you miss me that much, you could have just said so," Harvey chuckles and the sound is balm to her scared heart. For a second Donna forgets the gun and relishes in his laugh.
"I… I was just worried. Louis told me what happened and I wanted to make sure everything was alright," Donna explains, trying to suppress the shaking in her vocal cords.
"Yeah, everything's good. At least, it's nothing that Alex and I won't be able to handle. Listen, I'm on my way back to the office now. Let's talk when I get there, alright?" Harvey replies and he sounds as strong and confident as ever. It's one of the many things she loves most about him. His unwavering strength and optimism, no matter the circumstances. She knows, were he here, she would not be quite as scared as she is in that moment. And at the same time, she knows she would probably be a thousand times more scared because the thought alone of having to watch Melanie holding a gun to his head drives Donna nearly insane.
So in a quick spur of the moment, a moment in which she draws strength from his strength, she replies: "Look, it's really quite around here and most of the staff has already left. Why don't you take the rest of the day off as well and enjoy the weather." While Donna is firing out the words, she can feel the gun being pressed against her temple even harder.
"Enjoy the weather? Donna, are you okay? You do know me, right?" Harvey replies in a confused tone, torn somewhere between amusement and worry.
"I… Yes…. Yes, of course. I just thought you could use an evening off," Donna says and her heart sinks as she can hear the trigger being pulled back. A sharp hiss escapes her lips, before she covers her mouth with one hand to keep her from other sounds leaving her mouth.
"Donna? What was that?" Harvey asks and even through the phone, Donna can hear that Harvey already knows the answer. "I'm coming for you."
"Don't!" is all Donna can yell into the phone before it's yanked out of her hand and thrown into the corner of her office.
"I told you to not do anything stupid, woman! What is your definition of stupid?" Melanie wants to know furiously, beating the clip of the pistol against Donna's head, making her seeing stars and drawing blood from a small cut at the hairline.
"Marching into a law firm with a gun in your hand and taking a hostage is definitely one definition in my book," Donna replies angrily, looking sternly into the gunwoman's eyes.
"Do not push me!" Melanie hisses through gritted teeth, weaving with the weapon still dangerously close to Donna's head. "Or this little wound here will not be the last," she threatens, pushing the barrel against the laceration on her head. Donna sharply bites her lips together as a piercing pain passes through her body like a lightning and she can feel another warm stream of blood trickling down her temple.