Part Ten

"She's seen him," Alan Shastro said. He rocked back and forth in his chair, the quiet creak of the springs the only sound in the darkened room. "It won't be long now."

"How can you be so sure it'll work?" The woman on the phone was impatient for results, but Alan held his tongue. She was, after all, his highest paying customer. "I can't risk this getting screwed up."

"Not to worry," Alan assured her. "I stand by my work. Donna Moss was a fighter but that just means that the alternate personality is more deeply ingrained."

"I hope you're right," the woman spat.

He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, regretting once again that he had ever agreed to such a high profile job. "I haven't been wrong yet," he hissed.

"There's a first time for everything," she reminded him. "Don't make this your first mistake."

He ignored the barb and concentrated instead on the money he'd be getting when all was said and done. Visions of a hammock strung between two palm trees on some tropical paradise calmed his nerves, and he replied, "My man is keeping tabs on her and will let me know how often she's in contact with Senator Lyman. If you're right, and he actively pursues rekindling their friendship, he should be seeing quite a bit of her. When the opportunity presents itself -- which I have no doubt it will -- we will commence with the job and you will have your desired results. I will contact you afterward with instructions for my final payment."

"Fine," the woman replied. "I expect to hear from you soon."

When the connection was severed, Alan Shastro smiled and gently placed the receiver in the cradle. "Ah, Theresa," he said, smiling sweetly. "You'll make me so proud -- and rich."

* o *

Leo had stayed with Donna and Erik for as long as he could, but White House business had caught up with him, and he'd had to go. He and the Agent had exchanged business cards, and Leo had made Erik promise to keep him in the loop on everything pertaining to Donna's case.

During Leo's visit, plans had been discussed then discarded, each one considered more dangerous than the last. Still, Donna was adamant about bringing the people who had stolen the years from her to justice.

"We've got time," Erik assured her, after Leo had gone. "In the few other cases we've had turn up that involved Shastro, the victim had been back for months before the programming took effect."

Donna nodded, hoping he was right. "How many other cases have there been?" she asked.

Erik shifted slightly in his seat and ran a hand through his hair. "Five or six that we're aware of."

Donna brightened, feeling strength in numbers. "Can I talk to any of them? Maybe they have some information that can help?"

Again, Erik shifted and the color rose in his cheeks. "Well, that'll be hard to do," he explained. "See, they're all dead."

"Dead?" Her eyes widened, and she forced herself to breathe.

"Yeah." Eric drummed his fingers on the table. "Apparently, the mental programming includes a 'self destruct' suggestion. All of the offenders we've been able to trace to Shastro committed suicide after they carried out what they'd been programmed to do."

"Oh." She licked her lips and smiled weakly. Her support group had vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Suddenly, Erik stood and picked up his coat from the back of the kitchen chair. "Look, I've got to get going. I need to talk to one of my colleagues. She's been dealing with Shastro for years now. We really need to get her involved."

Donna nodded, mulling over everything that had been covered that afternoon, then shook her head. "Is that a good idea? I mean, what if I'm being watched?" The idea made her skin crawl, but if she had been forced into some parallel-universe where her life resembled a spy-novel, she figured she had best start thinking that way. "I mean, I told myself to keep looking for answers, but we need to make sure it looks like we're not close to the truth, right?"

Erik seemed to think that way, too. "Good point. I'll see what I can do about keeping this quiet."

She stood and followed him to the front door, trying to think of something to say -- of some way to convey the way she felt about all the help he had given her when he didn't have to. Finally, as he stood on the front stoop, she simply said, "Thanks."

Erik smiled and placed a hand on her arm. "No problem. In the meantime, try to avoid Josh. The less you see of him, the better -- at least until we know what's going on."

* o *

Donna busied herself with straightening up Sam's house, trying to keep her mind on anything but what had been uncovered about her time away. It still seemed far-fetched, but she had nothing to defend an alternate possibility.

Josh. The simple thought brought her self-resolve crashing all around her, and she had to sit as her knees buckled. What kind of a sick mind would use her to kill Josh? That was akin to asking her to kill a member of her own family. Worse, even.

How was she going to explain this to him? She knew she had to. Leaving him out of the loop wasn't even an option after the way he'd reacted to her return. His business card was sitting on the counter and she found herself staring at it, fighting an urge to call him.

The urge won out and she picked up the phone, carefully dialing his cell phone. He answered after the first ring.

"Greetings, Donnatella."

She laughed. "How did you know it was me?"

"I've got Sam's number programmed into my phone," he explained. "It was either you or him, so I played the odds. I'm glad I was right."

The heat rose in her cheeks as she envisioned him talking to her. His tone of voice called to mind a broad smile with deep dimples -- her favorite expression. "I, uh, needed to call you," she stammered, pushing all inappropriate thoughts of Josh out of her mind.

Immediately, he was all business, and the Josh in her head lost the smile and put on his serious face. "What do you need?"

"This is going to be hard to say." Donna started to pace around the kitchen, thankful for the cordless phone. "I talked to Agent Walters again today, and we've kind of made a discovery."

"That's great!"

"No so much," she said. "Look, you need to stay away from me."

"Nope." He didn't hesitate.

She wasn't at all surprised at his reaction and had expected as much. "Josh," she warned.

"Sorry," he replied. "No can do."

"Joshua."

"Donna."

"I'm not kidding."

"Neither am I."

"This is serious!" It was hard to not laugh as he argued with her. She didn't want have to explain to him the reasons *why* she didn't want him around. Just as she was about to plead her case once again, a knock echoed from the foyer. "Hold on, there's someone at the door."

"Take your time," he told her, his voice full of typical Josh smugness. "I'm not going anywhere."

Donna rolled her eyes as she opened the door, then groaned as Josh waved, an impish smile tugging at his lips and his cell phone still up against his ear.

"See?" he said into the phone, his voice echoing in her ear. "I told you that wasn't an acceptable option. Can I come in?"

With exaggerated movements, Donna pressed the 'off' button on the phone and turned around, walking away from the door and Josh. After a moment, as she replaced the phone on the charger on the kitchen counter, she heard his steps in the foyer and the door closing behind him. By the time she turned to face the doorway, he was standing in it.

"Do you care to explain yourself?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear, no doubt proud of himself for his little stunt.

"Not really." Donna leaned against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. She was delighted to see him, but given that there was a possibility she might try to kill him at any moment, she was trying to force an annoyed façade. "What are you doing here? Don't you have a job?"

Josh wrinkled his nose at her and shrugged his carryall off his shoulder, placing it on one of the kitchen chairs. "One of the perks of being a freshman Senator is the lack of stuff to do when we're not in session," he explained as he unzipped the bag and pulled out a folder, placing it on the tabletop.

"I doubt you could ever have a lack of stuff to do." Donna nodded toward the folder, "What's that?"

"It's a speech I have to give next week about education reform." He moved his carryall from the chair to the floor and whipped the chair around, straddling it and leaning his chin on the backrest. "Are you busy?"

Donna sighed and pulled out another chair, sitting down across from Josh. "Are you serious?" she asked, wondering where this was going.

"I know you're pretty much cooped up here until things get straightened out, and I thought it might do some good for you to do something to keep your mind occupied." He slid the folder across the table and grinned. "You wanna look this over and let me know what kind of idiot I am? It's your specialty."

Grinning in return, Donna picked up the folder and opened it, expecting some sort of memo or a blank sheet of paper. Instead she found several pages, typed, and as she read, realized he was serious. "This is your speech," she said, looking up from the pages.

"Really?"

"Josh." She closed the folder and placed it on the table. "I'm not your assistant anymore, you know."

"I'm pretty much aware of that," he remarked, the grin still solid on his face.

She shook her head and sighed, giving in, as she was sure he knew she would. "When do you need this back?" Truth be told, she welcomed the diversion, just as he had suggested, and was more pleased about the work than she would ever let on.

"Next Wednesday at the latest. I'm supposed to deliver it on Friday. You game?"

"Yeah, I'll do it." She chuckled. "How sad that I'm doing your work to keep from going stir-crazy. It used to be your work that *made* me stir-crazy." She leaned back in her chair and looked at him -- really looked at him, studying him as most everyone had been studying her over the past few days.

"What?" he asked, sitting up straight. "Is there something in my teeth?"

"You look good," she said quietly. "I didn't get a chance to tell you that this morning."

Without missing a beat, he replied, "You look even better now than you did this morning."

"Josh," she whispered. "Are you okay? I mean, really okay?"

He smiled contritely and nodded. "I'm much better, now, thanks."

There was an intensity in his eyes, and Donna found that she was holding her breath. There had been a time, not so long ago in her mind, when a look like the one Josh was now leveling on her would have turned her knees to jelly and set her insides quivering. Now -- it was almost painful.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, feeling torn between supposedly protecting him from herself and helping him to heal.

"Yeah," he said. "I think we should talk."

* o *

"It's like I've fallen down the rabbit hole," she said, leaning her head back into the crook of the overstuffed couch, staring up at the ceiling. Her legs were curled up underneath her, and she rested her hands on her knees while she tried to think of a way to explain to Josh what it felt like to wake up and have two years stolen away. "I don't even know where to begin. It's like I closed my eyes for a moment and the world slipped into a time warp. I'm still the same but everyone else has moved on."

"It wasn't all fun and games on this end either," Josh said, ruefully.

"I can't even imagine what it was like for you -- for everyone," Donna said, closing her eyes. The anguish she felt when thinking about it was only a fraction of what her friends had felt, of this she was sure.

"I can't complain." Donna narrowed her eyes at Josh while he began to explain. "It's not often that a loved one comes back from the dead. I mean, everyone always wishes that there was some way to turn back time and get that someone back somehow, but we all know, deep down, that it's not a possibility." His eyes had taken on a faraway look, but they quickly focused on her as he added, "You, Donna, are a consummate wish."

Josh had never spoken to her this way before, and she didn't know how to react. On one hand, she was thrilled to have him opening up to her in the way she'd always wished he would.

On the other hand, he was married.

She decided to play it light. With a small laugh, she reached over and smacked him gently on the knee. "You sound like one of those sappy movies I like to watch," she chastised. "You'd better watch out, or you'll develop a reputation as an old softie."

He didn't move or change the intensity of his gaze. "I mean it, Donna. I was wrecked after you -- well, it wasn't a good time for any of us, I guess. What I'm trying to say is . . . I guess I just never believed that you were really gone. I dunno. I suppose I thought I'd *feel* it if you were dead. My head kept saying that you were, that I'd scattered your ashes and you were never coming back. Something, though, something right here," he placed a hand over his chest and closed his eyes. "Something in my heart told me to keep believing in you."

"Josh?" It was barely a whisper. She was shocked that he had laid himself bare for her, and now tears were falling from her eyes. "I'm touched."

Smiling, he leaned forward and gently wiped her cheeks with the backs of his fingers. "It's the truth. You've said so yourself. We're in tune with each other."

Donna's head was swimming with questions and concerns, wondering what Josh meant by all the sweet things he was saying. The way he was saying them seemed to indicate that he did, indeed, hold her in higher regard than just a friend. She was torn between letting it all lay between them in confusion and outright asking him what he was talking about. Her fears almost kept her mouth shut.

"What are you trying to say, Josh?" she heard herself asking, as if she were watching it all unfold from afar.

"I don't know," he admitted, shrugging before bringing one hand up to rub his eyes. "I'm just tired of not saying anything at all. There were so many times I wanted to tell you . . . things, but didn't because I was afraid. I don't want to lose the chance again."

Her mouth was still on auto-pilot and before she could stop herself, she said, "Josh, you're married."

He snorted and rolled his eyes then turned serious as he replied, "Amy is the second biggest mistake I've ever made. The first was not being honest with myself about you."

Tbc . . .