Chapter Eleven
"He's my son! How dare you even think to keep me from going?" she demanded. Both her hands were fisted and rested on her hips. "You've got some nerve, Agent Donovan!"
He shook his head against her stubbornness. "You conveniently forget who runs this unit, Agent Renquist."
He was using the "boss voice" and it grated against her nerves. "Yes, you run this unit, but you do not run me," she retorted. "The fact remains that he is my son and I damned well WILL go to Nicaragua to get him back. No one, not you, not Dad, not God himself will keep me from doing just that."
Donovan was not sure how to respond to that. He wanted the old Shay back, the Shay with the fighting spirit, the Shay that never took no for an answer. Well, here she was, back and with the attitude from hell. He knew that if she were not included in the rescue, she would board a plane to Nicaragua and go alone.
"Well, Tiger? What's it gonna be?" she demanded. She stepped closer to him, not quite within arm's reach.
"You shouldn't call me that at work," he reminded her, trying to avoid her question.
"They left us alone, or didn't your keen sense of awareness notice that?" she wisecracked.
He opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. They both reached for their cell phones at the same time. His caller ID displayed the name of his military contact that would be making the teams travel arrangements to Nicaragua.
"I need to take this," he informed her as he pressed the button on his phone. "Donovan."
Meanwhile, Shay's phone also registered an incoming call. When she saw where the call was coming from she forgot about her argument with Frank. The display showed no name, but the call was international. "He-hello?"
"Hola, Querida. Be careful how you answer, you do not want to alarm anyone unnecessarily."
She understood too well what he meant. "Yes, it's nice to hear from you," she replied with a false sweetness.
"Very good, Querida. I have a proposition for you. You come back to Bucamaranga, promise to be mine forever and you will be with your son again. We will be a family, Querida."
Shay could not answer. She knew she should tell him to go to hell, but her need to be with her son was starting to overtake her common sense.
"Should I take your silence as a yes?" he asked.
This time she didn't hesitate. "Yes."
"I am leaving this day and will meet you at the cottage."
The line went dead. She slowly closed her phone and turned to see Frank watching her. His eyes softened and she had the feeling he was not going to fight with her any longer. She sighed heavily and cast her look downward. Lying to him would be one of the hardest things she had ever done. Leaving him would definitely be the hardest. Shay was damning herself into a life of servitude, but knew she would willingly give up her life to be with her son. She only prayed Frank would one day forgive her for her deceit.
"Frank, before this tears us apart, go...go to Nicaragua and bring my son back to me." A single tear fell from the corner of her eye and slid down her cheek.
He nodded as he approached her and held her by the shoulders. "It will be better this way, Shay. And we'll be back before you know it."
She fell into his embrace. The knowledge that this was the last time he would hold her in his arms caused her to sob uncontrollably. She was sure he would think it was over her son, and it partially was, but knowing she would never see Frank Donovan again was what pushed her over the edge.
************
"I don't get it," Jake commented, looking around the empty room.
"No, Jake, there's nothing to get." Donovan ran a hand through his hair as he walked through the empty rooms of the house that belonged to Espinosa's Aunt. It was completely empty, as if no one had lived there in years.
"Yeah," Jake agreed. He was none too thrilled with the prospect of returning to Chicago and having to inform Shay that Espinosa had slipped through their fingers. Although he was not a mind reader, he was sure Frank was thinking the same thing.
Donovan strode from the house and straight to the Nicaraguan officer that had been in charge of surveillance. "Major Pinella, how in the hell did an entire family slip under your nose?" He demanded loudly. The urge to grab the man by his shirt collar and beat him senseless was hard to fight off, however, he let the anger wash over and through him instead of taking it out on the poor imbecile that stood before him.
"Agent Donovan, I assure you, my team has not left their assigned posts," the short, stout man replied nervously.
"Then how do you explain that the entire household, and I'm not talking just people here, is gone?" he asked impatiently.
"I can not explain, sir."
Frank turned his back on the man and came face to face with Jake. "Come on, Jake. We'll start talking to the neighbors and see if they know anything."
Jake nodded and trailed after his boss. They spoke to as many people as they could find, but no one knew anything. More than likely, no one would tell them if they did know and Jake watched as Frank's frustration grew.
"Frank, make the call," Jake prodded gently.
Donovan nodded and flipped open his cell phone and dialed Shay. The phone rang until the voice mail answered. He disconnected the line and called the nest.
"Snake emporium, don't worry, we don't bite."
"Dammit Cody, be serious for once in your life," Donovan ordered sternly.
"Sorry, Boss. How'd it go? How's D.J.?"
Donovan ignored the question. "Is Shay there?"
"No, why?"
"She's not answering her cell," he explained. "I'll give Thomas a call."
"Wait! He just walked in."
"Frank? How'd it go?" Thomas asked worriedly.
"Not good, Tom. Espinosa cleared out before we got here. Have you seen Shay? She's not answering her phone."
"That's why I'm here, Frank. I can't find her. She never came back to the hotel yesterday. All of her things, including her cell phone, are in her hotel room. I'm very worried."
Frank was silent for a moment; his mind was racing as his brain tried to form a picture from the scattered pieces of the puzzle he could see. "Are any of D.J.'s things missing from the hotel, Tom?"
"I...I don't know. I didn't check through them too closely," he admitted.
"If I'm right," Donovan began, "it explains why Shay gave up the fight to come to Nicaragua so easily."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean...your daughter has made a deal with the devil." He flipped the phone closed, cutting off further conversation.
"You honestly think Shay is with Espinosa?" Jake asked.
Frank's nodded curtly. How could she? How could she just leave without saying anything? How could she not trust him to help her? Damn her to hell! If this was all their relationship was worth, then she could have her life with Espinosa.
His mind raged against his heart and his blood pressure grew as he battled within himself. His heart assured him that Shay loved him; after all, she said the words. He had not acted on those words, had not repeated them back to her. Was it because he was not in love with her, or was it just that he was afraid to admit the truth? That he truly did love her. His heart further assured him that Shay would not betray him without just cause. In her mind, she was doing what she had to in order to be with her child.
Everything was an assumption. There was only one person who could confirm or deny anything and he had to find her. He flipped open the phone again and punched the numbers.
"Find her, Cody," he demanded and shut the phone.
Back in Chicago, a dumbfounded Cody began to work his magic on the keyboard.
~wonders if she should stop here and leave the rest to the imaginations of the readers???~
