Donovan glanced up at the monitor. Flight 1534...on time. Noise from the doorway caught his attention; the passengers were beginning to disembark. He and Shay leaned against the far wall waiting for Jake and Frankie to appear.
Shay pointed to the doorway when she saw Jake first, then Frankie trailing a short distance behind him. Shay cocked her head sideways slightly...Frankie looked different somehow. She pushed off the wall and headed for the brunette. No way was Frankie Battles going to blame her for ditching Frank and this case.
Frankie glanced up in time to see Shay approach her; Frank along side his wife. She grasped the briefcase in both hands and tossed it tersely at Frank who caught it with a decisive "Oomph".
Shay took Frankie by the arm and pulled her off to the side. Surprisingly, Frankie didn't put up a struggle. "This has got to stop...whatever our problem is, Francesca Battles...do NOT take it out on Frank. If there was a time in his life that he's ever needed a friend, it's right now."
Frankie shrugged Shay's hand off her arm. "Cool it, Donovan...I don't feel like talking about it right now." Her voice was quiet, not quite defeated but sounded well used.
Frankie removed her sunglasses and Shay caught sight of her weary and bloodshot eyes. "Sweet Jesus, Frankie...what's going on?" Frankie didn't answer; she just stared at Shay. "Look...for a she-bitch...I'm a pretty good listener."
Frankie managed a small smile before she shook her head. "Not yet, Donovan...not yet."
Shay nodded. "Okay, Battles," she said with a chuckle, "but you're not getting out of this sitch this easily. My husband needs your help and I'll be damned if you'll back out on him now."
Frankie gave Shay a half-hearted look and walked over to speak to Frank, who waited patiently nearby.
Shay followed. "Frank, where's Jake?"
He nodded toward the baggage area. "He went to pick up the box that had to be checked."
Without a word, Shay went in search of Jake and found him standing at the baggage carousel still waiting for the luggage to be put through. "Jacob Aaron Shaw!"
Jake's spine stiffened just as it did when Father Michael was calling him on the carpet when he was a boy. He could hear the "man, are you in trouble" attitude in Shay's voice. He shook his head...that was a voice usually reserved for LJ...or Cody when he got on her nerves.
"And, hello to you too, hon," Jake responded.
"What did you do, Jake?"
"Do? I went to Florida and found out your husband was Prom King in high school," he joked halfheartedly.
"I'm talking about Frankie, Jacob Aaron. She looks like death warmed over, for crissake." She watched as his expression turned from playful to perplexed.
"Honestly, Shay...I don't know what is going on with her. One minute we're connecting...the next she's pushing me away," he explained. He jumped, startled when the siren announced the dispensing of the luggage from his flight.
She grabbed him by the arms and gave him a good shake. Passersby looked upon the couple with amusement. "Jake...I'm not just some airhead that fell off the Goodyear blimp...I've seen the way you look at her and the way your voice changes when you talk about her. What happened while you were in Florida?" Shay demanded. "Look, whatever it is, she's threatening to pull out of the case...and dammit...we need her."
"I...I didn't know it had gone that far," he stammered. "Look...last night when you called...we were kinda...um..." His face turned several shades of red while Shay chuckled.
"Oh dear, Lord. And let me guess...instead of ignoring the stupid phone, you pushed her away." Shay shook her head in astonishment. "Men's stupidity never ceases to amaze me."
"Shay...dammit...I didn't do anything wrong," he insisted.
"No...nor did you do anything right," she replied with a grin. "So...drag your happy ass up those stairs...find her and tell her how you feel about her."
Automatically, without thinking, he turned and started toward the exit as ordered. He stopped quickly and turned back to Shay. He stooped down and grabbed the box of evidence and files that had finally come around on the carousel. "How can I tell her something I'm not sure about?"
Shay smiled and touched a hand to his cheek. "That's easy, babe. Just look into those pretty gray eyes and you'll know exactly what to say." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Find that little piece of heaven we all need and deserve. I love you, Jake, and if Francesca Battles can be that piece of heaven for you...then, don't let her go."
Jake nodded and as Shay took his arm, they went in search of Frank and Frankie.
************
As Shay disappeared down to talk to Jake, Frankie watched silently.
"What's wrong Francesca?" Frank asked quietly.
"Don't.... Don't call me Francesca..." her voice shook a moment.
Frank recognized that little vocal shake and sighed. A moment later he had his arms around her shoulders and she was sobbing quietly on his shoulder.
"I thought... for one moment I really thought that it could happen. But it didn't. It's nothing he says. How stupid of me to think..." she snuffled and shut up.
Frank put two and two together and came up with Jake. When he'd talked to Frankie last night, she'd said that she knew Shay and Jake were talking and that Shay's call had interrupted something. But, until yesterday, he'd been blind to Jake and Frankie's situation. In retrospect, however, he could see the way Jake talked about her, the way he looked at her, and she... he could see it all. His heart broke to think that something had gone wrong between the two of them. Maybe he and Shay could help them put it back together when this case was over.
Frankie was glad that he didn't press her for more details. But, she shook her head and stepped back, pushing her sunglasses up just enough to wipe her eyes. Thankfully she didn't have any make-up on to begin with or she would have looked like a raccoon by now.
"Francesca -" He saw Frankie stiffen at the name. Apparently Jake had taken to calling her Francesca and it bothered her. "Frankie. We need you on this case. You've got the background and outside the box thinking we need. Please, don't walk away from this because Jake got stupid."
She looked up sharply. "Is it that obvious?"
"Yes Frankie, it is. I've seen the way he looks at you and you at him. Give him a break... this isn't something he knows how to handle quite yet. Buck up, here comes Jake and Shay."
**********
