Nowhere To Run
Chapter Ten
One hour earlier - 6:30AM, Frank's apartment
"You want me to do what?!?!" she nearly shrieked.
"You heard me," he stated matter-of-factly while lacing up his shoes
"Did I hear you……yeah. Do I think you're crazy……..absolutely. Am I coming with you……..NO WAY!!!" she informed him while finishing the buttons on her blouse.
"Katherine….."
"Don't Katherine me! And while we're on the subject……I hate that name."
"What name?"
"Katherine. My grandmother, who I couldn't stand I'll have you know, was named Katherine, and unfortunately, I was named after her."
"Alright. What would you like me to call you……..Amanda?" he said trying to hide a smile. She turned to glare at him.
"You're good at a lot of things Frank Donovan, but being funny isn't one of them," she replied before turning her back on him so she could go find her own shoes in the living room.
After finishing the laces on his other shoe, he followed her. "OK, seriously, what would you like me to call you?" he asked apologetically.
"How about Kate?"
"Fine. Kate it is. So now that we have that important piece of business out of the way, can we get back to the discussion we started earlier?"
"There was not, and there will not be, any discussion. I'm not coming with you. Plain and simple."
"Kath……..Kate, look. I can't protect you when I'm across town and you're here! You're coming with me!"
She turned to stare at him, eyes blazing. "I know you're going to find this hard to believe, but I actually was able to make it on my own all these years……..without YOU!!! I can take care of myself."
"Oh yeah! I can see how great a job you've done of that. You're on the run. You have no home, no identity, and there are probably hired guns after you as we speak. Oh, I can see why you wouldn't want any help!"
By the time he was finished with his little rant, she was fuming and more than a little hurt. She turned from him and grabbed her coat, heading for the door.
"And where the hell do you think you're going?" he growled at her.
"I'm getting the hell away from you!" she informed him before heading for the door. But just as she got to it and started turning the knob, Frank reached over her shoulder and slammed his hand against the door halting her departure.
"You can't leave," he said in a sullen voice.
And as she turned around to give him a piece of her mind, the words died on her lips. She saw the look in his eyes and immediately wanted to do anything but leave. She could see the depth of his feelings for her in that one look, and wished yet again that the circumstances surrounding this relationship were anything but what they were. She closed her eyes and sighed wearily.
"Frank………I know you're trying to protect me and for that I am eternally grateful, but just because you've chosen to believe my story doesn't mean that everyone else will. There are four more people on this team of yours. What if they don't see things the same way you do? What if one of them decides to go against you and turn me in? And even worse, what will happen to you if the powers-that-be find out that you've been helping me? There's too much at risk, Frank. I won't let you do it. Period."
He simply stared at her for a minute and she tried to read what was going on behind those soft brown eyes, but he was a mystery to her at this moment. She had no idea if she was getting through to him. So she waited tensely for his response, and finally he broke the silence.
"You think you have it all figured out, don't you?" he said in a tone she couldn't quite interpret. "I know the people that I work with. I know how they think, and I can tell you exactly how they'll respond. First they'll be shocked and probably mad as hell, but they'll come around. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. But the bottom line is that we need them if we're going to find a way through this. We have no choice."
"There are always choices."
"Like what? Name one."
She opened her mouth to respond, but silently shut it. Again she closed her eyes and tried to will away the fear that was leaving her insides in knots. Somehow she knew that what he was suggesting was a huge mistake, but for the life of her, she couldn't think of a viable alternative. She opened her eyes again and told him what he wanted to hear.
"Fine. I'll go with you, but I want to state for the record that I think this is a monumental mistake."
Frank wrapped his arms around her in a gentle embrace and murmured to her, "It's going to be OK. You have to trust me."
She pulled back slightly from him and said, "Trusting you is not the problem. Trusting the rest of the world is what's giving me nightmares," she said in a choked whisper and then held on to him even tighter.
They stayed locked in each other's embrace for what seemed like an eternity, but was in fact just a few moments. Then Frank relinquished his hold on her and said, "It's time to go. It's time to face the music." And taking her hand, they exited his apartment.
////////////////////////////////////////////
7:40AM - The Nest
……………………."I think he's referring to me."
When the group heard a strange woman's voice coming from the doorway behind them, all four spun around to see who the intruder was. Shock would have been an understatement.
Alex, Monica and Cody were all pretty much riveted to their seats with their mouths hanging open.
Jake on the other hand, was on his feet immediately and looked ready to do battle.
"What the hell is she doing here!?!?" he practically growled through clenched teeth,
his eyes darting back and forth between his boss and the woman that they had been lead to believe was a cold blooded killer.
"Just sit down, Jake, and relax," was Frank's only reply.
"RELAX???!?!? You gotta be kidding me?? You bring a killer in here, uncuffed I might add, and you want me to relax??"
"Jake…….let us explain."
"Us??? There's an us now??" he asked incredulously. He quickly turned to Kate and added, "You work quick, don't ya? So, you figure you get him to sleep with you and he'll do whatever you tell him to?? Was that the plan??"
"Jake!!" Frank started, "you're way out of line here!"
Jake turned to look at his boss. "I'm out of line…………I don't believe this!! I'm not the one fu………."
"Agent Shaw……….my office…………NOW!!!!!!!!!" Frank yelled before grabbing Jake's sleeve and physically pulling him toward the stairs. Jake almost violently yanked his arm away from Frank but didn't halt his progress toward his boss' office. The two reached the top of the steps and the occupants below could hear the door slam shut.
A stunned silence permeated the area surrounding the conference table. After the initial shock of what they had just witnessed began to wear off, the three agents began their scrutiny of the woman who had entered with Frank. None were sure what to make of the situation. The three could see that this was definitely the woman that they had been searching for. Even with the change in hairstyle, the features were the same and the eyes were unmistakable. The question on all their minds, however, was if this was indeed Katherine Dawson, cold blooded killer, why was she standing before them now seemingly free as a bird? Could their boss have been so gullible to believe that she was no longer a threat? They had all seen the way that he had so readily defended her. Could he be letting his obvious attraction to this woman cloud his judgment? But for all three agents, the bottom line was, they knew Frank Donovan well enough to know that there had to be more to the story.
As Kate watched Frank and the other man enter the office, she quickly realized that she was left alone in a room with a group of people who knew absolutely nothing about her other than what they had no doubt read in her official file. As she scanned the faces at the table, that old familiar fear began eating away at her insides. Frank had been the buffer to keep the others at bay, and now without his presence, she felt like the proverbial fox to the hounds. Just as she was wrestling with how best to start her explanation, the woman closest to her finally broke the silence.
"So are you really Katherine Dawson?" Alex started, asking the obvious. She could see how nervous the woman appeared and thought it would be best to open the line of questions with something simple. Just enough to break the ice, so to speak.
"I am," Kate replied and paused briefly before adding, "and I can only imagine what the rest of you think about me and why I'm here. So if you're willing to listen to my story, I'm more than willing to tell you what I can." She looked around the table at the others and saw looks of apprehension colored with curiosity. "I'm just not sure where to begin," she said softly to herself while looking intently at the floor.
"Why don't you start with telling us exactly who you really are," Monica interjected. Kate looked up at her and Monica added, "I mean it's obvious that you're not exactly the woman that we've been led to believe that you were. Otherwise, Frank would never have brought you here the way he did. We all know that," she said pausing to look at Alex and Cody, who nodded briefly in reply. "So fill us in on whatever you said to convince Frank to trust you the way he seems to."
Kate sighed heavily. *Maybe this isn't going to be quite as hard as I thought it would be.* "Thank you, first of all. If I were in your shoes, I'm not so sure that I would be as willing to listen as you all seem to be. I'd probably react more like that colleague of yours," she stated motioning to Frank's closed office door with her head.
"Don't worry too much about Jake," Alex said. "He just has knee jerk reactions to situations where he feels like he's been manipulated. He'll come around once Frank's gotten him calmed down." Kate gave Alex a small smile of appreciation.
"Alright……….here goes," she said as she started to relate her story to the rest of the group. She recounted her story much as she had done for Frank just the night before, stopping briefly here and there to answer a question that one of the three would ask. But all in all, she was very pleased with their attentiveness and very impressed with the insights that she perceived from their questions. Frank was right to be proud of this team. They were intelligent, insightful and willing to listen. As her story unfolded, the three already seemed to be delving into a way to help. Posing possible solutions. Searching for evidence that she may have overlooked. As the conversation developed, she became more at ease and began to believe that Frank had been right. Maybe this group of individuals would be able to find a way out for her. Only one obstacle stood in the way at the moment. And right now, that obstacle sat in Frank's office. Vaguely aware of the conversation going on around her, Kate stood staring at the office windows above her. Would Frank be able to convince Jake to give her a chance, she wondered absently? Or would Jake be the key to her undoing? Mere moments later, the door to the office opened and a very somber Frank Donovan proceeded down the stairs followed by an apparently unwilling Jake Shaw.
Talk at the table had stopped when the two men began to make their way to the lower level. All could see that even though Jake appeared to be calmer, his antagonistic attitude remained just below the surface. Frank walked to the table and glanced briefly at Kate trying to get a sense of how things had proceeded in his absence. What he saw in her eyes reassured him that he had made the right choice in bringing her here. Now if he could only get Jake to listen with an open mind.
"I'm sorry about the interruption," Frank began, "Would someone like to fill me in on what's been discussed.
"Basically, I've told them everything," Kate replied. "And now I'm just fielding any questions that they may have had after I finished my story." Kate glanced briefly at Jake and saw that he was remaining away from the others, leaning on one of the counters near the table, but definitely keeping his distance. It was almost as if joining them at the table would mean acceptance, and she could see that at the moment, he was willing to do anything except acknowledge the situation as it was. She then quickly looked at Frank and could see that he was all but ignoring Jake. *What went on in his office?*
"So what's the consensus?" Frank asked.
"I'd say that we definitely have our work cut out for us," Alex began, "If we're going up against our own government on this one, things are bound to get nasty." As Alex spoke, Jake began to pace the room, head down and clearly agitated. Alex noticed it immediately as did Monica and both looked to Frank to gauge his reaction. If he saw Jake's movements, he didn't let on.
"Has anyone come up with a way to proceed?"
"Not yet," Cody countered. "I think we all need a little more information first. I guess my biggest concern is how far does this corruption extend. If high ranking officials are involved, how do we know who to trust?"
"We can't trust anyone until we get more information."
"So what you're saying is, we're on our own on this one?" Alex asked, again glancing at Jake as he circled the room. She wondered again why Frank wasn't reacting to Jake's apparent upset.
"That's exactly what I'm saying. We rely on our own sources and no others. We trust only the people in this room." At that last remark, Jake made a grumbling sound from across the room.
Frank finally turned to acknowledge the younger man. "Do you have something to say, Agent Shaw?" Frank asked clearly annoyed.
"Damn right I have something to say! You said we can only trust the people in this room. How the hell do we know for sure that we can trust her?" he asked as he motioned toward Kate.
Jake continued as he turned to address his fellow team members. "You all have spent………… what………..," Jake paused to look at his watch. "all of 30 minutes with this woman and you're willing to risk your life for her?!?! Are you really willing to risk your careers and maybe even your lives in trying to help this woman?? I can't believe you're all so willing to follow him," now pointing at Frank, " like sheep to the slaughter. She's got him wrapped around her little finger and you can't see that!"
As Jake began his little tirade, Frank slowly got up from the table. His teeth were clenched and his hands were in fists.
"I'm warning you, Agent Shaw," Frank ground out.
"You're warning me?!?! That's right, I've crossed that line again, haven't I? God forbid anyone question the great and all-powerful Frank Donovan! Am I right?" Jake paused to stare at his teetering on the edge boss. "Jesus, Frank! Can't you see what she's doing?? She's fed you a line of bullshit and you fell for it hook, line and sinker! All I can say is she must have been absolutely great in bed!!"
And before Jake could continue, Frank drew his arm back and hit him across the jaw, using enough force to send the younger man reeling across the room. With his back to the rest of the room, Jake slowly rose from the floor.
After he hit Jake, Frank immediately regretted the move. Some of the anger subsided and he looked around at the rest of group. All of them were on their feet obviously waiting to end the fight quickly if it had indeed continued. He thought he saw a hint of disappointment on their faces. Jake may have indeed, as they say, been asking for it, but he was their boss and they expected a certain code of conduct from him. He'd allowed the situation to escalate instead of taking control and diffusing the moment. After all, he had been a negotiator, hadn't he? He sighed heavily and made a move to help Jake to his feet.
When Frank was within a few feet of him, Jake spun around, gun in hand and pointed it directly at the taller man's chest.
Frank froze where he stood. *Jake wouldn't really shoot me, would he?* And then he thought about just the day before when the situation had been reversed and Jake had been on the receiving end of Frank's gun.
"Look's familiar, doesn't it Frank? And it's all because of her," he added motioning with his head toward a very stunned Kate. "How long are we going to let her continue to tear apart this team? Huh? That's what she's doing. Why can't you see that?" Jake added, voice pleading.
"Jake put the gun down," Frank responded quietly. "You know you don't really want to do this." When Jake made no attempt to respond, Frank continued. "I know the circumstances surrounding this case have been unusual to say the least, but you have to at least listen to what she has to say."
As Frank spoke, Jake began to back his way toward the others in the room, eyes never leaving Frank's. He knew how Frank thought, he'd be willing to take a bullet in order to keep the rest safe. With that, he spun quickly and grabbed Kate, pulling her body in front of him and pointed the gun at her head. As he did so, Frank pulled his own gun and aimed it at Jake.
The two men just stared each other down, neither moving, neither breaking eye contact. Alex, Cody and Monica watched in disbelief. All three were stunned by the chain of events and were unsure about what to do to help. Kate for her part, was trying to remain relaxed. If the situation presented itself, she would try to take the gun from Jake herself.
"Jake," Frank finally spoke, "all you have to do is put the gun down and back away. I know this isn't what you really want. If you don't want a part of this case, then just walk away from it. No one's going to force you to help out."
"And you're going to just let me leave………even after this?" Jake asked skeptically.
"If that's what you want, then yes. You just walk away."
Jake seemed to think over the proposal, and then replied, "Alright. I'm going to lower the gun." He slowly dropped the gun from Kate's head and eased his grip from around her. When she felt his arm loosen enough she slowly stepped away from him and moved toward Frank, who still had his own gun pointing steadily at Jake.
"Alex……..take his gun," Frank quietly commanded.
Alex moved to do as her boss had asked and gave Jake an apologetic look. He relinquished the gun easily and turned to give his partner a knowing look in return. At that, Frank dropped his gun and put it away.
The two men continued to stare at each other, but then Frank finally broke the silence.
"I said you could leave."
"I'd be glad to," was Jake's only reply before giving the rest of his team a quick glance and turning once more to glare at Kate. "All I'm going to say is that some day, you're going to regret listening to a word this woman had to say." And with that he exited the building.
Once outside, Jake mumbled to himself, "I told him that if he ever pulled a gun on me again, he better wish that he killed me. Paybacks can be hell."
/////////////////////////////////////////////
Chapter Ten
One hour earlier - 6:30AM, Frank's apartment
"You want me to do what?!?!" she nearly shrieked.
"You heard me," he stated matter-of-factly while lacing up his shoes
"Did I hear you……yeah. Do I think you're crazy……..absolutely. Am I coming with you……..NO WAY!!!" she informed him while finishing the buttons on her blouse.
"Katherine….."
"Don't Katherine me! And while we're on the subject……I hate that name."
"What name?"
"Katherine. My grandmother, who I couldn't stand I'll have you know, was named Katherine, and unfortunately, I was named after her."
"Alright. What would you like me to call you……..Amanda?" he said trying to hide a smile. She turned to glare at him.
"You're good at a lot of things Frank Donovan, but being funny isn't one of them," she replied before turning her back on him so she could go find her own shoes in the living room.
After finishing the laces on his other shoe, he followed her. "OK, seriously, what would you like me to call you?" he asked apologetically.
"How about Kate?"
"Fine. Kate it is. So now that we have that important piece of business out of the way, can we get back to the discussion we started earlier?"
"There was not, and there will not be, any discussion. I'm not coming with you. Plain and simple."
"Kath……..Kate, look. I can't protect you when I'm across town and you're here! You're coming with me!"
She turned to stare at him, eyes blazing. "I know you're going to find this hard to believe, but I actually was able to make it on my own all these years……..without YOU!!! I can take care of myself."
"Oh yeah! I can see how great a job you've done of that. You're on the run. You have no home, no identity, and there are probably hired guns after you as we speak. Oh, I can see why you wouldn't want any help!"
By the time he was finished with his little rant, she was fuming and more than a little hurt. She turned from him and grabbed her coat, heading for the door.
"And where the hell do you think you're going?" he growled at her.
"I'm getting the hell away from you!" she informed him before heading for the door. But just as she got to it and started turning the knob, Frank reached over her shoulder and slammed his hand against the door halting her departure.
"You can't leave," he said in a sullen voice.
And as she turned around to give him a piece of her mind, the words died on her lips. She saw the look in his eyes and immediately wanted to do anything but leave. She could see the depth of his feelings for her in that one look, and wished yet again that the circumstances surrounding this relationship were anything but what they were. She closed her eyes and sighed wearily.
"Frank………I know you're trying to protect me and for that I am eternally grateful, but just because you've chosen to believe my story doesn't mean that everyone else will. There are four more people on this team of yours. What if they don't see things the same way you do? What if one of them decides to go against you and turn me in? And even worse, what will happen to you if the powers-that-be find out that you've been helping me? There's too much at risk, Frank. I won't let you do it. Period."
He simply stared at her for a minute and she tried to read what was going on behind those soft brown eyes, but he was a mystery to her at this moment. She had no idea if she was getting through to him. So she waited tensely for his response, and finally he broke the silence.
"You think you have it all figured out, don't you?" he said in a tone she couldn't quite interpret. "I know the people that I work with. I know how they think, and I can tell you exactly how they'll respond. First they'll be shocked and probably mad as hell, but they'll come around. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. But the bottom line is that we need them if we're going to find a way through this. We have no choice."
"There are always choices."
"Like what? Name one."
She opened her mouth to respond, but silently shut it. Again she closed her eyes and tried to will away the fear that was leaving her insides in knots. Somehow she knew that what he was suggesting was a huge mistake, but for the life of her, she couldn't think of a viable alternative. She opened her eyes again and told him what he wanted to hear.
"Fine. I'll go with you, but I want to state for the record that I think this is a monumental mistake."
Frank wrapped his arms around her in a gentle embrace and murmured to her, "It's going to be OK. You have to trust me."
She pulled back slightly from him and said, "Trusting you is not the problem. Trusting the rest of the world is what's giving me nightmares," she said in a choked whisper and then held on to him even tighter.
They stayed locked in each other's embrace for what seemed like an eternity, but was in fact just a few moments. Then Frank relinquished his hold on her and said, "It's time to go. It's time to face the music." And taking her hand, they exited his apartment.
////////////////////////////////////////////
7:40AM - The Nest
……………………."I think he's referring to me."
When the group heard a strange woman's voice coming from the doorway behind them, all four spun around to see who the intruder was. Shock would have been an understatement.
Alex, Monica and Cody were all pretty much riveted to their seats with their mouths hanging open.
Jake on the other hand, was on his feet immediately and looked ready to do battle.
"What the hell is she doing here!?!?" he practically growled through clenched teeth,
his eyes darting back and forth between his boss and the woman that they had been lead to believe was a cold blooded killer.
"Just sit down, Jake, and relax," was Frank's only reply.
"RELAX???!?!? You gotta be kidding me?? You bring a killer in here, uncuffed I might add, and you want me to relax??"
"Jake…….let us explain."
"Us??? There's an us now??" he asked incredulously. He quickly turned to Kate and added, "You work quick, don't ya? So, you figure you get him to sleep with you and he'll do whatever you tell him to?? Was that the plan??"
"Jake!!" Frank started, "you're way out of line here!"
Jake turned to look at his boss. "I'm out of line…………I don't believe this!! I'm not the one fu………."
"Agent Shaw……….my office…………NOW!!!!!!!!!" Frank yelled before grabbing Jake's sleeve and physically pulling him toward the stairs. Jake almost violently yanked his arm away from Frank but didn't halt his progress toward his boss' office. The two reached the top of the steps and the occupants below could hear the door slam shut.
A stunned silence permeated the area surrounding the conference table. After the initial shock of what they had just witnessed began to wear off, the three agents began their scrutiny of the woman who had entered with Frank. None were sure what to make of the situation. The three could see that this was definitely the woman that they had been searching for. Even with the change in hairstyle, the features were the same and the eyes were unmistakable. The question on all their minds, however, was if this was indeed Katherine Dawson, cold blooded killer, why was she standing before them now seemingly free as a bird? Could their boss have been so gullible to believe that she was no longer a threat? They had all seen the way that he had so readily defended her. Could he be letting his obvious attraction to this woman cloud his judgment? But for all three agents, the bottom line was, they knew Frank Donovan well enough to know that there had to be more to the story.
As Kate watched Frank and the other man enter the office, she quickly realized that she was left alone in a room with a group of people who knew absolutely nothing about her other than what they had no doubt read in her official file. As she scanned the faces at the table, that old familiar fear began eating away at her insides. Frank had been the buffer to keep the others at bay, and now without his presence, she felt like the proverbial fox to the hounds. Just as she was wrestling with how best to start her explanation, the woman closest to her finally broke the silence.
"So are you really Katherine Dawson?" Alex started, asking the obvious. She could see how nervous the woman appeared and thought it would be best to open the line of questions with something simple. Just enough to break the ice, so to speak.
"I am," Kate replied and paused briefly before adding, "and I can only imagine what the rest of you think about me and why I'm here. So if you're willing to listen to my story, I'm more than willing to tell you what I can." She looked around the table at the others and saw looks of apprehension colored with curiosity. "I'm just not sure where to begin," she said softly to herself while looking intently at the floor.
"Why don't you start with telling us exactly who you really are," Monica interjected. Kate looked up at her and Monica added, "I mean it's obvious that you're not exactly the woman that we've been led to believe that you were. Otherwise, Frank would never have brought you here the way he did. We all know that," she said pausing to look at Alex and Cody, who nodded briefly in reply. "So fill us in on whatever you said to convince Frank to trust you the way he seems to."
Kate sighed heavily. *Maybe this isn't going to be quite as hard as I thought it would be.* "Thank you, first of all. If I were in your shoes, I'm not so sure that I would be as willing to listen as you all seem to be. I'd probably react more like that colleague of yours," she stated motioning to Frank's closed office door with her head.
"Don't worry too much about Jake," Alex said. "He just has knee jerk reactions to situations where he feels like he's been manipulated. He'll come around once Frank's gotten him calmed down." Kate gave Alex a small smile of appreciation.
"Alright……….here goes," she said as she started to relate her story to the rest of the group. She recounted her story much as she had done for Frank just the night before, stopping briefly here and there to answer a question that one of the three would ask. But all in all, she was very pleased with their attentiveness and very impressed with the insights that she perceived from their questions. Frank was right to be proud of this team. They were intelligent, insightful and willing to listen. As her story unfolded, the three already seemed to be delving into a way to help. Posing possible solutions. Searching for evidence that she may have overlooked. As the conversation developed, she became more at ease and began to believe that Frank had been right. Maybe this group of individuals would be able to find a way out for her. Only one obstacle stood in the way at the moment. And right now, that obstacle sat in Frank's office. Vaguely aware of the conversation going on around her, Kate stood staring at the office windows above her. Would Frank be able to convince Jake to give her a chance, she wondered absently? Or would Jake be the key to her undoing? Mere moments later, the door to the office opened and a very somber Frank Donovan proceeded down the stairs followed by an apparently unwilling Jake Shaw.
Talk at the table had stopped when the two men began to make their way to the lower level. All could see that even though Jake appeared to be calmer, his antagonistic attitude remained just below the surface. Frank walked to the table and glanced briefly at Kate trying to get a sense of how things had proceeded in his absence. What he saw in her eyes reassured him that he had made the right choice in bringing her here. Now if he could only get Jake to listen with an open mind.
"I'm sorry about the interruption," Frank began, "Would someone like to fill me in on what's been discussed.
"Basically, I've told them everything," Kate replied. "And now I'm just fielding any questions that they may have had after I finished my story." Kate glanced briefly at Jake and saw that he was remaining away from the others, leaning on one of the counters near the table, but definitely keeping his distance. It was almost as if joining them at the table would mean acceptance, and she could see that at the moment, he was willing to do anything except acknowledge the situation as it was. She then quickly looked at Frank and could see that he was all but ignoring Jake. *What went on in his office?*
"So what's the consensus?" Frank asked.
"I'd say that we definitely have our work cut out for us," Alex began, "If we're going up against our own government on this one, things are bound to get nasty." As Alex spoke, Jake began to pace the room, head down and clearly agitated. Alex noticed it immediately as did Monica and both looked to Frank to gauge his reaction. If he saw Jake's movements, he didn't let on.
"Has anyone come up with a way to proceed?"
"Not yet," Cody countered. "I think we all need a little more information first. I guess my biggest concern is how far does this corruption extend. If high ranking officials are involved, how do we know who to trust?"
"We can't trust anyone until we get more information."
"So what you're saying is, we're on our own on this one?" Alex asked, again glancing at Jake as he circled the room. She wondered again why Frank wasn't reacting to Jake's apparent upset.
"That's exactly what I'm saying. We rely on our own sources and no others. We trust only the people in this room." At that last remark, Jake made a grumbling sound from across the room.
Frank finally turned to acknowledge the younger man. "Do you have something to say, Agent Shaw?" Frank asked clearly annoyed.
"Damn right I have something to say! You said we can only trust the people in this room. How the hell do we know for sure that we can trust her?" he asked as he motioned toward Kate.
Jake continued as he turned to address his fellow team members. "You all have spent………… what………..," Jake paused to look at his watch. "all of 30 minutes with this woman and you're willing to risk your life for her?!?! Are you really willing to risk your careers and maybe even your lives in trying to help this woman?? I can't believe you're all so willing to follow him," now pointing at Frank, " like sheep to the slaughter. She's got him wrapped around her little finger and you can't see that!"
As Jake began his little tirade, Frank slowly got up from the table. His teeth were clenched and his hands were in fists.
"I'm warning you, Agent Shaw," Frank ground out.
"You're warning me?!?! That's right, I've crossed that line again, haven't I? God forbid anyone question the great and all-powerful Frank Donovan! Am I right?" Jake paused to stare at his teetering on the edge boss. "Jesus, Frank! Can't you see what she's doing?? She's fed you a line of bullshit and you fell for it hook, line and sinker! All I can say is she must have been absolutely great in bed!!"
And before Jake could continue, Frank drew his arm back and hit him across the jaw, using enough force to send the younger man reeling across the room. With his back to the rest of the room, Jake slowly rose from the floor.
After he hit Jake, Frank immediately regretted the move. Some of the anger subsided and he looked around at the rest of group. All of them were on their feet obviously waiting to end the fight quickly if it had indeed continued. He thought he saw a hint of disappointment on their faces. Jake may have indeed, as they say, been asking for it, but he was their boss and they expected a certain code of conduct from him. He'd allowed the situation to escalate instead of taking control and diffusing the moment. After all, he had been a negotiator, hadn't he? He sighed heavily and made a move to help Jake to his feet.
When Frank was within a few feet of him, Jake spun around, gun in hand and pointed it directly at the taller man's chest.
Frank froze where he stood. *Jake wouldn't really shoot me, would he?* And then he thought about just the day before when the situation had been reversed and Jake had been on the receiving end of Frank's gun.
"Look's familiar, doesn't it Frank? And it's all because of her," he added motioning with his head toward a very stunned Kate. "How long are we going to let her continue to tear apart this team? Huh? That's what she's doing. Why can't you see that?" Jake added, voice pleading.
"Jake put the gun down," Frank responded quietly. "You know you don't really want to do this." When Jake made no attempt to respond, Frank continued. "I know the circumstances surrounding this case have been unusual to say the least, but you have to at least listen to what she has to say."
As Frank spoke, Jake began to back his way toward the others in the room, eyes never leaving Frank's. He knew how Frank thought, he'd be willing to take a bullet in order to keep the rest safe. With that, he spun quickly and grabbed Kate, pulling her body in front of him and pointed the gun at her head. As he did so, Frank pulled his own gun and aimed it at Jake.
The two men just stared each other down, neither moving, neither breaking eye contact. Alex, Cody and Monica watched in disbelief. All three were stunned by the chain of events and were unsure about what to do to help. Kate for her part, was trying to remain relaxed. If the situation presented itself, she would try to take the gun from Jake herself.
"Jake," Frank finally spoke, "all you have to do is put the gun down and back away. I know this isn't what you really want. If you don't want a part of this case, then just walk away from it. No one's going to force you to help out."
"And you're going to just let me leave………even after this?" Jake asked skeptically.
"If that's what you want, then yes. You just walk away."
Jake seemed to think over the proposal, and then replied, "Alright. I'm going to lower the gun." He slowly dropped the gun from Kate's head and eased his grip from around her. When she felt his arm loosen enough she slowly stepped away from him and moved toward Frank, who still had his own gun pointing steadily at Jake.
"Alex……..take his gun," Frank quietly commanded.
Alex moved to do as her boss had asked and gave Jake an apologetic look. He relinquished the gun easily and turned to give his partner a knowing look in return. At that, Frank dropped his gun and put it away.
The two men continued to stare at each other, but then Frank finally broke the silence.
"I said you could leave."
"I'd be glad to," was Jake's only reply before giving the rest of his team a quick glance and turning once more to glare at Kate. "All I'm going to say is that some day, you're going to regret listening to a word this woman had to say." And with that he exited the building.
Once outside, Jake mumbled to himself, "I told him that if he ever pulled a gun on me again, he better wish that he killed me. Paybacks can be hell."
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