He entered the guestroom in the darkness and softly closed the door trying not to disturb the children. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he picked up the phone from the bedside stand and dialed the Shaw's residence.
"Jake?"
"Hey Frank...how's Shay?"
"Not good. Listen...is Frankie close by?"
"Hang on..."
"Hey BigGuy."
"Hey yourself," Frank responded dejectedly.
"That bad?"
"No, it's worse. Do me a favor, please?"
"Anything."
"Call Shay...try to calm her down. I think she's near hysteria."
"She may very well be. Those hormones raging through her would do it all by themselves. Add this peach of a situation and you're talking Hormonal Hiroshima."
"Yes, well...I'm no doctor, but her blood pressure has got to be through the roof. You know that's not good for either her or..."
"Little boy Donovan," she finished for him. "Hang up, BigGuy, so I can call Sistah and see what I can do."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet."
"Too late, Frankie. Take care of her, okay?"
"You know it, BigGuy. Now get off the damned phone so I can call her."
Frank chuckled and hung up. On the other end, Frankie stood at the kitchen table, the phone in one hand and the other resting on the back of a chair. Absentmindedly, she tapped her chin with the stubby antenna of the cordless phone as she ran some thoughts and images through her head. But, try as she might, all she could see was the hateful looks Daphne kept throwing at Shay.
"What'd Frank want, baby?"
Frankie blinked and turned around. Jake was stretched out on the sofa with a now sleeping Jessie in his arms. How he always managed to get the heathen child to sleep, she'd never figured out. Smiling softly, she picked up the light blanket on the end of the sofa and moved over to his side. Jake shifted, putting his feet on the coffee table and allowing Frankie to curl up next to him. She covered up the baby and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I kind of relate to what Shay's going through."
"You do?"
"Yeah. I kind of lost you there for a while myself, while pregnant."
"Well, that was different. You were with me then."
"True, but it's pretty much the same. I didn't have Jake, I had Jace. Suddenly, I had lost my husband and I wasn't myself anymore either. Poor Shay, she's literally lost her husband and isn't who she knew she's been for the last few years." She drifted off, back in thought, running things through her mind from the two times she'd been in Daphne Charles' presence.
"Hey," Jake nudged gently as he watched his wife drift off with 'that look' on her face. The last time she had that look; they broke the case wide open. "What's on your mind?"
Frankie smiled and stretched up to kiss her husband's lips tenderly. "I have to make a call."
*****
Shay heard the phone ringing and rose up fumbling for the annoying thing. She had been trying to sleep for the last ten or so minutes and had no luck. She just could not sleep without Frank beside her.
"Hello?"
"Sistah."
"Oh, Frankie!" Another round of fresh sobs escaped her.
Frankie sighed softly and wrapped Jake's free arm around her shoulder. "Calm down girlfriend. This ain't doin' you or your son one damned bit of good. Shay…" she waited until there was a pause. "Shay, listen to me. I want you to relax and listen to me."
"You… you don't understand…"
"Actually, I understand more now than you think. Don't give Daphne Charles the victory. This is what she wants."
"What do you mean?" Shay sat up slowly, the softer sobs dying off completely.
"See if you can follow me for a second." She sat up and turned to face Jake, tucking her feet up under her. "Put yourself in her place for a second-"
"Oh now that's too much to ask Frankie!" Shay cried incredulously.
Frankie sighed and waited. "Finished yet? Good. Seriously, put yourself into her role. You're a CIA operative-"
"How did you know that?"
"Huh? Oh Jake told me. Anyway, you marry Frank for an assignment. As far as he's concerned, it's an assignment only. But...you want more, you want him and this marriage is the perfect opportunity to get closer to him and attempt to seduce him. But, when it's over, he signs the papers without a care and kicks your ass to the curb without a thought."
"Now I'm angry and hurt."
"A lethal combination in someone with Daphne's personality. This whole thing ain't about reclaiming her marriage to Frank. It's about hurting him, making him suffer like she's suffered. She doesn't love him and, at this point, it's not about wanting him back."
"There is just one problem."
"And that is?"
"She's got the legal documents to prove that she's married to Frank. He says he signed the annulment papers and witnessed her signing them, but he doesn't know what became of them."
"Then someone needs to find them. In the mean time, put your brain to use. How do you solve the problem of an unwanted marriage?"
"You end it." The light bulb began to shine and suddenly Shay was following Frankie's logic. "You end the sonofabitch."
"Now you're cookin'. Don't back down. I watched you yesterday morning stand up to Daphne Charles and assert your authority. Hell's Bells girlie, you shoved your wedding ring down my throat enough times the first time we met, so why should a little china doll like Charles break your will? And don't give me any of that hormonal crap. If I can stand up to my mother," she gave Jake a look, "then you can stand up to Daphne Charles."
"Then get off your PI butt and help me out here," Shay demanded, slightly amused.
"Got a pen?"
Ten minutes later Frankie hung up from talking to Shay and was leaning back up against Jake's shoulder as he rubbed Jessie's back. "Shay's going to need some help in these matters."
"Frankie…"
"Now don't 'Frankie' me, Jacob Aaron Shaw. You knew all along I was going to stick my nose into this."
"If you'd let me finish." He waited until he knew she wasn't going to retort and then he continued. "As I started to say, if you do this, you watch your butt. Deirdre told Frank that Daphne's got someone else helping her on this. They don't know who, but apparently this associate of hers has some great strings. If they can re-write history and get Frank married to Daphne, then there's no telling what they can do to you."
"I'm always careful, darlin'!" At Jake's doubtful look, Frankie chuckled and kissed his cheek. "I will. I just need a traveling buddy."
Jake groaned as she picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hullo?" came the sleepy voice.
"Alex!"
"Oh crap," she sighed. "You're calling me at what time of night?"
"Oh get over it. I got a question."
"You always do. OK - speak, I'm fully awake now." Alex sat up in bed and flicked the lamp on beside her bed.
"I was wondering how your love life was."
Alex's jaw dropped. "You certainly picked one hell of a time to catch up on my love life!"
Frankie elbowed Jake, who was laughing as quietly as he could. "I'm serious. Last I heard Christian was doing a promo tour for his surfing business, primarily his surfboards."
"Uh, ok, I'll bite. Yeah, he is. He's in D.C. this week. Although, who the hell in D.C. is gonna buy surfboards, I have no idea."
"I think it's time you got a little visit from your candyman. Meet me at the airport tomorrow morning say…. 9 am?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Nope."
"Oh, Goody."
Frankie grinned as she hung up the phone. "What?"
Jake shook his head and stood up slowly so as not to disturb his sleeping angel. "Well, schemer… if I'm in charge of the SOG while Frank's on suspension, and you're in D.C. with Alex helping her refresh her love life, who's gonna take care of Jessie? I'm only asking because I'm going on the assumption that Grammy Dee is gonna go to D.C. here in a day or so."
"Have faith, Jake. Have Faith." She grinned as he shook his head again. Have faith indeed.
****