Revelations
Chapter Twelve
Minutes ticked by, and Frank still hadn't moved a muscle. His team of agents watched over him and were utterly at a loss as to what to do. They knew Frank, or at least they thought they had. But what they did know, told them that he would want to be left alone. It was a lot to handle, listening to your wife pour her heart out and not be able to go to her and provide comfort.
After a few more minutes, Jake finally took it upon himself to talk to the rescue team comprised of engineers, firefighters, medics and construction supervisors. He approached the group and saw them huddled around what appeared to be a map, a very large photograph and a video monitor. What the hell??
"All right gentlemen, what do we have?" Jake asked them.
The man who was seemingly in charge of the operation looked at Jake and seemed a bit confused. "Where's Donovan?" he asked looking over Jake's shoulder.
"He…….this isn't a good time for him right now," he explained to the group, not wanting to get into the real reason. "So tell me what the plan is."
The man hesitated for a few seconds since Frank had been adamant about being included in the decision making. Shrugging his shoulders as if to say 'I guess you know him better than I do so what the hell', he began to brief Jake on what they had found out so far and what they needed to do still before they could even contemplate removing the massive pile of rubble.
"This," the man indicated the photograph type sheet in front of him, "is the result of the heat imaging we did about an hour ago. As you can see here, your two friends are located on the south side of the structure. They're sitting about 5 or 6 feet apart and are separated by these rather large steel support beams. What we're doing now is sending down a fiber optic camera trying to determine where the worst of the debris resides. Because the two woman have been able to see a fair amount of daylight, we believe there may be some sizable gaps in the wreckage and if so, we may be able to just maneuver them out of there without actually digging too much."
"That's not going to be entirely realistic."
The group of about ten men, Jake included, turned suddenly to see who had made the remark and saw Frank standing closely behind them.
Not waiting for anyone to say anything further, Frank explained. "Alex may be able to crawl out of there, but my wife's leg is badly broken. There's no way she'll be able to maneuver through anything. We'll need to dig to get her out."
Nodding his understanding, the foreman said, "I understand. And in that case, let's see what the fiber optics can tell us." With that he and the others turned back to the monitor. One man had very carefully climbed atop the broken mountain of concrete and was feeding the optical wiring through an open crevice in the rubble. Then from what the others could see on the screen, he could direct the camera where it needed to go. The work was painstaking. After several failed attempts and finding only blocked passages, the team began to fear that the destruction had been worse than how it first appeared. But finally, after nearly an hour, the camera broke through to a rather large pocket of space. Manipulating the camera further, the group suddenly saw what looked like a human figure on the screen before them.
"Alex?" Frank said through the microphone attached to his ear piece.
"Yeah boss," came he tired reply.
"The rescue team is using fiber optic cameras trying to locate the two of you, but because of the fading light, we're having a hard time deciphering what it's seeing. We think we may have you on the monitor now. Wave your hand and we'll see if we pick up anything."
Doing as Frank had told her, she waved her hands around in front of her. The cheers that she heard in reply, told her that they had indeed found a way down to them. But then…..she already knew they would. When she had scrambled about earlier looking for Laura's purse, she'd been able to see blue sky almost directly overhead. The opening wasn't large, but it was possible that it would be enough to fit through. In essence, she could have been free hours ago, but she wasn't willing to leave Laura alone. She was the one that was truly trapped.
"All right….good. That gives us something to go on. Now if we can find a cleaner route down to where she's at, we may be able to extract her," the team leader announced.
"That's all well and good," Frank began, "but what's the plan on getting this debris out of the way and getting them out of there?"
A few of the men cast glances at each other, and Frank knew the news couldn't be good. After a few seconds pause, the team leader finally spoke up. "I want you to see this," he said pointing to the second image lying out before them. "This…..is a type of x-ray. It's real use is to check for structural integrity in older buildings. It can pick up bolts that have rusted through….joints that have become unhinged. What we've used it for here, was to see the layers of debris and more specifically the location of the steel beams that were used for support in the garage."
Frank looked at the read-out in front of him and couldn't make heads or tails out of it. He was hoping and praying, however, that they could. "What am I looking at?" he finally asked.
"The metal of the structure shows up as almost pure white, the concrete as a faded gray." Taking a felt marker out of his pocket, the man drew two marks on the paper. "These are the approximate locations of the two women. As you can see, the majority of the metal fell to either side of them, with three or four rather large beams falling in between. The problem is…….these sections here," he said as he pointed to a lighter gray area on the paper. "These……these are what remains of two of the floors. Surprisingly, there are sections of concrete that are relatively intact. They are, however cracked and the re-bars are poking through in various places. So that………"
"Get to the bottom line," Frank suddenly interrupted. He knew the man had something very bad to tell him, and he wanted him to get on with it.
Sighing, the man straightened up from bending over the sheet and looked Frank directly in the eyes. "The problem, Agent Donovan, is that there are two, maybe three sheets of concrete that are lying perilously close to your wife's position. This concrete's integrity has been compromised. The steel bars that are used to reinforce the concrete are either missing or bent terribly. What we're afraid of is that when we attempt to remove the upper layers, we may actually trigger the others below to fall apart completely."
Frank stared at the man. No emotion showed in his eyes. In fact, Jake thought for a second that he was looking into the eyes of a corpse. No emotion……no warmth……no life…….just an unreadable glaze. "There has to be another way then," he finally said, although his voice sounded almost small and unbelieving.
"We've been over these," the man said pointing to the images laying before him. "Don't you think I want to find another way?"
"But there's a chance that it won't collapse," Frank stated hopefully, his eyes now silently pleading.
"Yes….of course…..there's always a chance."
"So what's the first step?" Frank asked desperately trying to cling to some sliver of hope.
"First, we try to get the other young lady out of there. From what we've seen on the monitor, there may be a way for her to actually climb her way out."
"So let's do this," Frank nearly commanded.
"All right. We'll need for you to communicate with her."
"No problem. What would you like for her to do first?
The two men then devised a plan to get Alex out so that they could start the real excavation. There was only one problem, though. Alex didn't want to leave.
"What do you mean you're not leaving?" Frank asked incredulously.
"That's what I said. If Laura's staying down here, then so am I," was Alex's clipped response.
"Alex……I appreciate your loyalty, but this isn't the time for heroics. Get moving so we can start the next step of this operation!" he told her as his voice started to rise in volume.
"I'm not arguing with you about this! I'm staying and that's final!" After that last line she could have sworn she heard her boss growl.
"Alex! God damn it! Stop……"
"OK…the both of you just stop it! Jesus Christ! You sound like two children!" Laura yelled at both. "Listen…this is the way it's going to be….period! Alex….you're leaving this instant. And Frank…stop yelling! It hurts my head. In fact you're both aggravating my headache to no end."
"But Laura……" Alex began before she was swiftly interrupted.
"Don't Alex….please." Sighing, Laura leaned her head against the cement wall behind her and closed her eyes. The truth was, she did want Alex to stay, but it was purely for selfish reasons. She was scared. Plain and simple….she was terrified. Of course, thanks to the ever present microphones and receivers, she'd heard everything that had been discussed between Frank and the head of the rescue team. She wasn't going to kid herself. She knew her chances of getting out were slim to none, but she'd be damned if she'd subject Alex to the same fate. And then of course….there was the claustrophobia. As night fell, the darkness began to creep in and with it, all of the anxiety that she'd managed to hide so successfully for so many years. "Just go……they're not going to start moving anything until you're out of here. And I don't know about you, but I'm tired, I'm filthy and I want to go home, and that's not going to happen until you get your butt out of here. So do me a favor and move it"
"But….."
"But nothing. Frank…..she's on her way out." With that she turned to Alex, and with only the fading light to illuminate her, she silently pleaded with Alex to leave.
Alex closed her eyes, took a deep breath and finally relented. Nodding her head, she looked at Laura one last time, smiled weakly and finally began to crawl her way out.
A half hour or so later, Alex finally emerged from the top of the mountain of concrete amidst a smattering of applause. Carefully, so as not to cause an avalanche, she gingerly made her way down the outside and into the waiting arms of her fellow agents. She even got a brief hug from the boss himself.
Now that Alex was safe, the rescue team could concentrate totally on freeing Laura. The images from the fiber optic camera were studied thoroughly, giving them an even better view of what they hadn't been able to devise from the x-ray alone. After another half hour to 45 minutes passed, the leader announced to Frank that the equipment needed was in place and they were ready to begin. Frank nodded and moved away from the others so that he could have a semi-private conversation with his wife. He knew his team members could hear everything, but at this point he was beyond caring. He figured they'd all heard more than enough to last a lifetime and then some.
"Laura? Have you been listening to all the plans?"
There was a moment's hesitation before she answered in a soft voice, "Yeah…..I heard. They're ready to start?"
Frank heard the tone of her voice and it killed him a little inside. He knew she was scared and it hurt to know that there was damn little that he could do about it. "Just about," he finally answered her. "Do the best you can to cover your face so that you won't breathe in so much of the dust that's sure to fall on you."
"If it's only dust I have to contend with then why am I worried?" she tried to joke.
"They've studied the plans pretty well and they've come up with a plan on how to get you out of there so………."
"Frank," she interrupted him, "if I don't make it……"
Now it was his turn to interject, "Don't say it! You'll be fine. We're all going to be just fine……..you'll see."
There was a very long silence before she answered, "You're right……I'm sure you're right." Frank heard the words but knew she didn't really believe them. Closing his eyes, he sighed inwardly, feeling totally helpless.
"They need to get started now, Laura. Get yourself ready."
"All right…..tell them to go ahead and begin." She did as he'd instructed her. She bent her good leg and brought it up close to her body and then she rested her arms on her leg and tried her best to cover her face.
Frank turned back to the rescue workers. "She's ready."
The foreman spoke into the walkie talkie that was being used to communicate with the crane operator in charge of removing the massive pieces of debris, "All right……let's give this a shot. And remember, the key is to take it very, very slowly. Got it?"
"You got it, boss," came the worker's reply.
Everyone could feel the earth tremble a bit as the crane was geared up and began to slowly raise the first section. And as promised, the operator moved the piece at a painstakingly slow snail's pace. After what seemed like hours, but in reality was only minutes the first chunk of debris was completely lifted out of position and cleared away.
Frank's heart lifted a bit when the first segment fell harmlessly out of the way. Perhaps this was all going to work out. It would be slow, but it looked like it was going to be possible. He watched then in fascination as the crane was returned to its original position and a second piece of rubble was ensnared. It amazed him to see this 20 ton crane pick up these massive bits of wreckage so gingerly and with almost a delicate touch.
When the second piece was nearly out of the way, the inevitable happened. The segment in the crane's grip began to break apart. The operator saw this and hurried his movement, hoping to get the section out of the way before it fractured completely. And he nearly succeeded. The section broke almost cleanly in half. The first part fell harmlessly out of the way, the second half however caught the edge of the pile of rubble. It didn't fall anywhere near where Laura was, thankfully, but as a result, things began to shift…..and collapse.
"No, no…no…..no……NO!" yelled the foreman watching it all happen almost in slow motion. "God damn it!!"
Frank too saw what was happening and at first thought the damage didn't appear to be too bad, but when the rest of the mass began to shift and crumble, his heart sank. It seemed to take an eternity before everything came to rest once again. He waited then for the crane to be shut down before he tried to talk to Laura once more.
Walking a short distance away, he put his hand up to his ear so that he could hear better. "Laura? Laura? Talk to me……let me know that you're all right." he waited several seconds and heard absolutely nothing but the sound of his pulse throbbing in his ears. "Laura! God damn it….answer me!" he demanded, covering up for the fact that he now started to feel the icy fingers of terror crawl up his spine. "Laura! I said……."
"I heard what you said!" she finally answered in between gasping coughs. Frank's whole body visibly relaxed. Closing his eyes, he bent at the waist and rested his hands on his knees, breathing deeply.
"Are you OK?" he finally was able to ask. "Are you hurt?"
"I didn't get hit by anything if that's what you're asking, but…….."
"But what?" he was afraid to ask, senses suddenly on high alert.
"I'm….I'm completely in the dark now. There's absolutely no light……none at all," she informed him trying not to sound psychotic quite yet. Her worst nightmare was coming true. She was stuck in a confined space, in the dark with no means of escape.
Frank heard the edge to her voice and knew exactly what she was going through right now. Not that he himself had ever experienced claustrophobia, but she'd described to him once what the panic attacks were like. But something else bothered him even more…….if there was absolutely no light, did that mean that her air supply had been cut off completely?
As he contemplated this thought, the foreman approached him. "Have you talked to her? Is she still with us?" he asked anxiously.
"Yeah….she's all right, but she says she's now completely in the dark." When Frank conveyed the message to the other man, his fear worsened when the man instantly got a look of panic on his face. If her air supply had been cut off and she was stuck in such a cramped spot, she may not have enough fresh air to last for very long.
"I'm going to have another image taken of the debris," the man informed Frank. "We need to know exactly how everything shifted. I'll let you know as soon as we have that ready." Frank nodded his head, and the man trotted off.
"Frank…..please talk to me," came her almost strangled voice. She was beginning to lose it and needed someone to get her mind off of the situation at hand.
"I'm here….I'm here. The foreman was just informing me of what the next step was," he tried to reassure her. And he thought, not for the first time, who was going to reassure him?
"Please……it's too quiet……I….I can't stand it," she told him almost in tears.
He walked away from the others and went over to sit on the ground, almost exactly where he'd been before. His only concern now was helping Laura control her quickly spiraling panic. "I told you…..I'm here. I won't leave you alone. I promise. Just take a deep breath, hold it, let it out slowly and then close your eyes. Can you do that for me?"
She didn't answer at first, but he could hear her doing just as he'd instructed. After several seconds, he finally heard her respond. "Ok……I'm……OK……but do me a favor?"
"Anything," he responded, noting that the tone of her voice seemed a little less panicked at the moment.
"I just need you to talk to me about….anything. I need to hear the sound of your voice. I promise that I'll try to work on remaining calm, but you have to keep talking to me. Deal?"
He smiled sadly at that. "Deal. What would you like me to talk about? Anything in particular?" he asked, not sure where to begin.
"I don't care. Tell me about……I don't know……tell me about the first time we worked together."
"Are you talking about after Columbia or during Kansas City?"
"Kansas City."
Frank smiled thinking about that time in his life. He'd made the transition to the FBI and was quickly working his way up the ranks. Work was his life and he was completely and 100% dedicated to it, but then he threw a monkey wrench into the works. He fell in love. "Ahhhh…..Kansas City." Getting himself a little more comfortable, he leaned up against the wall and stretched his long legs out in front of him.
"I'd just finished up a job in Miami, when I got the call that I was being assigned again. They said I was going to go in and take over an existing job. Try to patch up some damage already done by another negotiator."
"Stupid bastard," Laura commented.
Frank laughed. "Never met the guy, but if you say so. Anyway, I arrived at the site and was quickly briefed by the police captain who'd been brought in to help out. He gave me all the technical details, but he said that I'd need to talk to the profiler to get the backgrounds on all the suspects involved……see what made them tick. That's when I turned around and saw you. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen you in almost three years and there you stood. Almost the last person that I expected to see. I figured that you were probably still working for the Company."
"Same here. I figured you were still running around in some jungle somewhere digging up dirt on the bad guys," she told him.
"No……after Columbia…..after being under for almost a year and a half, I realized that I didn't want to look back on my life someday and regret having not lived that year or so as myself. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but when I was under for that long, I was no longer Frank Donovan. It was like I locked myself away and became someone else for however long it took. I wasn't afraid of the danger……I was afraid of missing out on so much I could have done if I was just me." Sighing, he didn't know if what he said made sense to anyone else.
"How incredibly selfish of you," she pretended to chastise him, but couldn't keep the humor out of her voice.
"I know….awful isn't it," he agreed, chuckling slightly. "Anyway……like I said I turned around and there you were. At first I was at a loss for words. I couldn't describe how it felt to see you again. I was happy…..exhilarated……flustered……"
"You were not flustered," she interrupted him. "I'd never seen anyone more in control of a situation. You came in, started issuing orders like you'd been there from the beginning, and got the negotiation back on track in a matter of hours. It was incredible."
Frank laughed. "It was all an act. I was afraid that if I didn't start doing something and soon, my brain would stop working and I'd be useless." He paused, remembering exactly how he'd felt that first day. Closing his eyes, he tried to picture Laura at that exact moment. "Oh, I was completely caught off guard. Not only from seeing you again, but from my reaction to your being there. I had this overpowering urge to walk right up to you and kiss you senseless. I didn't know where that idea had come from, but it was there. When we'd worked together before……sure I thought you were a beautiful woman, but I never really even considered doing anything about it. And then three years later……it was all I could think about. Of course, I was absolutely sure that you'd boot my ass into next week if I tried anything. At least that's what I thought at first."
"And you changed that opinion……when?" she asked him.
"Actually…..I started to wonder about it, when you and I had to spend some time together going over those profiles. We were alone. No one to pretend for. You were going over one of the files and I leaned over your shoulder to get a better look at something you were telling me about, and I thought I heard you gasp a bit. First I thought that I'd just startled you, but then I noticed that you seemed to be blushing, and for some reason it absolutely thrilled me."
"Of course….you thought it was all about you," she admonished playfully.
"Isn't it always," he countered, laughing.
"Usually," she replied suddenly solemn.
He caught the change in her tone, but didn't say anything. Instead of inquiring, he decided to just continue. "Anyway….working together the next few days was actually incredibly stressful. I always had to watch what I said to you and how I said it. I was so afraid that if I didn't, somehow it would come to the surface, and I knew that it definitely wasn't the right time. So I ground my teeth a bit and continued on like nothing was wrong."
"Yeah….I thought for sure that you could have cared less that I was there. Sure…you said it was nice to see me again, but I had the distinct feeling you really didn't mean it."
"Oh I meant it," he reassured her. "I just knew that while we were working on the case, I couldn't say anything. So I waited………"
"Frank?" she suddenly interrupted.
"Yeah…..what is it?"
"I….I feel kind of funny. Maybe it's just the dust or something."
"What do you mean you feel funny? Funny how?" he asked suddenly more concerned than he was five seconds ago.
"I feel kind of lightheaded. Like I said, maybe it's just all this dust I've inhaled in the last four or five hours."
Frank closed his eyes tightly. It wasn't the dust. He was almost positive it wasn't the dust. There was only one reason he could think of…….she was running out of air. He looked in the direction of the men working on the rescue team, they looked to be still going over plans. Nowhere near ready to begin another attempt. Suddenly his stomach twisted into knots. She was going to run out of fresh air way before they'd be able to organize another rescue. He felt like the blood in his veins just ran cold and his heart was beating a mile a minute. Maybe it is just the dust……maybe??
"Frank?" he could hear her voice almost pleading now and he'd realized that he'd waited entirely too long to respond to her.
"I'm here. I told you I wasn't going anywhere. I……I just…." he couldn't think of the right words to say to her. She was a brilliant woman. If he started lying to her, she'd figure it out in a second, but could he really tell her the truth……
It suddenly hit her. Like a ton of bricks, or in this case like 10 to 12 tons of cracked and broken concrete, she thought to herself almost frantically. Oh Jesus!! I'm going to suffocate to death down here!
"Frank! I'm…..I'm running out of air, aren't I? Oh God……"
"Laura…….baby, you've got to calm down. Just listen to me….it's going to be OK," he told her, trying desperately to keep his own panic down to a low roar.
"No…no it's not! Don't tell me to calm down!" she nearly screamed at him. "You're no the one stuck down here in the dark with no air!!"
"Laura! Stop it! Listen to me……listen to me!" he tried to get her attention but he could hear her crying now, and he felt totally and completely helpless. "Baby….listen to me," he tried to even out his own tone, hoping that if he remained calm, she might follow suit, "I'm going to find out from the rescue team how much longer it'll be before they can try to get you out of there again, but you have to promise me……Laura? Are you listening to me? You have to remain as calm as you can. If you keep getting upset, you're actually using up more oxygen than you normally would. Do you understand me?" He waited a few seconds and she still hadn't answered. "Laura? Did you……"
"I heard you," she said barely above a whisper, her voice thick with panic, but somehow she'd managed to stop herself from crying.
Frank closed his eyes again and tried to retain what little control he had left. "Ok….I'm going to talk to the foreman. You'll be able to hear my voice the whole time, all right."
"Ok. But Frank……please….please hurry," she squeezed out before another sob escaped her lips, but she quickly hushed herself.
"All right, stay with me," he told her as he rose from the ground and quickly approached the group of men.
Getting the foreman's attention, Frank quickly inquired, "How long before you can make another attempt?"
Blowing air out of his mouth in exasperation, the man quickly looked back at the images in front of him. They weren't good, nothing about them was good. "At this point….I'd say we're looking at another hour or two before we could even try."
"That's not good enough," Frank informed the man in a very clipped tone.
"Look…..I don't like it any better than you do, but these scans tell us that this pile of rubble is shit! I'm telling you…..if we even thought about another attempt without studying the situation further, you might as well just right off the whole rescue!"
Frank moved in closer to the man and spoke in a low controlled toned through clenched teeth, "And what I'm telling you is that we may not have hours or even one hour. She's running out of air……do you understand that? We need to do something and we need to do it NOW!"
The man was shocked. First because of Frank's tone and demeanor and second because he'd almost forgotten what he'd suspected earlier. But the truth was, the revelation didn't change anything. "Mr. Donovan…….I can sympathize…..truly I can, but it doesn't change……."
The man never got a chance to finish his sentence. Frank ripped the microphone receiver out of his ear and threw it a good ten or so feet away, and then grabbed the man and forced him up against the makeshift table that they'd been using.
"Listen to me, you son-of-a-bitch! That's my wife down there! And you're going to do whatever it takes to get her out of there and you're going to do it now! Not in an hour ……not even in twenty minutes……NOW!! I am not going to go to my children tonight and tell them that their mother suffocated to death! Do you understand me?!?!" Frank had a death grip on the man's shirt and was practically shouting at his face from less than an inch or two away. He wanted to cause the man harm in more ways than one and would have possibly done so, but he suddenly felt a pair of hands pulling him away from his intended target. Struggling against the unseen force at first, he finally relented and saw that Jake had been the one to drag him away.
He shrugged out of the younger agent's grip and glared at him, the fire in his eyes still threatening to burn down anything that stood in his way.
"Donovan! This isn't helping anything! This isn't helping Laura! Let the man do his job," Jake then turned and gave the foreman a look that said 'you damned well better come up with something quick or I might just let him finish you off'.
Frank turned his back on Jake and the others. He wanted to yell until his voice was raw. He felt so completely helpless. Only one other time in his life had he ever felt this way. Closing his eyes once more, he could still remember how it felt to know that his son had died and he could do nothing but sit alone in a cold lonely airport, unable to be with the family that he loved more than life itself.
The same helplessness threatened to drown him, to pull him down and hold him under. Laura was his life……the other half of his soul…….his heart, and he was fairly certain that if anything should happen to her, he would simply cease to exist.
"Donovan," Jake said, placing his hand on his boss' shoulder breaking him from his trance. Frank turned and looked at Jake with hollow eyes. Jake didn't say a word, he just handed him his ear mic. Taking the item from his hand, he looked at it momentarily, almost afraid to put it back on. But slowly he did, and turned away from the rest of the group.
"Laura?" he said sadly, no longer able to keep the feeling from his voice.
"Frank……it's no….use…is it?" she said in between labored breaths.
Frank closed his eyes and tried to fight back the tears that were already welling up in his eyes. In the few short minutes that he'd been away, her situation had already gone from bad to worse. He needed to say something to her, but he couldn't find his voice.
"Frank….I need…to tell….you….something."
Gathering whatever strength he had left, he answered, "What's that? What do you need to tell me?"
He could hear her start to cry and when he did, the tears finally started to fall down his own cheeks. He would have given everything he had, everything he was, to be able to hold her at that moment. He would have switched places with her willingly without a second's hesitation.
"I…..I'm so…sorry," she barely managed to whisper in the midst of her sobs.
"Sorry for what?" he asked her quietly.
"For all of the……hell I…..put you….through. For all….the ….things….I said….to you…after…."
"Laura….please don't do this…..you were hurt. I understood that," he told her truthfully.
"I wasn't…..the only……one…that was …..hurting. Was I? But…..I still….pushed…you away……"
"None of that matters now. Do you hear me? Whatever happened, we worked through it. It happened……but it's over and done with. Please don't relive this now. Please….."
There was a moment or two of silence between the two, both having so much to say to the other, both knowing the words weren't really necessary.
"I….love you….so….much," Laura was finally able to murmur to him, suddenly having a hard time keeping her attention focused.
Frank slowly sank to his knees. He felt like every ounce of energy was being drained from his body. He simply knelt there and didn't care who saw him crying. His life was ending slowly……one labored breath at a time, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
"I love you too baby…….always," he finally answered her.
"Always…….." was the last word she said.
Jake turned to face the other three agents and saw that he wasn't the only one with tears in his eyes. He took his earpiece out and saw the others follow suit. Frank needed time to grieve and they would give him the privacy to do so.
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