Broken Promises

Chapter Thirteen

Laura awoke sometime in the middle of the night……startled…….gasping for breath…..sure that something was terribly wrong. Her first thoughts, of course, went to the children, and as quickly as she could, she scurried up the stairs, trying her best not to break her own neck in the process. Only when she had reassured herself that both still slept soundly, did her heart rate begin to return to normal.

Retreating down the stairs, she paused in the living room, sinking down into the first chair that she found there. Sighing heavily, she tried her best to regain her senses. For the life of her, she couldn't recall what thought had been going through her mind when she had so abruptly awoken. All she knew for sure was that something was wrong……something in the sphere of her existence was no longer as it should be.

Frank……

Her heart immediately began to pound in her chest. Having no idea what his mission was, meant that she had absolutely no idea where he was or even what he remotely might be involved in. Through their many years together, she had become more than accustomed to not knowing his whereabouts every hour of every day, but this…..this time it was different. Never in all of those years had he ever been forced to take an assignment. Knowing that he had taken this job under those circumstances, unnerved her greatly. Since his departure almost a week ago, she had done her best to come to terms with the situation. But late at night, when she was alone in their bed, she couldn't help but feel lost, hopeless and abandoned. And as she so often did in those moments, she would grasp the gold chain around her neck and let her fingers play across the gold band that dangled there. Somehow, holding on to his wedding band made her feel somehow closer to him. For even though many miles, and God only knew what else, separated them, she felt oddly connected to him still.

Sitting in her living room chair, she grasped that same ring but this time…..this time something was missing. Usually she felt an overwhelming sense of calm after holding it for awhile, but this time all she felt was the cold metal, and as a result her unease escalated ten-fold. Silently she told herself that it was just a result of some disturbing dream, but the growing sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach just wouldn't go away.

She sat there for several more minutes before finally hauling herself out of the chair and returning to the bedroom. She lowered herself to the bed and stared up at the ceiling, willing herself to go back to sleep, but knowing the likelihood of that happening was almost nil. If she just knew where he was, she knew she would feel so much better. Or worse! Sighing tiredly, she sat up once more and looked at the bedside clock. 4:35 AM. The children wouldn't be up for at least a couple of more hours and as much as she would have liked to get just a few more hours of sleep, tonight she knew that would be impossible.

After dressing for the day, she made her way into the kitchen and began brewing a fresh pot of coffee. Settling down at the kitchen table, she cradled the mug in her hands and watched the steam rise from its invigorating contents. As she sipped the hot liquid, she let her mind wander, and as almost always happened, her thoughts drifted to Frank. Closing her eyes tightly, she sent up a silent prayer that he would remain safe, and that he would return to her as quickly as possible.

After 15 or 20 minutes or so, the nervousness returned, either as a result of her worries or from the caffeine in the coffee. Placing the cup down, she rose from her chair and began to pace about the house, her arms wrapped around herself almost as if she were fighting off a chill.

A thought suddenly occurred to her. She knew that if she tried to get any information about Frank's whereabouts from the CIA, she would be brushed aside, but maybe…..just maybe…..

Unmindful of the hour, she picked up the phone and dialed quickly. Only when the line began to ring did she realize what time it was. Figuring that she would just leave a message, she continued, and was almost startled, however, when someone actually answered.

"Hello," a tired voice on the other end of the line answered.

"Jake?" Laura asked timidly.

"Yeah….who's this?" Jake asked with a slightly irritated sound to his voice.

"Jake, it's Laura," she answered sheepishly, realizing that she managed to wake the man out of a sound sleep.

On the other end of the line, Jake Shaw suddenly came fully awake. Glancing at the clock, he suddenly felt very uneasy, knowing that Laura would never call at this hour without a very pressing reason. "Laura….what is it? What's wrong?" he asked her with great concern, his thoughts nervously wandering to Frank and the kids.

"Jake….I'm so sorry for waking you," she began. "I just now looked at the time and figured that I'd just leave a message."

"Don't worry about it," he reassured her. "We've been working late on a new case and I just thought I'd crash here instead of heading home and coming back in early in the morning," he explained to her. "But Laura, why are you calling at 5 in the morning?"

She sighed tiredly on the other end of the line. "Oh Jake….I'm not sure if I can explain this very well without you thinking that I've gone over the deep end."

"Just tell me what's bothering you," he prompted. "Is it one of the kids? Frank?"

"It's Frank. The kids are fine….well for the most part anyway." She paused as she unconsciously began playing with her necklace. "You know that he's away doing some sort of job for the CIA, right?"

"Yeah. Alex mentioned something about it……said that you and the kids were probably going to come for a visit in a few weeks. Is this about his new assignment?"

"Uh huh……Jake……I think that something's wrong," she tried to explain.

Jake furrowed his eyebrows when he heard the tone in her voice. "What do you mean that you think something's wrong? Have you heard anything?"

"No…..you're going to think I'm crazy when I try to explain this, but I had this dream. I don't remember the details, I just have this overwhelming feeling that something is very wrong." She listened for several heartbeats for Jake to respond. "You do think I'm crazy, don't you?"

Jake wanted to answer that, yes, he did indeed think that she'd just been imagining everything, but he suddenly remembered who he was talking to. Laura was one of the most grounded, sensible people he knew and he figured that if she felt like something was wrong, then there probably was something amiss somewhere. "No….I don't think you're crazy. Worried, yes, but not crazy. Laura…..it's the middle of the night. How have you been sleeping?"

"Are you asking me if maybe this paranoia is a result of sleep deprivation? If so, then…..well, I won't lie to you. No, I haven't been sleeping well. Not since Frank left nearly a week ago, but Jake, I've functioned on a whole lot less than this before." She stopped momentarily as she rose from her chair and began to pace once more. "Jake….I'm worried. I don't know how else to say it…..to describe this to you. There's something wrong and I need to find some way to find out what's going on."

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, "Are you asking me to help find out what's going on with him? If so, you know that's easier said than done."

"I know….I know, and I'm sure that whatever information you can come up with will be brief and vague. Jake….I just need to know that he's all right," she told him, her voice breaking, as tears suddenly began to well up in her eyes.

Jake could hear the heartache in her voice, and it killed him. "Laura, I'm not sure what I'll be able to find out, but we'll see what we can come up with."

"Thank you," she could barely say above a whisper, as she tried desperately not to break down completely on the phone. "I just need to know."

"Don't worry…..OK? As soon as Cody gets here, I'll have him track down anything he can on the case that Frank's involved in, and then when the boss gets in, I'll see if he can use his contacts with the Justice Department to gather any information as well."

Wiping the tears from her face, Laura responded. "Thanks, Jake. You really have no idea what this means to me."

"It'll be OK. I'm sure that he's fine," he told her, trying to alleviate some of her fears. "Frank's one of the strongest men that I know. He can handle whatever they throw at him."

She smiled weakly, wanting to believe what he was telling her. "I know…he is. Just call me as soon as you hear anything…….anything at all. OK?"

"You got it. Are you and the kids still coming for a visit?"

"Yeah…..we'll probably be there in a couple of weeks. I'll let you know the exact dates."

"Great. I know that everyone here is looking forward to seeing you."

"It'll be good to get away for awhile. The kids haven't taken this very well, and this visit will give them something else to focus on."

Jake could only imagine how Christopher and Alicia had reacted to their father's sudden departure. "Well…..we can't wait. And Laura…..please don't worry, or at least don't worry until there's something actually to worry about."

Laura couldn't help but chuckle at the logic. "You may have a point there. I'll be waiting to hear from you," she explained to him. "And Jake…..I'm sorry that I woke you."

"I'm not," he told her. "It's good to hear from you, whatever the hour. Take care."

"You too. Bye." Hanging up the phone, she felt somewhat better than she had before she called. She still didn't have any information, but knowing that she now had some partners in on this, somehow managed to relieve some of the burden that she was carrying. She stared at her now cold cup of coffee and smiled sadly when she realized that she was going to need a lot more of the stimulating liquid in order to make it through the day.

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Slowly….agonizingly slowly, Frank fought his way to consciousness. Feeling as though he was frantically kicking his way toward the surface, his body gave the impression of being heavily weighted, and refused to obey his commands. But as minutes ticked by, the feeling began to lessen and he became more aware of the world surrounding him.

The first thing he became aware of was that his head hurt. An almost blinding pain sat directly behind his eyes, almost making him wish for blessed unconsciousness to overtake him once more.

The second thing that occurred to him was that every sound from the traffic outside seemed to aggravate his throbbing head. Every blare of a car's horn, every squeal of tires set his teeth on edge.

Groaning inwardly, he finally managed to open his eyes, only to stare blankly at the ceiling fan as it lazily turned in circles overhead. After several minutes, he somehow managed to pivot his head in order to look at the clock by his bedside. Through squinted eyes, he could just barely see that it read 8:14. AM, he assumed, although with the pain in his head preventing him from thinking clearly, he could have easily believed that the muted light was from the steadily approaching dusk.

The third thing that came to him was that nearly every muscle in his body ached…..ached as though he had just run an excruciating 26K run…..uphill every step of the way. As he tried to stretch, he was dismayed to find that the entire right side of his body refused to move. Something akin to panic moved him and he opened his eyes once more to see the cause of the problem.

Lucia.

Sometime in the middle of the night, she had draped herself across his body, entwining her limbs with his. Sighing in frustration, he managed to slowly disengage her body from his, all the while trying desperately not to wake her. Although the sight of her nude body stirred something within him, he had no desire to quench that particular thirst at the moment.

Once free, he sat on the edge of the bed and scrubbed his hands roughly across his face. Whatever had happened last night was a mystery to him. He could only hope that he'd enjoyed himself, for today he was more than paying the price.

Rising from the bed, he stumbled, more than walked, to the bathroom in order to relieve himself and to wash away some of last night's stale remnants. Feeling somewhat better for the effort, he returned to the bedroom and immediately grabbed the cell phone on the bureau in order to check his messages. Glancing briefly at the bed, he wanted to make sure that Lucia was indeed still sound asleep. He had work to attend to, and he didn't need her particular brand of distraction at the moment. Although a beauty, Lucia could drone on about anything and everything to the point where all he wanted to do was fuck her and be done with it.

Lucia…..

When he'd first awoken, he'd been somewhat disoriented. But when he became aware that she was at his side, he knew for sure where he was……in the apartment that he kept in downtown Miami. It seemed like years since he'd been here last. In fact, at the moment, he couldn't recall quite when his last visit had been. Setting those thoughts aside, he quickly donned a discarded pair of pants he found lying on the floor, just enough to cover his own nudity, before stepping out onto the balcony overlooking the street below.

Quietly sliding the door shut behind him, he squinted painfully when the morning's light assaulted his senses. Doing his best to focus on the task at hand, he quickly checked the voice mails left from the previous night. One in particular caught his immediate interest. The call had finally come that he'd been waiting for.

A long time ago, when he still had lived in Colombia, he had worked with a young man by the name of Juan Jimenez. In the years since he'd left, he'd heard often about how the young Juan had grown into quite a force to be reckoned with in the drug world. Now, it seemed, Juan had finally achieved the status that he had so desperately, and ruthlessly, worked for. Not three weeks ago, he'd begun to hear rumblings of an impending coup, and now it seemed that uprising had finally occurred, leaving Juan Jimenez the clear victor.

The call had come from another associate he had not heard from in quite some time. A man who still had contacts in Bogotá, a powerful and dangerous man in his own right. The man, known only as Ramon, had contacted him on behalf of Juan Jimenez inviting Luis to his palatial estate, La Fortaleza, outside of Bogotá. It seemed that Juan would be in need of men, trustworthy men, who would be as cunning and as merciless as he was. Luis knew that he fit that bill perfectly.

A cold-blooded smile graced his face. Finally, after all of the years working for idiots who couldn't move a hundred kilos of grass without getting caught, he would finally be working for someone who was worthy of his talent and expertise. Of course, he knew it wouldn't be quite that easy. It had been years since he'd seen Juan and he was quite sure that he'd have to prove himself before being accepted into the fold. A challenge that he was more than ready for.

Wrapped up in his own ambitious thoughts, he didn't hear the door slide open behind him, and it wasn't until he felt a pair of arms slide around his waist did he realize that he was no longer alone.

"Come back to bed," she whispered to him as one hand caressed his muscled chest. Catching the hand before it could go any further, he quickly turned to face the woman who had interrupted his solitude.

She had dressed, just barely, pulling on one of his button down shirts, and, as the wind blew slightly he noticed, nothing else. "Go back inside," he commanded her.

She pouted slightly, looking up at him through her long eyelashes. "Join me," she tried once again.

Frowning at her, he reiterated, "I said…..get inside. Don't you think this is a bit casual for the city," he asked in an irritated tone, motioning toward the shirt that she just barely wore.

"What? You don't like it?" she asked seductively.

"Must the whole neighborhood see you dressed like a whore?"

Leaning in to him, one hand snaking around his neck, she whispered, "I thought you liked this look."

Practically growling, he answered through clenched teeth, "I do…..but I don't want the rest of the world to see what kind of una puta you are," he answered, his eyes growing darker, but not necessarily from rage.

She began to move even impossibly closer to him, but was stopped when his hand shot out and captured her face in its strong grip. He stared intently into her eyes, not sure if he should punish her insolence, or fuck her till she could no longer walk. Pausing not a second longer, his lips took hers in a crushing kiss, his tongue ravaging her mouth and leaving her breathless and weak in the knees. Then just as suddenly as he started, he quickly ended the kiss practically tossing her away from him in the process, leaving her clinging to the balcony railing, her breath coming in shallow gasps.

Then without another word, he turned and made his way through the sliding glass doors. There would be time for such play later. This morning, he had an important journey to get ready for, and by tonight, he would be back in Colombia. 15 years, it had been since he'd last set foot on its soil…..a long time away from the land of his birth. It was time to regain what should have been his so long ago.

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