CHAPTER 6
The door to their room was unlocked and opened abruptly. Sean and John both stood up, facing their captors. The larger of the men, Miguel grabbed John's arm, and half pulled, half shoved him out into the hall.
"Down there," was all he said, and John pulled away abruptly, glaring back at the larger man who was smirking at him! For some reason, Miguel seemed to have taken a dislike to him, and seemed to enjoy physically pushing him around, which suited John's needs, but made him feel a little squeamish inside, pondering the reasons for it.
He and Sean found themselves in another room, larger than the one they had been imprisoned in, equipped with a large adjustable bed, and lots of pieces of medical equipment that made John feel apprehensive. He glanced quickly at Sean, who began examining the equipment laid out. John stood back, and made no move to study the shining instruments, till Miguel shoved his gun into John's back, and pushed him forward against Sean.
"One day I'm going to take that gun away from you," he said spinning around in anger to face the sneering man, "And shove it …"
"Christian," said Sean loudly, grabbing his arm. "Let's just stay calm."
Miguel sneered. "Oh dear, should I be scared of you?" he asked, and the other man, Pepe, laughed as well.
John ground his teeth, realizing Sean was right, and it wasn't time to make a stand, turned his back on the larger man, but was suddenly grabbed on the arm and pulled back.
"Pepe tells me you screamed like a little child, when Escobar stuck you with those needles," Miguel said nastily, with an evil smile. "I will enjoy making you scream too!"
And he licked his lips right in John's face.
Again John found himself silently counting to ten, before he once again pulled away from the other man's almost obsessive grip, to go and stand along side Sean, who had paled while listening to the exchange.
The two men sniggered, only stopping when the door opened again, and in came the man calling himself Escobar's brother, and with him a reluctant girl who hung back in the doorway shyly, eyes cast down, refusing to look up at any of the men in the room.
John couldn't help looking at the girl, her trim figure disfigured with enormous breasts, till Sean elbowed him in the side, and he realized he was staring.
"This is the first of your patients, Doctors," said Salvatore, drawing the scared girl further into the room. "Cut those implants out of her, and sew her back up for me."
Sean walked over to the girl, and began talking to her in calm tones, while John glared at the other three men.
"Can you give her a little privacy?" he asked, and Miguel laughed.
"She wont care," he said brutally, "She's just a whore!"
Salvatore frowned at his henchman, and added. "Pepe and Miguel will stay to observe that the procedure is done to my satisfaction, and of course, to take the implants as soon as you remove them," he said to John. "She can change into the operating smock in the bathroom, before you gentlemen use it to scrub up."
He turned to Pepe, and muttered something about being in the office, and left the room.
Sean directed the girl into the bathroom, and began sorting instruments, telling John under his breath, to watch what he was doing, and look as if he was busy. He was worried about Miguel's sadistic fascination for John, and wanted to try and keep them apart if he could. He had no idea of how John was going to react when faced with the actual surgery, but at the moment that was the least of his worries. He didn't know what John was planning to do, nor did he know that John was a law enforcement agent, and from his perspective, Miguel was a very large bully who wanted for some strange sick reason to hurt John, and Sean wasn't sure John would be able to fight back when push came to shove. He felt sick himself, at attempting to operate without any backup in the form of an anesthetist, or any sort of assistance.
The girl emerged from the bathroom, and silently climbed up on the bed, wearing a gown that opened down the front. She lay down and stared grimly up at the ceiling, studiously ignoring the men, holding out her right arm. Sean picked up a syringe, and began threading a line into her vein. John scrunched up his face, and looked away until he realized the other two men were staring at him, Miguel in particular, so he turned back to watch Sean.
After a moment, Sean injected some anesthetic into the drip line, and the girl closed her eyes, and slipped into unconsciousness.
"We will scrub up," he told them, and he indicated John to follow him into the bathroom, where a large container of soap and disinfectant waited.
John turned the water on full, to cover the sound of his voice.
"I can't do this," he said to Sean. "Be prepared for me to do something. Don't start cutting the girl straight away."
"I can't anyway," said Sean, in a way too calm voice. "I've got the yips!" and he stared at his shaking right hand as if it belonged to someone else. "We are screwed now. I can't do it, and they will expect you to do it, and just kill me instead." He took an unsteady breath.
John touched his arm. "Sean, go out there and pretend you are going to operate," he said urgently. "I'm going to take out that big ape – but you play along with them. If you have to operate on that poor girl, to save your life, you do it, shaking hand or not! If Miguel kills me, well you do what you have to do to stay alive! Do you understand?"
Sean nodded, and there was a savage thump on the bathroom door. Taking a deep breath, they both entered the 'operating' room, and pulled the provided masks over their faces.
Miguel and Pepe were standing in the corner of the room, both with guns at the ready.
John ignored them, and walked over to the tray, picking up a scalpel, and staring down at it. Sean came and stood on the other side of the bed, and picking up a stethoscope began listening to the girl's steady breathing, and heartbeat. John still stared down at the scalpel in his hand, his mind racing over possibilities.
He slid the scalpel up the sleeve of his shirt, as Sean began unbuttoning the girl's blouse, distracting their captors for a moment, by exposing the girl's extremely large breasts, before covering them again with a plain blue sheet.
He took a deep breath, his gaze met Sean's for a moment, and he wondered whether the fear was as evident in his own eyes, as it was in Sean's.
Bailey and Rachel sat in the large office that they had been allocated at the Police station, staring at Christian Troy. They had been questioning him for nearly an hour, and he was very close to losing his temper with them.
Bailey soon found out that although Christian may look like a carbon copy of his young agent, he was nothing like him in temperament.
Christian glared at Bailey, and answered his questions with a touch of arrogance and impatience. It was unsettling for both Bailey and Rachel to sit opposite this man, and see nothing of John in his demeanor. It reminded them constantly that John was in danger, and they were almost helpless in looking for him. The police had been out all day questioning all their contacts, and no one knew what had happened, it was if the two missing people had vanished into thin air.
A knock on the door, and one of the detectives helping them ushered in a tall, angular blonde woman with prominent blue eyes. She glanced around the room, and her eyes lit on Christian Troy, who stood up; and she rushed to his side.
"Christian, what on earth is going on? Where is Sean?" she demanded, grabbing his arm, and ignoring Bailey and Rachel. "The police have been around to my apartment twice, asking questions."
Rachel watched with surprise as the hard and almost arrogant veneer fell away from the plastic surgeon, and he smiled warmly and protectively down at the agitated woman clutching his sleeve.
He had exactly the same stunningly attractive smile as John, and Rachel sighed deeply, realizing how deeply she felt about her co-worker, and how much she had undervalued him and his smile, and wondering almost frantically if she was ever going to see him smile at her again.
"Its all right Julia," Christian said. "The police are doing all they can to find him. You know Sean, he's probably got the shits on again over something, and gone off for a good sulk."
"Well what have you done to upset him this time?" the blonde woman said angrily. "He was fine when I saw him on Saturday."
Christian moved away, and the smile died on his face. It was as if a light had been turned off in the room.
"I have done nothing to upset him," he said in a colorless tone. "When I saw him last, he was looking forward to being with you and the children for the weekend."
"Oh," was all the blonde said, turning to glare at Rachel, as if it was all her fault.
"Well what are you doing to find my husband?" she asked, but at the same time, moving closer to Christian, as if to stamp her ownership on him, and ignoring Rachel, directed her question at Bailey.
"Julia McNamara?" he asked, rising from behind the desk, to offer his hand. "I'm Bailey Malone, this is agent Rachel Burke, we work out of the VCTF, Atlanta."
"VCTF?" repeated Julia blankly. "I don't understand, what's that?"
"It's a special section of the F.B.I.," said Rachel. "We are …"
"F.B.I.?" said Julia in shock, deliberately cutting her off. "What are the F.B.I. involved for? What is going on?"
She clutched at Christian's sleeve again in agitation. Rachel got the impression that she was a nervy sort of woman; there was nothing restful about her.
Bailey sighed, and sat back down. It had been a long day, and they were no closer to finding John, than they had been at the start of it. He was now extremely worried about his younger agent, John was a friend as well as a colleague, and Bailey knew he was quick thinking and capable. If he hadn't been in touch yet, it meant that something was seriously wrong. He looked at Julia, and indicated the spare seat.
"I'd like to ask you some questions," he said mildly, not allowing the anxiety he was feeling to show in any way.