It felt like her eyes were glued together when Victoria finally came to her senses again. She was not conscious enough to find the strength to lift her heavy eyelids and therefore she could only concentrate on what she was feeling and hearing. The first thing she noticed was her aching back probably caused by the fact that she was forced into an uncomfortable seating position on what felt like a hard wooden chair. When Victoria tried to sit up straight, she realized with shock that her hands were tied to the chair behind her back. She tried to pull and wriggle her hands free, but the rope only cut deeper into her flesh inflicting her burning pain. Automatically she had to wince and noticed how dry her lips already were causing the skin to crack open, so that she tasted blood in her mouth. Victoria almost gasped in surprise when she suddenly felt a kick inside of her belly. Her eyes shot open and she was wide awake. Her baby was okay. It was all that mattered to her in that moment. Victoria couldn't quite recall what had happened, but she remembered pain and how she had been worried about the wellbeing of her child. It seemed her worst fears were not met – at least not yet. When she glanced around she found herself in a room with high ceilings, stone walls and iron rods. She had no idea where she was, but it looked like an abandoned factory building, which had no isolation and was therefore extremely cold.
"Mrs Grayson, don't make a sound." A male voice addressed her in a hushed tone making Victoria quickly turn her head. Relieved she faced Frank Stevens who had apparently just managed to free himself and limped over to her. When she saw the dried blood on the side of his head and his swollen eye, the memories came back to her. She remembered how Frank had been knocked out and she had been pulled out of the car. At one point she had thought it had been the end of them and now she had to relive that feeling of fear for her life all over again.
"Frank." Victoria couldn't help herself, but had to sob when she was fully conscious again and had processed everything that had happened. She also thought of Patrick and how she had lost sight of him and how he hadn't answered her anymore. As a result, she began to panic and her breathing grew erratic. "Where are we? What is happening?" Her voice was hoarse due to her dry throat.
"Shhh." Frank hushed her and kneeled down next to her. He had been lucky that he had been able to free himself from the ropes tied to his hands so easily, it had almost been suspiciously easy but he didn't want to think about that. "Calm down, Mrs Grayson. I'll get you out of here safely. Trust me." The agent detected sheer panic in Victoria's wide opened eyes and put her face in his hands. She looked very dehydrated in addition to her general fragile state. He was not stupid but rather quite attentive and knew that at seven months pregnant Victoria was far from a stable and healthy condition. If anything happened to her, he would always blame himself for that, because he hadn't been able to protect her.
"Everything's fine. Look at me. You're safe." Her brown eyes were now scanning his face and Frank felt her breathing becoming more regular again. "Good. You see, there's nothing to worry about. I'm going to free you from that chair now. Just stay calm."
Victoria watched how Frank let go of her face and then turned to the back of the chair beginning to fumble with the ropes. Could it really be true? Could they find a way to escape even after their brutal abduction? Even if they would, Victoria couldn't leave without Patrick. She couldn't leave him behind. Not again.
All of a sudden the metal door to the room flew open and two people dressed in black uniforms entered. The second they realized what Frank was doing they pulled their guns out of their belts and aimed at him. Before he even had the chance to turn around and see who was now storming towards him, one of them shot him directly in the head. Frank's lifeless body then sank to the ground right next to Victoria and the blood from his head injury splashed onto her black coat.
Frozen in shock Victoria couldn't even scream. She just stared at the body next to her while a red puddle began to form next to his head.
Against her expectations the two people - a woman and a man Victoria realized since they weren't wearing any masks anymore – simply positioned themselves to both sides of Victoria's chair and looked grimly in the direction of the door.
Her mind wasn't quite able to keep up with the pace of what was happening. One moment Frank had promised to save her and the other he was already lying dead beside her. He had always been there to protect the Graysons, he had always been discrete but also showed his presence when it was needed. Victoria had even trusted him enough to handle her private matters keeping his loyalty to her and not to Conrad. And now he was gone. He was killed in cold blood. Confused as she was, Victoria didn't even cry, she didn't even grieve. Instead, she just blurted out the next question that was on her mind. "Where is Patrick? What have you done to him? I need to seem him!" With the knowledge of what those people obviously were capable of, Victoria now feared the worst. "Please! Tell me!" She almost screamed while her voice cracked, but both of them simply ignored her without batting an eye.
"Well, well, well." All of a sudden another person came walking through the doors and Victoria shifted her focus. "Victoria Grayson in the flesh. I have heard so much about you." The amused voice belonged to a short woman who was accompanied by two men in an equally black uniform. The woman had a trained body and was wearing black trousers and a grey blazer which fit the shade of grey of her short wavy hair. Victoria thought that she was maybe about 50 years old. She had delicate features, but radiated authority while she ordered the other people around with a simple wave of her hand. A few feet away from Victoria's chair she finally stopped and smiled.
"Please excuse the inconvenience, Victoria." The woman began talking and tilted her head to take a look at Frank Stevens' dead body which made another smile form on her lips. Victoria was already disgusted by her. "Oh, and I'm sorry for Mr Stevens. But he was a bit too eager for my taste. He earned his fate." When she noticed that Victoria didn't intend on replying to her she continued. "And I really hope your little princess is fine. We never meant to hurt her."
Victoria drew in a sharp breath. How did she now about the sex of her baby? She hadn't told anyone except for her family. Or was it just a lucky guess? Anyways, it had the intended effect on Victoria.
"I don't want to scare you, Victoria." The way she said her name sounded so scarily familiar that it made Victoria shiver. "How about we bring someone in to lighten your mood." The grey-haired woman raised her hand and at her command two more people entered the room. It were four to be exact. Two of them in black clothing and two of them were chained and being pushed forward by the guards.
"Nolan." Victoria breathed in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. There was Nolan with his hands tied to his back just like hers. What was he doing there? When he came closer Victoria noticed that one of his eyes was swollen and blue and blood was smeared around his mouth.
Nolan was just as surprised as she was, but he also couldn't deny the relieved feeling at the sight of a familiar face. Although it meant Victoria and him were both in the same hopeless situation.
The two guards made Nolan sit on his knees next to Victoria's chair and he almost had to throw up when he found himself so close to Frank Stevens' dead body and the blood that was flowing from his head. What were those people really capable of?
The other chained person who was placed next to Nolan was an Asian woman. Victoria wondered who she was when she remembered Nolan's plan of getting into the IT department of Grayson Global. Maybe she had something to do with that. At least, she didn't look heavily injured. She seemed to be just as shocked as the rest of them.
"Hi, Vicky." Nolan attempted to smile but regretted it when he felt his injured lip springing open again.
"What a happy reunion." The grey-haired woman announced satisfied and clapped her hands together. She had this crazy flicker in her eyes that really gave Victoria the creeps.
"What the hell do you want? I've got nothing to do with those two." Disparagingly the young Asian woman nodded her head towards Victoria and Nolan.
"Not so fast, young lady." The older woman interrupted her. "You have more in common with them than you are aware of."
"What have you done to my son, Patrick?" Victoria found the courage to speak up in a determined voice.
"Same goes for you, Victoria. Just be patient." She sent her a devilish smile and then clapped her hands once more. "Well, as much fun as this is, I have to admit that I can't lose too much time. So, if you all promise to stay put and listen to me, I'll tell you to what you owe the pleasure of being here." The woman gave the three of them an intense stare while she rubbed her hands in excitement. "I'll take that as a yes." Relaxed, she then strolled over to Edith Lee and first addressed her. "Let me begin with you dear Edith. I assume your parents weren't too happy when you decided to quit law school not following in their footsteps, but rather pursued a career in the IT sector – if I put it nicely. Actually you're nothing but a frustrated hacker not having the expected success."
"What…" Edith voiced her confusion about the woman's knowledge about her life.
"Anyways, there you finally are, being forced to make some money, landing a job at the IT department of Grayson Global."
So Victoria had been right, she had something to do with Nolan's plan. Not quite sure where she was going Nolan exchanged a scared look with Victoria.
"Of course, when your boss compliments you on your excellent skills and asks you to make use of them in a top secret case for the company, you don't say no. You were rather fueled by that – the secrecy, the importance of the whole issue and not to forget the smell of money and a career boost. I don't judge you for that. I would have done the exact same thing. May I ask you Edith, do you actually know what you forged those documents at Conrad Grayson's order for?"
"Sure, I do." Edith was insulted when the older woman suggested she simply followed orders and didn't understand what exactly she was doing. "They were for the David Clarke trial. I had to alter the transactions, erasing Mr Grayson's name and adding Mr Clarke's instead. I know for a fact that his freedom depended on my work." She was undeniably proud of the responsibility she had been trusted with.
At her revelation Victoria inevitably had to gasp, but Nolan signaled her that he had been aware of her involvement and the details of her work.
"And that is exactly why I became extremely suspicious when suddenly Mr Ross appeared in your office."
"Wait, what." Edith stared at Nolan. "She just called you Nolan when we came in and now… Ross… so you are the Nolan Ross who set the world record in Street Fighter? That's why I had no chance against you. I can't believe you told me your name was Tony and I was stupid enough to believe that."
"I have learned some tricks to keep the paparazzi at a distance." Nolan was surprised by himself that even in that situation he could come up with a sarcastic comment.
"Then what do you want from me? I don't get it." Edith asked in confusion.
"And that is exactly the question you should be asking." The grey-haired woman remarked and pointed at the young woman. "I can provide the answer for you. Nolan tried to get close to you because he wanted the information about your work on the David Clarke trial. He wanted nothing more but to manipulate you. You see, he is a good friend of David Clarke and wants to help him. That's why his plan was to interfere with your work and present the original documents of the transactions in court."
"It's true." Nolan supported the words. "I needed to gain access to your computer and manipulate the software so that it would look like you did your best work to you, when in reality nothing about the documents would be changed."
"You…" Edith narrowed her eyes angrily and sent daggers in his direction.
"Before you'll be at each other's throats, let me finish my story. The best part is yet to come." Now the woman turned to Victoria grinning mischievously. "And here we have the orchestrator of it all, lovely Victoria Grayson."
"It's you." Victoria replied fiercely. While the older woman had been talking, she had finally been able to think clearly again. "You are the Initiative. That's why we're here. Because we got in your way."
"Don't spoil my punchline!" The smile faded from the woman's face while she locked eyes with Victoria who didn't back away and instead returned the depreciative look. "You really do get on people's nerves oh so easily. No wonder even your bastard son didn't want anything to do with you."
"What have you done to him?" Victoria didn't even react to the insult when the woman mentioned her son.
"Don't feign motherly concern now, Victoria. We all know you're as cold as stone." She noticed that she had gained the upper hand again and let a cruel smile appear on her lips. "But I have to admit that you were right with your guess. I am the Initiative, if that is what you like to call us. And since you've already ruined the dramatic ending to my story, I can put it quite simple: you are here, because it seems that we put our trust in the wrong person. If Conrad can be fooled by his own socialite wife and a 21-year-old nerd, he surely is not the right person to cooperate with us. We were convinced that that naïve David Clarke would be an easy victim in our plan, he would just take the fall and we could all move on with our lives, but it turns out he has you two overachievers on his side. At first, I didn't want to believe it myself, but you really do present a threat to our plan."
At her words Victoria and Nolan looked at each other equally surprised at her confession and the fact that she knew about their cooperation.
"So enough of my compliments to you." The woman put on a serious face again and straightened her back. "Here's my deal for the three of you: you either drop all of your activities concerning David Clarke's defense strategy. Victoria, for once, please just be the devoted housewife to your poor husband you had promised him to be. And Nolan, let Edith do her work and concentrate on building your company. Maybe we could even provide you with a little financial aid."
The intense stare coming from her small light blue eyes made all of them remain silent and frozen to their spots.
"Or…" She continued. "You agree to help us and we change our strategy. Thanks to your excellent work so far we consider it to be even easier to shake things up a bit in the trial. Edith and Nolan, you would make a magnificent team combining both of your tech skills in order to prove that Conrad Grayson was indeed the one behind the terrorist attack and David Clarke was wrongfully convicted. And as for you Victoria, the only thing you would have to do is confess your love for David and sob a bit and melt some hearts. We all know you're a marvelous actress and maybe this time you wouldn't even need to fake your emotions. We could also get that paternity test to make sure that there is no doubt about your feelings for Mr Clarke. You see, it's so easy. And the public loves a good love story plus some drama and the restoring of faith in the American judicial system. So what do you say? I wouldn't want to cause any one of you harm, so I hope your decision is unanimous."
Yay, this story has reached 200 reviews- thank you so much guys! I can't believe I've been working on this fic for almost 3 years now -including my long absence from the fanfiction world. I really, really appreciate all of your support and your encouraging words. It means the world to me!
I hope you like the new chapter and that you can't wait to read how they will react to the Initiative's proposal.