Day 5

Irina was thrown into the dank cell; she was so exhausted that she was unable to catch herself before falling to the ground. Once she caught her breath, she searched the darkness for any other sign of life. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could see a figure slumped over in the furthest corner.

"Jack," she breathed; unsure of the extent of his injuries or even if he was conscious. She crawled over to him, ignoring her own pain; wanting, no needing, to know that he was all right. With what little light there was, Irina tried to assess the damage.

Jack's right eye was swollen shut, he had several cuts marring his face, a split lip, and his left arm appeared to have been bleeding; a haphazard tourniquet had been tied around his upper arm.

Tears blurring her vision, she fixed the tourniquet and adjusted both of them so his head lay in her lap. Breathing deeply, she gently ran her fingers through his hair, feeling for bumps as she went. There were two: one at the base of his skull and one on the right side of his head, just above his ear.

Irina placed a hand on his chest, feeling for the reassuring thump of his heart. The rhythm lulled her into a light, uneasy sleep. It was several hours later when she was startled awake by the sound of Jack's voice.

"Irina? You're alive."

"And you're awake," she responded, almost glibly because she didn't want to give into the tears of relief. If she did, she would completely break down.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked as he sat up. Irina looked about as bad as he felt.

"I'm fine," she said, brushed off her own injuries. "It's you I'm worried about. What did they do to you?"

"Just use your imagination. Then again," he added, "you don't need to, do you? Do you know how long we've been here?"

"Just a day, I think. Jack, we can't stay here. Cuveé will kill us."

"If you have a plan to get us out of here without further bodily harm, I'm all ears."

"The key is the guards. They're not all that intelligent. Gerard likes to feel superior, and those who serve him only want his approval. I'm sure we can come up with a way to get past them."

They discussed their options and decided that Irina would tell the guard she was willing to give Cuveé intel on Rambaldi in exchange for medical attention for Jack. Once the guards entered the cell, Irina and Jack would feign complacency before springing an attack.

"Are you up for this?" Irina asked.

"Do I really have a choice?" At her expression he amended, "I'll be fine. Let's roll."

The most amazing thing was that their plan actually worked. The two goons working for Cuveé didn't know what hit them. Jack and Irina began to work themselves out of the building, trying to remember all the twists and turns from the schematics.

They had almost made it when Gerard Cuveé appeared before them. Irina blanched, something Jack had never seen her do.

"You did not think it would be so easy, did you?"

Something inside Jack snapped at the snide tone and the derision written on Cuveé's countenance. He launched himself at the Russian, fists flying, heedless of his own injuries. Jack toppled the man after only a few hits; the back of Cuveé's head smacked the cement floor with a sickening crack. Yet, Jack continued his vicious assault.

"Bastard! Lay a hand on my wife! Never again!"

Irina had heard that Jack could be cunning and even cruel when dealing with suspects, but this went beyond the pale. She had never seen him so violent.

"Jack," she attempted to pull him off. "Jack! He's not getting up! We need to get out of here!"

Her voice finally penetrated to fog of rage that had enshrouded him. They managed to make it to the car without further incident. In the dim glow coming from car light, Irina saw that Jack had re-opened the wound in his arm.

"Let me fix that," she said, grabbing the tourniquet.

"Don't fuss, Irina. Just get us out of here."

She finished wrapping his arm before getting behind the wheel. "I'm taking us straight to Dublin. We can go back to the inn . . ."

"In our condition? Don't you think Mrs. O'Shaunassy's going to be a little concerned?"

"She won't say anything; I've stayed with her before. Besides we can cover most of the injuries, mine with cover-up, and yours with clean clothes. We'll tell her we went hiking and had an accident."

Jack looked skeptical, but didn't protest. Dawn was fast approaching and they needed to get away before anyone realized they were gone.