Chapter Two
Steve took Jaime back to his house, where they sat up all night and he held her while she shivered in the muggy August heat. As soon as the sun came up, he headed for OSI Headquarters with Jaime firmly beside him. True to form, Oscar was already at his desk.
"I know you're sending me somewhere," Steve said briskly, helping a slightly wobbly Jaime into a chair before sitting down himself, "but we need to talk to you first. It's important."
Oscar's worry lines creased deeper across his face. "Didn't you get the message, Pal?"
"What message?"
"The Taiwan job proved to be less urgent than we'd thought, and I'm sending another operative, lower echelon, instead." Steve shook his head, and Oscar frowned. "Callahan was supposed to call you." He looked from Steve to Jaime and back again. "What's going on? You both look like you've been up all night...and not happily."
Steve quickly told Oscar about the dolls while Jaime stared at her hands and willed herself not to cry. "That's awful," Oscar empathized. "Are they still there?"
"Yeah," Steve answered, taking Jaime's hand. "I just wanted to get Jaime the hell outta there; I took her back to my house."
"Good idea. I want you to keep an eye on her – on each other – until this is resolved. I'll have Jack Hansen get a team over there this morning to check it out." Oscar looked more closely at Jaime (who had yet to utter a single word), and seeing her pale, tear-stained face, his frown lines deepened to crevasses. "Stop in and see Rudy before you leave today, ok?"
The office door opened suddenly, and Russ hurried in. "Oscar, you have an appointment with the Secretary in an hour and -" he noticed Jaime and Steve, and switched to lower gear. "And I'll come back later."
"Russ, on your way out, put in a call to Jack Hansen and tell him I need him over here with his best team, pronto."
Russ nodded. "You got it."
When Russ was gone, Steve got up and helped Jaime to her feet. "C'mon, Sweetheart," he said quietly. "Maybe Rudy will give you something so you can rest."
"Keep me posted, Pal," Oscar told him, walking them to the door.
"Thanks, Oscar." Steve nodded to Callahan, who was now at her desk, and led Jaime into the elevator. "Rudy in?" he asked Lynda, who was in Rudy''s outer office, talking to Michael. He didn't stop for an answer, but kept walking, holding Jaime's hand, all the way back to Rudy's lab.
- - - - - -
An hour later, Jaime obediently swallowed the capsule Rudy had prescribed and settled back onto the mountain of pillows on Steve's bed. "You're gonna rest, too, aren't you?"
Steve kissed her softly, and pulled the sheet up to cover her. "Maybe later. But you need it now." The whole ugly incident had hit Jaime hard, and Steve was as worried about her as Rudy and Oscar were. He sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to soothe her, until the drug took hold and she drifted off to sleep.
- - - - - -
The cat was pacing back and forth, hands rubbing together like well-groomed paws. The mice were running scared; this was excellent news. They didn't know what had hit them, but they'd definitely been hit – and hit hard. The cat grinned, knowing it was just the beginning.
- - - - - -
When the phone rang a few hours later, Steve grabbed it quickly, hoping it hadn't disturbed Jaime's rest. It was Oscar, and any thoughts Steve might've had of getting rest himself were gone.
"Question for you, Pal," Oscar began, diving right into it, "did you actually see those dolls, or did Jaime tell you about them?"
"I saw the dolls, and I saw their heads. Why - what's going on?"
"Hansen's team just left Jaime's house. They didn't find any dolls – headless or otherwise."
"That's impossible -"
"And no signs of forced entry," Oscar concluded.
"I know what I saw, Oscar! It wasn't some kind of projected image, either; we sat on the things! And Jaime...she's not easily rattled, and this really has her spooked!"
"How is Jaime?" he asked his friend gently.
"She's been sleeping for a couple of hours now. Hopefully she'll feel at least a little better when she wakes up."
"I don't think she should be alone right now, Pal. Can you keep her with you?"
"Planning on it," Steve confirmed. "Maybe you could have her house – especially the doors and windows – dusted for prints."
"It's already done. I'll let you know as soon as we have the results."
The conversation was halted by a sharp, piercing scream from the bedroom. "That's Jaime! Oscar, I've gotta go!"
- - - - - -