By the time she had managed to drag herself from the shower stall and back to the mattress in the adjoining room Malinowski felt like she'd just ran the New York City Marathon. Exhausted, as well as cold and aching with pain, she wrapped the thin blanket around her body.

Her attacker had been less than thrilled with the combination of excrement and vomit that had unexpectedly hurled towards him. The upside side: The desire to rape was instantly extingished in her attacker. The down side: Desire had been replaced by a rage that had only subsided when his partner intervened to pull the man off of his nearly unconscious victim.

After giving herself what she assumed were several minutes, to catch her breath and listen to the distant sound of what she assumed was a furnace, coming from the other side of the door, she opened her eyes.

She looked around the room to find the tripod and camera were gone. Her clothes, as well as her watch, had disappeared, also. Lifting an achy arm, she slowly ran her fingers through hair that was still damp. With no window in the main room, it was hard to tell if it was day or night. The only source of light...florescent light that hung overhead... continued to glow.

Judging by the feel of her hair and the hour on her watch the last time she'd looked at it... just before being carried into the shower... Malinowski figured it had to be early morning in Manhattan.

Manhattan...

She wondered if that was where McCoy was or if he had stayed in Canada to stay close to the investigation. Given all the road travel her captors had done early on, Malinowski wasn't sure whether she was in Canada or the States. It was that kind of confusion that had begun to frustrate her almost more than…

The sound of the heavy wooden door opening and quickly closing, made her jump.

This time the one called Ivan was alone. Alone and holding something that smelled vaguely familiar to his hostage.

"Good," he said as he bent down and handed her the warm paper bag. "You are awake. Take this."

Malinowski followed directions and carefully opened the bag. The smell of the soup immediately made her parched mouth begin to water. The warm aroma of the chicken and it's savory broth made her think of the soup the bodega a few blocks from McCoy's old place made every Thursday morning.

"You must eat," Ivan said indifferently, as he sat beside her.

Malinowski looked up into the hard grey eyes that watched her without emotion. She wondered what exactly had been added to the soup that her captor was so anxious to have to taste. As if reading her mind the man shook his head.

"You worry for nothing. At least for now," he said as he reached into the bag and handed her a plastic soup."You're DA, he's bought you more time. That means we need to keep you fit, for now."

"What do you mean," she said before she could stop her self. "How did he buy me time?"

As soon as the words left her mouth she instinctively cowered, fearing retribution. Instead Ivan reached into his back pocket and handed her an article that had been clipped from a newspaper.

Malinowski set the Styrofoam container down beside the bed and studied the paper carefully. Although the byline and author had been cut out, Malinowski knew by the way the writer phrased his information that the story had come from a page six article in the New York Ledger.

As she read she felt a spark of anger, as well as a twinge of shame. Ivan chuckled softly as he replaced the article with the soup and spoon.

"You are displeased by your …your… white knight," he asked with obvious amusement.

"I'm a prosecutor," she said more to herself than to the man beside her." I'm 'displeased' whenever a criminal goes unpunished."

"You were a prosecutor," he said bluntly."Now you are… not. Now, eat. Eat unless you would like me to feed you myself."

Warily Malinowski brought the steamy liquid to her lips. As soon as she tasted the salty broth she knew how close to home she had to be.

"Keep eating," Ivan commanded as he met her wide eyes."When you finish there is soda. Drink that too. This will keep your stomach…how you say? This will keep your stomach calm."

She looked up from the soup and waited for Ivan to nod, granting her permission to continue to speak.

"Your concern for my health is touching, if not surprising," she said carefully.

"My dear," he began as he leaned back to rest his head against the wall. "I have seen many women come and go this way. Many much younger, much more marketable. Right now, you are a commodity with significant value to my employer. It is in both our best interests things stay that way for as long as they can."

"It won't happen a second time," she with equal candor as discarded the empty soup container and opened the can of 7up."I don't know why Ja- John gave into your demands the first time, but he won't make that mistake again. The mayor, his own superiors, won't allow it."

Ivan shrugged his shoulders and carefully ran his cool fingers over her cheek.

"For your sake, I hope you are mistaken."

Malinowski bit her lip and focused on the taste of the warm soda. As she had eaten, her body had begun to relax. Her body temperature had begun to rise and the soreness in her joints and torso seemed to subside slightly. As alarming as his touch was, somehow, it seemed almost bearable…

"Oh damn," she suddenly hissed as she looked sharply at the empty container, then back at her captor. Impulsively, she moved to the edge of the mattress and brought the blanket closer to her body.

"I told you at the hotel, you learn fast," he said knowingly, as he moved closer."You will find survival can come with moments of pleasure as well as moments of pain. This is what I tell the girls I get ready for work, this is what I tell you, as well."

She felt her body shudder as a hand ran slowly through her hair and continued down her neck to rest underneath the blanket on her right breast.

"Where's your camera," she retorted, hoping the bitterness in her voice masked her horror."I thought part of my 'value' came from the pleasure your boss gets tormenting 'my DA', as you call him."

As Ivan felt Malinowski's body respond to the caresses his experienced fingers gave her breast, he paused to meet her confused gaze and smiled knowingly back at her.

"You are correct," he said as took the can from her hand and began to pull the blanket away from her."But you see, after Dmitri's fumbled… interlude… with you in the shower it became obvious to me that before we can send your DA another present, you must first be taught how to relax."

Malinowski felt his hand wipe away the tears that had begun to make their way from her eyes down her cheeks.

I should have known better, she told herself miserably. The soup…I should have known….

"This feels good, doesn't it, Brooke," Ivan asked as his mouth fell on a breast.

As her back instinctively arched, she could hear his soft laughter. She could feel the heat growing between her legs as he laid her back on the mattress.

Hearing the sound of her given name sickened her on two levels; the first one being the intimacy such an action implied. Second, his words told her they knew for certain who she was.

"Drugging a woman into submission makes whatever you do to her a violation, no matter how it feels," she snapped as she cursed her body's betrayal.

"A violation," he repeated with exaggerated fervor."Brave words... brave, expensive, educated words. By the time I finish with you you'll be saying much more…common… words, I promise you. Like 'please' 'harder', 'faster'."

"Why," she gasped, as his hands began to move lower.

Ivan paused and suddenly moved closer, bringing his mouth unexpectedly down on hers. As she struggled to push him back, his hand pressed against her neck, forcing her mouth to remain against his. As he pried her lips apart, the taste of chicken soup from Lupe's was replaced by the faint taste of vodka and cheap cigars.

The way he kissed her answered her question in ways his breathless, menacing words minutes later, would only hint at.

"Why? Because I can," he responded as his hand reached between her legs."The first tape we sent your DA only shinged his heart. The next one will char is soul. "