Chapter Twelve

Steve helped Rudy get Jaime comfortable back in her bed before the questioning began in earnest. "Do you remember the other car hitting you, Honey?" Rudy asked gently.

"No..." Jaime said slowly, leaning into Steve's arms as he sat on the edge of her bed, ready to help her in any way he could. "I opened my eyes, just for a second, and it hurt so bad that I had to close them."

"Does it hurt now?" Rudy quickly interjected.

"Not any more than usual." Jaime sighed and shivered at the new memories. "He – Chris – was there...and he had that gun."

"Was that when he came and got in the ambulance?" Steve guessed.

"No...there wasn't...the ambulance wasn't there. Just a big truck..."

Steve and Rudy exchanged glances with Oscar, who stood off to one side, listening, since Jaime still didn't remember who he was.

"Sweetheart, are you sure Chris was there before the ambulance?" Steve probed, as carefully as possible.

"I know it was him. He was...yelling at someone."

"Who? Who else was there?"

Jaime shook her head slowly. "I couldn't see. My head hurt so much...but I could hear everything – really clearly." The three men remained quiet, giving her a chance to work through the memory and tell them more. "He – Chris – told someone 'Damn it; you were only supposed to scare her! You said she wouldn't get hurt!' I even heard him cock the gun."

Jaime took a deep, shuddering breath, and Steve held her a little closer. "Take your time," he said softly.

"He told them to give him ten minutes and then call an ambulance. Another man said that someone would drive by eventually and that they should just let them make the call, and Chris told him again 'Ten minutes – then call for help.' Then I heard him get into a car and drive away." She paused again, collecting herself. "Somebody opened my car door and they leaned into my car and said I was already dead and they'd better get outta there...and then there was nothing...I guess...I passed out. That's all I remember."

Oscar stepped over to the bed and gave Jaime a reassuring smile. "You did great, Jaime," he told her. "I'll take care of it from here." He waited until he was out of bionic hearing range before pulling out his datacom to call Russ, who was almost back at OSI-Los Angeles with their new prisoner. "Throw Williams in the hole," he ordered. "We're charging him with attempted murder."

- - - - - -

"Why'd you do it?" Steve demanded. Williams had been questioned continuously ever since he'd been taken into custody and now – just after midnight – it was Steve's turn. So far, Chris had said nothing, but formal interrogation techniques and regulations didn't seem to apply in The Hole, and Steve felt no sympathy...and no mercy.

Chris looked up and glared at Steve, his jaw set in a stubborn clench; he didn't say a word. "Nothing to say for yourself?" Steve challenged.

"We've been through this already – you're the one who cleared me, remember?" Chris said with a smirk.

"You never really loved Jaime at all, did you?" Steve asked angrily.

"Of course I did! I still do!"

"Do you always try to kill the people you love?"

"I didn't try to kill her! They let me go once because they had no proof -"

Steve couldn't stomach Williams' smug look for another second. "Get up," he ordered.

"I don't think so; I'm pretty comfy here on my nice steel mattress." As if to emphasize the point, Chris crossed his shackled arms and leaned back with a mocking grin.

It was too much. "I hope you enjoyed it," Steve thundered, "because it's the last comfortable moment you'll have for a very long time!" He forced Chris to his feet with a hard yank on the chains and threw him backward into the cell wall, with a punch to his stomach to give him greater impact against the thick concrete and steel.

"I sent your guards on a break," Steve told the downed man, leaning threateningly close to his face. "We're the only ones down here. I suggest you start talking."

"And what should we talk about?" Chris taunted defiantly. "The weather? Current events?"

"You saw Jaime in that car – she was dying! - and all you were worried about was getting a ten minute head start, you son-of-a-"

"Who told you that?"

"Your intended victim!" Steve shouted, right in his face. Using the shackle chain as a sort of handle, he slammed Chris back against the concrete again. "The woman you damn-near killed; she heard every word you said!" Steve raised Williams to his feet then delivered two rapid punches – one to his jaw and the second to his gut before tossing him down like a sack of rotten vegetables.

"She wasn't...supposed to get hurt..." Chris choked out, barely conscious. "Just wanted...to convince her...to retire – with me. I...love Jaime...and I never meant...to hurt her."

Steve stared down at him with disgust. "You're pathetic," he spat. "I hope they give you the electric chair, so I can be there, pulling the switch."

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