Chapter XVII: High Noon, er, Midnight

No flights were readily available and the four hour flight into Frankfurt, Germany, for a layover, and the eight hour flight into Atlanta put them climbing onto Atlanta's mass transit at ten o'clock that night. "Do you realize that I'm stuck with Triple H for another year as General Manager?" Stephanie asked when the train lurched forward and knocked her out of her jet lag stupor.

"What?" Therese sleepily muttered.

"I haven't thought about it since I called them in sick. If Shawn won tonight at the pay-per-view, he would be General Manager for a year and that doofus signed a contract without reading every word that said if he didn't show for the match, he lost and there would be no rematch. Of course, he didn't think he'd miss it."

"Great," the blonde sarcastically replied. "I'm sure my dumb husband didn't help him read it. General Manager? Really?" She ran a hand over her face. "Next time Kevin shows Dinah any of his matches, I think I may sit in." Since RAW was live and anything could happen, Therese TiVo'd the show and let Kevin sit down with Dinah to watch what they had agreed she could see.

"Yeah," Stephanie wearily replied. There was a long silence and then she asked, "Are you gonna pick up the girls anyhow tonight?"

"The first thing you've got to learn as a new mother is never wake a sleeping child. Trust me, it's better not to get them started again if they're down. But, no, I'm gonna leave them with Sharon. I told her I'm just dropping in to pick up some more things for me and Kevin and I'd stop by early in the morning to see them."

"Good call," Stephanie agreed. "I hope I can make it to the bed before I fall asleep."

"Me too."

And that was the truth. Therese fell asleep in the shower and it took the freezing cold water to wake her enough to get out and fall into bed with wet hair. Stephanie didn't even care if she was clean or not. A fresh pair of pajamas did it for her and she was out. Unfortunately, they didn't get near as long enough of sleep as needed to get over jet lag.

At barely dawn, Therese was greeted by the beautiful sounds of her dog barking a welcome at Sharon's and Joe's. The poor beagle looked pathetic but she was alive and home. Joe had picked her up three days after Therese had brought her in to the vet. Her chest had been shaved to stitch up the wound and now sported a red scar. She was still wearing a cone to keep her from picking at the irritation. Her leg was in a cast but she thumped in Therese's arms nonetheless. The woman wanted to hug the poor, little creature to her but was afraid she would hurt Ruby's ribs, which would take much longer to heal than the cut had.

"Momma?" she heard a small, sleepy voice behind her. "Why are you crying?"

Therese hadn't realized that she had been. She carefully put Ruby down and held her arms open for Dinah. It had only been a week and one day since Kevin and Shawn had been abducted but she had realized in one instant how much she had missed her family—her dog, her husband, and, mostly importantly, her children.

Stephanie was going to stay in the car but Therese argued, saying that Sharon would see her and then ask a barrage of questions she couldn't answer. The brunette was crying silent tears as well. She had spent much more time away from Shawn than a week before but this was killing her. Not only was she upset that this quaint, picturesque family possibly could never be put back together again but that she may never have the opportunity to have the same. She reached up to rub a hand across her stomach. She needed to stop at a drugstore along the way and pick up a pregnancy test. She wanted to know now and she had to keep it a secret. Therese wouldn't let her come along if she thought she was pregnant and she was going to be there to retrieve Shawn.

"Did you find Daddy and Uncle Shawn?" Dinah quietly asked.

"Not yet, baby," she whispered, hoping Sharon wouldn't hear her above the sizzle of bacon on the stove. "But soon. Don't tell anybody about it. They might hear about it on TV and you wouldn't want Triple H to hear about it."

"Oh, no," she replied with a gasp. Therese hated doing that to her but the little girl could easily open her mouth and she couldn't be explaining this right now to her adopted aunt and uncle. If Sharon found out, she'd call in the FBI, CIA, Navy, Marines, and the Coast Guard. Dinah wasn't allowed to watch but only a little bit of wrestling and she understood that Triple H hated Daddy.

"It's early. Cartoons aren't even on yet. Why don't you go back to bed?"

"Are you leaving now?" the little brunette asked in a small, whiny voice.

"No, she's not," Dinah's surrogate grandmother interrupted sternly. "She's goin' to stay for breakfast."

"Aunt Sharon, I told you you didn't have to cook for us."

"The bacon's almost done. You're staying," Sharon replied, a stern hand on her hip.

"Can I stay with you 'til then?" the four-year-old asked.

"Sure, baby. Let me go see Lily for a few minutes and then we'll eat together."

Without direction, the little girl headed straight for her booster seat and situated it in her chair at the table. "I can only hope my kid's that well-behaved," Stephanie said with a laugh as they headed down the darkened hall.

"Oh, she's not fully awake yet. Give her time and you'll want to pay someone to take her."

Therese flipped on the small lamp in Sharon and Joe's bedroom where they kept Lily's bassinet when she stayed with them. It was Monday morning and Joe always went down to the car repair shop early where he used to work. Even though he was retired, he still had to do something with his hands and that was what he enjoyed most. Lily didn't even flinch from the light, more evidence she was taking after her father. She could sleep through a tornado and Therese was grateful for life's simple pleasures. The blonde stared at her daughter for a moment and then ran a finger over the soft, silky skin of the little hand and then her rose petal cheek before giving her forehead a soft kiss. Stephanie had hung back but now couldn't help but stroke the petal soft skin as well. "See, you aren't a bad mother. You're not as selfish as you think," Steph whispered.

"Let's eat and get out of here. It's a long drive," Therese replied, ignoring the comment for fear of the tears that were welling up inside. Today was another important day and she didn't need her emotions overwhelming her.

Dinah was practically falling back asleep at the table and chose to climb up into her mother's lap instead of go back to bed, claiming she could stay awake…she didn't. Stephanie kept up the conversation, elaborating on what the couples had been doing on the road to keep Sharon from asking questions, while Therese ate around her daughter. When they could stay no longer, the blonde carried Dinah back to the guest room, followed by Sharon, and put her to bed. Back in the hall, Kevin's aunt stopped her.

"Something's going on and I think I know what it is," Sharon abruptly said, her voice calm and steady but warning. Therese could only blink at her. "I don't pass judgment on people and, if your preferences," she stopped and looked in the direction of the kitchen where Stephanie waited, "have changed since you married my nephew, that's y'all's business. Just don't string him along and don't you dare abandon your babies."

"Aunt Sharon, that's not what's going on."

"Then explain it," the older woman demanded.

"I can't right now," Therese replied, her eyes downcast.

"And why not?"

"Because I can't."

"I trust you," Kevin's aunt began in a wary tone, "but don't do anything to make me wrong. I still mean what I said." Sharon knew something was going on. First, she assumed that Kevin was sleeping around on Therese. He had done that before with a previous girlfriend and his ex-wife had suspected him of the same. Even though he was in prime position to do so, he claimed his innocence on that one and she truly believed him. Now, she suspected Therese of sleeping around but with another woman—Stephanie McMahon-Michaels. They had seemed too close within the past week for her liking. But, she trusted Therese with her life, and, if they weren't having an affair together on their husbands, something else was going on. She could feel it in her bones like she could feel nasty weather coming.

Therese was pumping gas into the SUV when Stephanie saw her chance. "I'm gonna get a coke and use the bathroom. You want anything?"

"No, thanks. I'm fine."

"Alright," Stephanie replied and headed for the convenience store. Once inside, she surreptitiously glanced over her shoulder to see Therese still holding the gas nozzle. She grabbed the pregnancy test, paid for it, and hurried to the bathroom. She didn't bother with the directions as this process had become second nature by now. Time had never moved so slow as she watched the seconds tick by on her watch. When the required time was up, she reached for the test, scrunched her eyes shut, pulled it to her, and opened one eye and then the other.

The banging on the other side of the door startled her. "Steph, you in there? You okay?"

"Yeah," she called back, wrapping the test up in the box it came in and shoving it in her purse.

"You've been in here forever. Everything okay?" Therese called.

"Yeah," the brunette answered, pulling the bathroom door open. "I wanted some candy but took so much time trying to decide that I gave up."

"Did you get your coke?"

"Nah, but I don't think I want it anymore."

"Ready to get back on the road then?" Therese asked, jerking her head toward the door. Stephanie nodded and they pushed through the double glass doors for the car.

The place was eerie, foreboding, and quite formidable in the dark. Floodlights illuminated the front of the Nashville Parthenon but did very little for the interior. A few steps inside, the bright lights faded and the women could only recognize each other's faces if they were only steps apart.

Earlier in the day, they had arrived not long after the Parthenon had opened and began to canvas the area. While the site itself was magnificent in its re-creation of the Parthenon, it paled in comparison to the decimated, original structure. Therese spent little time in admiration as she scouted out the area and then chose a more secluded place to make the phone call. Stephanie was by her side as always. The old Stephanie would have been pissed that Therese was making all the calls but she learned the hard way to let the expert do her job. Plus, she didn't want the responsibility to fall on her if things went wrong.

"We're in the right place this time. What now?" Therese barked.

"I have to applaud you. That was quick," the man on the other end of the end said in an approving manner. "You are in the right place."

This time Therese didn't make the mistake of looking around her but she did have on her sunglasses. She lifted her head in a cocky manner and began to scan the crowd, her eyes hidden by the glasses, but there was no one she recognized. "What now?" she repeated.

"The transaction goes down tonight. You bring the account numbers and we'll bring your husbands."

"Where and when?"

"In the Parthenon. Midnight," the abductor brusquely answered.

"You know they close at seven," Therese replied, although the statement was more of a question.

"You're a security agent. You'll figure out a way to get in."

And she had. The two women scouted out the area as inconspicuously as possible, although Therese was, once again, more of the expert. Actually, security systems were more her specialty than dealing with abductors or threatening calls. She took note of the fence system and the position of motion detectors. They wouldn't be coming in through the front door.

They spent the afternoon shopping for dark clothing and, the hardest part, gloves in July. After an out of town trip for wirecutters—they didn't need to be seen in any local hardware stores on security cameras—they cut the chainlink fence at the back of the property. The sensors ran along the top and Therese began to rethink her own fence system.

"Maybe we should turn this over to the FBI," Stephanie muttered as she crawled through the hole on her knees.

"Now you say something," Therese replied.

"You would've done it?"

"Probably not," she responded, bouncing up and down with energy. "If this doesn't go as we hope, I promise, we'll call in the authorities somehow, someway, and not endanger Kevin and Shawn." She looked around carefully and then turned to Stephanie. "Stay in my footsteps. Once we're in the Parthenon, we're safe until we leave security system wise."

Stephanie bit her lip as she wanted to respond, You've told me that already, but she nodded and then followed Therese. They slunk through the park, illuminated only by the stars, until they reached the front of the building. There were no guards on duty but the floodlights would give them away if they dawdled. The lights were so bright that no one figured a person would risk going in through the front if they had already broken into the site. Therese made the dash inside and Stephanie followed five seconds later. The blonde squeezed the other woman's hand and withdrew her Berretta. Stephanie followed suit and removed the borrowed 9mm from Therese's other shoulder holster that she was wearing. Apparently, the holster was specially made for the agent or the agent was somehow just shaped right because the holster pinched and chafed her own body.

"Put the guns down," a voice called that Therese knew she should know.

"Show yourself," she returned. A figure stepped out from behind a column and slowly advanced as did Stephanie and Therese. The brunette's sharper eyes saw the man's face first but, within a split second, she heard Therese gasp and saw her hands slightly tremble. However, the woman quickly recovered and stated, "Show me Kevin and Shawn."

"Put the guns down."

"When we see Kevin and Shawn," Therese demanded.

Dylan Bergeron pointed to two columns opposite of each other in the structure. Now, the women could see the slumped figures. "Shawn!" Stephanie shouted but Therese shushed her. Shawn and Kevin both moved, evidence that they were at least still alive.

"Put the gun down," the agent ordered Stephanie softly and set the Beretta at her feet. The VP hesitated but, with Therese's nod, she laid hers beside the other one.

"Step back," Bergeron commanded. Both women took a few steps back and Bergeron immediately came forward, nudging the guns behind him. He was within feet of them. "Give me the account numbers with the PIN numbers."

"They're on a piece of paper in my pocket. We put everything in one offshore account so it couldn't be traced. Now, I'm going to reach into the pocket of my jacket and get them," Therese slowly and carefully stated as if he was a child. The two women had not been happy about going that route but they couldn't get any new account anywhere that allowed for immediate transfer capabilities.

"If you pull anything, I'll shoot her," he said, waving the gun at Stephanie.

Therese knew Dylan was left-handed and that he couldn't fire a gun accurately with his right. She held the paper out towards his left hand and, as he took it, she grabbed his wrist, jerking him forward and flipping him over her back. She bent over for her gun but a shot was fired at her feet, sending chunks of marble flying up around her. Bergeron was back up and he grabbed her around the waist, throwing her forcefully to the floor. He pinned her upper arms down with his knees, keeping her from moving. She kicked her feet but then realized where the shot had come from—the second abductor was there as well. From her position on the marble, she saw on her periphery another man holding Stephanie around the waist with one arm and twisting her neck with the other.

"Stop!" Therese shouted at the top of her lungs. "She's pregnant!"

A surprised look passed over Stephanie's face but was quickly gone as gasped for breath when the man let her neck go.

TBC…