Redemption

Chapter Sixty-Five

The world was dark to her, yet from the sounds going on around her, she figured something big was going down. She had been awake for the ransom video and had heard their demands, but she couldn't imagine Jack giving himself up just for her. She understood that he had a beef with these men because of the information they carried about he and Sue, but she couldn't let him end his life just to save hers. Giving himself up was a death sentence and she couldn't put neither he nor Sue through that kind of loss.

Bobby wouldn't let him go through it, either. She knew the close friendship those two shared and what that entailed, but one would not let the other give his life up so willingly. Hopefully, they only agreed to the demands because they had a plan to get all of them out of this, safely. Until then, she could only wait.

During her time, here, she'd learned a lot, though she could have learned more if her eyes hadn't been covered and her hands still bound. The most important thing she'd learned, though, was that she had a friend in low places. One strong, manly hand grasped her arm and held her steady on her feet should the fog return to her brain as a side-effect from over-exposure to the chloroform. Every few moments or so, he would gently squeeze her bicep to show that he was still there.

By the sound of his voice, it sounded like the giant who'd been standing above her when she'd awoken though from where his voice was coming from, he couldn't be much taller than she was. As much as she didn't want to trust her gut and accept this man as a friend, she couldn't help it. There was something in his touch and his voice that signaled "friend" in her brain. She felt protected his presence and would listen to his instructions when the time came.

"Relax," her guard said softly into her left ear, when he felt the muscles underneath his hand tense. She hadn't even realized it had happened until he'd said something about it. "You'll be out of here soon enough." Surprisingly, that made her relax, yet it wasn't the words he'd used, but the tone. There was still something familiar about this man, though it was as if he was trying to hide his true self from her. The drug still clouded the depths of her mind, so her memory was not up to usual standards and that meant that, as hard as she tried to recognize it, she knew she wouldn't be able to.

"Why should I trust you?" she asked, harsher than she really meant her tone to sound. The question she really wanted to ask him and the question she'd asked herself being: 'Why do I trust you?' If only she could put a finger on it and match the voice to the face, she would be content and truly know this man was a friend. Her gut had known to be wrong once, yet she couldn't believe it was the case, this time.

"If you want to see him again, you should trust me," he urged as forcibly as possible without making it sound like a threat. He wasn't trying to scare her; only reassure her, yet she was making it more than difficult on his part. He found it amazing that the Aussie had been able to put up with her hardheadedness for so long, yet love was proven to be blind.

She didn't know what to say to his comment, so she only nodded and kept her mouth shut as the noise around them grew quiet and the sound of feet shuffling into line caught her ears. Her guard straightened his posture, tightening his grip on her arm. Something was going on and despite her reliance on just her ears, she couldn't figure out what.

The familiar touch of cold steel touched the thin fabric of her tank top, her guard probably only raising his gun to put up a farce. She had the feeling of what was going on and knew she was about to look into the eyes of the devil when her blindfold was removed.

The Hoover Building was abuzz with talk as the team suited up into their SWAT gear. Bobby, though still solemn about this whole ordeal, glanced over at Jack as he fastened the last strap of his vest and took a deep breath. "You don't have to do this, you know, Sparky," he tried to reassure him, though he knew Jack would hear none of it.

"Yes, I do, Crash." Jack's brown eyes darkened in the dim light of the locker room as he felt his anger rise. This would be the last time Arif Dessa messed with him; he would make sure of it. No one made a threat to him or to someone he considered family. "Danni's a part of us, now. I'd do anything to protect her." He gave a positive smile and Bobby a pat on the back as his mind began racing with thoughts of what would happen if his plan was to go awry.

If he was to die, today, he would never see his family again. Those who loved him unconditionally as they watched him grow into the confidant, wonderful man he was would never know that his last thoughts were of them. He wished he could spare a phone call to his mom and dad, but time was ticking by like the speed of light. The switch was to be made in an hour. It wouldn't take them long to get to their destination, yet he wasn't ready to say goodbye if this was truly it.

The team, they would function fine without him, though a large void would be formed without their fearless leader in tow. Bobby would make a wonderful team leader, he was sure of it. His methods may be unconventional, yet he knew how to get the job done and he was very good at it.

The only other person he would regret leaving behind would be Sue. He'd finally told her his true feelings and here he was, throwing himself to the wolves to save part of their extended family. He'd been getting used to having Sue in every aspect of his life, these days and he wasn't ready to give that up. That was the incentive he needed to help himself stay alive, today.

But, it wouldn't be enough. He needed to talk to her, to tell her to be strong if something did go wrong. He had to do it before he left or he may never get the chance. With a nod of finality to himself, he made up his mind and decided this detour would be for the best.

"Jack—" Bobby tried to argue, though Sparky only held up his hand in protest.

"My mind's made up, Bobby. I'm doing this… for you… for Sue… for all of us." A heavy sigh escaped him as he tried to hold back his fear, which was difficult. He cleared his throat when he managed to put it back in place and stared his friend straight in the eye. He knew his speech hadn't been very convincing, though the words that exited his mouth were true to heart, but it was all he could offer until they were all safe and Dessa was either behind bars or dead. "I'll meet you downstairs. There's something that I still need to do."

Bobby nodded when he saw Jack turn, a small smile forming on his lips. He understood what still needed to be done and he was proud of the man for finally sucking up the courage. Telling Sue he loved her wasn't enough, the drongo needed to show her and that was what he was going to do. 'Good on ya, mate,' the Aussie cheered to himself as he pulled on his vest.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness around her. Different shapes and colors floated before her eyes before joining together to form the face of a man she'd seen only in photographs before. His eyes were supposed to be a grayish-blue, though the ones she was looking into were a deep, dark brown that kind of reminded her of Jack's.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as she examined his facial features. There was something unnatural about the contour that told her something that probably no one else had been able to discover. She felt like she was looking at Michael Jackson before his nose started to disintegrate on him. The face she was looking into wasn't the man's real one.

His features were so similar to Richard Palmerro's, yet he was dead and this was an almost perfect copy. No, he wasn't who he pretended to be—there was an undercurrent flowing from him that told her he was pure evil. She'd never met the real Palmerro in person, but because of his file, knew he wasn't evil.

His eyes narrowed as he examined her, not hiding the moments his gaze lingered on more than one part of her anatomy. She couldn't keep herself from cringing before their eyes met again. As hard as she tried, she couldn't hold back the hitch in her breathing that occurred from just his gaze. She knew who she was face-to-face with, yet why he affected her so was a completely different question.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked as he stood before her, his hands folded together in front of her to show her that he wasn't armed. He had no intention of killing this woman and he wanted to be as good as his word and prove it by not carrying a weapon before her.

Danni could only nod as an answer, her voice becoming stuck somewhere in her throat and refusing to work once it had been freed.

"Of course you do. You work so closely with the FBI these days, don't you Detective?" He could have waited for her to respond, but he thought better of it. He'd been watching close enough to know how sharp her tongue was and wasn't in the mood for a quick retort from her. "I don't want to hurt you," he said, sincerity clear in his voice as he held his arms out to the side to show her for sure that he was not armed. He even turned around in front of her as more proof. "And I won't if I'm given what I want."

"Do you honestly think they'll comply to your whim?" she asked, though where the voice had come from, she wasn't sure. She couldn't even remember feeling her lips move and only wished she could take back what she'd said.

A hand came toward her, roughly grasping her chin and pulling her closer to him. He wanted to see the whites of her eyes as he made his threat. He didn't want any mistake to be taken of his words; he wanted to make sure he was clear. "For your sake, Miss Talbot, you should hope they will."

Her neck gave a loud crack as he pushed it back toward the rest of her body, letting her guard blindfold her again, but not before she saw him disappear from sight. She winced in pain as she twisted her neck the other way, only to be satisfied when the other side gave a loud crack as well. She wouldn't be held hostage with a stiff neck. If she was going to make a break for it, she needed to be in tip-top shape.

"You shouldn't have done that," the familiar voice said as he fastened the strip of fabric over her eyes.

She couldn't help but get the feeling that he was rolling her eyes at her actions; something that DeMarco would usually do to her when her mouth got in the way of her brain. Why, all of a sudden, was she thinking about DeMarco?

"You sound like I'd actually had a choice," she mumbled under her breath as things finally began clicking into place.