Chapter 9- Making Plans
Nick carefully laid Jane on the couch and gently touched her face with the back of his hand. Jane had no idea how often he had been slipping drugs and sedatives into her food and water to make her sleep and to make her submissive. He couldn't have another episode where she would try to run from him. "Daddy?" Jane asked sleepily.
"Yes, baby?" Nick asked, smoothing her forehead with his large hand before pressing a loving kiss to her head.
"Can you sit with me until I fall asleep?" Jane asked, sounding like a very small child.
"Of course I can. Here," Nick said, lifting her up and hugging her tightly. He rested his stubbled chin on the top of her head.
"Daddy?" Jane asked, her face pressed into his chest.
"Yes, baby?" Nick asked, stroking her hair gently.
"Are we gonna be leaving soon?" Jane asked.
"Not yet. Probably tomorrow. I have to wrap up a few things," Nick said. One of which was confronting Mace for taking Jane from him.
"Why does it take so long?" Jane asked. Nick chuckled softly.
"I don't know, baby. Don't think about it. Try to sleep," Nick said, tightening his arms around her shoulders and injecting a sedative into her neck. Forcing her to sleep against her will was distasteful to Nick, but until he got her away from England and back to America, he didn't have many options. All he could hope and pray was that the drugs didn't hurt her. Nick carefully planted a kiss on her forehead and laid her down on the couch, taking off his jacket to cover her with like a blanket. He stroked her hair gently, gently carding her hair with his fingers. Her hair was soft and had some length to it. Every time she slept, he couldn't stop touching her hair and when she woke up, she let him braid her hair.
Grady then came in. "Boss, Mace hasn't returned yet," Grady said. Grady had been a corrupt CIA operative, like Nick and their boss Marks had been. Grady had never liked Mace and had made no secret that he thought that Nick was right in taking Jane.
"I guess whatever mission she's doing is taking longer than she planned," Nick said, standing and absently stroking his daughter's hair and face.
"Are we still going to keep her here?" Grady asked, indicating Jane.
"Yes. She is my daughter as much as she's Mace's," Nick said.
"I don't know, Boss. Mace wouldn't like that we have her daughter," Grady said uncertainly.
"I know, but she is my daughter. Grady, keep me updated on what Mace and her friends are doing. And throw this in the Thames," Nick said, handing Grady Jane's cell phone.
"The kid's cell phone?" Grady asked, taking the phone.
"Yes. If Mace or Khadijah have put a GPS on it, we can't let them use it," Nick said as Grady left the room. Nick lifted Jane into his arms and carried her to the bedroom she had been sleeping in. Nick touched his lips to her forehead and walked without a sound out of the room.
Jane woke up sleepily, feeling groggy and her head hurting. Whatever Nick Fowler had drugged her with, it made her feel awful. Jane felt also as if her eyes were glued shut. Something felt wrong about all this. If Nick wanted her, why was he drugging her so much? Jane remembered what Dr. Fibbs had said about drugs in the chemistry lab before she had gone on this trip with Mace. He had said that certain drugs, had a nasty kick and could cause brain damage. Surely Nick had to have known what the drugs could do if Dr. Fibbs was to be believed. It made Jane wonder what kind of father would harm his daughter like this.
Jane heard the doorknob turn and she closed her eyes tighter. Every time she was awake Nick would poke some kind of sedative into the back of her neck and she didn't want it this time. She felt her father's hand on her head, gently stroking her hair. Nick wouldn't stop touching her hair. Jane was relieved that he had discarded the idea of dyeing and cutting her hair. He seemed to enjoy playing with her hair too much to want to do that. Jane felt herself being lifted onto his lap and cradled in a breathlessly tight hug.
"I am so sorry, Janie," Nick said brokenly as he stroked her hair as if she were a cat and placed a warm kiss on the top of her head. Jane felt herself go to sleep to the pleasant smell of Nick's aftershave and cologne and the gentle hands running through her hair.
Nick watched as Jane's breathing got slower. He understood why she was pretending to sleep. She was tired of him always giving her drugs to make her sleep and he was equally tired to having to drug her. The way she squinched her eyes tighter shut was the tell that she was still awake and she was trying to avoid the sedatives. Nick carefully stroked her hair and face gently, taking care not to wake her, his arms and heart full with the child who had just come into his life.
"Dad promises everything is going to be all right, Jane," Nick said, resting his stubbled chin on her head and playing with a strand of her hair absently.