Melting Hearts

    Donovan watched as Monica’s presentation ended. He heard Jake shift in his chair and turned to face him. “So what’s our cover?”
     Donovan leaned forward. “You’ll be admitted as a criminal. Peter Velazquez. Accumulation of theft charges, destruction of property. You’ll have to observe the behavior of the guards so we can bring charges against them.”
     Alex spun around in her chair slowly. “And me?”
     “I’m going to go secure you a position as a prison psychologist. I know someone who can get you in, but I’ll have to talk to her in person. I want you to collect information on the guards directly from the prisoners.”
     Donovan stood. “Study up on your roles. Monica, I want you on constant watch of these men. Cody, make sure we’ve got surveillance access to wherever these men can go. We’ll start as soon as I get Alex’s position secured.” The team nodded and went to work. Donovan grabbed his jacket and left.

****

     Donovan tapped his fingers on the wheel as he drove, his mind on anything besides his job. He pulled into a parking space and entered the building.

****

     He leaned down and waved a hand at the preoccupied secretary. She looked up at him blankly, taking in his figure before he spoke. “Dr. Alissa Monerantz, please.” She nodded dumbly, pressed a button on her phone, and waved him towards an office.
     Donovan stepped into the office and smiled warmly at the woman seated in the leather chair. She motioned towards a seat with her eyes and he took it. “Hello, Lissy,” he said.
     “You’re the last person I expected to see today, Frank. But I’m glad you came.” She got up and closed the door, taking the chair closer to him rather than the one behind his desk. “What do you need?”
     Donovan reached over and touched her hand, and she entwined her fingers with his. “I need a favor, Lissy.”
     She sighed. “Always business, Frank.” But she said it with a smile. “How can I help you?”
     “I need to put an agent undercover.”
     “Ah. The accusations of corrupt prison guards.”
     “We’d heard they’ve been floating around. We have to work fast.”
     “Who’s your agent?”
     “Alex Cross. Going undercover as Katherine Watkins, prison psychologist.”
     She smiled. “Well, that’s easy. Consider it done, Frank.”
     “Thank you, Lissy.” He paused. “Dinner would also be nice.”
     She smiled. “Let me grab my jacket.”

****

     Frank and Alissa had been seeing each other for almost four years. They had recently toned down their relationship due to career demands and were trying to make a decision about where they were headed.
     Now, as they sat in the restaurant, Alissa reached out and took Frank’s hand, drawing a deep breath on the way.
     “You know, Frank, I’ve been thinking about us a lot,” she started. “And I’ve decided that we need to make a choice about our relationship. I’m not getting any younger, and I want a commitment.” She bit her lip and studied his face. “You aren’t mad at me, are you?”
     He smiled and stroked her hand. “No, Lissy, I think it’s fair. I’ve been thinking about us a lot lately, too. Give me a week to seriously think and you will have your answer.”
     He drove her home, kissed her goodbye, and went home to get some sleep.

****

ONE WEEK LATER…

     Alissa looked up as a thin, attractive woman walked through the door. “Good morning, Katherine.” She smiled and ‘Katherine’ returned the kind gesture before walking over to the coffee machine. Alissa followed her.
     Alex glanced to the side and grinned. “You’re a little dressed up today, aren’t you Alissa?” She winked.
     Alissa shook her head in mock exasperation. “You know very well that Frank and I have a date tonight. I’m so excited, but I’m so nervous… He can be so unpredictable, even for a damn psychologist.”
     Alex laughed. “Well, we haven’t managed to figure him out yet. And you’ve got almost a four-year head start on us.”
     Alissa downed half of her warm coffee in one gulp and straightened her blouse. She and Alex had become fast friends, finding that they had a lot in common. Alissa had begun confiding in the woman about her relationship with Frank.
Alissa switched quickly from pleasure to business. She picked up a stack of folders. “To the prison today, Katherine.”
     Alex sighed and picked up her own materials. “Let’s go, Alissa.”

****

     Alissa and Alex marched through the dreary halls of the prison, not the slightest bit unnerved by the drip-drip-drip of water and the echo of rowdy voices against the walls. Dealing with criminals on a regular basis had greatly decreased their psych-out factor.
     As they entered the small room, Alissa glanced at the man sitting stonily behind the metal table. His name was Henderson. He was highly prejudiced and prone to delusions of grandeur. Convicted on a charge of manslaughter, but his constant bad behavior kept him on the inside. It was just as well. Alissa couldn’t have vouched for his stability if they had let him out.
     “Good morning, Mr. Henderson,” she said cheerfully. “How are we today?”
     “Fuck you,” he said automatically, his facial expression and body position not changing. He was quite a hostile subject.    Alissa merely smiled and took a seat, Alex taking the one next to her.
     “Lively this morning, Mr. Henderson?” Alex asked, doodling on a notepad. Distracting actions usually prompted Mr. Henderson to react. He also liked being the center of attention.
     At the same time that his hand slapped down on the pad of paper, not startling Alex at all, red lights began to flash in the hallway and an alarm began to sound. Alissa’s eyes widened and she grabbed Alex’s arm, running into the hallway as quickly as she could.
     “What does that mean?” Alex asked, quite clueless.
     “That means there has been a breach in security. A prison break-out.”
     “Shit! We have to get out of here before…” Her words were interrupted as Henderson grabbed her from behind.
     “You shrinks aren’t going anywhere,” he growled, holding her tightly so she couldn’t get away.”
     “Lissy, run!” Alex screamed. Alissa turned to run and crashed into a wall of man, who immediately grabbed her waist and pulled her close to him. She squeezed her eyes shut and put her head down, her hands hanging futilely at her sides. She was trapped.
     Alissa shifted uncomfortably as she realized that the prisoner was staring down her shirt. If she could have, she would have brought her hands up to her chest and pulled the blouse up as high as it would go. But she couldn’t, and he continued to look.
     “You’re coming with us,” he whispered, turning abruptly and dragging her with him. She looked behind her once and saw Alex being drug along behind her.
     She hoped that Frank knew what had happened.

****

     Frank Donovan paced, frantically trying to sort out his thoughts. While appearing cool and collected on the outside, on the inside he was a roiling abyss of emotions.
     He had two agents on the inside of that prison, one who was in fairly good shape and one who wasn’t. And then there was Lissy.
     His hand went to his pocket and withdrew the silver chain from his pocket. There was a dolphin charm on it. Lissy loved dolphins.
     His shoulders sagged momentarily and he slipped the necklace back in his pocket. He was such an idiot. She had given him a week to think and now he might never see her again.
     They had a dinner reservation for the night. He hadn’t called and cancelled it yet, even though he knew that this would take much longer than eight hours. Hostage negotiations were never short, unfortunately for everyone involved, especially the hostages and their loved ones.
     He had never known what it felt like to be on the other side. Now that he was on both, he fervently hoped he would never experience this again.
     He turned around as Monica came up behind him. “You all right?” she asked quietly. Although there were no outward signs of stress, she knew he had to be experiencing them. She was, and she appeared to be just a little ruffled.
     “I’m fine. Where is the deputy warden?”
     “On his way. He should be here… right about now,” she finished, pointing in his direction. Donovan pivoted to face the warden, who was a few inches taller than him, and focused.
     “Deputy Warden. I’m Frank Donovan, the FBI’s hostage negotiator. I’ll be taking charge of this situation.”
     The deputy warden laughed. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m going in there.”
     Frank refrained from putting a hand on the man’s chest to hold him back. “I’m afraid that is not an option right now, Deputy Warden. We will continue to revise the Bureau’s strike plan, but for now we will establish a line of negotiation with the prisoners.”
     “Negotiation? Mr. Donovan, I’ve got 26 men in there. There is no negotiation. I have to get them out.”
     “I understand, Deputy Warden. And I can assure you, this is the best way to do it. I am in charge here, and that is what we will do.”
     The deputy warden bristled noticeably, but finally nodded tightly before turning quickly on his heel and exiting the room.

****

     Alissa tried to blink, but the blindfold was tied too tight. She was slowly working her hands in circles, trying to loosen her bonds. She wasn’t quite sure what she would do once they had been released, but at least it gave her something to focus on.
     She could hear Alex’s quiet breathing next to her. At least they were still alive. From the sound of it, others hadn’t been so lucky.
     Alissa refrained from crying out as someone yanked her up and snatched the blindfold off of her eyes. It was the man from earlier. His mouth covered one side of her face and his hands roamed freely. She fought against the bile coming up the back of her throat and closed her eyes.
     It had been a while since Alissa had last let a man touch her. In fact, the last time had been about two months ago with Frank. They had decreased the intimacy of their relationship upon reevaluation, and she had been chaste ever since. And she was sure he had been, too.
     Not that she hadn’t missed it. And not missed it in general, missed it with him. For someone who appeared to be as emotionally cold as Frank, he was wonderfully candid during their intimate exchanges. And it wasn’t so much the physical aspect that she missed, it was more that softer side of him that he didn’t show to anyone but her.
     She did miss being held. Being held by Frank was one of the best feelings in the world. Whenever he held her, it was like he was never going to let her go.
     The rough kiss ended and her head was thrown back, hips pulled up against hips. She tried fervently to think of something else, anything else but where she was at that moment. “Hey, man!” A voice came out of nowhere. “Henderson said no. You wanna deal with Henderson?”
     “She’s mine, and I’m not finished with her yet.”
     “Well, you are for now. Come on, we gotta have a meeting.”
     She was getting dizzy from holding her breath as he leaned forward, the beginning of an erection pressing into her thigh.      “Later, bitch. We’ll get acquainted later.” He threw her to the floor and walked away.
     Alex crawled over to her and put her arms around the other woman’s shoulders. Alissa grabbed Alex’s wrist with both hands and tried not to sob. Alex didn’t say anything, just sat there. In fact, she was listening to what the prisoners were saying.
     “If you want to guarantee an armed response, killing a hostage is the best way to do it,” she said as she overheard their conversation. Alissa quickly dried her tears and looked over to them.
     “Excuse me… Did you just speak?” Henderson asked coldly, staring daggers at Alex.
     “They’ll be more willing to negotiate with you if you will negotiate with them. The odds are in your favor. You should listen to them.”
     Alex was grabbed roughly from behind as Henderson accosted her about her apparent superiority. When he reached the end of his speech, it was clear that he was going to negotiate.
     “Should we use her?” one man asked, nodding towards Alex.
     “No, too hotheaded. Use that one,” Henderson said, pointing towards Alissa.
     Alissa stood up as two men grabbed her by the arms and forced her down in front of Henderson. “Here’s what we want.”

****

     Donovan took a deep breath and nodded at the man at the controls. “Open the gate.”
     The gate creaked and clanked as it opened and Donovan slowly stepped inside, arms up. He turned slowly and when he came back around to face the prisoners, he almost broke.
     Alissa was standing in front of him, pulled back flush against a tall, broad man who was putting his hands wherever he damn well pleased. She met his eyes and he felt a jolt. But both held their composure, and Frank spoke.
     “My name is Frank Donovan. Who am I speaking with?”
     Alissa took a shaky breath, trying to keep her body as still as possible, even as the prisoner moved his hands up to cover her breasts. She saw Frank stiffen slightly, but it was only something she would have noticed. It had been a subtle movement.
     Donovan fought against the urge to bite his lip and curl his fists. He barely caught himself. It had been a long time since he had touched Lissy like that, but he knew damn well that he had been the last one to do it. And he didn’t like anyone else touching HIS girlfriend.
     One of Frank’s traits was a fierce possessiveness that Alissa claimed to love. Instead of letting that take over, he concentrated on making her feel safe with his gaze.
     “Alissa Monerantz. I’m with prison services.”
     “I need to know the condition of the hostages, Alissa.” The prisoner’s hands moved to her hips. He didn’t like that either, but at least it was better than the previous alternative.
     “Condition is bad. Four are dead, twenty-six are wounded, six critical.” She spoke softly and unobtrusively, and he felt his heart breaking. He didn’t know what he would do if he lost her.
     He nodded. Before he could speak, however, she continued. “They want power restored immediately.”
     “I’ll need three hostages for that,” he countered. She was silent for a moment.
     “They’ll give you the wounded, provided that you take their wounded and give them the same care that you would give to the guards.” She paused until the man holding her prodded her in the back. “And they want a grand jury convened to investigate allegations of assault and murder against the deputy warden and six of his guards.”
     “I don’t have the power to convene a grand jury.”
     “Then find a US Attorney who does. They want a camera crew here within the hour to tape depositions.” She looked at him with pleading eyes.
     “Power will be restored immediately as a sign of good faith, how’s that? And I want the wounded.”
     She bit her lip slowly and shook her head. “I want a grand jury. My colleague and I would like to get out of here.”
     Frank’s eyes widened momentarily. Alex was still alive too.
     “I’ll see what I can do,” he said, before turning and exiting the building.

****

     Alissa sat back down next to Alex and took a few deep breaths. The prisoners were leaving them alone for now, they had to discuss negotiations.
     Alex shook her head. “The way he looked at you… I thought they would know for sure.”
     “He’s very good at what he does. That includes hiding his emotions. But I think it was my outfit.” She avoided mentioned another man’s touch. Alex knew that already.
     “The outfit?”
     Alissa actually smiled. “It was the outfit I wore for our date on the first night that we, uh…”
     Alex nodded knowingly. “I see. It is quite fetching.” Both women giggled quietly as Alissa straightened her skirt. The mood became somber again quickly.
     “He’ll get us out of here, I know he will,” Alissa said, reassuring herself more than Alex. Alex put her arm around the other woman.
     “Yeah, he will. I’ve seen him work. He’s good. Don’t worry about it. We’ll be out soon.”

****

     “Power has been restored. A SWAT team with a camera will be going in soon to tape depositions.” Donovan turned back to the monitors, watching the footage Cody had found of the tunnels and the people moving through them.
     “You’re actually going to take depositions?” the warden snapped, a vein in the middle of his forehead bulging out.
     “Depending on what I can get for it, maybe,” Frank said, turning away again.
     “I can assure that their accusations are baseless,” the warden said frantically, and Frank turned to him once more.
     “I don’t doubt you, Warden. Honestly.” No one noticed the small twinge of his lip that would have said otherwise.
Lissy would have noticed. He sighed inwardly. The image of her in that prisoner’s arms was burned into his mind. She was helpless to help herself, and he could only help her indirectly. Some boyfriend he was shaping up to be.
     The decision to pull back on their relationship had been a consensus between them, but Frank hadn’t preferred it. He felt differently about Lissy than every other person in the world, and that was something unique that he would never be willing to give up.
     He had told her he needed a week to think. Truthfully, he just hadn’t wanted to look desperate. And now she was in there, he was out here, and he was being torn apart inside.
     The truth was that Frank Donovan was just as vulnerable as any other human being, he just chose not to show it. And he was very good at that. But sometimes it didn’t serve him very well.
     He was on the verge of tears when his cell phone rang. He snatched it up answered it, all business once again. The voice on the other end of the line was the last one he expected to hear.
     “Mr. Donovan, this is Carlos Cortez. I’m calling to ask your permission about something.”
     “What is it?” Frank asked calmly, wondering if he was talking to a miracle.
     “I’d like to secure protection for our friend on the inside. And the woman with her.”
Donovan’s heart soared. He didn’t care if he couldn’t protect Lissy, but if someone could, he would give them everything he had and more.
     “How do you know about the woman on the inside?” he asked, trying to seem as indifferent as possible.
     “Alex told me about her. They’re quite good friends. And I know she means something more to you. Don’t worry, they’ll be safe.”
     “Thank you, Mr. Cortez.”
     The phone went dead and Donovan merely stood and looked at it.

****

     Alissa tried not to recoil as the man pressed himself up against her and forced her out into the open negotiation area again. She trembled slightly as Frank entered the room again and immediately laid eyes on her. The wounded were being helped out of the prison.
     “A film crew will be here within thirty minutes to tape depositions. We are currently in the process of speaking to US Attorneys who will hear your cause.”
     Alissa opened her mouth to respond as planned when gunshots ripped through the room. She was pulled roughly away, a large, meaty arm around her neck, tear gas exploding on the perimeter as she was pulled into the smoke. She stared at Frank with frightened eyes.
     She wasn’t so sure she was going to make it through this.

****

     Frank stood on one side of a very pissed off governor, trying to rationalize why he was right and the deputy warden was wrong. He finally got the governor on his side, except for a mandatory order to shut off the power.
     He was becoming more nervous by the second. Despite Carlos Cortez’s offer of protection, Donovan wasn’t 100% convinced of the reliability of that promise. If bullets started flying, there would be a good chance that Alissa or Alex would be caught in the crossfire.
     He reluctantly gave the order to shut off the power, praying that chaos would not result.

****

     Alissa blinked in the bright lights of the yard. After the incident indoors, they had all been moved outside. It made her nervous. Outside seemed much worse than in.
     “They aren’t going to discontinue negotiations just because of one mistake. Someone got careless, both sides were at fault, it’s…” Alex cried out as Henderson grabbed her hair and yanked her head back.
     “Why don’t I just kill you, huh? Think that would get their attention?” He pointed the gun at her head and she shut her eyes.
     A shorter Hispanic prisoner with a myriad of tattoos put a hand on Henderson’s shoulder. “Yo, man, remember what Carlos said.”
     Alex’s eyes shot open at the mention of Carlos, and Alissa noticed the change. Who was Carlos?
     “I don’t give a shit what your drug dealer said! I’ll kill her if I want to kill her, and I want to kill her now!”
Alissa opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. And at that moment, the lights went out.
     Gunshots fired all through the yard, and Alissa watched in amazement as Henderson fell to the ground, a bullet hole in his chest. She felt herself being grabbed by the protesting man and pulled to safety along with Alex.
     The big man from before grabbed her as soon as she was under the partition. His hand shoved up underneath her shirt to caress the flesh of her stomach, and she cringed before feeling herself being pulled away.
     “Hey, man, Carlos says that this lady isn’t for you. Take this. Take a guard.” He handed the man a handgun and he exited quickly, albeit disdainfully.
     Alissa was pressed up against the wall and Alex in the next few minutes of chaos. As the lights came on and both women breathed sighs of relief, Alissa managed to ask, “Who’s Carlos?”
     Alex took a deep breath and looked around her. “Carlos is my guardian angel,” she murmured. Alissa smiled.
     “I think I understand.”

****

     Donovan strapped on the bulletproof vest, giving familiar instructions to the SWAT team. He was afraid that his underlying worry was showing through.
     “Remember the prime directive: to save lives. Let’s go.”

****

     As the assault began, Alissa found herself relying on the protection of the Hispanic prisoner. She heard the crack of an assault rifle and tripped over her feet as she lost sight of Alex and was pulled out of the line of fire by a member of SWAT.
     As soon as she was outside of the fence, Alissa burst into tears and collapsed on the ground. Two EMTs carried her over to an ambulance and sat her down, immediately checking for any injuries. When they had cleared her, they gave her a blanket and let her huddle up in the ambulance. She sat by the door, her eyes desperately scanning the area for Frank. All she wanted was to see Frank.
     Her eyes brightened as Alex moved towards her, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The thin woman bent down in front of Alissa and took her hand.
     “Are you okay?” she asked quietly, tears glistening in her eyes. Alissa nodded, feeling tears come to her eyes all over again.
     “Are you?” she asked in return as Alex stood to leave. The woman nodded. “Where are you going?” Alissa asked, puzzled.
     Alex glanced towards the street and a big black car. “I have a date. And besides, I think someone wants to see you.”
     Alissa looked up as Alex left, astounded to see Frank rushing towards her, bulletproof vest and empty weapon thrown to the ground, and she threw the stiff blanket off of her shoulders and rushed towards him, catapulting herself into his arms. There were tears streaming uncontrollably down her face, and it made the tears come to his eyes as well. He held onto her tightly.
     This was what she missed. The way he held her so close. She was no one else’s but his. She pressed her face into his chest, breathing him in as deeply as was physically possible. She couldn’t speak yet, and just held on tight as his strong arms lifted her feet off of the ground. He buried his face in her neck and finally said, “I thought I’d lost you.”
     She let all the air out of her lungs and lay limp against him. He didn’t want this to end. He never had.
     “That’s right,” he murmured. “I may seem frigid on the outside, but you’re the only one who can make my heart melt.”
     She almost laughed, hearing these words coming from him. It was very uncharacteristic, but still very sweet. She pulled back a tiny bit and let her pinky finger trail over his lips. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
     “I got this for you,” he whispered, putting it around her neck, clasping it securely. She smiled widely and looked into his eyes.
     “I love it, Frank. And I love you, too.”
     He pulled her close. “Come home with me tonight and let me show you how much I love you,” he whispered, his body burning to kiss her.
     She nodded. “I don’t want to be alone,” she murmured, letting him gather her up in his arms and slowly walk away.

****

     Jake, Cody, and Monica watched from a distance, Jake nursing a hurt shoulder. Cody shook his head. “It’s unbelievable.”
     Jake chuckled. “What, that he’s human?”
     Monica shook her head. “You men. You just don’t get it.”
     Cody arched an eyebrow. “Get what?”
     “Everyone’s human. Even refrigerators like Donovan.”
     Jake laughed out loud. “Pretty small refrigerator.”
     Monica sighed. “That is not what I meant and you know it.”
     Cody simply shook his head again and followed the other two as they ambled away.

TO BE CONTINUED…