Page 5 of Smoke and Shadows

Jack struggled to understand Viktor’s words, thinking that he was hallucinating the entire rescue, that he was still locked away in this shithole after a grueling electroshock session that damned near cracked his ribs.

He reached out and grabbed Viktor by his throat, backing him against the wall.

“Don’t lie to me,” Jack snarled, bringing his face close to Viktor’s. His vocal chords were strained—three weeks of torture did a number on them. “I saw the footage…they covered her body with a fucking sheet.” For the first time in days, the back of his eyes stung. Four days after his abduction, his captors showed him the video of his wife’s death. The sick bastards taped everything; from the assault on the limo to Maia taking a gut shot, and to the one image that he couldn’t wipe out of his head—a white sheet being lowered on her beautiful, lifeless face. The thought of never seeing her again managed to accomplish what days of torture couldn’t do—break him down enough to lose it. Then numbness replaced the crazed grief he was feeling, angering his captors enough to beat the shit out of him when he had shown no empathy. How could he when it felt like his soul had detached from his body?

“That was operation Grave Digger,” Viktor told him. “I’ll explain later what it is and why it was done. But for now, it’s enough for you to know Maia’s been in a medically-induced coma for the past three weeks. They’re about to bring her out of it. Figured it’s best if I rescued your ass before she woke up. If she knew you were taken, nothing would stop her from going after you and busting her stitches.”

Jack let Viktor go and resumed walking up the tunnel.She’s alive. Elation hit him, and it was a struggle not to buckle to his knees and weep in relief. He could feel their eyes on him, watching him cautiously and gauging how broken he was. His body was stiff, and his ribs hurt like hell, but they were not cracked or broken. His tormentors were careful to aim their blows on his torso, giving him just enough pain, but stopping short of breaking his ribs. The electric shock was worse, not because of the burn marks it left, but the seizing and spasming were the worst sensations and pain no one could bear. But bore them he did. Because he swore to himself, he would survive this and avenge Maia.

“We were waiting for some ransom note or demand, but it never came,” Derek said. “We immediately increased security around your parents and Brett, just in case this was against the McCords. Especially since they had nabbed you the same day Maia was shot. What did they want?”

“Codes to the AGS database.”

The only people who had the codes were Viktor and him.

“Fuck.” Viktor stopped walking. Jack suspected if he wasn’t as weak as a newborn kitten, the blond man would have slammed him against the wall. “Did you break?”

“Fuck no,” Jack bit out. “I thought they’d killed my wife, Viktor. You think I’d give them the satisfaction of getting what they wanted from me?”

They continued walking until they reached the junction. Nathan’s eyes widened in shock. “Fuck man, you look like shit. Did they feed you at all?”

The minimum to keep me alive for torture, Jack thought grimly.

“Here. We got you some clothes.” Derek handed Jack a change of clothing.

“Are we heading straight to the hospital?” Jack took off the ratty sweater his captors gave him. It was scratchy as hell, but along with the wool blanket they had mercifully given him, it had kept him warm enough. He ignored the cursing from everyone when they saw the marks on his body.

“Uh, sorry, man, but you stink,” Derek informed him. “You don’t want to knock Maia back to sleep with the scent ofeau de piss.”

Jack grinned for the first time in weeks. “You have a point. Although, I’m pretty sure I didn’t piss on myself; at least I didn’t think I did.”

“Don’t worry, man, we won’t tell,” Manning added.

Derek clapped him on the back. “Let’s get you cleaned up so you can see your wife.”

A keeningcry shattered the usual quiet of the New Park Medical ICU.

Jack is going to kill him, Viktor thought. It had escaped his mind to inform Jack that his parents had kept a vigil by Maia’s bedside for over two weeks now. They didn’t blame Maia for their son’s abduction, and instead, took care of her the way parents would take care of their daughter in such a situation. Though being shot in the gut wasn’t a normal occurrence experienced by most daughters.

“Oh, my God, oh, my God—Jack!” Frances McCord threw herself into her son’s arms, failing to notice the wince that crossed Jack’s face. “What did they do to you?” Frances speared Viktor with an angry glare. “What did they do to him?”

Jack cupped his mom’s face gently. “Mom, I’m okay. I’ll tell you. But I really, really want to see Maia right now.”

Frances nodded in understanding. Robert McCord gave his son a hug and gruffly welcomed him back. Jack kissed his mom on the forehead and took a deep breath before stepping into Maia’s room. His parents followed, along with Dr. Lance Henderson, who worked on retainer at AGS’s medical facility, but also had medical privileges at New Park Medical.

Dr. Henderson had explained Maia’s condition to Viktor and Jack’s parents, but there was something else the doctor felt he had to hold back at least until Maia was conscious or Jack came back. Viktor had a bad feeling about it. He was surprised how well Jack had survived three weeks of captivity but knew the effects could still manifest later.

Pain flashed through Jack’s features as he raised a trembling hand to touch Maia’s face.

“Babe.” His whisper was low as he bent over to kiss his wife’s forehead.

Viktor had known Maia since she was twelve, and because of her daredevil attitude, this wasn’t the first time he had seen her laid up on a hospital bed. Still, it wasn’t easy for Viktor to see her intubated and hooked up to a ventilator—so he could well imagine how McCord was feeling.

Dr. Henderson cleared his throat. “Jack, it’s good to see you alive and . . . almost well.”

“Doc,” Jack acknowledged.

“I want to run some tests and x-rays on you after this.”

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