Page 134 of Fire and Ice

Jack sat down on his bed and grabbed his phone. After a shower, he went out for a big steak dinner with Derek. He hadn't eaten in two days unless, one can call candy bars food. They talked mostly about office stuff and when they parted ways that evening he had promised Derek that he wouldn't touch the liquor cabinet and would show up for work tomorrow.

Time to call Maia. He was prepared to grovel. In a moment of anger he had hurt the person he loved the most and that was unforgivable. But hopefully, she'd hear him out. But he was going to demand that she meet him halfway. If they were going back into a committed relationship she should prepare him for when she needed to take off, not just disappear like she had.

Taking a deep breath, he punched her number and waited for her voice. It went to voicemail. Shit. Either she didn't want to talk to him or she really was not available.

"Maia, babe, it's Jack. I've been a monumental ass. I was angry. I was angry at you for making me worry, for making me feel impotent to protect you from anything that would cause you harm. I'm in love with you, babe. I can't believe I hurt you like that. I know words are not enough, but please let me show you how sorry I am. Call me."

Jack got up and paced around the room. He proceeded to clean up the things he had thrown around, but after half an hour, pulled out his phone and called her again.

"Maia, I promise I won't pull this crap again. Please call me. I love you so much, babe."

He ended the call and glared at his phone willing her to call him back. Maybe she had changed her number. Maybe the voicemail didn't go through.

Jack groaned. He was exhibiting pathological, neurotic behavior.

He lay on his bed and stared at his nightstand's clock watching the minutes go by. It was then he had a moment of clarity. He was not as morose as he had been and his chest had felt lighter than in the past few weeks. And he knew then that he had accepted Maia wholly for whatever she was—well they still have to talk about a few ground rules. But he was not going to lie to her any more. He would tell her exactly how he felt about the risks she took. Derek told him that she said she was done with him, and that blew, but he was going to win her back at all cost. Any other outcome was unacceptable. She loved him too: she couldn't just turn it off like that. If he had to kidnap her again and keep her until she accepted that she was his, he'd do it. Jack smiled. There it was: clarity.

***

It had been a week. Jack was getting annoyed. He was willing to be patient, but this was ridiculous. How was he supposed to show Maia how sorry he was if she didn't call him back? He ran the gamut of all stalker behavior. He left her over twenty voice messages and just as many text messages. He had Derek call her, Laurie call her, his mom—yes he had his mom call her—but nada. No answer. He had driven to her Georgetown home three times and waited for her. But she did not show up. And then he worried that she had hooked-up with someone new or worse gone back to Lee Isaac—who made no secret that he still wanted her. That would kill him or make him commit murder.

"Sorry we missed Derek Lockwood today," Colonel Dalton's voice snapped Jack out of his ruminations. They were wrapping up some contract negotiations.

"Yes, he said he had a case of the flu," Jack replied. Derek had been acting strange lately. If Jack didn't know any better, he'd say his friend was avoiding him. And now he had filed for one week emergency leave. Was he thinking of leaving the company? Surely this mess with Maia had not prompted his friend to do business elsewhere.

"Well, I'm off to another meeting," Dalton said in a resigned voice.

"It's one of those days, huh?" Jack replied, making small talk.

"Actually, this meeting with the State Department should be interesting," Dalton said as he walked Jack to the elevators of the Pentagon. "One of our contractors ran into trouble in Russia and had some of their people taken hostage."

"Those are sticky diplomatic situations," Jack replied sympathetically.

The elevator doors slid open and, to Jack's shock, Viktor Baran stepped out together with Taylor Bess, the Assistant Secretary of State. Suddenly, a heart-wrenching dread gripped Jack's entire body.

"Mr. Baran, welcome. So sorry to hear about your people," Dalton said.

Viktor's eyes flickered over Jack in surprise. Jack grasped Viktor Baran's arm and asked hoarsely, "Is it Maia?"

The older man sneered, "What do you care?" He shook free from Jack's grip and spun away. The others looked at them with interest before they turned away to head into their meeting, leaving Jack reeling.

Jack burst into Derek's condominium, his face a mask of barely controlled fury as he stabbed a finger at his friend.

"You knew! You fucking knew Maia was taken and you never told me!" Jack accused angrily.

His friend's face was taut and drawn as if he had been carrying a burden for days.

"Yes, I fucking knew," Derek replied wearily. "I felt like crap this past few days seeing how determined you were to win her back, at the same time knowing that she and a couple of Guardians had been taken by Gavlik's men."

"This happened three days ago, didn't it? When you started avoiding me?" Jack rasped as he observed the black duffle bags that were packed. His friend was leaving for a mission.

Derek nodded. "How did you find out?"

"I ran into Viktor at the Pentagon with the Assistant Secretary of State. Prior to that, Dalton mentioned a hostage situation in Russia."

"What are the odds of that?" Derek mused.

"What happened?" Jack asked, finally calming down.

---