There had been a point, before the break they’d caught with TJ, where she’d considered telling the team about it. They needed an “in” with King, and honestly, she had it, but to what end? Potentially putting her child’s life in danger? Not an option. Not to Ren.
So she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t even tell Quentin, even though the secret was burning a hole in her mind. The one person she mentioned it to was Harrison, from whom she’d expected the most benign reaction. Instead, he’d blown up. Not quite as badly, but similar to the way he’d gotten so upset with Savannah over her mission with King. Apparently, King was a sore spot for Harrison, but why? Was it really just because his boss hated him, or about getting shot?
Renata put her phone down and fired up her computer, navigating to the folders that held Harrison’s files. There hadn’t been a ton of information available on him in the first place, so it wouldn’t take her long to do another quick scan of his past.
When the documents began to open up on her screen, Renata snickered at a picture of Harrison as a small child. She moved the picture to the side to dig through information. School records, disciplinary actions, when he’d gotten his vaccines, down to the hospital records from his birth. Born in winter, seven pounds, four ounces, to an Yvette Cole.
Yvette Cole.
Yvette…
Why did that sound so familiar?
She’d died when Harrison was only twenty years old according to the files, of an aggressive form of breast cancer. He’d taken his mother’s death hard, and channeled the grief into over-achieving. Hyper-focus in school to finish early, police academy, a crazy-fast rise to detective, and then recruitment into the DEA. At some point he’d started working for Wolfe as part of his undercover assignment, and somewhere along the way those lines had gotten blurred, because Harrison Cole was no longer an active agent. He stayed on to work for Wolfe, but why? And what was his real problem with Terry King?
“Mama?”
Renata nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Taylor’s voice right behind her. She turned to see her daughter standing in the doorway, chewing at the inside of her lip.
“… yes?”
She didn’t mean to sound so… scared. As if she were actually afraid of her own child, but the last five or six weeks since Taylor had returned hadn’t exactly borne any resemblance to “kumbaya”. That Taylor was willingly speaking to her was a surprise in itself, even after the conversation she’d overheard between the teenager and Quentin. She’d been marginally less hostile, but still… not quite the Taylor she remembered.
“I… can we talk?”
Renata’s heart leapt up into her throat, and she had to take a hard swallow before she could offer the girl a nod. She turned her chair around, and beckoned for the girl to come in, and close the door behind her. “Of course, sweetheart. You can always talk to me.”
Taylor took a seat on the bed, tucking her hands between her knees. “Um… I guess… I guess I wanted to ask you, out right if… Did my father really…? Did he… what those files said he did to you, when you were a teenager. Is that true. He did that to you?”
Holy shit.
Renata swallowed hard again, then reminded herself that Taylor was fourteen, not four. As much as this was a conversation she would have rather never had… it was happening anyway.
“Taylor… I know you think the world of your father, but you and your sister are the only ones who consider him to be anything close to a good man. Please trust that I really, really hate to say these words to you, but… yes. He did. I’m sorry.”
Taylor’s head shot up. “Why are you sorry? He should be sorry! He… I’m sorry.” The girl shook her head, then dropped her gaze. “I said all of that mean stuff to you, because I…”
“Because you wanted to believe your father was a good person. And I mean… believing that someone is lying is a lot easier than accepting that real people, even people who are nice to you, can sometimes do monstrous things.”
When Taylor looked up again, her eyes were glossy with tears, and Renata wanted so badly to snatch her daughter into her arms, but she stayed put. “I… found archives, of some of your conversations with Quentin. Your mom kicked you out when she found out you were pregnant with me?”
Renata lifted an eyebrow. “Archives of… how in the world…?” Taylor shrugged, and Renata shook her head. “We’ll talk about your hacking another time. But… yes, she did. And Quentin helped me a lot, so that I would be able to keep you, and take care of you.”
“Why?”
Renata frowned. “Why… what?”
“Did you want to keep me? I mean… it wasn’t like you wanted a baby, or like you guys were in love, so… why?”
Renata raised her shoulders as she opened her mouth, then let them droop again as she pulled it back closed. She took a deep breath, and then met Taylor’s eyes. “I… I don’t really know. I definitely had… other options, but for some reason, the only thing that felt right for me was bringing you into the world, and making sure you were well taken care of, and loved. I don’t honestly have a quantifiable answer for why, Taylor. But I do know that I’ve absolutely never regretted it.”
“Even these last few months?”
Renata laughed. “Yes. Even these last few months. Even when you’re being an insufferable brat, you’re still mine. I’ll still do anything for you, little girl. Everything I’ve done, pretty much every decision I’ve made since you were born… I had your best interests in mind, sweetheart. I hope that someday you’ll understand that.”
Taylor nodded, then dropped her head again, picking at the chipped, bright blue polish on her nails. “It’s just… he was so nice to me. And Kennedy… she’s known him her whole life, and never saw any of what everybody is claiming he did. She’s been really upset. I tried to tell her it was true… to show her what I found on the computer, but she swears we can’t trust anybody here. Not even you. Nobody but Harrison.”
“She’s really close to Harrison, right?”
“Yeah.” Taylor looked up, smiling. “He’s cool, you know. Taylor calls him her uncle, but he’s really not… right?”
“I don’t believe so, but…” Renata let out a sigh. “All of this mess is so dysfunctional and twisted that I really can’t say. Has Kennedy talked to Harrison at all?”
Taylor shook her head. “Not since we first got here. She got really upset because he wouldn’t really answer any questions, or tell us anything.”
“But he knows your father better than any of us. Was closer to him than anyone else has gotten.”
“We know,” Taylor shrugged. “That’s why we went to him, but he said he didn’t want us asking about it. He didn’t want to “give us things to get questioned about”.”
Renata lifted an eyebrow. It made sense, she supposed, that he didn’t want to add further confusion for the girls. Still… though it seemed that Taylor was coming back around to common sense’s side, having Harrison confirm a few carefully worded questions would help remove any lingering doubts in their minds.
“Come on,” she said, standing up. “I bet with me there, we’ll be able to get a few things answered.” She closed the top of her laptop and headed for the door, stopping when she realized Taylor wasn’t following. The teenager had stood up, but she remained rooted to the spot, fidgeting with the braids that had fallen over the front of her shoulder.
“Taylor?” Renata moved closer to her daughter, her eyes narrowed in concern. “What is it? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Taylor replied, nodding as she looked up to meet Renata’s eyes. “It’s just… I… I’m sorry.” A hard lump of emotion swelled in Renata’s throat as the teenager flung herself against her, wrapping her arms tight around Renata’s waist. She choked back a sob of her own as Taylor cried against her chest, and her hands shook with relief as she raised them to the girl’s head, soothingly stroking the length of the braids as she cried. “I… hope… you… don’t… hate… me,” she managed to speak betwe
en sobs, and Renata shook her head as she lifted Taylor’s chin to face her.
“I could never hate you, sweetheart. Okay?”
Sniffling, Taylor nodded.
“I love you.”
“I love you too mama.”
Renata squeezed her eyes shut, trying and failing to hold back tears as Taylor buried her face in her neck again. She blew out a relieved breath, one she hadn’t realized she was holding, and hugged her daughter tight. After several more long minutes, she pulled away, wiping Taylor’s face and then smoothing her braids behind her back.
“Okay, let’s go find Kennedy, right? If she’s feeling upset, we need to see if we can try to help make that a little better.”
Taylor nodded, and Renata took her by the hand, leading her to the room Taylor and Kennedy shared.
Ren really couldn’t blame Kennedy for being disturbed by all the new developments. The girl was only sixteen, finding out all kinds of ugly, traumatic things about a man she’d only ever known love from as a father, and not even being able to seek comfort with her mother. Anger, fear, and confusion were probably all at the forefront of the teenager’s mind, and unfortunately, they’d all been too busy with trying to find Damien Wolfe and Terry King to focus on giving the girls the structure and counseling they desperately needed.
She’d have to run it by the rest of the team first, to figure out the logistics, but Renata resolved to call Dr. Layla Alexander, the woman who’d helped her a few months ago, to see about speaking with the girls. It would probably do them good to talk to someone who was qualified to help direct their emotions. And, once they got past this, a tutor to make up for them missing school.
Kennedy wasn’t in the bedroom, kitchen, or in the massive TV room Kendall referred to as his man cave, which they’d adapted as a sort of recreation area. She only had an hour before the team was due to sit down for another meeting, to regroup and figure out the logistics now that Terry King was, once again, in the wind.
The trip to Dubai wasn’t for another few days, but the mission at the house had been a bust. King hadn’t been back there, there were no signs of Wolfe, and the men Barnes had assigned to watch the house had lost Noelle on a trip to the city. Even she hadn’t been back to the house since then. It was imperative now, figuring out how to move forward within these next days, because the chances of seeing him formally prosecuted and brought to justice were over if he made it to Dubai.
With that in mind, Renata and Taylor gave up the search for Kennedy, and resumed the goal of seeking out Harrison. When they got to his room, they knocked, but didn’t get an answer, so Renata quietly unlocked the door and eased it open. Her eyes went wide when she didn’t see him on the couch or bed.
The TV was on, so she stepped inside, and went to the bathroom door. The light was on, so she knocked, but didn’t get an answer there either. Shielding her eyes, she opened the door and took a quick peek. Her heart dropped to the floor at the sight of the empty bathroom.
What.
The.
Hell?!
She darted out of the bathroom to look around the room, checking the window to make sure it was still sealed shut, under the bed, everywhere.
“Where is he, Taylor?!” she asked her wide-eyed teenager, who was still standing at the door, looking confused. “Do you know anything about this?”
Taylor frantically shook her head, and she seemed so scared that Renata didn’t doubt that answer. She smacked her forehead, dropping her gaze to the floor as she searched her mind.
“Know anything about what?” Renata’s head snapped up toward the door at the sound of Savannah’s voice. “Where… where is Harrison?” the other woman asked, looking around the empty room.
Renata blew out a heavy sigh. “I was hoping you knew,” she said, massaging her temples. “That was going to be my next thought, that maybe you let him out.”
“It would be my first thought.” Inez appeared in the doorway beside Savi. “But Savi has been with me all morning, since before Kendall stopped by here to bring Harrison breakfast. We need to search the house. He couldn’t have gotten out of here by himself without setting off the alarms. He’s has to still be here.”
But… thirty minutes later, that proved to not be the case. They’d alerted the other team members for a careful, thorough search of the entire house, but they’d turned up nothing. He was gone.
“How the fuck did this happen?!” SSA Barnes bellowed into the roomful of agents, but nobody flinched. “All this time, we’ve been solid, and suddenly this DEA motherfucker comes around, and everything falls apart. Who knows what he took with him, huh? What information he found out? And you’d better believe he’s taking whatever he knows to the highest fucking bidder. I’ve got one good guess toward who let him out.”
He turned pointedly toward Savi, who bristled in response. “I did not let him out.”
“You’re the only one who’s in his room every night. Talking, giggling and shit with him, and everybody knows you two are fucking. How much do we really know about this girl, huh?” He turned, directing himself to Kendall, Quentin, and Marcus. “You know Wolfe had plenty of groupies, and—”
“Fuck you,” Savi spat, crossing the room with such speed it seemed to Renata like she blinked, and the next thing she knew, Savannah was in Agent Barnes’ face, with a gun pressed against his forehead. “Yes, Harrison and I are close, but I’m nobody’s mole, you got it? If I wanted to help him escape, he and I both would have been halfway across the world sipping mimosas before anybody figured out we were gone. So you can keep your implications to yourself, asshole.”
Renata watched Barnes’ Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard, his eyes crossing as they traveled up to the barrel of Savi’s gun. She’d made no move to defend Barnes from Savi, partially because she thought she was telling the truth, partially because he was being an asshole. What did surprise her was that no one else had drawn their weapon either.
“Wow,” he said, when he realized no one was coming to his defense. “I’m the only reason any of you still have any type of standing in the FBI—”
“I’m not FBI, motherfucker,” Savi and Inez said in unison, then grinned at each other, like they’d said it many times before.
“Quentin and I had no real standing anyway,” Naomi shrugged, then glanced at her friend before looking back to Barnes. “And I feel like you’ve been acting a little strange. Why are you trying so hard to put this on Savi?”
“That’s a great question.” Marcus crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at at his superior agent. “And where were you when Harrison was breaking out?”
“With the Cajun,” Barnes said, through gritted teeth, looking toward Quentin. “Tell them!”
Quentin rolled his eyes, then let out a heavy sigh. “That’s true. He was here with me, trying to figure out why I can’t get the tracker I put on Noelle to work. Been here all morning.”
A collective sigh of disappointment went around the room, and Renata shook her head as Savi lowered her gun, tossing Barnes a look of disgust as she slowly backed away from him.
“This puts us back at square one,” Renata said, pushing her braids away from her face as she looked around the room. “Somebody here helped him out.”
“It was me.”
A hush fell over everyone at the quiet sound of the teenaged voice. Renata tossed a questioning glance at Taylor, who frantically shook her head, then turned to see Kennedy standing in the doorway, with her arms wrapped around herself.
“I took Kendall’s key off his key ring when he put them down after he dropped off Harrison’s breakfast. I just wanted to talk to him, to ask about my parents. And he… I asked him, if there was any way he could find them, and talk to them for me. To see if they were still alive, and make sure they were okay. He said yes. So it was me. I’m the one who helped him out.”
After that, the room was a flurry of activity.
A million questions, people coming and going, computers turned on, ph
one calls placed, all to figure out the answer to the latest mystery.
Where the hell was Harrison?
Thirteen.
It was truly, truly an interesting turn of events.
That was really the only way Terry could describe Wolfe’s right hand man reaching out to him, with a goal of – or at least he claimed – negotiating.
It was interesting as hell.
Terry hadn’t been particularly interested in Harrison. He was Wolfe’s trusted assistant, sure, but loyalty among the criminal element Damien liked to hang with wasn’t particularly high. The man had gotten away, got the kids out of danger, if he were the type where noble acts actually meant something to him. If he were smart, he would have disappeared. Left the kids at some sort of safe haven and gotten the hell out of dodge, but instead, he’d gotten ahold of somebody’s cell phone and called around until he got the number he needed, until he got in touch with Terry.
Again… interesting.
And there was also the fact that the man’s face looked so oddly familiar. Like there was something he should know about him, but whatever it was stood just outside his field of vision. He chalked it up to having seen Harrison before because he was connected to Wolfe, and closed the laptop, removing the pictures from the screen. He was looking forward to their meeting later.
But before that… he had something else he wanted to take care of. They were leaving later tonight for Dubai, a little earlier than planned, but it was time. Terry wasn’t usually a man bothered by things like intuition, but lately, a feeling that something was about to go wrong had been heavy on his mind.
That wasn’t the only thing that had been heavy on his mind.
A sable-skinned beauty with a slick mouth had been occupying his brain waves as well, which wasn’t typical for him at all. He was accustomed to seeing a beautiful woman, bedding her for a trial run, and keeping her around for maybe a few sessions after that. There were very few times in his life that he’d been fully enamored by a woman, and his encounter at Butter with the gorgeous Sarai was certainly one of those times.
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