I close my eyes tightly, letting the sound of the waves gently crashing against the shore overwhelm my thoughts. Take a deep breath, Emily. Focus. Why are you here? I'm here to take revenge for my father. Yes, so you don't need to get sidetracked. Stay focused on the plan. You can't let your feelings get in the way of your goal. Feelings will cloud your judgment. Now the voice sounds like Takeda. His last reminders are running around my head still. This is what I have been training for and what is it getting me? I just have to keep the bigger picture in focus and not get caught up in all the little details.

I dig my fingers into the sand by my feet, feeling it slip through my fingers. Like the grains of sand in an hourglass, watching the granules of sand slipping from my fingers, my thoughts are turning into memories. Memories of my father come rushing back, playing on this very beach, swimming, making sandcastles, and simply spending time together. I wish he were here. Sadly, I know that no matter how hard I wish for it, he would never come back. But if I'm lucky, I can clear his name. Clearing his name will only happen if I am able to stick to my plan. "Stick to the plan." I murmur as I absentmindedly draw a double infinity sign in the sand.

"Stick it to who, Ems?" Nolan says as he saunters towards me and plunks down in the sand next to me. "Stick nothing, Nolan. What do you want?" Needless to say I was annoyed by his uncanny ability to show up just when I least needed to be interrupted.

"Oh, just checking up on my favorite Revenger" he says blithely, trying to make me relax. Relaxing was something I can't afford. Not yet anyway. "So, what new terror are you planning to rain down on the Grayson's?" he asks. I quickly smudge the symbol in the sand and move to stand up. "I have something planned," I say as a brush off any excess sand off my clothes, pick up my shoes and start heading towards my beach house, making my escape.

"Ems! Hey, you know I just want to help out. I promised your father after all." Nolan scrambles to his feet, rushing to catch up with me. Despite his seemingly athletic figure, Nolan had a tendency to be a bit awkward. Too bad his legs were so long, I thought shaking my head, or he'd have a harder time catching up.

"You don't give up, do you Nolan?" I ask turning to face him, a smile playing at the corners of my lips.

"Not when it comes to you, my dear," he says lightly, even though I feel like there might be something else entirely behind those words.

"Why don't you just come in? I'm leaving soon anyway." I say as I walk up the steps and open the door to the house. We both enter the beach house and Nolan immediately migrates towards my coffee machine. I figured as much, seeing as my clock said it was almost eight. Somehow, my sense of time was consistently skewed after I went for my early morning run. "You want some?" he asks as he glides around the kitchen, getting out coffee, mugs and starting the coffee maker.

"Uh, actually that would be nice." I move to sit down on the beige couch in my living room and lift the lid of my laptop. Here's hoping that there's something worth watching, I think as I open the link to the security cameras newly installed in Grayson Manor. So far, the results have been less than impressive, but I was patient. I had to be. Hearing the coffee maker give off steam brought me back to the present. Nolan brings both mugs of streaming hot coffee over to me and settles himself next to me on the couch.

"Just the way you like it, two sugars with a dash of milk," he says, setting my mug next to the laptop on the coffee table.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, what are the Grayson's up to today?" Nolan purrs as he examines the live video feed streaming on my laptop's screen. A maid moves from room to room, cleaning. "Wow, Ems. This is super exciting stuff, you've got here."

"I know, but this is what is interesting." I open a saved video file from earlier this week. "Take a look at this and tell me what you see." I push play and watch Nolan's face for his reaction. I've seen the clip so many times; I think I've memorized it.

"Conrad. I can't believe that you could do such a thing." Victoria burst out upon entering the study. Conrad Grayson was getting used to having his soon-to-be ex-wife burst into his study, it had become a habit lately. Not one that he particularly enjoyed.

"What did I do now, my dear?" he drawled, sipping at his drink. The whisky burned his throat, but as Conrad saw it, nothing would burn more than what Victoria could when provoked.

"You know exactly what you did, Conrad," she insisted, planting herself squarely in front of him, hands placed on her slim hips. She looked like she was ready to tear down the study at a moments notice. "You're letting them into our lives again and I will not have it." Victoria gives him a fiery stare that could certainly outdo the burning taste of the whisky.

"I had no choice. They were going to jeopardize everything that we've worked so hard for. Everything that we are and have become with their help would disappear if I hadn't said yes." Although, if he had really had a choice, he would have denied everything and run. Far away and leave this mess for someone else to clean up. Sadly he was not man enough to be able to fix this, things were getting out of hand and quickly. He sighed watching Victoria contemplate the situation.

"Of course you have a choice. Just like you had a choice when it came to David Clarke. Just don't make the wrong one." She abruptly turned on her heels and left. The sound of her high-heeled shoes on the polished wooden floor reminded Conrad of the ticking of the clock, counting the precious minutes before the plan was fully set in motion. Their time was running out, but did Victoria know that? And did she fully understand the consequences?

"Nolan, I need you to do a little bit of digging for me. I need you to find out everything you can about Grayson Global right after my father was taken." I had some suspicions as to what was going on, but right now Nolan was still on a need-to-know basis.

"Uh, sure Ems. What exactly do you need? Financials, business records?"

"Everything you can get your hands on" I said, shutting the lid of the laptop with a click of finality and glance towards the door.

"Ok, I can see when I'm not wanted. I think I'll go do some digging" Nolan stands and gives me a smile. "Thanks for the coffee, Ems" He saunters out the door and I breath a bit lighter. Now, the real planning could begin.

Author's Note: Feed back is greatly appreciated, not quite sure where the story is headed yet...