At the police station, Mrs. Hardy listened as the police officer that arrested Joe explained how Joe was seen leaving Westbrooke Manor (see the last chapter of Love, Lies and Assassins) "We contacted your daughter-in-law and according to her, she wants us to drop all charges against your son. The DA agrees with her. He's free to go."
"Thank you, officer."
"But I think he should be careful from now on. I wouldn't count on good luck like this happening twice."
In the car, Fenton glanced at Joe and then asked, "What on Earth were you thinking?"
"I wanted to find out what's going on."
"What do you mean, 'what's going on'?"
"Don't you think that Taylor's just a little too good to be true?"
"I think that Taylor is a young woman that has had a series of misfortunes. I suggest that you try to consider everything before saying something like that."
"But what if she's working with the Assassins?"
"I think I've heard enough on this subject." Fenton focused on the road and ended the conversation. Joe glared out of the window next to him. There had to be some way to prove that Taylor was connected to the Assassins. But with Frank in her corner, there wasn't much he could do.
At the new Assassin headquarters, Frank watched Taylor as she took careful aim at the target. "Nice touch, getting Joe out of trouble." He commented as Taylor hit the bull's-eye.
"I thought it would be."
"Now what?"
"With the operation in LA starting and the operation here about to truly start, I thought that we would get a few others on our side."
"Good."
"What made you join us?" Taylor turned her attention completely on Frank.
"Why do you ask?"
"I was wondering what made you join the Assassins. It just seems odd to me that I never said a word about it and all of the sudden, you decide to join the cause."
"Let's just say Joe had everything to do with it."
"I'm lost."
"My brother started researching you shortly after I met you."
"I see. So he's known all this time who my father was. He was laughing at me behind my back."
"Pretty much."
"And the Gray Man? What happened to him? I don't buy into the whole thing about him killing himself. That would be too easy… too pleasant."
"From what I know, he met the Angel of Death. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Is Iola still coming over? I want to talk with her about a few things."
"How did Iola join?"
"Simple, she was kidnapped at the mall, with the intentions of someone taking her place. The bomb in your car was meant to draw out your father and give my father a chance to replace Walker. With two spies within, the Assassins would have made sure that the campaign would either fail or insure that we had someone on the inside. Sadly, the bomb went off before it was supposed to. Our agents panicked and then the order came from an unknown source to kill you and your brother. There was no way to simply release Iola. She came up with the idea on how we could let her go. Especially when it was learned that the Network planted a bomb in your car that was twice as powerful as the one that we did. There was enough C4 to destroy an armored tank, much less your car."
"That's why there wasn't anything left."
"Exactly. Now you see the reasons why I loathe the Network."
"Don't worry. Soon, the entire planet will feel the same disgust that you do."
"In world wide news an organization simply known as the Network has attacked areas of the following countries: Zambia, Slovenia, Morocco, Finland, Cameroon, Bulgaria, Armenia, Honduras, Lesotho, Qatar, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu. A letter was sent to the UN that reads 'the Network has stood by and watched as the world has allowed itself to fall into a state of moral decay and death. We will attack this decay until it has been cleaned away. We will not rest until all leaders agree to implement a Constitution that we have written. The Network will soon show you the error of your ways. To resist will spell your destruction. We have not shed blood yet, but we will.' The attacks were aimed at buildings that had been abandoned for quite some time. It is unknown when the next Network attack will occur."