After Sarah gave the bed a thorough inspection for bugs, reptiles, sand, trash, and disease, which she could apparently spot with the naked eye, she allowed me to put Charlie down. Charles had given me a plastic bag with food in it, a MRE, and he assured me it was food. So while Charlie munched happily on a lunch of freeze dried meatloaf, and Sarah eyed a stain on the carpet with narrowed eyes, I gave up everything to Mack and Charles, who watched me like two hawks.

I sat on the end of one of the beds.

Sarah mere feet away, my son closer, so blissfully unaware of how screwed up our lives were.

"Before I met you I had dated a guy, Nikolai, and he was a undercover FBI agent. I guess somehow the people who he was investigating found out about him and killed him."

There, ha! I had said it out loud to them, who still eyed me as if they knew that was only half the story. Even Charles eyed me. As if he didn't know me. Which in all honesty, he'd only known me a few years. We'd been apart more then we were together, his son too.

"And…" Mack added.

Damn they were good. Like human lie detectors.

As much as I wanted to keep it to myself I knew I had to tell them. Something was wrong with Dad cause he would have gotten back with me, they were our only hopes and they had to know what they were protecting us from.

"I guess Nikolai had evidence against them. He hid it somewhere in my name a bank, or storage place, or something…and they think I know what it is, and where it is."

A red eyebrow rose.

"I would have told them where it was and where they could find it. Hell I would have drawn them a map!"

Mack looked to Charles who gave him a nod, I guess he was letting Mack know I was being truthful, when I could have told him so in the first place. Charles then asked me, "How does your father think they keep finding you?"

The hell if I knew!

I shrugged.

Sarah however had her own ideas, which she vocalized, "The damn CIA."

Dear God.

I rolled my eyes as she ranted, "I've spotted this CIA guy around whenever they have popped up! Wherever he is they then magically appear."

Right.

Mack and Charles seemed interested, Mack crossed his arms and sat down on the end of the other bed. "How do you know the guy is CIA?"

Just what I asked Sarah many times and she told him what she told me many times, "He looks like it."

My sister the mind reader.

Charles rolled his eyes and Mack blinked, "What?"

"Don't ask me how I know, it's a gift. Victoria…remember when you were dating Nik and I told you he was a Fed? Remember? Or when that professor at the college was hitting on you and I told you he was a perv? Or when I told you Charles here was in Special Forces?"

Her reasoning was amazing, "I remember. But you couldn't have foreseen any of the past four years?"

She snorted, "It doesn't work like that."

Right, it didn't work like that.

Charles cut me off as I was about to tell Sarah what she could make-work. "What about the other two things? Mack said you three were being hidden because of three events. What are the other two?"

His eyes were so dark, so intense.

I glanced down at the floor. Almost ashamed, embarrassed, but they needed to know. It was probably stupid in his book with what he dealt with daily. But it was bad enough I had to hide. But so stupid, I really should have been more careful. "Back when we were dating I was up in Raleigh on night. I saw a uniformed police officer taking a bribe…and he saw me. The guy he was bribing shot him. He threatened me and the police found out, and it didn't go well. So both sides were threatening me and then I told Dad…and a week later we were shipped off."

"You just never thought to bring this up with me," Charles spat.

Mack didn't cut in. Great.

I chewed on my lip, eyes on my red painted toenails. "It wasn't your problem."

"We were dating! You were pregnant with my son! How could it not be my problem too!"

I was too tired to argue.

In the past I would have, I loved to argue and debate with him. I was too tired. Tired of getting yelled at. Tired of getting ordered around. Tired of being challenged and threatened. Tired of everything in general.

"What do you want from me Charles? I screwed up and I've been paying for it, I'm still paying for it," even my voice sounded tired, defeated.

I heard him move and Mack quickly spoke up, "And what else? I specifically remember Ryan mentioning something about the Ukrainians and him."

Charles had moved.

He was closer to me but I still couldn't look him in the eyes. So I looked over at Mack and shook my head. Sarah added defiantly, "That goes in with number one reason. The particular family the colonel has caused problems with was the family that her late lover was undercover with. When said family made the connection they were not pleased. Giving them another reason to kill her oh-so-painfully. You'd really think they'd have bigger fish to fry then Victoria…Nope!"

I looked over my shoulder at her.

Where she was seated now on the pillow, as if it were a throne for her eminence. "What! It's so true! Ukraine is so booming with organized crime now, they could be doing so much business if they would leave you alone. Think of the resources they are wasting chasing after us…I should so write them a letter."

Yeah, that's what she needed to do.

Mack pretty much ignored that last part, he quietly asked Charles, "Ryan's pissed off the Ukrainians?"

"He's done a lot. It wouldn't surprise me, we've all pissed off someone," Charles answered.

Oh wasn't that the truth.

I really hoped that was enough for them to chew on. Work with. Like that was enough for the two Operators to work through.

Oh yeah, right.

I wasn't dealing with just any Operator. I was dealing with Charles. Who inquired, "And what's the third reason you were shipped off."

"Hey, curly, I got shipped off too. She's not alone in this chaos."

Thank God I wasn't. Thank God for Sarah.

I ran my seriously short nails through my hair. I could lie. Lying wasn't so great though and right now really wouldn't work in my favor. So I told the truth, kinda, but it wasn't the real reason. "I was failing my math class."

Charles's voice rumbled, "Victoria."

Like they needed yet another challenge.

"I was…I was…I was being stalked and it was getting progressively worse." Another one of those need to know things. I was so bad with relationships.

From behind Sarah added, "I told you he was a nut. I told you not to date anyone out of pity. Did you listen to me? No!"