Chapter 13: Bliss is fleeting.
Nick and Jen woke to the sound of Nick's mobile ringing loudly and shrilly from where it sat on the wooden bedside table. Nick lifted his arm off Jen where it had acted as a comfort blanket to her throughout the night; warding off the nightmares she had sometimes, nightmares of a lifeless Lily. He tried not to wake her as he rolled over to grab his phone but the sound of its ringing must have already roused her as she too turned over, eyes squinting open in the light from the only half-risen sun. A still groggy Nick answered the phone in a voice that must have screamed drowsiness, saying nothing after a meagre "yeah" and instead opting to listen to whoever had called and interrupted his state of peaceful bliss. The voice on the other end of the phone spoke swiftly and made little pauses in between the important pieces of information they expected Nick to now be up to speed with. When the voice had finally stopped relaying him details through the phone's earpiece, Nick pressed the 'end' button and hastily placed the phone back on the bedside table. All he wanted right now was to snuggle back into his lover's arms and stay there until the sun came up properly. It was a nice thought while it lasted but the fact of the matter was- something had come up, something which neither of them could afford to overlook.
"Who was that on the phone, darling? Wait, let me guess, I'd prefer not to know, wouldn't I?" Jen had gotten out from under the covers as she made the inquiry kneeling on the bed behind Nick who was sitting on its edge, face in his hands. She started to massage his neck before moving on to his shoulders, there was a lot of tension there and she wanted more than anything for him to tell her it wasn't present as a result of the recent phone call.
"You don't wanna know, but, unfortunately, you're going to need to hear it". Nick dreaded telling the woman he loved that their lives would soon be at risk, just like they were last time, but he couldn't put it off when it not only involved their well beings but also the livelihoods of the two young children who had been placed in their care. "That was our favourite person from SIS, the delightful Adam Cameron; he wanted to fill us in on something that has recently transpired". Nick sighed as he got up off the bed and started pacing alongside it, glancing at his reflection aimlessly in the mirror-door wardrobe. Jen made her way out of the bed too and proceeded to stand in front of Nick, looking into his eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leant her forehead gently against his. What he was about to reveal was made so much easier by her being there; the warmth of her skin on his was enough to make Adam Cameron seem like a vague and distant memory.
"What did he say?" Jen asked in a soft voice, curious to know what had happened to prompt the call but at the same time not too eager to hear any of it spoken aloud to her. She didn't wish to be informed of any event or dramatic occurrence which confirmed that the bleak future she shuddered to imagine had begun unfolding before them. She looked into Nick's eyes searching for an unspoken answer within them, but failed, instead waiting for his all important reply to come.
"The SIS has been keeping an eye on certain individuals and information pertaining to the murders of Paul and Lisa Gregg all over the UK, where they reportedly fled to. They've been tailing a good deal of their associates and accomplices, they've got representatives working over there pretty much everywhere they'd be useful and up until now they haven't had any breakthroughs which might lead them directly to the Jenkins's". Nick finished his statements with a concerned look on his face; the worst was yet to come and he had to somehow find the words to use in order to break it to her.
Jen knew that he was about to reveal the vital part of the situation, the bit that explained why they'd soon be in such grave and inescapable danger. Regardless of how dooming the revelation would sound, she didn't want him to hold any details back; she could handle whatever it was he was about to bombard her with and she wanted to let him know. "Don't worry, I can handle it. Nick, whatever it is that's ahead of us I need to know about it. After all we've been through together I'm sure we can handle just about anything, no matter how evil or sinister it might seem. Believe me I'm ready for this, I have to be ready for this!" As Jen finished she moved her arms from where they had rested around Nick's neck to run them through his hair in an attempt to get him to continue speaking. It seemed she had succeeded in relaxing him as he soon continued with what he needed her to hear, and in doing so, made certain her worst nightmare.
"Some SIS reps in London just got the big break everyone has been hoping they would for quite some time. Some associates of Mark and Eliza unknowingly revealed the current and future whereabouts of our favourite couple. Good news is they're nowhere near our present location. Bad news is they're headed our way.