"You're awake early," John whispered as the orange glow of the sunrise filled the room.
"That implies that I actually went to sleep, love," she told him.
"Do I have to get Leonard to sedate you at some point? He'll do it."
"Oh, I know he will. Wouldn't even be the first time. It's just… there's just a bunch of stuff on my mind and it's hard to sleep when my brain runs away like that."
"Marcus?" he asked.
"I don't know what bothers me more, the fact that this guy is after your dad and, by proxy, us. Or, the fact that someone got so much information on my family and friends. I mean, we're careful… we have to be with dad's job. Whoever did this has to know us," Jaime said. John tightened his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
"How so?"
"The car. Marcus mentioned the Stingray. Nobody knows that my brother and I both own that car. The title only has Sam's name on it, I was fourteen when mom signed over the paperwork and we never changed it. And, up until we bought our cars, the whole family was on the same car insurance policy. There's no paperwork linking me to that car with the exception of Sam's will and that's in dad's safe."
"So, someone who knows you or Sam had to give Marcus all the information on you," John sighed. "Well, Harper's out."
"I know but that doesn't tell me who it might be," she muttered against his shoulder. "It's frustrating."
"That's it. Come on," he said, hopping out of bed and pulling Jaime along with him.
"Where are we going?"
"I'm going to distract you for a while," John smirked as he pulled her into the bathroom and tuned the shower on. "In you go." Jaime gave him a look like he was crazy and that's all the encouragement he needed to pick her up and carry her into the shower with him.
"You got my shirt all wet," she mumbled against his shoulder.
"Actually, Misses Kirk-Harrison, that's my shirt," he said as he pulled it over her head. "That's much better."
"You are positively devious."
"And you love every bit of it."
"So, are you going to tell me the problem with Marcus now, or do you want to wait to tell John?" Jamie asked as drove them from San Fran International to the H.S. office.
"Right to the point, as usual," Richard smiled from the passenger seat.
"Life's short than you die, no time to beat around the bush," she chuckled.
"That's very true, my dear. As you know, my father started Harrison Shipping when I was around the same age as your goddaughter. I don't remember much of the beginnings, just that he worked a lot. My family wasn't well off, not even close, actually. My father had to beg and borrow to get the company underway and he worked to insure that he had something other than debt to leave for me and my sister."
"You have a sister?" Jaime glanced at him. "Sorry. Shutting up."
"It's quite alright," Richard smiled. "I had a sister, she passed away before John was born. As I was saying, my father worked hard but it wasn't enough without capital. He needed investors."
"Thirty-One International?"
"Yes. Alexander's uncle, David Marcus, was in charge of the company back in those days. He gave my father the investment that he needed and after a few years, my father made enough to begin paying the loan back. He was even able to pay the tuition for my undergraduate studies at the University of Westminster out-of-pocket. Unbeknownst to my father, David decided to expand their company from being just passenger transport to bulk and container shipping."
"Like HS?"
"Yes. Then they began losing money to a rival company that transported passengers with lower costs and lower overhead. In order to account for their loss, Thirty-One had to rely heavily on their cargo shipping sales," her father-in-law sighed. "It worked for them for a while, until it didn't."
"Harrison Shipping expanded their operations fourteen years ago… and Thirty-One took a hit."
"You are a cleaver girl. Our profits have been steadily increasing while theirs have been steadily declining over the past decade and a half. Since our first major investment came from Thirty-One, Marcus has it in his mind that we somehow owe him for our success. If Thirty-One is going to fall, he's determined to make us fall as well."
"During the sale that never happened, he strung HS along, tying up capital with lawyers and accountants and inspectors. He's trying to burn as much of our time and funds as possible. Finding spies like Harper and Munhall means having to go out and hire new people. Contracts cost money, especially if you hire someone with even a little experience. That offer yesterday wasn't real. He was trying to get a read on me."
"A bit of both, actually. If you're as corruptible as I'm sure he thinks you are, then the offer was just that. However, you aren't as you appear at first glance. I've learned that from experience," he smiled.
"If it makes you feel better, I'm pretty sure John's the only person outside my family and Bones to get a real read on me, ever," Jaime chuckled.
"That does make me feel better."
"So, what do we do about a man who just wants see you burn?"
"That is the question, my dear."
"You'll never guess what I found," her dad said as they sat in Spock's office with her friend. John and Richard were using her new office –cringe- to talk.
"Surprise me?" Jaime smiled.
"Someone's paying the Finneys," her dad sighed. She opened her mouth to say something but she wasn't sure what, hence why nothing came out. "Yea, that's what I said. Fifteen grand every two weeks since the shooting."
"Are you implying that Alexander Marcus is somehow involved?" Spock asked.
"I hadn't thought about it until Agent Bashir asked me if anyone might be after Jaime when he slipped me a copy of the report. He's looking though the other victims but given that Jaime's my kid, she's the target at the top of the list. Now this thing with Marcus…"
"You think Ben fed Marcus my information? I hadn't seen him in almost a year," Jaime finally said.
"No. I think someone might've been following you," her dad said.
"What makes you think they stopped?" she asked.
"The dossier you gave me has a gap while you were in England that picks up when you went back to school. The whole file ends with your morning coffee run on the day you got shot," her dad sighed. "I think there was someone doing surveillance on you whenever you were at Cal."
"So, a classmate?" Jaime asked.
"Not necessarily. If someone knew their way around campus, theoretically, they could have hidden in plain sight and we would not have noticed," Spock said.
"I'm starting to think I should've gone to Dover with Sara when she offered," she sighed.
"If you go, I'm going too," her dad chuckled.
"Going where?" John asked as he stepped into Spock's office, his father behind him.
"Dover. I'm thinking of running away to hide out with your mother," Jaime smiled.
"She'd welcome you with open arms, I'm sure," Richard said.
"Probably. We have a plan, I take it," she said.
"We need you to set up a meeting with Marcus," John said, running his hand though his hair. She didn't like the sound of it any more than he liked saying the words. His unhappiness with the situation was etched into his features.
"Whoa," her dad stood up. "Why?"
"We want her to agree to spy for him," her husband answered.
"We… or Richard?" her dad asked. John's dad had the grace to look ashamed, if only for a few seconds.
"I don't like it either, Chris, but once he finds out she's my wife, he'll move to someone else. Jim's in the perfect position right now and we need to capitalize on it before it's too late. We don't want to spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders for Marcus. We need to end this as soon as we can," John said.
"I don't think that's…" her dad started.
"It's not up to you," Jaime said. "This guy is… there's something about him that just rubs me the wrong way. I don't like him, and you know me, I usually like most people. It won't hurt for me to sit down with him."
"I don't like this," her dad looked at her.
"I'm pretty sure that none of us like this but it's where we are," she sighed. "I'll be careful, I promise. You can have a team of agents follow me if you're really worried."
Her dad smiled, "Just one team?"