Disclaimer: I do not own the Once Upon a Time franchise.
Chapter Twenty-One
"What's rule?" Emma knelt in front of Henry the following morning in front of the school building. August and Killian stood behind her, both looking properly concerned and stern. She was so nervous to leave Henry at school for the day, but they had to try to get back to some sense of normalcy. Besides, Emma didn't truly believe Neal would kidnap Henry. Based on her sense of his father, Emma had a feeling Gold would create some sort of deal to get Henry. Whether it was legal or illegal, it didn't matter. He would wind up with someone in his debt too. That seemed to be Gold's way.
Henry gave her an exasperated sigh. "To stay with the class at all times." He repeated slowly. He was trying to inch away from her and toward the building where his friends were. Emma was at least glad that he seemed to want to go back to school and didn't feel the need to be glued to her. Even if she wanted to tie a rope between the two of them and keep them latched together until he was eighteen.
"Very good and –"
"Ems," August interrupted Emma and hauled her up to her feet, "he's got it. He repeated it in the car about fifty times and he has a phone on him." August patted her arm, "Now, there's Mary Margaret and Victor," he waved to the two, "let him go to class."
Sighing, Emma gave Henry one last hug, "Go learn something useful." She finally whispered.
Henry gave his mother a tight squeeze, "Love you, Momma."
"Love you too, Kid." She pressed a kiss to the top of his head before he untangled himself and darted up the steps to where Victor and Mary Margaret waited, both waving toward the adults standing on the sidewalk.
August shoved his hands in his pockets, "Now, you two go to work. I've got some research to do and then I'll be here to watch after lunch with Robin."
Emma pressed a kiss to his scruffy cheek, "Be safe, August. And stay away from Neal." She warned. She was becoming less worried about that, though, and more worried about him being at the library where Belle was. August had been talking about how Belle would need protecting from Gold when everything finally came to a head. Emma was afraid that August would get in Gold's crossfires and that would be worse than getting into a fight with Neal.
He held up his left hand, "Scouts honor." He promised.
"Wrong hand." Emma chuckled, poking him in the side. August simply shrugged, winked, and gave them a salute before turning to amble down the sidewalk.
"We're going to have to arrest him today, aren't we, love?" Killian asked as he opened the passenger door to his truck for her.
"Odds are we will at least be breaking up a confrontation between Neal and August. That wouldn't be the worst though. I hope we don't have to break one up between August and Robert Gold." She agreed as she stepped up into the truck.
Killian rested a hand on her knee, "That's true. Gold's tends to be quite violent when crossed."
Emma ran her fingers over the scars on Killian's left wrist. Killian had told her that Gold tried to cut off his hand with a sword from his shop after Milah left. She imagined the pains from the heartbreak were harder to heal when Killian had visual proof of what had happened on his body. "We can handle that, Killian." Leaning down she pressed a kiss to his brown in comfort, smiling when his hand squeezed her knee before he closed the door to his truck to go around to the driver's side.
Once Killian was inside, he turned to face her, "It's a bloody beautiful day, Swan, what do you say we park my car at the station and go out on a foot patrol? Maybe get some cocoa and coffee?" He was hoping to lighten the mood a bit. As long as Emma and Henry stayed in town, there wasn't much they could do about the Golds until one of them acted.
Leaning over the center console, Emma brushed a kiss over his lips, "Sounds good to me, Deputy."
With Killian's truck parked at the station and the cell phone that accepted forwarded calls in his pocket, the two wandered hand-in-hand down Main Street. They passed by a few people who were out running errands and waved hello. Emma felt the stress melt away as she breathed in the sea air and leaned into Killian as they walked. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, Killian led them toward Granny's. The moment they entered, they felt the tension in the diner and the hair on Emma's arms stood at attention. Ruby was on them the moment their boots hit the linoleum floor.
"The Golds are here." She murmured, "Why don't you two sit outside." She turned to usher them out the door, "I'll bring cocoa and coffee to you."
Killian's eyes narrowed in where the father and son sat, "To go, please." He requested.
Once they were seated outside, Emma rested her head in her hands, "What course of action do you think they're going to take?" She murmured so softly that Killian could barely hear her.
Rubbing her back gently, Killian replied, "I'm not sure, love. I'm just not sure."
Neal looked over his shoulder as Emma and the British deputy exited the diner. His father had told him all about Killian Jones and how he'd caused the divorce between his parents and it was ultimately Jones' fault that his mother had left Storybrooke. Turning to face his father, Neal asked, "So, what do you have?"
Robert Gold leaned forward and dropped his voice, "Well, a friend of mine in the state Congress ran Emma's name and based on what you've told me, it's clearly fake. So, I had Ursula, that's her name, re-run Emma's name with the name you gave me, 'Emma Carter.'" Robert Gold gave his son a toothy grin, "And you won't believe what I've found."
"What?" Neal hastily grabbed the file his father had. He flipped through it quickly. The earlier information Neal already knew from his time with Emma, but the last bit was very interesting.
Emma was married.
Simon Sanders was a very patient man. It boded well for him that he was. He could sit in a car at a stakeout for hours if that's what it took to catch his mark. He had no problem driving around the country chasing someone down. He had good instincts he'd honed over the years. It's why he was one of the best. Unfortunately for him, his clients were never as patient as he was. And that was why he'd been summoned back to Scottsdale to meet with Walsh and Conrad West face-to-face.
And the two men were angry.
"We were told you were the best." Walsh spat out, "You told us you were the best." He shoved a finger toward the PI angrily, as if the gesture should intimidate Sanders.
It didn't.
"Do you know how easy it would be for us to ruin your reputation?" Conrad threatened lowly.
That didn't threaten Sanders either. He was more than capable of taking care of himself. Of building himself up and recreating himself over and over and over again if necessary. There was no amount of power the Wests had that would make Simon Sanders wilt.
Sitting back, Simon slid a manila envelope across the diner table. "They're not in Denver." He told them, "I've got a lead though. A buddy of mine in Louisville spotted Bailey at the bus depot. He called in a few favors and found out that Bailey bought a ticket to Portland, Maine." Leaning forward, Simon wrapped his hands around his mug of coffee, "Patience is a virtue in this business." He reminded the two men who simply scoffed in return. "And this wife of yours is smart. So is her friend. To be honest, I'm surprised he let himself get caught in Kentucky. My guess is something happened to drive him to Maine prematurely. I would bet anything that they are hiding out in a small town in Maine."
Conrad West looked through the small set of papers that the private investigator had given them. It showed that what he'd done. The man was thorough. He'd chased August Bailey for days from bus depot to bus depot. Conrad passed the papers to his son, knowing full-well that Walsh wouldn't even know what he was looking at. To Conrad's immense disappointment, Walsh was little more than a pretty face and a smooth-talker. It helped with most of their dealings that Walsh could wine and dine people, but he didn't have good common sense. If he had, then he never would've married some orphan harlot with a kid and a jail sentence.
"Go to Maine." Conrad ordered before rising and dropping cash on the table, "I want Emma brought back to Arizona. We have a place for her at the Misthaven Home."
Sanders watched the two of them go without another word. He'd be on the next plane to Portland. From there he would find them. Maine was too small to hide in for long.