Disclaimer: I do not own the Once Upon a Time franchise.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Emma paced on the dock as she talked on the phone with Regina. "They're both in Storybrooke." She murmured. The sun was barely peeking out over the water. She'd slept fitfully that night before finally giving up and making a cup of tea to watch the sun rise from the bow of the boat. Once she deemed it late enough to be appropriate, she called Regina. "David called us yesterday."

Regina yawned, and Emma heard her shuffling out of the bed to likely let Robin continue sleeping, "I know. I told David I would kick them out, but apparently Graham vetoed that idea." Emma heard doors opening and closing as Regina continued to talk, "I also suggested finding a book in the library about curses and turning them into some horrible creature, but I was told that was a bit melodramatic."

Emma hummed, hiding a bit of smile behind hand at Regina's empty threats, before she stopped pacing and dropped down on the edge of the dock, letting her feet drop into the cool water. "I guess you can't legally kick them out. And while you do have quite a bit of power, I don't think you possess any magical abilities." Emma paused, chewing on her bottom lip uncertainly before finally asking, "What should we do, Regina?" Emma's voice was small. "We can't just keep running on a boat up and down the coast. We have to handle this somehow."

Emma heard the coffee maker beep in the background as Regina let out another long yawn. Emma felt mildly bad about calling so early that she woke her friend up, but she didn't know what else to do. And despite the fact that Regina was threatening to curse everyone after Emma and Henry, she knew ultimately that Regina would have the best advice. "Emma, let us do some research here. Let us see if we can figure out what they've got planned. It'll be easier to do that without worrying about you and Henry and your safety. Or without worrying about Killian getting himself arrested in his attempt to protect you both. We're going to have enough trouble keeping August on the straight and narrow. He's not only protective of you and Henry, now he wants to go to battle over Belle."

Emma swore she could hear Regina's eyes roll as she spoke. "I told August to keep his distance from her. That's she's married to a crazy person, but that man is a stubborn idiot. And he's got a protective and loyal streak that bigger than anyone else I know." She paused, "Watch out for him, will you?"

"Of course," Regina paused, "now, there's something else you should know."

"Uh oh." Emma felt her stomach flip a bit at Regina's words.

"Conrad West called my office yesterday afternoon as I was on the way out the door. He said he wants to do some business in our small town and wanted to meet with me." She paused again, "I agreed."

Emma sucked in a deep breath, "Just be careful, Regina, he's dangerous. Even if he doesn't seem like it, he is."

"I will, Emma, I promise." Emma heard Regina swallow what she assumed was coffee, "Now, it's still early. And from what I recall from Killian's days being forced to stay with us when he kept getting into it with Gold, he's a bit of a late sleeper. And I know Henry is too." Emma rolled her eyes at Regina's words, "Go snuggle with the wannabe pirate and get a couple of more hours of sleep. It's too early for you to be up and worrying."

Chuckling, Emma assented, "Yes, Mom." She teased. Regina just grunted. "Thanks for talking with me, Regina." Emma murmured, "Call me after Conrad leaves."

"I will. Love you, Emma." Regina whispered.

"Love you too." Emma hung up the phone and stared quietly at the rising sun for a moment before standing up. Quietly, she boarded the boat again and slipped into the master cabin.

"You want to talk about it?" Kilian's voice was thick with sleep as she slid back into the bed.

"Later." Emma yawned.

"I told Henry we were sleeping in today." Killian pressed a kiss to Emma's hair, "Take a nap and we'll figure it out in a couple of hours." He promised.

It was three hours later when Killian and Emma were sipping coffee and waiting for Henry to wake up when he finally asked, "Did you call Regina or Tink this morning?"

Emma smiled at the fact that even after such a short amount of time he knew her so well. "Regina, she said Conrad requested a meeting with her today." At Killian's questioning brow she elaborated, "Walsh's father."

"Ah, the person who helped spawn a devil." He cocked his head to the side and said, "Swan, I hate to tell you this, but up until now you have had horrible taste in men."

Emma let out a full laugh at that, clapping her hand over her mouth to stifle the noise so they didn't wake Henry. Leaning forward, she brushed a kiss over his lips. "I agree." She murmured, "I think my taste is getting better though."

Pulling her onto his lap, Killian nibbled at her bottom lip enticingly, "I would say so." He whispered.

When she pulled back, Emma tucked herself into Killian's side. "I guess for now we just wait to hear what Conrad has to say to Regina."

Regina stood as her office door opened and her assistant let Conrad West in. He was alone, which surprised her. She thought Walsh would be with him. Regina took a moment to study Emma's father-in-law as he thanked her young assistant and entered the room. He was tall, with a thick white hair, dark brown eyes, a thin nose and thin lips, and he looked a bit like an aristocrat. Even now he was handsome, she couldn't imagine the damage he did to women's hearts when he was young.

Striding purposefully toward her, he held out a hand, "Conrad West. It's nice to meet you, Mayor Mills."

Regina gave him a firm handshake, "Please, call me Regina." She gave him a sunny smile, hoping he would let his guard down a bit at that, "Why don't we sit down."

She already had coffee laid out on the table and she took a seat in one of the arm chairs, waiting as he sat on the sofa across from her. "Thank you, and you may call me Conrad."

Regina gave a slight regal nod at his words, "Now, Conrad, what brings you to Storybrooke?"

Conrad leaned forward and poured them each a cup of coffee before he spoke, adding a bit of cream and sugar to his. Regina added nothing, just sitting back and sipping the hot drink as she waited for him to speak. "An old business associate of mine lives here. We recently reconnected and he mentioned some potential development opportunities."

Regina arched a brow, "And that associate would be?"

"Robert Gold." Conrad responded. "We did business a few years back down in Arizona, where I'm from. We ran into each other while he was out of town with his son, Neal. My son and I were on a business trip and we decided to come here. As our car drove into town I suddenly saw it all."

"Saw what, exactly?" Regina asked.

"An oceanside resort."

Regina snorted, "In Storybrooke? I don't think so."

Shaking his head, Conrad said, "No, just south of here. Just out of the way enough that it wouldn't change the town, but close enough that it would draw in tourists and money."

"No, I still don't think so. Our city council would never want any development like that so close to our little haven." Regina continued to shoot his idea down.

Conrad frowned, "Well, I would love to speak with some members of your city council, and maybe even your sheriff's department. Get to know the people. I can be quite persuasive, Madam Mayor."

Regina stood, "As can I. And I have lived here my whole life. I know what the people in Storybrooke like. And they won't like this."

Conrad simply leaned back, "Maybe I'll wander down to the sheriff's station myself and see if one of the deputy's can give me a tour of the town."

Leaning forward, Regina asked, "And which deputy might that be, Mr. West?" He didn't respond, so Regina finally said, "I know who you are and I know why you're really here. You're not here for any development. I also know that your son is here, hiding away in Gold's home. And furthermore, I know that what he wants to do he won't legally be able to achieve. And the citizens of Storybrooke won't be willing to help you."

Conrad stood up so suddenly, Regina teetered back a bit on her heels, "Emma will come home with us." He finally dropped his act, "She will come home with her husband because she is legally tied to him."

"This is the twenty-first century, Mr. West. Your son does not own Emma. If she wants to be separated from him, she certainly can. And I also know that your son never adopted Henry, so he can't take her boy either."

Narrowing his eyes, Conrad threatened, "We'll see about that." He slammed the door on his way out and Regina sunk back down to her chair. She was thankful Emma and Henry were out of town, but the Wests and the Golds would find out about that soon enough and they would go hunting. She was certain of that.

When Conrad West reached the Gold home twenty minutes later, he found Neal and Walsh pacing around the living room, "Dad!" Walsh came to a skidding halt in front of his father, "I've been around town today and I have some bad news."

Conrad sighed as he sat down, "What?"

"Emma and Henry are gone. They left town on a boat before we even got here. They've gone off with one of the deputies." Walsh told his dad.

"Not just any deputy." Neal interrupted, "His name is Killian Jones. He broke up my parents marriage by having an affair with my mother."

Leaning forward, Conrad said, "We need the name of the boat. It should be easy enough to find that."

"What about Sanders?" Walsh referenced the private detective who'd gone AWOL on them a few days before.

Waving his hand away, Conrad replied, "Forget Sanders. Misthaven has private security who can bring Emma in once we know her location. I should be able to find that out if I have the name of the boat. We just need to keep our ears open in town." He paused and looked at the two young men in front of him, "Keep a low profile and don't cause any major scenes for the next few days." He murmured, "I have a feeling catching Emma will be easier now that she's not here."

Three Days Later – Charleston, South Carolina

Emma decided that so far her favorite place they'd docked was here in Charleston. Henry seemed to be thrilled with the small southern town as well. The history was rich and interesting, but what they were most in love with was the food. The city seemed to be built around restaurants and bars.

"We can stay as long as you'd like, Swan." Killian leaned over and swiped some barbeque sauce off of Henry's chin. "I do have to agree that everything we've eaten these past couple of days has been delectable."

"Can we have seafood tomorrow for dinner?" Henry asked, "I want fried shrimp again." As he spoke he was devouring a plate of ribs. The child could eat more than he weighed it seemed, and he was always thinking about food.

Nodding, Emma leaned back and took a sip of her beer, "Yeah, Kid, we can have fried shrimp tomorrow. There's a cute restaurant by the docks we can try." Setting her glass down, she rose, "I'm going to go to the restroom. Do you need to go, Henry?"

Henry shook his head and downed some sweet tea before picking up another rib, "No ma'am."

Killian pulled Emma's chair out of her way and she reached up to press a kiss to his cheek. "Thanks." She squeezed his arm as she walked toward the restroom in the back of the barbeque restaurant.

She never saw the two shadows in the corner of the dark hallway. Before she could even open the door to the women's restroom the whole world went black.