Chapter Thirty-Two: Tuesday, January 3, 2006, New York (Below)

Vincent gazed from at his daughter then to George Huang, who had accompanied her from the entrance under Henry and Lin's restaurant all the way to Father's chamber, and then back again. "Why did you not tell us of this sooner?" he asked, amazed that Caroline would withhold something so vital. So dangerous.

And yet, she seemed so frightened now. Perhaps it was unfair to be angry at her for wanting to believe the threat was merely a hoax.

"And why didn't you tell us you were having problems with your classmates?" Catherine wanted to know.

"They're just girls," Caroline told her. "It's nothing."

"Bullying isn't 'nothing', Caroline," said Father.

"Most of the time it isn't even directed at me. They're just…mean. I don't care what they think about me, so it doesn't matter."

"Caroline, it matters," Catherine told her.

"But it was my idea to go there. I couldn't just quit."

Catherine exchanged a helpless look with Vincent; he didn't need their bond to know her thoughts. She blamed herself, feared she'd somehow put pressure on Caroline, feared they'd spent so much time dealing with Jake's issues—his anger, his outbursts, his friendship with Kate that they feared had grown into something that could not be—that they'd missed Caroline's sadness, her pain. The rational part of him knew that was in no small part because she'd hidden it from them, but as a father, all he wanted now was to comfort her, to fix it, only he wasn't certain how.

"It's not always easy to admit these kinds of things to our parents," George interjected. "There are a lot of things I didn't tell my family when I was Caroline's age, even though they made every effort to provide me with a safe space to be heard."

Vincent heaved a sigh. "We can discuss that later. What is of consequence now is this note." A note she'd found weeks ago. "And your belief that you were followed in the park."

"I can't be sure. It was…more a feeling than anything else." She put her arms around her midsection and hugged herself, helplessness radiating from her.

Vincent placed his arms on her shoulders. "It will be all right, Caroline. But from now on, you must withhold nothing from us, all right?"

"Yes, Father." She glanced over her shoulder to her grandfather. "I'm sorry."

"No one is angry at you," Father assured her. "We are only worried. George, do you believe this threat is real?"

"I'd like to hear what Kate has to say. I've never met her, but word spreads. Her…intuition is likely going to be better than mine. But I can tell you that my professional opinion is that it's a credible threat and that whoever wrote this isn't some high school miscreant. If it does turn out to be a prank," he added, "I'll make a personal visit to that school. I'm sure having an FBI agent point out to the principal the seriousness of making threats against someone, especially an ADA like Catherine, will discourage further pranks."

"Thank you," Catherine told him. "If it is real, what can we do?"

"There are ways I can involve the Bureau without endangering the Tunnels. What happened to you all those years ago… it may not be an unsolved crime, but there are still a lot of questions that go beyond the outside world not knowing what actually happened on Stanton Island."

"In the meantime, I'll have Pascal send out word to our Helpers," said Father. "Better to be safe than sorry."

"All of this was supposed to be over," said Caroline. Vincent wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Gabriel is in an institution."

"The FBI has long suspected he was part of a larger organization," George told her gently. "We never had any proof…." He looked to Vincent.

"But the assassin who came into the Tunnels wore a ring with the same insignia." It was a detail no one outside their community knew. The assassin's body was still down here, buried where he'd died. It would have been too dangerous to return it to the surface. Catherine had only disclosed the information to George once, when he'd run across the insignia up top, in another investigation far across the country.

"No one has ever identified it," said George. "It's cropped up in a few casefiles over the years, but there's never been enough information to piece anything together."

"What now?" Caroline asked.

"Now," Catherine took her by the shoulders, "we get you off to bed."

"What about Simon?" Caroline asked, new fear rising in her. "Could they connect him to me? To us?"

"It's possible," George told her. "I'm supposed to talk to him tomorrow. I'll explain as much of the situation as I can."

"I should be the one—"

"Absolutely not," Catherine told her. "For right now, we're all staying put." She looked to Vincent. "That goes for Jake, too."

"I'll have a word with him as soon as he returns home."

….

"What are you doing?" Beth hissed in the darkness of their bedroom.

Caroline cursed under her breath; she'd thought Beth was sound asleep. "I'm going to see Simon." She pulled on her boots; she was already dressed.

"We're supposed to stay put."

"I can't stay put," Caroline insisted. Beth knew what was going on. She'd been awake when Mother tucked Caroline into bed; Mother had told her. Right after that, word had come through the pipes: Kate believed the threat was real. Ever since then, the pipes had been silent in accordance with the "all quiet" order Pascal had issued.

"If someone catches you sneaking out, Mother and Father will have your hide!"

"I don't care."

Beth caught her arm. "George will tell him in the morning—or Samantha will tell him tonight if he's still awake. He's fine, Caroline. We all are."

"You don't know that."

"I trust Samantha and Zach."

Caroline trusted them too. It just…it wasn't fair that Simon didn't know what kind of danger he could be in.

Because of me.

She grabbed her jacket off her bedpost.

"Caroline, please. You know all the adults are awake and in Grandfather's chamber."

"Which is why I have to go now, when no one will notice."

"You mean when Father won't notice," said Jake from the chamber doorway. Charlie and Christopher were right behind him."

"You're a fine one to start talking about following the rules," she snapped at her older brother.

"I didn't tell you not to do it," said Jake. "I just pointed out that it's not 'everyone' you're trying to avoid. It's Father and Grandfather."

He wasn't wrong. "Fine." She zipped up her jacket. She'd chosen practical and warmth over anything else tonight: thick leggings, a warm hooded jacket. Flat, rubber soled boots.

"What's going on?" Janelle rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"I'll explain it," said Beth. She held out her arms and their youngest sister crawled into her bed and snuggled in close.

"I'm going," Caroline said again. "Unless you're going to try and stop me." She eyed Jake, her tone a clear challenge.

He held up his hands. "I never said I was going to try stopping you. I'm not that stupid. But neither are you and you know you can't go alone. I'll come with you."

"No, I will." Christopher stepped forward. "You should stay here in case they need you," he told Jake. "You're the oldest, remember?"

"Chris, you can't," Caroline insisted. Jake and Charlie didn't look too keen on the idea, either.

"Nearly the entire distance can be covered under ground," Christopher countered. Caroline needs to avoid the park and should stay off the subways right now, anyway."

"What if someone sees you?" asked Charlie. "I should be the one to go."

"Father's been going up top his whole life and no one's seen him. I can do this," said Christopher.

"That's not quite true," said a new voice. Devin smiled at the six of them. "Not sleeping tonight, huh?" He eyed Caroline.

"Hi, Uncle Devin," they said more or less in unison.

"I thought you guys might try to stage a breakout," he said, with far more good humor than Caroline would have expected under the circumstances. "Chris, it's noble of you to want to keep your sister safe—you two, as well. But there's no way I'm letting any of you go with her."

Caroline blinked up at him. "You mean—"

"I'll take you," Devin told her. "Jake, you should go join the council meeting. Christopher is right. You're the oldest. You should start taking part. And the rest of you, if you value my life, you won't mention a word of this to anyone, especially your parents. Or mine."

"I know the best ways past the sentries," Jake started to argue.

Devin merely smirked. "Jake, I was sneaking in and out under your grandfather's nose since I was Janelle's age." He turned to Caroline. "Ready?"

"Thank you." She hugged Janelle and then Beth. "I'll be back before you know it," she promised. She turned to her brothers. "Thank you."

"Just be careful up there," Christopher told her.

"I will."

"I'll make sure she does," Devin promised. He stepped aside so she could listen at the chamber entrance; when she was sure no one was around, she gave the all clear and followed Devin out, while Jake headed towards Grandfather's chamber where most of the adults had assembled to discuss their options.

"This is my fault," Caroline said softly. They were close to Samantha's neighborhood at last. Devin had been right; he'd known passages she didn't know about, ways to sneak past the sentries. Most of their travel had been below ground, with only a few brief "short cuts" through back alleyways before ducking into another empty building, through another broken window or half-hidden doorway, to return to the maintenance tunnels just below New York's busy streets.

"It's not your fault," Devin told her. "You couldn't have known the note was real—but I do wish you'd said something to someone about how unhappy you were."

"I should have shown the note to someone sooner. But it's not just that. If it weren't for me, Simon would be safe in California. No one would even consider targeting him to try and get at us."

"You can't know that for sure. No one can. And in any case, I doubt there's anywhere he'd rather be."

"He doesn't understand what he's getting himself into, what my life is, or where I come from. How could he? I can't tell him."

"Give it time, Caroline. I dated Robbie for a long time before I brought her Below to meet my family."

"It's different, though," she reminded him. Devin didn't have her genetics. Marriage…children, even though he and Robbie had never had any, didn't carry the same risks with them as it did for her and Simon.

"It is different," he agreed. "But your parents are proof that through love, all things really are possible."

She wanted to believe him, but couldn't help wishing she'd never helped Simon find a place to stay. If he'd gone back to California when he was supposed to, he would be safe, at least for now. There would be time for George and Fin and whoever else to fix this before he moved. "I'm glad you're here," she told her uncle. Him, Robbie, and Sam had decided to stay an extra few days, while Johnathan, Lyla, and the kids flew home.

"Even if we hadn't stayed, you know I'd be on a plane as soon as someone told me what was happening. We made it through this once before. We'll get through it again."

She wished she could share in everyone's optimism.

Devin seemed to understand. "The Tunnels have more defenses than ever. More sentries. More false walls to hide the entrances. The assassin who came down before, he never got near the main hub."

"My father led him away." Mother and Father didn't like to talk about what had happened, especially not about the man who had come Below to hunt Father—the man who seemed to know how to get into the Tunnels and where to look. But sometimes Caroline heard snippets of conversation she wasn't supposed to hear; she didn't do it on purpose. But she'd been able to piece together enough of the details to get some sense of what had happened.

Just not enough to take it seriously.

Not enough to realize that the threat was still real, still present.

Might never go away.

The note in her locker had been explicate.

I know who you are and I'm coming for your family. I will cut off your extremities and feed you to the dogs.

George thought they were speaking metaphorically.

"Caroline, if you give into fear, you let them win," Devin told her. They were nearly to their destination, a sewer maintenance entrance a few blocks down from Samantha and Zach's. It's location was what had drawn so many to the neighborhood.

"They've already won. I'm already afraid." Deep down, she was terrified. "Mother, Father, Grandfather. We're all afraid."

"We have hope, too. You father and Kate protected us once before. They'll do it again. They weren't alone back then, either, and they're not alone now. Elliot, Fin, Diana. George Huang. The FBI doesn't mess around. But you have to be brave. We all do."

Caroline nodded. "I'll try." She would feel better once she knew Simon was safe.

Simon…. The fear she felt spiked again.

Something was wrong.

"We have to hurry."