Chapter 19
Bill paced angrily in the living room. "Where could she be? She didn't come home last night. She hasn't been back today. What happened to her?"
"I don't know. Why don't we call the cops?"
"Because it'd blow my cover."
"Are you willing to let our daughter die just to protect your precious cover?"
"I highly doubt she's dead."
"How do you know?"
"I don't. It's just a hunch."
The phone rang. As Rebecca answered it, she turned to Bill. "It's Hannah. She's in jail."
Biting his lower lip to keep himself from saying what he truly wanted to say, Jack stood in front of the cell.
"You had another daughter?"
"Yes."
"With whom, may I ask?"
"Why does it matter?"
Jack tensed up. He didn't want to reveal that he still cared for Irina. No matter how many times he had tried to convince himself otherwise, there was always that feeling that he had buried that came to surface any time he had to deal with his wife.
Ex-wife, he thought correcting himself, and then, once again, realizing he was wrong, he remembered the fact that neither had annulled the marriage that meant that he was still married to the woman in the cell.
"It matters because you claimed it affects national security. Who's the father?"
"What would you do if I told you that it was you?" Irina said, cocking her head slightly.
"When we find her, I'd have her tested to prove that you told me the truth."
"We, huh?"
"We, as in the CIA."
Irina nodded slowly. "You're not the father."
"Who is?"
"That'll cost you another month extension."
"Dream on," Jack said bitterly and turned to leave.
Vaughn watched as Sydney slept. She had fallen asleep not too long after she had taken the pill, and she seemed to be sleeping quite peacefully.
He remembered the way that Sydney's leg had looked as the firemen cut away the car with the Jaws of Life. It had been pointing many different ways in a grotesque arrangement. The doctors had said that they had been able to fix most of the bones.
Sydney woke up suddenly.
"What is it?" Vaughn asked.
Sydney looked at him. "My mom's still in custody, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I need to talk to her."
"What do you mean, 'We can't do anything'?" Rebecca asked.
"She got caught. We can't risk everything just to bail her out when she was stupid enough to get caught in the first place."
"She's our daughter!"
"She's your daughter," Bill said angrily.
"How could you be so heartless?"
"Sacrifices are a part of life. I loved my son and I had to leave him."
"Then reestablish communication with him. Be his dad."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because," Bill started, "I don't know where to start."
…TBC…