Edgar
I drive at full speed in an attempt to quickly reach the location indicated by Patty and Rich. Why didn't Natasha call me? Now she is alone around, taking the risk. What a stubborn woman she is! But this is nothing new for me, because I know her well, it's been a long time. But her pregnant taking a risk so it gets on my nerves. I hope nothing happens to them.
Of course, I'm worried about everything that's going on with Jane. I am not as insensitive as you think. I just see things clearly, and I know that when we do something impulsively we have to pay the price. And sometimes the price can be quite high. I don't want to think about what might be happening to Jane. Kurt must be handling this with Nas and Mayfair. Now I need to focus on Natasha and the little girl.
I don't know if I want to find her to scold her or to hold and hug her tightly. I couldn't stand it if something happened to her. It may seem selfish to me, but I can't imagine my life without it. And now, there is a life within it. A baby that we both made. They are everything to me.
I try to talk to her on the way and I can't. I stop trying to call because I don't know where she is and I may end up putting her at risk. I arrive at the address indicated in the coordinate and it is a very large house with a very high wall.
- Patty, Rich! I need to find a way to get in here. - I talk to both on the communicators.
Natasha
Everything is dark inside. I had a little trouble getting in. I could have brought Reade with me. On second thought, he would never take it. He thinks that everything has to be black and white. It is very difficult for him to take a chance. I can't even imagine leaving a helpless child in the hands of crazy terrorists.
Reade is always a strategist. He likes everything timed and according to plans. I am more direct and objective. I want to get to the solution of the problem soon. I get in my face sometimes this way, but I can't wait for so much bureaucracy. I may end up burning, but I will never stop fighting to save a victim.
I can get more into the house. The place is quite large and the lights are off which makes the search difficult. I hear a noise and freeze. When I find myself I feel arms holding me and I turn to fight when I feel the hand in my mouth.
Reade
I listen to their directions and go to the back of the house where there is a passage to the interior. I see some guards and I am very afraid for Natasha who got here first and may have been caught by them. I don't even want to think. I just need to find a way to get her out of here. And, hopefully, with Jane and Kurt's little girl.
I'm inside the property. I do my best not to make noise. The house looks very old and apart from the two guards I saw near the main entrance, I don't see any here. The kitchen door is broken. Natasha! I overhear conversations and stay quiet behind the door.
As soon as the voices cease I can go a little deeper. There is a corridor just ahead and I can knock down a man who was on the lookout. I hear a noise and go on alert.
Natasha
- Sh! It's me. Stay still.
- Edgar! - He signals and we are silent.
We continue the search together. The doors are closed. We continue down the corridor and stop where we hear a noise coming from inside the room. I signal and Ed opens the door carefully while I wait with my gun drawn.
Inside the house the little girl is sitting on the bed and a middle-aged woman is in a chair opposite. The four-year-old girl had wavy black hair, loose at her shoulders. She was beautiful. It looked like a copy of the mother.
The girl was startled when she saw us and the woman stood up to hold her.
- Let her go! - I ordered it.
- You are under arrest and have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and will be used against you in court. - Reade said while arresting the woman.
I caught the little girl who was crying scared. I held her in my lap and spoke sweet words in an attempt to calm her down. She seemed to understand that I wouldn't hurt and clung to my neck. I saw no signs of abuse. She looked fine, just scared.
Reinforcements had arrived and invaded the house. We stayed in the room until one of the policemen came to call us.
The three of us left the house together. I held Avery in my lap and Reade supported my waist with a protective gesture. We just wanted to get out of there and take her to a safe place.
Jane
The day dragged on and that tightness in my chest only increased with the hours. My daughter came back to my mind every moment no matter how much I tried to push it away and focus on the task at hand. If I believed in something supernatural, I would think that something bad could be happening to her. Kurt called these reactions that I had to things instinct.
"It's your maternal instinct." His voice sounded so vivid in my head.
I pushed things on the table, suffocated by the feeling that consumed me and the memory of him. Why did my love for him have to be so strong? I need to get over this. I ruined any possibility of a relationship with him when I got back to Shepherd.
I went to the bathroom and splashed the cold tap water on my face, trying to get out of that universe of feelings to get back to reality. The sudden movement triggered sensations of pain all over my body. The healing tattoos covering much of my skin did not bring me any advantage. But the hope of redemption in the future, even if I wasn't alive, was worth it. In the present, Kurt was lost for good. Any and all happiness for me too. Avery needed a chance to be taken into her father's arms to grow up safely, surrounded by affection. And that depended on me.
I went back to the table and focused on the device I would have to mount and power for Shepherd in Times Square. The contraption was too big and unstable to be transported ready. So, we would go in a van. As soon as it parked, it would do the assembly and supply the diffuser pump with ZIP. A suitcase would guarantee the necessary cover to unload at the strategic location. Once everything was in place, I would have three minutes to return the van and get as far away as possible.
Shepherd said that ZIP was a substance that would erase the memory of everyone in Times Square for 72 hours. I also said that the diffusion radius was not large, so I would be able to get away in time.
Coupling, threading, connecting ... I repeated the operation several times. I had to do that without error in Times Square. One slip and Avery would pay for my mistake. It couldn't happen.
As this cycle was repeated, my brain insisted on escaping mechanical action for calculations that seemed more certain with each repetition. This diffuser pump was too big as well as the amount of ZIP with which I would supply it was huge. The pressure placed on the detonation would spread the substance over an area much larger than Times Square. Much, much greater.
I pulled out my cell phone and did a simple calculation using the cell phone calculator. This was not a good thing. Probably the whole of NYC would end up covered by the ZIP cloud.
I needed to do something. But how to act without endangering Avery's life?
Kurt
I spent an hour immersed in all the information we had about Shepherd and Sandstorm. As much as I tried to find a concrete clue, there was no connection to where it pointed.
- Shit! - I said pushing the file on the conference room table. A damn clue would be enough for me to leave this office and go after Jane. I hated it here. I like being on the field. This is something for Patty and not for me.
It was then that the coffee cup slid across the table towards me.
- Coffee and company may help you to see things more clearly. - Nas told me with that smile that I would rather pretend not to understand.
- Thank you. - I tried to be polite without disguising my irritation with the whole context that I lived in that moment.
- Kurt - Nas said after a long breath. - Let's solve this. I've been investigating Sandstorm for years. Believe me, things don't change overnight because Shepherd is very careful. I have a source inside. He disappeared a few months ago, but I think Remi's return will make him look for me. It's a matter of time. He hates her.
- Time is something we don't have, Nas. Maybe Jane will send some information. She knows what we have and how a simple key can put the pieces of the puzzle together. And she is discreet, leaving no trace. I searched for it for years and there was nothing there about it.
- Kurt, stop fooling yourself. She is the enemy now. Jane will not send any information because she has already chosen a side and it is not ours. The sooner you accept this, the less you will suffer. Get out of the fairy tale. Even if we consider that Jane would try to act against Shepherd, all she could do was end up dead. For your sake, look at it as the past, Kurt. And nothing more.
- Did you get any leads on Avery? - I changed the subject to not leave the room and Nas talking to myself. I still needed her.
- I investigated everything I could and found nothing. As I told you before, that child probably doesn't exist. It was just another strategy created by Jane to manipulate you. I thought to myself: first she had a boy who died in childbirth, then a little girl she didn't know where she was ...
I took a big sip of the coffee, feeling the hot liquid hit my throat. The feeling of betrayal hurt me more than that.
- Kurt, come quickly! - Patty burst into the meeting room smiling.
I didn't think of anything. I just followed her. It was good news, I was sure.
When I arrived at the interrogation room I saw Reade also smiling. And Natasha had in her arms the most beautiful girl I had ever seen:
- Avery, there is someone very special that you need to meet. This is your father. - She said and I felt my heart beat like a force hitherto unknown.
I wanted to pull her into my arms, but I knew it wouldn't be prudent. Avery looked scared, but she had her mother's strength and didn't cry. I slowly approached and talked to her. Suddenly, she threw herself into my arms. What a wonderful feeling! I wrapped my arms around her. It was like having Taylor back. I would do anything to protect you.
- Anyone there asked for a Happy Maclanche? - Rich came in presenting the package.
- By God, Rich, she needs to eat healthy things. - Natasha retaliated, but it was too late. Avery's agitated little feet craved lunch.
Winning the paperwork would take a few days. But Mayfair authorized me to take you home. It made me very confident. From now on, I would live for my daughter and ward off any danger that might put her at risk. Including Jane.
Roman
Remi is so impulsive! I don't know how she convinces me to do these things. I always say that I will stop her influence on me and where do I end up? Executing her plans.
As if it were easy to create puzzles about everything she discovered and send it to our high school friends without Shepherd discovering us ...
I spent the night awake working with everything she provided me with: the bomb, the ZIP, the date that was very close now. And the habits of each of them: Reade, Zapata, Rich, Patty.
It was hard work, but I got perfect trigger keys. Of course, the only one who will be able to put the pieces of this puzzle together will be Patterson. I trust her for that.
The opportunity to disperse the puzzles was missing. It was then that Shepherd asked me to pick up an order with the Viber Kings gang. It was all I needed. Kat Jarrett was an old affair of mine. Surely she will drag me to a private moment in her room where I will have access to her notebook and use the chip to disperse the information.
In a few hours, everything would be done.
In two days, Jane would execute the plan in Times Square. The Team had little time to solve the puzzles and act. It would be up to me to rescue Avery if she didn't survive. The time has come to turn the tide. I cannot fail, but fear defines me at that moment.
Natasha
- Tasha. - I'm in the locker room organizing my things to leave when Ed arrives. - About earlier...
- Ed! You don't have to come with a sermon! Please. - I scold him because I imagine what he came to tell me.
- That's not it. - He approaches and is very close to me. - I just wanted to tell you that you were very brave today.
I stare at him trying to figure out if he's being sincere. What I see in your expression is love and affection. I didn't expect him to say those things to me. I waited for rebuke.
- I didn't expect to hear that. - I speak with a weak smile.
- I'm being honest. - He continues. - I was very afraid of losing you today. I was very distressed when I heard that you had gone alone. I just wanted to come to you and bring you safely.
- I acted on impulse, but I couldn't leave Avery...
- I know. - Reade pulls me around the waist and touches my face. - When I saw the little girl. So alone and with no one to protect her. I thought about our son and I know I would do anything to keep him safe.
Edgar takes his hand away from my face and touches my belly gently. I feel the tears wet my face.
- Hey! Don't Cry. He dries my face with his fingertips and laughs through tears. - Just don't do it anymore, please! I don't even want to imagine the possibility of losing you and our son.
Edgar hugs me tightly and I curl up in his arms. I don't like looking like a helpless girl, but I have to confess that I love the way he takes care of me. It makes me feel safe.
- I love you. - He whispers as he kisses my hair.