Chapter 15

Just after 5am, Red was dressed and downstairs in the kitchen sitting at the breakfast bar, drinking his tea, when his phone started to ring. Red answered, and before he could even say hello, the caller spoke.

"It's me, dearie. We've finished the search of the Keen house."

"Did you find anything?" Red was very interested to see what Tom had to hide.

"The box Elizabeth found wasn't there, but we did find a USB hidden in a lamp."

So Tom had taken the box with him... That was interesting.

"What was on the USB?"

"We don't know; our people can't crack the encryption on it. You need to find someone who can."

Considering the people Red had on his payroll, this wasn't good news. Red immediately thought of one person...maybe they weren't on his payroll, but they could still do this for him.

"Send me the USB and I'll have it cracked by this afternoon."

"Will do, dearie. Have my granddaughter call me." With that, Kaplan hung up.

TBLTBLTBLTBLTBLTBLTBL

It was half past 6 when Liz joined him, showered and dressed for work.

"Good morning, Sweetheart." Red gave Liz a kiss, which began to escalate before they were interrupted by both dogs barking. Pulling away, Red shot both dogs a dirty look and they stopped barking. Liz laughed at the scene as she sorted out her clothes and hair. That done, Red handed her a cup of coffee and a banana muffin.

"Thanks." Noticing Red watching her, Liz spoke, "What do you have planned today?"

"Hopefully I'll hear back about Frost and then I have a meeting with a client this afternoon."

"That's good, we need something on Frost, otherwise I'll be stuck doing paperwork all day." Liz didn't sound happy at the prospect of paperwork.

Red chuckled. "I'll get you a new name soon, Sweetheart. Patience" he said.

Liz shot him a dry look. "Paperwork is boring and when I moan, Ressler gives me a story of how if it wasn't for you, that's what I'd be stuck doing in a 9-5 office position," she grumbled.

"See? You need me, Lizzie." Red wore a smug look.

Liz knew it was true, but she decided to change the subject. "I'm meeting Kate for lunch, so if I don't see you at the Post Office I'll see you back here."

Red was going to say no to them being in public together too much, but he needed Kate out of the house that afternoon so he could get his tech guy working on the USB.

"Have fun and be careful, Lizzie, I can't have people knowing of Kate."

"She'll be fine. We'll go somewhere public with lots of people. We'll blend in."

Sighing, Red agreed. Liz loved seeing the dad side of him. Dad Red always dressed and spoke differently. Like at that moment, he was dressed in dark jeans and a blue, almost purple jumper and he still hadn't shaved. Liz loved the scruff on him though.

Finishing her coffee, Liz got up to put the cup in the sink. Turning back, Liz went to kiss Red goodbye. As soon as their lips touched, she knew it wouldn't be a quick kiss. Red moved one arm around her waist and the other went to cup her cheek. Parting her lips with his tongue, Red could taste the coffee she'd just had, along with a taste that was uniquely Lizzie. He could never get enough of it. Liz pulled back to take a gulp of air. "I really..." Kiss. Red interrupted her. "Need to go..." Kiss. " To work..." Red was going in for another kiss when her phone chimed. He pulled away with a groan, knowing that after their talk the night before they had agreed to go slow, but he couldn't get enough of her. He'd love to be able to kiss her without being interrupted, though. Liz pulled out her phone to see that it was a text from Ressler. 'Camera footage in.'

"I need to go; our camera footage has arrived." Giving Red a quick kiss, she said, "I'll see you later, Ray." Walking from the room, Liz heard Red call out a goodbye.

Once Liz had left, Red went back to his tea. Dembe, Luli, and Kate entered a few minutes later.

"Morning, Pumpkin. I hear you're meeting Lizzie later for lunch." Seeing the worried look that showed on Kate's face, he continued. "Relax, you can go. Just be careful and on the lookout for everything."

"I will, Dad." Kate sounded relieved. She knew her dad wouldn't let her spend a lot of time in public with Liz, so she'd take what she could. Kate went to grab a glass of juice, and without even looking, Red said, "Tablets, Kate." Turning around, Kate went to get them.

They sat in silence, until it was broken by a knock on the front door. Dembe went to get it and walked back in a minute later with a package for Red.

"Your gift from Mr Kaplan." Handing him the package, Dembe went back to his breakfast.

"That reminds me, your gran wants you to phone her later," Red said as he was reading his paper.

"I'll ring her after I walk the dogs." Standing, Kate kissed her dad's head and left the room with the dogs and Luli following. Red continued to read the paper until he heard the front door close. Lowering it, he turned to Dembe.

"I need you to go pick Aram up once Kate has left to meet Lizzie. I need him to crack this USB."

"Do you want him blindfolded?"

"That would be best, my friend," Red said, once again returning back to his paper.

TBLTBLTBLTBLTBLTBLTBLTBL

45 minutes after Kate had left, Dembe was leading a silent and blindfolded Aram into an empty room at the house, save for a chairs, a table and a laptop. Dembe made Aram sit in one of the chairs and removed his blindfold. Looking around the room, Aram was nervous and sweating.

"I don't know what I've done...I promise I'll do anything...Just please, don't hurt me!" Aram said in a panic and wiped away the sweat from his brow. Just then, the door opened and Red walked in.

"Mr Reddington."Aram stood from his seat when Red approached him.

"Please sit, Aram. I need your help." Red waited for Aram to sit before he did.

"There are better ways of asking for help," Aram shot out before realising who he was talking to. "Sir" was added on in a polite voice.

"You're right...there are. Now down to business. " Red removed the USB from his pocket. "I need you to crack the encryption on this. Sliding the USB and laptop to Aram, Red continued, "And I need it done in the next 30 minutes." Red wanted it done before Kate or Lizzie came back. He needed Kate to remain a secret and he wasn't sure if his relationship with Lizzie should be known yet either.

Wiping his sweaty palms on his pants, Aram reached for the USB and plugged it into the laptop. Swallowing heavily, he spoke. "What if I can't do it in 30 minutes?"

"You will." Red spoke in a serious voice.

Nodding his head, Aram got to work. Every few minutes he'd look from his watch to Red, who hadn't stopped looking at him, then return his focus back to the laptop. When there was 10 minutes left, a door was heard opening and closing followed by laughter and two female voices. Aram strained to hear who and what was being said.

"Is that...Agent Keen?" Red stood up getting ready to leave the room

"Keep working Aram, you have 10 minutes," Red said with agitation as he reached the door. It opened and both Liz and Kate came through.

"There you are, Kate and I were... Aram, what are you doing here?" Liz asked in surprise. Aram opened and closed his mouth a few times but didn't reply. Liz turned to Red and raised her brow. "Well?"

"He's doing me a favour." Red answered so quickly that Dembe had to hide his laugh with a cough.

"What sort of favour?" Getting no answer, she turned to Aram. She didn't even have to repeat the question; he answered straight away.

"Crack the encryption on this USB."

Aram had to look away from the looks Red and Liz were shooting each other. Looking at the other person in the room, only to see she was looking back at him, he smiled, getting a shy one in return.

After smiling at Aram, Kate turned back to Liz and Red to see they were in a staring contest. A couple of seconds later, Liz pulled Red from the room. Red called a "keep working, Aram" over his shoulder. Aram turned to Dembe and got a nod. Turning back to the laptop, Aram noticed the blonde haired girl taking Red's seat. Kate watched him work for a few minutes. Looking to Dembe, his eyes told her to keep quiet and not to do anything. Kate shrugged her shoulders and shot him her 'I'm sorry' look.

"Hi. I'm Kate." As Kate spoke, she held out her hand.

Wiping his hand, Aram shook her's. "Aram." Smiling, he went back to the laptop.

"So you're the computer genius who works with Liz, right?"

Aram blushed. "Uh, yeah, that's me. Although I wouldn't say genius." Kate smiled.

"Trust me, if Da..Red's got you helping him, you are." Dembe coughed to get Kate's attention at the near slip. Aram looked to Dembe and then Kate at the cough. Still blushing, he returned to his work, mumbling a 'Thank you'. A few minutes later, Red and Liz walked back into the room.

"Kate, you need to leave."

"But Dad..."

"I've cracked it. Wait...Dad?" Aram looked at everyone in the room with confusion.

Kate bit her lip and faced the ground. Red looked livid that now someone else knew about Kate and Liz looked upset. "Kate, please leave the room," he said in a serious voice. Kate, with her face still down, quickly left the room, pausing when Liz whispered in her ear and gave her a quick hug.

Once she left, Red stepped into Aram's personal space and looked him in the eyes. "You need to forget everything that you heard just now. Once you leave here, nothing happened. You just went on a extended lunch break," Red said in a calm voice, but the danger was detectable in his words.

"Uh, yes sir, Mr Reddington," Aram stuttered out.

"Good." Red relaxed his shoulders, but he still didn't look happy. "What did you find?"

Aram didn't know what to do after that display, until Liz nodded to show that everything was ok for the time.

"I haven't checked yet. All I know is that it's cracked." Aram sat at the laptop and started to open the files. After reading some, he paused.

"Woah."

At that, both Red and Liz went and stood behind Aram so they could look at the screen.

"Um... these are dossiers for murders that Tom Keen has committed. " Looking to both Red and Liz, he continued. "It's his kill list...where, when, who, and also which aliases he used."

Liz stood up and walked out of the room.

"Lizzie," Red called after her. Getting no reply, he sent Dembe to keep an eye on her. "I need you to transfer everything on that USB to this one." Red handed Aram a brand new one. Nodding, Aram did as he was told. Once done, Red led him to the lounge, where both dogs were.

"Stay here...I'll be back." Red turned to Red the dog. "Watch him." Red the dog walked over and sat in front of Aram and watched him.

A/N

Sorry for the delay in updating. I hope this chapter makes up for it.

A big thank you to jadenanne7 for being my wonderful beta.