"Hi Miss Emily." Neil said quietly as he munched on the sandwich that Emily had given him. "Yes sweetheart?" "Is daddy a bad guy?" "Do you think your dad is a bad guy?" Emily watched as the young boy gnawed on the inside of his cheek before looking up at Emily. "I saw him hurting mommy. Dads don't hurt moms. That makes my dad a bad guy in my opinion. What do you think?" "I think that daddies are supposed to protect you just like mommies do. I think that daddies are never supposed to hurt mommies or make their kids afraid of them. I think that daddies are supposed to get rid of the monsters, not create them." Emily watched Neil carefully and noticed how he tried to hide the tears welling up in his eyes although he tried to hide them. "Is my daddy a monster?" Emily took a deep breath before responding. On one hand, she knew that she should just tell him the truth; on the other hand, what kind of person would she be if she said that to a child. "Yes. He's a monster" a quiet voice from behind the pair caused them to both look in the direction of the doorway to the kitchen. Austin stood in the doorway looking at the ground. He looked up briefly to make eye contact before looking back down at the invisible spot on the floor in front of him. "Daddy's a monster because he hurt mommy. A daddy wouldn't hurt mommy…a monster would." Emily felt her heart break for the both of them. She left them in the kitchen to draw and went to check on Jeanine. She saw the door to the guest room closed so she quietly walked towards the back of her home. The door to Kehlani's room was slightly ajar and Emily pursed her lips before going inside. "I figured you might be in here" Emily said in a low voice. Jeanine couldn't take her eyes off of Kehlani's bed.
Jeanine felt like she was rooted in place and couldn't do anything accept blink and breathe. "Do you think that Simon was the one who pushed me down the stairs?" Emily closed her eyes for a moment willing herself to take a long breath and opened them to answer Jeanine's question. "Yes." Jeanine finally turned around, with tears brimming her eyes, at that answer; Emily elaborated. "From what you've told me and what I've observed myself, I do think that Simon may have been the one to push you. You told me that the last thing that he wanted was a daughter. You told me that he wanted to raise the boys to be just like him. You told me that he said losing the baby was a blessing in disguise. I saw with my own eyes how controlling he is. And the boys saw him physically put hands on you. All those things tell me that he is more than capable and willing to cause you the loss of your daughter." Jeanine finally let her tears fall and Emily wrapped her up in a hug. "I am so sorry Jeanine. No one should have to experience the loss of a child." Jeanine didn't want to break the contact but she pulled back anyways. "Before I left the house, I jotted down a copy of his calendar. He's going back to Scottsdale tonight."
Emily grabbed the paper from Jeanine and studied it closely. She immediately picked up on a pattern. "Jeanine does he always use Amerie's Floral Escape two weeks before his trips?" "If it's in the calendar then yes. He follows his calendar to the letter. He never deviates from it." "That says that he is obsessive and detail-oriented. This calendar proves his pattern but it still doesn't directly tie him to anything in Scottsdale. He's smart, I'll give you that. Do you know who these 'flowers' are supposedly going to?" "Clients…I think. Why?" "He could be using this flower thing as a rouse. Or he could just be sending flowers to clients or potential clients." Jeanine gave Emily a look that said 'Seriously?' Emily nodded and gave her a soft smile. "We wouldn't be in this position if he was just a nice guy. Sorry." "No, it's fine. You're right. If he were just a nice guy then we wouldn't be here. I don't think that they're clients. I'm a little paranoid when it comes to business so I make copies of a lot of stuff. I never told Simon about them and I always kept them locked in a safe under the false bottom drawer in my desk." "Smart girl." "I grabbed them before I left and came here. The copies that I have go back to when we first got together and before our businesses took off. I've always felt that keeping your bases covered protects you from law issues from hell in the future. These are copies of the both of our calendars from 11, 10, 9, 8, and 7 years ago. I took time off work after we…lost… the baby. I still have copies of Simon's trips and his calendar. I thought that he was cheating on me, so about 6 years ago, I started keeping a record of his traveling. That's when I found out that he'd been making a lot of trips to the States. He doesn't have much family, the family that he does have…they don't live in Arizona. They live in Maine. That's where he's from." Emily looked at the papers and found another link. "Simon has been going to Scottsdale for seven years. He flies into Tucson three days before the flower shop gets an order for a delivery in Scottsdale. Tucson is like 105 miles from Scottsdale so he's got to be getting a rental. He doesn't want to draw attention to himself so he goes somewhere inconspicuous." "What cities fit that description?" Jeanine asked.
Emily thought for a second, "Mesa is only 7 miles away so that's a definite no. It's way too close. Phoenix and Glendale are too big. That leaves Chandler, AZ, Mexicali, Mexico, Henderson and Paradise, NV. I'm thinking Paradise. It's far enough away to not draw any attention or connect him directly to Scottsdale and just big enough to where he seems to be just the average businessman passing through town. He has a bulletproof plan that's been working for him. Unless you truly know what you're looking for, you'd never suspect what Simon's been doing. That's what he's been counting on and it had worked pretty well for him." Jeanine watched as Emily put all the papers back into the file folder. "Wait what are you doing? What's next?" Emily got up and extended her hand to Jeanine, helping her to stand. "I'm taking you and the boys somewhere safe that I trust. I'll help you guys get your stuff together." Jeanine moved on autopilot to help Emily until she stopped in place. "And where are you going?" "Scottsdale." Jeanine stop breathing for a moment as her eyes went wide. "Are you out of your mind? Emily, you can't." "I have to. Jeanine the patterns of his travel have jumped from once a month a few months at a time to multiple times every month. Jeanine, he's escalating. He got physical with you in front of your sons. He is losing it. It's only a matter of time before he kills someone…if he already hasn't." "You don't even know if you can stop him." "I've got to at least try." Emily turned to walk away once everyone's bags were packed. "What about Mick? What if he finds out?" Emily went into her room to grab a few things, "He won't. He doesn't have a case right now and he won't take one while he has Lani. I can't just sit back and do nothing. Simon is out of his mind. If he goes home and doesn't see any of you, what's to stop him from going after your parents or Jenna and Nico? Regardless of whether I can stop him or not, I have to at least try."
Jeanine didn't have a response and instead grabbed Neil's hand and pulled him to stand. Emily did the same with Austin. Emily swiftly moved the three of them through the streets of London and towards a private airstrip. The got onto the small plane and settled in comfortably. An average height woman with long black hair came from the shadows of the cabin. Jeanine shifted uncomfortably as she felt her anxiety rise with every step this mystery woman took. "It's okay Jeanine. I know her and I trust her" Emily said as she rested a comforting hand on Jeanine's shoulder. "Tamia this Jeanine." "Jeanine this is Tamia." The two women shook hands and Jeanine started to relax again. She glanced up periodically to find Tamia and Emily with their noses buried in all the paper the she'd given to Emily. She then looked to her boys and they slept and touched them gently. "I'll die before I let him hurt either one of you" Jeanine whispered to her two boys. Hours passed and the only thing Jeanine could think of was Simon being the one that pushed her down the stairs. She unconsciously cradled her womb—her empty womb—and fought against the tears that threatened to form. The tears dried up on their own and a ding made her look up to see the seatbelt sign flashing. She reached over to make sure that the boys were strapped in before checking her own belt. She looked up once more and saw Emily give her a gentle smile.
The plane descended and Jeanine looked out the window to see a silver SUV with two more behind it. They all stood up and made their way down the stairs and towards the SUVs. Jeanine noticed Emily's wide grin before she ran over to a tall, stocky man with salt-and pepper hair and hugged him tightly. She pulled back and looked in Jeanine's direction and at her confused expression. "Jeanine. He's going to take really good care of you and the boys. I will contact you only when I need to. Just trust him okay? For me, just trust him." Emily said and she squeezed Jeanine's hand tightly. "Okay" she replied lowly. The mystery man loaded the family of three into the center SUV before he turned back towards Emily. He walked over to her as she motioned for Tamia to give her a second. "Thank you daddy. I can't tell you how much this means to me." "Anything for you pumpkin. I've loaded the helicopter with everything you may need. Surveillance equipment, money, weapons, first-aid…everything that you will need. I am not completely okay with this but you asked me to trust you and that's what I'm doing. Come back to me okay?" he asked as he grabbed her face with both of his hands. "You know that I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have a choice. I promise that I'll do everything in my power to come back unharmed. Also, I'm sorry for putting you in this spot with mom." "You're in the same spot with Mick. Be careful Emily. I love you." "I love you too daddy."
Emily watched as the three SUVs drove off and she started to walk towards the plane when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "You ready?" Tamia asked. "What do you mean am I ready? You are not coming with me." "Yes I am." "No, you're not. If something happens to you…how am I supposed to explain that to your mom?" "Emily. You were always there and protected Tsia until her final moments. My mom knew a long time ago that the jobs that her two daughters signed up for might not bring them home. You took the heat for a lot of mistakes that Tsia made. Those mistakes would have left me without a sister way sooner than it did. I owe you. Because of you, I got to see my sister happy and healthy. I'm coming with you end of story." Emily knew that arguing with Tamia Mosley was just as bad as arguing with Tsia. The two sisters were more alike than they realized. "Okay. You can come with me." The two women got into the black town car that was waiting near the plane and went off in the direction of the helicopter that Emily's dad left for her. They boarded the helicopter and settled in as they headed to Scottsdale. "You really are a daddy's girl." Emily laughed and opened one of the bags containing everything from assault rifles to grenades. Tamia opened the other bag and realized that it was filled to the brink with money—more than likely untraceable money. "Does daddy think that you're going to war?" Emily loaded a few guns before responding. "He doesn't know what I'm walking into and neither do I so, he wanted me to be prepared." "Well alright. Where are we going when we get there?" "A place way out of the way that my dad set up. There are at least three vehicles there in case we need to split up. You sure you ready for this?" "I'm sure. Was your dad a cop?" "Let's just say that he and his brothers had an unusual childhood."
Sheldon Prentiss had the SUVs take them to a place in Emporia, Virginia. It was the very definition of isolated and safe. With only 4,000 in the city, they all know Sheldon and would be quick to tell him if anyone unusual or unknown made an appearance. "How long are we staying here?" "Until I get the all clear from Emily" he responded to Jeanine. "How can you be okay with this? With your daughter going after my husband?" Jeanine felt as if she spoke out of turn and immediately regretted it. Sheldon paid very little attention to that and instead paused so that he could gather his thoughts and form a response. "I never said that I was okay with this. For years, my daughter has put her life on the line to protect others. She chose to work in law enforcement and she greatly enjoys it. My daughter also loves your brother enough that she'd put her relationship with him on the line to ensure the safety of his family. I am not okay with my daughter chasing a dangerous man but I know that she wouldn't be okay if you or one of your boys were to turn up severely hurt or dead because she did nothing. She's risking everything to protect you. I have to respect that because I would probably do the same thing without thinking about it." Sheldon ensured that they were all okay before bidding a goodbye and leaving a security team with them. A few hours later, he arrived home to the home that he and Elizabeth had together in Alexandria. He intended on surprising her but he got the shock of his life when he went into the kitchen and saw Elizabeth….with Kehlani sitting on the counter. "Papa!" Elizabeth looked up and gave her husband a bright smile. "This is a pleasant surprise" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a weighty kiss upon his lips. "You got that right." Elizabeth didn't notice the worry stretched across his face and she went back over to Kehlani. He did the same and picked up the little girl as she reached for him. "I thought you said that Kehlani was with Mick while Emily finished up her Interpol stuff." "She was but Mick got called on a case." "Really? Do you know where he had to go?"
"Scottsdale, Arizona I think."
"Shit."
A/N: Mick finds out in the next chapter.