" Soph...Sophie?" Ed whispered his wife's name as he stood in the doorway unable to believe his eyes.
Turning around and seeing her husband bearing down on her gun in hand Sophie backed away, trying to put greater distance between them.
"God Eddie what are you doing coming into the house like...like...like... SRU on a hot call?...You'll wake Izzy...why have you got your gun drawn on me?" she replied her voice raised in fear.
Clicking the safety back on and quickly placing the gun down on the counter Eddie cut down the space between himself and Sophie in four quick big strides and pulled her into his arms, holding her so tight it felt like his life depended on it. Taking comfort in her warmth and breathing in her scent he buried his face in her neck
"Oh God...Sophie...Sophie" Eddie muttered over and over once again unable to stop the tears this time of relief not sorrow from falling.
Feeling Eddie's body shaking with emotion Sophie tried to pull back only to have him pull her even tighter to him.
"Eddie you're hurting me" Sophie winced as she continued "Sweetheart please what's happened you're scaring me"
As Ed's silence continued Sophie gently tried again all the time trying not to jumped to the only conclusion she could think of that would leave Eddie in this sort of state.
All the while trying to hold back her own tears Sophie voiced her terrifying concern "Eddie please it's Clark isnt it?...just tell me...has something bad happened to him?"
"No its not Clark he's fine" came Greg's voice from the hallway, where he stood with Wordy just behind him a mixture of shock and surprise clearly showing on their faces.
As Eddie reluctantly released some of his grip the realisation that his wife and child were alive and safe hit him like a tidal wave causing him to violently sway making Greg and Wordy rush foward to stop them both crashing to the floor.
"Whoa Eddie you need to sit down buddy" Wordy's voice floated through his swimming thoughts as he let himself be guided to the kitchen chair.
With his eyes tightly closed Eddie bite into his lower lip and tried to force deep calming breathes into his lungs, seeing that his friend was having touble with this normally easy bodily action Greg released the velco tabs of the Kevlar vest allowing Eddie's chest to fully expand.
"There you go...just sit and let your body catch up with events, you've gone through two major shocks today it's gonna take its toll" Greg watched Eddie closely "Better?"
Slowly opening his eyes and taking in his surrounding and rubbing his hands over his face Eddie slowly nodded "Yeah I'm good...I'm good...just give me a second"
"No problems Eddie" Greg replied while pulling out a chair for Sophie "Hey you look like you could do with a seat too, come on Soph sit down we'll explain everything"
Taking the seat opposite Sophie nervously waited for Eddie to regain his normal calm composure, all the while trying to surpress her own mixture of anger and fear.
Finally leaning forward and taking Sophie's hands in his still craving contact with her Eddie continued where Greg had left off, taking another deep breath and finally having the courage to look Sophie fully in the face he finally gave her the chance to see the full extent of the emotional turmoil he was going through.
"I thought I'd lost you and Izzy today" Eddie slowly started to explain his voice barely audiable "We got a call...there was a car bomb...I saw it explode... they told me there was a body"
"What does that have to do with me?"
"Sophie the car it was yours." this time Eddie's voice was close to breaking.
Looking at Eddie and his two closest team members in shock Sophie was sure she hadn't heard correctly, but quickly explained what had happened that morning.
"What bomb?...my car broke down this morning while taking Izzy to school, I called the recovery people they came out and towed it to the garage, and I continued into town with Izzy by cab, we had been home about 15 minutes before you all came bursting through the door"
"Why didn't you phone me?" Eddie asked while absently rubbing his thumbs back and forth over the back of Sophie's hand in a gesture of reassurance more for himself then her.
"I didn't realise how low the battery was on my cell and after sorting out the car it went flat" Sophie replied as she noticed the anxiety in Ed's voice was way to evident and that Greg and Wordy still hadn't fully relaxed, looking at each of them individually she decided she needed to ask a few questions of her own.
"What aren't you telling me?...Are you sure it was my car?
"All the indications said it was but seems you are sitting in front of me right now...for which I am eternally grateful for it looks like we are going to have to do some investigating" raising from his chair Greg pulled out his phone "Do you have the number of the company you used so I can get Spike to give them a call?"
"Yes he gave me his business card" letting go of Ed's hands and grabbing her bag from the middle of the table Sophie pulled out the card and handed it to Greg.
"Thanks Soph, as soon as Spike has worked his magic Wordy and I will follow this up" Greg looked directly at Eddie and gave his shoulder a supportive squeeze "that will give you guys some time to talk."
Looking up Eddie could only nod letting Greg know he understood the full meaning of his last comment, he felt like he'd aged about 20 years in the last few hours, he was emotionally and physically drained and now running on empty, he'd gone from the depths of despair to the heights of euphoria when he had seen Sophie standing in front of him in the kitchen unharmed, but he now knew that without a doubt he had some explaining to do, not just about today but about the whole situation starting with the attack in the warehouse, he couldn't believe he had been so stupid to keep her in the dark and because of that stupidity it had nearly cost him the ultimate price, it was a mistake he wouldn't make again.
Hearing the front door close behind Greg and Wordy Eddie went to start one of the most difficult conversations of his life only to have Sophie beat him to it.
"So are you going to tell me what's going on"
"To be totally honestly I'm not sure myself, but what I do know is that when that car exploded and Greg told me they had found part of your driver's licence I thought my whole world had come to and end...God Soph I've never felt fear like it I'd put Izzy and you in harms way" placing his hands on the table and interlocking his fingers in an effort to try and stop is hands from shaking Eddie pressed on "You have to believe me I never thought he would come after my family, he said the message was for me"
"What message?...who's he?" Sophie asked as she placed her hands over his.
"The guy who gave me the beating at the warehouse, that's when this started he told me he was for want of a better phrase delivering a message and that we were going to play a game" stopping mid-sentence and looking at the jagged scar running down his forearm Eddie sighed... "and that started the day I cut my arm, but the reason I didn't say anything was because we didn't think it was serious or that it would go any further."
"Serious? as anger took over Sophie stood up placed her hands on top of the table and lent forward so her face was only a few inches away from his "he put you in the hospital Eddie how serious do you want it to get?...he made you believe he had killed..."
But before she could finish Eddie's phone rang and knowing she need a few minutes to calm down Sophie indicated that he should take the call.
Flipping open the phone but before he could say a word the voice at the other end ask him a question.
"Hello Edward have you have a bit of a stressful day...did I make you believe for just a short while that you had lost two of the most precious things in the world to you"?
"You know you did" Eddie replied through gritted teeth "What do you really want...who are you working for"?
"All in good time Edward but you already know what I want, to continue playing this game...to mess with your head before I put you out of your misery, but enough of this just remember today proved you can't keep them all safe...tick tock."
And before Eddie could answer the line went dead.