Chapter 31

"I don't hear or see anyone Sterling," the accusation wove itself between Eliot's words as he looked back toward the darkened house.

The bookcase tunnel led them to a small stone shed so heavily covered in ivy that the blackness of the night rendered it nearly invisible.

"Would you like to go back and see for yourself?" Sterling asked the hitter glibly.

A squinted-eye grunt was Eliot's only response. He turned and found Joshua directly behind him. The boy seemed to cling to him even tighter as they'd gained travelling company.

"He must be terrified," Sophie whispered to Nate's back as he looked out the old, smudged and discolored glass window of the stone shed.

"What?" Nate offered absentmindedly.

"Joshua," she responded, even then delighting in the sound of the word, "he looks scared."

"Eliot will take care of him," Nate offered evenly and Sophie turned sharply to him.

"I'm sure he will but Joshua's our son; don't you think we should be the ones comforting him?" The intensity of her gaze demanded nothing less than Nate's full attention.

He turned to her and placed his hands gently on her upper arms.

"I'm sorry Sophie," the words were genuine but she could sense something more.

And then the truth hit her like a gust of wind.

"You still don't believe he's your son." The words breathily burst free from her lips the instant the thought was formed. The realization was so stunning that she forgot to whisper and three other pair of eyes turned her way.

Nate's spine straightened and he turned her so that his back shielded the other's stares and afforded them a small amount of privacy.

"I…I just want us to be sure," his tone was soft, placating. And Sophie grew angrier with every syllable.

"They kept him from me for three years, Nate." She held up three fingers for emphasis. "They told me his was…dead," she whispered the word. "And now you want to pretend he doesn't exist; that this doesn't make sense because of your need to make everything into a conspiracy."

She shrugged his hands loose from her arms and walked around him toward Joshua. "Look at him, Nate," she urged, but Nate wouldn't turn around.

"Nate, please. Turn and look at him," she called again but Nate instead walked deeper into the shadows at the other end of the shed; his shoulders slumping as he went.

The anger flared within Sophie and she tore after him, grabbing him by his arm and turning him toward her.

"Why is it that you can never accept the good things? Why do you fight so hard to hold on to the bad? Why?" she screamed.

"Because I can't," he snarled back defiantly, breathing hard for a moment before the fight left his face and his shouldered lowered once again.

"What?" she responded after a thoughtful moment, "Why?"

"Because…" he shook his head and swallowed heavily, "I can't…because…"

He couldn't get the words past the sudden dry ache in his throat.

Sophie stepped closer to him and reached up to touch his face, "Because, what, Nate?" she urged him softly.

He lifted his eyes to hers and she understood before he even said the words.

"I can't do that again," he confirmed, "I can't lose another child. If this turns out to be a part of Sonia's plan. I can't do it again, Soph. I barely survived the first time."

His softly spoken explanation carried the weight of a hammer and slammed into her. She felt his grief, his sadness, his anger, even the tentative hope he had for happiness. He had to feel it all in the few minutes that passed since she'd told him.

Sophie wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I understand. I really do."

She pulled back so that she could look into his face. "I'll just have to believe enough for the two of us," she assured him with a hint of a smile before kissing him quickly and pulling away.

"So now that we've got that sorted," Sterling chided sarcastically, "Now that my future is tied in with you lot, I'd like to know what the plan might be."

"There is no plan," Nate answered still rubbing his face to fully regain his composure after his conversation with Sophie.

"What do you mean, there's no plan?" Sterling responded his eyes wide, incredulous.

"I mean, we came to you to get the read on Sonia so we'd know how to go at her, but as usual working with you seems to be more trouble than it's worth." Nate leaned against the cold stone wall and folded his arms, punctuating the statement.

"Wait a minute," Nate began again and paused, thoughtfully, "how did they know where we were?"

Nate had no sooner uttered the question than the first small projectile broke through the glass and struck Eliot.

"Wha…" Sophie turned to the sound of the window breaking and saw the strained look on Eliot's face before he grabbed his neck and crumpled to the floor.

"NO," she screamed and made to grab Joshua but the second projectile caught her in the shoulder before she could reach the little boy.

The shot winded her and her arm fell limp immediately but she dragged herself toward Joshua and pulled the frightened child into her embrace, shielding him with her body.

"SOPHIE," Nate yelled as she fell, dropping himself to the floor to dodge any additional bullets.

He scrambled toward her and Joshua. He had just enough time to put his arms around them before the heat of a bullet stung his upper back.

A warm liquid sensation radiated throughout his body. He was losing control and in the disconcerting darkness of the stone shed he was scared that that was it.

Nate lifted his head to look at them once more, his Sophie, the little boy whose eyes were so much like his.

He turned to Eliot as well and looked behind him and the sight made his blood run cold.

There, behind them, Sterling stood talking into a comm; the long nuzzle of the gun in his hand stealing quick glimmers of moonlight through the shattered glass.