What do bad guys look like? Do they wear black? Do they speak in sinister tones? Do they tent their fingers and stare at you in disdain? Or do they look like the good guys? Do they know they’re crossing a line? Do they struggle with themselves, justifying their actions to themselves so they can do what they want? Do they try to persuade others, because if they can, they feel more confident of their choices? Do they reprioritize their lives to allow themselves liberties, so they can take what they want? Do I? Do I do any of those things? Do I test myself, not against other people, but against what I know to be right? I have seen myself. I know what I could be. And if I don’t fight against it, I will be the same as he. Felicity’s Journal, April 17

Dear mom, We miss you. Come home soon. Love, Alex, Nicholas, and Noah. – Undelivered letter to Felicity from her children, April 9.

When she stood to her feet, Felicity paused to consider. The French doors that led off the master bedroom onto the private patio beckoned to Felicity, but rather than move directly to them, she kept peering around the room. Her room. Her clothes in the closet. Her suitcase stuffed in a corner. She moved to the closet and saw that most of her things were lying in a basket in the corner.

A few items remained on hangers, mixed with new clothes, and Felicity fumed at the thought that Aimée had taken possession of them. Felicity headed to the bathroom, and she saw something that made her heart stop. Somehow in the façade of making her believe she wasn’t a prisoner, Brendon had forgotten to be careful. On the portable table she used for her laptop when she was in the bath sat her laptop and her phone.

Her heart racing, she tucked the computer under her arm and the phone in her pocket, and she and peeked out into the bedroom. No sign of life.

To avoid unwanted eyes, she ensconced herself in the closet before pulling up her text on her phone. Desperate with hope, Felicity shot a text to her brother. True to form, he responded immediately.

Felicity: Nick, it’s me.

Nick: Who is this?

Felicity: It’s Lissie.

Nick: Why do you have your laptop but you can’t call me?

Felicity: Your wonderful Briel forced me to come back to my cabin and talk to Brendon.

Nick: That’s my sarcastic Lissie.

Felicity: I don’t know how much time I have – that will depend on Briel – but remember the blackout site I mentioned? I’m pretty sure it’s here. Can you access it from my wifi?

Nick: I seriously doubt it. It’s probably isolated. Might be able to tell if you can get me to the security station, though.

Felicity: Security station?

Nick: Trying to speak non-Geek for you. Should be a server they have cameras hooked up to. Usually off site, but close enough for underground cable. Have you seen anything like that?

Felicity: I didn’t go outside much here. I was just about to break out, though. I can look around for it.

Nick: If you can break out, get out!

Felicity: Not good enough, bro. If I run off, Brendon comes back to town and comes after me. Did you have good enough evidence on Brendon to put him away?

Nick: I had more on Bill Henry.

Felicity: That’s what I thought. Brendon wouldn’t need to keep leverage on himself on his computer. Look, I won’t be stupid. If someone comes after me, I’ll run. But if I think I can find this room without being caught, I’m going to try. I may not have this opportunity again.

Nick: Can’t you leave that to the professionals? Where’s Briel?

Felicity: Wish I knew. She was supposed to be in here by now, and I was supposed to have what I need. Keep this window open.

Nick: Believe me; I will.

Felicity: Love you.

Nick: You, too! Be careful!

Felicity shut the laptop and peered out the closet door. Still her big, empty room. Bill’s room, she shivered, disgusted. Sliding to the door, she listened again. She could no longer hear Brendon, but Bill and Aimée were in some deep discussion. Everyone seemed to have forgotten Felicity. Her return had probably not been in their list of contingency plans. Because only an idiot would come back here, she snickered.

If she were going to get out the patio doors, she would need a tool of some sort – either real of makeshift. She had done it at home. Had to open her French doors to move furniture, almost always without Brendon’s help. She just had to wedge something under the secured door and pop up the latch, and once the latch was disconnected from the door, both doors would push open easily.

With new energy, she made her way, laptop in hand, to the double doors. She could see no guard, though about a third of the patio stood in shadow. She began to scrounge around the room for a screwdriver. When she found nothing, she moved to the bathroom and finally found a breakfast-in-bed tray that had a dull knife. Even better.

She took the knife to the door, lowering to her knees and sliding the tool beneath the brass bracket that bolted the immovable door to the floor. After a few seconds of maneuvering, she felt a pop, and she pulled the door toward her with a jerk. Climbing on a chair, she performed a similar procedure on the top of the door, and a moment later, she was able to pull both doors inward, slipping the deadbolt out of its slot in the moveable door until both doors were open. It wouldn’t do much to protect her, but she slipped the knife into her jacket pocket just in case.

Though she planned to escape straight away, she left the doors slightly ajar on the off chance that she would need to return. Now I get to climb, she grumbled internally.

Felicity made a complete circuit of the patio, and, using her elevated position, she scoured the grounds for guards outside the house. Her earlier assessment proved accurate, and she saw no guards within view. Quickly, she wedged the laptop between two rails and scurried over, resting her toes on the small ledge on the other side.

She was able to hold the slats and lower herself to the ground a few feet below without too much difficulty, and she grabbed the laptop. Glancing around, she spied an older model four-wheeler parked at the edge of the clearing. It had been a decade or more since she had driven one, but she thought she could manage if she could get it started.

For a few seconds, Felicity considered just taking the vehicle, hoofing into town and calling her brother to come get her. She had to try to get the information, though. She grabbed the laptop from its wedged position and eased past the room where Jase sat, all the way to the treeline to the north. She spotted the fountain, and she considered it for a moment, but it seemed counterintuitive to put computers near water. Between the fountain and her, though, she noticed a small shack that she had seen before. She had subconsciously associated it with the pool equipment, but when she approached it, she noticed a heavy-duty chain on the door. Even though they were far from civilization, Felicity had expected better security. Instead, she realized with a laugh that she only had to unscrew the plate that held the lock from one side and the door would open. It was so simple, in fact, that until she stood in the temperature-controlled little space, she doubted herself. Apparently, Bill Henry felt confident enough in his power that he was careless.

She pulled out her phone to text her brother, but she had no signal. Wi-Fi only, she realized, since she had transferred her number to the phone Jase had crushed. No wonder they didn’t think it was dangerous. Of course, the realization didn’t bode well for her computer, either, and sure enough, when she opened her laptop, checking to see if she had signal, she had none. She stepped one step outside the building, and the signal came back weakly. The phone still didn’t register. She didn’t like the idea of working with the door open, but it would have to do. Glancing around at the many panels, she realized that she was hopelessly lost. She turned to the laptop.

Felicity: I’m here. How do you get in?

Nick: Just give me remote access to the computer.

Felicity did so.

Nick: Okay, turn the laptop around so I can see the equipment.

Felicity obeyed.

Nick: Do you see that cable on the bottom left?

Felicity searched and found the cable he requested.

Nick: Plug it into your USB.

Felicity obeyed.

Nick: That’s just a video feed. Pull it out from the server and plug it into that big box past in the second row.

Felicity reached past the first row of boxes to a large box behind, stretching the cord to its full length to reach the laptop.

Nick: Got it! Now I need about five minutes to dig around. Are you secure?

Felicity: I think so.

Glancing around her, Felicity could not see another soul. The evening had started to grey out the atmosphere, though, and her eyes were not the best with the lack of contrast. Still, she saw nothing that concerned her. She stared back at the cursor on the computer, trying very hard not to stare at the clock in the bottom right corner. Eventually, the cursor blinked to life.

Nick: I got it, sis! I created a file on your desktop. Copy it to the flash drive, and with the stuff I already have on there, you should be in pretty good shape. It won’t be enough to send them all to prison, but it will make them afraid. And if I’m right about what is on these servers, we’ll manage some incarceration in short order.

Felicity: I can’t even, Nick. You have really saved the day. And I know the drill: leave the computer plugged in because you can find more cool toys. Maybe you can backup my content for me, too, since I’m losing this laptop forever.

Nick: Lol. I can do that.

He paused for a minute, and Felicity thought he might have stopped typing. Then the message appeared on the screen.

Nick: Don’t die, sis.

Felicity: I’ll try, Nick, but I need you to do something for me.

Nick: “I’ll try” is not a good response to “don’t die.”

Felicity: I need you to get to mom and dad. I know it’s a lot to ask, but you need to pack them up, pack up my kids, and get out of town. Someplace safe. If something happens to me, I need to know you guys will all be safe.

Nick: I will get the kids out, but Lissie, if something happens to you, I will not be safe. I will be out for blood.

Felicity: I love you, Nick, but chasing revenge won’t buy you peace, and my kids will need support. Promise me you’ll take care of them. Promise me you’ll stay safe.

Nick: I’ll try.

Felicity: Touché

Nick: Be careful. I love you.

Felicity: You, too. Love you.

After pacing the perimeter of the little shed, she found a spot in the southeast corner where the Wi-Fi reached. She shut the door with herself inside to test, and it still worked, so she set it down and eased out, shutting the door behind her.

Now that she had evidence, she could leave. Brendon, though, seemed to have relaxed his concern now that he had his two greatest threats in captivity – or so he thought. Most of the guards, it seemed, were positioned in the house. Felicity glanced back at the room where she had heard Jase. She could leave him there. She owed it to her kids.

She owed him, too, though, as much as she wanted to deny it. Following the treeline, she crept as close to the house as she could manage before sprinting the distance to the eastern wall. She glided to the window where she had heard Jase, listening for more conversation. She heard none.

Guess I’ll go old school, she shrugged. Felicity picked up an acorn and chucked it at Jase’s window, quickly concealing herself in case someone besides Jase stuck his head through the opening. She saw and heard nothing for a full sixty seconds, but then she detected a quiet click followed by the scraping of an opening window. She peeked out from her hiding place to see Jase’s face where it searched for the source of the sound.

“I don’t see anyone,” he called inside, and Felicity quickly darted back behind the tree.

How could Jase come to the window if he were a prisoner? Her mind reeled, terrified that she had proven a fool once again. No, it’s not possible, she insisted, but since she couldn’t figure out how Brendon had managed all of his deception, she knew she couldn’t make any claim to savvy about the ways of criminals.

Even the idea threatened to devastate her – not twice! I can’t be a fool twice! She took two steps back so she could lean against a tree, and she clutched her arms across her stomach to hold herself together.

“You should check the other bedroom and see if anything is off in there,” Jase’s voice carried to her as he addressed an unknown person in his room.

She closed her eyes. Not only had he lied to her, he had sicked one of Brendon’s goons on her, sent the man to check on her room to see if she had escaped. She waited for the sound of the scraping window, and then started a mad dash toward the ATV. In a matter of seconds, the guard would discover her empty room, and she would have Brendon’s people in hot pursuit of her.

“Felicity,” the harsh whisper barely carried over the scuffling of her feet. “Felicity, wait!”

She glanced over her shoulder for a second, not slowing her motion toward the vehicle.

“It’s your kids. Brendon has your kids. I couldn’t leave!”

When she tried an instant stop, her feet slid several inches on the soil and leaves that carpeted the forest. Jase hung out the window, motioning her back, and she found herself rushing as quickly toward him as she had run away.

If he was lying to her, she would have just run back into captivity for no reason, but she was not willing to take the risk that he might be telling the truth. A few seconds later, she stood only a few feet from him, furious and terrified.

“You need to get back to your room! The guard will be back to me in less than a minute.”

“I can’t go back there!” Felicity countered, furious. “You sent him to my room! He’ll be telling Brendon that I escaped!”

“Liss,” Jase soothed, “I sent him to the other guest room. It’s where Aimée has moved her things in, and she has been told to stay there unless she’s with Brendon. Brendon has made her feel like a princess, all protected and coddled, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want her knowledge to get out if he gets arrested. Now that you’re caught, there’s no danger.”

My stupid, stupid naïve cynicism! she lamented. She didn’t want to be wrong again, to trust Jase only to be proven a fool. But she couldn’t outright dismiss him, and she was about to walk back into a trap based on his questionable testimony.

“Where are my kids?” She inched her way back toward Jase’s window.

“They’re still in Phoenix,” he explained, “in a safe house. Brendon had someone pick them up from your parents – who had no reason to suspect anything strange, I imagine – and take them to a secure compound on the grounds of Bill’s mansion.”

“They must be terrified,” Felicity worried, and when she reached the house, Jase reached his hand out to grip hers.

“Likely not,” Jase countered. “I’m sure they’re using Bill’s toys and pool to entertain themselves. I’m sure Noah has a fulltime nurse.” Jase glanced behind him. “I’m sorry, Liss. You need to go; I’m going to fix this. It’s why I’m still here. I could have escaped a day ago otherwise.”

Suddenly, Felicity’s heart gave a lurch, guilt replacing her suspicion of Jase. Not only was he uninvolved with Brendon, he had stayed in captivity to save her children. As she rushed back to the patio railing, she heard the window scrape shut, and she pulled herself back onto the railing – with considerably more difficulty than she had found descending from it. No one seemed to have noticed her excursion.

Felicity sat back down at the desk, only then realizing that Nick’s letter had fallen out of her pocket. She prayed it would blow away unnoticed. After another half hour, Felicity heard a commotion outside her room through the French doors. She ran to them to see what had happened. Unfortunately, a guard doing a round outside had found the paper. She prayed that Jase had heard the ruckus, too, because she was going to need some help when they came for her.

A moment later, she heard a thud hit the wall of her room on the other side. Within thirty seconds, her patio door was being jimmied open, and Jase stepped through.

“It’s going to have to wait for another day, Felicity,” he insisted. “I don’t know what they saw out there, but they’re coming for you right now. We’ll figure out how to get your kids.”

Behind him, a clamor arose from the other room, and he quickly but quietly shut the door.

“Patio, now!” he commanded, and he grabbed her hand, dragging her to the French doors and out to a crouch behind a wicker sofa. A handful of guards stood near the front drive, probably assuming that she had gone the easy route.

I’m not that stupid, she smiled smugly, proud that she had picked a route that would have tricked them.

Jase pulled her closer, wrapping one arm around her waist.

“You’re alive,” he purred, but then his tone hardened. “But why are you here? Don’t tell me you came back with some crazy plan to save me?”

“Maybe I would have,” she smiled. “I thought they had shot you…” Emotion stopped her voice for a second, and Jase’s eyes softened.

“I’m fine, Liss. And now we’re back where we started. Why are you here?”

“Briel,” Felicity explained. “Briel had me, and she wanted to use me as a distraction so she and her team could raid the cabin. But they haven’t made their move, and I don’t understand why. They basically had me captive, and since I didn’t know how to fix the problem at home, and I knew that Brendon had you, I didn’t fight too hard against her.”

His grip around her waist tightened for a second, but then he pushed her away, taking her face in his hands and looking directly into her eyes. “I told you, never try to save me!” he chastised, turning immediately back to the guards without waiting for her protest. “Come on!”

Again, he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, standing and scurrying over the rail. She had a feeling that he could have hurdled the thing if he hadn’t held her hand. He finally let go, pointing to the four-wheeler, and making a quick 360 to assess everyone’s position. The guards still had not seen them. Sprinting as fast as she could manage, Felicity made it across the clearing to the vehicle without hearing any evidence they had seen her. By the time she had straddled the machine, Jase had reached the back end of the vehicle.

Still no shouts, and Jase began to push the ATV. He aimed for a section of the ground that sloped slightly down, and after traveling twenty or thirty feet, he barked, “Kick the pedal down!” The vehicle sputtered to life, and he climbed on behind her. He pointed the direction where Felicity knew Banff lay, and she steered as he desired.

They directed the vehicle toward the town, but after traveling only a few hundred feet, a jeep loomed up in front of them. Felicity barely pulled up without flipping the four-wheeler, and Jase hopped off cursing, ready to fight whoever exited the car.

“Wait!” Felicity jumped off and grabbed his arm. “It’s Briel.”

Though Jase relaxed a little, he did not seem less ready to fight, and Felicity stepped partially in front of him before turning back to the SUV. Jase grabbed her to pull her behind him, but the maneuver had given Briel time to hop out of the vehicle and train her gun on Jase.

“Cool it, Jase,” Briel commanded. “Listen to me before you start throwing punches.”

“You sent Felicity in there,” he growled, and Felicity thought he might launch himself at the small – but intimidating - woman operative.

Felicity turned to face him, stepping toward his body. “She has a gun and five of her team with her. Please don’t try to fight them all.”

As Felicity spoke, the rest of the crew stepped down from the jeep and aimed their weapons, some at Jase and some at Felicity.

“Triggers off!” Briel commanded, and six guns lowered their muzzles toward the ground. “Give me a second, Jase. Let me explain.”

“Explain how you sacrificed Felicity for your other mission? I don’t think so.”

Though Felicity wanted to speak up in Briel’s defense, she really couldn’t find the heart to. If Briel had just let Felicity go, maybe her kids would be safe with Nick, and not held by Brendon as collateral.

“Why didn’t you come in after I did what you asked?” Felicity continued Jase’s tirade.

“Jase, this was supposed to be an easy in/easy out mission. Felicity would have been back with us in half an hour. But, Felicity, we didn’t expect you to go in without some kind of commotion happening. How did you manage it?” Briel wondered.

“I tricked Brendon,” Felicity shrugged. “He has so little respect for me, it wasn’t hard. And I heard you, Jase.”

“Heard me?”

“You told Brendon that I didn’t know anything. You made out that you had grabbed me once the guys reported me missing, which made me mistrust you for a minute, but then I realized you had thrown me a lifeline. I would never have considered playing dumb. I would have blurted out accusations and accused him to his face. You offered me a plausible story to keep me safe.”

Reaching behind him, Jase grabbed for her hand again. “I did,” he agreed, “but I never dreamed you would do such a great job, especially because I didn’t know you had heard me. And it further shows,” he took a step backward until his back pressed against Felicity, “that you expected her to be stepping into a very dangerous situation.”

“I’m telling you,” Briel insisted, “we would have had her out.”

“Would have?” Jase demanded.

“Bill showed up! Bill wasn’t supposed to be there! We wanted a witness; we wanted Brendon. If we went in with Bill there, he would shut us down before we could find anything out.

“Brendon has my children,” Felicity leveled at Briel.

“Damn it!” Briel hissed, her stance turning almost as defensive as Jase’s, though toward a threat not present. The reaction instantly made Felicity like the younger woman better. Anyone who felt that protective of Felicity’s children got the benefit of the doubt. “Then we need Felicity to go back in,” Briel insisted.

“No!” yelled Jase.

“Jase, if it will help her grab Brendon and free my kids, I have to.”

“Let me do it!” Jase suddenly demanded. “I can come up with something that will get them off of Felicity’s trail, and something that gets Brendon isolated for you.”

Briel scowled at him, dubious.

“You know I can,” Jase proclaimed.

“I know you can, but can I trust you?”

“I don’t know if you can trust him, Briel,” Felicity interrupted. “Because he may not care about your agenda, but I can trust him. And he wouldn’t let my kids get hurt if he could help it.”

Felicity felt Jase’s hand tighten on hers, and she tried to read his thoughts through his profile. Definitely some strong emotion, with the addition of surprise. Her chest constricted, but she continued to pin her gaze on Briel, ignoring the rising tension she felt from Jase.

“Fine,” Briel agreed. “But we will come in if it helps our mission. Don’t expect us to help you if you get stuck.”

“No need,” Jase assured.

“How are you going to give us directions when you figure out a plan?” Briel challenged.

“Just give me an earpiece and a two-way,” Jase shrugged, and Briel turned back to the jeep, retrieving the small device and handing it to Jase.

“I swear,” she warned as she passed off the earbuds, “if you compromise my mission, I will come after you. And Felicity is staying with me until I have Brendon, so I guess she’ll find out how trustworthy you are.”

“She will,” Jase agreed.

He turned to Felicity, taking her elbow and leading her away from Briel’s crew. Once they were out of view of the team, Felicity gripped Jase’s arm

“Jase…” She forced herself not to choke up when he turned to face her, though her voice constricted on the words. “I was afraid you were dead.”

Releasing her arm, he cupped his hand behind her head and pulled her to him “I told you I would be okay,” he murmured, massaging the small of her back with his other hand. “I told you I am good at this job.”

“But they were shooting at you and you were yelling, and all I could do was run away.” Her stomach churned at the memory, and her breath hitched in her chest.

Jase stepped back and leaned down, taking her face in his hands. “It’s what you needed to do. It’s what you always need to do. There is no shame in hiding from a stronger adversary. Even I do it on occasion, okay? You’re job is to stay safe for those kids. You owe them. You don’t owe me.”

“I do owe you,” she raised her hand to caress his cheek. “But I don’t just owe you; I care. It would destroy me if I was responsible for something happing to you.”

Brushing her hair out of her eyes, Jase pulled her back to him. “It won’t destroy you, because you don’t have that option, Liss. I will be fine, but you will go on regardless. That is what you owe me, more than anything else. I’m going to go get Brendon, I’m going to make you safe, and I’m going to find out where your kids are. And then you will take your kids some place safe and live. That’s what you owe me.”

For several seconds, Felicity could say nothing. She just inhaled the now familiar scent of Jase, and reveled in the feel of his arms. She was grateful for the moment, even if there might not be another. Finally, she sucked in a steeling breath and pushed away from him.

“So, now that I am thoroughly conquered,” she smiled up at him, and his eyes pulsed a somber pleasure, “I’m going to let you tell me how to proceed. Can I trust Briel? I just get the idea that she would sacrifice anything for her mission.”

Jase shrugged as Felicity watched him regroup into his professional mien. “She would, within some pretty broad bounds. Her mission is important. I can’t say I blame her. But I’m going to make it right for both of you. I’ve been too lazy for too long.”

Confused, Felicity peered up at him quizzically.

“I’m trained to do things other people aren’t trained to do. Briel is, too, in a sense. But she left our job and became what we always should have been. I left our job and used my knowledge to make money. It was a mistake.”

“And what you ‘should have been’ sends you into a pit of vipers?” Felicity pouted.

Jase grinned. “Exactly!” Then more seriously, he pulled her back into his arms.

“But you’re going to make it out, right?” Felicity begged.

“I’ve gotten out of worse scrapes.”

She pushed him back and scrutinized his face. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Narrowing his eyes, he smirked, but didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned down, lifting her face to his and covering her mouth with his. The trees around them shut out the view of the cabin, the noise of Briel and her team, any thought but Jase. For just one moment.

Then it was over.

Sighing, Felicity removed herself to a respectable distance. There were so many scenarios in which that kiss was their goodbye. He seemed to understand that whatever the outcome, she would leave him. That she could not fight what she needed to fight nor be what she needed to be if she deferred to her desire for him.

Mirroring her demeanor, Jase stood erect, smiling broadly.

“Goodbye, Felicity.”

Her eyes widened in shock. Did he expect to die inside? Or did he intend to walk away once she was safe? It was what should happen – she knew it, and he seemed to as well. Still, when he turned to march back to where Briel stood with her team, Felicity had to suck back the tears that threatened to fall.