You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know. – William Wilberforce

I think I know what you see in her now. She had no idea what she was doing, and she was in a lot of danger, but she stood and fought. I get it now. – Briel’s text to Jase, June 14

For Briel, levity rarely lasted, and her walk back to her team proved no different. By the time she had walked four blocks, her amusement with Ted had smothered under the memories of those leather shackles. Briel had gained a new respect for Felicity Miller. Perhaps Felicity did not entirely understand the gruesomeness of human trafficking, but if she had sensed even a portion of the truth, her stand against Bill Henry made her a paragon of bravery. Briel remembered the sick feeling in her gut when she had heard the news of the kidnapping, and Briel regretted her easy judgment of the woman on that day. Judgment that proved entirely inaccurate.

After her coffeehouse meeting with Jase, Briel had expected the bad news. Jase had a plan to save Felicity, but an insane plan, and Briel didn’t expect it to work. First and foremost, Jase had to sleight of hand the ProtoComm crew, which Briel believed beyond even Jase’s capacity. Secondly, though, Jase would have to lure the virtuous Felicity Miller to betray her husband and run off with Jase.

Briel noted Jase’s success even before leaving on the mission, despite its unlikelihood. Somehow, he convinced Henry not to kill Felicity in Banff, but to hand her off to traffickers. Such an accomplishment must have created great risk for Jase, and not just for Felicity. If Henry had suspected Jase's true motives, Jase would have lost more than his job. I'm going to kidnap her, he had insisted when he contacted Briel a few days after the coffee shop meeting. Jase had lost his mind – over a woman! Even now, Briel shook her head at the idiocy.

So many things could have gone wrong. If he had failed to retrieve her before she crossed the border, Jase would have risked more than Felicity's life – he would have risked her freedom. In Briel's opinion, slavery seemed a fate worse than death. If ProtoComm found them together, they would both endure an awful finish. And his gamble threatened Briel’s mission, too, since she needed access to information from Felicity or Brendon, and Jase’s interference made that less easy to tap into.

Uncertain of the timeline of the kidnapping, Briel had just kind of hovered around Felicity's brother, Nick, keeping open a line of communication so she would know as events unfolded. She wanted hound Jase, force him to provide every detail, but he would rebel against that kind of monitoring. Besides, she had hardly gotten over her conflagration of emotions regarding Jase – she had no desire to stir them up again.

Instead, she just had to get second hand information from a less tenuous if more annoying source. She needed to stay with Nick Alexander, a feat made much easier by the schoolboy crush he had developed for Briel. For days, she accompanied Nick to meals and coffee, playing down her relationship with Liam, laughing at Nick’s jokes. On the bright side, Nick had a clever wit, ready and entertaining, and she didn’t remember laughing as much since she was a child.

On the down side, Briel had worked really hard to stay aloof from Nick and the Millers. She already struggled with her attachment to the kids, but Nick’s very apparent preference for her meant that she couldn’t quite suppress the guilt that normally barely hummed in the background of any operation. She had learned to block it out years before, to keep her priorities straight so that she could accomplish her task and walk away with satisfaction. The whole side mission to the Alvares case, though, had developed into a huge distraction.

Briel had thought herself relieved of the guilt when the kids drove off with their grandparents, but then she had found herself needing to root out info from the ProtoComm servers, and her best resource for that was at the Miller house. How would she dig into the Millers’ computers without drawing attention to herself? Without access to the house? Without someone who could get onto the computers themselves?

She could have broken in, brought a tech from the team, but once she did that, her access would disappear. If she failed, she would lose that opportunity. If she maneuvered around Nick, he could do the work for her, and she could have days – or maybe even weeks – worth of access. So she had played the game, not quite able to separate herself from the connection, but needing to feed it to accomplish her task. Even with her assurances, Liam had been pissed at the news that Briel would have to extend her time with Felicity’s brother. When the news came of Felicity's kidnapping, in fact, Briel sat comfortably in the Miller's home on an ostensible date with Nicholas Alexander.

“She's where?” Briel had looked up incredulously into Nick’s eyes when she had heard the pronouncement.

“In a town named 'Quido.' It's somewhere near Las Cruces, New Mexico. She thinks someone was trying to take her across the border.”

Briel managed a good amount of genuine shock on her face. Though she had expected bad news, she had not predicted the exact outcome of events. To Nick the news had sounded horrible, but to Briel, it had seemed equal parts good and bad. Sure, someone had kidnapped Nick's sister, and no doubt Felicity felt pained beyond anything she had ever experienced. Still, Felicity had not realized what alternative she would have faced had she not escaped.

After Nick had hung up the phone, Briel had begun to drill him.

“Why would someone take her to Mexico?” Briel had asked innocently.

“Well, she doesn't know, but she said something about jumping from a truck bed. The woman is insane. She won't let me come get her.”

Aloud, Briel only said, “I can't imagine why.” Silently, she scoffed at her companion. As if all women need rescuing, she thought disgustedly at Nick. Felicity's spunk had impressed Briel. Nick's latent chauvinism, however, irritated Briel. Did he expect all women to run dramatically into the arms of a man in their hour of need?

Briel sucked in a breath. Exactly how would she use this new development to get to the ProtoComm file on the Millers’ computers. When Nick said nothing, Briel finally glanced up at him, and his eyes were riveted on her.

“You are awfully pensive, Ms. Cortes. Is there something I can help you with?”

Though she tried not to react, her eagerness bubbled into a stiff breath. “I mean, not me, I guess. I was just wondering why someone would target your sister.”

“It does seem unlikely.”

“I mean, if it weren’t Felicity, I might think…if you had some way to track her activity or see what she was into when she was not taking care of kids. Surely she had hobbies or…friends.”

Nick stared at her with far too much penetration, and she hated herself for implying what she was implying.

“Track her?” he leveled tersely. “Hobbies?”

If she read Nick right, she would not have to be more explicit to lead him down the rabbit trail she intended for him. Fortunately, he was smart – more like brilliant – and he missed very little. A suggestive lead-in should be enough. She didn’t like his tone, though, which gave off much less of curiosity and much more of inquisition.

“You want me to look on her computer.”

Though he was right, Briel blinked at him in shock. She guessed it made sense for him to make the leap, since he worked in the industry, but she had intended to lead him down a path so that he would step out of the way and let her snoop around for a password. Instead, he had plucked the idea out of her brain and so would attribute it to her.

“I…I don’t,” she stammered. “I was just thinking out loud.”

“Well, I know you weren’t implying that my sister had some kind of online fling or illicit relationship, because you would know that an accusation like that would get you kicked out of my sister’s house.”

Abashed, Briel just stared at him for a minute.

“And since you have very poorly veiled your wish for me to nose around my sister’s stuff, it would make sense that you expected me to do…this.” To Briel’s surprise, he turned his chair to the desk and tapped through Felicity’s security in about thirty seconds. “And I have obviously just stolen your voice…” Nick laughed. “I can only assume that you had intended exactly this, since you had the good sense not to confirm my suspicions. So I’ll play along for the time being and prove to you that my sister is as boring as she seems. There.”

A screen popped up on the monitor, and a list of files and websites visited filled the screen. Everything seemed entirely benign, except one file called, “Brendon’s Stuff.” Maybe Briel could get something out of that. What she really needed, though, was Brendon’s computer.

“Nick,” she tried, “I didn’t really think Felicity…Maybe you would find more on Brendon’s computer. Maybe this happened to Felicity because of Brendon.”

Perhaps she had come across too eager, or perhaps she had overestimated her own furtiveness.

“Tell me something, Briel Cortes…” He spun back to her. “Why do you really want access to my sister’s computer?”

She finally recovered a portion of her usual self-possession. “You have just made a huge series of leaps. How is my near-speculation a ploy to access your sister’s computer? I was just trying to help. Why would I want to do that since I am just a nanny?”

The smile he threw her would have stripped the veneer off of a speedster’s ride. “That is a very good question, nanny…”

Damn you, Nick Alexander! “Nick,” she appeased, placing her hand on his arm, “Really, you seemed so upset.” The latter statement was at least true. “I was wondering why she would refuse your help since she seemed in such difficulty, and the only peek we have to her mind is probably in her computer.”

“She's trying to ditch me,” Nick shrugged. “You know. Trying to protect her baby brother. She would deny it, but I know that's how she thinks.”

“Like you would need protecting,” Briel responded tongue-in-cheek.

Again, he glanced at her with an understanding she hadn't anticipated, and Briel found herself squirming under the intensity of his gaze. He should go into interrogation…

“You know, Briel, I've enjoyed hanging out...” he began.

“Um, me, too,” she interrupted, trying to sound enthusiastic. Where was he going with this? She couldn't believe Nick had chosen the moment of his sister's kidnapping to discuss their relationship. Shouldn't he focus all of his attention on helping Felicity rather than awkwardly discussing his growing crush?

“Hold on, don't agree with me so fast,” he arrested her errant thoughts. “I've enjoyed hanging out, but this isn’t working out exactly the way I imagined.”

“How did you imagine it?”

“I mean, for one, I didn’t expect your level of anxiety.”

Anxiety?

“You are strung up so tight,” he continued, “that you're going to snap one of these days. It's starting to stress me out, and I can't really deal with this Felicity thing and your anxiety issues.”

Shocked beyond discomfort, Briel stared at him, aghast. “Well,” she continued, aping his tone of voice, “I've enjoyed hanging out, but you have a tendency to be rude.”

“Oh, come on,” he countered. “Until now, name once when I've said something harsh.”

She knew, as did he, that he hadn't ever treated her impolitely, but his usual kindness made her all the less prepared to deal with his bluntness at the moment. “Is this really the best time to discuss this?” she echoed her earlier thoughts. “I mean, your sister has been kidnapped.”

He winced, but persisted. “You're changing the subject. I promise I will dedicate appropriate energy to my sister, but I'm talking about you right now. You obfuscate so often: avoiding a discussion, changing the subject, making ambiguous statements. You've wrapped yourself up in a box and won't let anyone in. I've brought people to their knees in laughter, and the most I can get out of you is an occasional smirk. Don't get me wrong,” he smiled affectionately through his irritation. “One smirk from you is worth fifty guffaws from anyone else.”

For a moment, Briel couldn't think how to respond. She felt strangely flattered by the appreciation, but her awkwardness tainted the pleasure. Briel needed to focus on Felicity but could not avoid squirming under the spotlight of Nick's mental interrogation.

“Of course I care about my sister, but I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place. I would like to trust you, to ask you for help, but I don't know if I can trust you with what I need. You're wearing this mask that I can't get past, and though I see some good moral judgment in there, I'm not sure how much of it you listen to.”

How was she going to manage this? He was supposed to be the safe option instead of Jase. Nick seemed so simple, but he spoke with unusual discernment. For the first time in her career, Briel felt in danger of revealing too much on a mission, of losing the ability to manipulate the image she portrayed. Sure, she had rarely managed it with Jase, but Jase was, if not on her team, at least undesirous to interfere. He played both sides, but he was the consummate professional. Nick was not a professional. Still, maybe it would be easier to hunt down Jase in the middle of a Canadian forest and convince him to inform on the woman he was infatuated with than it would be to maneuver around the herculean computer nerd and his big brain. Then again, if she could get to Felicity’s information, it might help Briel avoid a lot of unnecessary legwork. She sighed, but pressed forward.

“What are you talking about?” she lashed a little too defensively. “When have I lied to you?”

Nick shook his head in disbelief. “Besides every time you speak? I mean, you never answer a question directly - just ask the strangest questions, and when you make comments, you say one thing but mean another, like you have a private joke that you assume I won’t get. If you don't want to call that lying, what term would you use? Deception? Equivocation? You're too smart to call it anything less. I mean, 'I can't imagine why…' That sentence dripped with sarcasm, however you tried to hide it. I just want to know, who is the real you?”

Briel wanted to wallow in her irritation, give Nick the silent treatment for his accusations, but she didn't really have the freedom to do so. She needed his access, and she feared that she would have to give something substantial to secure his cooperation. Of course, she could flirt her way to distraction, but staring into his perceptive gaze, the possibility seemed laughable. She was hardly competent at that type of exercise when she held no respect for her mark – much less when she actually hated the idea of disappointing him. So, if she were going to convince him to hack his sister’s – an hopefully is brother-in-law’s – computer, she would have to try something new.

“Fine,” she agreed calmly. “No more deception.”

A look of relief spread across Nick's face, and Briel scoffed in exasperation as she took in his eagerness. Usually, any revelation only came at the end of an op if at all. To let Nick know her actual purpose in Phoenix so early in the game? It was a seriously calculated risk In current circumstances. Still, Briel the security agent might prove significantly more interesting to Nick in his current circumstances than Briel the nanny.

“Wait, Briel,” Nick interrupted her thoughts. She glanced up into his face, confused, and wondered suspiciously at the expression there. He looked a little ashamed. “I am really rude. In fact, I'm an asshole. Don't tell me anything you don't want to,” he offered guiltily. “Apparently, you're stuck in a dilemma, and it's wrong of me to pressure you into talking. Maybe,” he gazed at the floor. “maybe I just need to trust that you have reasons why you're keeping things from me. I have no real right to demand them – we're not even really dating – yet.” He smirked sheepishly.

Though she couldn't quite suppress her confusion, Briel couldn't restrain her chuckle. How had he done that? Thrown her out of control? Very few people had managed it in her adult life. Maybe Liam, she shivered, not sure how she felt about the fact. Nick, though? What did Nick have besides a kind of nerdy, boyish charm? And Briel had never particularly found that personality attractive.

“You are kind of a jerk,” she returned his teasing tone, “but I said I would tell you the truth, and that's what I'm going to do.”

Something approximating anxiety gripped her chest, but she would follow through. Nick seemed far too close to kicking her out of his life, and she needed to maintain contact with Felicity.

“I am not a nanny,” she admitted.

To her dismay, he didn't seem even remotely surprised. “Briel, if you're not going to trust me more than that, we're not going to get anywhere. I've known that from about day two of our acquaintance,” he interrupted. “Yeah, 'Hi, I have a 160 IQ. My life's ambition is to be a babysitter.'”

Briel glared at him, “160?” She didn't know whether to feel insulted or flattered. “You asked me a question. Are you going to let me finish? I might decide not to tell you anything.”

Nick grinned good-humoredly and gestured with his hand for her to continue. Against her will, her lips curved in amusement.

“I am a security agent.”

For one moment, Nick said nothing. Than a sparkle in his eye drew up the corners of his mouth. “Like, a bodyguard?” Nick laughed loudly, clutching his stomach with his hands and rolling back into the couch cushions. “That is classic! Wait, you're a mini-bodyguard, or a body mini-”

“Shut up!” Briel couldn't control the childish interruption. “I'm not a bodyguard! Can’t you be serious? Your sister is in danger.”

At her words, Nick sobered quickly, and Briel felt sorry that she had reminded him. “You're right. Continue,” he begged.

Heaving a sigh, Briel renewed her divulgence. “One of the many aspects of my job is personal security. Brendon called me a few weeks ago to request some monitoring for his wife. I’m guessing he knew that she was in danger for some reason. I have obviously not done a great job, but to be fair, I ran into some issues. The, uh, ex-boyfriend who showed up out front is an ex-colleague, too, and I decided that he was trying to get to Felicity. So when Brendon suggested taking her away, I told him it was probably a good idea. I'm a highly trained intelligence officer, but my ex-colleague is maybe even better than I, though I hate to admit it. I wanted to find and restrain him before I went back to protecting your sister.”

Nick's smirk returned, this time subdued by concern for Felicity. “I guess you're even better because people don't expect someone like you to be...a spy,” he chuckled at his new denomination for her.

“Actually, you're right,” she conceded, though she felt like rolling her eyes at the term. “But I guarantee you that armed with weapons, there are few who could match me.” The seriousness with which Briel stated the fact seemed to affect Nick, and he squinted at her as if trying to see something he had missed.

“Maybe that's why you scared the hell out of Felicity when she first met you. She's pretty insightful.” Must run in the family, Briel lamented silently. “If Brendon hadn't vouched for you,” he continued, “...well, you can be pretty intense.”

Briel could feel the smug look wash over her face before she contained it, but whatever she had intended to say, Nick cut short. Once again, his insight erased her self- possession, and he turned the conversation into another new route.

“Still, you can't act all the time,” he accused. “I've seen you with my sister's rugrats. You really care about them; you enjoy them.”

Can’t you ever stop? Briel complained silently. Such a personal vein of conversation completed the flustered state of mind that Nick had stirred almost from the beginning of the day. Though she wanted to deny his accusation, she could not. Yes, she liked the kids. Who wouldn't like the Miller kids?

Little Noah could charm the green off the grass. Alex had her mom's sweet, quiet intensity. Briel didn't even want to name Nick's adorable two-year-old namesake. That little boy's blue twinkling eyes looked so far into Briel's soul that sometimes she wanted to hide. Still, how could she admit the truth to Nick without making herself vulnerable? Instead, she tried to equivocate, perhaps futilely in light of Nick's perceptive nature. “I do what is necessary for the job,” she offered with as little emotion as possible.

“Uh-huh. Sure,” Nick smiled, unconvinced.

Briel gritted her teeth, trying not to glare at him. Did he want an emotional confession? Not a chance. If he kept pressing her, the only emotion he would see from Briel would be anger. Since she could not afford to let him provoke her, though, she diverted him back to the subject of Felicity. It seemed cruel, and Briel knew it. Once she reminded him of Felicity's danger, he would lose his sense of humor, and Briel actually regretted that reality. Still, Briel herself was in danger; in danger of letting herself get too invested. Such a lapse had to be avoided by Briel even if it increased Nick's stress.

“Nick, worrying about how I feel about Felicity's children is not going to help me find her,” Briel diverted. “I want to help you, and you can help me at the same time. We will find your sister. Just focus on what's important.” Not on me, Briel finished silently.

As soon as she mentioned Felicity again, Nick's face fell in a pained expression, and despite her cold desire to finish her mission, Briel vowed for the first time to do something more than strictly business - Briel would find Felicity Miller. Maybe Felicity didn’t deserve it. Maybe she had sullied herself at the altar of Jase Hamilton like so many women before her. That wasn’t Nick’s fault, though. And it certainly wasn’t the fault of the three Miller children.

Of course, Briel would prioritize her own mission, but if she could figure out how, she would make sure Felicity got out alive. If she failed, Briel wouldn't know how to live with herself. To avoid that possibility, then, Briel left open the idea of seeking out Jase. She would avoid it if possible, but just maybe he would help her protect the Millers in the middle of her other mission. At least, if he wasn’t a criminal who intentionally sabotaged her…until she sought him out and had a discussion, she could not know.

To her surprise, Nick stood to his feet and took her hand. He led her toward the hallway that led to the bedroom, and she tugged her hand instinctively. Nick turned back to her with a grin, but he did not release her before turning back to continue his walk. “I’m not trying to seduce you, Bri,” he snickered. “You said you wanted to see Brendon’s computer.”

Her heart pounded for several seconds before she was able to calm it. Had she been conflicted about Nick’s intention to lead her to a room? No. No, absolutely not, she assured herself, though her body’s reaction wasn’t so sure. Within a minute, though, Nick was seated at a desk in the Miller’s bedroom, and Briel had pulled up a chair next to him. As he awakened the screen and began to type commands, Briel realized something. She had been wrong – Nick Alexander wasn’t safe. Once she had the information from Brendon’s computer, she would need to cut off all communication.