Not If I Save You First

twenty-five | operation trap the prey

Grayson, Thea, Celia, and Little Dean were sitting at the dining room table.

It didn't take a profiler or a secret agent to figure out what's happening here.

"Join us," Thea smiled, sadly.

Archer and I took a seat across from one another. He was sitting next to Grayson, while I was next to Celia.

The two head chairs remained unoccupied, as always. 

"I got word a few hours ago that the F.B.I lost track of Donovan Halstead. He escaped when he was being transferred. The entire truck was taken down," Grayson explained.

"So, is this supposed to be your attempt at the last family meal?" I asked, not eating any of the food. It smelt mouth wateringly delicious, but I entirely lost my appetite. No one offered any input as to what Grayson or me just said. "Well, if I may be excused. I'm gonna go find this son of a bitch and put the fear of God into him."

"Slow down," Grayson warned. "You can put the fear of God into him after we go and get information from him."

"We don't know where he is," I said, furrowing my eyebrows at Grayson. "Tell me," I said, taking a bite of french toast. "Dear brother, do you know something that we don't?"

"Why don't you ask your little boyfriend about that," Grayson suggested. Archer glanced in Grayson's direction, while I glared at him. "When I broke federal laws by impersonating a lawyer, I gave your friend here an idea. A small contingency plan I came up with."

"What idea?" I asked.

Archer took over from Grayson. "When I went to talk to Donovan Halstead, Grayson gave me a job to do. I planted a tracker on Donovan Halstead. Grayson said that Halstead always wears that long overcoat."

"I know that coat," Little Dean piped up. "Even living in Hawaii, my dad never left the house without it."

"So, why am I sitting here?" I questioned, not understanding the significance of this afternoon breakfast.

"The tracker is being uploaded as we speak. I didn't have it turned on when we knew Donovan Halstead was in F.B.I custody," Grayson explained.

"What's the probability that he'd lead us straight to where the Hawthorne's are being held?" Little Dean asked.

"Slim to none," I answered. Thinking on my feet is one of my greatest skills. I immediately thought of a way to use this to our advantage. "We need to use that tracker and lure Donovan Halstead to a meeting place. Safe from civilians, but not deserted. We don't want to raise a red flag and have him leave."

Everyone sat in silence. Celia and Thea were aggressively shoveling food into their mouths. I looked to Grayson to have him silently agree to my plan. He knew it already. Grayson Alderidge can read my mind. He knew without me speaking that I would devise a plan to corner Donovan Halstead.

Grayson and I held a conversation in our heads.

Seven, this isn't a good idea. He's saying to me, trying to talk me out of my idea. There's too many unsuspecting variables when it comes to waving around bait.

Our stare down helped me to block out the rest of our guests.

"Get him ready," Grayson seethed, sounding unhappy about this plan. "We leave as soon as the tracker is ready and operational."

 🂧

Celia, Thea, and Little Dean were cleaning up our breakfast.

After declaring that we were going to be dangling Archer as bait, no one wanted to offer their opinion on that subject. Grayson and I declared that Little Dean was officially on house arrest at this point. He wasn't to leave the apartment. Little Dean was to have no connection with the outside world while his father was still wandering the streets. Also, he wasn't allowed out in the open when we're all cornering his father.

Celia and Thea were to keep eyes on Little Dean at all times.

While the tracker was becoming operational, I tried teaching Archer everything he needed to know in a situation like this. Being out in the open, Donovan Halstead not chained to a table, and unseen backup could be terrifying.

"Don't be afraid." Trying to prepare Archer for this meeting was easier when I knew Donovan Halstead would be chained to a table. "He'll feed on your fear and exploit it."

"I'm not afraid," Archer whispered.

I took in Archer's body language. "Liar." He didn't make a move to argue with me. He knew that I was right. "Your posture changed, your heart rate picked up, and your eyes darted to the left when you said that. All clear signs of deceit."

"Aren't you afraid?" Archer asked, changing the topic.

Archer has been looking at me like I'm a priceless museum artifact. One wrong move and I'm shattering on the floor in a million pieces. Not going to happen! He doesn't understand what I do. I don't think he'll ever understand. Maybe no one will ever understand.

Maybe it's better that way.

"I don't fear anything," I said. "I've already died."

"It'd be so much easier for me to walk away. Walk away and never look back," Archer whispered.

"You don't strike me as someone who takes the easy way out of a situation," I said.

"I learned something very interesting about you," Archer said. He sat on a bean bag chair going through my files on Donovan Halstead.

"Okay. You've piqued my interest," I smirked. 

"You say you like asking direct questions, but sometimes you'll make an obviously false or unknowing statement about me, knowing that I'll correctly answer that statement," he said.

"Interesting assertion. Too bad you can't prove it. I bet you don't have any lawyers in your family, because that declaration would be stricken from the record," I said.

Archer stood from the bean bag chair with purpose revealing in his eyes. He marched over to my bed, and leaned over me.

"Really? Because I just caught one of your unknowing statements," he whispered.

My eyes widened. What did I say? 

Unknowing? I know everything. 

"There's a picture in my living room of my sister graduating from law school, and I've seen you mesmerized by that picture many times before," he whispered against my ear.

"That's your sister?" I questioned out loud, but it was only meant to be in my head. 

Sister?   

A sister has never shown up in my research. There's no way. Archer is lying to me. Lying to me is a big mistake. He's a liar. If Archer had a sister, then I would know about it.  

Fuck my life!  

I'm sick and tired of surprises being thrown in my face.