The Hours in Between - The Devereaux Case Files Book 5

Chapter 3

He really couldn't blame her; it had been five years since they had gone through anything dangerous, it was just typical that the peace wouldn't last. "I'll call the lawyer again before I leave work and make sure that there's nothing we can do to keep Reggie at a distance. In the meanwhile, I'm going to call Gideon and make a formal complaint about Reggie hanging around and trying to take the kids, forcibly from school." He tried convincing her that they had enough clout to keep Reggie well beyond arms length. They could deal with him no problem.

"He'll take a statement over the phone and we'll have an official record in case anything does happen. But it won't. Trust me." Reed gave her a gentle squeeze of reassurance before brushing the hair back from her eyes. "How about I take an early lunch?" He suggested gently. He could accompany her across the street for a real lunch and a real talk. The kids wouldn't be getting out of school for another few hours so they would have enough time for a long talk and some real time together. They didn't often get the chance but working at the museum was making his home life a lot easier to negotiate than it had been at the stock brokers. Even if it did mean dealing with Carter.

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Reed had enjoyed his lunchtime interlude with Ayah, but for all that it had been pleasant, he hadn't forgotten about her anxiety. And so, when he returned from work that night, he was pleased to see that his phone call that afternoon hadn't gone ignored. Gideon and Raidon were sitting in the living with the rest of the old team, right from Amilo and Fred, through Sammy and Seth to Karl and Jean and Kevin. Everyone was there. He could hear movement in the kitchen and figured that maybe bypassing Ayah might be best until he had sorted out a plan of dealing with Reggie. He didn't want to face her anger until he could counteract it with a real, thought out, well put together plan.

"Let's go into the library, we'll get more peace there." Reed explained, waiting until everyone got up without question, and followed him into the library He gave the hallway one last cautious look and closed the double doors behind him. He would normally have preferred to discuss secret things in his study, which had thicker walls but considering the size of the team, the library was better accommodated to hold a large number of bodies.

To Reed's surprise, he was about to speak when the doors opened and Ayah slipped into the room, smiling. Her presence was off putting enough when he thought he would be in trouble for bringing the whole crew back into their house again. But her smile was utterly baffling, as was the fact that she pulled the foot rest across and sat herself down on it, right in front of him. "I have a secret to confess darling, I've been doing something behind your back but I don't feel guilty about it." He explained calmly, making sure that she didn't think he was apologizing for doing such a thing. He didn't want her going off on a tangent in front of the boys. As it was, they were wondering if they were only needed for moral support in a marital argument. But that wasn't Reed's plan.

"You've had a private eye keeping tabs on Reggie and Blake. I know and there's no reason you should be sorry." Ayah smiled so sweetly that Reed wasn't the only one wondering how on earth she knew his secret, and why she was so calm about it. Normally, anything to do with the old team made her mad, thinking that they would never escape their past. They just didn't realize that Ayah was more than aware that the only people capable of doing any justice with Reggie's return to their lives and her suspicions, were unfortunately, Reed's old agency team. The FBI had failed them once before and now, not only had the prison system failed them, so had the official agents of the Waynflete agency. It was time to take matters into their own hands; or rather Reed's own hands.

"Well, after that article you showed me today I went to find out what he's discovered." Reed was confounded by the way his wife was taking everything. Just that morning she had shouted at him for even considering including the team in their latest household drama. Now she wasn't only allowing it, she was taking an active part. He couldn't fathom her out. But then, that was nothing new, so he left that conversation for later and decided to explain what he and his private detective had unearthed. "It seems Blake wasn't the only one caught up in this messy drug business. Remember how we found him trying to hide it in your father's antiquities? Well, it's no wonder Reggie helped him with his plan, it seems he's the one who got him into the business with one of his contacts."