“How long are we staying here, mummy?” Liam asked as he scraped the leftover food from his plate into the trash and placed it onto the counter. “I miss our house, my toys. Even dad won’t drive me there to pick up my books.”
“Dad has his reasons for not doing that,” she said, ruffling his hair. “Just a few more weeks and we should be back home again.”
In the living room, Lucas was on the phone, and wanting more privacy, had stepped into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
“You’re in trouble, mum, aren’t you?”
Alexa frowned. “What makes you think that?”
“This is a safe house, isn’t it? And I know that van that’s always parked outside have people inside watching us.”
Alexa laughed. “You watch too many spy movies, Liam.” She opened the dishwasher door and began loading the dishes in. “Would you like to help me?”
As Liam helped her load up the dishwasher, Alexa looked towards the bedroom where the door remained shut. She sighed. Of course, Liam was right. She was in trouble, and she was tired of it all.
She felt like a prisoner inside the safe house, no matter how beautifully or richly it was furnished. Harry had forbidden her from going out without a surveillance team in tow and while she’d argued with him that the money spent could better benefit someone else, Harry was adamant.
He’d heard whispers about operatives still loyal to Jools and he didn’t want to take any chances. After having seen all the footage in the thumb drives that Alexa had handed over to him, Harry knew now how Jools worked. He always knew that Jools practiced unconventional methods in his acquisition of assets and even dispensing of them once their use to him was no more. He remembered how Jools had once told him that Alexa was his asset, and now Harry found himself fearing for her life once again.
What would matter to Jools now was revenge.
It wouldn’t have mattered to Jools if the documents that outlined his treachery had Mikhael’s fingerprints all over it. What would matter to him was that he’d have his vengeance on the one person Mikhael had entrusted Nephthys to.
Jools was facing the tribunal within the next week, and Harry could not help but feel that something was going on with Jools behind the scenes. He was under 24-hour surveillance inside his cell but not all of Jools’ communications could completely be monitored. He could not even guarantee that every person assigned to watching Jools could be trusted at all.
And so Harry was left fearing for Alexa’s life, and doing whatever he could to keep her safe. But even after it would be all over, was there really a guarantee that Alexa would be safe?
Alexa shut the dishwasher door as Liam returned to the living room to sit before the television. He crossed his legs and turned on his handheld game console, losing himself in the building of a civilization of his own.
Alexa walked towards the bedroom door, her hand touching the doorknob but not turning it. She could hear Lucas speaking in Russian, hearing the mention of her name, but she did not listen, instead sitting next to Liam to watch him build a granary on the civilization that he had just started.
Alexa wanted nothing more than to run off with Lucas and Liam where it was warm, and live by the sea. Maybe even on a mountain, she thought. There was always America or even Argentina where she could locate her mother’s family and live with them. Who knows? The three of them could even travel like nomads for a while and see the world together.
But even Alexa knew it was just a dream. Nothing she did or thought seemed to matter anyway, Alexa thought. Everyone else was too busy managing her life.
>>><<<
Truth be told, Harry would have rather sent Alexa and Liam to Spain, or even South America for even Alexa had told him that it was the best option for them. However, this decision, whether it was Harry’s or Alexa’s, was not to Lucas’ liking, and he threatened Harry that he would pursue every legal option possible for him should Alexa leave England with Liam. After all, wasn’t it Harry who had expedited Lucas’ family papers through the headmaster just a few weeks ago which now gave him every right as Liam’s father?
“What would you want Alexa to do, Lucas?” Harry asked Lucas just after his operative returned to the Grid from his surveillance detail that day. “Do you expect her to leave without Liam at all?”
“I don’t know, Harry,” Lucas replied, rubbing his chin nervously. “They’re all I’ve got, you know that. Yet I can’t have Alexa leave with Liam, I just can’t. I know it’s selfish of me to want that, not if it will keep them both safe, but I’ve barely spent time with Liam.”
Lucas sighed, shaking his head. “Besides,” he added. “It’s Alexa that Jools wants, not Liam.”
For a few minutes, both men did not speak. Harry’s lips tightened in a straight line and he looked away from Lucas’ stern gaze. “So you’re willing to sacrifice the mother of your own child to a coward like Jools by keeping her here in London knowing that there’s a bead on her every time she steps out of that safe house just to keep your son in London?”
Lucas did not answer. He regretted saying what he had just said, allowing his anger get the best of him. “I’m sorry, Harry,” he said as he began pacing. “I didn’t mean it that way. I would never want any harm to come to Alex. You know that.”
“I know it’s unfair, Lucas,” Harry said softly. “And you and I know that this is the only way we need to do things.”
“Yet you also know that I can’t leave with them,” Lucas leaned both his hands against Harry’s table, shaking his head. “The FSB would never let me.”
“Yes,” Harry agreed. “They never would allow it, Lucas. You’d be dead before you could even sneak out of the country.”
“Sneaking out of the country is the last thing I’d do, Harry,” Lucas said, smarting. “You know me better than that. And no, I can’t leave England now, not if I can help it. Between you and Valentin, I’m stuck here.”
Harry sighed. “You don’t have a lot of options, Lucas. But you have to accept that fact that I can give Alexa and Liam a new future outside of England, where they can be safe. You can always follow them after all this is over.”
Lucas looked up to stare at Harry, anger threatening to spill over as the veins along his neck throbbed. “It’s never going to be over, Harry. There’ll always be another threat in the horizon, no matter what you and I do. Wasn’t that one of your favorite sayings when I first came on your team? You can always dance with the devil...”
“But it’s always to his tune,” Harry continued.
Lucas shook his head. “I don’t care if I dance with the devil, Harry. But no matter what, Liam stays in London. And that’s all I have to say about this. You’re no longer the only one making the decisions for them.”
Lucas walked towards the door.
“Have you even asked Alexa what she thinks about all this?” Harry asked, but Lucas didn’t answer. He only gave Harry a sidewards glance and shut the door behind him.
>>><<<
“Are you sure?” Lucas asked, his jaw tensing as he spoke.
“My source inside MI6 has yet to let me down,” Valentin replied. “I’m doing this as a courtesy to you, Lucas, to let you know that I am serious when I say that I try to keep my assets happy. No tricks up my sleeve, as you people love to say.”
“I’m happy enough, Valentin. I don’t need any help in that department.”
“Are you sure about that, Lucas?”
Lucas did not reply. What was Valentin driving at?
“How can you say you’re happy when you cannot in good conscience believe that your woman is truly safe, Lucas? There is no hiding from the truth. Besides, your boss is not exactly popular within the halls of Vauxhall Cross at the moment,” Valentin continued. “They think that even though the evidence came from someone else, there is still the belief that he was part of it. So it’s not as if someone would tell him about a kill order recently taken out on his own daughter.”
Lucas began to pace the floor, glancing briefly at the door. The evening had started out so well, he thought, even though there were a few things he had needed to talk to Alexa about.
They had just finished dinner and had spent over two hours talking, just the three of them, laughing at Liam’s jokes and stories about school as they picked through the dessert that Lucas had brought with him to celebrate Liam’s ninth birthday.
Lucas had gotten Liam a set of books, Mr. Poppers Penguins and Treasure Island. These were just two books that Lucas had enjoyed when he was Liam’s age, and he wanted nothing more than to share something that he loved with his own son.
Alexa had gotten Liam a game for his handheld game console.
Lucas had wanted to speak to Alexa about her recent shopping trip that morning but held back. The team had lost her inside the shopping mall, prompting a frantic call to Harry and then to Lucas. Although they found her an hour later, seemingly proud that she’d managed to give them the slip, Lucas could only do his best to control his annoyance at her the moment he and Liam arrived at the safe house.
Could Alexa not see the danger she had put herself in? There had been another tail present that day at the mall which had set alarm bells ringing for the surveillance team. They had identified a man from MI6 in the same mall just a few feet from Alexa in three different instances. Once would have been a coincidence, Lucas thought, and twice was pushing it. But three times?
Lucas did not say anything about the incident all throughout dinner, wanting only to enjoy his time with his family - for that’s what they were now, he thought to himself. They were a family.
But as he stood in the middle of the bedroom wanting nothing more than to hang up on Valentin, Lucas knew that the man was right in alerting him about the kill order. “Keep an eye out, Lucas. I am serious about this.”
“I need to go,” Lucas muttered and hung up the phone, a part of him wishing he had never answered the call although he knew that Valentin was not a man who easily gave up. He would have found a way to get to Lucas.
Lucas had always tried to keep his mobile phone off on weekends, or at least on silent, not wanting the affairs of Section D to cut into the meager family time he looked forward to after each week spent trying to save the country.
He wondered if this was how Harry had spent his family life, whether he had had enough time with his children when they were growing up. Lucas even found himself wondering if Harry’s work on the Grid had been the reason for his divorce, and why he was estranged from his own children.
For the past four weeks since Lucas rescued Alexa from Gemini, he had settled into the routine of picking Liam up from St. Barnabas every Friday night, and returning him on Sunday. Headmaster Norman Jones personally did the handing over of Liam, always reminding Lucas that it was absolutely no problem for him to do so. As much as Lucas would have wanted to be with her more than just during weekends, he’d had to keep away from Alexa during the week. He didn’t exactly want his every visit to Alexa broadcast throughout Section D.
Lucas stood by the window, staring at the street below. He could see the white surveillance van two car lengths away and then on the far end of the street, he saw another one arrive.
He brought a hand to his face, rubbing the day-old stubble absentmindedly. Outside, he heard Liam laugh and decided that it was time to join his family.
After all, his time with them was running out.
>>><<<
Sunday found Harry stopping by at the safe house at eleven that morning to pick up Liam and take him to see the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre as a birthday present. It was an afternoon that Liam had looked forward to for the past two weeks, since Harry first announced to Liam that they were spending the day together.
But first on the docket, Harry told him, was lunch at the gentleman’s club where he’d secured permission from his fellow members to bring Liam with him.
Since Nathaniel had been a long-time member, it hadn’t been a problem for Harry to gain their permission, not that he really needed to. And Liam was excited to finally be able to see the place where his grandfather had once socialized. Even Harry had arranged for a special badge to be made for Liam, as an honorary member of the club that one day, he, too, would get to join when he got older.
“Wonderful,” Alexa muttered as the door shut behind Harry and Lucas secured the deadbolts. “Introduce him to the old boys’ club and he’s not even twelve.”
She was dressed casually in jeans and a shirt, and even without a trace of make up on her face, Lucas thought she looked beautiful. Alexa’s blonde hair fell over her shoulders, framing her bare face and accentuating her wide green eyes and full lips.
“Are you alright?” He asked. “I know you would have rather be with Liam today, than send him off with Harry by himself.”
Alexa shrugged. “He’s been looking forward to this afternoon for two straight weeks, Lucas. Wouldn’t you rather be them?”
Lucas walked towards her, bringing his hand to her face. “I’d rather be with you. We need to talk about a few things,” he whispered. “But first, I have a surprise for you.”
It took them half an hour to arrive at their destination, with Lucas having to inform the surveillance team first before the car could be brought around. Of course, they would have had to inform Harry, but as soon as Harry gave his approval, they were on their way, with Lucas taking the wheel of the car and Alexa beside him, her eyes behind a blindfold.
Lucas walked up the steps, Alexa gripping his arm as he told her how many steps to take. A smile graced her lips as Lucas opened the door, guided her inside and after shutting the door, undid the blindfold.
Alexa knew where Lucas was taking her the moment he stopped the car and opened the door for her. The smells of her home welcomed her, making each step she took with her eyes behind the blindfold becoming unbearable as the excitement mounted.
Though Alexa always considered her Trevor Square home as just a simple flat, it was so much more than that. It was a very expensive piece of historic real estate in Knightsbridge, and one that held memories of her mother. It was where she grew up and where she had raised Liam.
Alexa stopped on the foyer, memories suddenly assaulting her like the rush of an oncoming wind. She stared at the place around her, having expected the remnants of Mikhael’s kidnapping and the search for surveillance equipment that, according to Harry, had caused the removal team to tear down some walls. But instead of finding a mess before her, Alexa found that everything looked just the way she remembered it.
Even the stairs bore no traces of damage at all.
She touched her hands along the bannister, and looked at Lucas as he slipped the keys into his jacket pocket, watching her reaction with a boyish smile on his lips.
“I haven’t been able to see you during the last four weeks because I’ve been here,” he said sheepishly. “Harry wasn’t too happy about it, but I didn’t want you to come in here with the place looking like...”
Lucas’ voice trailed away, not wanting to bring back any mention of Mikhael.
“You did all this?” Alexa asked. “You fixed it? Even the bannister and the door upstairs?”
Lucas nodded. “I doubt the neighbor next door was happy about it, but she didn’t complain. It took almost four weeks, but I did it.” There was pride in his voice as Lucas brought his hands along the wall, inspecting his own handiwork.
Though it had been awhile since Alexa had had the interiors upgraded, making the place look a bit dated, it now gleamed with something more personal. It appeared warm and inviting, and she fought the tears that threatened to spill down her face.
There were no trace of the holes that had been drilled throughout the walls and ceilings, where they’d found the old surveillance cameras still functioning so many years after they’d first been installed by Jools’ men. Lucas had patched and filled every single one of them, donning overalls every night after work to paint the walls and ceilings.
Alexa inspected the upstairs bedrooms, Lucas keeping his distance as he followed her. He loved watching the expression on her face as she surveyed her home, though a sadness followed soon after at the realization that he was sending her away very soon.
He’d just finished all the work just the day before, annoying even Harry by asking the help of the surveillance team in getting the paint cans, brushes, and tools out of the house. Even Jo had volunteered in tidying up of the place after work, though in the end, Harry caved in and sent his own cleaning lady to do all the vacuuming and the dusting.
Lucas had planned on surprising Alexa and Liam with a visit to Trevor Square that day but he’d forgotten all about Harry’s theatre date with Liam. He had been tempted to bring Liam over on Friday evening after the boy asked him for the umpteenth time if they could stop by the house so he could pick up his books. But Lucas couldn’t get himself to leave Alexa out of the surprise then. He doubted very much that Liam would have been able to contain his excitement and not blurt out to his mother what Lucas had just done.
In the end, it had worked out. Lucas made a mental note to gather Liam’s books before they’d leave today, but for now, he found himself smiling as he watched Alexa step into Liam’s room.
Lucas had not touched Liam’s room except for two holes in the walls which he had patched and filled as soon as the removal team left with the cameras they had discovered. When he couldn’t find the paint that would have perfectly matched the existing one, Lucas found himself painting the entire room with a shade closest to it.
It was in Liam’s room that Lucas realized what he had to do to keep Alexa and Liam safe.
“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” Alexa asked him as she stood in the middle of Liam’s freshly painted room, white painted clouds above them.
Lucas smiled. “Not yet. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start now.”
As Alexa ran into his arms, telling him she loved him again and again, Lucas held her, inhaling the scent of her hair and her skin, feeling her body mold against his. He kissed her, savoring the taste of her lips and feel the beating of her heart as he held her, never wanting to let go.
But even Lucas knew that he had no other choice.
It was time to let Alexa go.