It was a week later before Reed got any more information concerning Reggie's reappearance in their lives. Faith had settled down just a little and the kids were acting as if they hadn't just been reacquainted with their father after five years of being apart. All in all, Raidon was taking it the worst. Reed suspected that was because of Ayah's belief that he was in love with Faith and now felt he couldn't admit it. And even he had to admit it was rotten luck. But there was very little he could do about it. So he was at work, on another long Thursday, accepting donations and receiving goods that had been loaned out to other museums and were only just being returned.
It was a tedious job and with Carter hovering in the background like a yattering twit, he seriously wished he had stuck to his original idea and kept his family well away from the Davenports. But they were Ayah's family, flawed as they were, so he bore it quietly, through gritted teeth. The whole time Carter went on about the possibility of damages and how the other museum would pay heftily if there was so much as a scratch on any of his items.
That was, until he was safely back in his office, filling out the paperwork that said the items had been returned. He was so engrossed in his work that he barely noticed the squeak of the door opening and was unaware of another person being in the room until a newspaper crashed onto his paperwork. The moment he looked up, he knew he was in trouble. Ayah looked furious.
"Do you see that? Reggie only came back for Dicken! He's going to take him away!" She claimed in a heartfelt cry that any mother would have equaled in the same situation. He was so shocked by the words that he instantly grabbed the paper and began reading the story on the front page. A prominent businessman in the local community had passed away. The article focused on the death, and the fact that his son, Reginald had recently returned from a 'long spell of solitude' to reclaim the family business. Reed supposed that was one way to explain away a prison sentence in a newspaper.
"Reggie is Blake's brother! Their father died shortly after they got arrested and now that Reggie's out on good behavior, he's able to make a legal claim to the family business. But to get it, he needs a legal heir. That's why he came back." Ayah continued in despair, flopping down into the seat across from his desk, before holding her hand to her head. She was obviously at her wits end worrying for her sister and her sisters children. It was his job as her husband to reassure her that it didn't mean he was after Dicken; however, he made the mistake of thinking out loud.
"The article doesn't really specify a male heir. He could probably settle for taking Clare." He mused thoughtfully. It was simply his logical mind working overtime but he realized it might have been a mistake.
"Reed!"
"Look, this isn't anything to worry about. Dicken and Clare live with us. When I'm not there Raidon is, when he's not there Gideon's hanging around. Faith and you are always at home, and always take the kids to and from school. They have to pass by Anita to get to our house anyway." Reed sighed as he tried to be calm and sensible enough for both of them. Ayah was well into panic mode and although there was clearly no opportunity for Reggie to get to his children and get them alone, he wasn't sure what other way to say that. But Ayah needed more, glaring at him as if she didn't care whether Reggie had the opportunity or not, so he tried again.
"I know, but just calm down and think logically. Without the opportunity to get them alone, he's got no chance of getting hold of them. Without getting hold of them, he can't steal them away and he can't use them to get what he wants." Getting out of his seat, he abandoned the newspaper to the desk and crossed to his wife, giving her a comforting hug. He could tell that if anything happened to Faith or the kids, it would utterly and completely break her heart. And he couldn't let that happen. They had almost lost each other numerous times, they had almost lost Olivia twice. They were no strangers to danger and personal threat, but somehow, any danger reaching her sister had her wound up more than usual.
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.
-
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."
It didn't take a genius to see where Reed was going with his explanation. And although the boys looked a little confused, Ayah could read her husband like a book she had written herself. She knew that he was building up to something bad, and so she decided to get it out in the open. "And you know who that is." She claimed, not even bothering to ask that he knew. Of course he did.
"Yes, but you're not going to like it." Reed tried to warn her but it was too late. He could see her mind ticking away, working like some genius computer putting all the facts together. And as she thought, she admitted to what she had come up with.
"Someone we know..." Ayah decided, reading his face and the worried frown on his forehead. It was bad this time, worse than before and although she had one name screaming at her in the back of her mind, she refused to speak it. She didn't want to cause trouble if she was wrong. But she just had to drop a hint and see if she was right. It was safer than confessing. "Someone we're related to."
"Unfortunately, yes." Reed was relieved that he didn't have to tell her himself. All day he had worried over what she would think and what she might say. He had been hoping that it would be a private conversation but he really wasn't surprised or angry with the fact that they were discussing family matters in front of the boys because Ayah had known. Somehow, she had known all along what was happening and she had accepted that his brother was stirring up trouble.
"It seems Kelly's been busy these few years. He's built himself a reputation on my reputation. He has what he has because I made all the sacrifices and did all the hard work. He just jumped on the bandwagon and started shouting orders, saying I'd left him to take my place. That much we knew already but this is beyond anything I'd get into and a lot of questions are going around about it." He sighed, rubbing his temple wearily. This was more complicated and dangerous than anything else. If anyone found out where he lived and who he really was through Kelly's pathetic attempt at being a man, his whole family would be in danger...again. He couldn't allow that to happen.
Reed did his best to ignore his personal feelings and get on with the business he had asked the boys round to discuss. "All I know is that Kelly's pulling the strings on Reggie. But don't worry, I've not lost my touch. The little twit's so terrified of me and everyone else misses me so much that he wouldn't dare tell them he's taken full control from me." He smiled a little wickedly, pleased to know that he was missed in the criminal underworld. "They'd never believe him and they'd ask for some sort of confirmation from me which would make him extremely uncomfortable having to ask his big brother to do him a favor...then he'd have to admit how he got his own reputation." Reed rather enjoyed knowing the sticky wicket Kelly had got himself into.
If he was going to meddle in other people's lives, then it was about time he learned that it wasn't always going to be easy. Raidon smiled at his words. "So what's the plan?" He wondered, sure that he was going to like it. Reed was furious and Ayah was gazing at him with that usual, longing in her eyes that said she was secretly proud of his criminal genius. Even if she didn't always agree with it or his plans.
"We're going to take the bastard and try our best not to kill him. We need answers and we all know the best way to bring them out of him." Reed realized how harsh his words were and could only clear his throat and make an attempt at an apology to his very tolerant, and very supportive wife. Talking about Kelly always got his hackles up but he couldn't help it. His little brother had been pushing his buttons since he was still in the single digit ages of their youth. Reed had tried to shield him as best he could from the fact that their parents saw him as nothing other than a mistake that couldn't be taken back. "Ayah, I know I promised to stay out of trouble and give it all up but," He sighed, not sure what else to say. But he didn't have to say anything. Ayah understood perfectly how frustrating it was to deal with awkward family members, as her own family continued to pose long term ramifications to anything they did.
"You deal with your brother the way you see fit. I'm going to make dinner and leave you boys to have a little chat." Ayah made her decision to have nothing more to do with whatever the boys were going to do to Kelly. She got up, crossed to Reed and kissed him softly in appreciation for not only his willingness to help Faith, but his tender concern for her well-being at the same time. He looked a little surprised but he was smiling. She figured he didn't mind the show of affection in front of his friends, and so she left the room happily, letting them take care of business as they saw fit.
"That woman of yours is something else boss." Kevin laughed to himself. He had never been able to fathom Ayah out, not from the first day he met her and he knew he would never make an improvement on that. She was just one of those girls who switched attitude and emotion from one second to the next. He didn't understand how Reed did it, but he was relieved that he wasn't mad at his comment.
"That she is." Reed thoroughly agreed with Kevin's opinion. But as much as he liked admiring his wife and spending long moments adoring her, he had to shake it off and return to business. Kelly wasn't going to be easily dealt with. For the remainder of the evening, he and the boys were going to have to focus on what they knew, what was speculation and needed further investigation. There was no way they were going to tackle him blindly.
"Okay so we know Kelly's working with Reggie. We know Reggie's after the kids to get his claim on the family business since Blake is in prison. We also know that Kelly's very likely working to his own agenda. So, we need half the team to tackle Reggie, the other hand to tackle Kelly and once we've got some adequate information, we can make our move." He explained to the room at large. He took out a notepad and pencil from the phone table drawer that sat next to his seat, so that he could begin to write out a list of activities and plans.
They needed to be as sneaky with their investigation of Reggie and Kelly as they were being in their attempt to destroy his happy life. He wasn't going to let it stand, but he also wasn't going to go rushing in blind and ruining everything with silly mistakes.
"Well, I can take some guys out tonight and get a hold of Reggie. If we're smart we can use some of what we know to our advantage. Like how he has no idea where Faith or the kids are staying. Which means he doesn't know she's living here with you. It's more than likely that he has no idea where you live." Raidon spoke for the first time during the proceedings, looking thoughtful but still furious. Reed was the only one who knew how much he risked losing if Reggie got a hold of Faith or the kids. Even if it was just for a few moments. He had waited too long to fall in love, it wasn't fair for him to lose it so close to getting it.
"He might think Kelly's taken over someone else's house and found himself a more 'upmarket' place of operation than that crummy apartment he's living in. And just as Kelly's done all these years, we switch brothers." He continued his explanation, sitting back in his seat, his hands on the arms of the chair. He was adamant that if he didn't move, he couldn't do anything rash. All he wanted was to get a hold of Reggie and give him a taste of what he'd given Faith all those years. Just one moment to show him just how much force could be put into a punch, how much it hurt to get kicked in the ribs over and over again. How much it ached to have his jaw broken as he had once broken Faith's. But he couldn't. Not yet. Not until the kids were safe.
"You mean I pretend to be Kelly pretending to be me?" Reed pondered the thought, giving it all the credit it deserved. Raidon had never failed to come up with a good, workable plan before and the idea certainly had merit. Kelly had pretended to be him, it was obvious with how much influence he had been given in the criminal underworld. He couldn't have used his reputation to get credit without putting in an appearance as Reed, at least once. So when Raidon reassured him with a strained smile that it could work, he nodded in agreement. It really could.
"We'd need to keep the kids and the girls out of the way. If Reggie caught sight of any of them, it would give him more information than we might get in return and put the kids in danger. But yes, that sounds like a good plan. If we're lucky, Reggie will spill the whole diabolical plot to me without thinking." Reed liked the sound of the plan the more he thought about it. If nothing else, it would give Reggie a kick up the backside and put Kelly in a bit of bother. And that was always a good thing.
-
The only problem that emerged that night, was the blazing row that Raidon had with Faith only minutes after leaving the library. The boys had dispersed to collect Reggie and have a momentary rest and food break after agreeing that Reed would have to handle the meeting with Reggie alone. The only team member that was utilized that night, within the house, was the messenger sent to deliver a note from 'Kelly' asking for a meeting. The other boys enjoyed their rest and then returned to their base to get working on the tasks Reed had sent them.
But the anger that had boiled up talking about Reggie, had sent Raidon straight to Faith's door, asking her to stay upstairs with the children while they dealt with her ex-husband. The row itself was heated enough, without the added trouble of Dicken overhearing it as he changed for bed. He crept towards his bedroom door at the sound of the shouting in the upstairs landing, peeking out to watch his mother and Raidon arguing. He knew fine well that soon Ayah would be round to say goodnight and read him a story if he begged long enough, and he'd get caught.
"You can't bring that monster into this house!" Faith blazed furiously, grabbing Raidon's arm as he tried to walk away. Dicken didn't need to have overheard the beginning of the argument to know they were talking about his father. Just the very word his mother used to refer to him, 'monster' told him all he wanted to know. And he almost wanted to add his pleading voice to his mothers, begging Raidon not to let him into the house. "I didn't tell you everything that happened just so that you could go off on some stupid revenge trip." She protested, dragging him back two steps, as if to drag him back into the argument.
Dicken was upset enough seeing them arguing at all. He had always secretly held out the hope that Raidon would want to be his dad one day. If they argued, it might not happen. But he figured that was up to his mum, and she certainly didn't seem to have the same idea.
"This isn't about revenge Faith. If it was, I'd be going after Reggie myself and he wouldn't have a bone left in his body not smashed to smithereens." Raidon shrugged his arm out of Faith's grasp and let out a sigh as she collapsed into a sobbing mess, huddled into the corner of the hallway, on the floor.
Dicken could see the same love and devotion in his eyes as he looked down at his mother, as he saw in Reed's eyes every time he looked at Ayah. It rekindled his hope and the anger that Raidon had in his voice when he spoke of his father, filled Dicken with a strange sense of pride. He hated his father, so if Raidon, the man he wanted as a father, wanted to hurt him in return for hurting his mother, then Dicken didn't care. It was probably wrong and strange for him to think that, but he didn't care. The more Raidon talked, the more confidence Dicken had that he would soon be his father and that he would make sure his real father couldn't hurt anyone else ever again.
"This is about keeping the kids safe. I know fine well that the minute he gets his hands on Dicken or Clare, they're only useful to him for those few days he needs to get the papers signed and get his company handed over. Once that's done, he'll ditch them at the first opportunity. I'm not going to let it get that far."
Dicken knew that Raidon was telling the truth about how his father would feel about him or Clare once he had what he wanted from them. It had happened before, so why should he believe anything had changed? Only, something had changed. His mom was free of him now and Raidon would protect them. Uncle Reed would protect them. They had done it before and they could do it again. "Reed's going to take care of him properly. One last time. And then he won't bother you anymore." Raidon promised, crouching down next to Faith and laying a gentle hand on her head. With his anger extinguished by her tears, he calmly lifted her into his arms and carried her back to her room where she could sleep it off. If he'd had any courage he would have stayed with her, but instead, he left her alone, closed the door and gave Dicken a weak smile as he approached his ajar door.
"You fancy a bedtime story?" He asked gently. Dicken returned the smile and nodded, hoping to have something to cheer him up before he went to sleep. Raidon ruffled his hair, making him frown, and followed him into his bedroom where he would read him a story and send him to bed. Just like a real father should.