Chapters 12-15 - Meeting Michela

 

Scene Twelve Why had he bothered coming to Bulgaria again? His last mission here started out much the way this one had. He remembered being ambushed and shot at, but not quite recalling exactly where the wound had been. The leg or the abdomen? Neither one seemed quite right. The awareness of the injury had faded but the memory of her had not. He didn't know why he was thinking of her. She was one of the most annoying females he had ever encountered. The last time he was in Bulgaria had been an Embassy job, but she had other plans. They were suppose to save the Amir from a Bulgarian prison and bring him home safely. Somehow the safety of the Amir came second to the money in the Pentagon's secret Bulgarian vault not far from the prisoner's cells. Michela Forsythe was an opportunist and couldn't help herself when the promise of money came into the picture. Ethan had rescued the Amir, and Mike had grabbed the money and run. He still hadn't forgiven her for deserting him during an important mission. Jeffrey had sent in a back up to quickly replace her but it didn't matter. After that mission, Ethan had taken drastic measures to make sure he never had to work with Mike again. She had been banned from the Legacy entirely. He smirked at his inventiveness. It helped to have family connections in high places. His dad, Franklin, had signed the document banning her and he had watched with a big satisfied smile on his face. Suddenly the rush of energy from earlier was fading. He knew he was getting weaker by the minute. Scarlett tried to stop the blood, but her half-ass bandage job couldn't stop it from flowing. Back at the park he thought it was only a flesh wound. He knew better than to underestimate injuries. This was bad. Very bad. He needed medical assistance immediately. If only he could whisper a request and have Jeffrey send in a team to bring him out. That was the way they usually worked. For some reason Philip had chosen him for this mission personally. There would be no back up team. He knew that coming in. But he hadn't expected hostility at the pick-up zone. He should have. The list he carried was worth big bucks to the right people. Ethan had to make sure this information never reached those sources. What seemed like a minute later, he opened his eyes. He had no idea how long he had been out. Minutes or hours. The pressure on his arm drew his attention from his query. Scarlett was getting worried. The blood was pumping out of his body faster than she was able to compress it. "Oh, God, Phoenix. We have to stop. He's going die if we can't get this wound to stop bleeding." Phoenix gave her an exasperated sigh. Why had he ever listened to her in the first place? In his quest to be a Hardy Boy he never once considered he might be put in a situation like this. How stupid were they to bring this man with them? Phoenix judged it to be higher on their stupidity scale than normal, especially since neither of them knew for sure if he was friend or foe. "Mister? Oh, please mister, don't die." Phoenix could hear Scarlett's agitated voice jump a few octaves. "Wake up. You have to wake up." "Scarlett, what's wrong?" He kept his eyes on the road while turning an attentive ear to the backseat. "He passed out. I think he's dying." Tears ran down her face and she wiped at them causing the blood from her hand to transfer to her face. A steady streak of red ran the course of her face from the edge of her hairline to her neck. In the rear view mirror the color glared at Phoenix. Until that moment he hadn't realized how dire the situation was. Scarlett glanced at the man and then suddenly jerked her head back up staring at him through the mirror. "Oh, God. What are we going to do?" Phoenix slammed on the brakes and started to climb in the back seat. The man must have gotten a second wind because he chose at that moment to open his eyes. For some reason the twins couldn't describe the expression on his face. They couldn't decide if it was annoyance or the look of death. It was at that instant a flaxen haired waif decided to try and hitch a ride. "Outta the way, Jack. The Calvary has arrived," said the girl pushing Phoenix's feet out of the way. Phoenix and Scarlett only stared at her. The girl who was nearly their age yet she had the gall to comendeer a vehicle like this. Scarlett herself couldn't get over how much this girl reminded her of that thin model who graced many of her favorite fashion magazines. "Oh, my God! What are *YOU* doing here?" Ethan said through grunts of pain. He grabbed his shoulder and tried to move away from the newcomer. "Saving your butt, bucko! said the trim seventeen year old sliding fully into the drivers seat. "Get out of this car, babe. We have a crisis on our hands," said Phoenix. "Don't I know it," she replied. "But he's dying. We need to get him some help," Scarlett said fighting back the tears. "He's NOT dying. He's a wimp. Can't handle the pain." She hefted back a metal box with the words First Aid on the cover. "Brought you something." "Okay, who is she? Barbie Secret Agent?" Phoenix said in amazement watching the young girl perform like she had known what was going on the entire time they'd known the mysterious man. Ethan grimaced and said, "She's my sister, Faith." "Sister?" Phoenix mocked. "Is this a new secret agent rule? We bring our siblings on secret government missions? Scarlett elbowed her brother. "What?" he cried. "It was a perfectly honest question." "No," he said emphatically. "She's suppose to be in boarding school." His eyes glared at her like ice pellets. "Hey, stop talking about me like I'm not here. Bandage him up and I'll book us out of here. I know a place we can crash." Faith took charge of the wheel and whipped the car around in a 180. Her driving left something to be desired as she careened down the dirt road like she was racing at the Daytona 500. "Slow down, sister. I'd like to make it where ever in one piece." Phoenix said applying a second bandage to Ethan's shoulder. "Where's your sense of adventure, sport?" "I think I left it back at the embassy." He said as he applied tape securing the last strip of white cloth to the wound. "Oh, a funny one. I think I like him, Ethan." "Ethan? So that's your name. Ethan secret agent. Do you like your martinis shaken or stirred?" Scarlett fumed at her brother but remained silent. This was all too much for her to take in at once. "Neither. I don't like martinis." Ethan said as he attempted to sit up right and try to retain his good humour. On the third try he succeeded. "You never answered me, Faith. Why aren't you in boarding school?" Faith Fairchild watched her brother through the rear view mirror. "That school is so mundane, brotherly. I couldn't be myself." "What did you burn down this time?" "Nothing. Just because I did it that one time, you all think I do it on a regular basis. I bailed to make a point. They wanted me to dress, walk and talk like everyone else." She wiped her hands on her jeans and jerked the steering wheel to the right sending them down an even smaller side road. "I am SO not into that. You know more than anyone that I gotta be me." "Gotta be you?" Ethan shook his head. "There are times when I really wish you weren't my sister." "I know. But you love me anyways." She smiled and blew him a kiss. "What brings you into the middle of nowhere? Planning a vacation or dare I ask?" Within the last few minutes Ethan had regained much of his color and Scarlett finally leaned back knowing this man wasn't going to die. But she suddenly had the urge to kill him for getting her into this situation in the first place. If she hadn't been trying to stupidly save his life, she and Phoenix would both be back at the embassy awaiting their father's return. Dust swirled in the windows and Phoenix tried not to sneeze but his allergies got the best of him. "Bless you." Faith chortled. "That sounded like a goose honking. Does he always do that?" Scarlett tried not to smile but his sneezes did sound like a goose. She'd always thought so. Even though she had started out hating this new girl, Scarlett couldn't help but like her spunk. "In answer to your question, Ethan, just for kicks I've been monitoring that techie kid you have running tactical. What's his name? Jeffrey? Do you know that he can't even tell when I'm piggy backing the signal? Such an amateur. Where do you find them? Anywho, with the help of my handy dandy souped up portable computer, I tracked you here." "That easily? I think I'm going to be sick." Phoenix leaned out the window but decided against it when a passing tree limb nearly lopped off his head. He jerked his head back in time to save his noggin. "How could you? My hand held computer is broken and lying on Gia's desk. Where did you catch the signal from?" "Ah, now that's where you're wrong, dear brother. It's not broken. I overheard Gia and Phil talking. This is a test of the Ethan secret agent system." She teased in monotone then laughed. "Since you didn't have your computer with you I tracked you through Octavia's Palm Pilot." The wheels screeched again and suddenly the car came to a complete stop outside what looked to be a tall cliff. Dust swirled around the car like an exploding atomic dust bomb. "Octavia? My Octavia?" "Yeah, you're Octavia. Hey, Sherlock, where'd you go to spy school? She's one of Phil's girls. Didn't you see the signs? Long blonde hair... always carries a Glock? You have a tendency to be such a ninny sometimes." Faith exited the car and walked over to the cliff face resting her hand against it. "We should be safe here for a while." "Oh, boy," Scarlett said holding her head. "What have I gotten us into Phoenix?" "Trouble with a capital T," he said leaning on the trunk next to her. They watched as Ethan, the spy, hobbled over to his sister. "Octavia is one of the Legacy's main operatives. Even dad knew that." "Even dad knew that," he repeated in a boyish taunt. "Is there anything you don't miss?" "Well, I sort of missed getting introduced to Heckle and Jeckle over there." "Hey, watch who you're calling Heckle," Scarlett bit back reevaluating her notion about the pixieish girl. "So what are we doing here? And how is this going to keep us safe from the bad guys?" Faith pushed a certain spot on the cliff face and magically a door appeared. "Neat, huh? It use to be a monastery. Now the underground uses it as a hiding place." "The Bulgarian Underground?" Ethan slapped his forehead. "I just came from meeting Isidor, as you probably already know. He's in the underground." Faith smiled back at him. "He's not the only one." She pushed a series of buttons on the outside of the door and a latch unhitched. The door swung outward revealing two people standing not too far from the entrance. One was partially obscured and cast in shadow. Ethan was blown away by who he saw. "What is this?" he asked Faith. "A family reunion?" "Call it what you will, brother of mine." Kevin Fairchild came out from the darkness and shook the bloody hand of his elder brother. "Faith told me what Philip was up to. We had to come and help." "We?" The person veiled in shadow walked out into the light of day and all color again drained from Ethan's face. "Oh, my God. It's YOU!" Scene 13 - Outside a Bulgarian monastery Ethan could hardly contain his anger as he glared at Michela Forsythe. She was the last person he wanted to see-- especially here in Bulgaria where it had all started.... and ended. The memories rushed back, attacking him. The more he thought of Michela, the quicker the vein in his jaw throbbed. In his eyes Michela could tell illumination bombarded him. His gaze radiated toward her sending out emissions that stung like razors. She wasn't sorry for what happened. It was inevitable that what had resulted would come to pass. At one time, she may have thought otherwise but now, now she struggled to put it all behind her. Mike still didn't know why she was tempted to come here to Bulgaria, where it all began, where she first met the great Ethan Fairchild. But somehow, Kevin had made it seem possible. He made her feel she could get past what had occured so long ago. As she stared at Ethan now, she knew she was wrong. Ethan would never forgive such a considerable betrayal. Minutes later, Ethan's mood persisted. She imagined steam swirling from his head and the thought entertained her for awhile. His eyes assaulted her like they had so many months ago. But the ice that undoubted flowed in his veins at his moment would never be warmed by her hands again. When Ethan finally managed to speak, his anger momentarily blinded him to the pain racking his shoulder. The vein in his jaw throbbed faster when the words spewed from his mouth. "YOU! I can't believe you have the gall to show your face in Bulgaria again much less think I'd take any charity from the likes of you." Mike thrust her hand to a hip and smiled. "My Ethan, are we still agitated by what happened in the past?" She smirked and stroked Kevin's shoulder exactly where Ethan's wound was located. "Four people died because of that money!" "Their families were well compensated. Many are richer now than they could have ever hoped to be." Mike walked toward Ethan and he stepped back. "You are such a fool," he spit out through clinched teeth. "Money above everything. Is that it? Money can't bring your family back." Ethan presumed neither Kevin or Faith knew the whole story and he wasn't about to bring it out in the open by battling with a woman who belonged in jail. Kevin watched his brother carefully and the looks exchanged between the two of them was like watching the beginning of World War III. To interrupt their obvious dislike of each other, Kevin invited them all inside. "It isn't much but... Well, it isn't much." He laughed and only Faith smiled. Scarlett and Phoenix both threw him uneasy glances and Ethan seemed about to start his own war but was holding back since minors were present. Thank God for teens, he thought. To further remedy the situation, Kevin asked Mike to check their rations. They had more company than originally expected. She smiled and went off to perform the duty. The rock covered walls appeared red in the subdued light of the monastery. The color was doing nothing to ease Ethan's anger. In fact, it was making it worse. He sat next to Faith in the main chamber. She had her feet kicked sideways over the arm of an elaborately carved chair. "Since when are Kevin and Mike...? Well, ... you know." Ethan asked the question uneasily as if the query was as painful as his injury. Faith knew how hard it was for Ethan to ask this question but still she found it amusing. She tried to hold in her snicker. Sometimes her brother could be so humorous, especially when he wasn't trying to be. He put on such a staunch front but she knew him. She knew how he really felt about Michela Forsythe. No matter what horrible bitterness spewed forth between them. She knew it was only the pain talking. A pain he wouldn't let go of. Sometimes she wished Ethan felt comfortable enough to tell her the whole story. Someday she'd discover the truth. "Well?" Ethan wasn't known as a patient man. "Don't make me ask again. Are they...?" "Going out? You can say it, you know." offered Faith without much sympathy. Ethan made a face. It was some where between a grimace and a scowl. "I thought..." he started to say what was on his mind, then thought better of it. "I don' t know what I thought." Ethan appeared very uncomfortable. "How long have they been...?" He paused again. He couldn't bring himself to say the words. "Going out?" Faith let a chuckle slip and then controlled herself. "They're two simple words in the English language. I'm sure you remember learning them. Maybe you've never heard them in the same sentence next to one another. Here's an example: Kevin and Michela are going out tonight." Faith dead panned the sentence without as much as a grin. "See," she said sarcastically. "That wasn't too difficult, was it?" "Ah, the wonders of what they teach you in a European boarding school." Suddenly, Faith's smile faded and she became seriously introspective. For a moment she seemed lost in thought. "Ethan, I know you don't take much stock in my life, but I haven't been in school for four months. Four months!" He took in her sour expression and knew the subject matter had suddenly taken a left turn. "You wanted me to notice?" He didn't think four months was very long. "I wanted you to show some brotherly concern for my well being. Now that dad is gone, you're like my fatherly image. The school tried calling you but you're obviously never home. The Legacy is always so much more important than me." Her lip protruded into her classic 'Faith pout.' "They sent you a letter instead." "Faith, you know Emma handles all my correspondence. If it was so important, why didn't she contact me?" Ethan now was on guard. Faith was putting him on the hot seat and he didn't like that feeling coming from a seventeen year old. "She did, you MORON! You just weren't interested. Legacy business, you said. She'll be fine, you said." Faith was now pacing back and forth in front of the large chair she had been seated in. "But she handled it, right?" he said defensively. "She shouldn't *have* to handle it! She's our housekeeper not my mother! She's not family. I want *you* to care about me for once in your life!" "I do care, Faith." Ethan put his hand out to touch her shoulder and she flinched. "You have a funny way of showing it." Faith grabbed her pack and started for the door. "I'm outta here. Finish the mission on your own. Maybe I can catch up to Heckle and Jeckle for the complete tour. They should be good for a few laughs." "Suit yourself." Silence filled the space between them as they regarded each other in the glow of the nearby fireplace. It made them both appear rather orange toned. Faith offered back a final troubled glance and stalked away. "Hey kid," Kevin said as she started to pass him. Her face was painted with an expression he'd never seen on her before. "Where's my good humor girl?" Kevin ruffled her short black hair, and she brushed his hand away. "She's not in the laughing mood right now." With that as her final comment, she stalked out in search of the twins. Maybe they would lift her spirits. Her brothers were both downers. Scarlett and Phoenix hadn't wandered too far into the monastery. They hovered near the door hoping to make their escape. The sedan outside was theirs. They could take it whenever they pleased. And right now, they both pleased. "I am not staying here any longer," Phoenix whispered to his sister. "Ethan has people to take care of him. So we've done our job. Can we go now?" Scarlett stared down the hallway to where Ethan and Faith were sitting. They hadn't noticed she and Phoenix were hovering in the shadows. "Okay," she whispered. "Let's just leave. I don't want to explain where we're going. I don't even want to know what's going on." The two twins steeled back through the tunnel to where the entrance lie, and neither looked back as they left the Bulgarian Underground and the spy, Ethan Fairchild far behind. Scene 14 - [A monastery in Bulgaria] "What happened?" Kevin asked Faith once he found her sitting by the fire in the next room. "Did you and Ethan have a fight?" "A knock-down, drag-out one," she said staring at the flames as they lapped over a log in the fireplace. "What did he do this time?" Kevin settled into a crouched position next to her feet. "What does he always do?" she said in frustration. She explained to him about the boarding school incident and the letter and wanting Ethan to care about her. "Hon, this is Ethan we're talking about. He may not show it, but he does care. He loves you." Kevin ruffled his kid sister's hair and proceeded to get up and lean against the wall. He knew she needed to talk and his comforting her with words wouldn't make it any easier. "I don't want second rate sympathy. I want him to care about me. Worry about me. Know when I'm ditching." Again she paced. Her cat like strides left Kevin feeling older. His kid sister was growing up right before his eyes, and too soon she'd be an adult. "I know when you're ditching," he said simply. "I know you know. You're not the problem. I've always felt loved by you. But since dad died, Ethan's been obsessed with the Legacy. I could probably recite the damn Legacy motto backward and forward I've heard it so many times." As she stared into the flames Faith related the Legacy mission statement by rote. "Our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world that try to overtake the innocent, against the very forces of evil that overwhelm this earthly realm. Where evil dwells, good must prevail. This is our truth." Even though Faith was only making a point, Kevin clapped. "I don't think I could have recited it as well as that. It comes from Ephesians 6:12. Did you know that? Dad believed greatly in virtue and goodness and protecting the innocent." "Is that why they called him the last good knight? Because he was the only good left in the foundation?" Faith hugged her brother wanting to feel the comfort Ethan could not provide. "I don't know, hon. I guess I've always wanted to believe there was still some good in their ranks. I'm no saint, but I know the difference between right and wrong. They use to too. I choose to believe someone is out there. Someone with a good soul who can bring the foundation back to what it once was." He said hugging her. [Legacy Headquarters] Philip paced around his office. He had an uneasy feeling there was more to this mission than Gia was willing to tell him. Ethan had become the target. And he had to wonder why. He knew better than anyone playing God was a talent. Gia had crossed the line. She wasn't using her "gift" for the leadership of the Legacy. This had become strangely personal, and he had to know why. He called up the mission status on his computer. The file blinked at him. Deleted. That was impossible. The mission was still ongoing. Checking through the glass to see if Gia was watching, Philip called in Jeffrey Sogard, the technical controller. He was an expert with computers and undeleting files. Philip wondered if he could undelete this. While he waited for the kid to arrive, Philip watched the video they'd taped earlier of Ethan's mission. Part of the feed was missing. But the transmission did seem to temporarily return and a vague image appeared on the screen. Two figures huddled over a third. And the third looked injured. It had to be Ethan, he thought. He wasn't dead after all! Gia had believed the opposite to be true. Jeffrey walked into his office and brought Philip out of his thoughts. "You call me, sir?" "Yes, I have a file I need you to retrieve. Think you can get it back for me?" Philip was an imposing man but Jeffrey was there only to serve. His father too had been a Legacy operative. His mission was to find out what really happened to him. So retrieving the file for Philip would let him have access to the main computer terminal. This was his chance to establish a link so he could copy files over the network to his own station. "Yes, sir. I can try. The unerase feature is a delicate thing. If you haven't written over that part of the drive, the information should still be there entirely intact. It's only when you've recently saved something to that block does the feature not work correctly." "You don't need to explain it to me. Just do it. The file from the current mission has been accidentally deleted. I want it back. Can you do that?" "Sure." Jeffrey settled into the large black chair and fiddled with Philip's computer searching a DOS string for the missing file. It had been deleted from the main directory but luckily not from the drive itself. Within two minutes, Jeffrey had the document pulled up on the screen. Since Philip was unacquainted with technology, Jeffrey took an extra minute to establish a link to his own computer. Successfully doing so, he turned to Philip. "There you go sir," he said sliding the glasses back up on his nose. "The document you requested." "Thank you, son. You're dismissed." Jeffrey cracked a reluctant smile and returned to his work station to wait for contact from Octavia. As he read the report one thing glared at him. It said that he, not Gia, had issued Ethan to Bulgaria. That was definitely not true. Gia was the expert on Bulgaria and the Underground resistant fight. So him leading the mission wasn't logical. And sending in Ethan didn't making sense either. Philip was familiar with what had happened in Bulgaria the last time the Legacy sent Ethan on a mission there. That damn Mike Forsythe had gotten away with two quarters of a million dollars. Not only that, she was the one responsible for Franklin Fairchild's death. Bulgaria held too many bad memories for Ethan. Sending him there would make him a less effective operative. Gia had to know that going in. It was almost as if she was targeting him for murder. Yes, this definitely had personal agenda written all over it. As he ran down the operative list, one name stuck out among the others. Michela Forsythe. He had to read it again to make completely sure he was seeing it correctly. Mike Forsythe was on the operative list for the Bulgarian mission. How could that be possible? Michela Forsythe was not only not a member of the Legacy, she was reported dead nearly a month ago. Something fishy was going on here, and he had to find out why Gia was pinning it all on him. Scene 15 - Inside the monastery Michela Forsythe held the digital phone closer to her ear and listened. She could see Ethan sitting in front of the fireplace staring into the flames. Kevin and Faith were not far from him speaking in hushed tones. Probably about him no doubt. She slunk further into the shadows trying to pretend like she wasn't conversing with the person on the other end of the phone. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. Do you know what it's like? Having to stare into his eyes and know what he thinks of me?" She lit up a cigarette and began puffing at it unconsciously. "He'll get over it. He always does," said the caller. "But why me? Couldn't you have gotten someone else to do it?" She inhaled and blew a stream of smoke in Ethan's direction. He never glanced over or even noted she was on the phone. "There is no one else. You're the only one I trust." "But *he* doesn't trust me." "That doesn't matter. I trust you. And right now, that's all that counts. You did me a favor and I'll always be grateful." "I'll go to my grave wishing I never had helped you. Look what it's gotten me. Only heartache." "Oh, stop blubbering. For God's sake, Mike. It's for Ethan that we're doing this." "Not only for him, but for the others. Were there many?" "Too many. Now that they're close to perfecting the process..." The man stopped and took a breath. "I hate to think what's next. Who's next." "You suspect it's Ethan, don't you?" "You're right, I do. They've already tried to kill him. Hell, everyone at headquarters probably thinks he's already dead. It's the perfect set up. He'll disappear for awhile. They'll do their thing. And he'll come back a new man, literally. Ethan is their next Guinea pig. I'm sure of it. If they can make it work on him.... They'll have an easy entry into any country world wide. We have to stop this. And to do that, we have to get Ethan away from *them*." "Who exactly is *them*?" she asked offhandedly noticing Ethan stoking the fire. Michela couldn't help but stare at Ethan's face. She watched the shadows as they danced across his high cheekbones landing on his lips, cheeks, chest. Lips she had so many times kissed. Cheeks she had so many times caressed. A life she so desperately wanted back. "Michela, are you listening to me?" His stern words brought her out of her reverie. Startled, her eyes darted to and fro. Her head snapped straight up and she walked into the next room to get away from the image of the man she loved. The man she could never be with. "Yes, yes I am. What did you say again? Who are they?" "The Foundation, Nightingale, the Black Council and whoever the hell else is involved in this. We have to nip this damn thing in the bud ... before Ethan becomes another statistic. So suck it up. Get them all farther underground. I've provided you with some assistance. Ambrose." "Oh, God," she sighed. "Not the priest." "Yes, the priest. You'll just have to get past this resentment you have against him." "Easy for you to say. You're not the one living in my head." "You'll work together as a team. He's the only one you can confide anything to. Understand?" Mike inhaled and held her breath, then slowly exhaled. "Understand?" he said more harshly. "Yes," she said with an annoying inflection. "See if I ever save you damn butt again." The man chuckled softly and the line went dead. She snapped the phone shut then whispered, "Good bye to you to." She stared at the small black case and smiled. "At least I didn't tell him about the two kids who stumbled into this. He would have gone ballistic." ____________ [On a cliff nearby] It was hard to know who to trust these days. Did you trust the Legacy or the Foundation? Philip or Gia? Octavia knew the answer. The answer was, you didn't trust anyone. That way, you saved yourself the pain. That way, you didn't get hurt. That was the Russian way. She had learned to detach herself from her emotions. She could kill and not care. It was what made her a good agent. Shooting Ethan hadn't been difficult. Gia wanted to believe it was tough for her. So Octavia made her believe it was a trying decision. How many times had her government instructed her shoot someone? How many times had they tested her? Too many times, and each time, she came out on top. She knew they couldn't break her. She had no real ties to the world. Her father was a traitor and dead to her. Her brother too young to know any better. He didn't know she even existed. Which was all right with her. She didn't need family. She got what she needed by using people. She used Ethan for sex. He didn't love her. She knew that. She used Gia for the thrill of the kill and she used Jeffrey just because she could. She sat on a cliff overlooking the monastery and peered down at it with her mini binoculars. Infared showed they were all inside. If she had explosives, she would have blown the old church to smithereens and not shed a tear for Ethan or his precious family. Ethan Fairchild was a great agent, but he had one fatal flaw. He loved his family. And his family would be what killed him. The Black Council had plans for Ethan. She'd gotten close to him for them. Now all they had to do was finish the job. She smiled and tied her pack on more securely. Tonight was the night. Tonight Ethan Fairchild would learn the meaning of the words pain and payback.