Dead Body

Watching Xander's reactions and observing the little family, Chance felt for them. This was a warm, happy atmosphere and they didn't deserve to be uprooted. But this was a war that had started long, long ago, and it was the fault of no one here. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, at the tiny commotion in the kitchen as he took a sip of coffee he'd accepted from Abby. As sorry as he felt about all of this, he also knew that Xander was well aware of the dangers when he'd taken on this job in the first place - he'd just been lucky to have gone this long without incident.

"You have my word, I will guard your family with my life." Even now, as casually dressed as he was, he was carrying more weapons than anyone would care to know. "Heaven help the poor sap who tries anything while I'm on duty." His eyes showed how serious he was. He hadn't always been the most faithful agent, nor had he always turned away from trouble when he should have, but the Agency would have to kill him to get to this innocent family.

"I was hoping you'd say yes," he concluded. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a printed plane ticket. "Your flight for Texas leaves at six in the morning. I'll be here at five to see you off and then stay here. Someone from the ranch will pick you up and from there the mission is all in their hands."

He paused and listened to some more chatter from the children in the kitchen. "I'm sorry this is such short notice. If it weren't for the situation in Texas, you'd have more time to prepare to move. But I'll do all I can to make the transition easier, whether it's simply standing watch or helping pack boxes. The Elite will pay for all moving expenses, so you won't need to worry about that."

Chance took a glance at his watch before setting down his coffee cup and standing. "I should go before prying eyes start to wonder why I'm here. See you bright and early?"


For several moments, Rosalyn just sat with her mouth still partially open, her mind reeling. She stared at Chad, almost trying to figure out if he was actually serious about this. He'd almost convinced her he really did want a deeper relationship with her, but this? To basically take on responsibility for her well-being until this thing blew over?

"We don't even know how long this will last," was the first thing out of her mouth.

Jim pursed his lips. "No, we don't. If we get Travis out in the next couple days, that could be it."

"But how...how do we know if the Agency will retaliate? How do we know they won't just sit quietly until a month from now? Or six months? How do we live like that, not knowing?"

Jim tried to smile. "Just like we have all our lives." When he saw how much his daughter was struggling, he decided to add more. "The Agency can't dictate where you go or what you do. It's just about how we each deal with the threat the best we see fit. Sometimes that's as a group, and sometimes that's individually."

Rosalyn swallowed hard. "You'd rather I come back to the ranch wouldn't you?"

Jim's emotions started to surface again and his gaze dropped. "I want you to do what's right for you." It was hard to say it, but he managed. "And...if it was me... I'd go with the one I love."

Tears entered Rosalyn's eyes and she looked to Chad again, her grip tightening on his hand. "What...what about what I have here? I help the girls with rent and, and, and... I have jobs and..." She stopped when she saw her dad reach in his back pocket. 

He pulled out his checkbook and grabbed a pen off the coffee table. As he started to write though, his world suddenly went black. Gripping the chair's armrest to find his balance, he scrunched his eyes tight.

"Dad? Are you okay?"

He nodded, then blinked several times. "Yeah....yeah, I'm okay." Thankfully, his surroundings came back into focus, but it was no less scary than any other episode. Resuming his task, he finished writing a check before tearing it out and handing it to Rosalyn.

She took it, confused especially when she saw the amount written. "What..."

"That should help with keeping up rent here while you're gone so you have something to come back to and it won't burden your friends."

Rosalyn swallowed hard before showing Chad the check too. "But...this...Dad, it's... This would keep my rent here five months, with enough left to help live on elsewhere."

He nodded. "That's the idea."

"But you and mom can't afford this," she argued. 

"How do you know? Besides... If I would have been half the father I should have been, I would have spent that money on you a long time ago to give you a better chance at life outside the ranch."

Rosalyn wiped her eyes and sniffed. "Thank you," she returned softly. "I guess..." A little laugh surfaced. "I guess this means I'm going to the gulf coast." 

Jim stood and retrieved his keys. "You might wanna tell your mom yourself. Just saying. But, um... I'll head back now."

"No you don't." Rosalyn got to her feet. "I'm calling the ranch to have someone come get you. I'm not letting you drive back like this."

"But..."

"No buts." She grabbed her cell phone, her tone stern. "It's time they knew about this too anyway. It's either that or Chad takes you back and I have a feeling you don't wanna long ride with him..."

...It was over an hour later and the house was quiet. Mick and Jeff had come and gone with Jim, left to find out just what was going on once they got back to the ranch. In the meantime, Rosalyn had afforded her dad a hug, although it was obvious that mending of hearts would take much longer than just one evening and a couple apologies. But things were at least finally turning around. As for her and Chad...

She paced the living room, her arms folded in worry. "Are you sure about this?" She'd repeated that question twice already, but hadn't given Chad a chance to answer yet. "I mean, really? Not just the whole taking care of me thing, but getting involved with the Agency watching? Taking me with you could put your whole team at risk too. And what if the Agency did come after me? What about the others? Is this fair to them?" She kept pacing. "Besides all that, you say you're dedicated to whatever this is we've got going, but even with all this? It's downright stupid you know. Completely absurd for you to take me with you. And, and, and...well it's just insane is what it is."


Wyatt folded his fingers around Grace's in a reassuring grip. "It's going to be okay."

Static, a muffled partial sentence, then more static from Garret distracted him for a moment. Had that been someone else's voice, or Garret's? What was going on? "Garret?" No response. "Garret, where are you? Talk to us," Wyatt prompted. All he received was more silence. This wasn't good.

He looked back to Grace. "Follow me. We have a car waiting." Hurrying, he got her across the warehouse, then out into the night air and led her at a fast jog across the complex. "Headed your way, Nate." With the vehicle in sight, his eyes ricocheted around their surroundings to make sure the route really was clear. Everything was quiet. Getting Grace to the SUV, he opened the rear door and helped her in. "Just take a seat. You're safe now. This is Nate - he's on our team."

He looked back into the complex, worried. "Garret?" he asked again. "Where are you?"

"All clear," finally came the response. "Target in hand and headed your way."

Wyatt glanced into the vehicle at Nate. Garret had actually pulled it off? Movement pulled his focus back to the complex where Garret appeared to be carrying a figure over his shoulder.

Garret carried the limp body to the SUV where he popped the back hatch and deposited it inside. "Is the girl alright?"

"Yeah, she's okay. What happened?"

"Comm got knocked off my ear when I went head to head with this guy."

Wyatt quirked an eyebrow. "And this guy is...?"

"Dead. Let's get out of here before anyone else decides to show up."

Wyatt blinked. He'd just thrown a dead body in the back of their car? Seriously? "Are you out of your mind?!" he hissed. "You should know better than to move a body! This puts our badges on the line! And why, pray tell, is he dead anyway?! What happened?"

Garret didn't react, but glanced into the SUV. "Don't you think we ought to get this young lady out of here and to safety before flying off the handle?"

Wyatt glared at him before sliding into the backseat so Garret could take shotgun, then shut the door. If this wasn't an Agency case, he'd make more of a fuss, but unfortunately, when it came to the Agency, rules were bent in favor of everyone's safety - not just protocol. And since they had Grace with them, they couldn't very well hang around and risk her safety again. At any given moment, they could be ambushed. He swallowed his emotions and gave her a warm smile. "We're only a few minutes from headquarters, so just hang tight." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Rick. "Yeah, it's Wyatt... Yes. She's okay but been roughed up a bit. We'll be there shortly. Thanks." After ending the call, he grabbed a bottle of water and offered it to Grace. "Here. Have you had anything to eat?"

Garret slid into the passenger seat and tossed his earset onto the dash before taking off his ballcap to run a hand through his hair. He didn't look at Nate, nor did he try to explain himself or why the Agency operative was now dead. "He threatened a second target again." He kept his voice down to avoid scaring Grace any more. "I suggest we get back before they decide to take us out instead." It was unfortunate, but he doubted Justin would have another chance at saving whoever else the Agency planned to use. He knew how these things worked as he'd tried to explain earlier. He knew there had been two targets from the beginning - the Agency was just banking on them continuing to hope they could actually rescue both, just to make the failure that much harder to accept. Someone was going to die. Now that they had Grace, it was inevitable that the other target would be killed. Maybe the Elite thought they could pull off total success, but Garret knew better. Whether Justin thought all his loved ones were safe or not, Garret had been playing this game too long to think they were free and clear.