Fault

Seeing Justin was joining them, Rick just offered Grace a warm smile. Yes…yes, this place was “more.” But it would take more than a few minutes to explain. 

Justin nodded thoughtfully as his eyes took in everything about how Grace was reacting to her situation. Her first thought was of her confusion about what had happened. But directly after came her want to see Jared. His brother was an idiot. 

“Um, yeah. Yeah, he’s here. We’ve been taking turns worrying about you all day.” He grinned a little. “This whole thing has been hard for all of us to understand. The Elite here is a branch of law enforcement and I’ve been doing some work for them. Apparently some really bad guys didn’t like it so they decided to get back at me. And…you got caught in the crossfire. That’s why I’m sorry. This never should have happened. I’m just glad you’re okay.” 

He paused as Rick bandaged a cut on the side of her face. “As for Jared… he’s okay too. Just shook up and…having some trouble imagining you want to see him after your apparent…shall we say…conflict.” As his phone buzzed in his pocket, he checked the screen. Beth. She probably wondered if he was coming back tonight since it was so late. “Give me a sec,” he apologized. “You’re in good hands.” Turning and heading to the door, he answered on his way into the hallway. “Hey. What’s up?” 

Hearing the tone of Beth’s voice, Justin stopped in his tracks. “Whoa, whoa, slow down.” His pulse started to race. Sarah was dead? She’d been physically fine. With as much care as she had every day, a sudden death was a very strange occurrence. “Oh, Beth, I’m so sorry. Just hang in there, okay? I’ll be home soon. Stay there and tell Ma what’s going on.” She’d take care of Beth until Justin could get there. “I’ll see you shortly.” 

It was only after he ended the call that he allowed his mind to travel to a very dark place. A dark place that caused fear to surge through his veins. A dark place with facts he didn’t want to acknowledge. This whole thing with Sarah was far too coincidental. And in that dark place, he knew. He knew the truth, whether he had evidence or not. But evidence was what he needed. 

Pushing aside his emotions, he quickly walked down two doors, glad to see Dalton was still there. He needed some fast calls…and hacking into Brookshire’s system if necessary…

…Fifteen minutes later, Justin was behind the wheel of his pickup. He’d left Jared in the Elite’s hands, unable to wait. Getting to Beth was his only focus. As he stopped at a red light, his phone buzzed again. Dalton. He was even faster than anticipated. And the news wasn’t good. There was no official confirmation yet, but they suspected Sarah had been poisoned. And before Justin could even begin to process what that meant, he received a text message from an unknown number. 

Happy with your choice?

And that was all the confirmation Justin needed. Sarah had been murdered. And it was all his fault.

Parked in the driveway with the engine off, Justin sat in the dark. He should go inside. He needed to go inside. Beth needed him. Or did she? If it weren’t for him, her sister would still be alive. How could he even face her? He had feelings for Beth that ran deeper than he’d had for anyone else. And he had effectively murdered her own sister by thinking he was immune to the Agency’s schemes. 

A barrier was lowered to shelter his heart as he finally exited his pickup. Beth needed his support. And that came first, before he’d be able to tell her why Sarah was gone. 

Getting inside, he was greeted with a silent nod from Pete, before he went to the living room. His mother was dressed in comfy clothes for the night, but her subdued greeting proved she’d been with Beth as Justin had hoped. Then there was Beth. He remained standing as he saw her, and simply held out his arms. 


Once the team was dismissed from Reese's office, Wyatt, unhappy with the results of the night, aimed for Dalton's office, hoping the giant was still there. "Hey, Dalton?" He knocked on the open door and wandered closer, pulling a small device from his pocket. It held the recordings of the entire communication that had taken place during the mission. "Do me a favor?" He chewed on the inside of his lip. He hadn't asked permission. But he needed to know. "Garret's set got knocked off his head...or so he claims. But it was still on. All we can hear is static, and some muffled words. Think you might be able to clean it up so we can hear what really went on?"...

...The sound of scuffling.
Silence.
The thump of the communicator being dropped onto the ground.
More scuffling.
An unfamiliar voice. "Garret. You s-"
"You're not walking away from this," Garret threatened.
"Kill me and you kill another innocent life."
"They're dead anyway."
More scuffling.
The voice returned, strained now. "You're as good as dead, Garret, you know that."
More scuffling.
Silence.
Static.
Finally it was Garret's voice again. "All clear. Target in hand and headed your way."

Wyatt's face was tense with anger. Garret had been heartless when it came to the mention of a second target. He hadn't thought twice about killing the other guy. And he'd gotten rid of his earpiece before the fight had even begun. "I gotta take this to Reese. Thanks, Dalton."

Halfway to his dad's office, Wyatt's anger had piqued. And passing Garret didn't help matters. Instead of continuing his route, he stopped in the hallway, blocking Garret's path. "You're a heartless killer," he hissed. "And you have no place on our team."

Garret stopped in his tracks and straightened as Wyatt's words immediately got his hackles up. "You wanna run that by me one more time?"

Wyatt presented the thumb drive that now held the new recording. "That operative recognized you, didn't he? And you knew that if he lived, you were as good as dead. So you didn't think about anyone else, but decided right there that you were going to kill him. Didn't you?" By now, he was face to face, glaring at Garret.

Garret's eyes narrowed. "And here I thought we were all on the same side."

"You'll never be on our side."

Garret held up his first finger as a warning. "You better just let me by and-"

"What's going on?"

Neither man moved as Reese approached.

"Here." Wyatt shoved the thumb drive towards his dad. "It wasn't self defense. Garret here just killed that guy so word wouldn't get out he was alive."

Reese frowned. "That's a pretty serious accusation." He swung his gaze to Garret. "Care to explain?"

"I don't need to explain myself," Garret retorted. "I told you what happened, now if you'll kindly excuse me..."

Wyatt folded his arms. "You're not going anywhere."

Garret shifted his weight, and lifted one hand, ready to use force.

A sudden surge of fear coursed through Reese's veins, causing him to step between Garret and his son. "Garret, you're dismissed."

Considering his options for just a moment, Garret relented, then skirted around Wyatt to head downstairs. Instead of going to his cell though, he went to the rec room.

Back upstairs, Reese turned around to face his son and took a deep breath to keep from raising his voice. "What on earth were you thinking, confronting that man?"

Wyatt's eyes widened. "I'm not scared of him!"

"Well you should be!" Reese shook his head. "He just broke a man's neck for goodness sake. Do you really think you could handle him?"

"I'd like to think I could hold my own and-"

"You wouldn't last sixty seconds." Reese didn't mean to belittle Wyatt's skills, but there wasn't anyone in this entire building who would be able to take Garret. There was a chance Carson could stand his ground for a little while, but Reese would still put his money on Garret.

Wyatt scowled at him. "Nice. So let's keep him here so he can throw his weight around and get away with whatever he wants just because no one has guts enough to stand up to him."

"I didn't say that. I think we-"

"Forget it." Wyatt tossed him the thumb drive. "I gotta get Jason home."

Left standing alone, Reese sighed. This was getting out of hand. Maybe he could catch Nate before he left. Heading to the main floor, he turned only to almost run right into Agent Young. "Oh, excuse me."

"No worries." Young cocked his head. "Been pretty exciting around here."

"That's one way to put it."

"You, uh, think it's a good idea to allow Garret that much free rein?"

"I think he's a success story in the making if I give him a chance."

"No matter who he kills in the process?"

Reese bit his tongue from retorting, and forced a smile instead. "I need to wrap things up before I leave. I assume I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight." Sidling past Young, he changed his route and went to his own office. He'd talk to Nate another time. They were all tired, and it was late. He took his phone out of his pocket as he walked and thumbed a text message to Angelica.
Still up? I'll be home soon.


Downstairs, sweat poured down the sides of Garret's face as he beat the punching bag with pent up energy.


Rosalyn remained nestled into Chad's arms, but shook her head. "I can't go back to the ranch. They don't want anyone coming or going right now - not even me. I can call my mom and brother though."

Despite the joy mixed in with this bizarre situation, a tear escaped to soak into Chad's shirt. "I'm scared," she admitted. "I don't want to make the wrong choice. I trust you... Its me I don't trust because I would go anywhere with you and do anything you asked."