Two

Marcel

Saturday, 23 January, 9:16 p.m.

––––––––

The moment I unlocked the doors and pushed them open, it struck me. Aidan agreed to let me run the investigation, but it meant I would have to leave Ainsley in someone else's care. My mother-in-law as good a person as any; she had done a fine job raising four sons. Eighteen months after Nathan's birth, she had started to work again and continued after Liam was born. If not, they wouldn't have had Rowan.

Nausea crept out of unknown places and lodged in my throat. Is this how all mothers feel when they go back to work when their maternity leave is over?

I ached to see my daughter. Her sweet face reminding me of the love parents have for their children. Four who had been murdered. As I always did, I hoped the victims were loved. And I prayed for their parents. Losing a child is a pain no parent should ever have to endure. When they did, I couldn't ignore the darkness' call to seek justice and vengeance for the victims, and their loved ones.

In the guest bedroom I found Heather sitting on the bed reading a paperback novel. Our eyes met as I opened the door. "What's wrong, sweetie?" she whispered.

"Nothing, Mom. I just need to see Ainsley." My beautiful, perfect daughter lay on her back, her arms stretched out above her head. Her favourite soft toy, a stuffed tiger Aidan had bought, lay against the side of the cot. I bent over the rail and moved it away from her face. Never in my life did I feel the need to protect as fiercely as when I looked at her innocent face. We have the means to protect her against almost anything life might throw at her. But what about all the children, and parents, who aren't as lucky?

I understood Aidan's reasons for not wanting me in the field, but I could bring a killer to justice. If I didn't, I wouldn't be true to who I am. Dr James had said as much during my last session. He had helped me win the fight against the post-natal depression which attacked me out of nowhere. Jimmy said I would need to work again, for my own sanity. A mother who works outside the home isn't a negligent mother, as long as her work isn't illegal. Then again, that's a grey area – what if she doesn't know a different, or more legal way to provide for her children?

"Finley?" Heather whispered and placed her hand on my shoulder.

I wiped my eyes before I turned to her. Heather motioned with her head towards the balcony door and I followed her out. The air warm; the sound of the crashing waves a reminder that Aidan and I had created a new and better home. It stood on the rubble of the house which had been here before. We built on the ruins of our past, not only in a literal sense.

To my right, Lizzie and Eli lived with their son, Levi. Ainsley's cousin. Aidan and my godson. To my left a safe house owned by the organisation I now worked for. All three homes impenetrable. Fortresses. The lengths we went to in order to ensure our family will be safe. As safe as we could be in this cruel and dark world. One I would now re-enter at the cost of spending time with my daughter.

"What's wrong?" Heather pulled me close, wrapping her arms around me. She rubbed a hand up and down my back; the way a mother comforts her child.

"I need to ask you a favour. Do you mind staying for a while and taking care of Ainsley? Rowan informed us of four murders and Aidan has agreed to let me run the investigation."

Heather hugged me tighter before releasing me but kept her hands on my shoulders. "That's not a favour, it's my honour as her grandmother to take care of her. No matter how long you need."

The destruction Heather had witnessed no longer lingered in her eyes, or in the exhaustion audible in her voice. This would be good for her too. There's only so much one person can see in their lifetime. What happened in Columbia was the last for Heather. An entire town burned to the ground. Its people slaughtered with machetes, all because of a turf war between rival cartels. I had known since Heather walked through the door two days before, her days at Fortius were over. Which meant mine would start.

"Thank you. Can I ask you something?" I turned away from her and stared out over the dark mass in front of me, except for the sporadic blue flashes of lightning on the horizon. "Was it difficult for you to go back to work?"

Lizzie and I discussed it countless times. She had returned to the office when Levi was twelve weeks old. Of course, my sister opened a day care on the grounds of Williams Pharmaceuticals, much to the delight of her employees. Little did they know about the background checks Eli conducted on every person who took care of their children during the day. Not only on the day care's employees, but on any and every person they had ever been in contact with. None other than Duvall Construction, a company owned by my in-laws, had done the construction. Their employees all ex-military. The Walkers' way of helping soldiers adapt to civilian life.

"It's difficult for every mother, but I kept my focus on the good I did. The same as what you'll do. Ainsley won't lack in any aspect if both you and Aidan work. Quality is far more important than the quantity of time spent together. When she's old enough, she'll understand the importance of the work you do. Is Aidan okay with you being out in the field?"

"No, but he can't keep me locked up here forever. Neither can we keep Ainsley here for the rest of her life. Death will come for all of us."

"You won't be in danger every day, not like a police officer is, or if you still served in the military. Aidan understands the risks and the safety precautions in how we operate better than anyone. Include him as much as you can in the investigation, and in time he'll make peace with it."

I leaned my head on Heather's shoulder. From the first day we met, I saw her as a mother. So similar to my own, yet even more similar to me. Might be our shared lust for vengeance and stomachs for torture.

"My darling girl, I think the question is, are you going to be okay?" Heather pressed her lips to my hair.

"Yes, as okay as I can be. As you said, it's a sacrifice every working mother makes. To be honest, I know I'm not the best person to take care of Ainsley. I don't have the patience to teach her the way a qualified teacher or nanny can."

Heather laughed, the bullet-resistant glass of the sliding door kept the sound from Ainsley's ears. "Do you have any idea what a wake-up call it was when my two-year-old started reading stories to me and telling jokes? I always thought myself intelligent enough to get by in life, and then along came Aidan. You might not have the patience or know how to teach Ainsley certain things, but you'll teach her to shoot a gun, hand-to-hand combat, evasive driving. Skills she'll need in this world, Fin. Just leave it to Aidan to teach her how to handle a rifle. He didn't build the indoor shooting range for the two of you. Oh, and let him teach her about explosives, and whatever else he has written on the list you two created."

Again, Heather laughed. "You're both amazing parents, and will continue to be so, despite not being with her every second of the day. Now, tell me about your first official investigation working for Fortius."

I turned to Heather and shook my head hard. "No can do, Mom. You're on leave, slash the impromptu nanny, full-time grandmother, and caretaker of a busy one-year-old." I pressed my lips to her cheek. "But, if I need your help, I will ask."

Before I opened the sliding door, Heather spoke, "You won't need my help, my girl. I've got our baby girl, and you've got this investigation in the bag. A murderer is a murderer, no matter where in the world he kills."

At the time neither of us realised how wrong her statement would turn out to be.