That evening, after Niki returned from her parents house and Drake came home from his second job as a characture artist, they discussed what Drake had found out earlier in the day.
"You think we can pull it off, Drake? I mean, with my name and all?" asked Niki.
"When I talked to the office that issues marriage licenses, they told me that if we wanted to wait a while before having the announcement in the paper that we've taken out a license, we could," Drake said; "The woman I spoke with was very understanding. We could get married in her office with her staff as witnesses if we wanted."
"They didn't ask you if had a green card, did they?" asked Niki.
"She did, actually, and I said I've had one since I came here as a 17 year old. She told me to bring my documents with me, but didn't see any problem," said Drake; "She's just trying to cover their arses in case I was trying to be sneaky. And I understand that."
Niki looked at Drake. She wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her life with him. She hated that people automatically thought he was trying to get his green card because he was from Australia. He had all the right documentation needed to work in the U.S. He had resident alien status. Why were people so suspicious of anyone with a foreign accent? Niki often thought.
"I suppose we should decide when we want to do this," Drake said now, breaking into Niki's thoughts.
"My last chemo session is at the end of February," Niki said; "We could do it then."
She saw Drake smile, and knew he had an idea about a date.
"Valentine's Day, perhaps?" he asked her.
"That's bound to be a busy day anyway," Niki said; "You, me and God only know how many other couples want to get married that day."
"And your last treatment is when?"
"February 26th," Niki said.
"How about the 28th then?" Drake said; "Give you a day or so to recover from treatment, though you've been doing pretty good with that already."
Niki went to the big calendar they kept above the desk near the kitchen and circled February 28th in a red heart.
"The 28th it is," Niki said. "I can't wait!"
Her moving about the motel room woke Marsh up.
"Hey, Daph, whatcha doin'?"
"I have to get out of here, Linc," Daphne said; "It's almost morning. I need to be getting back home soon."
"You'll come back tonight, won't you?" he asked.
"If you want, I can," Daphne said. "What did you have in mind, darlin'?"
"I'm feeling a little better, I thought maybe that we could..." he stopped. If his visitors from the previous night were watching him, he didn't want to get Daphne caught up in all the drama. She had little kids who needed her.
"We could what? Do what I get paid to do?" she asked.
Marsh felt conflicted. He didn't want Daphne to be part of his life as the leader of A.R.M. She didn't know about that. He had told her he was in town for a conference, and that a hooker he met on the street kicked him in the crotch. He wanted to keep his real reason for being in Chicago a secret from her.
She had been too good to him, and now he wanted sex from her? Marsh never felt that way about any woman. He took when he wanted sex, whether or not the woman wanted to. But Daphne was... different. He didn't just want drug fueled violent sex with her. He wanted her companionship. Someone to talk to.
What's wrong with me? he thought as she waited for his answer. I can't possibly be... no, I can't be. It's ludicrous! But she is so sweet to me. Maybe she gets tired of being knocked around by heartless bastards like me.
"I was going to say have sex," Marsh said; "But what I really want is just for you to be here with me. My life is kind of lonely, and you've been so nice to me."
Daphne didn't know how to take that. She got scared for a second. Is he falling for me? she thought.
"Just be yourself, Nico," her captain had advised her; "When you get the evidence on this son of a bitch, then back off."
She took the assignment, but she didn't really like acting the part of a whore. She busted several men before Marsh came along. He was the target, and Nikolai San Marco wanted this particular piece of scum to suffer.
Nico talked about the assignment with her husband, Steve, who was also a cop. "You're good at what you do, Nico," he said; "Just because CIA has a line on this guy doesn't make him special. He's just another john."
"I know, Steve, and that's what concerns me," she said; "That the CIA wants him. And he'll know it soon. I want to bust the slimy creep, but if they tell me to let him get away as part of the assignment, then what choice do I have?"
"You do what you're trained to do and you'll be fine," Steve said; "I have every confidence in you."
But Nicoletta Crowley Nichols had doubts. If the perp got wise to the fact she was a cop, her life could be in danger. But she wasn't expecting this.
"Being nice is how I was raised, Linc," Daphne said; "Some of the girls think I'm too nice, but I don't take no shit from nobody."
"I know you don't," Marsh said; "You made that clear the first night you were here, and all I could manage was a weak hard on. I tried to be tough, but you saw through it."
"I knew there was a nice guy in there somewhere who didn't need sex," Daphne said; "He just thought he did. I saw a lonely man with no one to care for him."
"You're a beautiful girl, Daphne," Marsh said sincerely; "I wish I could help you get out of this life. Maybe really work for a hotel somewhere instead of walking the streets."
"This is all I know, Linc," Daphne said; "It's all I've done since I was a 17 year old runaway. I'm too old for this shit now."
"Define old, Daphne," Marsh said. "How old are you?"
"Thirty."
"Not so old, Daph," he said; "I'm twenty-five years older than you. I could be your father."
"My father died when I was eight years old," Daphne said, remembering her father being so sick there at the end; "He was a lot older than my mother. Their love was what I strived for. Even when my mother remarried, I knew that she was a good judge of character. Something I'm not."
"Some guy hurt you?" asked Marsh.
Daphne looked at the floor, and Marsh knew the answer was yes. "He hurt you, abused you. Is this scum the father of your kids?"
"Yes," Daphne said in a small voice Marsh could barely hear. "I left when I was pregnant with my youngest. I ran home to Virginia to stay with my gramma. My mother had died by then."
"Virginia is pretty, I hear," Marsh said; "I've never been there. But why did you come back here?"
"Gramma thought it was best to face my demons," Daphne said; "She watches my kids, and has no idea I went back to hooking. It would kill her if she knew."
"Let me help you get out, Daph," Marsh said.
"Thank you, Linc," she said; "I have an out if I need it."
"If you need help, I'll do what I can."
Daphne looked at him. He was falling for her! It almost broke her heart that this supposedly cruel man could actually have feelings for another human being.
What do I do now? she asked herself. She wasn't sure if she was acting anymore.
And that's what she was afraid of.
"Man!! Marsh literally pissed his pants when you started playing with that grenade, Nik!" Jeremiah laughed as they drove back to Julia's house on the old compound; "It took all my willpower not to laugh!"
"We did scare him a bit, didn't we?" Nik said. "Maybe now he'll leave Chicago and go on the wild goose chase we set up for him."
"A Julia look alike was a stroke of fuckin' genius," said Jeremiah; "The CIA operative that Dixon sent a picture of to us couldn't have been more perfect than if she was related to Julia herself."
"Thank Rebekah Mannion for that," Nik said; "The woman who will be playing Julia is an actress friend of hers and Chris', and she readily signed up when she got the details on what she would be doing."
"What about the undercovers playing the hookers that Marsh is hanging out with?" Jeremiah asked; "How much longer will they be on assignment?"
"Until Marsh leaves Chicago," Nik said; "And an interesting side note; one of the officers is a woman that had a rather famous parent. David actually knows her, but he doesn't know what's going up here."
"Which one is it?" asked Jeremiah.
"I'm not allowed to tell even you," Nik said; "That comes straight from the chief of police herself."
"That would compromise things, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah," Nik said; "It could put this cop in a lot of danger. But there is one thing about her I can tell you."
"What's that?"
"She and Julia share the same birthdate. It's pure coincidence, of course. But interesting nonetheless," Nik said.
They pulled into the driveway at Julia's house and got out. As they walked in the door, Jeremiah said, "I can't wait to take this goop off my face. I feel like I'm suffocating in this camoflague shit."
"We should call Dixon and tell him we achieved our objective," Nik said; "The rest is up to him."
"You going to keep calling him by his surname even after he marries your sister?" asked Jeremiah with a wicked grin on his face.
"Only if we're still working for him then," Nik said.
II
After the commotion of their mother being home died down and they were off to bed, Christian took Kathryn downstairs to the art studio he put together for her shortly before her latest disappearance and hospitalization.
"Cameron told me you'd started drawing again," Christian said; "That's a good sign. I thought that maybe while you're getting used to being home again, you could come down here and paint, draw, and create."
"I've missed being able to make art, Christian," Kathryn said; "I wasn't allowed to even have pencils in my room for a long time. It was just only in the last few weeks I was at the clinic that I began drawing again."
"Did you bring any of your drawings with you, or did Cameron want to keep them as part of your file?" asked Christian.
"I have them with me," said Kathryn. "They are in my bag upstairs."
"Can you show me later?"
"Of course, Christian," Kathryn said, puzzled by the remark; "I had been working on one of you from the old apartment you lived in when we met."
"Really?" Christian asked; "You've never drawn me before that I remember."
"I started seeing things in my mind a lot clearer," Kathryn said; "I couldn't believe how much I remembered of that place until I started to draw. The lighting there was perfect."
"Do you still want to paint?"
"I can mess around down here with the palette and see what comes up," Kathryn said; "It's been a long time, and my old paints are probably long dried up."
"We'll just get you some new paint, then," Christian said; "Maybe when we go to New York this weekend."
"I'd like that," Kathryn said; "How are we going to do that with the girls, though?"
"We'll take them with us," Christian said; "Maybe Erin can expand her collection of pencils and pastels. All of them will love just being with you."
Christian saw Kathryn blush. She always looked so cute when she did that, he thought as he took her into his arms.
"Why are you blushing?" he asked her.
"I don't know," she said; "It seems like I'm in a dream, and I'll wake up and be back in the clinic again."
"You're really here, and I'm never letting you go," Christian said as he kissed the top of forehead. "I love you so much, Kathryn."
Kathryn settled into his embrace and said, "I love you more, Christian."
They then went upstairs.
The lock on the door now replaced and new keys made, JT Collins-Ross took his leave from his sister's hiding place. He bid his nieces and nephew good bye and assured them they'd see each other again soon. He shook hands with Jack, apologizing again for shooting out the lock.
"Jules, we'll get you home somehow in the next ninety days," JT told Julia; "I'm sure Director Dixon has a plan for that. He'll be in touch, I'm sure."
"He better be, or I'm doing this thing on my own, with or without his blessing," Julia said, smiling, but both JT and Jack knew she was deadly serious. "I'm going to work on that as soon as things here calm down."
With that, Jacob Taylor Collins-Ross was gone.
Jack and Julia sat down on the couch while the kids were getting things ready for dinner.
"What's the first thing you're going to do to get out of here?" asked Jack.
"Make arrangements," Julia said; "The animals have to be moved, you need to get your medical records from your doctor in Jackson, we have to find out if we can take Coltrane and his mama with us, pack up our belongings and leave the house as is until such time that you can return, or have someone be a caretaker until..."
Jack interrupted her, saying, "Julia, I don't have that much longer, I fear, if the doctors in Denver are right. You'll get the house. From that point, you can decide what to do with it."
"You've accepted the fact that you're going to die before the year is out, haven't you?" asked Julia, feeling herself getting emotional.
"I have, Julia," Jack said, taking Julia's hand; "There's nothing more any doctor can do for me other than make me comfortable. But there is something I'd like to do before that time."
"What's that?"
Jack leaned in to Julia so only she could hear what he was about to say.
"I want to marry you before we leave here, my precious girl," he whispered; "Maybe we can send the kids on ahead and we can do that before we follow them."
Julia looked at Jack with tears in her eyes. "I'd like nothing more than that, Jack," she whispered in reply; "Even if it's for a short time before I lose you for real, lose you for good. We should do that."
Jack wiped Julia's tears away and held her. The children were oblivious to what just transpired between their mother and Jack. In fact, while she and Jack were conspiring, Miri was having an argument with Zach about setting the table.
All Julia did was turn around and tell her only son to set the table.
Looking at her, Jack thought, God, I'm going to miss you so much, sweet Julia.
After Daphne left, Marsh was on the phone to his snipers back in New York. He found out the eight he sent to Wyoming were all killed, supposedly by someone with impeccible firearms skills. Marsh couldn't help but think they were ambushed by someone who had knowledge that A.R.M. had gotten bogus information about Julia Summers' whereabouts.
She's been in San Francisco all this time? he kept thinking over and over; we were hoodwinked pretty good. Not even Chastity caught on.
He was now sending a sniper team to San Francisco to await Marsh's arrival there a few days later. We'll find that bitch and her kids, he said to himself; they'll never know what hit them.
"You'll leave in 24 hours, then wait for me to arrive," he told the man he was putting in charge of the mission; "I have some things to take care of where I'm at first. Let me know where you're staying so I can meet you there."
After getting an affirmative reposonse from his lead shooter, Marsh hung up the phone. He made one more phone call, to the bank that held the group's funds, and found that A.R.M. was low on funds, but not dangerously low. But he could see how his visitors from the previous night might get the idea that the group was having money troubles; no new funds had come in during the last six months, except what Chastity herself put in before she disappeared.
Stupid bitch, she probably got herself killed or arrested, Marsh thought; good riddance.
He then thought of Daphne, and those incredible green eyes of hers. She could tame me, Marsh thought, and I'd let her if she wanted me. But I'm too old for her. I think she knows it, too. She's just been so nice to me, and I'm not worthy of her, anyway.
He began to think that maybe taking the position with A.R.M. was a mistake, but he'd give it his best shot. He was not above bailing out when the ship started to sink.
He only hoped that Daphne would be waiting if it did.
III
Officially, Nico had the night off. But she promised Linc that she'd come by to visit. It was something that Steve wasn't comfortable with, but he knew in order to play her part, that it sometimes meant working off the clock.
He'd noticed something different about his wife of ten years. She was a little more hesitant about some things, and preoccupied a lot. Those were traits she didn't exhibit very often.
They had met in college, but the spark didn't ignite until just after graduation. Nico had been engaged to another man, and at the last minute, she called it off. She told friends that she simply wasn't ready to settle down. Steve had found out that Nico's fiance had been abusing her physically, and she drew the line. It was Steve that she had come to in order to escape.
"Why didn't you leave earlier?" he asked Nico one night about a week after her wedding was to have taken place.
"I was scared," Nico said; "He said if I left, he'd track me down. I tried to make the relationship work, but he was having none of it. As far as he was concerned I was his woman and I would obey him."
"That's bullshit, Nico, and you know it!" Steve had said, in shock that Nico had put up with the bastard as long as she did.
"I know, but I'm pregnant, and he held that over my head."
"I'll help you get away, Nico," Steve said; "He will not get another chance to hurt you and your child."
"Children," Nico said.
"Wait, what?" Steve said, confused. "You're expecting more than one child?"
"Twins. A boy and a girl," Nico said; "I'd found out just days before the wedding. I couldn't bring children into this world knowing what he was like with me."
Steve looked at her, then at her abdomen. She was just starting to show.
"Twins, though?"
"They run in my family. Four of my five siblings are two sets of twins."
"Damn!" Steve said; "Then it's important that you get away. I'll help you. I know of a place you can go until the babies are born. He'll never find you there."
"Where?"
"It's a place in my hometown that helps women in your situation, Nico," Steve said; "My mother has worked for them for years. If you want, I'll give her a call."
"You're from Chicago, aren't you? Isn't that an awful long way to go?"
"Nico," Steve said; "I've been attracted to you the moment I set eyes on you during freshman orientation. You've been a great friend to me. I want to help you."
"Steve," she said, beginning to cry, "I appreciate everything you're trying to do. Can I tell my family where I'm going?"
"Yes, but only them."
Nico looked at Steve with a new appreciation. Why was I so blind? she thought.
What was happening with her, Steve thought. She never got like this during any other undercover assignment. It concerned him that maybe the man she's trying to catch was hurting her.
That his wife might be developing feelings for her target never crossed Steve Nichols' mind.
Julia spent most of the following day on the phone with various government officials about returning to Chicago. Then, to arrange transport from Wyoming when the magic date, now set at February 28th, finally arrived.
Jack was also on the phone. First with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to see about buying the horses that Jaime took in around Christmas. He found out that he could purchase just the mare, and the colt would be Jaime's to keep.
"You have no idea how happy you just made a 12 year old girl," Jack said; "That colt she's considered hers from the moment he was born. I'll make arrangements to purchase the mare."
The kids were in Miri's room, talking about what they were going to do when they got home.
"I'm going to call Aaliyah and go roller skating," Rachel said; "I wonder if I'll remember how."
"It's like riding a bike, Rach," Zach said; "You don't forget."
"I'm going to get Mama and Coltrane settled in the barn," Jaime said; "Dad made those stalls huge!"
"You don't know if you can even keep them yet," Miri said; "Don't get your hopes up, Jaime."
"I've been taking care of them since Christmas, Miri," Jaime said, refusing to even consider that BIA could deny Jack's request; "I can't let them go back out to the wild herd. Coltrane would be so lost out there!"
Miri just shook her head. Sometimes she wondered how her little sister's head got filled with such romantic notions. Miri chalked it up to the books Jaime read and left it at that.
"I'm going to right back into archery training," Zach was saying now; "I think I've kept my skills up pretty well, don't you guys think?"
"You are good, Zach," Miri said; "That's probably a good idea. Then maybe Uncle Nik can take you on a survival trip like he did with me, Adriana, Adam and Sandrina. That was fun, living on the land, killing our own food, knowing all the native plants."
"I can't wait!" Zach said enthusiastically.
Miri added nothing further to the conversation. She wondered if John Crossley would remember her.
IV
Nico, as Daphne, returned to the motel where Marsh was staying. He'd given his name as Linc Massengill, and that he was in town to attend a conference on new advances of the internet.
Then, he'd told her, he tried to hire a hooker to service him, but the girl, thinking Linc was an undercover cop, gave him a swift kick in the crotch, disabling him. Nico had found the girl he described, but she told Nico that no man matching Linc's description was anywhere near her the night he said he was hurt.
Usually, when undercover, Nico dressed the part, and in the case of her current assignment, she wore some pretty brief clothing. Tonight, however, in her role as Daphne, she was wearing a simple floral patterned skirt with a complimenting blouse. Because of the weather, she wore a long leather duster-style coat over her clothing. She had obsessed over her clothing choices before finally picking the ensemble she finally wore.
What's wrong with me? she asked herself. Why am I so worried about what he thinks?
She had taken captain's advice to just be herself. Nico had done that, but it got the opposite effect. Marsh had become quite taken by whom he thought was a 30 year old single mother who turned to prostitution to make ends meet.
And Nico saw her problem thus: she wasn't acting anymore. The more she acted, the less convincing to her it was. Marsh was a ruggedly attractive man with a violent past. She almost felt sorry for him because he was really, in fact, a very lonely man. Women to him were only playthings. Then Daphne showed up.
She decided that after that evening, she was going to talk to her captain. She would know what Nico could do to get these inappropriate feelings out of her head and her heart.
And Nico was scared.
Christian looked over the drawings that Kathryn did before coming home from the clinic. He had always been impressed by Kathryn's talent, and thought that if she pursued it further, she might be able to make a career out of it.
Kathryn had other ideas.
"I'm glad you like the drawings, Christian," she told him that evening before going to bed; "Those last few weeks in the clinic were really boring, so when I was allowed to have pencils and real drawing pads, I started drawing all the stuff in my head."
"Why don't you do something with your talent, Kathryn?" asked Christian.
"I want to expose art to those who might not get a chance otherwise," Kathryn said; "Where does one sign up for that?"
"I can look into it if you want," Christian offered; "That would be a great thing for you! Maybe you and Erin could do that as a mother daughter project. She talked about that very thing the other night."
"I think we'd both like that," Kathryn said. "I want to spend as much time with each of the girls as I can before I start outpatient therapy."
"I'll call someone in the morning," Christian said. "We should get to bed. Those girls need to be up early for school."
Kathryn smiled. She hadn't helped get her girls ready for school in a very long time. She couldn't wait.
Julia called the children into the living room for a family meeting.
When they were all seated, Julia began to explain the plan she was trying to put into motion.
"We ARE going to the house Dad was having built in Belvidere before he passed away," Julia said; "We're moving most of the farm animals- Sarge, a couple of the younger cows, the goats, and the horses. And Tripod, of course."
"We get to keep Mama and Coltrane, Mom?" asked Jaime excitedly.
"Yes, Jaime," Jack said; "I've made arrangements to purchase the mare from BIA, and since the colt was born on my property, he is mine to keep. Or rather, yours to keep, Jaime."
"Oh my God!" Jaime said, beyond thrilled; "I can't wait!"
"Okay, James, we get that you're excited," Miri said; "Can we let Mom and Jack explain further what's going to happen?"
"When are we leaving?" This from Zach.
"We're shooting for the end of February," Julia said; "Jack is waiting on copies of his medical records from Jackson, and I'm waiting on approval from CIA to make the move. Also, you kids will be leaving before Jack and I do. I thought it would be best this way so that if A.R.M. still wants to do me harm, you kids will be safely on your way back to Chicago. I still need to talk to Aunt Kimber, but I'm sure she'll look after you until Jack and I can leave here."
"What about school, Mom?" asked Miri.
"When you guys go back, I'll send the records I've been keeping with you so that they can be sent to the Illinois Department of Education's homeschooling wing to verify that I've followed all the proper procedures. Your levels will be determined after that, but I'm certain that Miri will be able to graduate in May with other homeschoolers."
"Then I can go to college!" Miri said; "I've sent in applications to about a dozen schools, but I haven't heard from any of them yet."
"Uncle Nik has all that, I'm sure," Julia told her oldest daughter. "You'll be able to review all the schools who've accepted you and make a choice from there."
"I really want to go to Northwestern, though," Miri said.
"I know," Julia replied, "and I hope they're one of the schools who have accepted you."
Julia then adjourned the family meeting, stating that if there were any questions, to feel free to ask. The kids then went to do their own thing. Jaime was headed out to the barn to see her horses.
They stood in their oversized stall, and Coltrane knew Jaime's footsteps anywhere. He started to whinny in anticipation of seeing his favorite human.
"Hi there!" Jaime said as she entered the stall; "I've got good news, you two! I get to keep you both!"
Jaime patted Mama on the side of the neck, saying, "Even you Mama. I couldn't let them make you guys go back to the wild herd. So you're coming home with me and my sisters and brother."
Coltrane seemed pleased. He's gotten bigger in the month since birth, Jaime thought to herself. He's going to need his own stall soon as he's weaned.
"You're getting to be such a big boy, Coltrane," Jaime said; "I can't wait til it's warmer so I can get you outside to run around. I know it's kinda cramped in here with your mama."
Coltrane just shook his head and sniffed Jaime's hair.
Marsh heard the knock on the door and knew it could only be one person.
The green eyed beauty who he would allow to steal his heart.
Opening the door, there she stood. Dressed like she was really going to work at a motel out of town, instead of like a hooker. He smiled. She was beautiful.
"I'm so glad you came, Daphne," he said; "I was afraid you wouldn't show. It is getting kind of late."
"The kids are sick, and I wanted to make sure Gramma had everything she needed before I left," Daphne said.
She noticed that Linc just looked at her, a slight smile on his rugged face.
"This is just a social call, right?" he asked. "No smack or sex, right?"
"Yes," Daphne said; "Just two people spending time together, getting to know each other better."
"Daph, I'd give up smack in a heartbeat if you didn't approve," Linc said.
"I don't usually do smack, Linc," said Daphne, "but if a john wants to do it because he feels it makes him 'perform' better, then I might do a little. I've been in rehab, and that's someplace I never want to go again."
"It would save me some serious money, that's for sure," Linc said; "I will try to give it up. It doesn't do the same thing for me anymore. I've been an addict so long, that I guess I've gotten used to it."
"Don't do it for me," Daphne said; "Do it for you."
Linc Marsh felt his heart break. Where have you been my entire miserable life, Daphne? he thought.
Without thinking about it, he touched Daphne's skin gently. She was momentarily taken aback by the intimate gesture.
"Daphne..." he began, but found he couldn't finish. He looked deep into those emerald green eyes, and felt lost and found all at once.
He leaned in to kiss her. Their lips met. Daphne responded.
And inside, Nico Nichols cried. Her worst fears were realized.
And for some reason, at that moment, she didn't care about her fears. It was the man who held her in his arms, and his real feelings, that mattered.
When he left town, she'd deal with her fears.
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