Chapter 05
“It’s usually common courtesy to give the locals a head’s up,” Bella replied with a slight Southern accent as she sat down in a chair to join Peter Burke and his friend. “Especially seeing as you’re looking for someone.”
Bella had found Burke and the other agent, who she suspected wasn’t an agent as Auggie Anderson was blind, quite easily. She and Neal had looked at the CCTV cameras in the area and they found Burke and the other agent at a nice coffee place having a drink. They didn’t look like they were in New Orleans on in an official capacity, but they didn’t need to know that she knew that. She needed information.
“We’re here on our personal time,” Burke replied. “Taking in the sights.”
“While looking for a person and announcing you’re FBI while doing so?” she countered, raising an eyebrow. “Smells fishy to me.”
“We didn’t.”
“Ya must have, seeing as we were tipped off,” Bella winked. “But I’m here, what can I do to help?”
“Don’t you have cases to solve?” Anderson replied. While he was blind, he didn’t look blind, not if you didn’t know what to look for. The folded cane, the slight aversion of his eyes, almost as if he wasn’t making eye contact, his constant head tilt to hear where the sound was coming from.
“I multitask very well. Let me use our resources to find whoever you’re looking for, and then you can go on your merry way or actually enjoying the beauty of our fair city rather sooner than later.”
“We’re not looking for one person, we’re looking for two,” Burke said as he produced a picture from his inside pocket and gave it to Bella. It was Peter with Neal, and a brunette that she figured was Peter’s wife. “Unfortunately, we don’t know for certain what the person he’s with looks like, but she’s a woman.”
“It’s a welfare check,” Anderson added.
Bella leaned back into her chair as she looked at the two men. “I’m sorry, but he seems like an adult. What is he to you?”
“A friend. And I believe he’s in danger,” Burke replied, but Bella could tell that he was lying, bluffing. Likely under the knowledge that local LEOs would help quicker if there was a sense of danger involved.
“How so? Again, he seems to be an adult, is he with someone dangerous?”
“Oh, no,” Anderson replied. “She’s had a rough life, but she has a beautiful heart.”
Bella wasn’t sure what to say. She never even met this guy, how would he know her? “Ex-girlfriend?”
“No,” Anderson let out a snort. “Her brother asked me to look out for her in my own special way and I did, until a couple of days ago when she disappeared. We suspect they’re here in New Orleans, involved with a local crime family. We think her name is Bella.”
“His name is Neal,” Burke added. “He re-entered the country as Neal Carter.”
Of course they knew. Bella felt the color drain from her face. This guy was lying through his teeth, and so was Peter, and she tried to suppress the anger that was rising in her. Even so, the guy was also FBI, so she’d been kept an eye on for a while, by a fucking Suit. But she was pulling a con, and she could remain composed while she was interacting with these two men. “I’ll see what I can do,” she eventually managed to say. “Do you have a phone number I can reach you on?” When Peter handed her his card, she rose to her feet. “Alright, gentlemen, I’ll see what I can do, I’ll be in touch. Enjoy your day.”
She managed to walk away with some composure. Neal was home, mainly because they didn’t want to risk things, but she had wished that he was with her now. Instead, she had her shadow following her, making her only more agitated. Bella caught a cab once she was sure she was far enough from Burke and Anderson and headed home.
“I knew it was a fucking bad idea,” she said as she closed the door and walked straight into the courtyard where Neal was making use of the natural light to paint. “But you’re going to call Burke right now, and you’re going to check in with him and tell him that you’re going to Canada.”
“Woah, what happened? Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay!” she blurted. “I don’t know how, but the agent that was with him apparently knew me.”
“A Suit?” Neal laughed. “Are you serious?”
“Yes! I don’t know how but—” It then hit her. “He’s fucking Mingus! Oh, that makes so much sense now. What an asshole!”
“What?”
“I was fucking played by a Suit,” she kicked against one of the chairs. “Izzy Sheppard is in the system thanks to my fuck up,” she kicked against the same chair again before letting out a breath. “Izzy needs to die.”
“Hey,” he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “Breathe. If this Suit was out to get you, you’d been arrested a long time ago.”
“You don’t get it. They know Shitface is Bella. Izzy Sheppard. Me. And even though I nuked that handle, they still know it was me. And if they don’t know already, they’ll connect the dots soon enough. They can still come after me for some dodgy shit that I did. I fucked up again,” she looked up to Neal with tears in her eyes. “It’s only a matter of time before they find me, and if you don’t want to get implicated—”
“Hey now,” Neal put a finger on her lips to shut her up. Bella was panicking like she’d been in Paris after admitting who had taken a shot at her and who was behind it, but this felt different. “I trust Peter, I don’t think they’ll come after you. I take it the other agent was Mingus? Wasn’t he helping you in getting clear from your family? Help you with a new identity?”
“He’s still a fucking Suit! It could all be a ploy to make me cooperate and now that they know who I am, they can finally get to me. All they fucking do is lie. Even told me that he was asked to look after me by my brother. My brother is dead.”
Neal sucked in a breath. That did sound a bit on the suspicious side, especially now that he knew the story of her brother and how he had sacrificed himself all these years ago. There was no doubt in his mind that she was currently experiencing flashback emotions on top of everything else she was feeling right now. “I won’t allow them to take you,” he eventually said and planted a kiss on top of her head. “Don’t worry, okay? We’ll fix this.”
She took the voice recorder out of her pocket and handed it to him before ducking out from under his arms. “Tell me that again after listening back to this,” Bella said solemnly as she walked into the house, still shaking with anger but trying to contain it. She needed a clear head for this, she could not allow her feelings to take over. She needed to be strategic about this, and that meant that she and Neal had to leave New Orleans and find a crew of her own to take down her family, and likely herself along with it.
“Hey Peter,” Neal said as he walked in after her, calling Peter on his new phone. Oh, he knew that it’d likely anger Bella more, but then again, she had this look on her face that she was about to give everything up. “Heard you were looking for me,” he turned the phone on speaker so that Bella could hear as well.
“That agent works fast.”
“She sure does,” Neal replied as he took Bella’s hand and pulled her along to the couch. “There’s no need for a welfare check, you know, we’re fine and made some new friends.”
“Are you planning something big?”
“Yes, with people we can trust. It’d be best if you remained in the dark,” he pulled her down on the couch with him and put an arm around her, making sure she couldn’t go anywhere.
“Of course.”
“Is Izzy with you?”
Ah, a new voice. “You must be Agent Anderson.”
“Auggie, please.”
“Mingus?”
“Yes. Look, shitface disappeared off the dark web and our last conversation wasn’t a good one.”
“Then you should have been upfront with her from the start,” Neal replied as he looked at Bella. She was a bit more composed than she’d been before, but this wasn’t the time for her to bottle things up. “You put her in WITSEC, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
Bingo. Bella didn’t have to fear getting arrested for what she did for the Cullens at least. “And you didn’t give her a choice. Nor did you inform her.”
“I admit I made mistakes, but it was necessary. Only I knew her real identity and what she’d been through and that’s what kept her safe, just like I promised her brother. When I figured out she was with you, I contacted Agent Burke.”
“You really need to stop bringing up her brother. She doesn’t like that very much as he’s dead and she’s been struggling with the repercussions ever since.”
“But he’s alive. We were stationed together in Afghanistan before he went AWOL and do his own thing to protect her. He asked me to find a way to look after her in my own way, and I did, after I got my accident and landed my current job at the FBI.”
“Then where is he?”
“That I don’t know, but his name was Grant Swan when we met. I told him to tell her that he was still alive, but apparently, he had other ideas.”
“Lies,” Bella whispered.
“Or maybe you have been lied to for most of your life. Look, I know you’re scared about being in the system, but you’re not. A Marshall owed me a favor, and everything is destroyed. There are no copies of anything whatsoever. No association between you and the Cullens. I promise.”
“Hear that? You’re safe,” Neal told her with a smile. “Nothing to worry about.”
“The Volturi found you and your uncle because he wasn’t protected and as far as we know, they don’t know you’re here and your name. Coming back to the US was a good thing.”
“You don’t have to plot a revenge against the Cullens, all it takes is to tell us everything we need to know and we can build a case against them,” Peter said, causing Bella to shake her head.
“She won’t ever rat out her family, Peter. It’s not that easy,” Neal said as he gently rubbed Bella’s back. “I’ll tell you what, let’s meet tonight, you and I, there’s this establishment on Bourbon Street that serves some of the best wines in the city. I’ll tell you all that I can, whilst protecting Izzy.”
“No,” Bella shook her head. “No, he’ll take you back and—”
“No, he won’t, right, Peter?”
“Just a chat amongst friends. I never even took my badge with me.”
“Agent LaSalle?”
“What are you talking about, Auggie?”
“That’s the voice of the NCIS agent who came to visit us.”
“I’m done,” Bella wrestled herself out of Neal’s hold and walked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine and opened her laptop to do a search for Grant Swan and Grant Cullen. She was going to prove that the FBI were lying assholes. She wanted to stay as far away as possible from them.
She took a swig of the bottle while she heard Neal talk in the other room and decided to try and find Grant Swan everywhere, in every database that she’d ever cracked and hacked.
Tr0uble: The giant followed you today. He said you were upset. You okay?
5w4n: Dealing with Suits. Mingus is a fucking suit. Long story.
Tr0uble: Are you okay?
5w4n: I will be, once I can prove to N that the Suits are lying.
Tr0uble: About what?
5w4n: My brother.
Tr0uble: And what if they’re not lying?
5w4n: They’re still suits. Can’t trust them even though N does. He’s like his pet.
Tr0uble: I’m going to add ‘emotional warfare’ to the list to take into account for our plan.
5w4n: Why?
Tr0uble: What’s the best way to control your kids? To make them scared of something. We have had our issues with that in the past and it took us a while to get over it. I was still young and adapted quickly but my brother took the brunt of it, he still has issues with it sometimes.
5w4n: That’s not what’s going on.
Tr0uble: Pretty sure it is. Trust your man. Everything is going to be okay. Your life is not falling apart, got that? Don’t do anything stupid, we still want to get paid!
Bella huffed as she allowed her code to crawl the web and took her bottle as she got up from the chair, seeing Neal stand in the doorway, leaning against the doorpost, looking at her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized s she took a swig of the bottle. “I’m also sorry that I decided to be an uncultured swine and drink straight from the bottle.”
“No, it’s okay, I understand you’re afraid,” Neal replied. “And hearing that you were tricked and forced into WITSEC isn’t a nice thing to hear, either. I would be pissed.”
“I am.”
“But I think we both don’t get the full picture of what’s going on, and that’s why I’m going to meet Peter tonight, to get the full story and why they’re in New Orleans now.”
“Burke wants to reconnect with you, isn’t that obvious? Mingus is just a distraction.”
“Maybe, but Peter knows I’m okay. He’s not like Mozzie like that. So for him to come and look for me, means that something’s up. Maybe there’s some information about the Cullens and the Volturi and he doesn’t want me to get caught up in it, or maybe there’s something else.”
Bella kept her eyes on him as she took another sip of the bottle. “You don’t have to get caught up with my family, I’ve told you this.”
Neal nodded. “And I told you that I’m not going anywhere. Not without you. Every family has crazy relatives, it just sucks that both sides of our families have some screws loose.”
She sighed as she set down the bottle and walked into his arms. “I feel like I have some screws loose. Just like that, things start happening which makes the ground shake underneath my feet, ready to fall away. I know that my siblings are assholes, but to maybe learn that your teachings weren’t truthful?”
“You’re calling it teachings. Shouldn’t it be raising a child?”
Bella shrugged. “In any case, a family should be truthful and not want to kill their daughter, either. And now hearing that I’ve been in contact with a Suit and he tricked me? I can’t believe that I fell for it. I mean… why me? There are now two Suits who know who I am. TWO!”
“And one of them is one that I trust,” he said calmly as he played with her hair. “I want you to come with me tonight. Get to know Peter a little, see that he’s not a bad person. He’s my friend, and as he said, he left his badge at home, so he’s here because he’s a friend,” Neal kept playing with her hair as he continued. “Should you want to leave, then you can leave, but sometimes it’s better to face your fear than to keep running from it.”
When Bella remained quiet, he continued. “You’re teaching me a new way of con artistry, that you don’t have to steal for yourself but that you can do things for others. Let me teach you that not all law enforcement are dangerous or bad. I have to admit, I sometimes didn’t have the best of times with Peter, but he was my way out of jail, and he did teach me to think differently in some ways. We became friends and he became someone I can trust.” Neal lifted her chin with his finger and kissed her. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”
“Ah, what the hell, my life feels like it’s coming apart at the seams already, why not tear it all up?”
She and Neal weren’t alone in the wine bar, the Michaels had followed them and were quietly sitting at a table not far away from them, keeping an eye out for them. And for some strange reason, it made Bella feel safer. Bella was really uncomfortable, still, but she decided to go along with Neal’s idea.
Fear was sometimes a good thing, and maybe she’d learn something. Resistance was in some cases unhealthy and Neal had spoken about Peter in such a way so often, that it was easier to give in.
She had the strategic plan of shutting up and drinking her wine.
At least Burke came alone like he had told Neal, which was a good thing. Bella wasn’t sure if she could deal with Mingus right now. There was one silver lining; when she and Neal would arrive home, her little program would likely have accumulated all the information on Grant Swan and/or Grant Cullen and it would be nothing. Absolutely nothing.
She wasn’t sure what she’d feel if her brother was still alive. Likely that her entire life had been a lie and Bella wasn’t prepared for that notion.
At least Burke’s smile was genuine when he hugged Neal tightly. So was Neal’s. So Neal hadn’t been playing to have befriended the Suit – which had been a possibility, but it was good to see confirmation of that. Neal introduced her as Izzy, which was great, and she said hi, before cloning Peter’s phone and remained quiet while the two old friends caught up with each other.
Oh, Bella knew that Peter was only one of the few people Neal fully trusted, and that should count for something because she believed she was one of those people as well, but how could you trust a Suit?
She quietly observed him, and Neal, as they talked, and Peter seemed to be quite relaxed, not as uptight during some of the calls she’d overheard. Very friendly too, a real family man. Super masculine, the typical look of a Suit, but yet, also a softness and a fondness towards Neal. Burke showed Neal pictures of one-year-old Neal Burke on his phone, pictures of other people that were a part of Neal’s history with the Suit and occasionally saw flashes of regret on Neal’s face.
Regret for faking his own death to live the way he wanted to?
She was surprised though that out of nowhere, Burke head slapped Neal.
“Ow! Why did you do that?” Neal pouted as he rubbed his head.
“Look, Neal, not that I’m very very happy to see you in the flesh, but what’s the use of faking your own death and then coming back to the States when you should be on the run from the Panthers? We never were able to catch them all. Even Mozzie was raging about you being back here as it puts you, and everyone you ever cared about in danger,” Peter said in a hushed voice. “He even told me that you told him to go back to basics. Going after a large crime family and coming back to the US is not going back to basics, Neal!”
Bella’s head shot up from examining Peter’s phone upon hearing the name. “Panthers? As in… Pink Panthers?” Oh, she wasn’t going to tell them that the Cullens loved the Panthers. Carlisle even lend her to the Panthers once to create a gadget just for them. They were bad, bad people, the thought of Neal allowing himself to get caught up in that… Was it because of the FBI? Did Peter put Neal in the line of fire?
“She didn’t know, Peter.”
“You should have told me!” she hissed as she, too, slapped Neal on the head. “Their notoriety matches that of the Volturi, they’re a bunch of psychopaths and professional killers!”
“Would you have accepted me and my help if I had told you?”
“You, yes. Your help? No. I would have asked my Uncle and Liam to keep you drugged and tied down.”
“That doesn’t work,” Peter shook his head. “Even while drugged he can get out of restraints, it’s almost as if he can’t help himself.”
“It’ll be fine,” Neal took a sip of his wine. “Neal Caffrey is dead and wiped. We still have time to go after your family, Izzy, I’m not too worried. Besides, the FBI got them all, didn’t they?”
Bella settled back in her chair and took a sip of her wine. Yeah, he wasn’t worried. Just like she wasn’t worried about the Cullens and the Volturi. “You still should have told me,” Bella muttered as she looked back on the phone. She was going to see about the status of the Panthers when they got back home, but she hadn’t heard of them for quite some time now, not after the FBI took them down. “Wait, you had a hand in them getting put away?”
“Yeah,” Neal smiled brightly.
“But they’re in jail now.”
“Yes,” Peter nodded. “Right where they belong.”
“The Panthers are in jail. So there’s still a Pink Panther group somewhere else, it’s merely finding out where,” she concluded. “They’re like Hydra. Cut off one head, they’ll grow another.”
“Who?” Peter and Neal looked at her with the same confused look on their faces.
“Seriously, you need to get out more,” Bella replied as she looked at Cole who was sitting in her view at the bar and he rolled his eyes. Yeah, he understood that reference. Of course he did. She was still going to check out to see how much of a threat the Panthers still were. When she briefly looked at Peter before looking back on the phone, she noticed that he had a look that could rival her Uncle Garrett’s look when pointing out something obvious with concern. “As long as Neal doesn’t draw attention to himself, he’ll be fine. I doubt that they’ve shared his photo around, or yours, or your family’s.”
“And how do you know?”
Bella sighed as she put the phone in her pocket to fully focus on the conversation. “The Panthers don’t employ hackers of their own, they hire them on the darknet. I haven’t seen any recruiting going on for them last time I checked. I’m also keeping tabs on Neal’s names and aliases on there to see if anyone is looking for him. Your adult son is safe, suit.”
“I wasn’t saying —”
“You’re concerned about your friend, I understand that, and I appreciate that,” she said as she took a sip of her wine. “But I’m not just some girl, and anyone who’s my friend or in my presence long enough gets those tags to keep them safe, even if their own past is just as checkered as mine. You don’t have to worry about him. On top of that, he’s proven more than once that he’s more than capable of recognizing danger and how to get out of it,” she mused as she took another sip of her wine, keeping her eyes on the Suit. Neal was hers now. Hers. He was in her world, so he was hers. Just like she was his.
Burke seemed to want to say something but refrained from doing so before nodding. “Thank you. Now, what’s this about not wanting to do things the easy way when it comes to your family, Izzy?”
“It’s complicated, but also part of a mindset I’ve been taught to live by. Don’t get law enforcement involved. On top of that, it’s personal. They want me dead? I’ll make sure to have them screw up and I’ll be long gone once law enforcement gets involved by their own actions,” Bella replied. “I might have left them, but they’re still mine. My family. No matter how much I’m annoyed by them now or how much I disagree with their ways. I can play dirty, just like they taught me.”
Peter shrugged then. “Fair enough. I suppose it’s also a matter of honor for you, not to snitch even though things are getting complicated.”
“I do have integrity,” Bella replied, finishing her glass. “You boys want some more? I’ll head over to the bar to get us some more,” she said as she got to her feet and walked over to the bar and let out a deep breath as she grabbed onto the bar and steadied herself.
“He seems like a decent guy,” Nick said as he took a stand next to her. “I never seen a conman befriend his handler like this before, their friendship is quite… unique.”
“Which might be the saving grace in this situation,” Bella replied after taking another deep breath and waited for another bottle of wine to appear. “I think the Suit had some influence on Neal while they worked together, but it’s also the other way around. Burke does seem like the type of guy who’s a straight arrow, though. By the book, always.”
“Unless it’s your former CI.”
She shrugged. “I’m still not liking the friendship because of what I was taught, but he’s truthful.”
“And what of the Pink Panthers? Shall we have something happen to those who are in jail?”
“Won’t that draw them all out?”
“Not when you do it the right way,” Nick smiled at her. “I think that dealing with one group of psychopaths is more than enough, don’t you?”
Bella took the bottle from the bartender and returned Nick’s smile. “I’d be in your debt.”
“Consider this part of our agreement, not as a favor.”
“Thank you,” she nodded before returning to the table, refilled everyone’s glass, and got the cloned phone back out of her pocket to scroll through it again. There were so many pictures on there, pictures of Peter and his family, of their friends. Not a familiar face in sight, apart from some old pictures of Neal.
They were adorable. Neal with an old woman, likely June, standing next to a piano, seemingly singing. Neal with a beautiful golden retriever. Neal with who Bella believed to be Mozzie. Neal at the FBI office. Neal in cuffs. Neal smiling, Neal laughing. Neal wearing that stupid goofy look on his face that she loved so much.
“What are you looking at?” Neal asked sweetly as he leaned into her before realizing what she had in her hands. “You didn’t!”
“Best way to get to know someone,” Bella shrugged.
“Well, I guess I owe Auggie 20 dollars,” Burke laughed, shaking his head. “He said that hackers were predictable. Find anything interesting on my phone, young lady?”
“Not yet, just looking at pictures,” she replied. “Cute family.”
“Izzy,” Neal said as he took the phone from her hands. “He’s my friend, you don’t do this to friends.”
“He’s your friend, not mine,” Bella replied as a matter-of-factly and yanked the phone out of Neal’s hand and put it in her pocket. “But fine, I’ll continue to dig once we’re back home.”
“Feel free, there’s nothing incriminating on that phone,” Peter replied, a smile on his face as he looked at Neal. “I like her.”
“Good, because she’s here to stay,” Neal nodded as he took a sip of his wine.
“And she’s going home,” Bella smiled at Neal. “I still have a few things running at home that I want to check out and I want to give you two the opportunity to catch up without me.” She got to her feet and looked at Neal when he took her hand. “Don’t worry, Cole will walk me home,” she said as she thumbed over her shoulder. “Have fun.”
When Neal let go of her, she walked over to Cole and looped her arm through his. She couldn’t wait to get out of there, Bella had a feeling that Burke was going to bring up Mingus, or her brother, or whatever and she just wanted to get out of dodge. Once she was outside, she let out a deep breath, and took a big gulp of air, the alcohol truly hitting her now. “Finally. I’m drunk!”
Cole let out a laugh as they started to walk the short walk towards her home. “Does it make any difference?”
“Unfortunately not,” she sighed, only slightly unsteady on her feet. “I just wish I could just drink it all away.”
“It is slightly unsettling, isn’t it? Your partner being friends with a Suit.”
“Yeah, I mean… where does the friend end and the Suit begins? You know… it’s…” Bella looked up at him. “What were your teachings about law enforcement?”
“Teachings? We were raised to respect the men in blue, despite our activities, as long as we didn’t get caught while we were doing said activities. Being friends or on first name basis with cops is a valuable thing.”
“How so?”
“Well, we give them someone to arrest, they might do us a favor when we need it. Like when we get caught with our hand in the cookie jar,” Cole laughed. “Nick believes that the relationship between your boy and the Suit is genuine.”
New Orleans at night was beautiful. There were different kinds of lights everywhere, and you could hear live music come from every bar you’d pass. People laughing, smiling, having a good time, and of course, the obvious pickpockets. It was so easy to tell who was a pickpocket and the marks they picked out. “Yeah, I figured that myself.”
“Which is likely the reason why the Suit lets it slide that you want to go after your family. He trusts Neal. Neal trusts you, so the Suit has no other choice but to trust you, too.”
“Do you think I’m too set in my ways?” It was hot and sticky outside though, she couldn’t wait to be home and have air conditioning.
Cole sucked in a breath then. “Like I said, I put emotional warfare on the list of things that your family likes to do. Nick agrees with me, he’s better at reading people than I am and he and Myriam both studied psychology. You were taught to fear the authorities. They also likely told you your brother had died.”
“He is dead. The Suits are lying, and as soon as I get home, I’m going to prove it. I’ve been running an algorithm to find any trace of a Grant Swan or a Grant Cullen.”
“It’s funny how you both picked the name Swan.”
Bella huffed. “We both felt like ugly ducklings as children, and ugly ducklings grow into beautiful swans. It’s not that far-fetched.”
“How could the Suits know this?”
She didn’t have a quick answer for that. “If my brother is still alive, why hasn’t he looked for me? W-why ask a Suit to find me and look out for me? And fucking unwillingly put me in WITSEC?”
Cole shrugged as they turned the last corner. “Maybe there’s more going on than what you’re currently dealing with and he wanted to protect you, as family should do.”
“It’s a lot of maybe’s, and when it comes to family, I don’t like to hear ‘maybe’,” Bella replied as she typed in her code, waved the fob key over the sensor and then unlocked her front door. “Thank you for bringing me home, Cole. I appreciate it.”
Cole smiled widely at her. “Of course, no lady should walk the streets of New Orleans by herself at night, no matter how badass they are.”
“Good night, Cole,” Bella laughed, shaking her head.
“Good night, Izzy.”
She closed the door behind her and headed to her computer after snatching another bottle of wine on the way up and settled in her comfortable chair. She took a swig of the bottle and set it next to her as she moved her mouse to wake up her computer monitors. The screens flickered, and a bright light greeted her from all directions.
Bella had hoped her algorithm didn’t come up with anything, that Mingus had been wrong and making up lies, but she couldn’t say that anymore. In front of her there were several government documents of Grant Swan, a soldier in the US army, special forces. Documents about his time in the army and reports on how he went AWOL. Pictures of him and his unit, pictures of him and other soldiers from different units, one of them had a smiling Mingus on them as well with Grant having his arm around him.
Facial recognition came up with more images, from newspapers or snapshots people had posted on the internet. Grant had gone everywhere under different names, different specialties.
But she had not expected the next batch of pictures, they were from a private investigator and recently uploaded to his cloud. Pictures of Grant and Cole. Grant and this tall dude. Grant and Nick.
She knew she had to hack that PI now to see who hired him to make sure Grant was safe, but she felt betrayed.
Angry.
Hurt.
It was simply too much. This wasn’t just getting shot at by family, this was everything she believed in that crumbled away from underneath her.
Brother? Not so dead.
Suits? Not so bad and actually truthful.
Believing she could trust the Michaels? Not so much.
Bella had led herself to New Orleans, but Neal kicked the door wide open to the Suits. Everything was one big fucking mess and she didn’t know how to fix all of it. Well, she did, but that’d require giving up everything she’d grown to love since Uncle Garrett planted the good seeds in her brain.
Yeah, this was all Garrett’s fault.
If it hadn’t been for Garrett, she’d still be with her family, safe and dealing with her siblings. It hadn’t been all that bad, apart from the bullying or getting isolated for a few days. If it hadn’t been for Garrett, she wouldn’t have met Neal. She wouldn’t have had to deal with the Suits.
But she also wouldn’t have met Neal.
She wouldn’t have met Neal.
Bella was trying to anchor herself to the love she’d felt for him and how much she felt loved by him, but it wasn’t working. She felt empty. Hollow.
She got herself to this point. This wasn’t anyone’s fault but hers. She’d fallen for the interesting life Garrett lead, leading her to believe that it was a better way of living. Bella could have said ‘no’, and remained with her family. Family was so important, she could see that with the Michaels too, why did she ever leave?
Bella took her phone out of her purse as she ran a hand over her face to wipe away the tears and dialed a number, not caring about hiding her ass.
“Who is this?”
“Daddy?”
“Bella, why are you calling me? You know the protocol.”
“I want to come home.”
“You know the rules, Bella. You can’t. You left and you’re now in an enemy’s hands. You can’t come back without compromising the entire family.”
Of course. That was also likely the reason why her family wanted her dead. She could compromise them. “I didn’t tell anybody. Please.”
“You told the Michaels,” Carlisle replied. “I know you’re in New Orleans, Bella, Cole had a lot to say about you. How his family is going to help you to take down your own? For what? For following our own rules?”
She felt the invisible dagger in her heart dig itself in even deeper. Cole was talking to her family? And of course, it was wrong to go after her own family because she broke the rules, and she had to abide by them. “I-I’ll tell them to stop.” But Cole telling her family what was going on didn’t make any sense, the Michaels said they didn’t like her family after the last time.
“You know that’s not how it works, Bella. Or… is it Izzy now? Beautiful name.”
She felt as if she was going to be sick. “How?”
“You’re not the only one who can run facial recognition on government servers, we knew exactly when you were back in the States,” Carlisle replied, she could hear the smug smile on his face as she tried to keep her tears at bay. “As it turns out, you’re not as special as you think you are. Or as we thought. Anyone can hack, for the right price.”
Bella knew that. “I am your daughter.”
“And Grant was my son, but he made the mistake of going back for you and got himself killed. Had he still been alive, he would still be with us. He wasn’t weak like you. I taught you better than this, Bella. This begging is unbecoming.”
“What do I do?”
“You just stay put. Emmett is on his way to New Orleans. Either you fix this problem that we’re having on your own, or he will do it for you, do you understand?”
Emmett was going to kill her if she didn’t kill herself first. “Yes, daddy,” her voice was barely a whisper as she disconnected the call.
Her life was over.
At least she didn’t have to worry about loyalties, her not dead brother or Neal anymore. Because her father had been right; she was weak. She always had been and going to Uncle Garrett had only made things worse.
How did she become so weak? She never trusted anyone, not even her family, and she’d only started to trust one person, her uncle, which snowballed through her life and she was more open and willing to seek contact with others. Until she found out that all the others were colluding with her family. All but one.
Neal.
Neal was untainted. Despite his relationship with the feds, Neal was untainted. She needed to tell him and maybe he could give her some hope again. He’d help her get out of this.
But that would be unfair. Neal didn’t have anything to do with this and it was her fault that they met. No, he needed to stay out of this, because he’d get hurt or worse, and he didn’t deserve that.
But, before Emmett would come for her, she was going to do one good thing. Neal was likely going to spend a few more hours with Peter, and she was going to try to fix things a little. She was unsure if Nick would have gone home after she and Cole left, but she was going to inform him about Cole’s betrayal.
She still couldn’t believe it, but if it was true, Nick needed to know, or at least Myriam needed to know.
Bella used the tunnel to get out of her house and only had to round a corner to get to the Michaels’ home. She was still shaking, likely pale as a sheet, but they needed to know. “Who’s home? Nick? Myriam?” she called out as she walked into the courtyard.
“We’re all home,” Cole replied as he looked over the balcony with a slight confused look on your face. “Bella, I just dropped you off home, what’s wrong?”
“I need to speak with all of you,” she replied. There wasn’t one thing she needed to talk to the Michaels about. It were two things. Cole’s potential betrayal and the fact that they knew her brother and didn’t tell her. “Right now!” she demanded as she sat down on one of the couches. The hell with customs, with niceness. She didn’t have anything to lose.
“Oh, that’s adorable,” Cole cooed as he followed Nick and Myriam off the stairs. “Don’t you think, Nick?”
“Izzy, what’s wrong?” Nick asked, there was a worried look on his face as he sat down opposite of her. “Are you alright?”
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “But that’s alright. I’ve learned a few things after Cole dropped me off at home and I wish to discuss that with you.”
“At this hour?”
“Yes,” she replied. She didn’t know when Emmett was going to arrive or how. She could have either a day or four hours left, it all depended on how he was going to travel to New Orleans from Las Vegas. “So, when I came home, I checked on my algorithm that I had started a couple of hours ago, looking for anything on Grant Swan or Grant Cullen to prove the Suit wrong.”
“Oh? And?”
She pulled up the PI photos on her tablet. “Someone’s either looking into you or my brother, but the Suit was right.”
“Someone is always looking into us, but that’s not your brother,” Nick said as he looked at the photo. “That’s Henry Taylor, one of our closest friends. He came to live next door when he was about… ten years old after being placed in a foster home. The Taylors adopted him when he was fifteen. He occasionally helps us out with cons, when he’s not too busy, and we’ve asked him to come and help with your case.”
“He’d be great as an inside man, he’s suave, and knows how to get people to do what he wants,” Myriam added. “And, on top of that, he’s just an awesome guy.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Bella almost begged. “That story sounds too good to be true.”
“Henry did have his issues but he turned out alright. Even joined the army at some point. He’s not your brother.”
Bella thumbed back to the photo of Grant’s unit and the Suit’s unit in Afghanistan. “See that? That’s Mingus, he’s now an FBI agent, claiming that he worked with my brother in Afghanistan,” she said as she pointed at Henry. “And his name was Grant Swan. There was a Grant Swan in Afghanistan at the same time this picture was taken. He asked Auggie to find me and look out for me before he went AWOL.”
“Since when do you believe a word the Suit is saying?” Cole asked as he took her tablet and looked at the photos. “Change of heart?”
“Maybe.”
“All this proves is that Henry once posed as Grant Swan. The Suit could still have made up that story,” Nick pointed out. “But if you’d want confirmation, I’ll ask Henry to come over tomorrow morning, will that suit you?”
She was convinced that their Henry was her brother, there was no way around it, although she’d have to admit that she had suffered from tunnel vision and that their explanation was plausible too. However, if they were right, she couldn’t trust Mingus. And if she was right, then nothing would change, other than she’d have her brother back – a stranger – and he was friends with the Michaels.
Tomorrow was fine. She’d likely die not knowing. “Sure.”
“Was that it?”
“No,” she said curtly. “I received information that Cole is talking to Carlisle Cullen.”
“What!” Cole squeaked.
“Who did you hear that from?” Myriam scratched her head. “Because that claim is ridiculous. We told you, we had a bone to pick with them, why would Cole talk to Carlisle Cullen? On top of that, you asked us to help you, why would we inform our mark?”
“Yeah, it’s stupid, that’s what I thought…” Bella said, unsure what to say about the matter, not wanting to reveal the source because that would even sound more ridiculous to the Michaels.
“She heard it straight from the horse’s mouth,” Nick said as he leaned in closer, his blue eyes studying Bella’s face. “What made you call your father?”
“I don’t know,” Bella muttered.
“I believe you do. Nothing that’s being said here will leave this house, but my guess is that you didn’t want to wait until your boyfriend would come home because you want to leave him out of it.”
“Everything is my fault, and I’m starting to realize that now. It’s not bad luck. Everything that has happened has been set in motion by me,” she eventually said. “Like a domino being pushed over,” she motioned with her hand. “Everything collapses. I figured it’d be best if I’d just returned to my family because family is important and it was nice not to feel so much. And to know what to expect in life.”
“To go back to being a loyal drone.”
Bella nodded as she looked down at her hands as she played with her fingers. “I liked spending time with my uncle and learn his way of life, so much so that I turned my back on my family and left for France. I then met Neal. I got shot because nobody leaves the family and gets away with it, and that was a warning. Neal came with a Suit, his friend,” she added to her story. “Suits are bad, law enforcement took my brother and he died in foster care. I then find out that the hacker Mingus is a Suit too, and his story is that my brother asked him to look after me, but how can that be when my brother is dead? Is he a bad Suit?” She pointed at her tablet. “Did he just give me a name to make up a story? Mingus put me in WITSEC without my consent, claiming to protect me, but my father knows that name. Everything is falling apart. Everything I knew, gone.”
“And you panicked.”
She nodded again. “Despite everything, everything the Cullens did was to keep me safe, even though they didn’t quite love me like a daughter, always treating me as the odd one. And that’s fine, every family has a black sheep and I was the reason Grant got killed, he was always stronger than I am, as a kid. I’m weak. And that’s why I called my father, who reminded me that I broke our rules. I left the family, I’m compromised. They sent the Volturi after me because of this. And now Emmett is coming to New Orleans to do it himself, unless I do it myself.”
“What?”
“Either he kills me, or I kill myself. After I’m done talking with you, I’m going to message Mingus for a meet and I’ll tell him everything about my family so that the FBI can go after them,” there was no emotion in her voice. “Don’t worry, I’ll still pay you guys.”
Myriam moved over so that she was sitting next to Bella and pulled her into her arms. “You’re going to be alright, Izzy,” she said kindly as she gently rubbed her back. “You’ve hit rock bottom, and that’s a very very scary place, but everything will work out fine. Ronon and Henry will intercept Emmett and they’ll take care of him and you, you’re going to call your boyfriend, have him join you here and you’re going to stay in our guest room for the time being.”
“I can’t.”
“You wanted us to help you. We’re going to help you,” Myriam insisted. “Neal will understand. Don’t worry Izzy, we’ll take care of you. Keep you safe. Text your boyfriend, tell him to pick up clothes for the both of you, and then I’m going to make you a nice herbal tea that will help you relax and you’ll have a good night’s sleep.”
“I wanted to leave him out of this. He doesn’t deserve my shit. He’s untainted.”
“He’s yours and you’re his,” Myriam let go of Bella and smiled at her. “Neal will understand. Now, text him or I will do it for you.”
“I destroyed my phone after calling Carlisle.”
“Well, we don’t have his number.”
“I’ll go and get him,” Cole offered as he got to his feet. “He’s likely still in the same bar with his Suit friend.”
“Come on,” Myriam said as she helped Bella to her feet. “I’m going to show you the guest room and bring you a nice cup of tea, a family recipe and it works like a charm,” she said kindly, but it was obvious that there was anger bubbling underneath her skin. Another thing Bella was responsible for. “Don’t try and fight me, young lady, it’s time to put away your pride and let others help you.”
“It’s not pride.”
“You’re not alone,” she said as she opened the door to the guest room that was on the ground floor. It was the size of a mini apartment with a sitting area, a bedroom and a shower. “Now, stay here. Neal will be here soon and I’ll be back in a minute to bring you your tea.”
~o.O.o~
Bella had drifted off in a nice sleep so quickly that she hadn’t even noticed that Neal had joined her, but when she woke up, she felt his arms around her and he’d undressed her somewhat.
“Morning,” Neal said softly as he pulled her closer and put his leg around her legs to keep her in bed. “Feeling better?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry is a stupid word. Don’t be sorry,” he let out a snort. “I understand why you’re feeling that way, but Bella, none of this is your fault. I just wished you would have told me.”
“I wanted to keep you out of this, because you could get hurt.”
“I’m more hurt that you weren’t open with me about what was going on in that beautiful head of yours.”
“I’m —”
“No.”
“So—”
“Bella, stop,” Neal laughed as she turned around in his arms to look at him. “Our chosen career path isn’t without any danger, that’s a fact. Another fact is that you and I are in this together. You’re not alone and you don’t need to protect me,” he lifted her chin with his index finger to make her look at him. “You keep telling Mozzie off for wanting to look out for me, but you’re doing the same thing. Yes, the world is a scary place and you can’t trust anyone, and that’s okay. At least let me in completely and don’t shut me out completely when life gets too scary.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s sort this out together. One step at a time. Slow down.”
“But I can’t, Emmett is—”
“Emmett will have to deal with all of us to get to you. The Michaels have taken a liking to you, and they really want to help. They’re good allies to have, and I think that once you let them in, they’ll be great friends too.”
“They’ll keep coming.”
“And that’s why we’re all going to work hard to stop that from happening. Cole told me you wanted to talk to Auggie about your family?”
She nodded as a response. “Quick fix.”
“I think that you should do that. And then you’re going to map out everyone who’s allied themselves with your family and we’ll go after them. One step at a time.”
“Okay.”
He kissed her softly. “Now, go take a shower and get dressed, we’re having breakfast with the Michaels.”
Bella felt significantly more like a normal person after her shower and clean clothes and Neal looked like as if he had all the sleep in the world, but she suspected he had barely any. He looked great though, in his jeans and his figure hugging shirt. Compared to him she looked like a sack of potatoes in a flowery dress with her damp hair in a braid over her shoulder.
“You look beautiful,” he smiled at her and softly kissed her. “Are you ready to have some breakfast?”
“Yeah,” she replied with a nod. “I’m still not sure if this is a good idea though…”
“Baby steps,” he gently took her hand and kissed it. “Allow me to take care of you, and tell me everything you’re worrying about so that I can try to make it better for you.”
“I’m not weak,” she said sharply.
“No, you’re not,” that smile of his could melt ice caps, it was so bright. “But right now, you need a little extra help and there’s no shame into admitting that, which you did. So in fact, you’re very strong,” he kissed her again and took her to the courtyard where the table was set up for breakfast. “The Michaels employ staff,” he whispered in her ear. “We could do that.”
“No,” she smiled at him. “I love to cook.”
“As do I, but it was worth a try,” he laughed. “Mornin’!” He greeted Cole, Nick and Myriam. “I don’t know what you gave her last night, Myriam, but she was out like a light.”
Myriam smiled widely. “I know my way around herbs, don’t you worry. Come, sit, I have another tea for you today, Izzy. If all goes well, it’ll calm your mind somewhat.”
“You’re not drugging me, are you?” Bella quipped as she sat down in the chair that Neal had pulled back for her. The table was decked out in all sorts of breakfast options, far too many for just the five of them. A whole orphanage could be fed from the spread, many times over. There were pancakes, waffles, toast, sandwiches already with toppings on them, beignets, cereals, and a lot more.
“Of course not,” Myriam huffed. “This is all natural. Glad to know you’ve slept well. We made an executive decision last night after Neal arrived here, and you’re not going back to your home until the threat against you is gone.”
“And I don’t get a say in that?”
“No,” Neal shook his head. “Safety in numbers, right?”
“You see, we like you. The both of you. So you’re officially adopted into our little family,” Nick took a sip of his coffee. “And we also like to help people. While Cole, and Neal, assured us that your home is well secured, what if your adversaries do have a hacker up to snuff with your talents? They could easily get into your home without setting off any alarms and harm you.”
She was overruled.
“Now, tuck in,” Nick added with a smile on his face. “Neal was also kind enough to pack your laptop, so when you have time, you’re going to map out any associate of the Cullens that you may know of that deserve some trouble when they go down. We’re going to have to have you take your full revenge on their entire system.”
While they were having breakfast, Bella drank Myriam’s herbal tea, and had a waffle and a pancake while listening to the conversation going on. It was nice and relaxing, no worrying or stress and she nearly jumped ten feet in the air when Ronon and Henry walked in laughing, being quite loud about their entrance too.
“Oh, food!” Ronon exclaimed and pulled up a chair, sat down and tucked into the stack of sandwiches before looking at Bella. “Hi! We haven’t officially met, I’m Jason. I’ve been looking out for you two the last few days.” Jason was huge. Built like a giant, he had this real warrior look down pat, long hair, scruff, big muscles. Cuts and bruises on his big hands. He was a scary dude, but she trusted Cole in knowing his friend and that he was harmless.
“Nice to meet you,” Bella replied. “I”m Izzy.”
“Yep, I know that.”
“Hi, Henry Taylor,” Henry introduced himself. He was almost as tall as Jason, slightly taller than Neal or Cole. Brown eyes, his hair all neatly cut, and his beard neatly trimmed. Now that Bella saw him in person, she could see that there was nothing about him that looked like a Cullen. Henry wasn’t her brother. Mingus had lied.
“Izzy Sheppard,” Bella replied, shaking his hand. “Good to meet you.”
“She’s the client,” Jason grinned.
“Ohhhh,” Henry sat down next to Jason and poured himself a coffee before looking at Myriam. “You never let me meet the clients.”
“No, because that’s usually need-to-know. Izzy is under our protection and will remain here with Neal until we’ve dealt with the issue,” Myriam replied. “How did it go?”
“Yeah, great,” Henry nodded as he took a sip of his coffee before reaching for the sugar pot and dunked a lot of sugar in his coffee. “Johnny wasn’t too happy when we called though.”
“What did you need Johnny for?”
Henry sheepishly looked at Jason before looking back at Myriam. “You told us to take care of him, so I did,” he then quickly focused his attention to Bella. “So, for the Cullens to want you dead, you must have pissed them off greatly.”
“You could say that,” she muttered before realizing what Henry had said. “Emmett’s dead?”
“Don’t worry, nobody will ever find him, that’s what we have Johnny for.”
“He’s a fixer. He gets shit that we need and has even more questionable contacts than these people,” Jason nodded. “Great guy. Wasn’t surprised we told him we had a body for him to dispose of.”
“I offered to help,” Henry shrugged. “All I got was a tirade of curse words in a thick Irish accent and a ‘fuck off’. Shame though. Was fun to kill Emmett.”
“There’ll be no further killing,” Myriam said sternly. “Got that? Izzy wants them to pay, but not with their lives because that’s what they’re doing to her.”
“Yes ma’am,” Henry and Jason chorused. “Sorry Izzy.”
