They rode in silence the rest of the way to the train station, and Caid watched as his family filed out.

“Martinez and I will go with them, make sure they get settled somewhere safe.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Anytime. You keep my sister here safe.”

“You stay safe, Lance,” Jemma wished.

“Will do, Jems. See ya soon.”

“Caid King, you had better be here safe when we get back.”

“Yes, Momma.” Caid pulled her in for a hug, and then his father.

“You need me, call,” Mikey commanded.

“Will do, Pops.”

Sophia took a step toward Caid and then crossed her arms. “Don’t die.”

“I’ll do my best.”

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but turned back to the station instead. Caid hugged his nephew and brother-in-law, and then watched as nearly everyone he loved climbed onto that train.

Once they were out of sight, he turned to Jemma. “Ready?”

She nodded, and he gripped her hand to walk back to the van. He was worried it could somehow be tracked, but he also didn’t want a cabbie being offered some cash to inform everyone where he had dropped them.

No matter what route they took, there would be risks.

Jemma didn’t talk the entire way back to the cabin, and Caid was grateful for it. His mind was a rush of panic as the adrenaline wore off. What the hell had Charmont been thinking? The guy was a psycho, sure, but threatening the family of an FBI agent? He had never pulled any shit like that before. At least not that Caid had ever heard.

“I know of your relationship with my daughter”, he’d said. That made Jemma even more of a target for Charmont and any other person he was working with who might worry she knew more than she actually did.

Fuck, he needed to keep combing through that info Lance’s adoptive brother had given him. There had to be something solid in there. He’d been so wrapped up trying to keep up with the cases Pax kept throwing at him he hadn’t had nearly the amount of time he needed to make sure he was up-to-date on the info for The Runner. He was doing everything he could to ensure she didn’t pull him from the case. But as it stood now, they were sitting ducks.

* * *

“Nothing’s been moved,” Jemma announced as she came into the living room.

Caid nodded. “I checked the perimeter, and it looks like we’re clear.”

“For now, but what about when we’re not?” She crossed her arms. “You may have been able to fool everyone else, but I know Liam. What did he really want?”

“I told you, just me to stop working the case.”

“That’s bullshit, Caid. He would not have called and threatened your family if that was all he wanted. What aren’t you telling me?”

Caid ground his teeth and shook his head. “I refuse to hand you over to him, not when I feel so close to cracking this.”

“What do you mean? As of yesterday, there was nothing n--” She glared at him. “What are you keeping from me?”

“I just wanted to make sure there was something here before I brought you into it.” He handed her a file from his bag on the counter.

“What the hell is this?” She opened the folder and then set it back down as if it bit her. “Where did you get this?”

“Lance’s adoptive brother. He is actually the one who helped separate the two of you.”

“When?”

Caid’s jaw tightened. “Yesterday.”

“You’ve had this since yesterday, and you’re only just now telling me?” With shaking fingers, she lifted the photograph of her mother holding two small infants. She ran her fingers over her mother’s smile, and a tear fell down.

“Jemma, I didn’t want to say anything until I knew it would lead somewhere.”

“Everything, Caid. We agreed, no secrets between us. How can we work together if you’re holding back?”

“We can’t,” Caid agreed.

“She kept records of everything.” Jemma pushed the papers aside and lifted the ledgers Caid had yet to analyze.

“Jemma, this might be enough. We need to verify everything, but I think this is it.” He stepped toward her and gripped her hand holding the photograph. “We can finally bring his ass down for everything he’s done.”

Jemma continued staring at the photo, and then looked up to Caid. “I want to meet him.”

“Who?”

“The guy who gave this stuff to you. I want to meet him.”

“I don’t know where he is.”

“Does Lance still talk to him?”

Caid nodded. “When he gets back from Jersey, we’ll sit down and talk about it.”

Jemma took a deep breath. “I want to be alone for a while.”

Caid ignored the stab to his heart and nodded. “I’ll stay in Lance’s room.”

Jemma turned and walked away. Caid tried to tell himself she was just going through a lot, that it wasn’t personal. But a part of him worried if keeping the information from her had been a huge mistake.

* * *

“You’re okay?”

“Yeah, Ma, we’re good.” Caid smiled into the receiver.

“You need anything?”

“Yes, you to stay put. Please.”

“I will. We’re all keeping plenty busy. How’s Jemma?”

Caid looked at Jemma who was currently nose-deep in notes as she sat cross-legged in front of a laptop. She had barely spoken to him since he showed her the folder two nights ago, spending most of her time buried in research, trying desperately to collaborate what her mother had recorded.

“She’s fine.”

“Caid, is everything okay? If it’s what your sister said--”

“No, Ma, it’s not that. Things are just stressful here, that’s all.”

“All right, if you need me I’m here.” That was the great thing about his mom. She always seemed to sense when he didn’t want to talk anymore. “Lance is headed back to you tomorrow; Ashlee is staying here to keep us company. She’s a sweetheart, and I think Lance may be smitten with her.”

Caid laughed. His mother was always trying to play matchmaker.

“I love you, Ma.”

“Love you, too, Caid. Stay safe.” Caid hung up and crossed his arms. Jemma’s hair was up in a messy bun, her sinfully long legs covered in tight black fabric that made his mouth water.

The white tank she wore was certainly not doing him any favors. Caid took a step toward her. She was so fucking beautiful, and powerful. Just like the fire dancing behind her, she drew him in with her unparalleled beauty only to devour him with her heat. As if she sensed him, she looked up, and he felt the last chain on his restraint snap.

She pushed the laptop aside and got to her feet just in time for him to pull her into his arms.

Their mouths crashed together in a tangled fury, and he buried his hands in her hair. She reached up between them and pulled Caid’s shirt open. He barely heard the popping of the buttons as they sprang from the fabric.

Her hands touched his bare flesh, and she groaned against his mouth. They separated just long enough for him to pull the tank over her head before lifting her so she could wrap her legs around his waist.

While he really wanted her here in front of the fire that reminded him of her, sanity surfaced just long enough to realize he also didn’t want to risk Lance returning early and walking in on them. He carried her to her bedroom and laid her on the bed.

He pressed his lips to her throat and then trailed his tongue down her chest until he pulled the taut peak of her breast into his mouth.

She arched up into him and reached down to fumble with his belt.

“Help,” she said with a small laugh when she couldn’t get it off.

Caid grinned and stepped back. He quickly removed his shoes and pants and stared down at Jemma.

“You’re wearing too many clothes.” He traced his fingers in a slow tease across the waistband of her pants.

“You should help me with that,” she said breathlessly.

“I think I probably can.” He slipped a finger beneath the fabric and then another. He continued his tease until he gripped her hips and slowly slid the pants down her smooth legs, pressing light kisses to every inch of skin he revealed.

“Caid,” she groaned and reached for him. “I need you.”

Caid moved slowly back up her body until he covered her. He looked into her eyes as he drove into her with all of the passion she unleashed in him.

They lay, breathless, and Caid reached over to hold her hand. “I know it’s not under the best circumstances” -- he cleared his throat as he played with their interlaced finger -- “but I’m so damn glad I met you, Jemma.”

Jemma smiled. “So, you mean running for our lives is not a good way to start a relationship?”

Caid laughed and rolled her over. “You are fucking amazing, you know that?” He pressed his lips to her throat. “I’m falling in love with you.”

Jemma stared at him. She opened her mouth to speak, and Caid smiled. “It’s okay, Jemma. I’m not asking you to say it back, I just wanted you to know where I stood.”

* * *

Caid walked into the FBI that morning with a bit more spring in his step than he would have thought possible at this point.

He and Jemma had partaken in some amazing morning sex and topped it off having coffee together. He had talked to Lance when he left Jersey earlier that morning, and was grateful to hear his family was still doing well despite being cooped up in a hotel.

Today was the day he was going to bring everything full circle and take Charmont down. He had plans to spend the day cross-referencing all the new info Lance’s adopted brother had given him, as well as following up on a new lead he had as to who the mole might be inside the bureau.

He wasn’t foolish enough to believe it was limited to his old partner.

“You’re here early,” Omars commented when Caid stepped into the briefing room.

“Got some things to follow up on. Have anything new for me?”

“I thought I had, but looking at it today, I think I may have just been reading into things. I was pretty tired last night when I stumbled across it.”

“What was it?”

“Some odd expenses that came out of Charmont’s personal account recently. I got a warrant to search through them, and this morning when I logged on to check them out more thoroughly, they were gone.”

“That’s strange,” Caid commented. “Keep looking, maybe you just overlooked them this morning.”

“Will do.”

“You know where to find me if you stumble across anything else.”

“Yeah.”

Caid left the room and headed to his office. Just as he was taking a seat, Pax walked in. Caid’s back straightened slightly.

“Morning, King, what’s new on the Charmont case?”

“We’ve got a few new leads we’re following up on.”

“Anything concrete?”

“I’ve got some intel from a CI that puts Charmont in a few nefarious dealings leading up to the death of his late wife.”

“Nice, let me know if you have enough for a warrant to search his premises.”

“You know I will.”

Pax left the room, and Caid dove into the pile of paper on his desk. It wasn’t long before he found his leak.

“Son of a bitch.” Caid rolled his chair back and covered his mouth with his hands. “No, no, no, that can’t be right.” He picked up the paper again and inspected it more closely. Turned out Omars had been correct about those financial irregularities. Caid had not only found them, but managed to trace them to the account they had been deposited in.

Now what the hell was he supposed to do with it?

He stood and shoved everything into his bag, grabbed his jacket, and left the office. He wanted a second pair of eyes he could trust to go over everything, but it was all starting to make sense now.

The thumb drive, the fact that someone had managed to track him back to Jemma’s secret apartment. Shit, even the safe house no one should have known about.

If he was reading this information right, the mole had been right in front of him the entire time. And she was currently leading the New York FBI.

* * *

“Hello?” Liam Charmont answered his phone with a voice full of disdain. The person on the other end of the line had been constantly disappointing him.

“It’s Pax.”

“Yeah, what do you want?”

“King is getting entirely too close. How have you not shut that down yet?”

“Could be because you refuse to let us kill him.”

“There are other ways of controlling someone.”

“How’s that?”

“I have the location of his entire family.”

Liam straightened in his seat. “Send it over.”

“Use one of them as bait to draw him out. But under no circumstances are you to kill him or his family.”

“Do you not remember who works for whom, Pax? I put you where you are. Up until now, I have followed our agreement and not killed the damn FBI agent you seem to be so fond of, but that ends now. He gets in my way again, and I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in him.”

“You kill him and our working relationship is done.”

“Just what exactly does this guy have? A fourteen-inch dick? What exactly makes him so damn special that I can’t just fucking kill him?”

“Just leave him be, Charmont. I don’t give a shit what you do with your whore daughter, but King is mine.”

“That seems rather possessive. And if I were you, I wouldn’t insult my daughter again, or I might just kill him to shut you both up.” Charmont hung up the phone and slammed it down on his desk. King was far more trouble than he was worth.

Moments later, a text came through with an address. He forwarded it to Eric with instructions, and then leaned back in his chair. This needed to end, now.