Chapter Nineteen

"Diana?!" Nick yelled in shock as he watched her materialize from thin air in his room. He ran to her and was pleased that, even though she wasn't really there, he was somehow able to hug her. "Are your mom and Kelly okay?" Nick asked her quickly, now kneeling in front of her and holding her shoulders.

"We miss you," Diana told him.

Nick smiled sadly. "I know. I miss you, too. I don't know how to get back to you, but I'm trying," he answered honestly.

Diana stared blankly, listening to Adalind, Eve, and Renard speak to her instead of listening to Nick. They were telling her to ask specific questions. "Where are you?" she questioned, her eyes focusing on Nick's face again.

"I don't know," Nick told her. "Maybe underground somewhere? There aren't any windows here. Tell that to whoever's with you."

"I'm with Daddy, Mommy, and Eve," Diana informed Nick.

Nick nodded. "Tell them what I said."

Diana's eyes went out of focus again and she repeated what Nick had told her. When her eyes moved to look at Nick's face again, she asked, "Who is doing this?" It didn't sound like a question from Diana. She must have been asking on Eve's behalf, or maybe Adalind's.

"The Reapers and what used to be Black Claw. They formed an alliance," Nick said. He waited for Diana to repeat his words and then ask another question.

"Is Reichardt involved?" Diana asked, probably for Renard.

"Yes, and so is..." Nick paused, realizing that there was something he should have told them first. "Miles. Miles from HW. He works for Reichardt. You need to tell them that right now!" Nick yelled urgently.

Diana quickly repeated the message to her audience.

"We have to go," Diana told Nick quickly. "Hank and Wu told Renard they were meeting Miles." The words were clearly Eve's or Adalind's considering Diana would never call her father Renard. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"They want the book. Keep the book safe," Nick said urgently. Diana repeated the words blankly and when she finished, she looked at Nick with a heartbroken expression. "We're going to find you. I love you," she said, hugging Nick.

Nick's door opened, and suddenly, Nick was hugging the air.

"What are you doing?" Damien asked.

"Uhhh." Nick had to think of something to tell him. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be the truth.

*************

"I'm calling Hank right now," Renard said urgently as he held his phone up to his ear.

"I'll get Wu," Eve offered, dialing her phone.

After a few moments, both of them frantically dialed numbers on their phones again. "I got his voicemail. I'm going to try again," Renard said.

"Me, too," Eve said with frustration.

*************

"We're here," Hank announced to Miles. He, Miles, and Wu were climbing out of the Charger.

"Let's get that book," Wu said enthusiastically.

The trio walked deeper into the woods together while Hank and Wu's phones rang repeatedly in the car. They were both on vibrate; Wu and Hank had no chance of hearing them.

*************

Everyone was so focused on calling Hank and Wu that they didn't notice Renard's front door open.

"Guys?" a voice asked. Everyone turned their head to watch Farris enter the room. "Hey, what's going on?" she asked anxiously as she saw the worried look on everyone's faces.

"Miles is working for the people that took Nick," Adalind answered quickly. "He's with Hank and Wu right now."

"Where?" Farris asked urgently.

"We don't know. We've been trying to call them, but they aren't answering," Eve told her.

Farris pulled out her phone and started tapping the screen. "I found him," she said quickly.

"What?" Renard asked, speaking the thoughts of the group.

Farris looked up at them and turned her phone screen so they could see it. The others looked, seeing a blue spot in the middle of a green square with small words written on it. "I installed an app so I could track Hank's phone in case something like this happened," Farris explained. Everyone stared at her wordlessly. "Come on!" Farris yelled while gesturing in the direction of the front door.

"I'll go," Renard volunteered. "Eve and Adalind, you stay here with Kelly and Diana." Adalind nodded, and Renard ran out the door with Farris and jumped in her squad car.

*************

"You guys have the book hidden all the way out here?" Miles asked with confusion as he stared forward into the thick forest. Hank had was walking in front of Miles while Wu was walking behind him.

"Yep," Wu said as he moved deeper into the trees. "We figured no one would find it in the middle of the woods."

Miles smiled to himself before saying, "Yeah. I'm glad you guys are telling me where it is. I'd never find it by myself."

With that, Hank spun around, unholstered his gun and pointed it in Miles's face. Wu pulled his gun, too, and moved to stand next to Hank.

"Woah! Guys, what's going on?" Miles said, raising his hands in surrender.

"You've been acting strange, and some things just don't add up," Hank told him, keeping his gun steadily raised in front of Miles's face.

Miles stared at Hank in confusion and looked at him like he was crazy before shooting the same look in Wu's direction. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked as if he didn't understand.

"Instead of helping us find Nick and Trubel, you were driving around all day yesterday," Wu mentioned.

"I needed to clear my head. Is there something wrong with that?" Miles asked in a tone that made him sound offended.

"You were with Trubel when she investigated Reichardt, you were with her when she disappeared, and you called Nick to the scene instead of us," Hank listed suspiciously.

Miles still looked angry. He was starting to worry that he couldn't come back from his mistakes and hoped that rage would mask the anxiety he felt. "I already told you that I screwed up by calling Nick first, okay? I know that! I never wanted to hurt anyone!" he swore.

"Then what's with the good mood you were in this morning? You didn't seem so guilty or desperate to find Trubel earlier. In fact, the only thing you asked about was the book," Wu interrogated, holding his gun on Miles just as Hank did.

"Odds are, we aren't going to find Trubel and Nick. I was just thinking ahead so we could prevent the Reapers and Black Claw from finding the book," Miles explained desperately.

"Black Claw?" Wu asked snarkily.

Crap, Miles thought to himself. He really messed up this time.

"It's common knowledge that they wanted the book," Miles responded quickly.

Hank looked at Wu with a conspiratorial expression. Wu looked back with the same expression; neither one of them trusted Miles anymore.

"It's also common knowledge that Black Claw was wiped out," Wu said. "Do you know something that we don't?"

Miles took a step forward to be closer to the angry officers. He had a pleading look on his face as he spoke. "Guys, please. You're paranoid. I'm not the bad guy here." He watched as his words were immediately rejected by Hank and Wu; Miles could see they didn't believe him.

Miles's hands were still raised to about shoulder level. In a blindingly fast movement, he jumped to the side while also moving his hands forward to push Hank's gun away from him. A gunshot rang out from Hank pulling the trigger, but the bullet sunk into a tree instead of Miles's flesh. Miles pulled Hank's arm forward, and Hank went with it, now blocking the path between Wu's gun and Miles; Hank was a human shield. With one arm, Miles twisted the gun from Hank's hand and held it to his temple. Miles used his other arm as a restraint, wrapping it around Hank's neck. Miles backed up to put some distance between himself and Wu.

For the few seconds it took Miles to control the situation, Wu had been looking for a shot he could take to stop him. There wasn't one, and now Wu stood, holding his gun up toward Miles, and therefore Hank.

"Wu, I'd lower that gun if I was you," Miles warned with a cruel grin on his face. "You wouldn't want me to shoot your partner, and you really wouldn't want to shoot him yourself by accident." Hank looked at Wu with a worried expression, so Wu lowered his gun and eventually dropped it on the ground.

"It's not your fault," Miles taunted. "That my reflexes are so much faster than yours. I know you aren't used to a Grimm working against you instead of with you."

"What do you want?" Hank demanded, grasping Miles's arm locked tightly around his throat with his hands. There was no way Hank would be able to pry Miles off of himself before getting shot.

"The book," Miles answered with frustration. "Haven't you been listening?"

"We just thought you would ask for something you could actually get," Hank growled back.

Miles laughed, seemingly unworried. "I hope that you're joking. Unless you want to die here today, you better start talking."

Hank and Wu were getting genuinely worried that they would never leave those woods until they heard the distant sound of sirens. They had hope that their friends had somehow figured out the truth about Miles.

"That's for us," Wu said. Though he wasn't entirely sure that was the case, he could at least pretend that it was. Maybe Miles would get spooked and leave.

"Do you think you're going to get answers from us in the next sixty seconds?" Hank asked, sounding just as taunting as Miles had earlier.

"Dammit," Miles cursed under his breath. He looked around and was struck with inspiration. "New plan," he announced. He pointed to a tree with a smaller diameter than the others; however, though it was thin, it still wasn't thin enough to break. "Wu, you are going to handcuff yourself to that."

"Why would I?" Wu asked rebelliously.

Miles glared at him. "Because if you don't, I'll shoot you and you'll have to pray that it doesn't kill you."

Wu looked to Hank for guidance and Hank nodded. What else could they do, anyway? They had no doubt that Miles would hurt or kill them if they tried to stall for any longer.

Wu handcuffed himself to the tree, happy that Miles hadn't remembered to ask for the keys. He could unhandcuff himself in seconds and make his move... whatever that was.

"Alright, Hank. Your turn," Miles whispered in Hank's ear. "Car keys." Miles unwrapped his arm from Hank's neck and held out his hand. Hank unhappily gave Miles the keys to the Charger. "Thank you," Miles said happily. Without hesitation, Miles brought the butt of the gun down on the base of Hank's skull, knocking him unconscious. Miles smiled widely at Wu and said, "I'm going to make sure Nick and Trubel are dead within the next few hours. Good luck with your scavenger hunt. Maybe I'll leave hints on where you can find their bodies."

"Go to hell," Wu hissed at Miles.

Miles chuckled to himself before climbing into the Charger and driving away. When he got a decent distance away from the forest, he tossed their phones into the woods to make sure that they couldn't be traced to a location that would make it easier to find Hank and Wu. Miles left his own phone in his room at HW, so now the only thing he had to worry about was someone recognizing the Charger. Miles drove quickly back to where he left his 240z and swapped vehicles. As his own car started instantly after he turned the key, Miles muttered, "I'm glad I had a backup plan." Earlier that morning, he had only been faking that his car wouldn't start so he could use it as an escape vehicle later. He loved his car; it was too old to have any sort of technology that would allow people to track it.

It was perfect.

Miles left the Charger behind him as he stomped on the gas and sped off in the direction of the Reapers' hideout.

*************

Farris raced down the highway with the police sirens blaring and lights flashing. Renard was in the passenger's seat, holding Farris's phone and giving her directions on how to reach Hank's location.

"Hold on a second," Renard said as he examined the screen. "They're on the move. They're headed closer to the highway."

Farris sped up. She and Renard drove mostly in silence, only breaking it when something changed.

"They stopped moving," Renard told Farris. "We're coming up on them now. You're going to want to slow down."

Farris followed Renard's directions and eventually stopped at an insignificant location along the highway. Farris parked on the shoulder and turned off the car's sirens. She, along with Renard, climbed out of the car and examined the scene for evidence of Hank or Wu. After a few seconds of searching, Farris announced, "I've got something." She held up a phone that she had found on the forest floor under a fern.

"It's Wu's," she said.

"I've got Hank's," Renard told her, showing her the phone that he had found on the ground.

Farris inspected the scene. "I don't think Hank or Wu were here. I'm not even sure that Miles was," she announced. She pointed to the ground, muddy from the near-constant rain. "The only footprints here are ours."

"Miles must have thrown the phones out of the car as he drove by," Renard suggested.

"The question is: were Hank and Wu with him as he drove off or were they where Miles originally stopped?" Farris asked.

Renard and Farris both mentally deliberated whether they should head down the highway in the direction they had been heading, the direction Miles had been heading, or if they should turn back to look for Hank and Wu.

"I don't think Miles would take Hank or Wu with him," Renard responded. "Let's double back."

Farris nodded, and she and Renard ran to the car. They sped off in the direction they had come from and searched for a road that would lead into the forest approximately where Hank's location had originally been. After a few minutes, they found it and started driving into the woods. They stopped suddenly when they found Wu kneeling over Hank who was lying on the ground.

Farris jumped out of the car. "Hank!" she yelled, running over to Wu.

"He should be okay. Miles just knocked him out," Wu explained.

"Are you okay?" Renard asked Wu as he walked up to him. Farris spoke through the radio on her shoulder and told dispatch to send EMS to their location.

Wu nodded and climbed to his feet. "Hank was pistolwhipped and had his car stolen. By comparison, I'm doing alright," he said sarcastically. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Diana told us Miles was working for the Reapers, so we went looking for you," Renard answered.

Wu looked at Renard with confusion. "Diana?"

"She talked to Nick and Trubel," Farris explained. "Apparently," she added uncomfortably when Wu gave her a questioning look. She still wasn't used to Diana's bizarre abilities.

"You didn't tell Miles where the book was, did you?" Renard asked.

Wu shook his head. "No. Miles was asking about the book a lot this morning and that's when Hank and I put it all together. We brought him out here to confront him," Wu explained. "Which obviously didn't go as planned."

"And now Reichardt and Miles are in the wind," Renard said with frustration. "How the hell are we going to find Nick?!"

*************

Griese and Reichardt were sitting next to each other in the conference room of the Reapers's compound. Miles sat across from them, anxiously awaiting a response from either Griese or Reichardt since he had just finished explaining how his cover was blown.

"And you left Griffin and Wu alive?" Griese asked angrily, clenching her fists on the tabletop.

"It was only a matter of time before the others figured out I was working against them," Miles explained defensively. "I heard the sirens and knew I had to get out of there."

"You didn't know that the cops were coming for you," Reichardt argued angrily.

Miles glared back at him and told him snarkily, "Yeah? Well, I didn't know they weren't for me either. I had to get out, fast."

"It would have taken seconds to kill them both," Reichardt pointed out in disapproval.

"Really? You wanted me to kill people who knew where the book was?" Miles asked in disgust. He hadn't disclosed that detail to Reichardt or Griese yet; his angry face grew smug as he watched the realization sink in on Griese's and Reichardt's faces.

"What?" Griese asked bitterly.

"They know," Miles repeated. "We need to bring them in. And Renard, and Adalind. All of Nick's friends could know where the book is, and the more people we have, the more information we're going to get."

Reichardt opened his mouth to start yelling at Miles, but Griese spoke first. "I think that's a good idea," she said, sounding uncomfortable with giving Miles praise. "We need to be more aggressive with our efforts on the outside." She grinned sadistically at Reichardt and Miles. "And the inside," she added happily.

Miles grinned; he liked the sound of that.

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