I was beginning to realize the library toward the back of the mansion was one of Kael's favorite rooms. He led us inside and brought the laptop over to where I had sat on the sofa, taking in the fresh air from the open windows.

"Here. Let's see about those letters." He took a seat to my right. Garrett sat on the arm of the couch on my other side. Garrett gave me a quick wink, and I glared at him in return. I knew he was indicating that we didn't need help deciphering those letters now that we had the invoices. That wasn't accurate though. We weren't analysts. I wished he would be more careful. If Kael figured out what we had stolen, we could be in very real danger.

Glancing to my right, I noted Kael's concerned expression. He couldn't suspect we were up to something, could he? My hands shook a little as I tried to type in my account information and password. After two tries to get in, I finally saw my inbox and opened the email with the scanned letters.

"Print them." Kael said, getting up and heading for the desk. Once we had the whole stack, he settled in on the couch beside me. He thumbed through them, removing the ones from the last month. "This might take a while." He started scratching on a blank pad beside him, the letters spread out across his lap.

"Does it look like it might be something?" Garrett asked getting up to look over his shoulder.

"Have some breakfast and come back, Garrett. I'll know by then." Kael never moved his eyes from the page when he spoke.

Garrett let out a huff, acting as if he had been treated rudely. He walked from the room, closing the door behind him. I stood up, finding the idea of breakfast far less insulting. I glanced down at Kael and caught him watching me.

"What?" I asked. Deception has never been a gift of mine, but I tried to look innocent.

"Nothing," he replied and turned his attention back to his letters. I headed to the door, thankful for once that he wasn't one to pester me with questions like Garrett.

Only half an hour or so had passed when Kael came back into the kitchen, smacking the wad of pages onto the bar where Garrett and I sat, enjoying our fruit and coffee.

"I got him," he announced.

"Gideon Harper? You know where he is?" Garrett questioned.

"South," he nodded, "Just like last time; I should have known. Clever of him to leave me those letters just in case." He walked over and poured himself a cup of coffee.

Garrett shook his head and looked at me, asking, "You have any idea what he's rambling about?"

I shrugged and looked back at Kael. He explained, "In the letters, he keeps talking about south and Guntha, only it wouldn't seem like it to you, but anyway, it's a village with a small outpost we kept there, reserved only for emergencies or hiding cargo if it got too hot up here." He took a swig of coffee and made a face, apparently regretting his choice in beverage. "I'm guessing he headed there because he knew that was where they would take you if I failed...or he already uncovered that they had taken the shipment themselves. Keep your enemies closer." He mumbled the end to the common phrase.

"What enemies?" I asked, finding it hard to follow his garbled train of thought.

"Mason. Madeline's new crew."

"So he's near the outpost then?" I asked.

"Something like that. Though not exactly." He poured the remainder of the coffee down the sink.

"The least conspicuous way to Guntha is by water. If I take the boat, I can probably be there late this evening. I'll leave in the next hour," he said as he headed for the door.

"Whoa." Garrett raised an arm. "We may not understand half of what you were just rambling about there, but if you are out to find Gideon, you aren't leaving us behind, am I right?" He turned and looked at me.

"Um," I offered in meek support, not sure how I felt about traveling near Mason. Any friend of Madeline's was of no interest to me.

"Absolutely not," Kael said, "these are the people that want to abduct her!" His expression spoke to his unyielding resolve.

Garrett's face turned red. I wished I could sink into the wood floors and return when they had settled their dispute. I knew how Garrett could be. He hated being told 'no' and hated authority figures even more. "We are going to see her father; you can't leave us here! We have as much a right as you to see this through!"

"You two aren't coming with me," Kael said firmly over his shoulder as he left the room.

"Garrett..." I started, but the irritated look on his face silenced me. He frowned, obviously in deep thought. Then slowly, shockingly, a smile began to spread across his face. He looked at me and indicated with his head that I should follow. I shuddered to think what he could possibly have that would sway Kael's decision. Curiosity got the better of me, however, so I accompanied him back up the stairs and to my room. We didn't speak a word until we were inside, the door closed behind us.

"Please tell me this isn't some hair-brained scheme destined to get us killed!" I whispered in a slight panic. Once Garrett got an idea into his head, it could be next to impossible to replace it with reason.

He grinned, "I have two words for you: fool proof." He headed toward the couch and knelt down, unearthing the binder I had kicked beneath it just a few hours earlier. Pages fluttered onto the couch and floor as he emptied the contents frantically. Removing his cell phone, he began to take pictures of each page separately.

I walked over to where he stood, photographing the documents. "So you are going to turn him in then?" I didn't like this idea at all, but I wasn't sure how I would stop him.

He continued his work, but his voice could scarcely conceal his excitement, "Threaten. If he doesn't take us, then all of this gets sent straight to the police." He glanced up, "See? Foolproof. Even our assassin friend out there won't be able to con us out of it. Unless he wants to spend the rest of his life in jail and take his whole operation down in the process."

"And if he shoots you before you can push send?" I probed, still not liking the plan.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm sending this all to Arthur and will tell him to forward it on if he doesn't hear from me within twenty-four hours."

"No!" I put my hand over the next page, obscuring his photo. He mumbled something angrily under his breath, but I ignored him. "You are not sending this to anyone even remotely connected with Maria, you understand me? No connection to Maria. What about Charlie?"

He rolled his eyes. "Charlie?" I nodded, knowing our idiot friend from college would have no chance of mingling in Maria's social circle. Garrett continued his work. I still wasn't sure how I felt about his plan. To be honest, my feelings were evenly split between the two options. The insane thought of visiting Madeline's comrades made me nauseated. On the other hand, staying here with Garrett for protection was not consoling. As much as I appreciated Garrett's passion, he had nothing in the way of combat skills when compared to Kael. If Kael left, and the Mason group heard that Garrett and I were traveling through England, alone, nothing would stop them from coming straight for us.

I was in deep thought, considering what my own opinion should be when a swift knock at the door brought me back to reality. I looked at Garrett whose face had drained of color.

"One minute!" I called.

He whispered, "I just need a minute to get these sent. Can you stall for me?" His panic was apparent. He was frozen, phone in hand, standing over the pages. He was risking everything for this. There was no telling what Kael would do when blackmailed. We had never been the enemy in his eyes before. Even with all Garrett's years of investigative journalism, I wagered he had never pulled a stunt like this, not with an international smuggler.

"Sure." I scooted around the couch, opening the door just enough to get myself out and close the door right behind me. In the process of sliding out, I pushed myself right into Kael. The collision was unavoidable. I couldn't afford to keep the door open for more than a second.

"Standing right next to the door were you?" I asked, shrinking back against the door. Our faces were mere inches apart. I wished he would take a step back. In this close proximity, he made me nervous, especially considering what we had been conspiring moments earlier.

"What are you hiding, Harper?" The thin slits nearly hid his hazel eyes.

My sweating palms formed fists behind my back. Swallowing I said, "Nothing! Garrett's in a rage. I think if he even saw you he would go off."

He didn't try to mask his disbelief. He knew this was a poor explanation for my strange behavior. I went on, trying for a change of subject, wishing desperately I was a better liar.

"What did you want, anyway? I thought you had to leave."

"There was an email from Maria. I forgot to tell you downstairs."

My eyes flickered toward the stairs. My mind tried to conceive a scenario that would require us both to check the email. But this wasn't a feasible option, I knew. I was here, trapped between the door and his penetrating gaze.

"Great."

I shifted my feet, keeping my position awkwardly in front of the door as he appraised me silently. Finally, I asked, "Can you give me a minute? I'll be right down."

His eyes narrowed even more, and he responded, "I thought we could trust each other?"

He was not as distractible as I'd hoped. I leaned against the door, making the wood groan under my weight. Kael's proximity seemed to be closing in on me, whether real or imaged. I hoped Garrett was hurrying because I had the distinct impression he suspected something and would not be standing in the hall much longer.

I chewed on my lip, trying to decide what the best response would be; the longest, most delaying response. "I do trust you, but..." I let the word hang.

"But what?"

"Well..." I toyed with a knot in the wood door with the heel of my shoe, trying to buy time. I wasn't sure what my follow up to that was supposed to be. I had no idea how to delve into the reasons I didn't completely trust him. Most of them were summed up in the concrete cells beneath us. Finally I settled on the explanation, "I'm not so sure Garrett does." I should have said something else. There would be no further delays. Kael reached around me for the brass knob of the door and pushed it open. I stumbled into the room, since I had been leaning into the now moving door.

Garrett was standing by the couch. By the placid look on his face, I knew he was ready. I was glad he was able to so easily mask his fears. If Kael could have seen him earlier, he would have laughed at the act he was putting on now. But as he appeared at this moment, no one would ever guess he had a care in the world.

"Remember these?" He brought out his hand from behind the sofa, revealing the files. "I found these in your room. Nice security in there," He chuckled. I could tell Kael was livid, but he didn't say anything. He just kept looking at Garrett. Good. I didn't ever want him to look at me that way.

Garrett went on, "Sure. You're thinking, just kill the reporter, and get my goods off him. What's to stop you?" He began walking closer, and I prayed he didn't get hit. "There's one problem. I've sent a digital copy of these to a friend. And what do you think will happen if he doesn't hear from me at least every twenty-four hours?" he paused here for effect, then added confidently, "Every bit of this evidence is going straight to the authorities."

Garrett was standing right in front of him now, close enough to get punched, strangled even.

"What's in this is enough to put you and the old man away forever. Not only that, it will shut this place down in seconds. We could be standing in one of the biggest crime scenes in all of Europe!"

He was quite pleased with himself now, this was apparent. He was waving the phone around as if it were a dangerous weapon, meant to elicit fear. "But hey, I can be reasonable. You take me and Harper here on your little excursion. You make sure neither one of us gets hurt as well, you understand. No 'accidents' along the way. As long as we come back safely, you have my word, none of this will be released."

"It's very likely one or both of you get killed. I can't promise that." Kael's voice was low, tense.

"Oh but you have to, my friend. It's part of the deal. Nobody gets hurt on this little trip, or it's on your head. Do we have a deal?" I wished I could wipe the smirk off of Garrett's face. I couldn't imagine how angry Kael was right now, how betrayed he felt.

"Fine."

He turned on his heel. I saw Garrett's look of victory, however short lived. Kael whirled around, planting his fist squarely onto Garrett's face. I gasped as blood shot from Garrett's nose, spraying onto the floors. Garrett howled in pain, barely able to remain standing after the blow. He grasped his nose, blood pouring from it.

"What are you doing?" Garrett spat, choking on the onslaught of blood in his face.

"Trip hasn't started yet." Kael turned, locking eyes with me in silent warning for a second before leaving.

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Are you ready to choose sides? Harper isn't. Leave me a vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter XD

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