Anna hadn't stopped pacing the floor ever since she arrived at Dan's place after her futile attempts to reach Ethan. Neither had she accepted anything he had offered her. She had implored him to call Ethan right away and tell him what was at stake. After the phone call with her ex-husband, he told her to remain calm and that he was on his way.

Remain calm? she scoffed, when her only son and his nanny were at the mercy of a psychopath. She didn't stop pacing. She continued doing that, muttering to herself.

"You need to calm down. Ronnie will be fine," Terry said from her seat. It was the first thing she had told her when she unceremoniously let herself into the house and announced what had happened. Terry had been devastated by the news. She was shocked that Clinton could use a small child to his selfish advantage.

She turned swiftly to face her, ready to lash out at her. "Who are we kidding?"

"Clinton has Ronnie and Clinton is a psychopath." She shot Terry a scornful look as though any of this was her fault. Then she said, "What would you do if your child was with him?"

She chewed on her question. If Gabby was with Clinton, she would have been hurt and worried but not constantly pacing and hyperventilating. If anything, she knew Clinton was a man to reason with. To her, he wasn't a psychopath. He was a narcissist with power. As long as Ethan had whatever he wanted, he wasn't going to touch a hair on the boy. Why? Because Ronnie was his only leverage. But she didn't know how to talk to her and not convey the wrong message.

She said calmly, "Maybe I don't know what you're going through because my child is not at stake. But you don't know Clinton as I do."

She snapped, "And you think you know him better than anyone?"

"Yes. I've worked with him for years-"

She rudely interrupted. "Then you should know he's a man of his word."

Dan wanted to stop Anna from arguing with Terry. The woman had had her share of pain to endure. But he dared not interfered, especially when Anna was reaching a breaking point. He hoped Ethan would show up any moment from now.

Terry said, "Yes, he is but he cares more about himself than anything and anyone. Clinton will never let his reputation get tarnished. He'd do anything to prevent that, which means he's not going to harm Ronnie because he's his leverage."

"It's easy for you to say that when you're not the one whose child is out there. If anything happens to my child, I'm going to kill that son of a bitch!"

Terry gulped hard. She prayed it wouldn't get to that. They waited for a while, then the door to the house slid open. Ethan stepped inside, Jane followed, now dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a pink blouse.

He ran to Anna and pulled her into a hug to console her but she pulled away quickly. "He wants to trade." She went straight to the point.

Dan looked up from the laptop screen. "Man, what did you take from him?"

He told them how he acquired the evidence by using Eleanor to get to Peterson. He was certain Peterson had informed Clinton after he'd left.

"What are you going to do now? Do you have a plan?"

"Hand him over the evidence. This is my son we're talking about."

"Wait," Jane said. "You can't just hand him the evidence. How do we know he won't hurt the boy even if you give him what he wants?"

"We just have to trust him," Ethan said.

"Trust Clinton?" Dan asked from his seat. "He's a lying bastard. He can't be trusted. We need a better plan."

Ethan had never felt this scared in his life. He'd known fear was a great motivator, but not to the extent it made people unsteady till he found himself in this situation. He had walked right into Peterson's home without a proper plan and had acquired implicating evidence. Luck had been on his side. But he couldn't proceed from here without a proper plan because this involved two human beings-his son and his nanny. He certainly needed a plan and his mind was in turmoil.

He looked at Anna, said, "What were his terms?", walked to a couch, and sat quickly. That's when he noticed Terry's presence. They locked eyes. He could see the concern in her brown eyes although she hadn't said much since his arrival. There were so many things Terry wanted to say to console him, but couldn't figure out the right one.

Anna spoke, snapping him out of the trance. "He gave me a number to call once I reached you." She pulled out her phone, dialed the number, and put it on a loudspeaker.

Clinton came through the line. "If you're calling then it means you've located the fugitive."

"Yes. He's here."

"Put him though."

She passed the phone to him.

"Clinton," he said, "you've got my attention now."

He laughed sinisterly. "I knew I would. Your son here is telling me so much about you. I've grown to love the boy and it'd hurt me to harm him."

"What do you want?"

"You know what I want. What you took from Admiral Peterson contains sensitive information that mustn't surface on this earth."

"Why so? Are you afraid the whole world would know you're a criminal and a murderer?"

"Afraid is not a word I like to hear. Let's say I'm simply worried that you might cause colossal damage. South Carolina knows you to be a mass murderer. All you had to do was die and that was it. But you didn't. Why?

"Because Shelby Willet thought you were innocent."

When the name registered, Ethan felt a jolt in his muscle. How did Clinton find out?

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course, you do. I've got men everywhere. The secrets you keep don't always remain with you."

He wanted to know if he had done something to Shelby Willet, but then he thought to himself she was a director and could protect herself. She knew what she was getting into breaking him out. His son was the prey here. And his predator was as cunning as a fox.

"My son. Let's talk about him. I give you the evidence and you hand him over with his nanny unharmed."

"Without a thought. I don't have a problem with that. The question here is, do you have a problem with that?"

The first thing Clinton would do for sure was to destroy the evidence once in his possession. He'd have no way of proving his innocence. He would forever remain a mass murderer and always be on the run, hiding from the police and from the people he cared about to protect them. Was that a life he wanted?

Certainly no. Running from the law was not a life anybody wanted. But when it came at the expense of his son, he'd sacrifice his freedom for him. Ronnie was young and had a whole life ahead of him. And above all innocent. He shouldn't have been entangled in this in the first place. It sucked that the weak ones were always the target of evil people when they should be protected. Such was life.

Ethan said, "He's my son. I'd do anything for him without thinking twice."

"I knew that. You're a good father, Ethan."

He didn't doubt that. Not because it was coming from a despicable person, but because he'd always known it.

"I'll choose the time and place. Don't try to contact Shelby Willet. She's kinda busy right now. Two minutes from now, you should get a text from me. And don't think of duplicating those files. You wouldn't want to do that. Until then, see you." Then he clicked off.

Faces were staring right at him as he ended the call.

Dan said, "I still don't trust Clinton. I just don't know why."

"Me neither, but what choice do we have? He's got my son. He has the leverage."

"What's on that file anyway that he had to kidnap my son to trade with?" Anna asked.

"Evidence that proves Clinton and Peterson works with the Russian Mafia. They've been feeding them with intel on classified ops about the country. That's to say the least," Ethan said.

"What! The Attorney General and an admiral? That's why he wanted to find you at all costs. We need to get my son from him. He's crazy."

Ethan looked at her and sighed. He wished she would stop talking for him to think. Two minutes elapsed and he got the text from Clinton. Ethan read it, and said, "He wants to meet at sundown in the park."

"You can't go alone with the evidence. It's a trap. Clinton will have men everywhere, ready to take you down the moment you step foot there. Who knows? He might not even bring Ronnie along," Dan said.

He wasn't foolish to not know it was a trap. The trap was too plain. But he was taking his chances anyway.

"I know. If I die, I die protecting my son," he said sadly.

Anna's face dropped so did Dan's.

"Except that you're not going alone," Terry said. "All this while, Clinton has exploited me, lied to my face like I was some sort of idiot. It's time to return the favor."

"No way I'm taking you along with me. You could get killed or hurt and I can't deal with that."

"You're not taking me along. You're kidnapping me and holding me hostage at gunpoint. I'm your leverage. It wouldn't be the first time you've kidnapped a judge."

Ethan was pondering her proposition. "Clinton doesn't care about you. He ordered a hit on your life. He'd do it again if he sets eyes on you." He said it so bluntly that she felt stupid for trusting Clinton and letting him use her. But she knew he hadn't said it to chide her.

"Clinton doesn't care about anybody. But he thinks I'm on his side. I was, and I shifted after everything I'd heard a while ago. He told me you were a sleeper agent and added evidence."

"A sleeper agent?" He scoffed. "What's wrong with this guy and lies?"

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore because I know the truth now."

"Even if I take you hostage, how's that going to help get back Ronnie?"

"We're not getting Ronnie. This isn't trading because Clinton wouldn't go along. It's an insertion."

Ethan wasn't clear. "Wait. So we're not getting my son and-"

"And not giving any evidence to Clinton. We can't trust him to make this trade. That's why we're not going to make any trade at all."

Ethan was impressed so were Dan and the others.

"But wait," Ethan said, "your plan only works if Clinton doesn't bring Ronnie. What if he brings him along to make the trade?"

"Then we execute the initial plan which I doubt we'll need it. Clinton doesn't want only the evidence, Ethan. He wants you. Dead."

"All right, Judge. You're in charge."