I have a hard time focusing all through work and I continuously check my phone for messages from Liam or Teddy. After sending them Rebecca's picture, I was hoping to hear some news but I haven't received any messages from them yet.

Emma was much more relaxed combing through bins of file folders but I found the work mundane and very much beneath me. Tristan continued to think so little of me throughout the day that I almost bit my tongue off trying to keep all my nasty comments to myself. He doesn't hide much of what he truly thinks of me, it's just annoying to hear his voice and his thoughts all day while doing bitch work for him.

At five o'clock, I dump the case files I was sorting back into the bin and I don't bother telling Tristan I am leaving. I know they expect late nights and early mornings, but my pregnancy is making me absolutely exhausted. I scoop my purse off my desk and continue right on out to my car. I try calling Liam on my way home but I don't get an answer. He must have been busy all day or he would have at least called on his lunch break. I decide I can't handle thinking any more about Topher or Tristan so I decide to call Harper. She answers on the third ring and for once, it doesn't sound like she's in the midst of chaos

"Why Eleanor Adler, I was just thinking about you."

I laugh and reply, "Well you must not have been thinking too hard if you forgot I'm Eleanor Greysor now. And have been for what, five years now?"

"Psh, you two were long married before that. Try you've been Eleanor Greysor since highschool." I roll my eyes at her even though she can't see me and I reply, "So anyway, what's new with you? Why were you thinking about me?"

"Well, I have some juicy gossip for you," she says and usually only half of what Harper thinks is juicy gossip is juicy gossip.

"Oh, well I'm all ears." I'm now parked in my parking garage at home but I continue to sit in my seat while Harper talks to me.

"Okay, well I talked to Lily last night and...she caught Ben with their nanny! In Kason's bed!" She says excitedly and instinctively my hand flies up to my mouth, "What?! In his kid's bed? Are you serious!" I ask and she responds, "Mmmhmm. But get this, Lily is going to turn the other cheek. She doesn't want to do a damn thing about it."

With my jaw still dropped I ask, "Why not? Why is she staying with his cheating ass?"

"She said she doesn't want to start over. She says she likes her life and she wants to keep her family together. Like Kason would even notice if they were divorced, Ben is never in New York anyway."

I shake my head as I think of my old friend Lily. Over time we kept in touch less and less and I only saw her when I visited New York during law school. Harper and I were bridesmaids in her wedding, but her life suddenly was all about taking care of Ben. She even dropped out of NYU when she got pregnant with Kason her junior year. She acted like it was a surprise but both Harper and I think she plotted it to happen that way. She got her dream guy in her dream house and she always told us everything was perfect when we talked to her. I had a little less patience hearing how amazing and perfect everything was so I am shocked she even admitted this hiccup to Harper.

"I'm not all that surprised she's staying. She wouldn't know what to do with herself if she wasn't Ben's wife." I tell Harper and she quickly says, "I'm not surprised either but I do think she is sad. And not like boo hoo sad but like, girl you need to a reality check sad. She deserves better after she made her life all about him. What a shit way to repay her."

"Harper, all she has to do is glance down to her Cartier wedding ring and her thirty thousand dollar tennis bracelet to be reminded that that's how he repays her. She loves the life of luxury and being a New York socialite so I don't see her going back to pinching pennies like her parents." I feel bad talking bad about Lily and it comes out harsher than I intended. I was glad Lily found Ben but she refuses to see past his wallet. Suddenly I hear a beep on my other end and I see Liam is trying to call me.

"Hey Harp, I gotta take my other line but we'll talk soon. Love you." I quickly switch lines and answer, "Hey! I've been waiting to hear from you all day."

"Yeah, it's been a shit day baby. Meet Teddy and I over at Vitellos and I'll fill you in on everything over alcohol."

I frown, "Shit day huh? Mine probably wasn't much better. I'll be there in ten." Liam hangs up and I am glad I never left my car. As I quickly drive across town to meet them, I wonder what they found out. Things seem to be spiraling out of our control rather quickly and I'm afraid we're about to lose the control we had on Topher for the past ten years.

*****

I spot Liam and Teddy in a booth towards the back of the swank Italian restaurant and Liam gives me a quick kiss as soon as I settle in next to him. The waiter appears and with a frown, I order an iced tea while Liam rubs my back, finally understanding why I haven't been drinking. When the waiter saunters off I glance between the two of them and say, "So, how was your day?" They quickly exchange glances before Liam replies, "Teddy and I are screwed."

I look at each of their frowning faces and Teddy replies, "Yep. It was a set up Ellie. Topher played all of us. It took his scheming ass ten years to do it, but he got his revenge."

I look to Liam, "Uh oh, what happened today? Did you figure out who Rebecca is?" I watch as he nods and Teddy pulls his phone out. He turns it toward me and I read through his email exchange with his parents. They looked up Rebecca Kane in the C.I.A employee database and got a hit. I continue reading their exchange and my eyes widen when I read Rebecca Kane's real name. In shock I look to Liam and Teddy, "Stephanie? Stephanie is Rebecca Kane! You're right we are all screwed!" 

Teddy nods, "Yep, Rebecca Kane is Stephanie's alias when she's out on missions for the C.I.A. She completely shape shifts herself into the woman we saw in the picture when she's undercover. Turns out she was in Florida but she had nothing to do with texting, emailing or talking to Topher. She doesn't understand how she became involved, but according to Topher they've been in communication."

I shake my head trying to process all of this. Topher managed to set this whole thing up to implicate everyone involved with taking away his powers. And he did it all without powers. I look to Teddy, "Have your parents contacted Stephanie yet?"

Teddy shrugs, "They said they were going to try but they have her in lockup while they sort out the details of the explosion. If she's connected they'll fire her."

I nod, "Topher must know that, he must have set up a way to make her look guilty. They are going to find something on her, some way of communication that can make it look like they were in cahoots."

Liam looks to me, "Well Stephanie is just the beginning of our shit day El, Topher decided to let the entire precinct know that I am his son. My boss is looking into it and I am currently on leave until they determine if John Gates is just a crazy person who does in fact look like an older version of me."

"But that's just it. He is saying he is John Gates, who is not your father. So is he coming clean about his real identity then?"

Teddy nods, "Yep, he told everyone he is C.I.A and John Gates is his alias. He said he told you about it Ellie and you kept it quiet so you could get evidence from Liam about the explosion. The F.B.I is trying to hold him for as long as possible while they investigate everything but my guess is, the C.I.A is going to come and swoop him up too and call the case closed. Our jobs are over and if our boss tells your boss that you were helping your father in-law this entire time, I'm thinking you are done too."

Liam and Teddy both take long swigs of their beers while we process in silence. I look back to them and say, "I went and visited him all week, so if my bosses find out I was helping him and you two were combing through the crime scene, it will totally look like we plotted to have him exonerated. That we wanted him to be innocent and let off the hook. No one would believe all three of us actually wanted him locked up."

"All the evidence we gathered will be thrown out, we will be questioned as accomplices. Ellie, you had us come in when Topher was locked up so yeah, it looks bad. Really, really bad," Teddy says and we all nod along to his words. I look to him, "At least your parents are okay. If this went according to plan, it would have been so much worse."

"Yeah, but now Topher is telling everyone it was them who set him up. He's pointing the finger at them and the fact that there was a last minute switch in scientists to go in that morning only helps his case." He replies and we all just take a moment to stew in silence. I look between us and none of us know what to do. I know I am afraid to go into work tomorrow just to get fired. There's no way I'll be able to keep my job after Kavanaugh finds out who Topher is. I lied straight to his face and said I had no idea who John Gates was and in reality, I'm unfortunately related to him by marriage. All of us are screwed. 

Suddenly, an idea hits me and I look back to Teddy and Liam, "We each have small pieces of the puzzle and we are all in communication to figure this out. However, there is one piece of the puzzle we don't have."

Confused Liam looks to me, "What are you talking about?"

I sit up in my seat and put my hands on the table before saying, "We need to know what each piece is. And a piece of this whole thing is Stephanie. I think we need to take a trip to Virginia."