you?"
"Then we'll die fighting for something we believe in. That's a worthy death, Lu—"
"You don't understand anything about death!" She slapped his leg. Her lips quivered as she drew in a breath. "Have you ever seen life leave someone's body before? Have you been there when they took their last breath?"
"Yes."
Elliot's quiet response made Lucy's face drop. Her anguished crinkles vanished, replaced with a look of sympathy that only she could really muster.
"I watched my grandmother die." Elliot swallowed. "She was only fifty-five and she'd been raising me since my mom split. She was the closest thing to a mother that I had. And she was beautiful and awesome. Her death was slow and painful. I was nine-years-old and I can still picture it like it was yesterday. I was holding her hand when she passed and it wasn't lovely and romantic like they make it out to be. It tore my heart out."
Lucy gently slid her fingers over his hand. "I'm sorry."
With a shake of his head, Elliot cleared his throat and sat up straighter. His final sniff let them all know that the conversation was coming to an end. "You might disagree with me, but it almost doesn't matter how you lose them. It kills your soul, regardless." He shook her fingers off his hand and pierced her with a stern look. "I just don't see how you can sit back and let this guy win. I mean what if he takes someone else's parents. Hell, Lucy, he probably already has. You can't keep hiding behind your fear. It's selfish. If anyone ever threatened my family I would go after them and tear them apart any way I could."
The vehemence in Elliot's voice made Lucy flinch.
"That's enough, man. She's got it." Zach stepped towards them, glaring at Elliot.
"He's right, Zach," Lucy whispered. "I am being selfish."
"No you're not." He hunkered down at her feet, squeezing her right calf muscle.
Blinking at tears, she pressed her lips together and looked from Alex over to Elliot then finally rested her gaze on Zach.
"We've got even more reason to keep going now. If we can expose Tenner then that will explain what were trying to do today. Prove my innocence, prove his guilt and we might score ourselves a get out of jail free card." Her watery smile squeezed at Zach's heart. She had to be the bravest person he knew.
He nodded back with a proud grin. "So, what's next then?"
They all turned to Alex whose eyes were fixed on the carpet at his feet. "Time for more research, I guess. Let's find out everything we can about William Tenner. There's bound to be something we can snag him on, right? If Jack Tate can find goods on Tenner then so can we."
Elliot, Lucy and Zach rose in unison and descended the stairs, heading for the dining room table, which quickly became their command post. There was a current of energy pulsing through all of them now. Their mission had moved to a critical point and they couldn't afford to give in or screw up now.
Chapter 15
LUCY
"Okay, so William Tenner is the Special Agent in charge of the San Francisco branch of the FBI. We already know that."
My fingers froze around the mug of coffee in my hand. It was starting to dawn on me that the guy had been living right on my doorstep this whole time. The idea of pulling all those cons in the city he lived in made my skin crawl.
"It says here he has one son, fifteen years old. Billy Tenner. "
Oh my gosh, had I met him? What if I'd run a con at his school?
"You alright?" Zach nudged my knee with his as I watched Alex scribble Billy (William Jr.) on the large sheet of paper we'd pinned to the wall. He put a box around it and drew an arrow back to William Tenner.
"Where does he go to school?" Alex poised his pen against the paper.
I tensed, my muscles straining tight as I waited for the answer.
"San Francisco University High School."
I held in my relieved sigh and gave Zach a sharp nod, but he didn't buy it.
It was getting close to dinner time. I was tired, wrung out and in desperate need
"Then we'll die fighting for something we believe in. That's a worthy death, Lu—"
"You don't understand anything about death!" She slapped his leg. Her lips quivered as she drew in a breath. "Have you ever seen life leave someone's body before? Have you been there when they took their last breath?"
"Yes."
Elliot's quiet response made Lucy's face drop. Her anguished crinkles vanished, replaced with a look of sympathy that only she could really muster.
"I watched my grandmother die." Elliot swallowed. "She was only fifty-five and she'd been raising me since my mom split. She was the closest thing to a mother that I had. And she was beautiful and awesome. Her death was slow and painful. I was nine-years-old and I can still picture it like it was yesterday. I was holding her hand when she passed and it wasn't lovely and romantic like they make it out to be. It tore my heart out."
Lucy gently slid her fingers over his hand. "I'm sorry."
With a shake of his head, Elliot cleared his throat and sat up straighter. His final sniff let them all know that the conversation was coming to an end. "You might disagree with me, but it almost doesn't matter how you lose them. It kills your soul, regardless." He shook her fingers off his hand and pierced her with a stern look. "I just don't see how you can sit back and let this guy win. I mean what if he takes someone else's parents. Hell, Lucy, he probably already has. You can't keep hiding behind your fear. It's selfish. If anyone ever threatened my family I would go after them and tear them apart any way I could."
The vehemence in Elliot's voice made Lucy flinch.
"That's enough, man. She's got it." Zach stepped towards them, glaring at Elliot.
"He's right, Zach," Lucy whispered. "I am being selfish."
"No you're not." He hunkered down at her feet, squeezing her right calf muscle.
Blinking at tears, she pressed her lips together and looked from Alex over to Elliot then finally rested her gaze on Zach.
"We've got even more reason to keep going now. If we can expose Tenner then that will explain what were trying to do today. Prove my innocence, prove his guilt and we might score ourselves a get out of jail free card." Her watery smile squeezed at Zach's heart. She had to be the bravest person he knew.
He nodded back with a proud grin. "So, what's next then?"
They all turned to Alex whose eyes were fixed on the carpet at his feet. "Time for more research, I guess. Let's find out everything we can about William Tenner. There's bound to be something we can snag him on, right? If Jack Tate can find goods on Tenner then so can we."
Elliot, Lucy and Zach rose in unison and descended the stairs, heading for the dining room table, which quickly became their command post. There was a current of energy pulsing through all of them now. Their mission had moved to a critical point and they couldn't afford to give in or screw up now.
Chapter 15
LUCY
"Okay, so William Tenner is the Special Agent in charge of the San Francisco branch of the FBI. We already know that."
My fingers froze around the mug of coffee in my hand. It was starting to dawn on me that the guy had been living right on my doorstep this whole time. The idea of pulling all those cons in the city he lived in made my skin crawl.
"It says here he has one son, fifteen years old. Billy Tenner. "
Oh my gosh, had I met him? What if I'd run a con at his school?
"You alright?" Zach nudged my knee with his as I watched Alex scribble Billy (William Jr.) on the large sheet of paper we'd pinned to the wall. He put a box around it and drew an arrow back to William Tenner.
"Where does he go to school?" Alex poised his pen against the paper.
I tensed, my muscles straining tight as I waited for the answer.
"San Francisco University High School."
I held in my relieved sigh and gave Zach a sharp nod, but he didn't buy it.
It was getting close to dinner time. I was tired, wrung out and in desperate need
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