Page 97 of Fire for Effect

The Ghost. Her father.

My future father-in-law?

“He’s been able to stop the Frontline at every turn, and he’s even a little arrogant about it. He leaves his fingerprints on it.” Sierra leaned forward on the table, and I knew she was about to nerd out. A trait that she and Taz shared. But it was cuter on Taz. “Every hacker, and spy has a small signature, right? There is a process, or fingerprint to the hacking. We all get a little bit personal, and set in our ways, so we can tell… well, the Ghost has one too, and I won’t bore you with the specifics—”

“No, please tell me more!” Taz said, at the same time I moaned.

Taz and I looked at each other, and she laughed, before looking back at Sierra.

Thankfully, Sierra didn’t go into further detail.

“The Ghost, they have discovered, is Joaquin Guerro,” Sierra said.

I wasn’t shocked. Not anymore, at least. Brett had told us so much already.

We had surmised that Ghost wasn’t from Cerberus. We thought that maybe he was an FBI Agent, or even DEA. But Paradigm? Well, that made the most sense. As a private, contracting company, Paradigm had far more leeway when it came to their operations. They didn’t answer to the Senate Intelligence Committee and had minimal oversight.

“Every time they plan anything, it’s thwarted by the Ghost. So now it’s become personal.” Sierra bit her lip. “Even us finding Matthews might have been set up by him.”

“How do you know that Taz’s father is him?” I asked.

Sure, Brett confirmed it already, but I wanted to know how the link was made.

“Apparently a leaked document on you, dear boy, let them know your connection to the CIA Director and Wifey. There’s a document about a baby girl, born October 13th, named Trinity Blaze Guerro – Nice middle name, by the way – to Teresa Guerro and Joaquin Guerro in Bakersfield, California. Her daddy’s been off the books, and out of sight for almost 30 years…” Sierra sighed. “It didn’t take a lot to connect him to Ghost who’s been operating for...”

“Thirty years.” I finished her sentence.

Sierra’s blue eyes turned to Taz’s dark ones, and in a move that surprised me, she reached out her hand, to hold hers.

“They think that if they take you, your father will come out of hiding.”

It was hard to think of Taz with a father. I barely thought about her having a mother, since that relationship was so… contested. But a father? I wondered what kind of schema change was occurring in her head.

“Why would they think he’d come out for me?” Taz asked, quietly, taking a sip of her beer. “He didn’t come out any other time. So why now?”

“Maybe he didn’t know about you?” Sierra supplied. “Did he and your mother talk? Maybe she ran away without telling him she was pregnant?”

“No,” Taz said. “He knew. He signed the birth certificate. But he didn’t stay after that. Never cared at all, in fact.”

“Baby, I understand how you feel, but that wasn’t the impression I got today, when they interrogated Trout,” I said, pulling her onto my lap. “Seems like he’s been having people look in on you.”

I did it as much to comfort her, as to comfort myself. I took her hand in mine, and kissed her wrist, right below her bracelet.

She shivered, and I held her closer.

“He’s a career spy,” I tried to explain. “He might have thought staying away was safer.”

Taz shook her head. “If I was blessed with a child, I would never leave them alone. Not for a second.”

“Yes, you would,” Sierra said. “You said so yourself. You’ll do what you need to, so that they stay safe. Even if you must leave for it to happen.”

The threat loomed in the air between us. The one where Taz would take any excuse to bail. If she had a kid… if we got pregnant… would she run to keep our child safe? And would I let her, for love of the baby?

No. I’d still chase her. As long as the bracelet was there, I would pursue.

I wasn’t made to be that selfless.

“Now Paradigm wants me in a safe house,” Taz shook her head. “I’m going to go crazy. It’ll feel like a prison.”

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