Part 26

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They're gathered around a circular table and Drea's heart won't stop racing. If it wasn't for Jared's arm she's squeezing, she would've passed out.

After the stakeout or whatever it's called that happened earlier and the call to Michaela, she and Jared set up an appointment with the Stone's. An urgent one at that. He really kept his promise that whatever it is they need to do, they do it together.

"How are we sure that the major won't know of this now?" Robert Vance inquired, his voice is somehow terrifying, but Jared seems to be used with that.

Jared gave an insulting smirk. "She figured out where the fin is and it's still there. Mind you she also risked her life in the arms of a murderer last nigh and here you are still doubting her."

"Yeah, we get that, but what if this is a bait?" Ben insisted and that got all of their eyes on him. "Jared, we told you not to trust her, right?"

This feels terrible that they're talking about her as if she's not there. This is not how she imagined things would go, she would've spoken up the truth earlier but the fact that telling it to Jared is the first time she ever said it to someone is pressuring her. He believed in her and understood her right after spitting out that unbelievable fact and she doesn't know if these people will react the same.

But she will tell it eventually so she better be brave. With that, she gathered deep breaths, preparing to say the whole reason why she was caught talking with Kathryn. Her tongue was just about to run but then someone appeared from the open door of the garage.

"You can trust her."

Cal Stone walked towards them, but he was aiming for one in particular; Jared. 

"I told you, you can trust her." He smiles at Jared.

Drea narrowed her eyes on every person here and everyone is just as clueless as her, having the same expression on their faces, except for Jared. He was beaming confusion when all of them are clueless.

"That's what you meant?" Jared asked Cal, who now stands at his very front, with a smile on his face and a small nod. The little boy looks at his father.

"You can trust her, dad. She's not a bad guy." His voice was filled with assurance. Ben worriedly walks to him and kneels to talk face to face.

"Cal, you knew about this?" Ben asks and Cal nods, looking at everyone.

Now everyone's faces are getting calmer by the second, all of them approaching Cal. And here she is, the only one who doesn't know a thing. She can only look at Jared who looks amused and happy at the same time. He looked at her and smiled, but she still didn't understand.

From her back, Michaela stepped in front of all them, locking eyes with her nephew.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner, buddy?" 

Cal breathed out carefully while putting his hands in front of him. When he walked in, he's holding something behind and now they see what it is. A folded page from his sketchpad which he unfolded in front of them.

She herself felt her breathing stop when she got to see what was drawn there. She even looked at herself and Jared. The clothes they're wearing at the moment are what they wore earlier when they snuck inside Juliet's house, and though it was a crayon drawing, she's certain that it's her. Her and Jared, standing in front of the fin.

Just like what Michaela saw...

Mick carefully takes the drawing from him to examine it better. "The vision... you got it too." She stared at Cal. "But why didn't you say anything?"

Cal shrugged, taking his drawing back. "I could only tell Jared, Aunt Mick. I hope you understand." Then he looks at everyone again, but ends up making eye contact with Jared. They both smile before he said, "Drea is not bad. She's got an explanation."

And together with Cal, they set their eyes straight to her. 

"Don't you?" He even added. 

Drea swallowed, trying to glance at everyone but just like Cal, she ends up staring at Jared and squeezing his arm. His face held this assuring expression on it, telling her to go and he'll be right there. 

One breath, and she was ready.

"Kathryn Fitz... she's.... my biological m-mother," she stammered, feeling weak and vulnerable. 

Silence was the only thing in the room after she said that. Everyone's waiting for the next part of the story that she doesn't know if she still can say. Her tongue won't move, it's shaking. But still, she had to say something.

"When she knew about the container... it was my fault. I was asking for her help to get us inside the warehouse and I didn't know she will use it to track down the fin."

Her eyes are looking down the floor, as if this the most important thing in the room, but she finds herself looking at the pictures on the table. The pictures of when she was confronting her mother.

"And that night, when you took those photographs, I was confronting her. The boat that took the container, I knew it was hers. And she's the only one who could possibly know about the container so I went there and asked her to give it back but she told me that the fin wasn't there."

Finally, the courage to look in their eyes came to her soul. The first pair of eyes she found were blue. Michaela's.

"The morning after that, I was about to tell you that she said it was a blank, but no one would talk to me... so I had to figure it out myself."

"How did you know it's with Juliet?" Ben asked.

"Jared told me about the visions, and Juliet's room is 828. We went there last night, bought ourselves some time by talking to her about the cruise I was requesting for our wedding."

"Your wedding?" Vance quickly followed.

"You're marrying Jared?" Cal added, eyes gleaming with happiness.

She's about to explain but Michaela took the duty. "It's just for show. Calm down." Mick glances at her. "Drea's just doing everything she can to help. We misunderstood her."

"Wait a second. I thought Juliet hated cops? How the hell did the two of you...?" Ben was short of words. 

Drea pursed her lips. "She doesn't know about me being a cop and she doesn't know Jared either. My mom is close with her, that's how--"

"And your mom is the major." Vance cut her off.

"No. Her sister, actually. Her sister raised me and Juliet knew me through her. They're both big people in Wall Street."

Though she told the truth, the old guy still gave her the suspicious eye.

He stood straight. "How do we know you're not making this up?"

"I trust her," Cal answered for her. And it was followed by Jared.

"She's done more than enough to prove herself, Vance." 

Mick nods with this too. "I believe her, too. But that doesn't mean the major doesn't have eyes on us. We have to be careful." 

Drea finally felt calm in her. Michaela looked at her in the eye for the first time after their fight. When she smiled, she felt Jared smile with her too. It's finally resolved. 

"Do we have a plan?" Jared entered the conversation, and so did everybody else. 

"Well, the woman's a murder convict. You have pictures of evidence, we can have her arrested--"

"No we can't, Ben. We do that, the fin will go to NSA and right now I'm not the boss." Vance cuts him off. "We need to get the fin out by secret and we deal about the murder later."

"But the woman never goes out of her house unless there's an important invite, right?"

A light bulb lit up her brain and just with the perfect time, they're all looking at her.

Drea smiled. "I got it."

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