Last chapter!

Chapter 7

John and Wesley were standing across the street from another address on Finch's list when a call came in from Finch. "Mr. Reese, Theresa's Fitbit has been turned on."

"Can you track it?" John asked.

"Yes, sending you the address where the device is currently located now."

"On our way. Have Joss and Fusco met us there, but be sure they're about ten minutes behind us. We have some work to do before they show up."

The address turned out to be a boxy concrete tilt-up in an industrial part of Brooklyn, on a dead-end street with cracked asphalt and weed-covered lots. The entire block looked abandoned except for the fact that there were several cars parked in front of the building.

"Cheerful little hovel," Wesley remarked, his voice casual. But John could see the tension in the way other man carried himself.

John looked around, quickly spotting a couple of cameras at the entrance to the property. "They know we're coming."

"That just makes it more sporting," Wesley replied. "You're not out of C4 are you?"

"Never," John said. "Shall we gear up? We only have about ten minutes before Joss and Fusco show up and things get legal." He tapped his earpiece. "IT, are you there?"

"Yes. Mr. Reese," Finch answered with a sigh. "The building has several cameras inside. The first floor is all warehouse space. I don't see Theresa, but there are at least five armed men waiting for you. The second floor only has one camera, and it only shows a hallway with four doors. I'm guessing Theresa is behind one of those doors."

"Any cell activity? I don't want them calling for reinforcements."

"No, I took the cell towers that service that area offline. You will only have to deal with the men currently inside."

The men inside were prepared for a gunfight with the strangers that had entered the parking lot of the building, they were not prepared for an explosion. The two men who had stationed themselves by the door were immediately dispatched by the force of the blast. The remaining men were momentarily stunned, allowing John and Wesley to enter through the ragged hole in the wall where the door used to be with guns blazing.

Wesley took up a position behind one of the few intact crates near the door, laying down cover fire with an AK-47, which allowed John to sneak around the side and come up behind the remaining men. A few well-placed shots to knees and it was all over in a matter of minutes. Neither John nor Wesley were even breathing hard.

Cautiously, they made their way across the warehouse to the stairs, but encountered no further resistance. John took point and crept up the stairs, hugging the wall without making a sound. The hallway was clear so he waved Wesley to come up.

The first door was unlocked but the room was empty. The second door was locked, but a single shot from John's Glock opened it. They found a money counting operation with stacks of bills on a long table, looking like it had been hastily abandoned. No doubt the men downstairs had benn working in here and dropped everything when the security system had alerted them to John and Wesley's presence.

As they tried the door to the third room, they heard a noise coming from within. John and Wesley's eyes met, and they nodded to each other. One swift kick and the door flew open.

The room was a plush office that seemed out of place in the scruffy building. Thick carpeting covered the floor, and a massive black desk dominated the room.

"Hi Daddy."

Edward Yu and Theresa Sheppard had stationed themselves shoulder to shoulder in front of the desk, holding guns pointed at them. John's worst fears about this case were confirmed. This is why the Machine had never given them Theresa's number, she wasn't a victim.

John or Wesley could have easily picked them off. They were perfectly positioned for two quick clean shots that expert marksmen like the two ex-operatives were capable of without even thinking about it. John held back out of respect for Wesley, because he needed to see the truth.

John wasn't sure what he expected to happen when Wesley finally saw his daughter; he knew his British counterpart would be devastated to be confronted with proof that he had been played by his own flesh and blood. Theresa was a participant in at least three murders and Finch was still counting the number of men she had seduced and blackmailed. He had no doubt that Wesley had done everything he could to shield his family from the life of a mercenary to prevent this very thing. It had gone wrong somehow, and Wesley was about to be confronted with his greatest failure.

It was worse than John could have ever imagined. The look on Wesley's face as his own daughter held a gun on him broke John's heart. He knew Wesley was a monster, but in that moment, he was a father who had lost his daughter in one of the ugliest ways possible.

Wesley stared at his child. "Why?" he whispered.

"Eddie told me about how you killed his family. He told me all about your work for MI6 and afterwards. He told me everything! He showed up one day with an entire flash drive full of your crimes. He had names and dates. He had all the proof that my supposed 'international businessman' father was nothing more than a criminal.

"My whole fucking life was lie, Daddy!" Theresa spat the last word like it was an expletive. "All my life you and Mummy told us we had the perfect family, but all this time you were out there killing, kidnapping, and stealing. Everything you told me was a lie."

"You blackmailed all those men and killed three people because I never told you I was a spy and a mercenary?" Wesley was incredulous.

Theresa laughed. "At first I did it because I was mad at you, then I discovered I LIKE it! I have a long ways to go before I catch up to your body count, but I found I have a knack for it. Must be genetic."

Eddie Yu looked smug. "She pulled the trigger herself on the girl."

"You never told me how intoxicating it is to hold someone's life in your hands, Daddy," Theresa smirked. "You never told me what a rush it was to take a life. I'm my father's daughter."

"I never killed for sport," Wesley shot back.

"Oh no," Theresa replied sarcastically, "You just killed for money. That's sooooooo much better."

John shuddered at that cold, hard expression on Theresa's face. He had often been glad that his parents had died long before their son had turned into a monster, but Wesley was watching his own child turn into a monster before his eyes. What made it even worse, Theresa was enjoying it. John had only seen that once before, with Kara Stanton.

"Well, Daddy, it's been good seeing you, but Eddie and I have a plane to catch," Theresa said.

John and Wesley both moved at that instant, just as Theresa and Eddie fired. They dropped and rolled, both coming up on their knees with weapons raised. Eddie and Theresa ran through the now clear doorway, but neither John nor Wesley fired their weapons even though they could have easily taken down the young couple. John didn't shoot because he knew what was waiting for them beyond the door. As for why Wesley didn't pull his trigger, he liked to think that Wesley didn't fire because he couldn't shoot his own kid.

Wesley watched his daughter go with a tear rolling down his cheek.

"FREEZE! Get down on the ground!" Joss's voice came through the open door.

Wesley looked at John. "They're arresting her?"

John shrugged. "She just confessed to murder and blackmail. They heard the whole thing."

"I suppose the good detectives could not let that pass," Wesley suddenly sounded weary and far older than his age as he stood up.

"Nope," John said as he walked to the door and looked out. Joss had Theresa on the ground, cuffing her hands behind her back. Fusco and Laskey were doing the same to Yu.

Joss yanked Theresa to her feet. The girl looked over at her father looking confused and lost. Wesley met her eyes but his expression did not change. His face remained hard and cold.

Joss looked at her beloved and gave him a small nod. John gave her a thin smile and then turned to go. Wesley followed. Neither said a word as they walked down the stairs, and out a back door to John's car.

"What happens next?" Wesley asked as they climbed into John's car.

John started the car and drove out of the parking lot. "Joss and Lionel will book them and interrogate them. Bad news for Theresa, Joss is very good."

"She was an Army interrogator," Wesley said flatly. "I've seen her military file. Theresa and Yu don't stand a chance."

John nodded. "Plus we have a recording of their confessions. Their defense attorneys will probably try to cut deals, but given the evidence we have, they won't be able to get very good ones. They're fortunate that New York abolished the death penalty."

Wesley shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the mention of the death penalty. John ignored it.

"Drop me at the hotel, if you don't mind," Wesley said. "I think it's time I went home." He swallowed. "I have to come up with a story to tell my wife and my other daughter."

"After a lifetime of lies that shouldn't be too much of a problem," John remarked.

Wesley glared at John. "I believe this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black," he retorted icily.

"The only lie I tell Joss is where I hid the Christmas presents," John replied.

Wesley blinked. "You told her about Istanbul?"

"She wasn't happy about it, but she understood."

Wesley shook his head. "You tell her everything?"

John nodded. "If I don't she finds out anyway. She is a detective." He paused. "The smartest thing I ever did was marry a woman who could handle the truth."

Neither man spoke until John pulled up to the hotel. As Wesley reached for the door handle, John spoke. "Don't even think of breaking Theresa out of jail."

"No, not for a few years at least. She needs to learn a lesson." Then Wesley got out of the car. The last John saw of him, he walked into the front door of the hotel and didn't look back.

It was a long day for Joss and Fusco after making the bust. There were the usual reports to write - without mentioning the contribution of Team Machine - and they had to fend off Yu's lawyers. The latter was much easier than the former thanks to the fact they had had Yu and Theresa on tape confessing to blackmail and murder in the first degree. The lawyers even tried to call in Zoe Morgan's help, but Zoe only laughed and hung up when she heard who the defendants were. It looked like Theresa and Yu were going to stay in jail for a very long time.

It was several hours before they had the case tied up in a neat bow, but once they were done, Joss went looking for her husband. She had some questions for him.

Joss found John on the roof of their apartment building. He was leaning with his forearms on the railing watching the people scurrying by below. Joss smiled and walked over. She leaned her back against the railing as she studied the pensive expression on her husband's face.

"You knew," she said. "You knew that Theresa had been turned."

John's eyes flicked over to her then away. "I suspected, yes. I kept coming back to the fact we never got her number but we got the runaway's. Once we discovered Yu arrived in New York just as Theresa started her life of crime, it was the only explanation.

"If I wanted revenge on someone like Wesley, or me, I would go after their family. Wesley went through a lot of trouble to hide the truth, to keep them safe, and he failed. For men like us, destroying our anchor to the world is the worst thing you can do."

Joss laid a hand on John's arm.

"Do you think Taylor will ever hate me?" John asked softly.

Joss's response was swift. "No."

John stood up straight and turned to face her. "How can you be so sure? I'm no better than Wesley."

"John, Taylor started out life as an Army brat and then transitioned into a cop's kid. He has known what you are since you saved him from Elias. He accepted you into our lives with his eyes wide open." She paused. "And, for the record, you are better than Wesley. Whatever you may have done in your previous life, you use your skills to help people. You're a good man, even if you did lose your way for a while."

John looked unconvinced. "I have a lot of ghosts that could come back to haunt me. One of them could show up at any moment. Do you really think that if one of them got a hold of Taylor like Eddie Yu did Theresa, he wouldn't hate me?"

Joss looked him straight in the eye. "Yes. He knows that skills like yours are developed for very specific purposes. He's accepted it."

"I hope you're right," John murmured softly. "I can survive just about anything, except losing your or Taylor's love."

"You've never lied to him like Wesley did to Theresa. She had her entire world blown up by Yu. She wasn't ready for the truth. Taylor already knows the truth."

She grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the door. "Now move it soldier, we have a basketball game to get to."

John smiled and let her lead him off the roof.

So did you guess that Theresa was working with Yu?

Thank you for reading! Special shout out to all of you who left me a review, reviews are LIFE for us writers! Thanks to the guest reviewers, I cannot thank you in a message, but I want you to know how much I appreciate you taking the time to leave me a note.

Also need to shout out to the members of the Careese page and the Mi Amore ladies on Facebook. They keep me going! And once again, special thanks to wolfmusic212 for her mad beta skillz. She was a huge help, as usual.