Fragmented Lies

Chapter 5: Unmasking the Unknown

A/N: With a slight delay here's chapter 5. I have finished this story, it will have 9 chapters in all + one small epilogue (that I might just attach to that last chapter when I post it?!) So each chapter will come out as soon as it's been beta read by the lovely Snowbellewells...

I hope you all will have a blessed Christmas time with your loved ones.

Chapter 5: Unmasking the Unknown

A few days later, Nemo called them to his office. Emma and Hope had stayed at the Nolan house; her place had been ransacked by Gold's men. David and Killian had gone there to pick up some of the few salvageable things and clothes they could find. So she'd spent a fair amount of time with Killian, though they hadn't shared a bed since that night she got back. Shivering at the memory of the horrible night, she followed Killian and David into Nemo's office.

"Hi girl," Ruby greeted and came over to give Emma a hug. When Ruby pulled back, she inspected Emma closely, "how are you doing?"

"I'm okay." Emma brushed off, yet the pang of fear and panic shifted through her as it had done more times than she could count in the past few days. She knew Archie was on call and would be happy to talk with her; she knew she should speak to him, but right now she also wanted to know what the CIA had found. Killian and David had been to the office a few times, working along with the team of agents assigned to the case. The old mansion had been a treasure trove of information on the Croc; it had been their luck that Jefferson had thought of sewing a small transmitter into her dress. Had he not, she had no idea what would have happened that night. She had made a call to Jefferson the other day and thanked him personally. It had been a tough talk, but maybe also her first step at processing this whole experience.

Ruby nodded, but Emma could see her friend keep a close eye on her while they talked with Nemo. The man looked worn out, and Emma believed his forehead had gained another wrinkle or two in the past few days.

"What we know now," Nemo began as he pulled out a list from a pile of papers on his desk, "is that Gold has gone MIA, again. We have no intel on where he got away to." He frowned, shaking his head. "That tunnel from his basement was a genius twist; he seems to always be one step ahead of us."

"Well, we did get quite a lot of intel from the mansion," Killian interjected, ignoring the annoyance showing on Nemo's face at being interrupted. "What we do know now is that he has several other locations here in the US," he rubbed his face, "and even in Scotland too, and the Caribbean."

"All those locations are being watched as we speak," Nemo said and added, "we do have one bigger lead that an agent picked up in one of the files he looked over from the mansion. It is much closer to us and would be a good place to start looking—"

Everyone shifted in their seats. This was new information, and Emma wondered what they'd found.

Nemo took a deep breath as he pulled out a manilla folder and flipped it open. Emma craned her neck trying to see what was in it, on the top was a picture of what looked like a smaller harbour, very quaint and idyllic. "What is this place?" Emma asked as she leaned forward to get a better view.

"This file is about a facility Gold maintains in a smaller town, called Storybrooke, up in Maine," Nemo explained while he flipped through the pages of the folder. He looked up at them and said gravely, "He owns a warehouse on the docks, the harbourmaster is being paid off, or at least we think he is. Because the activity going in and out of there is a bit more than what would be expected for such a small place." Nemo steepled his fingers together and rested his chin on his hands, giving them time to process this.