HUNTED ~ STEVE ROGERS [2]

Chapter Twenty-One

Grandma was breathing shallowly on the couch, someones t-shirt pressed against her chest to stop the blood flow.

Robyn was pacing the length of the room, her face sickly white and her green eyes bloodshot.

The rest of the kids sat on the floor in a pile, arms around each other and the only sounds were sniffles and whimpers. Mia was the only one who stood with us, while Taly knelt at Grandma's side.

"Taly, you better tell me whats going on, and then you better go out and get your sister because things aren't adding up here!" Robyn said dangerously, her voice threatening to crack.

"I dont think-"

"Tell them!" Taly interrupted me, her eyes red and puffy as she knelt on the floor.

"Everything?" Tasha said blankly.

"Everything," Taly said firmly, nodding her head. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Robyn, we don't work for a travel company. And neither did your husband," I said softly. Her big green eyes met mine.

"What do you mean?" she whispered.

"All three of us, including your husband, work, worked for SHIELD."

A collective gasp filled the room, and then silence.

"Keight is wanted in relation to events in Washington D.C, and Taly offered this place as a safe house," Tasha continued, when she saw that I couldn't. My chest had seized up, and the lump in my throat returned.

"How long?" Robyn whispered, her face turned to the floor and her arms crossed.

"You know that summer camp exchange in America I went on in Year 12?" Taly said. Robyn looked at her, pale as a sheet.

"You were 16. Are you telling me you've been a spy since you were 16?" Her voice got louder with every word.

"Mum, I couldnt tell you-"

"And your father, he was one too? You're telling me he lied to me for years, and then got you involved too?" Robyns voice finally broke and tears streamed down her face. The other kids on the floor were still in shock and stayed silent, waiting.

"You think I didn't want to tell you?! Every day I wanted to tell someone, to get all the secrets and the lies off my chest! But I couldn't! Not without putting someone else in harms way." Taly stood up, her face wet with tears but her voice firm.

This was my worst nightmare. It was like watching my future before it happened. Taly's lies had been exposed to her family, and they were crumbling. It was what I feared most would happen to me, and I knew, deep down, one day it would, whether I was alive to see it or not.

"You were too young to be in danger like that. What was he thinking?" Robyn said softly, walking over and cupping Taly's face in her hands.

"He thought I could protect you. I told him I would. But I failed," Taly sobbed. Robyn pulled her into a hug and was about to say something when my phone rang.

Unknown Caller.

I looked at Tasha. She nodded solemnly.

"Hello?" I said, keeping eye contact with Tasha.

"Mummy? Mummy is that you, Mummy I'm scared." Chalise's scared little voice spoke frantically through the phone.

"Chalise? Chalise where are you are you ok?" I said desperately. Robyn and Taly split apart and come over to me.

"I want Mumm-"

"Hello Keight," a new voice interrupted Chalise. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldnt place it.