When he returned to Seattle, Ilona’s pregnancy was visible. They’d had no communication during his assignment, so the pregnancy revelation was—to say the least—shocking. Harry’s initial reaction was less than positive. It wasn’t that he didn’t want kids—he’d never given them any thought. Ilona presented him with an ultimatum—his job or his family. Harry should’ve chosen his family.
He didn’t.
Before their child was born, Ilona moved back East to live near her parents, and Harry asked for reassignment to San Francisco. This time, they granted his request. Since that time, Ilona has remarried. The assignment in San Francisco made sense to Harry. It was the one place he could have his job and some family—Amber McCoy, his half-sister, lived there.
Although the two of them grew up in the same home, they weren’t close. Amber was younger, and the one with both parents. Her dad tried to fill the gap for Harry; however, until the FBI, he always felt something was lacking. Sadly, he recognized that he was no better than the man who contributed to his gene pool. Someday, the daughter he only saw in pictures would be faced with the same unmet need.
When Harry moved to San Francisco, Amber was living the dream. She had it all—except the ring. Simon Johnson and Amber were living and working together. He was a great guy, very intelligent, a wonderful entrepreneur, and excellent to Harry’s sister. Harry and Simon became instant friends. It might be safe to say Harry enjoyed Simon’s company more than he did Amber’s; nevertheless, during that time, they all became close.
Harry worked out of the San Francisco field office and occasionally left for undercover fieldwork. When SiJo started having issues with security, Harry offered his resources. Since he was employed by the federal government, he could only do contract work for SiJo. His friend, Lee, from the California Bureau of Investigation took over as head of SiJo’s security. Although Harry wasn’t officially with SiJo, he felt a connection to the company that his friend and sister were working so hard to grow.
After his divorce from Ilona, Harry wasn’t interested in a relationship with anyone else. He promised himself that his days of falling fast and hard for a beautiful face or cheeky personality were over. The FBI was his life.
It’s true—sometimes it felt as though life stacked the deck. Harry wasn’t always sure if it was in his favor or against him.
The more Harry worked with SiJo Security and spent time with Simon and Amber, the more he questioned his vow of remaining unattached. Honestly, when he first met Amber’s assistant, they were just friends; however, the more their paths continually crossed, the more their relationship blossomed. Over time, they started seeing one another—meeting Simon and Amber for dinner—going to a movie—long weekends—cohabitating.
This time, Harry entered the relationship with full disclosure. They both agreed—they were consenting adults with no intentions of a long-term commitment. Harry explained from the beginning that his work could call him at any moment, and he’d need to leave. He told Liz that their relationship could end suddenly if he needed to go undercover. Harry didn’t intend to leave another woman waiting for his return as he’d done to Ilona.
When Simon finally proposed to Amber, Harry was equally as happy. Unfortunately, Harry was on an assignment when Simon’s plane crashed. As soon as he heard and received clearance, he traveled back to California. Following Simon’s death, Harry and Liz moved into Amber’s building. Perhaps it was the loss of Ilona and Jillian from his life, but Harry had finally recognized the importance of family, and he couldn’t leave Amber alone in her time of need.
When Claire Nichols first contacted Amber, Harry remembered that his sister was upset—both by the content of the email and by the sender. Probably more out of curiosity, Amber chose to continue the correspondence. After they exchanged more emails, both Amber and Harry saw the logic behind Claire’s allegations.
The investigation surrounding Simon’s plane crash had never fully been closed. Harry knew that uncertainty added to his sister’s angst and hoped Claire’s insight into Anthony Rawlings would help his sister have final closure.
The preliminary results of the National Transportation Safety Board’s, NTSB, investigation regarding Simon’s crash centered on operator error. The agency painstakingly reconstructed the plane and looked into the flight plans. Simon Johnson was an accomplished pilot—weather conditions were ideal for flight—and there were no signs of malfunctioning equipment or tampering. The numbers didn’t add up.
As Claire’s suspicions mounted, Harry decided to take this new evidence to his superiors at the San Francisco field office. He not only took the allegations regarding Simon, but the entire recalled contents of Claire’s prison delivery. Harry had no idea that he was presenting the FBI with information on one of their cold cases. In light of the new allegations, the San Francisco field office assigned a new team to revisit the bureau’s old evidence regarding Agent Nichols’ death.
When Claire’s attorney unexpectedly contacted Amber and requested her help with relocating Claire to Palo Alto, Amber called Harry—Harry called the bureau. Since Harry wasn’t undercover at the time, SAC Williams decided—Claire would be Agent Harrison Baldwin’s new assignment. It was the FBI who recommended changing Claire’s reservations and having her travel via private plane. The bureau had multiple reasons for this change in plans—the intricacy of the case, assurance of Claire’s location, and time needed by the bureau to have their cover stories ready.
The morning Harry walked into Amber’s condominium, he wasn’t sure who he’d meet. There was the woman Simon remembered fondly—and there was the gold-digging, ex-bartender, who tried to kill her rich husband, got lucky with a pardon, and was stupid enough to burn the real evidence woman. Without question, this was an unusual assignment.
Harry understood the FBI’s interest in Claire Nichols and their hope that she could bring new information to the cold case involving her grandfather. He also knew that his assignment was one of—right time—right place. By all accounts, Harry should not have been assigned to any case that potentially involved Simon Johnson’s death—truly, the case was personal from the beginning. There was no question—even before meeting Claire—Harry wanted to prove Anthony Rawlings’ guilt.
When Liz and Harry started dating, she promised she understood his commitment to his career. Truthfully, she demonstrated that on numerous occasions. Each time Harry was called away, she’d go on with her life. She didn’t ask questions about what he did while he was gone, and if she had—he wouldn’t have been able to answer. It wasn’t that he had sexual exploits on each assignment—Claire was his first; nevertheless, Liz had shown Harry the support Ilona didn’t or couldn’t.
Understandably, neither Liz nor Harry ever anticipated his undercover assignment occurring right under Liz’s nose. The evening the SiJo plane arrived with Claire Nichols on board, Harry relocated Liz from their condominium to an apartment of her own. He told her what he’d said a million times—when faced with the ultimatum—he’d always choose his job. He also told her that Claire Nichols was just another assignment—a job. It was what he believed at the time. Initially, Liz remained supportive.
As Harry got to know Claire, her definition changed. With that change, came a change in Liz’s understanding. From Harry’s perspective he was never unfaithful. He’d told her that—while on assignment—they were no longer a couple. It wasn’t Harry’s fault that when faced with seeing him every day she didn’t understand.
For a brief moment in time—when Harry believed that he could be a father once again —Harry told Amber something he never thought he’d say. He told his sister that he wanted the job at SiJo; instead of pretending, he wanted to be the President of Security Operations and planned to resign from the FBI. Harry wanted to give this child the father he hadn’t provided for his own daughter. At that moment, sitting with his sister alone in the hospital cafeteria, Harry decided the only part of the undercover case he cared about was keeping Claire and their child safe from Anthony Rawlings.