Chapter 13

I

Jack had just hung up the phone after getting a call from Julia, who was visiting her family in Texas. What she told him was shocking, but he only had one answer.

Yes, he would take her and her family in for as long as it takes for the threat to be neutralized.

He had the room at the house. The two younger girls would have to share a room, but Julia didn't see a problem with that.

It was getting what he needed to the house without raising suspiscion. Groceries for a household of six would be a major tip off, as would buying an extra bed.

But for Julia, and the daughter they had together, he'd do it. Anyone got in his way, questioned him about it, threatened him, he knew how to handle it.

No one messes with me and gets away with it, he thought stubbornly.

All he had to do is wait for the official call about when the family would be there.

It would be nice to have others under his roof again. Jack really missed being a family man, providing for this family would be a priviledge.

He only wondered if he could keep his feelings for Julia a secret from her kids.

It will be nice to finally meet Miri and get to know her, Jack thought.

Miri and her siblings, on the other hand, weren't looking forward to this adventure much. They didn't blame their mother, they blamed the people who were making their mother's life more difficult.

Other things had to happen before Jack took in the Summers family, and it all had to happen on that end.

It would be an experience that would change all involved.

===

It was nearly midnight when Nik and Jeremiah reached the Draiman house.

"For the record, Jere," Nik said; "if Julia wants to beat the snot out of me, I think I'll let her do it. This is all kinds of wrong. I hope she has some idea of where she wants to relocate to, because I have a couple of ideas if she doesn't."

"I'm sure she's probably made arrangements by now about that," Jeremiah said; "I will have to deal with a pissed off eight year old. I'm sure that Aaliyah is not a happy girl right now."

It wasn't his youngest daughter he had to worry about.

David greeted the pair at the door and were ushered inside. "Jere, Aaliyah's asleep on the couch," he said; "But I must warn you two that you're about to get the royal beatdown from a very unhappy fifteen year old."

"I don't blame her one bit for being mad," Nik said; "we just turned her world and her family's world upside down and inside out."

Nik, Jeremiah and David walked into the living room. Aaliyah and Rachel were sleeping on the couch; Julia and her mother were standing; and Miri looked at her uncles with such a look that if looks could kill, they'd both be six feet under.

Julia nudged Aaliyah; "Your daddy's here," she said softly so she wouldn't wake Rachel.

When Aaliyah was half awake, she looked at her father and said; "Daddy, I don't wanna go home!"

"I'm sorry, honey, but we have to," Jeremiah said. God, why do I feel like the fucking bad guy here? he asked himself.

"I wanna stay with Rachel. I might never see her again!"

"You'll see her again, baby girl, I promise," said Jeremiah. "This is only temporary."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart," Jeremiah said.

He picked up his daughter while David got her bags and the two of them went out to the car. That left Julia, Jordan, Nik and Miri.

"Miri, take Rachel back upstairs and put her in bed please?" asked Julia. Miri did as her mother asked, but she wasn't happy about this turn in events.

Once Miri had gone upstairs with Rachel, Julia told Nik, "She isn't very happy with you and Jere right now. I think she plans on tell you so. She certainly gave me an earful earlier this evening."

"Just like you did to me," Nik said; "Not that I blame you for doing so. I know this really sucks"

"So what's with the Army monkey suit, Nik?" asked David as he came back inside from helping Jeremiah get his daughter into the car.

"I re-upped, David," said Nik; "Getting the things done that I want to accomplish called for it. I gave certain conditions as to my service, and they agreed to them. KateLynn thinks I'm nuts, but saw the point. I have a rather pissed off fourteen year old, so I understand where Miri's coming from."

"And where is that Uncle Nik?" Miri said as she came back down the stairs.

"Why you're so angry about what's happening with your family, Miri," Nik said.

"You know why I'm angry? Do you really want to know?" Miri said, not bothering to hide the anger in her voice; "We came here, on vacation, to get away from stress and bullshit, and all that followed us here. People wanting to kill us, having to go into hiding... all because of shit my mother did when she was my age? I find it hard to believe that there are people out there who are afraid of what my five-foot-three-inch tall mother can do with a gun. Whoever these people are, they want to make our lives as miserable as possible, and because of that, Uncle Nik, we have to hide somewhere? That's bullshit! You know it; I know it; fuck, even Aunt Niki knows what's going on here and she's got a battle all her own to fight!"

"Mirielle Grace!" her mother said; "You don't speak to your uncle that way with that language, espcially with your grandparents in the room!"

"Jules, let the girl speak," Nik said.

"Mom, you taught all of us to speak our minds and not hold anything back," Miri said; "And that's what I'm doing. I don't like that you have to pay some kind of penance for stuff you did twenty years ago just because some group of mental miscreants want you out of the way."

"Miri, I'm trying to protect you and your sisters and brother," Julia said. "If it were just me, I'd fight them tooth and nail."

"And what happens if something happens to you, Mom?" asked Miri; "What happens to us? You're teaching us about marksmanship and survival skills so that we can fight with you. Why are we running away from a fight?"

"We're not running away from a fight, Mirielle!" said Julia hotly; "We're just trying to take the heat off so we can fight more efficiently. It's called confusing the enemy. Make them think we're scared, then come out fighting. But that takes time to implement. If we go back to the house like they think we are, we'll be ambushed. They want us to be caught off guard. The idea is to lull them into a false sense of security, then attack."

Miri thought that over for a moment, then said, "I still don't like it, Mom."

"Don't like what, Miri?" asked Julia; "The battle plan or the having to go into hiding so we can put the battle plan into motion?"

"All this shit about a second Occupation, and people who want to hurt those who don't agree with their rhetoric," Miri said; "Why does it have to be you and Uncle Nik and Uncle Jere who has to do all the dirty work? Isn't that why we have an armed forces to begin with?"

"Many of the people in the Armed Forces are not as well trained as your mother, uncle and I," Nik said; "That's a sad fact of life; We learned from the best, and we try to pass that on to you and your siblings and cousins. There is no one in the current version of the military who has fought against those who mean this country harm from within. No one that is until about 48 hours ago when I had my commission reinstated by the President."

"I'm supposed to go to college next year," Miri said; "I can't do that if I'm hiding somewhere."

"Let's see how long it will take to defeat these idiots before you worry about that, okay, Miri?" said Nik.

"Okay," Miri said; "I'm sorry I unloaded on you, Uncle Nik."

"Don't be," said Nik; "You had something to say, and we should listen more to what you kids have on your minds. So, am I forgiven?"

Miri gave her uncle a hug. Then she apologized to her grandparents for her language. Then she went upstairs and went to bed.

David watched as the girl disappeared around the corner, then said, "Geez, you kids! You act like Jordan and I have never said a curse word! The girl spoke her mind, and sometimes, coarse language is part of that. No one should ever have to apologize for speaking their mind!"

"David, I think what Jules was getting at is that Miri shouldn't have used that type of language at all," said Nik.

"Well, it's kind of hard to not use it when you hear it all the time," David said; "You two need to check yourselves before you get all uppity about what your kids say in our presence or anyone else's."

Just then, they heard giggling from upstairs.

"Gotcha!" David said with a grin.

===

Jack figured out how to get the things he needed to get to the house without raising too much suspicion.

Since he had his computers cleaned of the spyware that had somehow gotten on to them, he decided to order what he needed online.

First thing was the new bed that needed to go into the bedroom that would be shared by Julia's two younger daughters, and the linens that would be needed.

Next was groceries. Taking into account that Julia and her family don't eat pork, Jack ordered what he was calling "provisions"; food items that would need to have a long shelf life, or able to be frozen for months at a time, and canned goods.

Then he ordered perishables: meat, eggs, milk and other dairy products, bread; then staples: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, yeast, spices, oil.

After that was taken care of and he got confirmation dates as to when everything would be delivered, he went out to the barn to check on the animals.

The cows will need to be milked, Jack thought; the cows and Sarge would need food, and straw to sleep on, along with the goats. The crops will need to be harvested again before the winter sets in. It'll be nice to have help.

It will be nice to feel like a dad again, he thought; or a grandad.

Jack Coltrane would take care of the Summers family as if they were his own. For a short time, they would be.

===

Nik, Jeremiah and Aaliyah left the grounds and those left behind retired for the evening.

All Julia did all night was stare at the ceiling. What have I gotten us into? she wondered more than once. Now I'm going to drag Jack into it too?

She was happy that Jack agreed to help her and her family out. Julia had assured him that it was only temporary, until they could get a plan in place to fight the A.R.M. people.

"Don't worry about a thing, Julia," Jack had said; "I'll get things ready on my end. I don't have enough bedrooms for everyone to have their own, so would the two younger girls be adverse to sharing?"

"I'm sure it won't be a problem," replied Julia; "Zach needs his own room because he's male; and Miri needs one because she's growing up and needs some place private. Jaime and Rachel will share."

"I'll need an extra bed in that case," said Jack; "and groceries will be a little tricky because I'm used to shopping for just me, but I'll get it all figured out. Do you think the kids would like to help in the barn?"

"I'll make part of the homeschooling plan, Jack," said Julia.

"I'd like to sit in on that one time," Jack said.

"Sit in on me teaching?" asked Julia.

"Sure! I might learn something."

"That's silly," Julia said, laughing.

"I don't know it all, you know," Jack said. "Your kids probably know more than I do. I was the trouble-making kid, remember?"

"That was years and years ago," Julia said; "I hope to hell you've grown up since you were my kids' ages!"

I'll get these A.R.M. bastards, even if it takes my last breath, Julia thought.

She then got out of bed, dressed, and got a gun out of the case that was shipped to Austin prior the family's arrival nearly a week before.

If they're following me, there may be someone on the property, she thought. Can't take any chances. They will not hurt my family!

She snuck out of the house and allowed that assassin compartment to open.

"I will not fail."

===

At the hospital, Jasmine went outside for some fresh air. Usually, that meant a walk to her car and back. She needed to clear her head before going back to work.

She was almost to the car when someone said, "Dr. Donovan?"

Jasmine turned around. The young woman before her was unfamiliar to her, either as a patient, or perhaps a friend who had accompanied a patient she'd just seen.

"May I help you?" she asked.

The girl looked nervous, then said, "No, Dr. Donovan. I don't need help. But you might." Jasmine saw the girl brandish a small caliber handgun.

"What's this all about?"

"You're my enemy, Doctor," she said. "And this is war."

What the hell? thought Jasmine. She then said, "Give me the gun."

"No! You must die, Jasmine Donovan!"

"I don't think so, sweetheart," Jasmine said; "I'll ask you again- please give me the gun."

The girl kept pointing it at her, but she must have not known how to use it, because Jasmine could see the safety was still on.

"You're not going to hurt me," Jasmine said evenly. "You don't even know how that thing works."

"And you do?"

"If you know who I am," Jasmine said; "then you probably know who my husband is. I do know a little about guns." She then lunged forward to grab the pistol from the girl's hand. The girl wasn't expecting Jasmine to fight back, so as Jasmine grabbed the barrel, the girl pulled the trigger.

The gun did not fire.

Jasmine took the gun from the girl, who said, "That's MY gun, bitch! Give it back!"

"Why? You don't even know how to use it? Didn't the people who sent you out here to kill me even teach you how to use it?" asked Jasmine.

"Give me my fucking gun!" the girl said, becoming agitated. Jasmine just stood there, wondering why an incompetent girl was sent to kill her.

"You know, you might get it back if you were a little nicer and not so hyped up," Jasmine said; "What kind of drugs are you on?"

"I'm not on drugs! Dammit give me my gun!" said the girl, becoming more agitated and beligerent the more that Jasmine refused to give the gun back.

"I don't really want to do this," Jasmine said, taking a syringe of sedative from her coat pocket, removing the tip protector and plunging the needle into the girl's thigh. Jasmine then pushed down the plunger half way and removed the needle.

"What did you do to me, you Undesirable whore!" she screamed at Jasmine.

"Gave you enough of something to calm you down long enough to get you to jail for threatening me," said Jasmine.

"You're my enemy!" the girl screamed; "I was sent here to make sure you die. Long live the Republic of America!"

The girl then collapsed at Jasmine's feet, unconscious. Jasmine calmly contacted hospital security, saying, "There's a patient out here who threatened me with a gun. I gave her fifteen cc's of Sedilite, and she is passed out in the parking lot. Send a gurney and two nurses out to the doctor's parking area."

Within minutes hospital security, local police, two male nurses and a gurney were at Jasmine's location.

"What the hell happened here, Dr. Donovan?" asked one of the nurses.

"That girl threatened me with a gun," Jasmine explained; "spouted off some nonsense, got to a point where I couldn't handle her alone because she was agitated, then tried to rush me to get the gun I'd taken from her. The seditive followed. She'll come around here soon."

The nurses took the patient into the hospital, gave a police statement, and Jasmine went back into the hospital herself to fill out an incident report.

Just another crazy night on the job, she thought.

Then she'd go home where it was going to get even crazier.

===

Earlier that afternoon, there was a knock on the door of Natasha's house, and Sandrina went to answer it. Standing before her was a man she'd never met before.

"May I help you sir?" she asked.

"You must be Sandy," the man said; "I'm Darren. I'm a friend of your Aunt Natasha. I believe she's expecting me."

Danica walked by as Sandrina let Darren inside. "Hello," he said to her.

Sandrina saw Danica's puzzled expression and said, "Danica, this is Darren. Aunt Tash is expecting him. Could you go find out if she's ready?"

"Sure, be right back," said Danica as she went up the stairs.

"Won't you sit down, Mr...um," Sandrina asked, uncertain what the man's last name was.

"Dixon, but please call me Darren," he said; "After all, that is my name."

"Of course, Darren," said Sandrina. Just then, Natasha came down the stairs.

"Hello, Darren," she said. "Sorry, I'm a little behind schedule today."

"No problem," said Darren; "Sandy has been very nice, but that doesn't surprise me."

"Well, I think a proper introduction is in order," Natasha said. "You've met one of the two nieces who are going to Georgetown. This is Sandrina San Marco. And this," she paused as Danica came down the stairs with the twins right behind her; "is my other niece, Danica Donovan. She's a business major at Georgetown. Sandrina is a graphic design major. And Vixen and Nikolai you've already met."

"It's very nice to meet you," Danica said; "Aunt Natasha has mentioned you often."

Darren raised an eyebrow, then said to Natasha, "Have you, now? Good things, I hope."

"Of course, Darren," Natasha said; "I wouldn't say bad things, would I?"

"No, Natasha," Darren said; "you wouldn't. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, just let me grab my bag, and we'll be on our way," Natasha said.

Natasha grabbed her purse, gave Sandrina and Danica some last minute instructions, then she and Darren left.

After Darren's car had pulled out of the driveway and into traffic, Sandrina asked her cousins, "How long has your mom been seeing Darren?"

"A long time," Nikolai said. "Mom used to work for him. That's how they met."

"Is he always that nice?" asked Danica.

"Yeah," Vixen said; "but he rarely comes here to pick up Mom for their dates or whatever it is they do."

"Do you two like him?" ashed Sandrina.

"He's okay," Nikolai said; "He makes Mom smile. Mom's always so serious, so I like him because he makes her smile."

"Vix, what about you?"

"I think he's a nice man, and as Nikky said, he makes Mom smile," Vixen said, "but I think he's in love with Mom, while Mom only likes him."

Remembering what Natasha had told her and Danica about her past before she found her brother, Sandrina thought that maybe Natasha was being guarded about her feelings.

"So, what should we do today, you guys?" asked Sandrina.

"Laser tag!" Nikolai said.

"No, paintball," countered his sister. "You always win at laser tag!"

"Well, I need to turn in a drawing in my illustration class on Monday," Sandrina said; "Maybe we could just go to the park, or to the Inner Harbor, or someplace scenic so I can draw something."

"Besides," Danica said; "getting hit by a paintball hurts!"

"When did you get so sensitive, Danica?" asked Sandrina; "You've been pelted by hail and slapped by freaked out fish and pinched by pissed off lobsters, and you're afraid of a little ball filled with paint?"

"I'm not afraid of it, Sandy, I just don't like people shooting at me on purpose," Danica said; "It makes me want to get out a gun and blow them away."

"How about the shooting range?" Vixen suggested; "We can just shoot at targets and not people."

"I like that idea. Danica, you up for that?" asked Sandrina.

"Yeah," she said; "need to keep those skills up, right?"

===

"Julia is taking her family into hiding, but only until she formulates a plan on how to defeat the second Occupation whackjobs. She figures that it will take about four to six months," Darren told Natasha as they were driving out to a spot near Richmond, Virginia that he knew about.

"Where is she going, or is that something I'm not authorized to know?" asked Natasha.

"She was making arrangements the last I heard," Darren said; "So, if I should get a call today, that's probably what it will be about. Then I can look into her plans and approve or disapprove of them."

"I can't imagine her kids were too thrilled about this latest turn in events," said Natasha. "Not if what Nik told me last night on the phone was any indication."

"What was that?"

"That Julia's daughter Miri tore her uncle a new one, and deservedly so," Natasha said. "And who's idea was it for Nik to be recommissioned as a Major?"

"His, believe it or not," said Darren. "He still has lots of contacts in the military community, but as a civilian, he couldn't do a lot of the things he was planning to do to get the second Occupation group to turn tail and run. Once he laid out his plan to me, and his conditions, all it took was for the President to reinstate his commission."

"I don't know why he left to begin with," said Natasha, "because he loved the life. Not the moving around so much, but he and his family prospered. His youngest son hated that his dad wasn't around that much, but that was one of his conditions- that he not have to uproot his family and be away from them for long periods of time."

"I know he's a big family man," Darren said as they reached their destination; "so the President and the Army brass were happy to accept Nik's conditions."

"Probably because he'd been deprived of his family," Natasha said; "He didn't remember me because he was so young when I was kidnapped when I was nine. He would have been two. Then he's brought into the San Marco family, where he saw how families are supposed to be. He just emulates that with his own family."

"He, Jeremiah and Julia have all done great with their families, and I'm sure the same is true for Joe Donovan and his wife as well," Darren said.

"It is, indeed," said Natasha. "They have two great daughters, though Danica's younger sister is still recovering from a bad car accident last year. She'd been hit by a drunk driver and suffered some brain trauma, but is steadily making improvement. Danica tells me that Kendria has a service dog now."

Darren's ears caught the reference to the accident and decided to have someone look into it when he got back to the office the following Monday. But now, he wanted Natasha all to himself.

Once they were checked into the lodge and shown to their room, Darren wasted no time in getting down to the business at hand. He wanted Natasha Vincent, and he wanted all of her- mind, body and soul.

My God, Natasha, he thought as he felt her hands on his skin, on his clothing, trying to remove them; I love you, I want you, I need you. Please say you'll be mine forever...

===
II


When she was awake fully, she was on an airplane. Her father sat next to her, asleep; Uncle Nik sat across the aisle, reading something.

All that Aaliyah Donovan knew is that she was angry at both of them for making her leave her cousins in Austin. They were going to go to the zoo, and Aunt Niki's boyfriend, Drake, was going to take her and the Summers kids on a tour of the Texas State House. Now she had to come home without them.

Nik noticed that the girl was awake and said, "You sleep okay, Aaliyah?"

"Yeah," she said sullenly.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm mad."

"Why are you mad?" asked Nik

"Because you and Daddy ruined everything!" Aaliyah said.

"How so?"

"We were going to have fun," Aaliyah said; "We were going to the zoo, Nonna Jordan was going to teach us to make latkes, we were going to see where the Governor of Texas works. Then you guys show up and tell me I have to go home with you now!"

"Aaliyah," Nik said; "I know you're angry, and that you wanted to stay, but Aunt Julia is in danger because bad people want to hurt her and her family. Your daddy was concerned that you could get hurt. That's why we came to get you. Daddy just wants to make sure you're safe."

"What's going to happen to Aunt Julia and my cousins, Uncle Nik?" Aaliyah asked.

"They're not going to come home right away, but they can't stay with Grandpa David and Nonna Jordan, either," Nik said. "The people who want to hurt them know that they're here, and that could put everyone in danger."

"Will we ever see them again?"

"I'm sure we will," said Nik. "You know that Aunt Julia is pretty tough, and she's not going to let these bad people push her around for long."

"Will they be back before mine and Rachel's birthdays?" asked Aaliyah.

"I can't say, Aaliyah," Nik said; "because I don't know. It depends on a lot of stuff we just don't know right now."

"So I shouldn't be too mad at you and Daddy, Uncle Nik?" the girl asked.

"I think you should cut your dad some slack," Nik said; "He's only trying to watch out for you like a good dad should. You can be mad at me all you want."

"You explained a lot about what's happening," Aaliyah said; "You didn't tell me fairy tales."

"What do you mean by 'fairy tales', Aaliyah?" asked Nik.

"You didn't make it sound like just a story you made up because I'm too young to handle the real story," Aaliyah said.

"Oh, okay," said Nik, though he knew what the girl meant, he wanted to hear what she thought; "No fairy tales for you. You can handle the truth, right?"

"Right!" Aaliyah said.

"Okay, then," said Nik; "We'll be home soon, and I've kept your dad up way past his bedtime, anyway."

"Daddy doesn't have a bedtime!" Aaliyah said.

"You don't think so, do you?" asked Nik; "Even grownups like me, and your dad and mom all have bedtimes."

"That's silly, Uncle Nik," Aaliyah said.

===

Julia skulked around in the darkness of her parents property, just so to ease her mind that there were not people here who mean her parents and brothers any harm.

Down by the lake, however, Julia discovered a group of four people getting off a boat at the dock that was part of the property.

Shit! she thought; they've even followed us here!

She then heard voices.

"They train out here from about 5am onward," Julia heard a male voice say; "picking them off will be easy. You two, grab the youngest girls. You, disarm the older kids. I'll deal with the Summers bitch."

Oh, will you now? Julia asked herself. Not unless I deal with you first.

"What about Draiman and his wife?" one of the other men asked

"We'll leave Draiman out of this for now," the group leader said; "Our job is to get to the 'SpineSplitter' and eliminate her. Miss will be waiting for our report."

Miss? Who or what was "Miss"? Was this the person who ran the show? thought Julia.

Whoever "Miss" was, Julia knew that the four people from the boat had to be eliminated first.

Julia put the silencer on the gun she carried with her and loaded the chamber. When she had the first group member in her sights, she pulled the trigger.

That person fell to the ground, dead.

"What the fuck?" the group leader said as one by one, his people where dropping like flies. Finally, he lifted his weapon in the direction he thought the bullets came from, then he, too, dropped to the ground. He didn't even have time to take the safety off his weapon.

Several people came off the boat to grab the bodies, but they, too, found their end with their fallen colleagues. By Julia's count, she had killed ten individuals. No others got off the boat.

Julia made her way back towards the house when she saw another group of people standing near the memorial that David had built to honor Disturbed Ones who had died at the hands of the New Army in the house that once stood in that spot.

She hid behind a stand of trees, reloaded her weapon, and listened for voices.

She wasn't disappointed.

"We'll rush the house, and flush the Undesirables out. Then we take them down one at a time. I don't care who they are, be they Draiman, his wife, or their grandchildren."

There's no way in hell you'll take any of my family out, you bastards! thought Julia.

She saw that there were eight people standing not fifty feet in front of her. Julia pulled back the safety, cocked the gun, and fired into the group. All eight of them were soon on a one way trip to hell.

In the matter of an hour, Julia had killed nearly twenty people, all of whom meant her and her family harm.

She made her way back to the house, getting inside through an unlocked window.

Once back in her bedroom, she removed the dark clothing she'd put on and got back into her nightgown. She then went down to Jordan and David's bedroom, where she was surprised to see that the light was still on.

After making sure she wasn't walking into an intimate moment, she knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Jordan called out.

"It's me, Mom," Julia said.

Jordan came and opened the door. Apparently, both she and David were in bed, reading.

"Can't sleep, Jules?" asked Jordan.

"It's not that," Julia said; "There were people on the grounds who meant us harm."

"'Were'?" asked David, knowing what Julia was going to say next.

"There were two groups of people totalling about twenty people. One group came in from the lakeside, the other from the forest near the memorial," Julia said; "I've dispatched them all, but I left a mess to clean up."

David sighed. He had security patroling the property; where were they? he asked himself.

"I'll call the authorities, Julia," David said; "but how did you know?"

"Sixth sense, I guess. I just knew that something wasn't right," Julia said.

"Maybe you and the kids going into hiding is a good idea after all," Jordan said; "Have you decided where?"

"Yes, and I'm just waiting on approval from the CIA," Julia said.

"You can't tell us, can you?" asked David.

"No, I can't," Julia said; "It would defeat the purpose."

"How soon after you get approval would you be going into hiding?" asked Jordan.

"After approval, Mom, we'd have 72 hours to get to where we'll be hiding," Julia said. "Anything we need from the house, like the kids computers, or our weapons, even the cat, would have to be taken care of after we've left."

"Sounds like fun," said David sarcastically; "Just like Anne Frank and her family hiding from the Nazis."

"That's exactly what it feels like, David," Julia said; "But unlike the Frank family, the Summers family intends to fight back hard. No one messes with me and my blood without one hell of a fight!"

"I know that's right," David said.

===
III


After getting off the phone with Adriana Donovan, KateLynn heard something strange outside, like the bushes in the side yard being disturbed.

Peter and Danny were playing chess in the living room when their mother came in.

"Did you boys hear anything odd just now?" she asked them.

"Just the wind pushing the branches around on the trees outside," Danny said.

"I heard what I thought were voices," Peter said.

"Those are the voices in your head, dork!" Danny said.

"Enough, you two!" KateLynn said. "Danny go look out the window, but make sure you can't be seen."

Danny looked out the living room window, and saw three men standing in their yard. All three had guns with them. They were talking, but Danny couldn't hear what was being said.

"Mom, there are three men with guns in the yard," Danny reported.

"Not for long there won't be," KateLynn said; "Danny, go get me the sniper rifle and two hand guns." She tossed a set of keys at her youngest son. They opened the gun safe.

When Danny returned with the weapons his mother asked for, Peter asked, "Can I shoot the sniper rifle?"

"No, Pete, the recoil could make your problems worse," KateLynn said; "I'll keep the rifle, Danny will take one of the pistols. You hold on to the other in case either Danny or I need it. You're the captain, Peter. Assess the situation."

"Are there only three people, or is the house surrounded?" asked Peter; "Mom, go look out back and tell me what you see."

When KateLynn returned, she told Peter that there was no one in the backyard. He then sent Danny to the living room window that faced the front yard to see if there were people there.

"The same three men are now in the front yard, Pete," Danny said. "One looks like he's headed to the front door."

The doorbell rang.

"Answer the door, Danny," Peter said; "Mom, you cover him."

Danny opened the door to one of the men he'd seen outside.

"Hello," the man said; "I'm looking for Kate San Marco. Is she available?"

"She's not, she's attending to other business about the house," Danny said; "May I ask who is here to see her?"

"Yes," said the man, pulling a gun on the 14 year old, "I'm Mr. Smith, and I know your mother is here. May I come in?"

"No you may not!" KateLynn said, coming up behind Danny and pointing the sniper rifle at the man calling himself Mr. Smith. Danny drew his own weapon on the man.

"Oh, how cute," said Mr. Smith sarcastically; "A mother and son team thinks they're going to blow me away."

Almost at the same time, Danny and KateLynn cocked their weapons. "Don't tempt me," KateLynn said; "You threaten my family I'll have no problem in blowing your head off."

Behind them, the two other men had entered the house and encountered Peter. Without hesitation, Peter killed them both. "You come into my house with evil intentions, I will kill you, back brace or no back brace."

Meanwhile at the door, Mr. Smith heard the gunshots and mistakenly thought that his men had killed Peter.

"My condolences, Kate," he said nastily. "It's hard to lose a child."

"My son isn't dead," KateLynn said; "I believe that your two men thought they could overtake my 15 year old son because of his injuries, but they found out the hard way that they could not."

"I beg to differ," Mr. Smith said.

"I don't," Peter said as he approached the door and put a bullet between the eyes of the man standing there. Smith crumpled to the porch, a shocked look was on his face.

Danny just looked at the dead man on their porch and asked, "Well, what are we going to do with them?"

"Damned if I know," Peter said. "Mom?"

KateLynn was on the phone with police.

===

By morning, the plane carrying Nik, Jeremiah and Aaliyah had touched down at O'Hare. From there it was a short drive home.

What Nik and Jeremiah would find at their homes would surprise them.

There were police all around Jeremiah's house. He tried to keep his composure so as to not scare Aaliyah, but Aaliyah was scared anyway.

"What's going on, Daddy?" she asked. Jeremiah was talking to a police officer, who told him that a group of men tried to storm the house, and that two teenage girls, a teenage boy, and their mother defended their home from the would be intruders.

"Jere, it's your house," the officer said. "The PIO has more information. I'll call him."

As the officer contacted his Public Information Officer, Jeremiah quickly explained to Aaliyah what happened.

"Are they okay, Daddy?" she asked.

"I think they are," Jeremiah said; "but we're going to talk to another officer that has more information."

"Jere," the officer said; "The PIO is on your front porch. He'll have more information for you."

"Come on, Aaliyah," Jeremiah said. "Let's go see this other officer."

As they made their way to their own house, Jeremiah could hear other reporters shouting questions at him. He ignored all of them, many of them his colleagues, because finding out if his family was okay was more important.

"Bert," Jeremiah said to the Public Information Officer; "What the hell happened here?"

"Man, Jere, there was some gun battle here," Bert said; "These men tried to force their way into your house, and your kids and your wife took care of them all. There were five men; three dead and the other two are in surgery."

"Is Jasmine and the kids okay?"

"They're a little shaken up as you might expect," Bert said; "but they're fine. Whatever you've been teaching them, they've put into use. There will be no prosecution because of the 'Make My Day' laws."

"Can I go in?" asked Jeremiah; "There's no bodies in there, are there?"

"No, Jere," Bert said; "they're all gone."

Aaliyah then ran up the steps and into the house, calling for her mother, sisters and brother.

When Jeremiah got inside, Jasmine sat on the couch, and the older kids were milling around the kitchen. They took Aaliyah down to the great room so their parents could talk.

"Jas," Jeremiah said as he sat next to her on the couch, "you okay, baby?"

Jasmine looked at him and he could tell she had been crying. "What's wrong, boo?" Jeremiah asked.

"I'm a doctor, Jere," she said; "I'm supposed to save lives, not end them."

"It was self defense from what I learned from the police, Jas," Jeremiah said. "You and the kids defended yourselves from intruders who meant to hurt you. There will be no charges filed against you or Adriana, since she's old enough to be tried as an adult."

"They told me that," Jasmine said; "but I took an oath when I got my M.D., Jere. First, do no harm. I killed two of those men this morning."

"In self-defense, Jasmine!" Jeremiah said; "You weren't acting as a physician then, were you? You were acting as the mother of the children you swore to protect."

Jasmine laid her head on her husband's shoulder. She just wanted the guilt to go away, and wondered if it ever would.

===

Natasha and Darren were still in bed when Darren's phone rang. "I have to get this, Tash, okay?" he asked the woman curled up at his side.

"Mmm hmmm," Natasha sighed.

"Dixon," Darren said, then, "Okay, she has 72 hours from noon her time to get her and her family to their location...okay, good. What?! Talk to me! Sweet Jesus on the Cross! All right, I'll call them right away... you think I could just have two days off in a row to fuckin' relax! Okay, fine. Call back if anything changes. Good bye."

"What's up, Darren?" asked Natasha.

"The President approved Julia's plan for going into hiding," Darren said; "and both your brother's and Jeremiah Donovan's families were accosted last night in their homes. All told, there are six dead and two in the hospital. These second Occupation creeps mean business, but send incompetent people to do the killing."

"Sounds much too familiar," Natasha said; "Just like the New Army and the ineffectual assassins they claim to have trained. Bet my eight year old nieces are better shots than they are!"

"I need to call both Nik and Jeremiah," Darren said; "You might want to call home and check on your family, too."

Natasha was already grabbing her secure phone. She dialed her home number, and Sandrina answered immediately.

"Sandy, everything okay there?" Natasha asked.

"Everything's fine, Aunt Tash," Sandrina said; "We went out and did some shooting, I did some drawing; Danica and I helped the twins with homework. We had pizza for dinner. You know, plain old boring stuff."

"I just wanted to make sure, not that I don't trust you girls, but one can never be too careful," Natasha said.

"Aunt Tash," Sandrina said; "things here are fine. Not so fine at home. Mom called me this morning and told me some men tried to hurt her and my younger brothers, but Pete killed all three of them."

"Wow, really?" Natasha said; "All that physical therapy seems to have helped him."

"Mom says he's really sore this morning," Sandrina said; "Not his back. His arms. He hasn't trained in six months. Not used to using those muscles."

"Maybe he'll be back to his old self soon," Natasha said.

"I hope so," said Sandrina.

Natasha ended the call and turned to Darren. He was conducting his official duties in the nude, and she had to stifle a laugh.

Finally after about an hour, Darren was finished with his phone calls, telling everyone unless it was a dire emergency, to not bother him until Monday morning.

"Oh, my big, strong, brave CIA Director," Natasha teased; "conducting business in your birthday suit. What else don't I know about you?"

"That you make me feel young and vital," Darren said as he joined her back on the bed. "That you mean the world to me."

"I think I kind of knew that," Natasha said; "but it's always nice to hear."

He looked at her and almost told her his deepest desire: Marry me, Natasha. You will never regret it.

Instead, he took her into his arms and held her close to him.

As she laid in his arms, Natasha thought, I love you Darren, but I'm afraid to give you my heart. Please be patient with me while I figure this all out. I've never really been in love before.

===

"Okay, ladies and Zach," Julia said the next morning; "You have two hours to pack everything you brought with you and bring it downstairs to the foyer. At noon sharp, a military transport will be here to take us to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. From there, we go to where we'll be hiding. Am I making myself understood?"

"Yes, Mom," they said in unison.

"Good," said Julia; "Time starts NOW!"

Everyone ran upstairs and started getting their things together. Julia looked at her mother and stepfather and shook her head.

"It will be all right, Jules," Jordan said; "You're doing the right thing."

"It is okay to admit I'm scared? After all, everyone thinks I'm this tough little dynamo," Julia said.

"Even tough little dynamos get scared," David said; "We just want you to be careful."

"When am I not careful, David?" asked Julia.

"Point taken," David conceded.

"Jules, we know that you know what's best for your family," said Jordan; "We want you to be safe and come home when you think the time is right."

"As soon as I put my plan together, Mom, I'll be home in Chicago. Hopefully in time to see Kimber graduate from Northwestern," Julia said.

"You better get your things together as well, Julia," David said; "Noon will be here before you know it."

"Okay, I'm on it," Julia said as she started up the stairs.

When she was in her room packing, Jordan said,

"I'm scared for her, David; but I know she's doing the right thing."

David gave Jordan a hug. "You know what, Jord? So am I."

===

Everything was ready for the arrival of Julia and her family. Jack took one look around his home, and thought, in three days, this house will have children in it. Julia will be here. I'll get to know my daughter at last.

So, why am I so nervous? he asked himself.

===