The phone rang incessantly for what seemed like several moments before Eric Hope could get there to answer it. When he did he heard an unfamiliar female voice on the other end of the line.
"May I speak with Eric Hope please?"
"Whom may I ask is calling?" he asked.
"Cameron Chang. I'm a psychotherapist in Buffalo, New York."
"I'm Eric Hope," Eric said; "What is the purpose of this call, Ms. Chang?"
"It's about your daughter Kathryn Marie," Chang said.
"I haven't spoken to my daughter in over fourteen years, Ms. Chang," Eric said; "What have you to tell me about her? Is she dead?"
"No, Mr. Hope, she is still very much alive," Chang replied. "She recently presented herself as a patient at my practise, and I wanted to get some background information about her."
"You're a psychotherapist, you said?"
"Yes, sir."
"My daughter burned her bridges behind her when she abandoned her infant daughter to mine and my late wife's care," Eric said; "I don't see where I can give you any additional information."
"If I told you your daughter is suffering from a mental illness, and has been since her early teens, would you be more willing to speak with me?" asked Chang.
"If Kathryn had been suffering from a mental illness in her early teens, Ms. Chang, I think me or my wife would have seen something significant," said Eric.
"Not necessarily, Mr. Hope," Chang said. "I believe that Kathryn is suffering from Disassociative Identity Disorder, and I need to ask you some general questions about when her personality changed."
Eric thought about that for a moment, deciding to let this Ms. Chang tell him about what she thought was wrong with the daughter he hadn't seen since she signed away her parental rights at sixteen.
"All right, Ms. Chang, ask away."
"Is there any event in Kathryn Marie's life that may have affected her in such a way that it changed how she viewed the world?" asked Chang. "Maybe some sort of abuse, or trauma she may have suffered?"
"My wife and I did not abuse our daughter," Eric said; "As for trauma, I really have no recollection of anything significant. It's like one day when she was fourteen, she became a different person."
"Who was she hanging out with then? Any boys who may have been pressuring her for sex?" asked Chang.
"She wasn't allowed to date at fourteen," Eric said. "She did hang out with one girl we didn't care for named Holly Grant. Her parents were hardly ever home, and older sisters watched over Holly for days at a time. We felt bad for her, and thought maybe if Kathryn spent time with her, that Holly would see what a real family was like."
"What were Holly's parents like?"
"From what little I knew about them," Eric said, "the father was always out of town on business, and the mother had some kind of physical problems."
"Was this girl abused in any way?"
"If she was, she hid it well."
"What was Kathryn like before she started hanging out with Holly?" asked Chang.
"Polite, obedient, respectful," Eric said; "Your typical fourteen year old girl. Then she changed so dramatically, that it was like she was someone else."
"When about did this change occur?"
"The summer before she started high school," Eric said; "She and Holly were together constantly that summer. Then one night, she was spending the night at Holly's. The next morning, she came home and said she was never going to be friends with Holly again, because they had gone somewhere and Holly and her sisters abandoned her there. From that point, Kathryn became difficult to control. She came and went as she pleased, we'd find her in her room with older boys having sex; sometimes it was girls and they'd be having sex. She was an honor student, and started not going to school. Then, she came home after a couple weeks away and told us she was pregnant.
"When she gave birth, she was confused about why we were so angry at her. She said she was sorry, and wanted to name her baby Kelly. Then she wanted nothing to do with the baby and left the hospital without her. We took emergency custody of the baby and gave her the name her mother wanted to give her. Kathryn showed up three months later and said she didn't want the baby and would sign her over to us. After that, we never saw her again. My wife was devastated. She blamed herself for Kathryn's behavior."
"Why did she blame herself?" asked Chang.
"Because of the way Kathryn came to be," said Eric. "See, Kathryn was the product of a rape. I'm not her biological father. All I know about the man who raped my wife was that his name was Carl, and that he knew my wife's name. She did not know him before this occured."
"Did Kathryn somehow find out about this?" asked Chang.
"I really have no idea, Ms. Chang," Eric said. "I don't know how she could have found out."
"Your name appears on her birth certificate, correct?"
"Well, yes, it does," Eric said. "She's legally my daughter. I never disowned her or anything. I just asked her to leave. I've regretted it ever since."
"Kathryn Marie has no memory of the last fifteen years of her life," Chang said; "She believes a personality calling herself Chastity has had control of her body and mind during that time. Kathryn Marie presents herself as a fifteen year old girl. She doesn't know how to drive, she speaks about going to her high school prom and going to college. And she wants to get back in touch with you and her mother. She has no idea her mother is deceased."
"Who is this Chastity, though?" asked Eric.
"As near as I can tell, she's Kathryn Marie's impulsive and insensitive side," Chang said. "Kathryn Marie tells me that she's been fighting with Chastity her entire life. Chastity puts her in a dark 'prison' and lives Kathryn Marie's life."
"Could this other personality be the one who abandoned her baby and became antisocial?"
"It's a possibility," Chang said; "Kathryn Marie wants to make amends for the bad that Chastity has done. She just doesn't know how."
"How can I help?" asked Eric.
"You already have helped a great deal," Chang said; "I was concerned because someone like Chastity would be capable of trying to fake people out, saying she was mentally ill to keep out of legal trouble. But after speaking with you, I'm convinced that Kathryn Marie is a legitimate case. A lot of what you told me matches up with what Kathryn Marie has told me. But as I said, her memory as Kathryn Marie stops at age 15."
"If there is anything more I can do to help Kathryn, please let me know," Eric said.
"I will, Mr. Hope."
After Eric had hung up the phone, he sat in his chair, unbelieving. Kathryn's been sick this whole time, and I kicked her out! he thought. If we had only known about how to help her, instead of punishing her, would she be normal now?
Eric put his head in his hands and began to sob. What have I done! he said to himself; what have I done to my little girl! When she needed us, we sent her away!
He then thought of Kelly, getting her education in Chicago. She hated her mother for abandoning her. Eric wanted to tell Kelly the truth: her mother didn't abandon her out of spite, she did it because she was ill.
Eric decided to do his own research on Disassociative Identity Disorder, to see if there was a way to help Kathryn.
He wouldn't like what he found; about the disease, or about Kathryn's alter ego.
"Director, Natasha Vincent on line two for you," the receptionist said.
"Thanks Tara," Darren said; he then punched the "2" button to take the call.
"Natasha," he said; "to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"Darren, there's strange shit going on here," Natasha said; "A man tried to assault my nieces on campus yesterday. When we returned home, the house had been ransacked. The twins could hear what was going on from the panic room."
"Do you think someone is stalking you, or one or both of your nieces?"
"I'd hazard a guess to say all of the above," Natasha said; "Danica ended up shooting the man, but he got away. I don't know if it was him who tossed the house. I didn't see any blood anywhere that suggested someone with an open wound had been there."
"Natasha, I'm coming out there as soon as we hang up," Darren said; "You and your family may be in more danger."
"Great," Natasha said; "Like it's not bad enough that Julia and her family is in hiding somewhere."
"I don't think we'll have to go to that extreme," Darren said; "but I'll need to talk to all of you about this. I don't like the way this sounds."
"I don't like it either, Darren," Natasha said; "If it were just me, or just me and my nieces, I wouldn't be as concerned. But my children were here when this was going on. I'll kill to protect them. You know that."
"Yes, Tash, I know," said Darren; "That's why I need to talk to everyone."
"All right," said Natasha; "I'll make sure everyone is here. I'll check Sandy's and Danica's schedules to see when they're available. I'm the only one here at the moment. The twins are in school."
"I'll see you in about half an hour, then," Darren said.
"I'll be here, Darren," said Natasha.
Watching the ranch, and watching as the Summers family and Christofferson interacted together, was a piece of cake, thought the man stalking the family. It'd be a big deal if I could bring down Summers, he thought. Chastity would love that.
There were signs on the fencing surrounding the ranch's perimeter:
Since there was a huge Longhorn bull out in the pasture, he took that warning to heart.
But in pursuit of his goal, he'd forget about those signs to his own detriment. He would find out for himself that the bull does run faster than he does. It would not do to piss off the bull.
At the moment, the stalker was watching as a tiny redheaded girl went out into the pasture. She was playing hide and seek with her siblings. She looked to be about five or six years old. She had long red French braids, and wore a t-shirt and shorts. She hid from the sibling who was looking for her in the tall stalks of autumn corn.
"Rachel!" someone called; "Rachel!"
It was at that point, the bull turned his massive body around, as if he could smell something. He went a few paces and stopped. He was right behind the girl.
The stalker thought the worst, that the bull would startle the girl and she'd run. The he watched as the bull gingerly slipped one of his long horns under the girl's t-shirt, lifted her up off the ground, and headed back to the barn with the girl hanging from his horn. He cocked his head to one side to compensate for the girl's weight.
"Sarge!" the girl cried out; "Now Zach will find me!"
The stalker had to laugh to himself. The bull was gentle with the girl. When he got to the barn, an older man had taken the girl off the bull's horn and placed her back on the ground.
The bull then returned to the pasture to graze.
The stalker though that was the strangest thing he'd ever seen. The girl was just a tiny little thing, and apparently the bull had done something similar before.
He kept watching. Julia Summers would undoubtedly make herself known. Then he'd have her.
But that same docile bull would show his true colors. In effect, the stalker would "piss off the bull".
It would not be a pretty sight.
Jack laughed as he saw Sarge bringing Rachel in from her hiding place, hanging from his horn. Rachel had her arms crossed in front of her, and Jack knew that she was mad that Sarge had found her before Zach did.
He lifted the tiny eight year old off Sarge's horn and placed her back on the ground. "Sarge just wants to play, too, Rachel," Jack said, smiling.
"I didn't know that bulls liked hide and seek."
"It's not that he likes the game, Rachel," Jack said as Zach came around the corner, "he likes you kids. He's like a great big puppy dog with you kids."
"Did Sarge pick Rachel up with his horn again, Jack?" asked Zach. "I think that's so funny!"
"No it's not funny," Rachel said, pouting. "He always finds me before everyone else."
"Maybe you shouldn't hide out there in the pasture then, Rach," Zach said.
Rachel stuck her tongue out at her brother and went back to the house.
"That's not nice, Rachel!" Zach called after her.
Jack laughed; "Let her be, boy," he said. "She's just being Rachel, as your mother would say."
"You haven't seen Jaime, have you?" asked Zach; "She's the only one I haven't found yet."
"Nope, haven't seen Jaime since before you started playing hide and seek," Jack said. "But I hear she likes to hide near the hay bales," he whispered to Zach.
"Thanks, Jack!" the boy called as he headed out to where the hay bales were.
Jack sat on the milking stool and thought about the nearly three months that Julia and her family had been staying with him. Thanksgiving and Christmas were coming soon, and he wanted to do something special for Julia and the kids.
But first, other things needed to happen. And some of those things were not pleasant. It was all to protect the woman he loved and the children he'd come to adore.
He knew it would be hard to allow them to return to Chicago once the threat against them was eliminated. But he knew he had his family again, even though only one of the children was biologically his. Life had to go on, even if it was long distance. Miri would go to college soon, and he wasn't going to hold her back.
And he wouldn't hold Julia back either, as hard as it would be to let her go. Again. But this time, he knew he had her love.
II
Darren arrived at Natasha's in less time than he told her on the phone. When Natasha let him in, she asked, "Did you run every fuckin' stop light in D.C. to get here this soon?"
"No, Natasha," Darren said; "But I did do a little more than the speed limit getting out of Langley though."
"Would the cops give the CIA Director a speeding ticket?" asked Natasha, laughing.
"I've never had to test that theory," Darren said; "but I think if they saw government tags on the car, they'd figure it was urgent business and let me be."
"Oh, so I'm 'government business' now?" Natasha teased.
Darren took her into his arms, he not caring if any of the other occupants of Natasha's home were there or not; "Hardly," he said softly; "But you're my business, Tash."
He kissed her, she responding in kind. She felt his hands all over her. "Darren..." she said, "what if one of my nieces walked through that door right now?"
"Let them, Natasha," Darren said, trying to unbutton Natasha's blouse; "I'm sure they've seen two people making out before."
"You're practically undressing me, Darren!" she exclaimed.
"It's only 10am Natasha, and I've been up since before dawn working on Agency business," said Darren; "Just hearing your voice on the phone gets me all worked up, my flower. It's almost involuntary."
"What about what happened here yesterday, my sweet?" asked Natasha.
"We'll talk to everyone when they get home, but now, I need you, dearest Natasha," Darren said.
"They won't be home for hours, Darren!"
"Good..." he said as she led him up the stairs; "that will give me plenty of time to make my case."
Once in Natasha's bedroom and the door closed, she asked, "Make your case about what, Darren?"
He laid her now unclothed body on her bed, then joining her there. As he slipped inside her and began to make love to her, he said,
"To tell you I'm hopelessly in love with you, Natasha Viktoria Vincent, and that I want to be your man."
"Oh...Darren..." she cried out; "Oh, God! Yes... please!"
"I love you, Natasha," Darren said as he loved her; "I've known for years how I felt about you. There is no one I want in my life but you, my dearest! Please don't deny me your love anymore... I see it every time I look at that beautiful face!"
Between the pleasurable things that Darren was doing to her, and his confession that he loved her and that his love was true, Natasha felt happiness... and fear. But Darren, I've never really been in love... she said to him in her thoughts. I'm scared...
As if he had read her mind, he said, "I'll never, ever hurt you, sweet Natasha. You can give me your heart without fear. I love you Natasha... please believe me!"
Instead of a reply, a cry of release came from Natasha's lips. Darren was not far behind. As they lay together on the bed, Natasha said,
"Darren... I do love you. But you know my history, and what would people say when they found out I was a whore?"
"I don't care what people say, Natasha," Darren said; "I care about you. About your children. Loving you is what I was meant to do. Your past, so what? I had those records sealed years ago. You are all I care about. I love you; I've loved you for years. The first time I saw you, I knew... that you and I were meant to be together."
"I-I've never really been in love with anyone," said Natasha. "I never really trusted anyone's motives until I met you. And I'm scared, Darren. Scared that I won't be able to..."
Natasha felt tears falling, and she could see that Darren knew that her love was real. She loved him. "Please..." she said, "teach me to love you..."
He felt her trembling in his arms, this strong and tough woman, this heroine of the Resistance. Darren Dixon wanted nothing more than for Natasha to trust herself to love him. "All you need to know about loving me, Natasha," he said softly, holding her close to him, "is to trust yourself enough to let it happen. I won't leave you hanging. You'll always have my love."
He wiped her tears away. "You're who I want, Natasha," he said. "There is no one else. There never has been as long as I've known you."
Natasha was caught off guard; "You mean," she said, "you have been waiting for me for nearly fifteen years?"
"Yes, Natasha," Darren said; "From the moment I laid eyes on you. When we were both agents. When this tall, beautiful, confident thirty year old woman first walked into my training class. I knew then, Natasha. But you weren't ready for me or anyone else. But when I became Director twelve years ago, after you had your twins, I wanted you to know that I was very attracted to you."
"I kept putting you off," Natasha said; "because I was scared to give myself to someone who wanted me for me."
"Remember what I said the first time we made love?" asked Darren.
"That my past didn't matter to you; you knew what I was before I went to work for the Disturbed Ones, and you didn't care. You said something like, 'Let me love you, love your body, love your soul'."
"And I still love everything about you," Darren said; "You're the only woman who has ever brought me to my knees, whether it was when we were making love... or when you just look at me. Let me love you, Natasha. Let me be the one you confide in, the one you trust, the one you can give your heart, soul and mind to without fear. Please don't be afraid of not knowing how to love me, because you already know how. Natasha, you are everything I ever hoped for..."
Natasha had never heard Darren talk like that. This was a man who was all business, whose only weakness she'd ever seen in him... was her! It floored her that he waited until she was ready for him; that he didn't want just any woman, he wanted her, and only her. She realized that when she was with Darren, she ceased to be afraid of his intentions. He laid himself bare to her; she thought that if he could do that for her, she could do the same for him.
"Darren," she said in a soft, yet confident voice, "I love you with everything I have. Thank you for giving me your love. I will treasure it always."
"As I will treasure yours, my beauty."
The children were due home at 3pm, and Sandrina's last class ended at 4pm. Since Danica was the only one with a car, she waited for her cousin to get out of class when Danica got out of her last class at 1pm. They would all be very surprised by who was at the house with Natasha; and, not for a date.
Since the attempted attack on them the day before, Danica's internal radar was on high alert. She looked at anyone she didn't know with suspicion.
This is stupid, she thought. I have as much right to be here as anyone else. I can defend myself if need be. In the back of Danica's mind, she knew that the man who attacked them was still out there somewhere. He had a pretty good sized hole in his shoulder from where she shot him. He either got help from somewhere, or his bled to death, she thought.
Nothing exceptional happened in the three hours between the end of Danica's class and the end of Sandrina's. When Sandrina appeared in the library later, she said, "I just got a text from Aunt Tash."
Before Danica could say anything, her phone sounded as well, indicating a text message. She looked at her phone.
"I got one, too," she said. Opening the phone, she went to her new messages folder and opened up the message from Natasha.
"WHATEVER PLANS YOU TWO HAVE AFTER CLASS, CANCEL THEM AND COME HOME IMMEDIATELY."
"I don't like the way that sounds, Sandy," said Danica. "What did yours say?"
"The same thing, like Aunt Tash wrote the message and sent it to both of us. And you're right, it doesn't sound good," Sandrina said. "Let's get home."
They practically ran to Danica's car.
Once at home, they sprinted from the car and ran to the house... where they found Natasha, the twins, and Darren Dixon sitting calmly in the living room.
"What's gotten into you two?" asked Natasha, noticing the older girls were out of breath and on the verge of panic.
"Your text message said 'come home immediately'," Sandrina said; "We didn't think that sounded good and that there was trouble here."
"I'm sorry that you misinterpreted my message," said Natasha, "but I only meant to come home instead of going to the library or out to grab a snack. I didn't mean for you to be in a blind panic."
"Maybe it's because of what happened yesterday that's still on their minds, Tash," Darren said. "Come, ladies, sit down. We have a lot to talk about," he said to Sandrina and Danica.
They sat on the couch, then Natasha explained why Darren was there.
"I don't know if I've told you this before, but Darren is the Director of the CIA," Natasha said; "He has access to information that we don't, and has been on the phone all day trying to get that information so that we might be better informed about just what's going on here."
"I found out who the man was who tried to attack you yesterday," Darren said to Danica and Sandrina; "His name is Clayton Pollard, and he does work for the American Republic Movement. His assignment for the last several months was to shadow Sandrina in an attempt to intimidate her father from stopping the group from attempting a second Occupation."
"Does my father know that he's been doing this?" asked Sandrina.
"A couple of hours ago, he was told about Pollard's activities here, and needless to say, he's not really happy," Darren said; "Pollard, prior to coming here to follow you around, Sandrina, he was in the Chicago area. We have reason to believe that he's the driver of the car who injured your younger brother, Peter, last February."
"What?!" cried Sandrina; "He's the one who made my family's life a living hell for the last eight months? Had I known that yesterday, I would have killed the bastard myself!" Sandrina was beside herself with anger.
"So what happened to him between yesterday when I shot him, and now?" asked Danica. "He couldn't have gotten too far with a wound like that."
"There are people in the area with his group who took him to a medical facility to have his wounds attended to," Darren said; "He then left the area, and another operative is taking his place in shadowing not only Sandrina, but you Danica, Natasha, and her kids. Just before the twins came home from school, I had D.C. police here doing a sweep of the neighborhood, and they found this individual. He has been arrested, but he's not speaking to anyone but his boss, Chastity Edwards. Unfortunately for him, she's unavailable."
"Chastity Edwards leads this group of people who want to hurt us?" asked Nikolai. "Who came into our house yesterday and trashed it?"
"We think at this time that the man who is in custody is responsible for that," Darren told the boy. "We don't know what he thought he'd find here, but he didn't find it."
"Probably all the electronics," Vixen said. "That's why Mom always tells us to take them to the safe room with us."
"Anything on the laptops or tablet computers can be accessed," Natasha said, "if you know what you're doing."
"So," Sandrina said, still a little upset that the man who tried to assault her the day before is the same man who put Peter in the hospital, "what's our next move?"
"Live your life as normally as possible," Natasha said. "If these people see that we're upset over what's happened so far, that will make us fair game. They must not see fear or panic in any of us. That means, Sandrina, that they can't see that you're upset about knowing who hurt Peter."
"I can do that, Aunt Tash," Sandrina said. "It won't be easy, but I can do that."
"I'm working with the Georgetown University Public Safety Office to see if Sandy and Danica can carry a small caliber weapon on their person while on campus," Darren said; "I realize that it's a private school and that they could allow it, but also being a Jesuit run school, they may have moral grounds that won't allow it."
"I'll be happy if I could just keep a small dagger in my purse," Sandrina said. "I can do some damage with that, but I don't want to be forced to."
"The priests already look at us funny anyway," Danica said; "They know who we are and who our parents are. I'm sure they think we're going to turn their campus into the OK Corral."
"I got those same concerns when I did my undergrad and graduate work there," Natasha said. "Everyone on campus knew who I was!"
They talked about the steps everyone was going to take to keep themselves and the family safe. Then Natasha said,
"There's another reason that Darren is here today. He and I have come to an understanding about our relationship, and we have decided that at some future point, we're going to get engaged."
When she didn't get any response from her family, she and Darren were a little shocked. Vixen then said,
"Uh, duh Mom? We've seen this coming for a while."
"A long while," her brother added.
"Well, Natasha," Darren said, chuckling, "seems that we can't fool the young'uns."
"We've known for a long time that you guys liked each other more than a little bit," Vixen said; "You'd have to be blind not to see it. We all just wondered when you'd say something."
"We're not clueless you know," Nikolai said.
"I can see that!" Natasha said. To Sandrina and Danica she said, "What do you two think?"
"I think a certain Army Major is going to be walking his sister down the aisle before we know it!" said Sandrina.
"Don't you dare tell him!" Natasha said, laughing. "I want to do that!"
III
When Kathryn Marie returned for her appointment two weeks after her first, Cameron Chang told her that she had spoken to her father.
"I'm almost afraid to ask what he said," Kathryn Marie said, feeling nervous.
"He said he noticed the change in your behavior, but thought it was just a phase you were going through," Chang said; "He regrets asking you to leave. It has weighed on him all these years."
"No, it was Chastity," Kathryn Marie said; "He asked Chastity to leave."
"Chastity was the dominant alter at the time, Kathryn Marie," said Chang; "So you're right. Your father said that if he realized that you really had a problem, instead of being a problem child, he and your mother would have sought help for you."
"See, Ms. Chang," Kathryn Marie said; "Chastity made my parents hate me!"
"Your parents never hated you," Chang said; "They were at a loss as to what to do with you because Chastity had taken over."
"Oh," Kathryn Marie said, then, "You keep mentioning my dad. Didn't you talk to my mom, too?"
Chang sighed. How do I tell her that her mother died? she thought.
"No, Kathryn Marie, I didn't speak with your mother," she began; "While Chastity was your dominate alter, your mother passed away. She had cancer. I'm so sorry I had to be the one to tell you this."
"My mom's dead? Chastity didn't allow me to say good bye or anything?" Kathryn Marie said, getting upset. "I wanted to tell her how sorry I was for hurting her. I know I wasn't an easy child to raise. Now I can't!"
"Kathryn Marie, I know this is hard for you," Chang said; "I lost my mother as a teenager, too. If you want to cry, I won't mind."
"It's not fair, Ms. Chang!" Kathryn Marie said; "It's not fair that Chastity has taken everything away from me! She took my life, she took my innocence, now she's taken my mother, too!"
Cameron Chang then saw something about Kathryn Marie change.
"Poor little baby," Chastity said nastily; "She's always been so emotional. She needs to be punished!"
"No, Chastity," Chang said; "You need to leave Kathryn alone and let her figure things out for herself. You can't take anymore from her than you already have."
"Wanna bet, sister?"
"Yeah," Chang said, "I'll take that bet. Because I'm the one in control now. Not you. Me. Got that, sister?"
Chastity said nothing, she was so taken aback. Soon, Kathryn Marie shook her head. She had an idea what had happened.
"Chastity made herself known to me, Kathryn Marie," Chang said. "I told her I was in charge and she had nothing to say. Then you returned."
"What do we do?"
"I'd like to put you in the hospital for a bit and see if I can get Chastity to come back under a controlled setting and talk to me," Chang said. "Would that be okay with you, Kathryn Marie?"
"You'd let me come back, right?" asked Kathryn Marie.
"Of course," said Chang; "You're the dominant personality now. We can defeat Chastity and integrate her back into your subconscious so that you act as one person and not two."
"I want to be a normal girl again," Kathryn Marie said; "I don't want to fight with Chastity anymore."
"That's the goal, Kathryn Marie," Chang said. "For you to be whole again."
The stalker still watched the ranch, waiting for Julia Summers to be alone so he could eliminate her. One afternoon in late October, he got his chance.
It was still warm during the day, and Julia had walked out into the corn field to cut down the stalks in part of the field. All she had with her was a scythe, and accompanied only by Rachel, Tripod, and Sarge, who was grazing nearby.
As Julia cut down the stalks, Rachel would take as many as she could carry back to the barn. Tripod would go with the girl, barking and wagging his tail. Occasionally, Sarge could be heard mooing and snorting as he ate.
On one such trip back to the barn, the stalker aimed his weapon at Julia. She was still cutting down stalks and stacking them so when Rachel returned, she could take a few more back to the barn.
The stalker then breached the fencing, despite the warnings about the bull. When he was about fifteen feet away, he made himself known.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Summers," he said; "I hope you're prepared to meet your maker."
Julia calmly put the scythe down on the ground. She said, "I'm not armed."
"You know what, Julia, I don't care," said the stalker. He then trained his gun on Rachel, who was running back to where her mother stood.
"You can take your little girl with you, too."
Rachel looked back at her mother with a look of fright on her face.
"She's done nothing to you," Julia said; "Let her go. She's just a little girl."
"No, I'm going to make you watch her die."
I don't think so, Julia thought.
Just as the man pulled the trigger to shoot Rachel, Julia took her foot and pushed her to the ground. The bullet hit Julia in the left shoulder above the collarbone when the shooter was startled by Julia's move.
Hearing the gunshot, Tripod ran back to the house as fast as his three legs could carry him. As he lined up the shot to shoot the dog, Julia lunged forward and knocked the gunman to the ground. The rifle fell from the man's arms, and Julia grabbed it, pointing it at the man who shot her.
"How does it feel now, asshole?" she asked, the killer in her emerging.
Just then, Sarge came charging toward the man, still on the ground. Without thinking, he got up and started to run. This is when he found out that the signage on the fenceline was right. The bull was faster than he was.
Sarge knocked the man to the ground, then taking his head and using his horns as a scoop, tossed the man like a rag doll over the fenceline. The man fell to the ground, where he realized he couldn't move. Then he saw why.
He was pinned to the ground by an arrow that had gone through his thigh. He knew at that point he was a sitting duck for the bull to finish him off.
Julia didn't know it, but Zach had seen everything going on from another vantage point. He'd heard the gunshot and thought his mother had been shot, so he used his crossbow and aimed at the man as he was being tossed over the fence by Sarge. The arrow pierced the man's leg just as he hit the ground.
"Mom!" Rachel cried out as she got up from the ground and saw that Julia had been shot.
"Rachel, go to the house and get Jack!" Julia growled at her in her killer's voice. "Now, girl!" she added when Rachel just stood there, looking at her mother.
Rachel Summers ran faster than she ever had in her life to the barn, where Jack, Miri and Jaime were standing.
"Mom's been shot!" Rachel said as she reached them. "She's bleeding a lot!"
"Who shot her?" asked Jack.
"Some man who wanted to make Mom watched as he killed me, but she got shot instead!" Rachel said, bordering on hysteria.
Jack went into command mode. "Miri," he said to the teenager, "there's a phone number stored in your mother's computer for emergencies of this kind. Unlock the file with the password. She says you're the only one who knows it. Then call the number and identify yourself. Tell them there's an emergency. They'll know what to do.
"Jaime, you need to get me the first aid kit from the closet in the hall. The big kit. Bring it to me.
"Rachel, you need to come with me and tell me everything you saw, because your mom might not be able to."
Jack wondered where Tripod had gotten off to, but as he approached where Julia went down, he saw that the dog was guarding over Julia. She was going in and out of consciousness. Zach had joined her.
"Mom!" he yelled at his mother, "Mom! Wake up!"
"Zachary!" Jack said forcefully. "You're not helping her by yelling at her. She's injured and needs a doctor."
"Sarge is guarding over the man who shot Mom," Zach said. "I shot him with my crossbow and he's pinned to the ground by the arrow."
"He's still alive?" asked Jack.
"I think so. Sarge wasn't too gentle with him."
Sarge was protecting "his" family, Jack thought. I hope that I don't have to destroy him after this.
Jaime arrived with the first aid kit, and Miri joined them a few moments later to report that medical help was on the way.
"Julia," Jack said, "you have to stay with me. Help is on the way. I'm going check and see if there's an exit wound."
"Jack, this is the bullet," Miri said, holding it up.
"There's an exit wound, Julia," Jack said. "I'm going to apply pressure to the wounds. Miri, keep your mother alert."
"Mom?"
"Yes, Mirielle," said Julia weakly.
"You have to stay awake. Help is coming. I hear sirens," said Miri.
"Tripod, your breath stinks boy," Julia said. Tripod just panted and wagged his tail. "Jack, where's Sarge? He booted the guy who shot me over the fence."
"I'll have Jaime take him back to the barn," Jack said, then told Jaime to take Sarge to his stall. Jaime called to the bull and he turned around and obediently followed her.
"He's a strange one," Julia said; "Sometimes, I think he thinks he's a dog like Tripod."
Zach went over to where Sarge had been standing and saw the man that he had shot with his crossbow. He appeared to be unconscious and was literally pinned to the ground.
"What about him?" asked Zach. "He'll need to be alive to be arrested, right?"
"Is he bleeding?" asked Jack.
"I can't tell," the boy said.
Julia was fading, and Miri was trying to keep her conscious.
"Miri, I want to sleep," she told her oldest daughter.
"You can't sleep yet, Mom," said Miri.
"You need to be alert, Jules," Jack said.
That got Julia's attention; "You've never called me 'Jules', Jack!" she exclaimed.
"I thought that might get your attention," Jack said. "Look, honey, the calvary has arrived."
Soon, Julia was on a helicopter on her way to a hospital where her identity could be kept secret. Jack opted to stay behind and protect the kids.
"Call me when you get her somewhere so I can tell her children," he asked the Army doctor who would accompany Julia.
"I certainly will, Mr. Christofferson," he said before boarding the helicopter.
As the helicopter lifted off, he realized that only twenty eight minutes had elapsed from the time Julia was shot until the medi-flight copter left with her. Where she was going, he had no idea. He did know she'd make it. She was Julia and she was strong, both physically and mentally. If she didn't make it... he thought. He didn't want to think about that. It would take a while to recover, but she'd make it.
The same couldn't be said about the man who shot her.
In the back of her mind, Julia heard a familiar voice.
I'm right here, Julia. I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you. It's not your time.
"Ryan?" she said aloud.
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