It was just after Kimber had fallen asleep that her phone rang.
She awoke with a start and stared at the clock. Two in the morning, she thought. Who would be calling me this late?
Kimber looked at the display on the phone and saw that it was her father's secure phone, and thought the worst.
That Niki was in trouble.
"Hello?" she said, still half asleep.
"Kimberlin, it's Dad. Niki's in the hospital," David said; "She has an infection that's possibly spread to her bone marrow. The doctors are watching her to make sure that the infection clears up on its own."
"I'll make arrangements to fly down there," Kimber said.
"Just wait on that, Kimber," David said; Kimber could hear in her father's voice that he hadn't slept. "You still have a couple of weeks of classes before Thanksgiving."
"But what if Niki gets sicker?" asked Kimber.
"We'll keep you updated, Kimber, you know that," her father said. "If anything significant happens, we'll make sure you get down here."
"Okay, Dad," Kimber said; "but you realize that I'm not going to be able to fall back to sleep that easily after getting news like that."
"I know, sweetheart," David said; "This is the first chance that I've had to call you."
"You keep me updated on anything that happens with Niki, okay?" asked Kimber. "If it means I have to get my ass down there, then I will, I don't care if I have classes and a job or not."
"I know, Kimber," David said. "You try and get some sleep and I'll do the same. I've been running on adrenaline and I just ran out of gas."
"Okay Dad," Kimber said; "give everyone there my love."
"I will, Kimber. Good night."
"Night, Dad."
Kimber ended the call, lay back down in the bed and stared at the ceiling.
All kinds of awful thoughts came and went through her mind. All of them ended with Kimber going to her sister's funeral.
"Niki's going to be fine," Kimber said aloud in the empty room. "She has to get better. She has to..."
Kimber then sobbed herself back to sleep.
One cool November morning at 5am, Aaliyah was awake and waiting for her training to begin. It seemed to her that both her father and her Uncle Nik had overslept.
Adam saw his sister waiting and asked her, "My God, Aaliyah, how long have you been waiting there?"
"Too long, Adam," Aaliyah said. "Dad and Uncle Nik should have been here before us."
"It's only 5am now. Training doesn't usually start until 5:30," Adam said. "Why are you so impatient all of a sudden?"
"Because I'm tired of waiting around for stuff to happen," Aaliyah said; "I'm tired of being told I'm too young for this or that. I'm tired of not being able to get in on the action when it happens."
"The last time there was action here, Aaliyah, was the night before you came home from Austin with Dad and Uncle Nik, before Aunt Julia went into hiding," Adam said; "It's been pretty quiet since then."
"But that doesn't mean that we can't be ready," Aaliyah said. "That's what Aunt Julia told me and Rachel when she started training us last summer. That we always had to be prepared for anything, no matter how insig...insig..."
"Insignificant?" Jeremiah asked as he walked upon the conversation.
"Yeah," Aaliyah said; "insignificant. What took you so long, Dad? I've been waiting forever!"
"She's been waiting for all of five minutes, Dad," Adam said. "Hardly forever."
Aaliyah stuck out her tongue at her brother. Adam returned the favor.
Jeremiah stood there and shook his head. No matter how good they were, or would become with weapons and survival training, they were still kids.
"Shall we get started?" asked their father. "Adam, Uncle Nik is waiting for you to begin your orienteering testing."
"Yes, sir," the boy said as he went out to the woods to meet up with his uncle.
"Aaliyah, you and your sisters are going to learn new weapons skills today," Jeremiah told his youngest daughter. "As soon as Adriana and Arielle get here, we'll begin."
"Okay, Daddy," Aaliyah said.
Jeremiah noticed a new air of confidence and competence about his little girl. That made him a little sad. It reminded him of how Julia would take extra time at target practice or work out longer so she could compete on the same level as the boys. Jeremiah started to believe that Aaliyah's only competition was Rachel Summers.
They're going to be just like Julia was at that age, he thought. The very thought scared him. Julia was just coming into her own when she was about eight or nine years old.
"Aaliyah," Jeremiah began, "why all of a sudden do you want to learn as much as you can about weaponry and survival skills?"
Her answer didn't surprise Jeremiah at all. In fact, it would have been something he expected from Julia;
"Because I'm tired of being too young for everything," the girl replied; "I want to be so good that people are going to wish they never messed with me."
"I have no doubt of that, Aaliyah," Jeremiah said.
After a few days of being lazy and getting used to the medication she had to take, Julia decided that she was going to start training the kids again.
She got up early and got dressed and went to get the children up for training.
They were already up, having done their farm chores, and were already outside in the frigid Wyoming air doing exercise drills. Miri had taken charge of them in her mother's absense.
"You should be in bed, Julia, not out here," Jack said from behind her. "The kids are fine. I give them only a half hour to do their drills because it's been so cold."
"I usually have them drill for an hour, then weapons and/or survival training for two hours," Julia said; "It gets pretty cold in Chicago, you know."
"Not like this, Julia," said Jack. "In all the time I was there, I never remembered mornings that were twenty below zero. It might make five below for a high today."
Julia thought about that. They were about eight-thousand feet up, and it was colder than even she remembered Chicago ever being.
"We should do exercise drills indoors, maybe," Julia said.
"We could do that, Julia," Jack said, putting his arm around her carefully. "I could move the furniture out of the way in the living room so there'd be plenty of room."
Julia looked at Jack silently for a moment. He's done so much to help us, she thought; then I'm just going to pack everyone up and go back to Chicago when this is all over?
She turned and went back into the house. Jack followed her, wondering what was wrong.
He found Julia on the couch, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. It broke his heart that she was upset.
"What's wrong, honey?" he asked her as he joined her on the couch.
She looked at him, then said,
"You've done so much for me and my family, Jack," she said; "then I'm just going to take them back home with me when all this is over? And leave you alone again?"
"Julia, I understood from the beginning that this would be temporary," Jack said; "I've grown fond of your children and have enjoyed having you here. But when it's time to go home to Chicago, then I will let you go. I just wanted to thank you for making me feel like a father again. I didn't realize I missed it until you all came here. Unlike last time when you asked me to come with you, this time when you leave, I'll know I have your love. I'll be okay here."
"Sometimes, I worry that I'm taking advantage of your generosity and your affection for me," Julia said. "I never want you to think I'm just..."
"Julia," Jack said gently, lovingly; "I never, ever once thought that. I never thought I'd ever see you again. Whatever I have, I am more than willing to share with you and your children. You're my family now."
He held her close to him for a long while, and this is where the children found them when they came in from their drills. As they trooped to their bedrooms to take off their winter gear, Jaime asked Miri,
"They're really in love, aren't they?"
"Yes, James, I think they are," Miri replied. "They've known each other a long time, and they lost touch for many years."
"You think Dad would approve?" asked Jaime.
"Of what?"
"Of Mom being in love with Jack?"
Miri looked at her sister and said, "Yes, Jaime, I think Dad would approve. He would have wanted Mom to move on with her life."
"So Mom has had two great loves in her life?" asked Jaime.
"Yeah, I think so," Miri said.
"Cool," Jaime replied. "I hope I'm that lucky!"
"Me, too, sis," Miri said as she wondered what happened with John Crossley. She hadn't heard from him in weeks.
He probably found someone closer to his own age to hang out with, she thought. Then she pushed it aside and got ready for her lessons.
II
Later that afternoon, Julia's mail arrived by miliary carrier. Jack had requested that it be put on hold while Julia was in Denver.
"Julia," Jack said to her as she dosed on the couch, "your mail is here."
She awoke slowly at the sound of Jack's voice. "Huh...?"
Jack placed the large envelope that contained her mail on the coffee table. He wished he hadn't woken her.
"Your mail is here," he said; "when you're up to taking a look at it."
"Oh, thanks," Julia said. "Sorry, I must have dosed off while reading." Jack noticed the magazine laying on the floor in front of the couch.
"Personally, I think you should take your naps in bed, Julia," Jack said; "but sometimes, we can't help where we end up falling asleep. I found Rachel asleep one morning while you were gone with her head resting up against one of the cows she was supposed to be milking. The cow just let her do it."
Julia smiled. She was going to miss watching the children interact with the animals on the ranch. She was convinced that Jaime wanted to work with animals somehow. Jaime was always so gentle with the baby animals that had been born since the family had been there.
"What did you do?" asked Julia; "Did you wake Rachel up or what?"
"I carried her back into the house and let her sleep on the couch for a while," Jack said; "When she woke up about an hour later, she remembered she was supposed to be helping Zach milk the cows. She got up and started to race back out to the barn, where she found out that Zach had taken care of it for her. She was kind of upset she had let her brother down."
"Poor thing," Julia said; "She takes her failures pretty hard. She wants to be the best at everything. She's kind of like me in a way."
"I've noticed that, especially while you were in Denver," Jack said; "She wanted to get as much training and practice in as possible, because she knows that no one would expect such expertise in someone as young and small as she is."
"That is just like me," Julia said; "But I did it because I was the only girl and I wanted to be better than my brothers were."
"And you are," Jack said as Julia reached for the envelope containing her mail.
Julia opened it and slid out the contents. There were four letters for Miri from the young corporal she befriended when they came up to Wyoming nearly four months before; There were the usual communiques from Nik and from Darren Dixon at CIA. Then there was a message that originated in Austin, Texas, where her parents lived. It was addressed to "Julia Summers c/o Maj. N.G. San Marco; APO 20220, Chicago, Illinois, USA." She noticed it was dated the day she arrived back at the ranch from Denver.
"I wonder what this is about?" she wondered aloud as she opened the envelope.
When she read the contents, Julia wanted to throw up. Oh, my God! she thought, Niki's in the hospital! Infection...worst case scenario...bone marrow transplant...
Jack noticed the distressed look on Julia's face and asked, "What's wrong Julia? You're as white as a sheet!"
"M-my sister, Niki, is in the hospital," Julia said; "Dad and Sam found her unconscious on the floor of her living room. She has an infection that, if it's spread to her bone marrow, would necessitate a bone marrow transplant. We can discuss this later, when I've had a chance to deal with it."
"Okay, Julia," Jack said; "I know news like that is a shock."
"Miri got four letters from her friend the corporal, I should give those to her," Julia said, trying not to think the worst about what could happen with Niki.
"Miri?" she called to her oldest daughter.
Miri appeared in the living room, saying, "Yeah, Mom? Do you need something?"
"Your friend the corporal has been quite prolific in his letter writing," Julia said; "There are four of them here for you."
"Really?" asked Miri.
Julia looked at Miri; "Yes, really, Mirielle." She held the four envelopes out for her daughter to take.
"I hadn't heard from him in a while," Miri said; "I thought maybe he'd lost interest in writing to me."
"Obviously not," Julia said; "I'm sure there's a logical explanation. There always is."
"True," Miri said as she turned to go to her bedroom. "Thanks Mom!"
"You're welcome," said Julia, hearing Miri's footsteps quicken as she ran down the hall.
"Someone's sweet on someone," Jack said. "It's nice that someone takes the time to correspond with her."
"He's five years older than she is," Julia said; "I know that shouldn't be a big deal, given our age difference, but I don't want some thoughtless clod to break my girl's heart."
"I know," Jack said. "I thought the same thing when Celine started to date. She wasn't much older than Miri is now. I was kind of tough on those poor boys, looking back."
"Imagine Miri dating, and having me as her mom," Julia said; "I don't know which would be worse; having to meet me, knowing who I am; or not dating Miri because of who I am."
"I guess it'd be kind of hard to be a 'normal' teenage girl when your mom is Julia Summers, aka 'The SpineSplitter'," Jack said.
"Let's hope I don't have to live up to that reputation any time soon," Julia said, sighing.
Miri went into her room and closed the door. She was surprised that John Crossley had written four letters to her.
She looked at the post marks, and read the one with the earliest date first.
Good afternoon, Mirielle--
I know it's been a while since I last wrote. I've been studying for my sergants exam coming up in December, in addition to my regular duties. I've been quite the busy bee as my grandmother would have said.
How have you been? I hope this finds you and your family well. I feel like I'm writing blind sometimes because all I know about your life is what you've written in letters. I enjoy receiving letters from you, though I do get my fair share of ribbing about it. The other guys think I'm asking for trouble because 1) you're only 15, and 2) of who your mother is. While it's probably wise on my part not to make your mother mad, I doubt very much that she'd blow my head off. From what you've told me about her, she seems like a very down to earth person who just happens to be better with firearms and weaponry than probably everyone in my platoon. Including me!
I wanted to thank you for the picture you sent in your last letter. You look a lot like your mother, and I imagine you get some features from your father as well, but since I'm not completely sure what he looked like (though you've mentioned that your brother looks like him somewhat), I'm not qualified to say.
I better end this here. I'll write again when I get a free moment.
Yours very truly, John A. Crossley
Miri smiled. She liked that she had some communication with someone "out there", and not cooped up on a ranch in The Middle of Nowhere, Wyoming.
Miri put the other three letters aside for later when her school lessons were done.
She then took out the only photograph she had of him. He had a slightly crooked smile, blue eyes, and light brown hair. He looked rather dashing (a term she'd only heard Jack use) in his uniform.
"He's a good looking boy," she said aloud. She then thought about the fact that his name was John, just like Jack's given name; and that hers was Mirielle, like Jack's late wife.
"Naah, too much of a coincidence to make anything out of it," she said; "He's just a nice guy who's becoming a friend."
She didn't know it, but he would be more than "a friend" sooner than she thought.
Pollard was back in Georgetown, taking over the surveillance of Sandrina San Marco from the incompetant boob who got himself arrested when the fucking CIA Director boyfriend of the girl's aunt had a police sweep of the area surronding the home where Sandrina was living.
He'd try to make another attempt to bring her father to his knees and give up the spying business. Then, maybe, he thought, I'll go back to Chicago and finish her brother off once and for all.
Watching Sandrina was pretty easy, though she and her biracial cousin were more aware of their surroundings than ever. The girls might even carrying weapons on them, Pollard thought, but I doubt it.
What Pollard failed, again, to realize was that his target was armed, but not with a weapon. In fact, both girls were black belts in several martial arts disciplines before they were fifteen.
Once the targets were on the Georgetown campus and split up to go to their individual classes, Pollard tried to blend in with the college community. Today, he was a "graduate student", and dressed and looked the part. No one who passed him took him for an assassin out to eliminate one 17 year old freshman girl for revenge on her father, uncle and aunt.
And that's how he liked it. When he was through with Sandrina San Marco, Pollard's next target was the girl's 15 year old brother.
Pollard wouldn't get a chance to get to Sandrina because he'd eventually blow his cover on campus. But Peter San Marco was fair game. He was still recovering from the last attempt on his life. Pollard doubted that the boy would have the strength to fend off an adult.
Peter wouldn't need to fend off Pollard. Someone that Pollard wasn't expecting would not only protect the teenager, but finish off Pollard as well.
Of course, Pollard had no clue. When he did finally figure out what he was up against, it would be too late.
"What do you want to do for Thanksgiving, Matt?" asked Lisa.
"We could stay here," Matt said; "but I get the feeling you want to go home to Norfolk."
"I do," Lisa said; "I worry about Dad sometimes. He hasn't done holidays without Mom too well."
"I get that feeling when I talk to him," Matt said; "Has he had any grief counselling?"
"He has, but he doesn't like all that talking about his feelings," Lisa said as she gathered her books for that day's classes; "I tell him that he can't keep it inside him, but he just brushes it off. His damn macho pride."
"Maybe he thinks that if he doesn't deal with it, it will go away," Matt said.
"God, I hope he's not thinking that way," Lisa said; "It will eat him alive! I miss Mom, too, but I knew enough to get some help."
Matt looked at her and thought, this is why I'm so in love with you Lisa. You care about everyone around you.
"We'll go to Norfolk for Thanksgiving, so you can see your family," Matt said; "But I want to go home to Chicago for Christmas, and I'd like to bring you with me."
Lisa looked at Matt. This was the first time he'd asked her to go home with him in all the time they'd known each other. She was a little nervous. She loved Matt with everything she had, but had only met his family one other time, and that was at the funeral of her Aunt Christine several years before. They hadn't even thought about dating then. They were friends.
I'm being silly, she chided herself.
"I'd love to go home with you, Matt," Lisa said; "It's been a long time since I've been in Chicago, since I was a little girl."
"I'll have to get you reacquainted with the city then," said Matt; "We'll do the whole tourist thing-- the zoo, the science museum, Navy Pier, Groovemaster Studios..."
Lisa smiled at Matt. Only he would think to take her to the recording studios that Disturbed recorded all their albums at before the Occupation. Now it was a cultural landmark.
"It'll be fun," Lisa said, standing on her tip-toes to give Matt a kiss. "I can't wait to get reacquainted with your family again!"
Neither Lisa nor Matt realized what awaited them in Chicago, other than Matt's extended family. What would happen there would change their relationship forever.
"Daddy?"
David awoke with a start at the sound of Niki's voice. He saw that she was awake.
"I'm here, Niki," he said; "What's wrong, princess?"
"I was going to ask Drake to bring me to the ER when he got home from class," said Niki tearfully; "I didn't mean to make you and Mom worry."
"We were worried, but what's important now is that you're getting the care you need," David said. "There's no need to get upset. I had a feeling there wasn't something right when I talked to you on the phone, so I had Sam bring me to your house."
Niki smiled wanly; "'Daddy Radar' at work, huh?"
Her father returned her smile; "Dads have a sixth sense when their child doesn't seem right."
"Daddy, I dreamed I talked to Ryan," Niki said suddenly. "Is that weird?"
"Not really," David said; "When you and Kimber were little, your mom was really sick. Sometimes she thought she heard her brother John's voice when she was taking a lot of medication for her illness. She had just learned he had died five years before, and I guess that came up in her mind. So you saying that you talked to Ryan doesn't come as a surprise to me."
"Oh, okay," Niki said, suddenly sounding tired. "I didn't want you to think I was crazy."
"I could never think that, princess," David said; "Sometimes when we're stressed or sick, we want to hear a comforting voice. Yours just happened to be Ryan's."
"You think Julia hears Ryan's voice sometimes?" Niki asked her father.
David reached out and took his daughter's hand. "I'm sure she does, Niki. He had been a big part of her life since she was fifteen years old. They had children together, they expected to grow old together. Julia's life hasn't been easy since Ryan died, especially now that she had to take her family and go into hiding."
"Do you know where they are, Dad?" asked Niki.
"No, Niki, I don't," David said. "If I need to communicate with her, I have to do it thru Nik, remember? He arranged all that for her from what I understand."
"What if I need to talk to her?" asked Niki; "I have questions to ask her."
"I'll call Nik," David said; "Maybe you can talk to him when you're feeling up to it about that."
Niki sighed. She felt like hell. She wanted to go home and be with Drake.
"Honey, you think about it and let me know," David said, seeing that Niki was growing more tired by the moment. "You need your rest now. John will be here in a few to sit with you."
"Dad, I don't need a damn babysitter, especially my little brother!" Niki said.
"I know, princess," her father said; "but it's nice to wake up to a friendly face, isn't it?"
"Yeah, Dad, I guess so," Niki said; "But that means he and Sam aren't doing other stuff just so they can sit here with me."
"They want to do it, Niki," David said; "Just try and talk them out of it!"
"No thanks," Niki said; "They're stubborn like you and Mom."
David looked at her and chuckled softly; "And you're not?"
Later that night, after everyone but the two of them had gone to bed, Jack asked Julia what she wanted to do for Thanksgiving, which was about a week away.
"I wish I could send my brothers birthday greetings," Julia said, adjusting the brace that kept her arm immobilized; "They're turning 18 and I won't be there for it."
"I know, Julia," Jack said; "Their birthday is November 23rd, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is," said Julia. "They're a little more than two years older than Miri."
"They weren't that old when we met, were they?" asked Jack.
"No, they weren't," Julia said; "They really started talking a lot when I was at Great Lakes."
"And now you're missing their 18th birthday, too," Jack said, realizing the irony of the situation.
Julia just sat on the couch, her right arm propped up on the arm of the couch. She sighed softly and realized that when she left Wyoming, she might never see Jack again.
"What's the matter, baby?" he asked.
"Nothing, Jack," Julia said; "Just all this stuff happening and not being able to shut it off sometimes."
"You can't think like that, Julia," said Jack. "You've always been a positive person, even when faced with negative issues like you have been lately. This too shall pass."
"Maybe it's being here, away from my family, that's causing this," Julia said; "All this... the injury, the extremely cold weather, my not being able to do anything; it's just taking a toll on me."
"I can't fix that, baby," Jack said; "Not the way that you need. But I hope I've made your stay here bearable."
Julia looked at Jack and realized that she may have hurt his feelings. "Jack, come here a second?"
Jack came over from where he was working at the dining room table and knelt before where Julia sat on the couch. She softly touched his face and said,
"It's not that I haven't enjoyed being here with you, because I have. I'm going to miss you terribly once we leave here. You saved my life by allowing us to stay with you. When my life is threatened, I can handle it. But because I'm also the mother of four children, I have to protect them from harm. But I just wanted you to know that my love for you is real and true..."
"I know it is, sweet Julia," said Jack. "I never doubted it for a moment. I'm still too old for you though. You make me feel young, and always have. But on my next birthday, I'll be 72 years old. It scares me to think that I could put you through losing me, because I know losing Ryan was hard enough. Just promise me that you'll not lose faith in how much I love you."
"I've known for years that you loved me, both back at Great Lakes and now," Julia said. "I'll love you as long as I draw breath, because you're just as much a part of me as anyone."
Jack stood up and offered his hand to Julia to assist her in getting off the couch. When she was standing, he took her into his arms and held her.
Oh, honey, he thought, I never thought that I could ever love another after my wife died, but you proved me wrong.
Silently, he led her to the window, where he noticed that it was snowing.
"Look, Jack, it's snowing!" Julia said.
"That was one of my fantasies when we were apart," Jack said; "You'd be here with me and we'd watch the snow fall together. Decorate for the holidays together. Just be together, loving each other..."
He couldn't make himself continue. He couldn't believe that part of his fantasy had come true after all these years of missing her, wondering about her, wishing she'd somehow discover he hadn't died and come looking for him. He just stood at the window with Julia, watching the snow fall late on a November evening.
All that ran through his mind at that point was, marry me, Julia. I don't care about the age thing anymore. I just need you.
III
Nik was on his way to Langley to talk to Director Dixon about bringing Julia and her family home from Wyoming. Julia, of all people, got shot, Nik thought. He wasn't happy about that at all.
The car he was riding in stopped at the familiar entrance and Nik got out before the enlisted man who was his driver could run around the vehicle and open his door.
"Major," he said, "I wish you'd let me do my job."
"I would, soldier, but I have a timetable to stick to and waiting is not an option right now," Nik said; "I don't mean to be a dick about it, but I'm not the most patient of men currently."
"Yes, sir, Major," was all the soldier said, saluting as Nik disappeared inside the building.
Once inside, Nik went straight back to Dixon's office, where the receptionist stopped him. "Major San Marco, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait."
Nik didn't find this acceptable. "Ma'am, I have a ten o'clock appointment with the Director, and it's ten-oh-five now. Tell me why I have to wait?"
"Director Dixon isn't ready for your meeting yet, Major," the receptionist said lamely.
"Well call him and tell him I'm waiting out here none too patiently," Nik barked. "I've already snapped at the young man who drove me here, and I have no problem doing the same to you."
She got on the phone and announced that "Maj. San Marco is waiting for you, Director."
She then hung up and said, "Go on in, Major."
Nik just shot the young woman a look and went into Dixon's office.
Dixon got up from his desk and came around to meet Nik, but Nik was having none of it.
"Dixon, I'm not a happy man right now," Nik said; "Just tell me when you're planning to allow Julia Summers to return home with her family? Since A.R.M. now knows where she is, isn't she in more danger?"
"We're still working on that, Nik," Dixon said; "Her injury is complicating matters as she has an appointment after the first of the year in Denver to check on the progress of her broken collarbone and the healing from her surgery."
"Like I told you when you came to visit me in Chicago, Director," Nik said; "if she hadn't been in hiding, this may not have had to happen."
Dixon looked frazzled. He knew he needed all three of them-- Nik, Jeremiah and Julia, to take out any rogue A.R.M. agents, including Chastity Edwards if necessary.
"Would you be adverse to taking on assignments to get rid of these 'Holdouts' as Clayton Pollard likes to call the men who work for him," asked Dixon. "The President seems to think he's the brains of the operation."
"I think the brains is Chastity Edwards, personally, Director," Nik said; "but she's out of commission at the moment."
"I know that, Nik," Dixon said; "No one seems to know what 'medical issues' she's dealing with."
"She is crazy from what I've been able to gather," Nik said; "Maybe she's in the psycho ward."
"I've been led to believe it's a little more than just being crazy," Dixon said. "I've been hearing that she has a serious medical issue, and her press liaison isn't giving any information about what that issue is."
Nik thought about it for a second, then said, "I might have a way to find out. Dan Donegan used to do all the intel for the Disturbed Ones, and he could, at one time, find out things that not just anyone could find."
"Try that avenue and see where it leads," Dixon said. "I know he's pretty much retired now, so tread carefully."
"I intend to," Nik said; "I'm not one of your lackeys, Dixon. I do have two Bachelor's degrees and a Masters to back my ass up."
"I'm well aware of that, Nik," said Dixon; "and I never thought of you, or Jeremiah, or Julia as 'lackeys'."
"Good. Just so we understand each other," Nik said; "I'm not going to cut you any slack just because you're in love with Natasha. This is a job, not a family reunion. I intend to do the job I was coerced into doing for you, but I'm going to do things as I see fit, and not jump at your every beck and call. And I'm certainly not going to be a yes man to the President, either. I've always spoken my mind, I don't care who the fuck you are. If you, or the President don't like it, I don't give a fuck. And I'm certain that Jere and Julia will back me up on that."
"Natasha would too," Dixon said; "She's certainly given me an earful since A.R.M. operatives, or Holdouts, or whatever the hell they're calling themselves, have been staking out her house and watching the comings and goings of her and everyone who lives there. Police have arrested several people for stalking Sandrina, Danica, or one of the twins. My job outside this office is to protect the woman I love and anyone living in her home."
Nik's eyebrows shot up for a brief second, but he couldn't say he was surprised by what Dixon said. He practically lived at Natasha's now, from what Sandrina had told him.
"So, Dixon, we understand each other?" said Nik.
Dixon sighed. Nik drove a hard bargain. "Yes, Major, we understand each other. You do what you think is best. Just report to me what happens as a result. I'll work on getting Julia back home after the first of the year."
"Good," was all that Nik said.
Krysta was understandably nervous as she drove to the house on the lake where Kathryn Marie grew up. Meeting her father was something she had to do to understand how Kathryn Marie and Chastity could exist separately in the same body.
She had done her research on Eric Hope before leaving Buffalo. Not only was he the son of the former Occupational President 'for Life', but he was a successful criminal law attorney as well. Kathryn Marie, and by extention, her now sixteen year old daughter, wanted for nothing. Hope had taken time off after his wife died over two years before and had just returned to full time practice when his granddaughter, Kelly, left for college in the midwest.
In addition to Kathryn Marie, Hope had a son who was older named Dylan. He was also a lawyer, but practiced patent law. He was married and had two children of his own.
Krysta was making this visit against Cameron Chang's advice, though the psychotherapist knew she was making the trip. Kathryn Marie didn't want Krysta to leave her alone.
"I'm scared that Chastity will come back while you're gone, Krysta," she had said.
"Ms. Chang will take care of you, Kathryn Marie," Krysta had replied; "That's why you're in the hospital and not at home."
"When do I get to go home?" asked Kathryn Marie.
"When you're well, sweetheart," Krysta said. "Ms. Chang and the doctors will decide that."
"You won't be gone long, will you?"
"Only a couple of days, I promise," Krysta said.
Those were the times that Krysta felt more like Kathryn Marie's mother than her friend. Sadly, Krysta thought, she really needs both a mother figure and a friend right now.
As she got closer to the house on the lake, Krysta secretly hoped that Eric Hope wasn't home. Maybe this was a mistake, and that Cameron was right, she thought.
When she arrived at the house, Krysta saw a car in the carport and knew that Eric Hope was at home. She parked and got out of her car. She then walked to the door and knocked.
She had no idea that on the other side of that door, would be someone who would change her life.
He aimed the rifle and fired. Bullseye!
Matt San Marco took his daily target practice at the gun range near the UVa. campus. He had no trouble visualizing the paper target as being his enemy.
All you motherfucking scumbags need to die! he thought as he ejected the casing from the chamber and loaded another round. No one fucks with my family! You will regret the day you messed with Matthias San Marco, because I shoot to kill, not shoot to maim.
He raised the rifle, a gift from his father when he turned 16, and looked through the sight at the target one-hundred feet away. He then pulled the trigger.
He'd hit the target through the heart.
"Boy, you scare me," the instructor said as Matt reloaded the chamber. "You sure you don't want to teach John Q. Public what you know?"
Matt looked at the older man, who was probably older than his father by a good ten to fifteen years, saying,
"Now Justin, you know I'm taking a shitload of classes this semester, and have piles of homework and other assignments. This hour a day is all I can squeeze in."
"I know, Matt, I was teasing," Justin said; "But you are good enough to teach. You just need to be certified by the Commonwealth of Virginia to do so."
"That will have to wait for now," Matt said. "John Q. Public will just have to learn from someone like you."
Justin turned to walk away, saying, "Matthias, flattery will get you everywhere."
"I know, that's why I do it," Matt said, winking. He then raised the rifle and lined up his shot.
"Die, motherfucker, die!" he said under his breath.
He fired.
Had the target been a live human being, they'd be dead. And as far as Matt San Marco was concerned, all those second Occupation scum needed to be dead.
He'd soon get his chance to take out at least one.
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