Drake stepped over the body of the man he just killed to get Niki out of the bedroom closet.
He knocked on the door and said, "Niki, it's me. You can come out now."
When she didn't answer, he opened the door. Sitting in the corner was Niki, pointing his own .357 Magnum at the door.
"Niki," Drake said softly, "put the gun away, love. The danger is over with."
As Niki put the gun away in its box, she said, "I heard gunshots, Drake."
"I know, Niki," Drake said; "A man broke into the house and pointed his weapon at me. He shot at me and missed. I returned fire and killed him. He's laying in the living room bleeding out all over the carpet. We need to call 9-1-1."
Drake helped Niki to a standing position and led her out of the closet. Once in the living room, Niki saw the picture of her parents house laying on the floor.
"Be careful of the glass, Niki," Drake said; "I can get that reframed if you want."
Niki said nothing until she saw the body of the intruder laying on the floor. She asked Drake, "Are you sure he's dead?"
"Yes, Niki," Drake said; "I shot him in the chest."
"We should call 9-1-1, Drake."
Drake was already on the phone, speaking to the dispatcher.
David had John come with him to his office. Once there and seated, David said,
"Okay, John, I need you to tell me about this pregnancy scare you and Kelsey had."
"Dad," John began; "we panicked. Kelsey's period was late and we thought the worst."
"Do Kelsey's folks know?"
"No, they don't," John said; "Kelsey made an appointment at the clinic for a pregnancy test and it came back negative. Stress over exams was what delayed her period. She told me that sometimes when she's stressed over stuff, her body does weird stuff like that."
"I've heard of that happening," David said, though inside he was breathing a sigh of relief; "I had a girlfriend a long time ago, before I met your mom, that had that happen to her. Freaked me out but good! But why did you tell your brother and not your mother and me?"
"Sam wouldn't yell at me too badly, whereas Mom doesn't need to be stressed," John said; "Sam giving me the third degree was bad enough!"
"Next time something like this happens, be it a pregnancy scare, or something else, please come to one of us with your concerns instead of keeping them to yourself, okay?" David said.
"Okay, Dad," John said. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good," said David; "Kelsey's a nice girl and she's good for you, but you don't need to be having babies right now."
"Don't we know it!" John said.
He flew into Reagan National with one goal: to make Sandrina San Marco his bitch.
The weather had cleared enough for a flight out of Buffalo, and Pollard took full advantage of it. He had agents tracking the San Marco girl's every move when she was away from home. Getting her at home was next to impossible. The girl's aunt was the girlfriend of the director of the CIA. There was a five mile safe radius around Natasha Vincent's home, mainly because Vincent had children who were minors. Luring them out of the way was an unqualified disaster.
That five mile safe radius did not include Georgetown University, so Pollard could follow Sandrina anywhere off campus. Even to the gun range where she took target practice and helped new gun users become familiar with their weapons.
It would be at the gun range where Pollard would take Sandrina San Marco down. Or so he thought. As was his usual M.O., he failed to plan how he was going to take down a younger, taller and well trained female adversary. He honestly thought that brute force would work, though the last time he tried that, he had been shot by the San Marco girl's biracial cousin. His shoulder still bothered him where the bullet lodged between his collarbone and his shoulder blade.
Pollard knew he couldn't pretend to be a new client at the range, because Sandrina San Marco more than likely would recognize him. So he waited out in the shadows of the parking lot on a colder than normal December evening. He knew that the girl didn't have a car, and that she would get a ride home with her cousin. Pollard staked out Danica Donovan's car in the parking lot. He didn't know that Sandrina had borrowed it from her cousin earlier in the day.
After what seemed like hours, Sandrina San Marco came out of the gun range, accompanied by a man in his early twenties. Oh this will be too easy, Pollard thought. I'll just kill the guy and take Miss Sandy by force.
Once again, Pollard underestimated his prey. He didn't know that the young man with the San Marco girl was a member of the armed forces, and was an instructor at the gun range in his off hours. He and Sandrina were friends, and had talked about dating.
All of this, had Pollard done his homework, he would have known about. He was so focused on grabbing the girl, that he assumed that she was an easy target. Even after his previous encounter with her, he still assumed that she'd go willingly if he threatened her in some way.
But, as he waited for her to approach the car, he thought about what he would do to her when he got her. That would cloud his thinking until he realized that he was ill prepared. That realization would take a while.
"Oh, come on, Alex, you really think I could teach here full time?" Sandrina said to her friend, Alexander Springer.
"You could, Sandy," Alex said; "Not many people have the training that you have, and you'd be good at it. I've been watching you with the beginners, and you explain things so simply that even a child could understand how to fire a gun."
"Thanks, Alex," Sandrina said, blushing. "That means a lot coming from you."
"Sandy, you know I really like you, right?" Alex asked. Sandrina nodded and continued,
"Someday, I'd like the opportunity to take you out, and show you how a real man treats a woman. Not like those frat boy wannabees that come from the area universities to find a willing female. I know you're no push over."
"I have a little more confidence in myself than most of the girls I have classes with," Sandrina said; "I swear, I think most of them are looking for husbands! My aunt was right about that one! Me, I came here for an education."
"And that's what sets you apart from all those other silly girls, Sandy," Alex said; "That and the fact that you can shoot rings around me! And I was the top man in my weapons class!"
"Well, Alex, being Nik San Marco's only daughter has its disadvantages," Sandrina said; "One is that guys only want to go out with me because of that. But you're different. You don't care who my father is, or who my aunts and uncles are."
"The guys on post tease me about you all the time, saying I'm only around you because of your family's notariety," Alex said; "But I really do like you for who you are. I like being around you because you're smart, sure of yourself but not cocky, and you're very pretty."
Sandrina looked at her friend with a renewed respect. Here was someone who didn't have to say any of those things to her, but felt it was important enough to tell her so. She liked Alex more than a little bit, but was hesitant. She felt safe with him, and he'd never held her hand or taken advantage of her because of her background.
She looked up at him and said, "I like you, too, Alex. I'm sure you must have picked up on it by now."
"I did, Sandy, but I didn't want to go any farther than you felt comfortable with," said Alex. "If that makes me a wimp, so be it. I was raised to respect women, not to take advantage of them."
"You're a good Son of the South then, Alex," Sandrina said. "I think that's what attracted me to you initially. That you weren't like all those losers who just want to hustle me into bed, have their way with me, then I wake up alone in the morning."
"I'd never do that, Sandy," Alex said; "I just want a chance to be the man you need me to be."
"Is that why you waited until after I turned eighteen to tell me this, Alex?"
"Yes, Sandy," he said; "It was the right thing to do."
He leaned in to kiss her. Sandrina had been waiting for two months for Alex to do that. Their lips met and she responded. Their kiss deepened and Alex pulled her closer to him. Sandrina realized that in Alex's arms is where she really wanted to be.
The kiss ended and they held each other for several moments.
"You're so beautiful, Sandy," Alex said; "I don't know how I got so lucky."
Sandrina said nothing, just enjoying the closeness of their embrace.
Just then, a bullet whizzed by Alex's head and broke the glass in the windshield of the car just beyond where they stood.
Instinctively, Alex pulled Sandrina to the ground behind the car Sandrina had borrowed from her cousin. Before she had a chance to ask what was going on, Alex said,
"Someone just shot at us!"
II
The police arrived along with an ambulance to take the body of the intruder out of the house. An officer was asking Drake and Niki questions about what had happened.
"I don't see where there'd be a problem, Mr. Campbell," the officer said; "You were protecting your property, which under the Make My Day laws you're allowed to do without fear of prosecution. I'll just have to run some background information about the gun and your immigration status."
"I hold a green card, and have since I was seventeen," Drake said; "I passed a background check for that gun, and was allowed to have another gun sent from Australia."
"I understand, Mr. Campbell," the officer said, "and I don't mean to bust your ass over it, but it's standard procedure."
"Here's my Texas Driver's License, my green card, and my authorization to carry a concealed weapon," Drake said; "Check all you want."
The officer took Drake's documents and went back to his cruiser to do some research. Niki looked at Drake nervously.
"They're not going to send you away, are they?" she asked; "If they do, I'm going with you."
"Niki, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Drake said.
Within a few moments, the officer returned with Drake's documents and gave them back to him. "I'm impressed, Mr. Campbell," said the officer; "You know the laws here pretty well."
"I know my rights as a resident alien," Drake said; "I've kind of had to. A clerical error almost cost me my green card."
"I read that in your information," the officer said; "It must be nice to have David Draiman in your corner."
"He only made inquiries on my behalf," Drake said; "I'm engaged to his daughter, after all. But beyond that, I did all the legwork."
"I didn't mean to imply anything by that," said the officer; "It's not just anyone who has the kind of pull that David Draiman has."
"Geez," Niki said disgustedly, "why does everyone think he's God or something? To me he's just Dad. Even Dad would say he's no one special."
The officer looked at Niki, and realized that she has had to live with attitudes like his her entire life. It must get old after a while, he thought.
"I apologize, Miss Draiman," he said; "people tend to get starstruck, and I admit I'm one of them. It shouldn't affect how I do my job."
"So are you people going to leave Drake alone?" asked Niki. "I want to go back inside and take a nap."
"Until the crime scene is processed, you'll have to wait, I'm afraid," the officer said. "We need to know who this guy was and why he broke into your house."
Niki rolled her eyes. Drake could see she was tired. "I'll take her to her parents house," Drake told the officer. "Are you done with me?"
"Yes, we're done with you, Mr. Campbell," the officer said, "but one of you needs to be here if we have any questions. Is this a rental, or do you own this house?"
"It's a rent to own agreement," Niki said; "Both of our names are on the paperwork."
"We can take you to your parents house, and Mr. Campbell can be here to answer any other questions," the officer said.
"Fine," Niki said; "I'm not feeling well at the moment, and if I can't lay down in my own bed, then I'll just go see my parents."
Soon, Niki was in an unmarked police car headed to her parents house. She had the officer stop at the gate while she swiped her passcard through the reader so the gate would open. As she got out at the front door, she told the officer that all he had to do to exit the property was to push the "OPEN" button then punch in the date on the keypad.
Niki watched as the officer left, then got on her phone to call the family lawyer to get over to her house to help Drake if he needed it. She went into the house, tired as hell and completely pissed off at the Austin P.D.
Her mother was in the living room as Niki came in. She was muttering under her breath about "damn stupid police...can't lay down in my own fucking house...giving Drake the business about his alien status..." all the way up the stairs to her bedroom. As she slammed the door, David came downstairs.
"Jord, what was that all about?" he asked his wife.
"I'm not sure, hon," Jordan said; "Apparently there's some trouble at her place. She mentioned something about police and Drake's green card, then she went upstairs and slammed the door to her old bedroom."
"I just got a call from Albert," David said, referring to the family's lawyer; "He said he got a call from Niki about someone getting shot, Drake getting all kinds of rude questions about his alien status. He was on his way over there as we spoke. Should I go back upstairs and talk to her?"
"She seemed to be in a foul mood, David, so I'd hold off for a while," Jordan said. "Remember the last time you tried that? She practically bit your head off!"
David knew of the incident of which Jordan spoke. He secretly hoped that the young man who broke his daughter's heart at her high school prom was having a rotten life.
Kathryn looked around the room that had been her home of sorts for the past seven weeks. She wished desparately that she could leave and stay somewhere else. But Chastity was resistant to being re-integrated into Kathryn's persona, and Kathryn knew she would stay until she made some progress in that regard.
And there was something she wanted to talk to Cameron about.
Kathryn had been having dreams, but she was awake when she had them. Cameron called them flashbacks. They were usually about some part of her past that Chastity allowed her to have.
She kept seeing children, and an older man who took care of her. She kept hearing a name: Christian. He was kind to her, but she knew he was the brains behind the American Republic Movement. He taught Chastity everything she knew.
Kathryn wasn't sure if he was the father of the children she kept seeing. She couldn't even remember their names except for the oldest girl, who she thought was about twelve.
Helene.
Christian DeWitt was not usually a patient man.
Very few people saw the other side of DeWitt's personality. He had no patience with people who kept him waiting, who lied to him, or failed at a mission. He made sure that Chastity followed those rules. She made a great leader.
But even he knew that there were people Chastity would give it all up for in a heartbeat.
Their three daughters; Helene, Erin, and Lilibet.
That's when he saw her tender side, the side that allowed her to be a loving, caring person.
He discovered her split personality long ago. The caring personality was named Kathryn, and he addressed her as such when they were together as a family. The manipulative personality was Chastity, and she ran the Movement with an iron fist, backed by his money.
Kathryn was forgetful, and DeWitt suspected that Chastity took over for long periods of time. He knew that one day, if she didn't get help, that Kathryn would disappear forever. And as much as he liked Chastity running things, he couldn't live with her. When Chastity took over, his daughters were actually afraid of her. Lilibet, the youngest at just five years old, didn't understand why her mother was so mean one minute, and willing to be "Mama" the next.
And that's where DeWitt thought Chastity was; getting help to be Kathryn all the time, instead of when Chastity wanted her to be.
He still wanted to overthrow the current government, because it pissed him off that people like David Draiman could have so much sway over people, and that the three assassins who murdered New Government officials could be allowed to get away with it.
DeWitt was torn. He knew he had a choice to make. It was between his family and Kathryn getting well and remembering they were a family; and having the kind of government that forced people to conform with his vision, instead of fairy tale of so-called democracy.
He looked at his girls; his oldest, Helene, so tall and lithe. She wanted more than anything to be a dancer and to have her mother's approval; the middle girl, Erin, could draw anything from landscapes to buildings whose designs came from her imagination; and Lili, who just wanted her mama to be like every other little girl's mother.
My plans will mess with their futures, DeWitt thought; and I'm too old to fight those kind of battles anymore.
But, more than anything else, he wanted Kathryn to get well and make peace with her past.
He'd try to find out where Kathryn/Chastity was, then let her be to get well. He'd let her decide whether she wanted to come home.
III
Sandrina looked at Alex. She knew why they had been shot at. It was because of who she was. She also knew who it might be who wanted to shoot at her.
"Alex," Sandrina whispered; "I know who it is who shot at us. They want me out of their way to intimidate my father not to pursue the American Republic Movement."
"That band of whackjobs who want another Occupation, Sandy?" asked Alex.
"The same," Sandrina said; "I'm sorry I got you into this."
"No one's going to intimidate me," Alex said; "And I won't let them hurt you, either. Here's what we're going to do..."
As Alex explained his plan quickly, Sandrina was loading her weapon. If it was the same man who tried to assault her and Danica a few weeks before, they'll have to chase him down.
"We'll have to go after him, Alex," Sandrina said. "He won't stand there and wait for us to attack."
"It was a warning shot that went past me, Sandy," Alex said; "He means to do us harm."
"Then we have to ambush him," said Sandrina.
Taking separate paths to the wooded area at the edge of the parking lot, Alex and Sandrina converged on Pollard's hiding place.
He was so busy trying to get his next shot off, he never saw the pair coming toward him. When he saw someone within ten feet of him, he did what Sandrina predicted: he ran.
Sandrina saw him running along the fenceline that separated them from the open field next to the parking lot. She then saw him hop over the four foot tall fence.
Oh, so you think I can't do that, eh, pal? Sandrina thought; she hopped the fence with no problem, and Alex followed suit. The three of them were running towards the interstate.
Sandrina fired off a warning shot just over Pollard's head. She saw him trip on something and soon she and Alex were on top of him, trying to subdue him. At some point, Alex had Pollard's gun.
"All right, asshole," Alex said as Sandrina trained his gun at his head, "Get up on your knees and keep your hands where they can be seen at all times?"
"What are you, some fucking cop?" Pollard asked, still laying on the ground.
"You wish," Alex said; "You shot at me and my girlfriend, and I don't take kindly to threats against the United States government."
Pollard got up without warning, grabbed Sandrina by the arm and told her, "You're coming with me, Sandy!"
He pulled on Sandrina's arm and dragged her back across the wooded area to his car. Alex chased after them, all the while dodging bullets from a second gun Pollard had.
Somehow, Sandrina managed to unzip her coat, and with a struggle against the older and stronger Pollard, got her hand on his gun.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, bitch!" Pollard said as Sandrina wiggled out of her coat, freeing herself from Pollard's grasp. Now in possesion of Pollard's other weapon, ran back toward Alex. All Pollard was left with was Sandrina's coat.
He threw it to the ground in disgust and ran back to his car and sped off.
There was a police blockade up ahead of him, and Pollard knew that he'd not be able to escape. He ditched the car and ran to the nearest street and carjacked a teenage girl. When she wouldn't give up the keys, Pollard backhanded her hard enough to have her drop the keys on the street. He grabbed them and took off in her car.
Meanwhile, Sandrina had reclaimed her coat. She and Alex were talking to the police about the man who tried to kidnap her.
"His name is Clayton Pollard, and he is an agent with the American Republic Movement," Sandrina said; "This is the second time he's tried to assault me."
"Does this have anything to do with your father's role in ending the Occupation in 2019?"
"Yes," said Sandrina; "They want to kill him; my aunt, Julia Summers; and my uncle, Jeremiah Donovan."
"We will find him, Miss San Marco," the officer told her. "Maybe your friend should take you home now."
"I think Danica would like her car back," Sandrina told Alex.
"I'll follow you home, Sandy," Alex said.
"Thanks Alex," Sandrina said, then asked him, "When you told Pollard I was your girlfriend, was that just to show him you were protecting me, or did you mean it?"
"Both, Sandy," Alex said as he took Sandrina's hand. "If you want to be my girlfriend."
Sandrina couldn't believe her ears. Alex Springer wants me to be his girlfriend?
"Alex, I'd love to be your girlfriend, but on one condition."
Alex looked at her oddly then said, "Name it."
"If you'll be my boyfriend."
Alex took Sandrina into his arms. "Nothing would make me happier than that, Sandy."
"Kathryn, how are you this morning?" asked Cameron.
"Okay, I guess," Kathryn said; "I've been having more of those flashback things."
"About Christian and some little girls, Kathryn?"
"Yes, and I want to figure out why I'm having these flashbacks, Cameron," Kathryn said; "Are they my little girls? The oldest one is named Helene. That's my mother's name."
"And is Christian your husband?"
"I don't know," Kathryn said, "I don't know who he is, who the little girls are, and why I'm having these thoughts about them?"
"I can look into it if you want," Cameron said; "What are the other little girls names?"
"I want to say Lili is one, but I just don't know."
Cameron was concerned about this latest development, because it meant that Kathryn had hazy memories of having other children besides Kelly Hope. But who was Christian? And how much about Kathryn and/or Chastity did he know?
"Would you like me to look into it, see is there's something in Chastity's past that suggests such a thing? Though personally, I can't see Chastity as a mother. She's too selfish for that," Cameron said.
"Please, Cameron?" asked Kathryn pleadingly. "I have to know what else Chastity has stolen from me!"
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