He called it "Operation Quail Flush".
Marsh knew Julia Summers and her family were in Wyoming. They were staying with a man who called himself John Christofferson.
"John Christofferson my ass," Marsh mutter under his breath; "That man is a traitor to the Occupation! He's John Christopher Coltrane the fourth!"
Marsh was able to find out some very interesting things about the man formerly known as Black Jack Coltrane.
One: his true name. It took hacking into a now abandoned and supposedly secure website, but the information was there.
Two: his current address. Six-ten Celine Road, Riverton, Wyoming.
Three: Marsh found out who Celine was. Coltrane's daughter. She died with her husband and infant daughter in a plane crash nearly twenty-five years before.
Four: Coltrane had another daughter, who would be sixteen years old in just four days. The girl's mother: Julia Summers.
Five: Coltrane, under his alias, had stage four lung cancer and it was both inoperable and incurable. The man was terminally ill. Doctors in Wyoming had give him eighteen months to live.
"That was as of June," Marsh mused aloud. "So he has a year at best. No, check that. When I get done with him, he'll wish he were already dead."
Marsh wasn't going to send an incompetent shooter after A.R.M.'s biggest prize. No, Marsh would go take care of Julia Summers and the traitor Jack Coltrane himself.
But even all of Marsh's planning wouldn't prepare him for the fight of his life in a hospital stairwell.
"God, Kathryn, you're incredible!" Christian said as he held Kathryn in his arms in front of the fire. "You amaze me with the passion you have!"
"That's because I love you, Christian," Kathryn said; "That's part of my duties as your lover. To make you feel loved, needed...I've needed this release for months now. You're the only man I want. The only man I need."
"You're the only woman I could ever want, my beauty," Christian said; "Ever since that first time I made love to you after your escape from Chastity's life. It's been you, and only you, since then. Not even when you were away did I stray from you."
"I know, baby," Kathryn said; "Let's make new memories together from this point. I'm determined to be in control of my own life, Christian! I need to be here with you and the girls. This is my place."
"We should go to bed," Christian said. "The girls will be up early tomorrow so they can spend as much time with you as possible before you leave."
They dressed and headed back toward the hall to go to their bedroom. Out of the corner of his eye, Christian saw something out of the ordinary.
He turned to see their oldest daughter snuggled in the corner behind one of the loungers, fast asleep.
"Kathryn, what do you make of this?" he asked as he showed her where Helene was sleeping.
"How long has she been there?" Kathryn asked; "I mean, did she see..."
"I don't know, Kathryn," Christian said. "She needs to be in bed, though."
"Don't wake her," said Kathryn; "If you can, pick her up and place her in that lounger. She can sleep there til morning."
"We'll need to talk to her about what she may have seen tonight," Christian said. "I don't want her to be afraid of giving herself to a potential mate because of some weird ideas she got from watching us."
"Then again, she may have slept through the whole thing," Kathryn suggested.
Christian moved the furniture so he could get to Helene. He picked her up effortlessly without waking her and placed her in the lounger she had been sleeping behind. Christian then replaced the furniture and went with Kathryn to their bedroom. They made love twice more before falling asleep.
About three hours later, Helene woke up in the lounger. She looked around and saw that her parents were no longer in the room. She wondered how she got into the chair she woke up in.
Dad will kill me if he sees me out here! Helene thought as she got out of the chair. She was panicky until she remembered what she saw before she fell asleep.
The two lovers. Touches. Caresses. Kisses. Dancing their dance before the fire. The utter joy and release they felt in each other's embrace. The special language of looks, touches and words they used with each other.
Helene felt tears come to her eyes just thinking about the beautiful pas de deux she witnessed. The dance of lovers, committed to each other through great odds and weathering the storms with grace. Despite everything they had been through, Helene realized that her parents only wanted each other; for life...forever.
Her only great wish was for them to get married.
Would their being married mess up everything good in their lives? Helene asked herself. Maybe that's why their particular union worked, because there was no license, no piece of legal mumbo-jumbo pronouncing them man and wife. They were committed to each other and to their family.
At that moment, Helene Hope DeWitt couldn't have been more proud to be their daughter.
Her snuggling against him woke him up.
"Krysta...?" he asked sleepily.
Getting no response from her, Eric lay there and watched Krysta sleep. Do you have any idea, Krysta my love, how beautiful you are? he asked her in his thoughts. How happy you make me? How much I want a life with you?
Krysta continued to sleep, unaware of Eric's thoughts. He held her next to him, feeling her breathing against his skin.
He briefly wondered if this is how Christian DeWitt felt when he was with Kathryn. Then Eric shook the thought out of his mind. The last thing he wanted to imagine was his daughter and her lover in bed together.
Eric sighed silently, wondering if he could fall back into slumber with all his thoughts, his emotions, his doubts swirling through his brain. He only had to look at the woman laying next to him. When he was with her, he could accomplish anything.
He settled back under the blankets with Krysta. He felt his eyes droop and he gave into sleep. Just as he was about to surrender to it, he heard Krysta's voice as she said in her sleep, "I love you, Eric."
Miri hadn't expected her mother to receive her weekly bundle the day after Christmas, but when the courier knocked on the door and handed it to her, she was a little taken aback.
"Thank you," she said to the courier; "we weren't expecting anything today."
"The country's defense knows no holiday, ma'am," the courier said as he turned and walked back out to the government issue vehicle he drove.
Miri closed the door. When she turned around, she saw her mother standing there.
"Is that the weekly bundle, Miri?" asked Julia.
"It is, Mom."
"I really wasn't expecting it until later in the week, but it's here, so I may as well look at it," Julia said.
Julia took the bundle from Miri and went to the kitchen table to look over its contents.
It was the usual stuff Julia always got: reports from both Darren Dixon and Nik; a report from Summers Tech Solutions about the new software that was being developed; and Christmas cards-- from her mom and David, Kimber, Niki and Drake, the San Marcos, the Donovans, Natasha and her kids... and two cards for Miri.
"Miri," Julia called after her oldest daughter; "There's something for you in the weekly bundle."
Miri had left the room and had gone out to the barn to finish up her chores for the day.
I'll just leave them on the table, and she's bound to see them, Julia thought. They're probably just birthday cards.
Julia was alone in the kitchen. Jack was still sleeping because he'd been up half the night coughing. The kids were doing farm chores; and Jaime was going to attempt to give her colt something resembling a bath.
She also gave serious thought to leaving Wyoming and returning to Chicago. So much had to be done before that could happen. Julia thought about the animals out in the barn. If Jack came with her back to Chicago, the animals would either have to be given away or sold. There was land that Julia owned near Belvidere that some of the animals could be relocated to. Ryan had purchased the land in hopes of moving his family there one day. He'd already had a house and a barn built on the property, but he died before the family could move there.
Maybe we could relocate Sarge, a couple of the cows, Jaime's horses, and Tripod of course, there, and I could sell the compound house to Kimber...Julia thought, forming a plan in her mind. She knew that plan would only work if certain criteria were met, like if the horses that Jaime was taking care of could be purchased from the Bureau of Indian Affairs; or if Sarge and the cows could survive the trip to Illinois; If Jack would allow such an event to occur.
Julia put her head in her hands and sighed. So much we have to do before we could even think of returning to Chicago, she thought.
The day slipped by much faster than Kathryn, Christian, and their girls realized. It came time for Kathryn to leave, she found that she didn't want to. She realized it was more weeks of being apart from her family. The girls, understandibly, didn't want her to leave either. Their tears and pleas that she stay longer only made Kathryn's decision harder.
"I don't want your mother to go either, girls," DeWitt said; "But it has to be this way for now. We talked about this when she came over yesterday. We'll find out soon when Mom will be home for good."
"But, Mommy," Lili said, tears streaming down her face, "when will you be back? What if it takes a long time?"
"Lilibet," Kathryn said to her little girl, "I'll be home sooner than you think. I can't promise when, but that's my goal. To come home to all of your forever."
"Mom," said Erin, "as much as we don't want you to go, we know that we have to let you. We all want you to get better, however long that takes."
Only Helene remained silent. Her father noticed this.
"Helene, what's going through your mind, sweetheart?" he asked.
Helene only smiled. As much as she didn't want her mother to leave to return to where she was staying, she knew that this was part of the dance her parents shared. The partings; the reunitings; She only said,
"This is what has to be. It will make Mom's real homecoming so much better."
That was incredibly profound coming from a twelve year old, DeWitt thought. He saw a maturity in his oldest daughter that wasn't there before Kathryn came home. He had to admit that his girl was growing up.
"I had a thought," DeWitt said; "Why don't we all go take your mother back to where she's staying? Would that be okay with you, Kathryn?"
Kathryn felt a little hesitant. Would her father be ready for this? How would he react to seeing Christian? She decided that the only way to find out was to just let it happen.
"That's a great idea," she said confidently; "Then you can meet your sister and your grandfather."
"I can't believe we have an older sister," Helene said. "How cool is that?"
"Okay, then," DeWitt said; "Everyone get your coats and we'll head over to drop your mother off."
Eric Hope isn't going to like this one bit, DeWitt thought, but this is reality. I have a beautiful family with his daughter. Even he can't deny me that.
II
The kids came in from the barn, and the first thing out of Miri's mouth was, "Where's Jack, Mom?"
"He had a rough night, so he's sleeping in," Julia said; "He deserves it."
"Should we make him breakfast?" asked Rachel.
"That might be a good idea," said Julia; "He'd like that. Maybe we could even serve it to him in bed."
"What a cool idea, Mom," Jaime said. "We better go get washed up."
With that the four of them trooped over to the kitchen sink and took turns washing their hands.
Julia pointed to the two pieces of mail that Miri got in the weekly bundle and said, "Miri, you got something in the bundle this week."
"Oh, okay, Mom," she said; "I'll take a look at it in a bit."
"What do you think Jack wants for breakfast?" asked Zach.
"We haven't had waffles in a while," Jaime said; "We could make that."
"Yeah, but if Jack's not feeling well, we probably should skip the waffles," Miri said; "How about scrambled eggs and turkey bacon?"
Her siblings nodded in approval as Julia slipped out of the room. She went down the hall to check on Jack.
He was still sleeping, or at least it appeared to Julia. God, please don't take him now, Julia prayed in her head.
As she got closer to the bed, she saw the rise and fall of Jack's chest and knew he was okay for the time being.
Julia started to slip out of the bedroom when Jack said from behind, "I'm okay Julia. Just don't like being stared at while I'm sleeping."
"You never sleep this late," Julia said.
"I thought you'd be here too, since my coughing kept you awake as well," Jack said.
"Someone has to run things around here," Julia said playfully. "But you stay right there. There's plans afoot to bring you breakfast in bed."
"And who's idea was that?" Jack asked, knowing full well that Julia probably gave the kids the idea.
"It was mine, I'll admit," Julia said. "The kids thought it was a 'cool idea'."
"Well, I can't very well disappoint them, can I?"
"You better not," Julia said.
Linc Marsh couldn't have known what was going through Julia Summers' mind.
He had no idea that she had plans to leave Wyoming on her own, with her children, her protector, and a few farm animals in tow.
His plan was to force them out into the open. Maybe her sick kid sister could be used to that end.
Marsh had recently learned that Nicole Draiman was battling cancer and needed a bone marrow transplant. There were already two perfect matches: Nicole's twin sister Kimberlin, and their brother, John. John's twin, Sam, was a partial match.
What if I manipulate the results to make it suggest that Julia is also a perfect match. She'd do anything to help her sister, Marsh thought. That could be the way to get the family, and that traitor, Jack Coltrane, out of Wyoming.
Marsh liked that plan. He could take out an enemy and a traitor at the same time. Maybe he could even take out the one time leader of the Disturbed Ones as well. Now would that be a feather in my cap, Marsh thought, if I could rub out David Draiman at the same time.
Since the house he rented wouldn't be ready for a few more days, Linc Marsh worked on his plan using his computer on the hotel's internet system. Not being tech savvy enough to realize his movements could be traced even months after the fact didn't even occur to him.
But it would occur to his main target.
And every member of her immediate family.
It was a long drive to the lake house where Kathryn was staying. Lili had already fallen asleep, while the older girls watched the sights as they slid by their windows.
"Did you grow up at the house we're going to?" asked Erin.
"We spent summers there," Kathryn said; "But we lived just outside of Syracuse in town called Baldrich Village. My parents moved to the lake house we're going to long after my brother and I left home. Kelly grew up there."
"Is Kelly really in college, Mom?" Erin asked.
"She really is. And your grandfather tells me she's doing very well in school," Kathryn said; "She made the Dean's List and the Outstanding Freshman List for her first semester. She's studying chemistry and biology."
"That's pretty impressive for someone who's only 16 years old, isn't it girls?" asked DeWitt.
"We could do it, too, Dad," Helene said; "I'm going to try, anyway."
"This is true, Helene," DeWitt said; "After this term is over, you are jumping ahead two grades. That's what that really long test you took before Thanksgiving was all about." To Kathryn, he said, "Only the top one percent of students Helene's age get to take that exam. Helene is the only one in her group to pass it with a perfect score."
"Dad!" Helene cried, embarrassed.
"That's nothing to be ashamed of, Helene," Kathryn said; "I'm quite impressed."
"The only stipulation is that the student be thirteen, or turn thirteen before the new school year begins." DeWitt said; "Erin will take it in the spring after her thirteenth birthday, since her birthday falls in November. Her score will determine if she skips one grade or two."
"So Helene will go straight from seventh grade to high school?" asked Kathryn.
"Yes, Mom," Helene said; "I've already proven I can do high school level work."
"She can do stuff I've forgotten how to do," DeWitt said, laughing.
Lili woke up when she heard voices. "What's going on?" she asked; "Are we there yet?"
"Not quite," Kathryn said.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Lili?"
"What if your dad doesn't like us?" the five year old asked.
"I'm sure he will," Kathryn said; "He seemed pleased when I told him about you girls. Oh, and don't be surprised when Kelly calls me by my first name. Remember, I didn't get to raise her because of my illness, and it doesn't bother me that she calls me Kathryn."
"Okay, Mom," Helene said.
"Christian, take that road on the right," Kathryn said as they came up on the road that would lead to the lake house. DeWitt followed Kathryn's instruction, and soon they were approaching what DeWitt considered a rather large house.
"This is it," Kathryn said; "Or as Kelly sometimes refers to it, Chez Hope."
It was at that point Kathryn started to feel nervous.
Though, not as nervous as her father felt when he saw the SUV containing his daughter and her family pull into the drive.
"Is that them, Grandfather?" Kelly asked.
"It appears to be," Eric said; "Looks like you get to meet your sisters after all."
"I can't wait," Kelly said; "I wish I had something to give each of them."
"We have plenty of stuff for snacks," Krysta said. She was probably more nervous than either Eric or Kelly. She remembered the tough bitch act she put on for Christian DeWitt not too long before.
Eric watched as Kathryn emerged from the car, then went to the back door to let out her daughters. Now that he was getting a better look at them, he noticed the older two looked a lot like Kathryn, while the youngest took after her father. All three were very blonde like their mother.
Then DeWitt emerged from driver's side of the vehicle. Eric noticed he looked relaxed, friendly, approachable; traits he doesn't show professionally.
"Well, shall we go greet your mother and her family, Kelly?" asked Eric.
"Oh, yes!" Kelly said.
They went outside, where Kathryn seemed surprised that they came out to greet her.
"Dad!" she said as she hugged her father; "Come meet my family."
Kathryn proudly introduced her daughters to their grandfather, older sister and Krysta, who had just come out of the house. Eric shook hands with Christian.
"How shall we address you?" Helene asked.
"I don't see why you can't call me Grandpa Eric," said Eric; "I sometimes wish Kelly would."
"I'll stick to what I've been calling you," Kelly said, smiling. To Helene, she said, "I understand you're a ballerina. I always wanted to do that, but I'm too much of a klutz!"
Helene laughed, saying, "I work hard at what I love, but I do have my klutzy moments, don't I, Dad?"
"A few, yes," DeWitt said; "But she really is good at what she does."
"I read the review in the paper," Eric said; "You and Kathryn have every right to be proud."
Soon everyone came inside to get warm and get acquainted. Kelly talked about her experiences at school to an awestruck Helene and Erin. Lili was talking to her mother and Krysta.
---
The men retired to Eric's office where Eric asked DeWitt, "In all the times we'd faced each other in court, why didn't you say anything about Kathryn to me?"
"I thought it was best I not say anything," DeWitt said; "If Kathryn wanted you to know, it would have been her place to tell you. And honestly, I didn't want to lord it over you. I know you and your late wife did everything you could for Kathryn. If one of my girls had been in the same situation as Kathryn, I'm not sure I'd want to admit she had a problem."
"I think that was our problem," Eric said; "We didn't see it and we probably should have."
"I'm not holding it against you," DeWitt said; "Kathryn has been my world for nearly fourteen years. Even through her periods of being Chastity, I still loved her. I sent her away to get well, which was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Instead, she became involved with that second Occupation group."
"One, I might add, you've been rumored to have given money to," Eric said.
"It's true, I have given money to them, because our current goverment is a disappointment," DeWitt said; "But Chastity running things? That scared me more than anything. Chastity is a completely different person than the woman I fell in love with. I don't want a second Occupation. Why do I want to mess up my daughters futures by subjecting them to the same ideals the first Occupation had? Separating people into 'Desirables' and 'Undesirables'. My daughters would be Undesirables just because of who I am."
"How so?" Eric asked; "Since you're among the wealthiest people in the country."
"Because of my heritage," DeWitt said; "My grandmother on my father's side was Jewish. So my father was Jewish, which makes me a Jew as well. And those little girls... I can't stand to think that something they can't help could restrict their dreams."
"So you gave money to them because you didn't want them to find out that you're Undesirable?" asked Eric.
"Exactly. My name isn't Jewish," DeWitt said; "I mean, my first name is Christian after all. My mother was Catholic, and I was raised as one. My father died when I was four. I have an older brother and sister I haven't seen since I was fourteen. The Jewish part of our makeup was never discussed. I didn't even know about it until I was much older."
"Are you still giving this group money?" asked Eric.
"No, I haven't given them anything in a long time," DeWitt said; "They bug me constantly for money. It was a mistake to even start up with them. After the first of the year, I'm officially withdrawing my financial support. Kathryn and our daughters mean too damn much to me to see a second Occupation happen."
"You know there's at least one journalist looking into that group's affairs," Eric said; "And maybe more."
"The only journalist worth his stripes is Jeremiah Donovan," DeWitt said; "He's the only journalist I'll give an interview to. He does his homework; he reports facts, not speculation."
"Personally, I'd like to shake the man's hand for what he did during the Occupation, especially in those last days," Eric said.
"True, true," DeWitt agreed; "When I found out he was one of the group's enemies is when I stopped giving them money. He has a family, a career. There aren't too many journalists like him anymore."
"Getting back to Kathryn for a moment," Eric said; "I understand that you and she never married."
"We didn't," DeWitt said; "We planned to, but Chastity made that difficult. She reappeared around the time Kathryn and I were discussing it, and I had to make her leave. I sent her to a clinic much like the one she's in now, but Chastity escaped. Kathryn came home on her own about a year later. We hadn't discussed marriage since then."
"Whether or not you're married doesn't matter to me," said Eric; "The important thing is that you truly love her."
"Eric, I truly do love your daughter with everything I possess. I could never hurt her, never raise a hand to her. It's been Kathryn, and only Kathryn for almost fourteen years," DeWitt said; "Even when she was gone, I remained true to her. Kathryn has been true to me. Chastity is another story. I refuse to charge Kathryn with Chastity's misdeeds."
"That's good to hear," Eric said; "Because if I hear otherwise..."
"I know you have every right to say that," DeWitt said; "I'd say it too if it were one of my girls. But I give you my word that Kathryn is the only woman I want in my life. Life without her has been hell for me. I do what I can because I can't let my girls down. I will be the happiest man alive when Kathryn comes home for good."
III
"Cameron Chang."
"Ms. Chang, this is Christian DeWitt."
Cameron sat straight up in her chair. She was filling out reports on her patients, including Kathryn Hope, when DeWitt's call came through.
"What can I do for you this afternoon, Mr. DeWitt?" she asked.
"I wanted to talk to you about Kathryn's treatment plan."
"She's out of the clinic for the holidays, Mr. DeWitt," Cameron said; "We can discuss that with her when she returns on the third."
"I know she's out of the clinic, Ms. Chang," DeWitt said; "I just spent Christmas with her. And I'd like to discuss her treatment plan at your earliest convienence."
Cameron was puzzled. How did she spend Christmas with Christian DeWitt? I know I didn't put any restrictions on travel for her, but her monitor should have registered something, she thought.
"My earliest convienence, Mr. DeWitt," she said in a measured voice, "is tomorrow morning at 10am. Can you make that? I know your girls are home from school for the holidays."
"I'll arrange the childcare, Ms. Chang," DeWitt said; "I'll be there at 10am."
"Why are you so anxious to talk about this now?" asked Cameron; "Because of her visit?"
"Partly," DeWitt said; "But mostly because of our children."
"Has Chastity made herself known to one of them?"
"No," DeWitt said; "she has not. I think it's important that Kathryn be allowed to be a mother to her children instead of being a visitor."
"I see," Cameron said; "We will discuss this tomorrow morning, then."
"We will, Ms. Chang;" DeWitt said.
DeWitt ended the call and sat back in his chair. He wanted to discuss Kathryn receiving treatment as an outpatient instead of being imprisoned in the clinic. He couldn't live another few weeks without the mother of his children by his side. She's missed too much of their young lives as it is, he thought.
He also thought of the visit the day before with Kathryn's father, daughter, and Krysta Banks. The affection Hope and Krysta had for one another was obvious to anyone who was paying attention.
But DeWitt was impressed with Kathryn's daughter, Kelly. A very intelligent and well read young lady, he thought; she'll do well in life.
It was the talk he had with Eric Hope that stuck out most in his mind. DeWitt thought he knew what Hope had gone through when Kathryn became ill. No father wants to send his child away, but if Kathryn was Chastity even then, and didn't realize the full magnatude of the problems she had, DeWitt could see where Hope didn't have a choice. And it was clear to DeWitt that Hope had regretted his decision.
It was easier to hate the man, DeWitt thought, but I can't discount the fact that he and I are travelling down similar paths. A second chance at love with a much younger woman; Hope losing his wife; DeWitt divorcing his and becoming estranged from his sons.
All that mattered to DeWitt was that his daughters were happy. Having their mother for Christmas made them happy. Having her home for good would be icing on the cake. I can't see why Kathryn getting treatment as an outpatient wouldn't work, he thought; Why keep her locked up? Because Chastity could come back?
DeWitt, nor anyone else, realized it yet, but Chastity would try to return. But it would almost cost Kathryn her life.
Miri looked at the cards she had received in the bundle and thought she recognized the handwriting on one of them. She opened that one first.
It was from John Crossley, the young Army Sergeant she befriended months before when her family came to Wyoming. He hadn't written in several weeks, and Miri figured he got bored with her and found other things to do.
It was a "Sweet Sixteen" card. Miri smiled. He remembered my birthday! she thought. Then just as quickly, she felt terrible. His birthday was three days before hers, and she forgot!
She then realized that his birthday was that very day. Well, it's not like I can pick up the phone and call him, can I? she thought. She decided to think a happy thought for him instead.
Opening the card, a letter fell out. She opened it and began to read:
Mirielle: I'm sorry I've not written in a long time. I've been quite busy. I know that's not a valid excuse. But I did pass my test and I'm now a Staff Sergeant. More responsibilities, and less time to goof off in.
I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I know it's probably not fun being up there in the frozen Rockies. I hope you have a great day.
I don't know when I'll be able to write again. Please be patient with me, because I really do like you, Mirielle. I enjoy your letters very much. I'm sorry I'm an awful correspondant.
Yours very truly, SSgt. John Crossley.
He likes me? she thought. Miri re-read the letter several times just to make sure she read it right.
She had.
He likes me! Miri thought happily.
Kathryn hardly slept that first night back after spending Christmas with Christian and the girls. Her mind was filled with all the fun things they did together; and of the things she and Christian did together.
How come I keep thinking that I've always been Chastity, when I have real memories of Christian and our family? she asked herself. Was Chastity trying to steal those from me, too?
Yet Kathryn stayed awake, with ideas swirling in her head about how she was going to live her life, how she was going to be a better mother to her daughters, a better friend to the daughter Chastity forced her to abandon, a better daughter to her father.
God, I just want to go home to Christian! she said to herself; You know he's a good man, and good for me. You blessed us with three beautiful daughters. I need to put my life back together and have it make sense. I can't change the past, but I can make a new future. Please... let me have that!
It was a long night for Kathryn, and hearing her father and Krysta making love didn't help. All it did was make her long for her man even more.
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