DeWitt decided he had to speak with Helene about what she may or may not have seen before she fell asleep behind the lounger that night.
First, he marked his calendar for his meeting with Cameron Chang. He had some tough questions to ask the psychotherapist. No more of this bullshitting around, he thought; I'm paying the bills, so I think I need to get my share of answers.
He then took a deep breath and called for Helene.
When the twelve year old appeared at her father's office door, she asked, "Did you want to see me, Dad?"
"Yes, Helene," DeWitt said; "I do. Please sit down."
Oh, I'm in some kind of trouble, she thought; He never asks me to sit down unless he's mad.
When she was seated, DeWitt said, "The other morning, while your mother was still here, we found you sleeping behind the lounger on the far wall. Why were you sleeping there?"
I knew it, Helene thought; He did see me!
"I'd gotten up to get a glass of milk, Dad," she began. "I thought you and Mom had gone to bed. When I got to the living room, I saw that you were still up. I decided to wait til you guys went to bed."
"Why didn't you just go back to bed then?"
"Because I saw what you were doing, and I didn't want to interrupt," Helene said. "So I crawled behind the loungers to wait."
"Helene," DeWitt said; "What did you see?"
"You and Mom having sex."
DeWitt closed his eyes for a brief moment. He didn't want Helene to think she was in trouble for what she may have seen.
"Helene, princess, you know that what Mom and I were doing is only for adults," DeWitt said; "You remember the talk we had with you about that when you were seven years old, right?"
"Yes, Dad," Helene said, trying to stifle a laugh at the memory of her father being flustered talking to her and Erin about "the birds and the bees"; "I know that sex is only for adults who love each other like you and Mom do."
"That's right," DeWitt said; "so I need to know what you may have seen that night you fell asleep behind the lounger."
"I watched you and Mom making love, Dad," Helene said; "I realized what I was watching, and I know it was wrong of me to watch."
"Not many girls get to see things like that, Helene, and your mother and I were concerned that you might get the wrong idea about how love and desire and sex work together," said DeWitt.
"I shouldn't have watched, Dad," Helene said; "But once I started, I couldn't stop. It... it..."
"It what, Helene?"
"It was like watching a dance," Helene said; "There were moves, positions, touches between you and Mom. I was fascinated by how similar to ballet it was. Each movement flowed seemlessly into the next..."
Helene couldn't continue; she felt herself get emotional just thinking about what she witnessed between her parents. I want a love like theirs someday, she thought.
"Princess, are you okay?" DeWitt asked her, concerned.
"Dad," Helene said when she found her voice, "it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life! I knew you and Mom loved each other, but I got to see it for myself. It's just not you being together for so long, it was...magic. I can't think of any other way to tell you how it made me feel."
DeWitt looked at his oldest daughter with new eyes. She was growing up, and was mature enough at her age to understand the love between a man and a woman wasn't just sex. It was so much more than that.
He came out from behind his desk and knelt before his daughter's chair. "You're very wise, Helene," he said; "The man who wins your heart will be lucky indeed. But now, just work on being the best you that you can be. I'm very proud of you, princess."
He gave Helene a hug. "I love you, Daddy," she said.
"I love you, too, Helene," he replied.
Niki's appointment with her oncologist where she wanted to discuss going ahead with the bone marrow transplant made her feel better than she'd felt in months. Finally, she thought, we're getting somewhere.
She and Drake went with Kimber to take Jamey to the airport, since he had to return to work at the Times-Tribune the following morning. Niki and Drake gave her sister and Jamey time alone to say their goodbyes, then Jamey went through the screening line and headed off to the gate where he was to await his flight back to Chicago.
After that was done, Kimber, Niki and Drake returned to the house where Jordan had made lunch. Niki ate more at lunch than Drake had seen her eat in the six months since her cancer diagnosis.
"Well, someone has a healthy appetite!" David said as he walked into the kitchen looking for a bottle of water to drink. "Niki, you must be feeling better."
"I am, Dad," she said; "By the way, we've set up an date for the operation. Kimber, John and I go in late on the 5th, and the transplant will begin at 6am the following morning. The three of us have an appointment with the surgeon on the 3rd to discuss what's going to happen."
"That's great, Niki!" David said; "I'm surprised they scheduled it so quickly."
"I think that's because John will still be out of school, and this way, he'll only miss a couple of days," Niki said; "He might feel like crap for a couple of weeks, but he told me he'd go back to school as soon as the doctors let him."
"Kimber, what about you?" Jordan asked; "How are you going to handle your school situation?"
"They know that I might be having to do this, so they allowed me to register for classes, apply for graduation, and get any assignments I might miss," Kimber explained; "Turns out I'm only half a semester's credits away from my degree, so I'll be in school part time anyway. My job is still secure. They'll put me on medical leave as soon as the paperwork from here is sent to them."
"So everything is taken care of except the extraction of yours and John's bone marrow," David said; "How much are they going to take from each of you?"
"I think they said about a teaspoon's worth," Kimber said. "It's the big needle they told Niki they have to use that concerns me. I've never been a huge fan of them."
"Oh, we know, Kimberlin," Jordan said; "You'd just have to see the syringe and you'd go into hysterics. It made getting your shots a lot of...um, fun."
"Mom," Kimber said; "I was something like two or three at the time."
"She's right about that, Jord," David said; "I'm in my sixties and I'm still afraid of clowns."
"Clowns?" Drake asked; "You're seriously afraid of clowns, David?"
"Broke one's nose when I was six years old. Honest to God!" David said, laughing. "I know it's silly for someone like me to be scared of clowns, but it's something I've never been able to get used to. When the circus came to town, Jordan took the kids. I always found a way not to go."
Niki shook her head. Kimber's freaking out over needles and Dad's still freaking over clowns? Someone needs to grow up, she thought.
And it wasn't her sister.
II
A special courier showed up at Jack's house the morning before Miri and Jack's birthdays.
Julia was a little leery about this. Though the courier was military, and he was able to prove it, it seemed so out of the ordinary for someone to show up unannounced.
The courier handed Julia an envelope, and she was asked to sign for it. "I can't sign it," Julia said; "My arm is injured. Can I have my daughter sign for it?"
The courier said that would be all right, and Julia called for Miri.
"Yeah, Mom?" she asked.
"Could you sign for this for me?"
"I guess," Miri said, getting a funny feeling that something wasn't right with the young man standing at the door. She signed just her mother's initials, and the courier didn't question it. He soon left, but Miri still didn't feel comfortable.
"Mom," she said; "I'd not open that if I were you. Something about it doesn't feel right to me."
"I agree, Miri," Julia said; "I need to get in contact with Director Dixon. He's the one who'd have to authorize a courier to come here."
Julia then went to her desk, got out her secure phone, punched in a code, and waited. She then closed the phone.
"What did you do, Mom?" Miri asked; "I haven't see you use that phone since we've been here."
"I sent Darren Dixon an emergency message to contact me right away," Julia said; "The code activated an untraceable signal so that when the Director calls me back, the call can't be traced or listened in on."
"How come you haven't had to use it before, like when you got shot?" asked Miri.
"Because I'm the only one who knows the code, and my orders were to not give it out to anyone. Not you, not Jack, not FBI," Julia said. "When I got shot, I gave Jack a password, but that only worked on the computer, and it only worked once. In this case, because I feel our lives are in danger if I open that envelope, I need to get in contact with the Director right away."
"What if it's nothing?" Miri asked.
"Better to be safe than sorry, Miri," Julia said.
At that moment, Julia's secure phone rang.
Dixon knew the beeping signal like he knew the curves of Natasha's body.
One of his agents was in trouble.
He knew by the pattern the beeping made which agent it was. And that concerned him.
Problem was, he was on the slopes in Vail with Natasha and the kids when the signal came in.
He skiied to catch up with Natasha, who was a far better skiier than he was.
"Tash," he said breathlessly; "One of my agents is in trouble and I need to take a call from them."
Natasha looked at him. She almost instinctively knew which agent's name he was going to say.
"You'll need a private place then, Darren," she said. "Is it Julia?"
Dixon nodded, then said, "Yes. She may be in trouble. If the kids ask where I've gone, just say I went to the lodge. It won't be a lie because that's where I'm going. I'll contact you when I'm done, okay?"
"Okay, Darren," said Natasha; "Ask Julia to wish Miri a happy birthday from me and the twins."
"When is her birthday?" Dixon asked.
"Tomorrow," Natasha said; "The 30th."
"Will do," Dixon said as he skiied off to the lodge.
Once there and in a secure location within, Dixon returned Julia's call.
"Summers."
"Julia it's Darren," Dixon said; "You sent the SOS signal. Are you and the kids and your host okay?"
"For the time being yes," Julia said; "but a military courier was just here and gave me an envelope. Did you authorize this?"
Dixon seemed puzzled. He had been out of touch with his office for a week, and no one besides him was to authorize anything without his approval.
"No, Julia, I did not authorize any such delivery. Did you check with Nik?"
"We get our orders from you, Darren," Julia said, "so what does Nik have to do with this?"
"He does have the authorization to send a courier to your location, but considering what's been going on in his neck of the woods, he's probably not had any time to do so," Dixon said.
"So who did authorize this?" asked Julia. "I realize I'm being a royal pain in the ass, but if our lives are in danger, I'd certainly like to know!"
"Did you open it?"
"Of course not!" Julia said; "I don't know what's in that envelope! All I can tell you is that it looks official, and the courier who brought it was legit. I can spot fake military ID cards a mile away. I think I made the poor kid nervous when I asked to see it."
"I will authorize someone come and pick it up from your location," Dixon said; "Leave it in the mailbox. Don't open it. Don't fold it. Just leave it in the mailbox."
"The mailbox here is huge," Julia said; "It should easily fit without bending or folding it. When will someone be here to pick it up?"
"I'll send someone immediately. I know your host has a post office box in town where he gets his mail, so the one on his property isn't being used," Dixon replied.
"It's also a half mile down the road," Julia said; "You do know how cold it's been here, don't you?"
"I have a general idea," said Dixon. "Oh, by the way, Natasha wanted me to pass on birthday greetings to Mirielle. I understand her birthday is tomorrow."
"It is, and I'll pass the message on to Miri when I'm through talking to you," Julia said.
"Put your package in the mailbox, and it will get picked up," Dixon said; "Have a Happy New Year if I don't speak to you before then."
"Thanks," Julia said; "Tell Natasha and the kids hello from all of us."
"I certainly will."
Dixon then ended the call.
Miri, who had been in the room the entire time her mother was on the phone with Darren Dixon, asked her mother, "What did he say to do with the package other than put it in the mailbox?"
"That someone would be by to pick it up," Julia said; "Darren didn't authorize anyone to come out here."
"Great," Miri said; "So whoever is planning to do us in knows where we are. That's just fuckin' great."
"Mirielle. Language," her mother said.
"Yes, ma'am," Miri said.
Julia put her hand on top of her daughter's. "Miri, I know this cloak and dagger stuff isn't fun, but we have to play along for a bit longer. As soon as it's possible, we're going back to Chicago, and we're taking Jack with us. He is NOT going to die up here alone. Not if I have anything to say about it. Now," Julia paused, then said, "get your coat on and drive me out to the mailbox. I want to get rid of this damn thing!"
"Okay, give me a sec," Miri said.
Once in the truck, Miri drove her mother the half mile or so to the mailbox posted on the main road along with three others. They were all the same size. Julia slipped out of the cab and went to the mailbox while Miri turned the truck around for the return trip.
Jack's mailbox, which he'd never used, had a big "610" painted on the door in reflective paint. It was a coincidence that the house number was the same as Julia's birthdate. The road leading to Jack's property was just called "County Road 120" when he moved there. He had filed papers with the county to change the name to "Celine Road" in honor of his deceased daughter.
Julia placed the envelope inside the mailbox, then walked back to the passenger's side of the truck and got inside.
"Damn, it's freakin' cold out there!" Julia said; "Let's get back to the house and get some hot cocoa, shall we?"
"Sounds like a plan, Mom," said Miri, laughing, as she put the truck in gear and started back down the road towards the house. All the way there, Miri had a bad feeling about that letter in the mailbox.
Julia felt it, too. She realized there was something very wrong when she felt the ground shake under her feet. She looked back toward the main road, then yelled to Miri,
"MIRIELLE! HIT THE DIRT!"
Miri looked at her mother for just a half second, then did what she was told.
A half mile in the distance, the mailbox exploded.
III
DeWitt arrived early for his appointment with Cameron Chang. It was a trait that bothered him. He was never late for anything if he could help it; but being thirty minutes early for appointments, then waiting around (which he really detested), really bothered him. Most people took pride in arriving early. DeWitt thought otherwise. Being early, only to wait, did not sit well with Christian DeWitt. He'd tried everything to arrive closer to "on time", but still ended up arriving too early.
So he was not very patient with having to wait until Cameron Chang was ready to see him. All it did was to create more questions to ask her about Kathryn's treatment plan.
Finally, at 9:55am, Cameron Chang arrived. She said cordially, "Good morning, Mr. DeWitt. I hope you haven't been waiting long."
"No, not at all," he lied, daring her to catch it. When she didn't, he said, "I have some questions for you about Kathryn's treatment plan, and I expect some answers to those questions."
"Come into the office, Mr. DeWitt," Cameron said, "and we'll get those answers for you."
When they were seated, DeWitt got straight to the point of his visit, "Ms. Chang, I want to know if it would be possible, in your opinion, for Kathryn to continue her treatment as an out patient, instead of being cooped up in here where she has no contact with her family?"
"It would be possible, but unless something's changed since I allowed her to leave last week to spend time with her father, I don't recommend it," Cameron said. Then she asked, "How was your visit with her?"
"We felt like a couple again, a family again," DeWitt said; "The girls were happy to see her, and I was as well. We've all missed Kathryn since I had to send her away two years ago."
"Was she Kathryn the entire time she was with you?" asked Cameron.
"Of course she was!" DeWitt said, feeling himself lose his temper; "We all got to interact with her. The girls included their mother in their activities, which Kathryn enjoyed immensely. I haven't seen her so relaxed and carefree in a very long time."
"And you, Mr. DeWitt," Cameron asked, "your interaction with Kathryn included sexual contact?"
"Yes, Ms. Chang, it did," DeWitt said; "And she's the same passionate and radiant lover she's always been. She's my Kathryn, and I want her home with me and our children. Certainly you can understand that?"
"I do," Cameron said; "But I will still have to evaluate her before I could approve an outpatient treatment plan for her. And there's still the fact that she does not drive. How would she get to any outpatient appointments if I were to approve it?"
"I will make sure she gets there," DeWitt said; "Don't you worry about that. This is too important to both Kathryn and me to not do as she is asked. If you want her here at 10am on Mondays and Thursdays for two hours, she'll be there."
"Do you know how her visit with her father and daughter went?" asked Cameron.
"From the short time the girls and I spent with them," DeWitt said; "It appeared that it went quite well. Kelly and my girls got on famously, and Eric Hope accepted them as his granddaughters. Kathryn told me before I took the girls home that she was very pleased how well everyone got along."
"She's due back in the clinic on the third," Cameron said; "I'll talk with her and see what's going through her mind, reevaluate her and then decide if an outpatient plan would be good for her. If she's doing well with her family, then she may do well as an outpatient. But I warn you, Mr. DeWitt, it may take a couple of weeks after she returns here to complete all this."
"I understand," DeWitt said.
"Very good," Cameron said.
DeWitt took his leave and went back to his office downtown for a while before going home. He wanted to pick something up from the safe in his office before heading back to the girls.
The ring he'd waited nearly a decade to give to the woman who saved him.
The animals in the barn were all kicking up a fuss. Jaime was grooming Coltrane when he started rearing and neighing. She then heard Mama doing the same thing, and the other animals were making noises as well.
"What's gotten in them?" Zach asked his older sister.
"I have no idea, Zach," Jaime said; "It's like they all felt something at the same time."
Rachel came running from the henhouse. "Jaime, Zach... the chickens are going crazy! What's going on?" She was near tears.
From out in the distance, there was a loud explosion.
"What the fucking hell was that?!" Jack bellowed as he came out of the house and into the barn.
The kids shook their heads. By this time, Rachel had lost it and was crying hysterically. "It's okay, Rach, really," Zach said, comforting her.
"Where's your mother and sister?" asked Jack.
"They went out in the truck somewhere," Jaime said; "They're going to be right back."
Out in the front of the house, Julia and Miri looked up and saw a huge fireball erupt from the area where the mailboxes were. "What just happened, Mom?" Miri asked.
"That letter..." Julia said; "Had I opened it, it would have blown this house off the map with everyone and everything inside! This was an attempt on our lives, Miri!"
"I knew there was something wrong when that guy came to the house!" Miri said, getting up from the ground where she and her mother dove prior to the explosion. "I could feel it. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up."
"Your sixth sense, Miri," Julia said; "We all have it. That's why I called Director Dixon."
"You going to call him back?" asked Miri.
"I sure as hell am!"
Just then, they heard Jack calling for them: "Julia! Miri!"
"Out front Jack!" Julia called back.
Jack then appeared and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Are you two okay? What was with that explosion?"
"Someone tried to kill us Jack," Julia said; "A.R.M. definitely knows we're here."
"Shit!"
The three of them went into the house, where Julia called Darren Dixon back.
They saw the traitor and the female member of The Triad outside the house, along with a teenage girl they assumed was Mirielle Summers.
One of the men hiding in the brush held up his sniper rifle and asked his companion, "Shall I shoot the traitor and the bitches now?"
"No, hold up on that," the companion said; "That letter was supposed to be opened in the house, killing all inside. Summers got wise. There'll be FeeBees and other law enforcement here soon. We better get the fuck out of here! It's too damn cold to stay out here indefinitely."
They packed up their weapons and other gear. The shooter said, "What about Reilly?"
"He's as good as dead. We only needed him for knowledge of the area. He's useless to us now."
"What will happen to him?"
"He'll die, if he ain't dead already."
"How do you know?"
"He sat outside the mailboxes at the side of the road. That explosion more than likely killed him."
They then left the area undetected by federal authorities.
But someone knew where they were. And they themselves wouldn't be amongst the living much longer.
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