Off in the distance, Collins-Ross heard footsteps; then voices.
He could see three men, armed with assault rifles with silencers. A fourth man joined them. He was speaking, but Collins-Ross couldn't hear what was being said.
The four were walking in the direction of his hiding place. Collins-Ross wasn't worried about being discovered. He was so well hidden that not even his own mother could find him, were she still living.
He slowed his breathing down like his father taught him as a young teen so that the condensation from exhaling couldn't be seen. The four armed men, dressed in snow camo gear, stopped withing twenty-five feet of where he was hidden.
"The plan is this," the leader of the group said; "Whoever comes out that front door gets shot. I don't care if it's one of Summers' kids. Summers could return fire if one of her children were shot, so we must be mindful of that."
"Are we going to surround the property?" one of the men asked.
"If no one comes outside, then yes, we will either surround the property or storm the house," the group leader said; "None of them will be expecting that, and even though they ounumber us, it's doubtful that the Traitor will be able to do anything. He's terminally ill. We'll kill him first, then Summers' youngest daughter."
The hell you will, Collins-Ross thought; Not on my watch you won't.
"Take your positions," the leader said; "We'll wait until almost sunset, then storm the house. Take them all by surprise."
The men dispersed and Collins-Ross knew what he must do. They didn't know that Christofferson and Julia had left for Denver hours before, and it was just the kids alone in the house.
No one would get near the Summers children. Collins-Ross would stake his life on it.
Rachel came into the kitchen where Miri was fixing dinner. She was troubled about something.
"Miri?" she asked her oldest sister.
Miri turned around to look at Rachel. She had a concerned look on her face.
"What's wrong, Rach?" Miri asked. "You look worried about something. Is it being here without Mom and Jack?"
"No, Miri," Rachel said; "I'm okay with that, because we can take care of things. It's just that I wanted to ask you about something."
"What is it, Rach?"
"You know that 'Sixth Sense' stuff everyone talks about?"
"Yeah," Miri said; "That feeling that someone is outside waiting to hurt us, or that something bad is going to happen?"
"Uh-huh," said Rachel; "I think I'm feeling that."
Miri checked on the chicken she was roasting, then sat at the bar with her baby sister.
"How so?" she asked.
"I feel like there are bad men outside who have guns, and they want to hurt us," Rachel said; "But I also have feelings like there's someone out there protecting us, too. I don't know which is the right thing to feel."
"Possibly both are," said Miri; "I've been feeling like that too all weekend. I even mentioned it to Mom a couple of times. There are friendlies out there who have our backs. Then there are bad men out there, too."
"So I'm supposed to feel this, Miri?" asked Rachel; "Is this normal?"
"For us, it is," Miri said; "Not everyone gets the training we get, so we have an advantage over most people. Don't ignore it, Rach. It could save your life one day."
"Are we going to fight back is someone does want to hurt us?" asked Rachel.
"Of course we are," Miri said; "We should have our weapons near by, just in case someone tries to get into the house. We'll talk about that at dinner. It should be done in a few minutes. Could you help me set the table?"
"Sure," Rachel said, relieved for the moment that what she felt was normal, and that she was helping Miri with dinner.
Kathryn was brought to the therapy room where she had her sessions with Cameron. For some reason that Kathryn couldn't put her finger on, she felt distrust towards her therapist.
"You've been doing a lot of drawing lately," Cameron said; "You're really good. You should do something with it when you get out of here."
"When am I going to 'get out of here', Cameron?" asked Kathryn; "It seems like you've been trying to keep me here longer after we talked about if I could be an outpatient so I could go home and be a real parent to my girls and a real partner to Christian."
"I told you that you had to be evaluated for inclusion in the outpatient program, too," Cameron said, feeling defensive; "And we've finished our evaluation and feel that you would do well as an outpatient. I'm going to release you as an inpatient on Wednesday."
"That's good news," Kathryn said; "I'm sorry that I was so impatient with the whole process."
"That's understandable, Kathryn," said Cameron; "You want to get home to your family. I'd probably feel the same if I were you."
"How often do I have to come back and see you?" asked Kathryn, keeping her joy over being released to herself until she got back to her room.
"I'll give you a month to get readjusted to being at home," Cameron said; "then have sessions twice a week. Christian will bring you in for those, right?"
"I'm sure he will," Kathryn said. "I will be here at whatever time you set and on whatever days you need me here."
"I'd like to see you in the mornings after your girls go to school," Cameron said; "So maybe 10am? Or would later be better for you?"
"I think 10am would be fine," Kathryn said; "The girls will have been in school a couple of hours by then."
"I'll call you in a couple of weeks," Cameron said, "and then you can tell me what days you prefer."
"I'd like Mondays for the first one," said Kathryn; "Get that one out of the way. Thursdays for the second, maybe."
"I'll make a note of that, but I'll still call you to see if those days are still going to work for you," Cameron said; "I'll call Christian and let him know he can pick you up after 10am Wednesday."
Kathryn just sat there in disbelief. She really was going home. It would take until Wednesday for that to sink in.
She was going home to Christian and the girls! They would be a family again!
All she could say to Cameron was, "Thank you."
The trip to Denver was long, boring, and about as far away from being exciting as it could get. Travelling on a military plane really sucks, Julia thought. Jack seemed okay with it. He slept through most of the flight, his coughing and snoring not withstanding.
Julia already knew what the doctor was going to say about her arm; it was healed completely, that Julia still had full range of motion, and that at some point, she'd need more physical therapy that what she'd been giving herself using information she got in her weekly bundles.
"I guess sightseeing is out of the question," Julia said to one of the Air Force enlisted accompanying them on the flgiht.
"Mrs. Summers, we have strict orders from CIA to see that you and Mr. Christofferson get to and from the hospital safely," he said. "You'll be escorted to a hotel after your appointments to spend the night."
"Oh how nice of the Director to think of our comfort," Julia said sarcastically, "since this plane isn't like anything I've ever been on in my life. I feel like you're going to throw one of those parachutes at us, tell us to put them on, open up the door and instruct us to fuckin' jump!"
The enlisted man tried not to laugh, which he feared might cause Julia Summers to go off on him. He only said, "If there is an emergency, we wouldn't ask you and Mr. Christofferson to jump out of the plane."
"Good, because I'm not jumping out of this plane," Julia said; "And he's definitely not," referring to the sleeping man to her right.
The enlisted man rolled his eyes away from Julia's gaze. She's a spitfire all right, thinking that his superiors were right when they described her as such.
Within the hour, the plane landed at Denver's airport, but in a part of the airport where private planes usually land. When they were escorted off the plane, a van with heavily tinted windows is where they went next.
Then it was off to the hospital.
"Well, that was a short flight," Jack commented as they rode to their next destination.
"You slept through most of it, Jack," Julia said; "What I wouldn't give to hitch a ride on Air Force One again."
"When were you on Air Force One?"
"On the trip up to Wyoming when we came to stay with you," Julia said. "Certainly a lot better than the C-130 we just got off of."
"C-130s weren't made with comfort in mind, Julia," Jack said, smiling; "You're just spoiled by flying in passenger planes. I spent a lot of time on C-130s when I was a young man."
"But you were Army, though."
"We had to get from point A to point B somehow, didn't we?" said Jack.
"Well, yeah."
"The military isn't big on making it comfortable for you," said Jack; "You were just another grunt to them."
"I don't think I'd have gotten far in the Army then," Julia said; "I don't know how Nik did it."
"Nik sounds like he is pretty tough, from what you've told me," Jack said; "I'd like to meet him some day before I leave this earth. I've heard stories about his bravery and weapons skills."
"We were trained by the best there was, Jack," said Julia, remembering Peter making them all get up before the sun to train from the time Julia was five until he and Kiera were murdered seven years later.
"Peter San Marco's reputation as a Marine preceeded him," Jack said; "even when I was in the thick of the New Army shit, he was well known and very much feared. Our higher ups had no clue he was training his wards in weaponry and survival skills."
"Now Nik has a son named after him," Julia said; "That boy has a lot to live up to with that name."
"I don't doubt that for a second," Jack said; "especially if Nik has trained his children the way he, you and the Donovan boys were trained."
"Oh he has, trust me on that," Julia said. "We all have."
"Mrs. Summers, Mr. Christofferson, we're at the hospital," the driver of their vehicle said; "We'll escort you into the building and wait for you in this spot when you're through."
"Thank you," Julia said. Jack only coughed.
The driver couldn't help but think, that man doesn't have long to live; he sounds like my grandfather before he died.
I wonder if Julia Summers is aware of that, he thought as Julia and Jack walked into the building.
It came to Nik in the middle of the night. It was so beautifully evil that he couldn't help but smile.
Let's give Marsh a taste of what we can do, he thought. It'll either scare the shit out of him or piss him off.
Nik hoped it was piss Marsh off. Use his emotions against him.
"Fuckin'-A!" he said in a low tone so as to not wake KateLynn; "We could freak the man out and use his anger against him. Love it! Abso-fucking-lutely love it!"
"Go back to sleep, Nik," KateLynn mumbled in her sleep.
But her husband was too excited. He couldn't wait until he knew that Jeremiah was awake to tell him.
Marsh was still holed up in a room in a sleezy motel on the outskirts of Chicago, that much Nik knew. The GPS tracking device on Marsh's coat was doing its job. He rarely left his room. He had drugs and whores sent to him. He had food brought to him. Nik knew that Marsh was spending a lot of money, because Nik was now having Marsh's banking information sent to him. He knew everything that Marsh did, how much it cost, and where he was at all times.
Marsh would elude him eventually; but not before he and Jeremiah paid a little visit to the new leader of the American Republic Movement. Mess with the man's head a little. Give him misinformation about where Julia was.
I'll tell him Julia is in California. Wyoming was a smoke screen. Julia's cousin Rebekah still lived there with her family, so it's not that far fetched, Nik thought; but I think I'll leave Rebekah and Chris out of this and send Marsh and his goons to San Francisco. A whole fuckin' city for them to look in and not find Julia.
It was brilliant, Nik thought. Let Marsh figure out on his own he's been duped.
He couldn't wait any longer. Nik got up out of bed and headed to his office to call Jeremiah.
And he hoped Jeremiah and Jasmine weren't getting freaky.
II
"I'll be there at 10am on the dot on Wednesday," DeWitt said to Cameron Chang on the phone; "This is really good news, Ms. Chang, and you won't regret your decision to have Kathryn be an outpatient."
"I feel she's ready to take on real life," Cameron told him; "Kathryn has been feeling some of the emotions that were Chastity's domain for so long, like anger and suspicion. Kathryn's retained her hold on her own personality, and that makes her a good candidate for outpatient treatment. And, by the way, Mr. DeWitt, did you know that Kathryn was an artist?"
"Yes, I did," DeWitt said; "She really wants to go to school and study art, or at least she did before this latest tussle with Chastity."
"She's really quite talented in this area, and she should pursue it," Cameron said.
"Our middle daughter, Erin, inherited her mother's gift for art," DeWitt said; "At only eleven, she's entered several art contests and won or placed highly in quite a few, even against kids older than she is."
"Kathryn told me that she once painted, too, but wasn't sure if she still knew how," Cameron said.
"She has a whole studio in the basement next to the practise room I had built for Helene," DeWitt said; "She should definitely get reacquainted with it now that she's coming home."
"So, I'll look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, then, Mr. DeWitt," Cameron said, abruptly changing the subject. DeWitt noticed the change in her demeanor and wondered if someone was in her office with her. He then shook away the thought. But it would still bother him, especially on Wednesday.
Collins-Ross saw two of the men on the east side of the Christofferson residence, between the back door of the house and the barn. The other two men were on the west side, near the front of the house.
So, these are their positions to storm the house, Collins-Ross thought. The sun was beginning to set, and these men in the back needed to be taken care of.
He watched as the men became spooked by something, looking around nervously, and changing their position. Collins-Ross hear cattle mooing and a horse neighing nervously. Better than a burglar alarm, Collins-Ross thought, chuckling to himself.
While the men in the back of the house were distracted by the sounds the animals were making, Collins-Ross prepared to pick them off. He attached the silencer to his sniper rifle and aimed at the neck of the first man. He pulled the trigger and the man dropped wordlessly to the ground. The other man didn't seem to realize that his partner was dead.
Collins-Ross lined up his next shot, and the other man, too, fell to the ground. Dead as a fuckin' doornail, he thought. Right through the spine, just like Dad taught me. Me and Julia are the only people in the world who know the SpineSplitting technique, he thought. And I'm going to keep it that way.
The animals' ruckus didn't end even though the intruders who caused it were both dead. There were two other men out there who needed to be taken care of before they breached the threshold of the house.
Those within would be waiting for whomever came through that door.
"Why are the animals making such a racket?" asked Zach. Miri looked at him. She knew that someone was on the property. Someone who didn't belong there.
"Weapons!" Miri said suddenly, and all four Summers siblings reached for their firearms.
"Jaime, you and Zach watch the back door," Miri said; "Shoot to maim if you have to. Shoot to kill only if threatened."
"Yes, Miri," Jaime said, she and Zach taking their positions behind the chairs near the back door.
"Rachel, you'll stay with me," Miri told her youngest sister; "If anyone comes through that front door other than the Friendlies, you have my permission to shoot."
"How will I know they're Friendlies, Miri?" asked Rachel.
"They'll identify themselves as such," Miri said; "Enemies won't. They might try to pretend they're Friendlies, so you have to be careful about that. I'll let you know if I have time. If not, I'll just start shooting, okay?"
"Okay, Miri," Rachel said. She was excited that she'd finally get to use her training on real enemies, and not on her mother or her older siblings pretending to be enemies.
Meanwhile, Zach had crawled to the window and looked out. He saw two dead men on the walkway between the house and the barn.
"Miri, looks like two men down in the back," he said.
"Dead, Zach?"
"Oh, yeah, it looks like it," Zach said; "Looks like bullets pierced their spines."
Holy shit, Miri thought; only two people knew the SpineSplitting technique. One was her mother. The other was her grandfather.
Mom's in Denver, so I know it's not her, Miri thought; and Grandpa Jacob would not come all the way out here for this. Who else could possibly know...?
None of her uncles, those related by blood or by fate, knew it that Miri knew of. One of the Friendlies knew it. But Grandpa Jacob was the only one who could teach the technique.
Mom taught all of us to be anatomical killers, Miri thought; shoot where there would be the most damage or blood loss.
She was at a loss as to who else knew how to do the SpineSplitting method. The only person she could think of was her Uncle JT. But he had a young family, so Miri didn't even consider that he would know.
But he did. Miri and her siblings would soon find out.
III
"You should have let Ms. Hope stay out when you released her for Christmas, Cameron," Miles Dagget said.
"She still needed to be evaluated before I could allow her to become an outpatient, Miles," Cameron told the head of the clinic.
"When she started showing signs of recovery as early as October? Are you in this field because you still believe in helping people, or because you need the money that wealthy people like Christian DeWitt can pay you to keep Kathryn Hope here?" asked Dagget. He had suspected for some time that Cameron had been keeping patients with deep pockets in house longer because she needed the money.
"How I conduct my therapy sessions has worked for me for twenty-two years, Miles," protested Cameron; "I haven't changed the way I do things just because the clinic has a 'cure 'em and kick 'em out' policy. Disassociative Personality Disorder has always been a challenge, and Kathryn Hope deserved to have the best care. And, that's what I gave her."
"Could she still relapse?" Dagget asked.
"She could. That's why she's going to be an outpatient, Miles. So I can still monitor Kathryn's progress without keeping her here indefinitely," Cameron said. "She may never be completely free of her alter, but the goal is to make sure Kathryn lives her life and Chastity never returns."
"I still think she could have been released as an outpatient over Christmas," Dagget said. "You kept her here about three months too long, in my opinion."
"I'd rather she stay longer and learn more coping skills, than release her early only to have her return in worse shape," said Cameron.
"But she is going home Wednesday, like you told DeWitt on the phone," Dagget said.
"Yes, Miles," Cameron said; "I don't lie to my patients or their families. You know me better than that."
Yes, I do, Dagget thought; A little too well.
Collins-Ross then found himself on the opposite side of the house, where the other two men were waiting for their fellow team members to return their call.
"Well, fuck," the leader said; "If they've already gone in and killed the family, I'll kill them."
"I just saw the youngest girl pass by the window, so at least she's still alive," his partner said.
"That's a relief," the leader said; "At least they aren't being stupid."
No, Collins-Ross thought to himself, they're dead. And soon, so shall you and your buddy.
He took aim at the men's heads from his new hiding place near the barn. The leader fell as the bullet fired from Collins-Ross' rifle found its way into the man's spine. The other man didn't even have time to look around to see where the bullet had come from before he, too, lay dead at the side of the house.
For now, his nieces and nephew, their mother, and their protector were safe.
He ran back to the front of the house, where he'd breach the front door, and hoped he didn't find himself on the wrong end of his sister's gun.
He'd soon learn that it wasn't his sister he had to worry about.
"Miri, I heard a thud," Rachel said; "They're coming closer, aren't they?"
"I don't know, Rach," Miri said; "not without getting out of position to check."
"I'll go check Miri, if you want," Rachel offered.
"Go to yours and Jaime's bedroom and look out the window," Miri instructed; "Combat crawl like Uncle Nik showed you and Aaliyah last summer."
Rachel did just that; combat crawled across the living room floor, down the hall, and into hers and Jaime's bedroom. She grabbed a ball cap to put on her head so that if there was anyone out there, they wouldn't see her red hair.
She looked out the window and saw a man laying on the ground. His eyes were wide open. Rachel knew the man was dead. It didn't faze her in the least. She'd seen a dead body before. Her father's, laying in his casket.
Rachel returned to her position with Miri the same way she left. "What did you see, Rachel?" her sister asked.
"There's a dead man outside the bedroom window," Rachel said; "His eyes were open."
"The Friendlies got to them first, then," Miri said; "That's good. I wonder if they're going to make themselves known."
Jaime and Zach came to Miri and Rachel's position, now that the threat against them seemed to be over. "What are we going to do about the bodies, Miri?" asked Zach.
"I guess we'll have to get in touch with someone somehow," Miri said; "Mom left a telephone number on her desk for a contact before she and Jack left."
"We'll have to call whoever it is soon, before people start asking questions," Jaime said.
Miri was about to say something when there was a banging against the front door, like someone was trying to knock it down.
"Whoever this is," Miri said; "We aim to maim. That way, they can be taken into custody if need be."
The banging continued, followed by swearing by a male voice none of the children recognized. Miri realized that whoever it was, they meant to gain entry to the house.
Just then, they saw the doorknob and the deadbolt lock come out of their positions on the door. All four of them aimed their weapons at the door, waiting for the person who wanted to get in.
The door opened and a tall figure dressed in snow camoflauge stood silouetted in the doorway. He removed his hood and skimask and Miri recognized him immediately. Or she thought she did.
No, she thought, it couldn't be...
DeWitt decided to not tell his daughters their mother was coming home. He wanted Kathryn to be there when the girls came home from school on Wednesday.
He couldn't believe his angel was finally his again! Since her brief visit at Christmas, just three weeks before, he'd been making plans for when she was finally at home.
One of those plans was a date night. It had been so long since he and Kathryn had been out together without the girls. He decided that Saturday evening, he and his soulmate would grace the finest restaurant in the city. Someplace Kathryn liked.
DeWitt started to make the reservation, then decided to ask Kathryn if she really wanted to go there. He'd let her choose where they went.
"I don't know anything about fine dining, Christian," Kathryn had protested the first time he wanted to take her out to a nice restaurant not far from the apartment. "I'll end up embarrassing you."
"Never, Kathryn," Christian said; "You grew up with this, didn't you? You could never embarrass me."
"What if... someone recognizes Chastity?" she asked.
"Wasn't that the whole point of getting your hair back to its original blonde?" asked Christian; "You'll be fine, Kathryn. And if someone does recognize Chastity, say they must be mistaken and walk away."
Kathryn was still so frightened, Christian thought. What can I do to ease her mind and spirit? Show her that she can trust me. I'll never betray any of the secrets she told me.
"We'll go, and if you still feel uncomfortable, then we'll leave," Christian said; "Would that be okay?"
Kathryn nodded. Her innocent blue eyes looked at him, and he knew he was falling in love with her. I will protect you, my angel, he promised her in his mind. Please, please trust me.
DeWitt looked out the window. He thought about how happy the girls were to see their mother; he thought about how happy he was to hold her in his arms again. I will protect you, my angel, he thought.
The man revealed his face, and Miri just stared, dumbfounded. That can't be Uncle JT, she thought. He's in Virginia, with Sara and their little ones.
Wasn't he?
She felt her siblings' eyes on her, as if to ask, Well, Miri? Do we shoot or not?
"Well say something, Mirielle," Collins-Ross said to her. "I ain't got all damn day. Where's your mom?"
"Is that really you, Uncle JT?" she asked when she found her voice.
"Really and truly," he said; "Those men outside didn't get dead by themselves, you know."
"You shot them?" asked Rachel.
"Yes, ma'am, I certainly did," Collins-Ross said; "You must be Rachel. I haven't seen you since you were about two years old."
"How do we really know you're our uncle, and not someone trying to gain our trust, then kill us later?" Zach demanded. Jaime kicked her brother. "Shh..." she said.
"Ask me something only your uncle would know, boy?" Collins-Ross asked.
Zach, a little ticked off that this person would break down the door, asked him, "Who was the Interim President after the Occupation?"
"My mother was," said Collins-Ross; "Her name was Christine. My father is Jacob. My given name is Jacob Taylor Collins-Ross. Any other questions?"
Looking at the floor, Zach said, "Um, no..."
"Why are you here?" asked Miri.
"CIA sent me here to protect you and your family," Collins-Ross said. "So, where's your mother?"
"Denver," Jaime said; "She and Jack left this morning."
"So you're here alone?"
"We can protect ourselves," Miri said defensively. "Mom and Jack were only staying in Denver overnight. They'll be home tomorrow sometime."
"Then I'm staying til then," Collins-Ross said; "We need to get those dead scumbags off the property. Let me call someone."
He got on the phone, said a few words, then hung up.
"You are to stay in the house, and not go outside for any reason until the authorities leave," said Collins-Ross. "I'll meet with any authorities who show up. As far as they're concerned, you're in Denver with your mother."
"Yes,sir," Miri said, still in a little shock that this tough talking, guntoting man was her uncle. Last she knew, he and his wife had just had a little girl.
This is all too weird and surreal to me, she thought.
This would be tame compared to what the immediate future held for her family.
Miri wasn't going to like it much.
It would almost take her mother from her.
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