Part 1--
Jordan had just gotten the twins down for a nap when Julia stopped by unexpectedly. As glad as Jordan was to see her oldest daughter, she had the feeling that Julia had something to discuss with her.
And it wasn't wedding plans.
Once they sat at the kitchen table, Julia came straight to the point.
"Mom, you need to see a doctor about those flashback episodes you've been having. I talked to David before I came over here, and he told me you've been having them a lot around specific times of the year. Like my birthday."
"I know I need to see someone," Jordan said. "But I'm scared they're going to tell me I'm crazy or something."
"Could it possibly be Post Traumatic Stress from your imprisonment?" asked Julia.
"I was diagnosed with that years ago," Jordan said. "I thought I was managing it pretty well on my own. My doctors took me off the drugs because I didn't really need them. It's just that things have gotten so hectic since I was cleared to resume my usual duties after I was shot and the aneyurism and all."
"You're getting older and things aren't going to be any less hectic with two more babies coming," Julia said. "Perhaps you should be reevaluated."
"That sounds like something David would say," said Jordan.
"That's because he did say it," Julia said; "Mom, I'm worried about you. Niki and Kimber would freak if they saw you in a full blown episode. They're too little to understand what you've been through. Could you please promise me to see someone soon, and not after another episode happens? You have four little ones counting on their mother being able to take care of them."
Jordan sighed, knowing Julia was right. "Okay, Jules, I'll see someone. You can even come with me if you want to."
"Tell me when and I'll be there."
"I appreciate you being concerned, Julia," Jordan said, giving Julia's hand a squeeze. "Most girls your age would just roll their eyes and think their mother IS crazy."
"In case you've forgotten, Mom, I'm not like other girls my age," Julia pointed out.
"Indeed you're not!" said Jordan, laughing.
Julia smiled. She loved it when her mother was happy.
----------
David was thinking about everything that he and Stefanie talked about the night before, and seeing her, he had to admit to himself, made him nervous.
Payback is a bitch, he thought, echoing Stefanie's words. "I should have seen this coming," he said aloud. "I should have known she'd want to make this as uncomfortable as possible for me. I deserve it..."
"Deserve what?" Mike asked as he stood in the doorway of David's office.
"To have my past come back and smack me senseless."
"Who did you piss off this time?" asked Mike.
"Doesn't matter," David said; he didn't want to discuss his romantic failings with anyone. "What's up, brother?" he asked.
"I've got some really interesting intel for you about Neil Hope," Mike said.
"Really? All I've been hearing about is his divorce from the President," David said. "It's like a fucking soap opera!"
"Seems that Neil Hope has been reported missing by his estranged wife."
"When did this happen?" asked David.
"It hasn't hit the wires yet, but she reported him missing just this morning," Mike said.
"You get that from our source in the Capitol Sector?" David asked.
"Just got it not ten minutes ago," Mike said. "I saw that Julia was in here with you so I waited until she left."
"She wanted to discuss her mother's flashbacks," David said, glad to take the subject away from the now missing Neil Hope; "Julia is concerned that her mother being under a lot of stress might set them off."
"With two more babies coming, David," Mike said, "I'd be concerned, too. As you know, little ones are a lot of work, and Jordan is doing it alone during the day. And you're going out of town next week to see the Director."
"That's what concerns me," David said. "If I'm away when one happens and Jordan's alone with the girls, they'll be traumatized."
"I can have Tina check in on her while you're gone," Mike offered.
"Let me think on that and talk about it with Jordan," David said. "I don't want her to think that I think she needs a keeper."
"Okay," Mike said. "I won't say anything to Tina until you tell me otherwise."
"Good," David said; "Now, as for Neil Hope. I hope to hell that they keep it out of the papers. This is something the President doesn't need. I may disagree with her and the Committee about everything, but she's still probably concerned about her husband's whereabouts."
"You're too kind, David," Mike said. "If the roles were reversed, Carl Parks would send out a goon squad to look for Jordan were she to come up missing."
"Carl Parks, I'm convinced, has no heart and no soul," David said. "He does everything for his own gain and the hell with everyone else."
----------
Sarah Kathryn paced in her office, wondering if reporting Neil missing was a good idea. She hadn't heard anything from him since December, and Lord only knew where he could have gone. When she finally got a hold of their son and he hadn't heard from his father, she started to freak out.
Maybe the divorce thing was a ruse, she thought. He filed for divorce then took off somewhere. He could be anywhere in the world!
Like I need another thing to worry about, she thought bitterly. How dare he pull this shit on me! I don't even know where to have the Guards look for him.
The Committee was breathing down her neck to pass some new laws that restricted things that Undesirables could do. She didn't like any of them. One literally would make Undesirables live in "ghettoes", like the Jews in Nazi Germany. What was next? she thought; having Undesirables exterminated?
She truly hated her job. Her husband left her; her son barely talks to her; her so called handlers want her to treat other human beings like cattle or garbage; she was lonely...
Fuck my life, she thought. I wish I were dead.
----------
"Madame Director," David said when he returned Christine's call some three days after she left a message for him to call her; "I'm sorry it took so long to return your call. I wanted to discuss Morbus coming back there to be your bodyguard."
"Only if you can spare him, David," Christine said. "I don't want to leave you open to death threats of your own if I agree to have Morbus come here."
"Morbus has named his successors to do the bodyguard duty when he is unavailable," David said. "They're two young men I trust implicitly with my life. I had the priviledge of being their guardian for two years, so I know I can count on them."
"Nikolai San Marco and Jeremiah Donovan?" asked Christine. "I know Jeremiah's brother lives in the New England Region now with his wife and baby."
"Yes," David said. "I had no say in Morbus' decision. He chose the best men for the job. I didn't even know until a couple of days ago who had been chosen."
"So Morbus coming here won't be a problem for you," Christine said. "I'd still like you to come here to discuss it further with Morbus present. We're still on for next week, right?"
"Yes, Madame Director," David said. "I have another stop earlier in the week in the Tidewater Region about possibly holding a rally at the old Norfolk Naval Base site, so I can still be there on Wednesday if that's still good for you."
"Wednesday next week is still on my calendar, David," Christine said.
"I'll send Nik and Jeremiah ahead to Arlington, and Morbus will stay with me in the Tidewater Region," David said.
"Very good, David," Christine said. "I'll make arrangements for lodging for Nik and Jeremiah here, and I'll see you and Morbus on Wednesday."
"Yes, ma'am," David said.
----------
Nik ran a hand on his new short haircut. Gone were the white-blond curls, and in their place was a military style brush cut.
"You look like you have no hair, Nik," KateLynn said as she held Sandrina in her arms. The six month old wanted to have her daddy hold her and reached out for him. Nik took his daughter from her mother and asked her,
"Well, Sandrina, what do you think of Daddy's hair?"
Sandrina just laughed. She loved it when her daddy held her.
She had finally caught up to other six month olds after her early birth, and was progressing normally. Her new trick, as her mother called it, was trying to crawl. She actually was getting the hang of it, which meant that KateLynn would have another little one to race after. Matty was already running around the house, pretending to be a superhero.
"Time for your nap, little girl," Nik said as he carried Sandrina into her bedroom and laid her down in the crib. Like her big brother, she put up no fuss.
Nik turned on the infant monitor, then left Sandrina's room to check on Matty, and he was still sleeping. Nik and KateLynn would have a few moments to themselves before he woke up.
KateLynn was in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch, and Nik put his arms around her waist.
"How's my blushing bride?" he asked as he kissed his wife's ear.
"Tired," she said. "I could use a nap!"
"I know, baby," Nik said; "Matty will be up and running around here in a few, so we'll have to enjoy the quiet while it lasts."
KateLynn sighed. She was worried about Nik's new position as one of David's bodyguards. She knew that he was good at what he did, but the idea that he'd be in harms way concerned her.
"Nik, I'm worried about your trip to the Arlington Sector next week," she said.
"You shouldn't be," Nik said. "We talked about the possibility that I could be named David's bodyguard and what that would mean for us. I know you're concerned. I am, too. I always have to be on my guard. This isn't the Ghost Squad anymore."
"I know I'm being silly, because I know you're the best of the best," KateLynn said. "And Jeremiah always has your back, and you have his."
"We'll have to take this one mission at a time, KateLynn," Nik said. "That's all we can do."
"I'm sorry, Nik," KateLynn said. "I shouldn't be such a downer. I'm very proud of you and everything you've accomplished. What other twenty year old can say that?"
"Jeremiah?" Nik said.
"Besides him."
"None that I know," Nik said. "And just wait til Julia turns twenty..."
"She just turned seventeen yesterday, Nik!" KateLynn said. "Let her enjoy that before you have her signed up for bodyguard duty."
"I don't think David would allow that!"
Before KateLynn could respond, Matty was standing in the kitchen. "Mama," he said. "I need to go potty..."
"Okay, Matty, just a sec," KateLynn said.
----------
Despite the tough bitch act she put on for David's benefit, Stefanie Travetti was a nervous wreck.
Why did I tell him he had to come here for his closure? she asked herself. Why couldn't I just tell him I forgave him for being a douche years ago and it didn't matter anymore.
The woman who was known as Charlotte Rush in the small hamlet within what was known as Virginia Beach before the New Government took over wanted to forget everything in her past. She had to look forward to the future. She had two five year olds to raise now, because their parents had been arrested, beaten and murdered by the New Army for crimes they did not commit.
Stefanie looked in the mirror in her bedroom and didn't like what she saw. She had definitely aged since Dale passed away four years before. She didn't look like the same woman who had been in...lust with an up and coming rockstar who now led the Resistance group everyone in the New Government was afraid of.
"I'm an old woman now," Stefanie said. "I never wanted to look this old. I look so much like my father it scares me!"
But, it is what it is, she thought as she walked down the hall towards the living room. Like it or not, Stefanie, you're not the same woman you were when you met David Draiman. And he's probably not the same man.
But she smiled when she remembered their time together. It was a rock journalist's dream assignment... to tour with a new band.
Now, she was in hiding; her husband gone; raising twin granddaughters alone; her son and his wife were dead;
It could be worse, she thought. I could be dead. I could've been the body David found in his house in Austin. But I wasn't. Maybe I was meant to give David his closure after all.
"And I'll be a tough bitch about it, too," she said aloud.
"Nonna! You said a bad word!"
She turned around to see her granddaughter Olivia with a disapproving look on her face. Just like her father, Stefanie thought. Her twin, Katherine, was still taking her rain slicker off. They had just gotten home from year round school.
"I know," Stefanie told the five year old. "But that doesn't mean you and your sister can repeat what I say. I know it's a bad word. I'll try harder not to use bad words, okay, Liv?"
"Okay, Nonna." the girl said. Then she ran off to find her sister.
Stefanie only sighed.
----------
Part 2--
With his graduation from college, Jeremiah could now think about planning his wedding to Jasmine and take on a new postion within the Disturbed Ones organization.
It was his new position as one of David's bodyguards that he was most excited about at the moment. Not that marrying Jasmine was less, but Jasmine was not looking forward to the hoopla that planning her wedding would consist of.
"Jas," Jeremiah said as he trimmed his goatee; "you think I should just shave this off?"
"Your beard, Jere? No," Jasmine said. "You have such a baby face that you'd look like a very tall twelve year old. I say keep it."
"You really dig it, don'tcha baby?" Jeremiah asked her.
"I really do, Jere," said Jasmine, planting a kiss on Jeremiah's lips. "Don't change a thing about you."
"I won't if I'm not asked to," Jeremiah said. "You know that I could be asked to change my appearance as part of my job as David's bodyguard."
"I know, Jere," Jasmine said. "And that will be okay with me if it means that you can protect David better."
"And I'll be gone next week," Jeremiah said. "Mine and Nik's first assignment in keeping David safe."
"I know you two will do a great job," Jasmine said. "If Morbus and David have faith in your abilities, then I should have nothing to worry about."
"But you do worry," Jeremiah said. "As a nurse, you know that anything can happen."
"I try not to let that occupy my mind, Jere," Jasmine said. "I can't let what you do affect what I do. What kind of nurse would I be if I did?"
"Well, from personal experience," Jeremiah said, "you're a great nurse! And someday, you'll be running that hospital's nursing department."
"Maybe so, Jere," laughed Jasmine; "Maybe so."
She did worry about Jeremiah's safety. After all, they reconnected because he got hurt doing his job.
----------
"Prepare to die, bitch," the sinister voice said to the photograph of Christine Collins tacked to the wall of his training grounds.
He wanted to make sure she didn't recruit anymore people to be trained to kill people like him. He was different than the assassins before him who had failed to kill those they had been sent to eliminate.
His background was military, and he knew what he would be doing. Not like those gung ho kids the Committee sent to Austin to kill David Draiman. Unlike them, he would get to his target. He would get Christine Collins and anyone who got in his way. He didn't care who that was, be it her young son, her sister, or someone sent to protect her. He had no problem killing a child, a woman or a bodyguard.
"You will die a painful and horrible death, and if people watch helplessly, I don't give a fuck anymore," he said. "You deserve to die after training women to become killers."
He aimed his rifle at the effigy of the Director of Training and Recruitment of the Disturbed Ones Security Force and fired. The "head" came off easily. And that's how he wanted it to really happen. To blow Christine Collins' head off her body.
After he killed her, he wanted to kill Julia Terranova and Rebekah Mannion. They were the bitch's top female assassins. Terranova more because she knew the spinesplitting technique.
He wouldn't get the chance to prove that women don't deserve to be trained as assassins. It would be a woman who would bring him down hard. One of the three he wanted more than anything to kill.
----------
The papers that morning were filled with the drama not of the President's impending divorce, but of her missing estranged husband. Reports stated that Neil Hope had not been heard from since he was released from a psychiatric ward nearly five months earlier. People who knew him had said they've heard nothing from him. His lawyer said he last spoke with his client in April, when Hope came in to sign the divorce papers that would later be served on his wife, the President. But nothing since then.
Jayme read these stories, too, and remembered that Neil had said he would be out of touch for a while. She wondered if this is what he meant, or was he in some kind of danger?
Meanwhile, their daughter became more active in her mother's body, and Jayme worried that Neil would never know about their child.
What if he really is dead, and it's not just a story I made up to cover up the fact that he is so much older than me, Jayme thought. She knew worrying about it didn't help Neil, or her, or their baby. Jayme decided to find other ways of occupying her time during the three plus months she had left before her daughter would be born.
In a book hidden in a drawer in Jayme's bedroom, was the date and time she last heard from Neil. She hoped that it wasn't the last time she'd ever hear from him. She wanted to see him again and tell him about the baby. He would be pleased, she thought.
----------
It was mid June, Neil Hope had been dead nearly two months. When he died in April, it was just starting to become warm outside and he had opened a window without a screen to let in fresh ocean air. As his body began to decompose, insects began laying their eggs on and in his corpse, excellerating the decomposition process. The open window wasn't open enough to let in large creatures, but smaller scavengers quickly found their way inside.
If the corpse was not found in a timely manner, there would be nearly no organic matter with which to identify the body laying on its back on the bed.
To the unfortunate person who finally found the remains of Neil Hope, it would be something they would never forget.
----------
Jordan called the clinic on the compound and made an appointment with her psychiatrist to have her mental state reevaluated to see why she was still having flashback episodes. She didn't think she was crazy, but if her daughter and her husband were concerned about her, she owed it to them, and herself, to find out why certain events or unusual stresses caused her to have these episodes. She called them "blank outs" because she never remembered what happened during them. The worst one she remembered was after Julia took off to New Haven to save Jeremiah and Joe from the New Government's plan to exterminate them when she was fourteen. Jordan hadn't had one that severe since then, but she didn't want her little girls to witness even a minor flashback, because she was concerned that they wouldn't understand what was wrong with their mommy.
After she got off the phone with the clinic, she called Julia to tell her when the appointment was.
"I think I can make myself available that day to accompany you, Mom," Julia said. "I want you to be able to live your life without having to worry about if or when the next episode happened."
"I'm not crazy, Jules," Jordan said; "I swear I'm not."
"I know you're not, Mom," Julia said. "But what if Niki and/or Kimber saw you have one? It would scare them."
"I don't want that to happen, Jules," Jordan said. "I want to be able to tell them about these flashbacks when they're old enough to understand what they are and why I have them."
"Well, hopefully there's medicine that could lessen the likelihood of you having one," Julia said. She realized how much she sounded like her stepfather. "Not that I want you to be drugged out of your mind so you can't function."
"I know you're only concerned about me and the girls, Jules," Jordan said; "and the baby boys coming in the fall. I don't like having that out of control feeling I had when you came over to tell me you'd gotten engaged."
"We'll get this figured out, Mom," Julia said. She squeezed her mother's hand. "And your appointment is after David gets back from his trip, so if they need to evaluate you overnight or something, he will be here with the girls."
Jordan only looked at her oldest daughter and sighed. Why do I have to be like this, she thought.
--------
Christine had no idea she was being followed, until her son JT mentioned a particular car that had been tailing them most of the afternoon.
"Mom, there's that car again," the boy said.
"The blue one you told me about earlier?"
"Yes, Mom. I think it's following us. It even stopped at the ice cream store when we did," said JT.
Shit, Christine thought. That's all I need now, someone stalking us while we do innocuous things like get ice cream and go to soccer practise.
"JT," his mother said; "There are lots of blue cars like that out there. Maybe you've seen more than one today."
"I think it's the same one all day, Mom," JT said. "It has the same tags on it that we have on our car."
Christine decided to make JT believe that they were playing a game. She asked him to write down the tag number and what the car looked like. JT liked playing detective with his friends, so Christine thought he might like that. At least it won't scare him that someone wants to kill me, she thought.
JT said the car was still following them when they turned onto their street. The car went straight while Christine's car made the turn.
"Maybe you're right, Mom," JT said when they reached their home. "Maybe it was a lot of blue cars."
"Our car is blue," Christine told her son; "Did the car following us have the same tag number you wrote down?"
JT hedged, then said, "Um...yeah."
"Give me the piece of paper you wrote it on," Christine said. "I'll have someone check on it, okay?"
"OKay, but it's probably nothing," JT said.
"You're probably right, but I'll check anyway."
"I like that you can do that," JT said, handing the sheet of paper to his mother with the car's information on it. "It's probably just someone from the neighborhood. You think?"
"Yeah, I think so," Christine said. To herself, she wondered if maybe Nik San Marco and Jeremiah Donovan could come up earlier than next week.
I'll have Dan Donegan run the tag, and see what comes up, she thought.
----------
Later, after JT had gone to bed, Christine called Dan and gave him the information JT had gathered for her.
"Your son saw the same car all day long?" asked Dan.
"I had him write down the tag number and he says it's the same one that had been following us all day," Christine said. "I just want to put my mind at ease that I'm not being stalked."
"I'll run it, Madame Director," Dan said. "I hope it's just one of your neighbors, and not someone intent on bringing harm to you or your son."
"Thank you, Dan," Christine said. "Could you have Morbus call me at his earliest convienence?"
"I'll pass the message along to him, Madame Director," Dan said. "And I'll get back to you about the tag number in the morning."
"Thank you for doing this for me, Dan," Christine said. "Maybe I'm letting all this just get to me. I have a young son to think about."
"Perfectly understandable, Madame Director," said Dan. "I know that anything
that affects me also affects my family. We can never be too careful."
"Agreed."
----------
The "BlackOps Girls" were in another training session, and all five of them were doing quite well. Morbus was pleased with the progress "his" girls were making in keeping their skills up to date. As usual, Julia was at the top of the class. Their skills with guns, knives, and chemical methods that allowed them to escape from dangerous situations ("knock out drops") were better than similarly trained men much older than themselves.
There was a big assignment coming up in the next several months that would require all their skills, not only with weapons, but with phyiscal skills. Fighting and seduction skills were right up there on the list. Their targets would be higher ups in the Illegals government, all of whom like their women on the young side. The "Girls" ranged in age from seventeen to twenty five, so they could appeal to the baser instincts of their much older male (and one female) targets.
As they were walking back to the dorms for showers and classroom training, all of them admired Julia's engagement ring, which she was wearing on a chain around her neck.
"Set a date yet, Jules?" asked Vixen, the oldest of the team at twenty five.
"Ryan and I talked about maybe fall or winter next year, but nothing set in stone," Julia said. "I've only been engaged a week, you guys!"
"I'm not even close to getting anything like that." This from Kylee, only a couple years older than Julia. "Last boyfriend got put off that I handled a gun better than he did, but hell, my daddy taught me to hunt when I was a little bitty thing! I even had a little bitty rifle."
"You grew up in Tennessee, right Kylee?" Susie, a couple of months younger than Kylee, asked.
"Yeah, and everyone I grew up with hunted and had guns," Kylee said. "I shot little game like rabbits and squirrels. Shot my first deer when I was eight. My brother was jealous as hell!"
Rebekah said, "I shot quail as a kid. Then my dad would clean them and we'd have them for dinner. Now we shoot enemies of our way of life and the legitimate government. Can't eat those for dinner!"
"Eww, Rebekah!" Julia said. "I'll take my chances with the squirrel stew that Kylee talks about all the time, thanks!" But she laughed, and Rebekah did, too.
God, I wish I could tell you we're family, Jules, Rebekah thought. Neither she nor Julia knew it, but they were going on an assignment that would turn their worlds upside down.
-----------
Oh, shit, Dan thought as he got the results back from the search he did for the tag number Christine had given him.
The car was registered to "The Committee". The address on the registration was in the Georgetown sector.
So Christine is being followed by her probable assassin, Dan thought. I better get David and Morbus in here fast!
Within the hour, David, Morbus, Mike and John were in Dan's office, discussing the latest turn of events in the threat on Christine's life.
"Well, fuck!" David said angrily. "The Committee is bound and determined to bring Madame Director down. They've got someone following her, and her son had figured it out?"
"Not what we expected, that's for damn sure," Mike said. "We definitely need to send someone back there to protect her."
"I'm going," Morbus said. "Anyone trying to kill Christine will have to go through me first!"
"Nik and Jeremiah are still going there while you're in the Tidewater Region next week, right, David?" asked John.
"Yes," David said. "Then they'll return here with me while Morbus stays behind in the Arlington sector with Director Collins and her son."
"Has there been a threat against her son?" Mike asked.
"Not yet," Dan said. "She expects one though."
"No one will get to her son," Morbus said. "I'll give my life first before any harm comes to either him or his mother."
The meeting broke up a while later and David asked Morbus to come to his office. Once inside and the door was closed, David got straight to the point.
"Morbus, I know you want to protect Christine and her son, but are you sure you're doing it for all the right reasons and not because you happen to be the boy's father?"
"David, if someone threatened the mother of your children, wouldn't you do the same?" asked Morbus. "I'm doing it for all the right reasons; to keep our Director alive, and to protect the mother of my son."
"Does Julia know she has a half brother?" David asked.
"No. I have not shared that information with either her or her mother," said Morbus.
"Don't you think Julia would be pissed to find out by accident that she has a brother?"
"I know I'll have to tell her," Morbus said. "But now is not the time for that. Now is the time to keep Christine and JT alive."
"Does Christine know that you're also Julia's father?" asked David.
"Yes, David, she does. She would like to introduce JT and Julia one day when all this drama isn't going on in all of our lives," Morbus said.
David absentmindedly scratched his bald scalp. Things in his life keep getting more weird. Julia has a nine year old brother she doesn't know about and twin brothers who won't be born until the late fall? Morbus actually had another relationship all these years after Jordan and I got together? He sure kept it a secret well from everyone, David thought. That is, until I asked him why he was so adamant that he be the one to be sent to protect the Director.
And I thought my life was hectic, thought David. When this stupid war was over, I'm packing up my family and going back to Austin. Maybe then, everyone's lives will make more sense.
----------
Part 3--
David curled up behind Jordan in bed later that night, thinking about the future after the war was over. Jordan wanted to go to Austin when the rally was there in May, and the idea that they could live there one day excited her. She had only lived in two places in her life-- Boston and Chicago. She had told David years before that she was ready to move someplace far away from the Chicago Sector.
He wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and nuzzed his chin behind her ear. That's when he learned that she was still awake.
"I didn't know you were still awake, Jordan," David said. "You got something on your mind that's keeping you from sleeping?"
"These stupid blank outs, David," said Jordan. David could hear the frustration in her voice. "I've made an appointment to see my shrink the week after you return from Arlington, because you and Julia have become concerned about me."
"I am concerned about you, my angel," David said. "You haven't had a major blank out in about three years, and now you're having them more frequently. I'm just concerned that if the girls see what's going on, they're going to get scared."
"Sometimes I think I need a fucking keeper," Jordan said angrily. "I hate feeling like I have no control over anything! I don't want to take Julia away from living her own life because my life is so fucked up!"
"Talking to the doctor will help, baby," David said. "We'll find out what's going on in that pretty head of yours and get it fixed or managed or something."
"I feel like a damn basket case," said Jordan. "I don't trust myself sometimes. I don't want my children to hate me..."
"Why don't you have someone come in and watch the girls while you're working here at home?" David asked. "We could hire a nanny to help out during the day."
"That would help, David," Jordan said; "but I was to raise our kids, and not have a nanny do it."
"I know that you want to be a hands on parent, Jordan," David said, "but until we find out why you're having flashback and blank outs, someone coming in for a few hours a day wouldn't hurt, would it?"
"I suppose not," Jordan said. She felt defeated, and David sensed this. This was another reason in a whole long list of reasons the New Government must be ousted once and for all. They did this to Jordan, he thought angrily. They sent her to prison for no reason; beat her, raped her, tortured her, tried to steal her child; Jordan was collateral damage in the New Government's take over of the country. How many other people were living with the same flashbacks and not getting any kind of treatment for them?
"Honey, Tina Wengren offered to come over and help, if you want her to," David said. "Would it be easier if someone you knew was here while I was gone next week?"
"I'd rather have Tina here than a nanny I don't know," Jordan said. "I'd love the company, and maybe Ava can play with the girls. She's almost old enough to babysit."
"I'll call her tomorrow and invite her and Ava over," David said. "Maybe it will be fun, and you can worry less."
"You don't think I'm weak, do you, David?" Jordan asked.
"The strong know when to ask for help," David said, remembering something his grandmother used to say; "The weak don't ask because they want to appear strong."
Jordan laughed; "Sounds like one of those phrases that sounded better in Hebrew," she said.
"Perhaps," David said; "But I've never for one second ever thought you were weak, my angel."
Jordan kissed her husband. "Thank you, David my love. You always know the right thing to say to ease my worried overactive mind."
----------
The next day, David had Julia and Rebekah sent to his office. It was Morbus' idea, and he was present when the two young women arrived.
"You wanted to see us, David?" Rebekah asked.
"Yes," David said. He could see the resemblance between the two cousins. It's amazing they haven't figured it out yet, he thought.
"What about?" asked Julia.
"I'd like you to go to the Arlington Sector on Monday with Nik and Jeremiah," David said. "You ladies will be protecting Director Collins from the inside, Jeremiah and Nik from the outside. This would only be for two weeks, then you would return to the compound to continue your training. Jeremiah and Nik would stay on until the threat against the Director has been neutralized."
"When do we leave?" Julia asked.
"Tomorrow, the same day that Nik and Jeremiah do," Morbus said from his usual position standing by the door of the office. "You will be travelling separately from them, and you girls will report directly to the Director's office when you arrive. She will be there to greet you."
"We'll be ready to leave whenever you say," Rebekah said.
"Is 0600 too early?" Morbus asked.
"No, sir," both girls said at the same time.
"Very good. You're dismissed until 0600 tomorrow morning," Morbus said.
With that, Julia and Rebekah left the office.
Once they were gone, David asked,
"Six in the fucking morning, Morbus? Are you insane?"
"They're used to it, David," Morbus said. "They will not let us down."
"Oh, I know they won't." David replied.
----------
Julia went back to her apartment to pack. Ryan was just coming in from his job on the compound when he saw her close her duffle bag.
"Another assignment, I presume?" he asked.
"Yes," Julia sighed. "Additional security for the Security Forces Director. Rebekah and I are doing inside duty; Jere and Nik are doing outside duty."
"She's in the Arlington Sector, right?" asked Ryan.
"Yes."
"How long will you be gone?"
"No more than two weeks," Julia said. "This just came up. There's been a threat against the Director's life. She has a young son. Morbus and David thought more protection was needed."
"Jules, just be careful, okay?" Ryan said.
"I'm always careful, but I'll be extra careful," she said. "We don't know who we're dealing with, a pro or one of those civilians the New Army trains for missions like this... and usually fail at."
"It's going to be a long two weeks without you, Jules," Ryan said. "But this is what you being an assassin means in our lives together, so I'm okay with it."
Julia stood on her tip toes to kiss Ryan. "You're so understanding, baby," she said. "I'm a lucky girl!"
"Jules..."
"Yeah, Ry?"
"I'd feel better if you left your ring here," he said.
"I am," Julia said. "Jewelry is a hindrance in what I do. Especially a nice ring like that."
"It's not that I don't trust you," Ryan said. "But this way I'll know you'll come back."
"I know, and I understand," said Julia. "I'd hate to lose that ring. I know it must have taken months to save to buy it. So it will stay here with you."
Ryan said nothing as he took Julia into his arms. He loved her with everything he possessed. He knew what she did was dangerous. He prayed silently for her safe return to him.
Maybe we should elope when she gets home, he thought.
----------
A few hours later, Julia and Rebekah arrived at the private airstrip that the plane that would take them to the Arlington Sector and to their first assignment together.
Their gear was stowed and they climbed aboard the plane. Julia liked actually sitting in the passengers cabin. She recalled her first trip on this particular aircraft, hiding in the meeting room while Morbus sat in the passenger cabin, unaware of her presence on board. Julia marveled at the fact that it had only been three years prior, but to the seventeen year old, that was a long time ago.
"I got our instructions," Julia told Rebekah. "We're to meet a driver at the airstrip outside of Arlington and they will take us straight to the Director herself."
"I've been to Director Collins' home, Julia," Rebekah said. "I lived with her when she first recruited me six years ago for a short time."
"I know she's like a mom to you," Julia said. "What happened to your real mom?"
Rebekah wanted to tell Julia the truth about who she really was, but she stuck to the story she and Christine came up with six years before;
"She died when I was still a little girl," Rebekah said, thinking, at least that much is true; "I have no real memory of her. My father raised me alone. I had no real female influence until I met Christine."
"Did Christine have her son yet?" Julia asked.
"Yes, he was about three or so," Rebekah said. "He's a sweet little boy. His father works for the Disturbed Ones in a secret capacity, so he's not involved in JT's life. It'd be too dangerous."
"I hear that," Julia said. "My father watched me grow up, but couldn't tell me he was my father."
"Do you know who he is?" asked Rebekah.
"Yes," Julia said; "and I've met him. But I'm not at liberty at this time to say who he is and what he does. I can tell you it's NOT David."
"I didn't think David was your biological father," Rebekah said; "you don't even remotely resemble him. Your mother, on the other hand, you take after quite strongly. You don't have her coloring, though."
"No, not really," Julia said. "That I got from my father. It's weird how that works. I mean, I know the biology behind it, but it's weird because my uncles, my mother's brothers, or at least the two that I've met, have olive complexions. They look Italian. Mom doesn't. They all look very similar, though."
Yeah, Rebekah thought. You look like me and my siblings.
"Nik and Jeremiah will be travelling later today, right?" Rebekah asked.
"That's what I've heard, though I've not talked to either one of them yet," Julia said.
"Is it weird knowing that your brothers were both named as David's bodyguards?" asked Rebekah.
"Not really, Rebekah," Julia said. "Morbus picked the best candidates for the positions, and they just happened to be the ones chosen."
Just then, the steward came into the passenger cabin and informed Julia and Rebekah that the plane was planning to take off. "We should be there in about ninety minutes," he said.
"Thanks," Julia said.
Both girls sat back and relaxed. Neither had no idea about what would transpire, and that it would reveal secrets that would have stayed secrets except for the intrusion of an assassin's bullets.
----------
Part 4--
In Chicagoland and in the Tidewater Region, there were two very nervous people who were going to see each other for the first time in over fifteen years. Both wished that this had been handled on the phone, except for Stefanie Travetti's pride.
Her two granddaughters noticed that their Nonna was pacing and nervous.
She had had a talk with the girls about the man who was coming to visit. He was an old friend from a long, long time ago, and that he knew her by another name. "I just want you girls to be prepared if our visitor calls me something other than 'Charlotte', okay?"
"We know that Charlotte isn't your real name, Nonna," Katie said. "You have to use that name so that the bad men who took our Daddy and Mama can't find us."
"Is our visitor a good man or a bad man?" Liv asked.
"He's a good man," Stefanie said. "He's the leader of the Disturbed Ones. His name is David. I met him a long time ago before the New Government started changing everything."
"Then why are you pacing back and forth, Nonna?" asked Liv.
"Liv, it's been a long time since I saw David," said Stefanie; "and now that he's so famous and so powerful in trying to get the country back to the way it was when your daddy was a little boy, I'm just a little bit nervous."
"Mama and Daddy aren't coming back, are they Nonna?" asked Katie.
"I don't think so, Katie," Stefanie said sadly.
"Okay," said Katie, and she and Liv left the room to get ready for bed.
Damn the New Army, Stefanie thought. They couldn't get me and Dale, so they took my son and his wife instead. God only knows what happened to them.
Her mind, however, settled back on David's impending visit. Could she give David the closure he wanted? That she'd forgiven him for just being human and enjoying all the things his then new found fame brought him? That she apparently tied him down?
That was why she had said "maybe men like you weren't meant to be tied down by women like me," all those years ago. She had at the time hoped it hurt him. Apparently, it did.
She still was nervous about seeing him, though. She wasn't the same person she was then, and she knew he wasn't the same man. He'd married and had children now.
And he scared the shit out of the Illegal government.
That made Stefanie smile.
----------
David paced, too, but his twins were long asleep; and he, too, worried about the reception he would get when he saw Stefanie again.
She was pleasant on the phone, and David couldn't help but wonder if she was trying to intimidate him because of their past relationship, or she was psyching herself out to see him again. He knew she was a strong woman, and had definite opinions about things, which he had always found attractive in the women he dated. He never wanted a woman who had confindence issues, as if being with him because of who he was bolstered her self esteem. He had dated extensively and often ended dates early if the woman he was with showed signs of only being with him because of his celebrity, or she allowed him to dominate her in conversation. He found a lot of women with comparable education were speechless around him.
Stefanie was not one of those. She spoke her mind, and if it hurt people's feelings or conflicted with someone's perception of her, then she had no use for those people. She was careful around her family, especially when her children were young. With adults, she was a force to be reckoned with. Even though she had not completed her undergraduate studies until after their relationship was over, David had no doubt that Stefanie was intelligent. Many intelligent people didn't have degrees. Stefanie had been working on her Master's in Communications when she was placed under house arrest.
He thought he was in love with her. He could see himself in a long term relationship with her when they were still together. He didn't even mind that she had children not much younger than he was. But, he was young, newly famous, and cheated on Stefanie more often than he was comfortable admitting, even to himself. He realized it was him, and his behavior, that doomed their relationship. Stefanie was smart enough to see it then. He, however, wouldn't recognize it for years.
Maybe men like you weren't meant to be tied down by women like me.
David heard it in his head a lot in the years since their relationship ended. It hurt. It stung. It made him ashamed of his behavior. David vowed that he would never treat another woman the same way he treated Stefanie. And, he didn't. The women in his past had all betrayed him, which made Stefanie's words sting all the more, as if to say, see what Stefanie had to go through, motherfucker? Proud of yourself? Payback's a bitch, isn't it?
And until he met Jordan, he honestly didn't think he was worthy of someone who truly loved him for who he was when he wasn't in the spotlight. Only one other woman tried to do that.
It was the visit to that first one that made him nervous. He didn't know, however, that she was just as nervous as he was.
----------
As expected, a car and driver met Julia and Rebekah at the airstrip near the Arlington Sector to pick them up and take them to Christine's office.
The driver, a woman in her mid thirties, was surprised that Julia Terranova was so young. Even though she knew that the Disturbed Ones best assassin was a young woman, she didn't realize she was still a teenager.
Julia picked up on this vibe, but said nothing. I should be used to it by now, she thought; but I'm not. I wish I at least looked older than I am.
She and Rebekah got in the car for the drive to the Security Forces office. They were allowed to carry one weapon and its ammunition. Between the two of them, they had brought enough firepower to take on a small army.
"It's been a while since I was here last," Rebekah said. "Since before I came to Chicagoland for training. I kind of miss it here, and I kind of don't."
"It is pretty here, though," Julia said, impressed with all the trees on the drive to Arlington. Though she grew up having woods to play and train in, she never got tired of the beauty of the forest.
Soon, they arrived at the non-descript building on the outskirts of Arlington. Nowhere on the building did it identify itself as a Disturbed Ones facility. The only thing on the building was its address number, 831.
Julia and Rebekah were escorted by guards to the sixth floor office suite of the Director. Almost as soon as they opened the door, a secretary escorted them to Christine's office, where the Director awaited their arrival.
"It's so nice that you ladies are prompt," Christine said as she had Julia and Rebekah sit down in front of her desk. "Rebekah, it's nice to see you looking so well. How is the shoulder doing?"
"It's improving all the time, Madame Director," Rebekah said. "Thank you for asking."
"Julia," Christine said, struck by how much the girl resembled both her parents; "it's nice to finally meet you in person. I've heard so many good things about you. And I understand that congratulations are in order now that you are engaged."
"Yes," Julia said strongly. "Thank you. I can't say it came as a total surprise. And, I believe we have met previously. You had come to visit my guardians, the San Marcos, when I was about five."
"Ah, yes," Christine said. "I remember now. Before Peter started teaching you how to shoot."
"Yes, Madame Director. We all started getting instruction shortly after that," Julia said.
"I was there, if I recall, because Peter wanted permission to start instructing you and your brothers, in accordance to David's wishes that all Disturbed Ones be trained to use weapons," said Christine.
"Why did he need permission from you, Madame Director?" Rebekah asked; "Wasn't Peter San Marco the weapons expert at the Chicagoland compound?"
"Yes, Rebekah," Christine said; "but my predecessor, Director Roush, didn't want children under ten to handle weapons. Julia and her brothers were all under ten at that time, and Peter wanted to start instructing them because they showed an interest. So I changed the rules so that if parents were confortable with training children five and older, then they could."
There was a bit more banter, then Christine came to the reason for Julia and Rebekah's visit.
"Your assignment, basically, is to protect me from the inside, while Jeremiah and Nik protect me from outside. This will only last until Morbus is free to come here later in the week. Nik and Jeremiah will leave with David, and you girls will stay an additional week after Morbus arrives. Lodging has been set up for you at an apartment about a block from my house in town. You'll appear to be college students taking summer classes while subletting the apartment from the occupants who for our purposes are out of the country for the summer. In reality, the Agency owns the building the apartments are in."
"Will Nik and Jeremiah be staying there as well, Madame Director?" asked Rebekah.
"Yes," Christine said. "With the same cover story. At no time are you to acknowledge that you already know each other. You're just meeting for the first time."
"Okay," Julia said; "I think I can handle that."
"Me, too," agreed Rebekah.
"Very good," Christine said. "Later this afternoon, you'll come to my home and meet my son. Rebekah, I realize you and JT already know each other quite well, but Julia has never met him, so we'll have a get together so that JT and Julia can get acquainted. He'll need to know what you both look like so he will feel safe if something happens to me."
"So how is my rambunctious 'little brother'?" asked Rebekah.
"Smart as a whip, sarcastic to a fault, and doesn't act like any nine year old boy I know," Christine said with a laugh.
She then looked at Julia. She'll be meeting her brother for the first time and won't know it, Christine thought. I hope this doesn't blow up in my face.
---------
Jordan still didn't feel comfortable with David going to the Tidewater Region to see an old flame, but after what he thought he found at his home in Austin, she realized that David needed to have some kind of resolution, some kind of closure, to his relationship with Stefanie Travetti. He was not prone to nightmares, and thinking that she had died weighed heavy on his mind so much that it spilled over into his dreams.
David was going to talk to the private party who took over ownership of the former Norfolk Naval Base to see if having a rally there was feasible. The company who owned the land had turned part of the old base into a park and recreation area. Concerts had been held there, but the New Government outlawed so many bands and their music that concerts were a rare event. David wanted to change that.
Stefanie's location was in a small coastal outlet in what was formerly known as Virginia Beach. The whole region was officially known as Tidewater, but it was also known as Hampton Roads to the people who lived there. David knew that Stefanie hated to call where she lived "Tidewater". She stubbornly still refered to the area where her home was located as Virginia Beach. She had raised her children there, and she wasn't going to call it anything else.
Jordan had learned a lot about Stefanie in the days prior to David's departure. In another time, or another place, Jordan thought she and Stefanie Travetti could be friends. We probably could be, she thought, but she is part of David's past; just as Jacob is part of mine.
David came into the living room at that point, followed closely by Niki and Kimber. They were chattering at him, as they always did when they were excited by something. He said something to them in Hebrew, and the chattering stopped immediately. They girls then went and sat on the couch.
"What did you say to them, David?" asked Jordan. "Whatever it was, it shut them up!"
"I only told them to go sit on the couch," David said. "Had I said it in English, they probably wouldn't have heard me, they were chattering so much!"
"So saying something in Hebrew gets their attention?"
"Apparently so, Jordan," David said. "I don't know why. Maybe because it's different?"
"You got me," Jordan said. Then, "How long are you going to be gone?"
"I should be home by Friday," David said. "Tina said she and Ava would be here after lunch today. Is that okay with you?"
"Yes, David," Jordan said; "Like I told you, I welcome the company of another adult who's been where I am now with the girls. And I like Tina and the other wives. You should know that by now!"
"Jordan, I worry about you," David said. "I just want to know you're okay. I don't want you to think that I think you need a babysitter or something."
"I don't think that," Jordan said. "This scares the crap out of me. I don't want to be a burden to anyone."
"You're not, Jordan," David said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "We'll get this figured out, I promise. But if stress is causing it, then we need to reduce your stress. We should interview nannies when I get back, like we talked about. Ask KateLynn if she knows of any."
"That's an idea," Jordan said. "I really hadn't thought about asking someone who already has one to recommend someone."
"That's my girl," David said as he kissed her cheek. "I have to meet Morbus and get to the airfield in a few minutes. Shall we have the girls come in here?"
"Yes."
David called out to his daughters, "Ladies, could you please come into the kitchen now?"
Two little girls sprinted into the kitchen and climbed into their respective chairs. When they were seated, David said,
"I'm going to be gone for a little bit, so you have to be on your best behavior for Mama, okay?"
"Okay," the twins said at the same time.
"Mama sometimes gets tired and needs to lay down, so Miss Tina and Ava are coming over later," David said. "You need to behave for Miss Tina, too. If she tells you ladies to do something, then it's just like Mama said it."
"Yes, Daddy," Kimber said.
"Niki? What about you?"
"Yes, Daddy," Niki replied.
"Good. I don't want to hear about any misbehaving when I get home. Understand?"
Both girls shook their heads in the affirmative.
"Is Julia coming over, too?" Niki asked.
"No, she will be working," her father said.
"Okay."
"Now, go get yourselves ready for breakfast," said David, and the girls got down from their chairs and ran to the bathroom to wash their hands.
David gave Jordan a hug. "I love you, my angel," he whispered to her.
"I love you, too, David," she replied.
"It will be okay," he said. "I promise."
"I know."
And with that, David was gone.
Jordan felt a little better about the whole situation with David's past. But it was her present she was most concerned with.
But before Jordan could start worrying about it, the girls returned from washing their hands and climbed back up into their chairs to await breakfast. Jordan smiled at her little daughters. She silently thanked God for allowing her and David to become parents.
----------
"David, everything is ready for our trip to the Tidewater Region," Morbus said as David arrived at the airfield.
"Great, Morbus," David replied; "All appointments with the owners of the former naval base have been confirmed?"
"Yes, David," said Morbus. "All will take place Tuesday as scheduled. And your other appointment for later today is still pending."
"It was confirmed just a few moments ago while I was on my way here," David said. "I've received directions to Ms. Travetti's location."
"My instructions, David?" asked Morbus.
"To stay out of sight, but on guard," David said. "No one is to know I am in town a day early. This is a private meeting between me and Ms. Travetti."
"I understand, David," Morbus said.
The two then boarded the plane that would take them to the Tidewater Region. The two hour flight would give David time to think. Just how does one ask for forgiveness, anyway? he asked himself; please forgive me for being an ass?
Morbus, on the other hand, had personal business in the Arlington Sector. But, he chose to sleep through the flight to the Tidewater Region.
David felt his stomach tighten, a sign that he was nervous. Dammit, he chided himself, it's just Stefanie! It's not like I'm meeting a celebrity.
He asked the steward for a glass of wine, and after drinking it, felt a little better.
Ah, Stefanie... David thought. Even after all these years, and all the changes our lives have been thtrough, you still have the power to render me into a lovesick little boy. He then remembered her words,
Maybe men like you weren't meant to be tied down by women like me.
David sighed. If only he knew then what he knew now...
----------
Stefanie kept looking at the clock. David said he'd be here at three o'clock.
It was nine in the morning. Six more hours.
She wondered what she was going to say to David after all these years. That she forgave him long ago? Because she had. That maybe we weren't meant to be together? Because that's how it turned out.
Then she thought that the girls would be home from school at two, and how did she explain why she was raising little ones again.
God damned New Army, taking Steve and Cara to God knew where to do God knew what to them. It was only after receiving her son and daughter-in-law's wedding bands in an envelope with no return address did she realize that her oldest son and his wife were dead, their then year old twins orphaned.
Stefanie's nerves got the best of her and she began to feel ill. This is ridiculous, she thought. It's just David! I've met bigger names than him in my career and didn't feel like this. But she knew why she felt like this.
History. Their past together. The affection they felt for one another. It was still there.
She found some crackers in the cupboard and ate a few before she felt a little better. Then she decided that she would take a nap.
Maybe I'll feel better in a couple of hours, she thought.
----------
"You loved him, didn't you?" Dale asked Stefanie one afternoon twelve years ago.
"Yes," she admitted; "I did. It hurt that he couldn't be the man I needed at the time. He insisted he loved me, but his actions spoke louder."
"I know it sucks, but he's gone on to more important pursuits. He's the only one who's stepped up and said something about the New Governments policies," Dale said.
"I'm proud of him for that, Dale," Stefanie said. "He always had a strong presence. That's what attracted people to see the band. Now he can put that charisma to good use."
"I hope that he succeeds in what he's attempting to do," Dale said. "Being that outspoken can get him killed."
"Just like it's nearly gotten us killed on a couple of occasions," said Stefanie.
"I'm still going to say what I feel, what I believe, what I fought in war for," Dale said. "This new regime is ridiculous. No freedoms, no rights, no diversity. It's bullshit, Stefanie! I won't stand for it. We MUST speak out!"
"And we do, Dale, at great risk to ourselves and our families," Stefanie said as the producer gave them the five minute mark. "We've got five minutes to air, Dale."
"I'll go to jail, let them do what they will to me, to protect you and our freedom to speak out," Dale said. "You know that I love you, right?"
"Yes, Dale, I do," Stefanie said. "And I appreciate you offering to fall on your sword for me. You don't have to, you know."
"Three minutes, guys," the producer said.
"Thanks, Randy," Dale said.
As Stefanie looked over her notes a final time before the "on air" light came on, Dale looked over at her. He knew she didn't feel for him as he felt for her. He was free to pursue her heart now, but he feared that David Draiman had stolen it for good. I will win you, Stefanie, he vowed... even if it means going to prison to keep you safe.
----------
She awoke three hours later and saw that her granddaughters would be home in an hour, and David would arrive in two.
"Damn," Stefanie said aloud; "I thought I set the alarm..."
She got off the bed and headed down the hall to the kitchen. She had snacks for the girls to prepare, and a late lunch for her and David.
"I wonder," she said, "if he'll even be hungry. There's dozens of places around here for him to eat before he even gets here!"
She knew he didn't eat pork, and she hadn't eaten pork by choice in nearly two decades. It was kind of hard living with Dale because of that. In his other life before the illegal government took over, he was a pig farmer in Oklahoma. Then the government seized his land, his livestock and his home. All he had was radio. Then that was taken away from him, little by little.
But it was David she was concerned with. Stefanie wondered if she'd be strong enough to face him after all the years that had gone by.
She looked at her watch. Tara would be here at three thirty to pick up the girls for ballet class, she thought. Liv, Katie and their cousin Justina would be at ballet for an hour, then would spend the night with Josh and Tara.
Thank goodness for Josh and Tara, Stefanie thought. At least her youngest son and his family still lived here. All this with David would be too awkward with the girls around.
Time seemed to go by in an instant for Stefanie, because the twins were home before she knew it.
"Nonna!" Katie cried out when she and her sister got in the house; "when is Auntie Tara coming over?"
"Soon, Katie," Stefanie said. "I've got your snacks here, girls. After snack, you get into your leotards for ballet and be ready to go when Auntie Tara gets here."
"Yes, ma'am, Nonna," both girls said.
After the girls left to get ready for ballet class, Stefanie thought she was going to throw up.
----------
"Shall we get something to eat, David?" asked Morbus once they were on the ground at the private airstrip adjacent to the Tidewater Region's airport.
"I'm not really all that hungry at the moment," David said. "But if you want to send our driver into a place to get you something, I don't mind."
"I think I can wait," Morbus said.
David and Morbus walked to where the car would be waiting, the driver expecting them. As they got into the armored vehicle, the driver loaded their bags into the trunk of the car.
David gave the driver directions and instructions and within a half hour, the car was pulling up to a medium sized house about a block from the ocean.
"Where is this, David?" asked Morbus.
"This is where Ms. Travetti is."
"This is a private home, David," said Morbus. "This isn't what I was expecting at all."
"You were expecting, maybe, an office building?"
"Well, yes David, I was."
"Is this going to be a problem for you?" David asked.
"No," Morbus replied. "I can make this work. You'll be safe. I'm just worried about neighbors."
David looked out the window of the car and saw that the closest house was a good half mile away. "What neighbors?"
"Okay, David, you made your point," said Morbus, getting a bit annoyed. "I just wasn't expecting to be brought to a private residence."
"If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't exactly sure where we'd be taken," David said. "I just got directions. As we got closer, I realized we were being brought to Stefanie's home."
"It's a big risk for her," Morbus observed.
"I know. And she did this all for me?"
The car pulled up into the drive and David got out. Morbus would stay with the driver.
"I'll contact you when I'm ready to go to the safehouse," David told Morbus. "It might not be for a while."
Morbus only nodded, then he and the car left.
David stood in the driveway, looking at the house.
What the fuck have I gotten myself into, he thought.
----------
Julia and Rebekah were escorted to the apartment building where they would be staying for the next two weeks by armed Security Forces guards. Rebekah thought that was odd, because she and Julia had had as much, if not more, training than the people who were assigned to accompany them. The guards were young, and were chosen by the Director herself because they looked like they could be college students.
Once inside the apartment, they both went to look around. It had three bedrooms, was fully furnished, and the kitchen was stocked. "At least we won't have to run out to the store for milk in the next two weeks!" quipped Rebekah.
"This is really nice," Julia commented. "My apartment with Ryan is nice, but nothing like this. At least I'll go home with some decorating ideas!"
"My last apartment was a dive on the bad side of town," Rebekah said, remembering the place where she first got high on smack. She shook her head to clear the memory. "It had everyone who was everything wrong with people now congregating there. I was glad to get out of there when Christine recruited me!"
Before Julia could comment, there was a knock at the door. Both girls got their guns ready in case it was someone they weren't expecting.
"Who is it!" Julia said in her most intimidating voice.
"It's Chrystal from the college, Ms. Taylor," a nervous sounding voice said from outside. Julia opened the door a crack to see that it was the one female guard who brought them over.
Julia let the woman in, and when the door was closed, she said in her normal speaking voice,
"The car is here to take you and Ms. Mannion to Director Collins' residence, Ms. Terranova," she said. "She requested that you each bring one pistol and ammo."
"We're ready," Rebekah said.
With their guns tucked into their purses, "Ms. Taylor" (Rebekah) and "Ms. Jacobi" (Julia) accompanied "Chrystal" to the car and got inside for the short trip to Christine's house.
----------
Part 5--
There was an authoritative knock on the door that made Stefanie jump. She knew it had to be David. It was quarter to three. She wasn't surprised he was early. He had always been very prompt.
Stefanie went to the door and opened it, and there stood the older and wiser version of the man she once loved.
"David!" Stefanie gasped involuntarily. "It's so good to see you!"
She invited David inside and before he said a word to her, he gave her a hug. As he hugged her, he whispered to her, "It's good to see you, too, Stefanie!"
Stefanie brought him into the living room, and as he sat down, he caught a glimpse of a little girl in a pink leotard looking cautiously from around the corner. He smiled at her and she ducked her head back behind the doorway.
"Did I just see a little ballerina, Stefanie?" asked David.
"You probably did," Stefanie said. Then, "Olivia and Katherine, could you please come here a moment?"
"Those are nice names, Stefanie," David said. "Are they..."
"My granddaughters," Stefanie said as two little ballerinas walked slowly into the living room. They sat on the couch opposite from David and folded their hands in their lap.
"David, these are my granddaughters," Stefanie said. "On the left is Olivia, and next to her is Katie."
"Hello, Olivia and Katie," David said. "Are you twins?"
"Yes," they both said, giggling.
"I have twins girls, too," said David. "They're two. How old are you two?"
"Five," said Olivia
"And a half," finished Katie.
"Ahh, I see," David said.
"Auntie Tara will be here soon to take you to ballet," Stefanie said to the girls; "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, Nonna."
"Okay then," Stefanie said. "Go play in your room until she gets here. And don't get your tights dirty!"
"Yes, Nonna!" they said as they made their way down the hall.
"They're adorable, Stefanie," David said. "Which of your sons is their father?"
"Steve, my oldest, and his wife Cara," Stefanie said. "I fear that they're two of the many victims of the Illegal government."
"I'm sorry, Stefanie," David said. "I had no idea. I should have, but I didn't."
"We were all using new names, David," Stefanie said. "If you had searched for Steve under his true surname, you wouldn't have found him."
"I see."
"All I have left of him are those two little girls," Stefanie said, trying not to get emotional. "If anything happened to them, I'd die."
She gathered herself, saying,
"But that's not why you're here, is it? You asked for closure, didn't you?"
"I did indeed, Stefanie," David said, feeling himself become nervous. "When I thought I found your remains in my house in Austin, I begged you to forgive me for the way I treated you."
"David, can I tell you something?" asked Stefanie.
"What is it?"
"It's this," Stefanie began; "It took me a while to get over you. When I did, I forgave you for being human. You had the world at your feet, and there was just no place for me in it. That's why I said what I said that last night before I left. It pained me to say it, but I realized that I could no longer keep your attention. There were too many distractions, too many people telling you how great you all were. Then there was me, hoping any praying you'd grow up enough to see my pain. You were blinded to it. That's when I knew I had to end it."
"I never meant to hurt you, Stefanie," David said. "What you said that night... I didn't understand why you said it then, but when I finally got it, it hurt like hell. You were right in a way, but I worded it differently-- men like me didn't deserve women like you. Not then. My wife is a lot like you are. She says what she thinks, she has no problem telling me I'm an ass. I know you did it too, but I thought it was because you were jealous. I came to realize that was the way I was then. And I'm truly ashamed of it."
"I forgave you for all that, David," Stefanie said. "And I watched as you became the leader of the Resistance, giving speeches and doing rallies, and bringing people together to fight the Illegal regime. Just like everyone else. I even took the girls to flash mobs and explained why we were doing it. You've done a great job weakening the Illegal regime. And I am so proud to know you."
David looked at her. How could I have been so fucking blind? he thought. Maybe that's why he recognized the signs in Jordan when they first met. His eyes were finally opened to what Stefanie was trying to teach him. He found it in Jordan.
Before he could respond, a woman about twenty eight years old came in with a little girl about three.
"Charlie," she gasped. "There's a strange car out on the road and there were two men fighting in it!"
"What kind of car, Tara?" Stefanie asked.
"Black sedan, rental tags."
Stefanie looked at David and said, "Your car, perhaps?"
"Yes!" David said. "My bodyguard and a driver are supposed to be in that car waiting for me!"
"Tara," Stefanie said; "Take the girls and go out the back way. The keys to the car in the garage are in the ash tray. Go straight home and don't bring the girls back until I call you and tell you it's safe."
"Their bags in that car, Charlie?" asked Tara
"Yes, now go!"
As soon as Tara left with her daughter and the twins, she looked at David.
"What the hell's going on David? You're bringing danger to my doorstep?"
"It wasn't intentional, I assure you," David said. "You mind telling me what's going on?"
"I have a price on my head, David," Stefanie said. "No one's supposed to know that Stefanie Travetti lives here. I've been known as Charlotte Rush for ten years now. If the New Army finds me, I'll be executed as an enemy of the state because I helped kill a judge and escaped my execution!"
----------
Morbus had been sitting in the back of the car with the driver, waiting for David to re-emerge. He knew it would be a while, because this woman David was seeing was part of his past-- a past he needed to reconcile with before he could go further in his present life.
He made periodic sweeps of the neighborhood checking for anyone who might have followed them to this neighborhood by the sea. He would soon realize that there was a threat, and it was driving the car.
Morbus had just returned from a sweep and started to climb into the back seat of the car when the driver suddenly got out. Morbus just looked at him, and didn't really like what he saw. He had his hand on his weapon, just in case.
"I'd like to thank you and Draiman for making my job a hell of a lot easier," the driver said.
"How's that?" asked Morbus, ready to pull out his weapon.
"You led me straight to an escaped prisoner," said the driver. "You and Draiman just got in my way, and you'll both have to die."
Then the driver pulled out a pistol, aiming it at Morbus' head. Morbus expected this and drew his pistol as well.
"I think not, asshole," Morbus growled.
"And what makes you think I just won't shoot you where you stand?"
"You don't have the chutzpah to do it," said Morbus.
"Oh, you think so, do you?" the driver said. "My assignment is to kill Stefanie Travetti, and you led me straight to her. No one's been able to find her for years!"
"You're not killing anyone," said Morbus. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
"You don't have anything to say about it, freak!"
The driver then felt the gun he held being yanked out his grasp. It was when he looked at his hand that he realized he'd been shot.
"You are going to die for this!"
The man then charged Morbus, and Morbus only had to stick his hand out to one side to stop him. The driver lay on the ground by the car, momentarily stunned.
When he regained his senses, he saw where his gun had landed and crawled to retrieve it. Once he had it, he pointed it again at Morbus.
"Say your prayers, you disfigured monster!"
Before the man could pull the trigger on his weapon, he was dead. Morbus had shot him through the neck, neatly slicing the man's spine in two.
Morbus dragged the driver's body into the trunk of the car, then got into the driver's seat. He drove into the driveway of the house that David was in, killed the engine, and waited.
----------
"We need to get out of here," David said. "If you're in danger, then you need to find a place temporarily to stay, with or without your granddaughters."
"I'm not going any-fucking-where without them, David," Stefanie said.
"Who was the woman who picked them up?"
"My daughter in law, Tara. She's married to Josh, my youngest. The little girl with her is their daughter," Stefanie said. "The girls will be safe with her and Josh."
"Then let's get you out of here," David said. "If the New Army is behind this, then you're not safe here."
"My granddaughters, David," Stefanie said, absent-mindedly running her hand through her snow white hair. David remembered she did that when she was nervous.
"When it's safe, you'll call your daughter in law to bring them back to you."
David drew his weapon and he and Stefanie made their way to the front door. He saw the car parked in the driveway, and Morbus at the wheel.
"Lock the house, set the alarm, and get in the car," David said to Stefanie in a gruff voice.
Once she had done that, David shielded her and they got into the back seat of the car.
When they were both in the car, David asked Morbus what happened to their driver.
"He's dead, David. His body is in the trunk of the car," Morbus said. "He was a plant, sent to be our driver because he was assigned to kill Ms. Travetti. He tried to kill me, so I killed him."
"Great," Stefanie said. "Now they know where I've been hiding all these years."
"He said that you had been difficult to find," Morbus said to Stefanie; "So I got the idea that whoever sent him to kill you didn't know where you were exactly."
"Just being in the Tidewater Region is too close," David said. "We'll need a safe place for her to go until we find out who is responsible for wanting her killed."
"David, I don't know this area well," Morbus said, "but I do know where there is a safe place. Ironically, it's on the old naval base you have meetings at tomorrow."
"What's your business at N.O.B., David?" asked Stefanie.
"What? What's 'N.O.B.'?" asked David in reply.
"That's what the locals called the Navy Base," Stefanie said. "It stands for 'Naval Operations Base'. What business do you have there?"
"You know it's owned by a private corporation now," David said, and Stefanie nodded. "I'm looking to possibly having a rally there early next year."
"So where's this safe place?" asked Stefanie.
"I believe it's the old Bachelor's Quarters," said Morbus.
"The BOQ? Are you kidding me?" said Stefanie skeptically.
"Why would he be kidding, Stefanie?" asked David.
"Because they closed those down in like 1999 because of asbestos and lead paint," said Stefanie.
"There is a Disturbed Ones office beyond the park that had been created," Morbus said. "We'll ask there."
----------
Julia and Rebekah were taken to Christine's house, where the Director welcomed them into her home.
"You have a beautiful home, Madame Director," Julia said.
"Thank you, Julia," Christine said. "When we're not at the office, or on official duty, feel free to call me Christine. That is my name, after all."
"Where's JT, Christine?" Rebekah asked.
"It's almost three, Rebekah," laughed Christine; "JT should be home here shortly. I thought that before he got here, we gals might get a chance to chat."
Good Lord, thought Julia, what the hell do you "chat" with the woman who is essentially your boss about?
Julia decided to take her cues from Rebekah and Christine, since they knew each other reasonably well.
The three chatted for about half an hour before the bundle of energy known as JT Collins burst through the front door. "Mom!" he called out.
"Living room, JT," Christine said. The boy stopped short seeing that there was company. Then he saw Rebekah and ran to her.
"Rebekers!" he cried. "Where did you come from? I thought you were in Chicagoland!"
"I was, but now I'm visiting," Rebekah said to the boy. "How are you doing in school, kiddo?"
"I'm doing good," JT said.
"You're doing well," Rebekah gently corrected him.
"Yes," said JT. "I'm doing well." He then saw Julia and said,
"Hi."
"Hello," Julia said, extending her hand toward the boy; "My name is Julia."
JT shook Julia's hand and said, "My name is Jacob Taylor Collins, but everyone calls me JT."
"My father's name was Jacob," Julia said. "He died before I was born, so I never got to know him. It's a nice name."
"Mama's always called me JT," the boy said.
"Then that's what I'll call you," Julia said, smiling. "Because mamas are never wrong about their kids' names."
Rebekah looked hard at the boy, then at Julia. They look like they could be...siblings?
She asked if she could speak with Christine alone, on the pretext that JT and Julia should get to know one another better.
Once alone, Rebekah asked,
"Christine, JT and Julia look an awful lot alike. Is the man who fathered JT also Julia's father?"
Christine had been preparing herself for this question for nine years. She thought it would come from her son, and not from the young woman she thought of as a daughter.
All she said was, "Yes."
----------
Part 6--
Sooner than she would have liked, Stefanie, David and Morbus were in a small office building away from the park at the naval base, speaking with the local Disturbed Ones coordinator. The old BOQ (Bachelor Officers Quarters) residences were remodeled and brought up to code, and were now being used as temporary safe houses for Disturbed Ones who find themselves in trouble. It was in one of these residences that Stefanie would stay for as long as it took to find out who wanted her dead.
"Could my granddaughters and my son's family come stay here as well?" Stefanie asked.
"If it becomes necessary, we could probably do that," the coordinator said. "But we hope we have answers for you before too long."
Stefanie sighed. This was supposed to be a simple visit between two old friends, not the plot of some action adventure novel, Stefanie thought.
She was accompanied to her new home away from home by the coordinator, David, Morbus, and an armed Security Forces guard. She saw that it was fully furnished, and would soon be stocked with at least two weeks worth of groceries. All Stefanie had to do was make out a list of what she desired, and it would be purchased on her behalf and brought to her residence.
"I can't believe, after all these years, that this is happening to me again, David," Stefanie said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "That was the whole idea behind changing my name and hiding in plain sight."
"I'm sorry, Stefanie," David said. "I had no idea that this would happen. We had no intel on whether there were threats to your family's safety."
"It's not your fault, David," Stefanie said. "It probably would have happened anyway."
Just then, Morbus spoke from behind them.
"David, what would you like me to do?"
David turned around to face Morbus, then said,
"For one, Morbus, you can get rid of the bastard who set all this into motion. I don't care what you do with him, just get his dead ass out of the trunk! Then come back here and protect the premises until my meetings tomorrow."
"Yes, David."
Before David could respond, Morbus was gone.
Stefanie didn't even see the bodyguard leave.
"Does he always do that? Disappear practically before your eyes?" she asked.
"Always," David said.
"He's the disfigured one, isn't he?"
"Yes, many years ago he was captured, tortured and set on fire," David said. "Since recovering and escaping from prison, he's been my bodyguard. When I return to Chicagoland, I'll have two new bodyguards, and Morbus will more or less retire. He has served me well, Stefanie. The new bodyguards I trust implicitly. I helped raise both of them for two years after their guardians were murdered. They're two of my stepdaughter's three 'brothers'. The third lives in the NewEngland Region with his wife and child."
"It's a shame you even have to have a bodyguard, much less two of them," Stefanie said. "This is what pisses me off about the Illegal government. They took our rights away to speak our minds, and if we do speak our minds, we need protection! It's insanity! My son Steve and his wife were taken by the New Army and punished for something they never did. All because I got on the radio and spoke up against the New Government!"
"The New Army takes people who don't agree with their ideals and makes shit up about them," David said angrily. "Then they do what they will with them."
"When I was placed under house arrest," Stefanie said, "it was all because I didn't update my driver's licence. The man who ordered my house arrest was someone I knew socially, until he became a government sympathizer. He wouldn't help me. Period. And the police are a bunch of sadists..."
Stefanie rolled up the sleeves on her blouse and showed David the scars from the handcuffs. "The handcuffs were too tight, and when I complained, the sick bastard who arrested me poured alcohol on open cuts."
David could feel himself getting angry. He knew what was coming. The guards who enforced her house arrest assaulted her repeatedly to get her to talk. She never gave up any information. Just like Jordan, he thought.
"Tell me about why you have a price on your head, Stefanie," David asked. "You said you helped kill a judge."
"Oh, David..." Stefanie said. "That's a long story, one I'm not comfortable telling even now. But I'll tell you."
----------
Stefanie couldn't believe her ears! Was that Dale's voice ordering her to pledge allegiance to the New Government? Oh, dear Lord, she thought, they got to him!
When the guards prepared to execute her, the unseen judge said, "Wait! Before you carry out the order of execution, allow me a few moments alone with Ms. Travetti.
The guards filed out. They knew that the prisoner would probably be asked to perform some sort of sexual favor in order to stay alive. Some even snickered, taking bets on what this Resistance whore would be asked to do.
When Stefanie was alone, she felt her knees go weak and she fell to the floor. Then, she felt someone lifting her up to a sitting position. A familiar voice said, "It's okay, cowgirl, no one's going to hurt you."
"Dale?" she asked.
"Yes, Stefanie," Dale said. "It's me."
"Did they turn you?"
"Hell, no!" exclaimed Dale. "Turns out that the judge had a voice similar to mine, so I killed him and took his place. The reason I stayed hidden, is because though I sound like him, I don't look like him."
"You asked me to pledge allegiance to the New Government..." Stefanie said.
"It was in the script," Dale said, laughing. "Yes, Stefanie, they use scripts. None of these people are actual trained lawyers or judges."
"Sounds too Hollywood to me," Stefanie said.
"It is," Dale said. "All smoke and mirrors and bullshit."
"So where's the judge?"
"He's in the couch behind you," Dale said. "You actually sat on top of him."
"Eww, Dale!" she exclaimed. "That's gross!"
"Nevertheless, he's one dead duck."
"Are we going to leave him there?"
"No," Dale said. "We're going to take him out, lay him on the floor, and leave him there. Let someone else clean up the mess."
And they proceeded to do just that. After he was laid out on the floor, Dale handed Stefanie something from his pocket.
She looked at what she was given. "It's my driver's license and my University ID," she said, surprised. "They took these from me years ago!"
"I thought you might want them back."
"Thanks, but I know what I'm going to do with them," said Stefanie. "You know this is David Draiman's house, right?"
"Yes, I had been told that," said Dale.
"I'm going to leave a little clue for David to come look for me," Stefanie said.
"You think he might get the message?"
"I hope so. At least it give him a place to start."
Stefanie opened the corpse's mouth and stuffed her two identification cards inside.
"You know he can't come back here," Dale said. "How is he going to get the message to find you."
"He knows my daughter," Stefanie said. "He'll probably start with her."
Stefanie and Dale looked at the dead judge on the floor. Dale then said,
"Poor clueless bastard; I really hated to have to kill him, but this is war, and he was our enemy. It was him... or us. C'mon, Stefanie, let's get the hell out of here!"
He took off the judge's robe and had Stefanie put it on to cover her nakedness. Then they simply walked out the back door and disappeared.
----------
"And I've been in hiding ever since," Stefanie said. "The name change was easy. We just had to show proof of identity, so I had Kit send something to me under my alias, and Dale had his son do the same for him. With those pieces of mail, we were able to establish new identities."
"You stayed together all that time?" asked David.
"Not all of it," Stefanie replied. "Dale went back to Oklahoma and I came here. When the Illegal government took his farm and all the land he owned, he had nowhere else to go, so I invited him to come here. That was five years before he died. We married on a whim, but by that time, we truly did love each other."
"I see," was all David said.
Stefanie just looked at him. "You're jealous!"
"I'm not," David said; "I'm glad you had a little happiness for a while before Dale passed away. He was a better man than I was."
Stefanie said nothing. She decided to let David stew on that a while.
As the hour grew late, David said that he needed to get to where he was staying overnight, then he saw concern in Stefanie's eyes. He sensed she was afraid to stay at the safe house alone.
"Are you afraid to stay alone tonight?" he asked.
"A little, but there are guards here, so I should be okay," Stefanie said.
"I better take my leave, then," David said, thinking, before I do something I regret.
As she walked him to the door, he said,
"If you need anything at anytime, please call me and I'll see what I can do for you."
"I will. Promise."
He looked into her deep brown eyes, and remembered the woman she was when they met years ago. He had let her down in so many ways, and she didn't deserve to be treated like that by him. She had given him her love freely, and he squandered it.
"I'm sorry I hurt you in the past," he whispered to her; "It's a load off my mind and my heart that you could forgive me."
"David," she said; "it just wasn't our time. Please be safe, my friend."
He kissed her cheek, and then he was gone.
----------
"Are you telling me that your son and Julia have the same father?" asked Rebekah. "How did you find out? I can't even tell her I'm her cousin!"
"He told me when we first met he had a daughter. She didn't know him then," Christine said. "And no you can't tell Julia you're her cousin nor can you tell her that she has a brother. Not yet."
"If not now, then when?"
"I'm not even sure of that," Christine said. "You have to learn to be patient, Rebekah."
"It just doesn't seem fair, though."
"The knowledge that you're not dead could put your family at risk," Christine said. "I know you've been told this before. And not just your father and siblings. Julia and her family, her fiance', your other uncles and their families. When the time comes, I'll let you know."
Rebekah let out a heavy sigh. "Okay, Christine," she said; "I'll just have to trust your judgement."
"This damned war will be over soon, I hope, so we won't have to keep stupid things like family connections a secret," Christine said. "But for now, you must."
"Yes, Madame Director," Rebekah said.
----------
No comments:
Post a Comment