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Subject: {ASSM} Crucible! 1/3 (zoo themed, 'heir to the power', rom, 'spy games')
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Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2012 08:10:02 -0400
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Consider this a spotlight, explanation, and a warning, if you wish.
---

Perhaps, the best way to introduce this one, is to save you the
trouble of reading it all the way to the end, so Courtney Smith, the
primary character, can introduce it to you.

The action is finally over, good has triumphed again, but not without
great cost, and the main characters are finally headed for someplace
safe.

The driver of the armored command post they are riding in, asks him
the following question.  His answer sums the story up quite nicely.
---

"How the *fuck* did all this get started?!"

We looked at each other, then we all started laughing.  When we
sobered a little, I leaned back, stretched, and spoke mildly.  "Well,
Jill, it really begins a lot longer ago, but for our purposes, it all
started when a sixteen year old rich kid, with more hormones than
brains, got drunk and won thirty thousand dollars by fucking his bitch
in front of thirty other rich kids..."
---

The working, and planned title of this novel was 'Caught!', because it
opens with Courtney Smith having his girlfriend catch him while he was
asleep on a couch, and sharing the afterglow with his bitch, Emma.

That basic theme, of being 'caught', recurs throughout the novel.

I was about four thousand words from the end, when I realized there
was a much better one word title:

'Crucible!'

This one is definitely 'alternative reality', and is an example of
what happens when I decide to relax, and write something that uses the
basic concept of: "What crazy, but reasonable under the circumstances,
situations, can I toss these people in, yet still make it reasonably
acceptable as something that might really happen?"

Yes, I have taken liberties with a lot of things.  I've done my best
to make this one internally self-consistent.  If you think you've
caught me out somewhere, which, I must admit, is likely, please let me
know, and I will see about fixing the problems you find, if I agree
they are problems that need fixing.

The zoosexuallity is, in my view, a minor part of the background, even
though the conflict it generates is essential to the pacing and feel
of the overall story.  Like any other sexuality, it helps make the
people who practice it, who they are, and in many cases, determines
how they think and react.

I'm hoping that you, like the people in the novel, note the
zoosexuality, then dismiss it as 'a non-issue' and move on.

This one is also quite 'head space' and analytical in places.

Blame that on my love for characters, and real life people, who think
their way through their problems, instead of grabbing the nearest
railgun, and pulling the trigger.
---

This one really got its start in a few paragraphs I cut from a story I
was working on about ten years ago:  Most of those words inspired a
story I have already posted. These didn't fit, and I saved them for
later use.:

"Disowned.  Thrown out of my parent's house when I was in my teens.
Disinherited.  All of my plans for college - abandoned."

The above words are the exact words that inspired this novel and with
a single sentence inserted, are used in it.
--

Thanks for reading this, and thank you for taking the time to look
over...

'Crucible!'
====

Courtney Smith is a zoosexual with a past.

Patricia Heathrow loves him, but has moderated her efforts to make him
her husband.  She knows he's hesitant, but with failed relationships
in her past, she also knows she can't push him, or she will probably
lose him.

A storm has settled over the medium sized town they live in, and
Patricia, bored with her inactivity, decides to pay Courtney a visit,
so they can keep each other company until the storm passes.

She gets through, but it's only because she's driving an SUV.

It's a tossup about who is more surprised. 

Courtney, because he wasn't expecting company and he went to sleep on
the couch on his back porch, while he was inserted and sharing the
afterglow with his current bitch...

Or Patricia, who had time to see the two lovers before the closing of
the gate woke them up.

He reveals his past, they decide to take a walk during a lull in the
storm, and a couple hours later they are catapulted into the life he
thought he'd left behind.

The FBI and the criminals they hunt for, want the young couple, who
only want a life together.

It's a game of integrity, corruption, and honor stubbornly held, as
the lines between good and evil blur, until even the players find
themselves wondering if it will ever end.
----


Crucible!
---

It had rained all night and was supposed to rain all day, and keep
raining for the next several days, so I'd spent the time inside or on
the small patio, mostly.  Emma, my Lab bitch, had been equally
frustrated by the rain, so she'd kept me company when she wasn't
sprawled on the bed or inside couch

We had nothing else to do after I'd done the little bit of house work
that needed doing, so after lunch we'd settled on the patio couch for
a leisurely screw, followed by a nap.

Since it was *still* raining, and the road to my place was probably
washed out by now, I hadn't expected company, so we'd gone to sleep
with me still inside her and my arms around her to keep her from
sliding off the couch.

Inevitably, my current woman friend, Patricia, had been bored, too,
and since she had a four wheel drive SUV, she decided I needed
company, and we could both find something to do to keep us from
getting bored.

So she found us on the couch, still asleep with me inserted, because
the rain was heavy enough it had masked the sound of her arrival.

* * *

The sound of the gate latch woke us up, Emma pulled free, and launched
with a happy sounding 'woof!'.

I was still groggy when I sat up, and when I focused, I realized it
hadn't been the wind, we had company--and I was naked.

"Maybe I should have called first, huh?"

"Oh.  Hi, Pat.  Wasn't expecting company in this weather."

Her face contorted oddly, then she sighed.  "Ummm...  I can tell. Were
you really doing what I think you were doing, with Emma?"

"Ahh...  Napping on the couch?  Yes."

She blushed.  "It was more, wasn't it?  I got a good look before the
two of you woke up.  It...  Looked like it was something you've done
before, lots of times."

I sighed.  "Caught, again.  Shit.  I knew I should have checked the
gates and locked them."

"Again?  Umm...  You want me to go home and come back later, when it's
more convenient?"

"Depends.  You going to try turning me in for abuse?"

"Emma looked pretty comfortable.   No.  I wasn't planning on turning
you in.  Besides, I read the papers, and I know what you were doing is
legal even though a lot of people wish it wasn't."

I studied her a little longer, then sighed.  "If you can stand to be
around me, come on in the rest of the way and get comfortable, or we
can go inside and settle."

"Be ok if I strip and settle on your lap?  I was hoping we could
snuggle, watch the rain and...  Keep busy.  You up to that sort of
stuff?"

My jaw went slack briefly, then I recovered.  "Are you saying you
don't mind me fucking Emma, as long as I still fuck you, too?

She sighed.  "Courtney, we've known each other since high school, and
been lovers for years.  What I saw wasn't the aftermath of fucking,
and you've never 'fucked me', unless it was what we both wanted.  That
was shared afterglow from making love.  It's now obvious the two of
you are long time lovers, yet you also love me, and Emma is willing to
share you with me.  I'm not going to screw with a relationship that
works, ok?  Those have been...  Oh, damnit, you know I've never had a
good one, until you."

"Umm....  Thanks, Pat.    Yeah, I told you a long time ago to treat my
place as a second home.  You want to strip and settle, go ahead.  What
time is it?  And how are the roads?"

She stripped and settled on my lap, then leaned backwards.  "Hold me
like you love me."

I wrapped her in a hug and kissed her hair.  "I *do* love you, Pat.
Fear of rejection, and getting caught with Emma, are the only things
that have kept me from asking for all of it.  When I realized you'd
caught us, all I could think of was the fact I'd probably have to
start over again, and I don't know if I can do that, this time."

She mmmed, then sighed deeply.  "It's about three PM.  The roads are
terrible.  I almost turned around.  If I hadn't had the deep tread
tires, I probably would have.  Wouldn't mind staying until the storm
is over and the roads are mostly dry, in a few days.  I don't think
I'll be able to get out until then.  In one place, you know the one,
the culvert plugged like usual, and the runoff is washing the road
out."

I sighed.  "Washing it out, *again*.  I don't like to admit it, but
I'm one of the people supporting that big housing development most
people out here are fighting.  I think it's inevitable, and before it
goes in, someone will be forced to solve that drainage problem so the
new owners can get in and out safely.  We'll all benefit from that,
and as far as I know, none of us who live here will have to pay the
cost, except for slightly increased taxes due to the land values
improving.  Most of us are homesteaded, so any increases will be
minimal for us, anyway."

"Sounds like you aren't moving unless you're forced to.  Damn,
Courtney.  I'm sorry I scared you like that, but at the same time, I'm
glad it's in the open between us.  I think more highly of you, not
less.  I've heard of it happening, of course, and if it's what it
takes to make you the man I love, then I'm all for it continuing, even
when I'm around."

"You're a very strange woman, Pat.  You mind if I try and tell you
something I've never told anyone?

"How you wound up as a bitch lover?"

"Yeah."

"You've listened to my stories for years.  I never knew there was one
you never told me.  Of course I want to hear it, if you want to tell
it to me."

"It's more a case of needing to tell it to someone.  I do need your
promise that you won't share it with anyone, ever, not even if you
outlive me."

She sighed.  "I suppose that will make sense after you tell it to me?"

"Yes."

"I promise to never tell anyone."

She turned sideways and resnuggled, then choked off a giggle.  "Unless
I talk in my sleep.  Then you might get to hear it."

I snorted.  "If you do talk in your sleep, it's never been while I'm
awake, or been loud enough to wake me up.  Thanks for agreeing."

* * *

"I moved to this area shortly after my sixteenth birthday.  The only
choices involved were knowing the area is zoo accepting, and people
keep track of everything that goes on.  I wasn't too worried about
someone looking for me, but I knew there was no point in being
careless, either.  Dad gave his word he wouldn't keep track of us,
and...  Well, while I'd seen him hedge about things, once he gave his
word, that was it.  He keeps it.

"Anyway, Courtney Smith is the name I gave myself when I was sixteen.
My original name was Charles Robert Mills The Fourth.  I had a sister,
about a year older than me.  Mary Louise.  She changed her name at the
same court hearing I did.  I think she picked Elizabeth or something
like that.  Don't remember any more.  We agreed we'd better forget we
ever knew each other, and live in different parts of the country."

She shifted slightly.  "Wait.  Mills.  Wasn't there something in the
national news about them oh...   Let me think.  I was still in school,
so I would have been about fifteen or sixteen.  Must have been about
ten years ago."

I hugged her.  "Yeah.  We wondered how dad would cover up kicking us
out.  Everyone thought we'd been kidnapped for ransom, at first, then
they found my convertible in the local river, with one of my sister's
purses snagged on the gear shift lever, so they figured we'd been
together when it happened.  Our bodies were never recovered, but that
was no surprise in those parts, when the river was involved.
'Alligator food'."

I sighed.  "They never did have a good explanation for why we were
supposedly driving along that track and went over that rickety bridge,
but money can buy silence when logic doesn't work.  Blackmail works,
too.  Dad knew a lot of secrets, and owned most of the important
people, so...  Even our friends, who might have wondered a little,
knew enough to accept the verdict that we'd decided to do something we
shouldn't have been doing."

She sighed...  "Umm...  Would that something have been 'incest'?"

"Don't know.  I think that would have been stretching things too much.
My guess is that we were supposed to be meeting lovers that we knew
weren't on our parents' approved list.  All the kids eventually did
that at least once, somewhere.  None of us ever used that bridge,
though, or even got close to the river unless we were in something
that was fully enclosed, and we NEVER got out unless we had looked
carefully, and had guns with us."

"It's a good story, of course, but how can you prove it's what
happened?"

"Why would I want to?  Coming back from the dead, to get myself
killed, is pointless.  I could ask for a DNA check, of course.  I was
disinherited and kicked out.  They don't have anything I want, these
days.  Besides, way I figure it, someday those power games dad played
are going to come back and bite him on the ass, if they haven't
already.  You think I want to be there when it happens?  Forget it."

I kissed her cheek and pulled back to watch her eyes.  "But, there's
an easier way, that doesn't involve any risk unless the person I prove
it to decides to get greedy or make a name for themselves.  I have a
safe deposit box with nothing except the documents from the court we
used to get our names changed, in it, and it also has what I was
allowed to keep, that had my original name on it.  The bank records
will prove that I haven't accessed that box since the day I moved
here."

"You've talked about putting stuff in your box.  Different one?"

"Yes, at a different bank."

"Ok.  That's what happened, not how it happened.  If money can buy all
that, I don't understand why he just didn't buy silence about what you
did, or why the two of you weren't actually in the car when it went in
the river."

I couldn't stop my laughter.  Eventually I got it under control.

"I'm sure he considered it.  From what sis told me while we were on
the road, the only reason he didn't do it that way, was mom.  I may
have fucked a bitch, but I was still a Mills, so was my sister, and
our word was good, once we gave it.

"It was the only argument he'd listen to, from the only person who
could make it.  Certainly, he wouldn't have taken me seriously if I'd
suggested the solution they came up with.  But...  There were a couple
of damn good reasons for letting us live, and vanish.  Dad owns one of
the biggest banks in the area, and the river was across the state
line.  Anything happened to anyone in our family, anywhere, the feds
would be taking a very hard look at things, and he couldn't afford to
have that happen.  There were a lot of people around with grudges, and
given the right conditions, they'd talk about what they knew, and
could prove."

"But the feds did get involved, right?"

"Probably.  Without bodies, there wasn't much they could do except
interview people.  But even the kids who'd seen me fuck my bitch knew
speaking up could get them killed.  We weren't there, but since
nothing ever hit the major newswires, I'm pretty sure the code of
silence held.  Folks who knew what had happened might wonder, but even
they would have had doubts and been willing to accept we'd gotten
arrogant because we had money to back us up no matter what we did, and
made one too many mistakes.  Money can't buy common sense, and we both
liked to party and drink.  Would have been easy to slowly destroy our
reputations, since we weren't there to prove any differently."

She sighed.  "Mix all of it, and it all goes together, doesn't it?"

"Yep."

"Compelling story, Courtney.  I don't need to see the actual records,
but if it's ok, I'd like to confirm the box exists, and when you last
got into it."

"I can do that much.  If we get married, you'd have to know about it
anyway.  I've always wanted someone else I can trust, to know about
it, and be the alternate contact if something happens to me."

"Hold it right there!  Did you just propose?"

"Was it good enough, or should I be more formal about it?"

"Talk about it later.  Go back to your story.  I have a feeling I'm
only going to hear it once, and I don't want to miss any of it."

I must have stayed silent too long because she pressed her hands
against mine.  "You ok?"

"Maybe.  I'm feeling paranoid, is all.  You're the right age to be my
sister.  Right size, too."

"A DNA test will prove I'm not.  What else are you thinking?  Pretty
obvious your head's somewhere else right now."

"I'm wondering if I've been found, and you're being paid to tell them
where I am, and to let them know if I've done anything that puts them
at risk."

"I thought you said a Mills doesn't go back on their word?"

"I did, but people change.  Dad was good at sticking to the letter of
an agreement instead of the intent, when it gave him an advantage."

"Well, I can sort of understand your paranoia, but if you've been
found, nobody has contacted me to do anything for them.  I can't prove
that, of course."

I sighed.  "I know.  I was also trying to remember just what we'd
agreed to when we left.  I have a copy in the safe deposit box, but I
don't want to open that unless I'm forced to.  Mostly, it was that we
would change our names and not try to reclaim our inheritance, because
we were no longer kin."

"Nothing about telling people who you were?"

"That was implied by the never using the Mills name to advance
ourselves in any way.  That sort of stuff wasn't anything that dad
wanted written down, to come back and bite him, someday."

"Good point, since he set things up so it looked like you died in an
accident."

"Uh huh.  I remember thinking it made sense that he'd insisted that we
didn't take the convertible when we left."

I sighed and hugged her again.  "Anyway, I can't remember anything to
stop me from telling you about all of my past, and I've told you
enough to get us both killed, anyway, even if you were on his payroll.
He never did like loose ends walking around, and once you told him
what he wanted to hear, you'd vanish within a few weeks, tops."

"Damn.  That's pretty cold blooded.  I can't believe you can be so
calm about something like that."

"Pat, it was a fact of life in the town where I grew up.  Dad wasn't
the only one with that sort of power.  If you wanted to get left
alone, you lived the way you were supposed to, and that meant there
were a lot of things you didn't see, or let yourself know about.

"Since Mary and I were the son and daughter of a power broker, we saw
it up close almost from the day we were born.  We took it for granted,
that we had the same sort of power, if we wanted to use it.  All the
kids we ran with were the same way.  Money writes its own rules--and
they aren't the same ones most folks live by."

She thought about it, then sighed.  "I can believe that much.  I don't
think it was as bad here, but we did have it.  There were some kids
that not even the biggest jerks would ever mess with more than once. I
can remember a couple kids getting harassed, then they suddenly
didn't, and nobody would say why it stopped.

"I was in a low key crowd of loners, anyway, and we were isolated from
it all.  Willful ignorance, and people left us alone *because* we
didn't know what was going on.

"But you've heard it all.  Let's get back to you."

"Back to me.

"I'd just turned sixteen and even spent part of a day getting my
driver's license, that week.  I was legally an adult, even though I
couldn't vote yet, and what was really on my mind all week was the
idea of being able to get drunk, legally, without needing an adult to
supervise me.

"So, it was going to be party time on Friday night, then Saturday to
recover, and Sunday would be the family celebration after we got done
with church.

"Mary was there with her current boyfriend, and for some reason a lot
of us had brought our dogs.  Probably happened because it was normal
to let them come with us.  They all got along with each other, and
they helped keep the critters away when we partied in the woods.

I sighed.  "Her name was Ursula.  She died before you and I became
lovers.  Emma is one of her puppies."

Pat kissed me.  "Still miss her, don't you?"

"Yes.  I guess it's true when they talk about never forgetting your
first fuck, and your first true love.  Is for me."

I petted Emma for a few minutes, then rewrapped my arms around Pat and
nuzzled her for another few minutes before I leaned back and spoke
tonelessly.

"Things got pretty wild that night, and at some point, since it was
mixed company, the talk turned to sex.  None of us were virgins by
then, but most of us weren't that experienced, either.

"Those of us who had bitches were getting teased, and the girls with
dogs were teased, too.  Some of us were drunker than others, and since
we were all 'rich kids', bets started getting made about how far we
could go with our dogs.  Mostly, it was sexual fondling, but someone,
and I don't remember who it was, upped the stakes and put his money on
the table.  .He offered to pay a thousand dollars to anyone, male or
female, who actually fucked a dog of the opposite sex, in front of
everyone.

"It was a stupid thing to do, but none of us were sober, and we were
ALL pretty horny by then, and the idea of sex of any kind was more
attractive than taking the time to think about consequences.

"Besides, we were all so used to living with the power of money behind
us, doing something that crazy, then having someone rat one of us out,
was unthinkable.

"So all of us kicked in and agreed to the same thing.  We'd pay any
winners one thousand from each of us.  I don't think we really
expected to pay out to any guys, but it was no secret that several of
the dogs were known for trying to hump women.  The real question was
if any of the girls wanted to try and collect the money, since none of
them needed it.

"By the time Mary and I got our chance to say yes or no, three guys
had been bitten.when they tried to do more than finger their bitches
off.

"Two girls had collected, too, and sworn the rest of us to silence,
which was a given anyway.  Now, if I'd been my father's son, and been
even a little more sober, I would have realized I had enough dirt on
almost everyone there, that I would have politely declined to even try
fucking Ursula."

"Gods...  You're right.  Most places, that sort of stuff would be a
great way to control people, later.  Anyone have any cameras?"

"No.  Well, we had our phones, but they were off and put away.  It was
another unwritten rule when we decided to party."

"You lived a strange life, Courtney."

"I didn't think so.  Anyway, I wasn't so drunk I couldn't get it up,
and somehow...  Hell if I know how it happened, I fucked her until I
orgasmed, which meant I collected on the bet before the last couple of
kids tried."

"Mary went home before I did, but she'd been there long enough to see
me collect.  As it turned out, that money was part of the seed money
that let her and I have a chance of making it on our own, without
getting caught up in the seamier options."

"So...  What went wrong?"

"Something all of us should have planned for, because we knew it was
done.  Dad had spies watching me and Mary, to make sure we didn't have
problems.  When they realized I was actually fucking Ursula, one of
them got out of there and told our parents.

"By the time Mary got home, dad had the agreement ready, and all our
stuff loaded in one of the trucks that was big enough to hold it all.
Mom must have really laid into him, because she was the one who met
Mary before she could get in the house, and handed her thirty thousand
dollars, to match what I'd earned, after Mary signed the agreement and
gave her word, for both of us.

"Needless to say, when I got home, Mary met me, told me the situation,
and handed me a pen so I could sign their copy before I dropped it on
the ground.

"Then...  We got in the truck and drove off.  We used the back roads
until we hit the interstate, and after we talked things over, headed
for the next state so we could get our names changed."

I sighed and stared at my memories of that night.  "Disowned.  Thrown
out of my parent's house when I was in my teens.  Disinherited.  All
we had was in the truck, plus our dogs in the front seat with us. All
of my plans for college - abandoned. 

"After we had our names changed, I sold the truck, since dad had given
me the signed title.  Then we bought a couple of pickups to carry what
we wanted to keep, and gave everything else to one of the local
charities."

I opened my eyes and looked around.  "There wasn't a lot we felt like
keeping, and we knew that if we kept the wrong things, we'd be
discovered.  Most of the personal stuff, we took the time to burn in a
fire pit at a campground.  Some of the picture frames, we kept.  After
I settled here, I held a yard sale and sold what I could, then donated
the rest to the nearest church.  All I have left of my past is my
memories, and what's in that safe deposit box."

I reached and touched a nose.  "And Emma.  Once I was settled in this
house, I let Ursula get bred by a local dog, so I would have part of
her in my life, after she died."

Pat hugged me fiercely.  "I never would have figured it out.  To me,
you were that new kid at school, who lived on his own instead of
having parents.  Later, of course, I'd see you in passing and think
about how you'd managed to make it on your own.  Eventually, after a
few failed relationships, I decided it was time to see if I could add
you to my life.  Maybe some of that success would rub off, or
something, and I needed more than the physical stuff in a
relationship."

I kissed her again.  "Thanks.  I've never enjoyed hiding, but I also
know this is probably the only time I'll ever tell this story to
anyone."

"Well, finish it, then we'll both get on with our lives.  Oops...  All
three of us.  Sorry."

I laughed briefly, then sobered.  "There's not a lot more to tell,
since the rest of it has happened here.  I put most of the money in
the bank, enrolled in school, then started working part time, because
I knew I'd better get myself established so I'd have a steady income.
I wasn't ashamed to tell people I was living on my own, since most
people knew it anyway.  I did whatever I could, and nothing was
beneath me, so I never had to touch what I'd come to think of as my
emergency money.

"Finally, I landed the job as a part time dog trainer.  The extra
income from that became more than what I was earning from my regular
job.  I didn't have a much of a social life, because I was too busy
surviving.  Eventually, I found this place, which was a fixer-upper,
but I got the credit so I could make the payments on it.  Just before
you and I met again, I was able to pay it off."

I sighed a little bitterly.  "We weren't extremely rich but had I
inherited, I would have never needed to work.  But, because I fucked,
then fell in love with a bitch, I have no family other than Emma, and
now you."

I closed my eyes.  "I don't even know if any of my old family are
still alive.  Haven't seen anything in the news over the years, so I
assume they are, but I'm not going to check.  Waste of time.

"It was a clean break, Pat.  It had to be.  If I had tried to get back
in touch, they promised to turn me in or have me committed."

I kept my voice level when I looked away from Patricia.  "So that's
most of it.  Short, just like it happened to us.  You're the first,
and will probably be the only. person to ever hear it.

"After all...  Who would understand?"

She snuggled into my side.  "Courtney, I don't know if I'll ever be
able to really understand, but I already accept you.  I'm surprised,
of course, but that won't make me change my mind.  I've always thought
of you and Emma as a package deal, and that hasn't changed."

"Thanks.  I was afraid I might lose it all, again, and I don't know if
I could start over like I did back then."

She sighed.  "Funny you mention starting over, because that's what I
need to do.  Oh, not completely, but enough has happened to me that I
know my self image has taken a pretty good hit and I need a pretty
clean fresh start.  At least you were sexually involved with Emma
before I got involved with you, so I don't feel like I failed somehow.
More the opposite, I think.  I'm still numb.  Maybe later I'll know
more about how I really feel, long term."

I sighed.  "Weird.  I never thought about how you'd feel about
yourself.  I was only worried about how you'd feel about openly
sharing me with her, if you still wanted to move in."

She laughed a little.  "Courtney, if I'd thought I could have gotten
away with it, I would have pushed to take over the spare bedroom a
long time ago.  But, we're both pretty serious loners, and I knew that
in spite of what we have, asking for that would have been pushing
things.  I know a lot about how to screw up a relationship, and that's
one of the most serious mistakes a woman can make, if the man isn't
ready to move to that level.  I didn't know why, of course, but that
much about you was obvious."

I laughed.  "Well, The spare bedroom is yours whenever you want it.
I'm not going to offer my bed, except for making love, until we know
how Emma is with you being around all the time."

She giggled and touched Emma.  "I have the impression she'll enjoy a
having second human to con into feeding her."

"Point.  Getting back to my story, did you notice a couple of huge
holes in it?"

"Was I supposed to?"

"Hard to say.  Obviously, we didn't see them back then, but we were
just kids who'd lost it all and were starting over.  A big mistake we
made was stopping in the first town that had a place where we could
get our names changed.  If someone did want to trace us, they would
have checked there as a matter of course.  Hell, maybe they did, just
to make sure we'd changed our names."

She shivered.  "That means anyone looking for the two of you would
know what your new names are.  The rest would be legwork, and with the
net...  You'd be easy to find."

I sighed.  "Yep.  That's even easier if whoever does the looking knows
the real reason we left.  All they have to do is narrow things to the
places where bestiality was legal back then.  I'm hoping my sister had
more sense, or at least thought a little more, and zigged a few more
times than I did, and maybe wound up in a place a little less obvious.
The main thing was not trying to reclaim anything, so I hope that as
long as we keep to ourselves, we'll be left alone."

She matched my sigh.  "Realistically, I think you probably don't have
to worry.  Ten years or so is plenty of time for things to cool down.
Something unusual might get them looking for you..."

"What?"

"Something you didn't say.  Was your mother party to the agreement, or
was it just between you and your father?  I was just wondering if she
gave her word she wouldn't try to track either of you down."

"I wasn't there, so I don't know.  I don't remember her name being on
what we signed, but I'd have to check."

"Uh huh.  So she could have known all this time, but left you alone.
Through her, your father could know, too."

I shivered.  "Scary.  It would be like him to do something like that.
Hasn't been any obvious surveillance, so if they do know, it's only
stuff in general."

"Let me think..."

"Ok."

After a few minutes she shifted so she could watch my face.  "Now you
have me being paranoid.  If they've known where you are, this place
could be bugged, right?"

"Always a possibility.  Nothing I can do about it, if it is."

"Good point.  There's an old saying, that the guilty flee when no man
pursues them.."

"If you're talking about dad having second thoughts, and correcting a
mistake, think about this one that he made.  When we left, we had
everything that was ours, with us.  I later confirmed that at a rest
stop.  So, how did they explain there was nothing in the house when
the feds investigated our disappearance?"

"Are you certain they got involved?"

"Pretty much so.  Even if it was a token investigation, someone would
have wanted to check out our rooms to see if they could find any
evidence that would hint at what had happened to us.  He owned the
locals, so they wouldn't have said anything.  I don't know how much
influence he had outside our area."

"Must have been some, or the investigation...  Oh.  The two of you
could have been planning on running away."

"True.  If he waited long enough, it could look like we'd done
something with all our stuff while everyone else was gone.  That could
explain why we were on that bridge."

"It's all a fairy tail, and you'll never know, right?"

"Right.  Don't want to know.  I can't see getting so paranoid I keep
looking over my shoulder, either, so if it all catches up, it catches
up.  Deal with it then."

"Ok.  In the meantime, I'll take the marriage proposal seriously, and
start planning for a low key wedding, with just my family and our
friends there, if that's ok with you?"

I laughed.  "Changing the subject?  It's ok with me.  Tell me when and
where, because as long as you're there, that's all I need to know."

"Hand me your phone."

I did, and she scrolled through the numbers until she found the one
she wanted, then she called it.

"Hi, dad.  Mission accomplished.  Tell mom to dig out the heirlooms
and find a church for my wedding to Courtney.  Can't talk longer,
we're busy.  Bye."

She was grinning as she handed the phone back to me.  "I'm lazy.  Let
them plan the wedding."

I recovered, and tried to speak rationally.  "Are you saying you've
been planning on us getting married, for a long time?"

"Nope.  Taking advantage of mom and dad, who have been after *me* to
find a man, any man, and settle down.  That 'joke' of asking any man I
bring to meet them, when the wedding date is, isn't a joke to them.  I
could have picked anyone, and they'd be ecstatic."

"Strange parents, even though it would have been similar if I'd stayed
at home.  Only difference would be that the woman would have to have
been a suitable match, for someone of my stature in the community."

She grimaced.  "A woman who knows a lot more than she talks about?"

"Yeah.  She wouldn't have had a chance to talk to me until she was
past mom and dad.  I imagine they already had a short list waiting.
Getting kicked out probably screwed up some of mom's plans, too. Might
have been a miracle that she stood up for us, now that I think about
it."

Pat kissed me, then resettled on my lap.  "One more question.  Did
your sister collect?  It sounded like she didn't."

"She didn't collect.  Her dog licked her, but that was it.  I think
she had sobered up some, because she said...  Oh!  Crap!"

"What's wrong?"

"She was a zoo!"

"How do you figure that?"

"Orson licked her off, but that was something we didn't really think
about because by then, most of the dogs were feeling pretty horny.
There were others she could have picked for the job.  But it was the
way she brushed off letting him fuck her.  She said something like
'I'm not a whore.  I don't fuck for money.'  Then she laughed at all
of us and went home after she kissed her boyfriend good night."

Pat laughed.  "She must have been...  Frustrated after getting licked
off.  I get it, too.  A normal girl wouldn't have hesitated to let her
boyfriend mercy fuck her."

"Yeah.  A lot of people were getting laid without worrying about
people seeing it happen.  Nothing wrong with that because it was no
secret that some of our parents swapped once in awhile."

"What about you?"

"Yeah.  If I hadn't fucked Ursula, there were a couple of girls who
would have taken care of me.  They weren't loose, just close friends
that weren't seeing anyone steady, so they gravitated to the guys who
were unattached."

"Sounds like you already had your own swap club in place.  Think it
lasted into adulthood?"

"Probably did.  Don't know what would have happened after that night.
Too many sons and daughters of power for all of them to vanish, or be
cut out of their families."

She sighed.  "I bet it wouldn't be a good idea to do any searches to
see what happened to all those kids over the years."

I shuddered.  "I thought I was paranoid.  Sounds like you accept my
story."

"Been reading your body.  If you're not telling the truth, you're the
best liar I've ever met.  Either way, I want you on my side, as my
husband."

She turned and kissed me.  "Hey.  When was the last time you and Emma
went for a walk in the rain?"

"We're both indoor types.  Years ago, probably."

"I know you used to have an umbrella that's big enough for all three
of us.  Still have it?"

"Buried in a closet.  I suppose this walk is something we just have to
do?"

"Something like that.  I have a lot of energy to get rid of before we
cuddle in bed."

"Sex would get rid of a lot of it."

"Not the same.  Looks like the rain has slackened to a mist for now.
Let's take advantage of that."

I laughed.  "You win.  I'll go find it and get dressed for the
weather, since public nudity is frowned on by the neighbors."

"You know that for a fact, or guessing?"

"Know.  I checked before I put the solid  fences in."

"And you didn't want them seeing you and Emma."

"Ursula, then Emma.  I'm not the only nudist in the area, so I can get
away with answering the door when I'm naked, most of the time.  Emma
knows she has to behave when there's company."

"Which is why she's never done anything to clue me?"

"More or less.  She's done stuff, but it's stuff that any dog or bitch
would do when they're relaxing at home.  I don't expect her to be a
robot all the time, here."

Pat laughed.  "Only in public?"

"Yeah.  You going to get up so I can get ready?"

She got off my lap.  "I'll be ready when you two are."

"Crazy woman."

"Euphoric.  I feel like I'm a kid, again.  Let's go pretend."

"I was right.  You're crazy.  So am I for agreeing to go get soaked."

"With an umbrella?"

"Mud puddles were made to be splashed in, according to Emma.  Then the
mud and water has to be shared."

"Oh.  I'd forgotten about that.  Been a long time since the three of
us have taken the time to walk after a storm."

I laughed and got up.  "During, this time.  We're usually inside and
watching it go past."

"This one will be here for days, remember?  And there will be lots of
others we can share, right?"

"True.  I'm going to take a bathroom break, then I'll get what we
need."

"Bring a flashlight, just in case."

"Ok.  See you in a few."

* * *

We were about a half mile away from the house when Pat looked over her
shoulder briefly, then faced forward and spoke casually.  "Now that we
have some real privacy, can your contingency plans be modified to
include a wife?"

"What if I said I don't have any?"

"The way you were raised?  If I assume you told me the truth, I
wouldn't be surprised if you had backup plans stacked on top of backup
plans, right?"

I sighed.  "I was telling the truth.  Might be some details I've
missed, but leaving those out doesn't affect the final result.  I'm
here, not there."

"Point.  I wish there was a way to convince you nobody got to me or my
family and set all this up."

I sighed.  "I'm mostly convinced I've been a blind fool for ten years,
and they've known where I've been all along.  Dad's the direct type,
or he was when he kicked us out.  I don't think he'd do anything about
me telling someone who I really was, as long as it wasn't some way to
try and get back in the family."

"You're ducking."

"Wouldn't you?  I can do anything from leave right now with you and
Emma, to staying there and letting things come to me, if they are
going to do that.  Yes, there are places I could show up with a wife
and even kids, and nobody would think it was odd."

"Different identities, too?"

"Of course.  I have the impression you're thinking the three of us
should run and not look back.  What about the wedding?"

She sighed.  "Only problems I can see, are Emma, and us.  No matter
what we do, unless we get some plastic surgery done, we'd be
recognizable."

"You're assuming I have a way to get to money, or earn a living?"

"Big difference between 'starting over', and 'already being
established somewhere else'."

I gazed off and sighed again.  "Sorry.  I never meant to imply I've
ever thought you were slow, or stupid, Patricia."

"Accepted.  I'll blame the tension on our mutual paranoia."

"Good way to put it.  You have anything you really need, that can't be
bought on the road?"

She stopped and grabbed my arm, then turned me until we faced each
other.  "Are you serious?!"

"I am.  I have Emma, my wallet, my keys, and now you.  Everything else
has always been replaceable, in my view.  I don't want to run, but I'm
pretty certain I should, and I should take you with me if you're
willing to go."

"Courtney...  That's frightening.  I was thinking we'd have some time
to make that decision."

"I'm thinking we should take advantage of the storm and the road
conditions.  I haven't seen anything that isn't part of the usual
scenery, so I'm pretty confident that if we keep going, nobody except
a few neighbors might see us out here, and there are so many ways to
get back without being seen, that they won't worry about not seeing us
again, until the storm clears and the roads are fixed.  Be days before
anybody who knows we're at my place will begin to wonder where we are.
I figure we will get at least three days, and more likely a week, at
least, to get clear."

She looked away, then down at her purse.  "I've prided myself on
traveling light, sometimes, but this...  Ok...."

She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.  "I feel like I'm in
a movie of some sort.  Things are happening so fast, I feel like I
can't think, only react and feel.  You're right.  If we wait, and your
house is bugged or watched, we may never get clear.  I'm going to
trust you, so let's run.  Now."

I looked around, then down at Emma.  "Good girl, Emma."

I dug in my pocket for my phone, then looked around again.  "I hope
nobody has any ir on us or something.  If they do, this might be a
waste of time."

I removed the battery, then swung my arm and tossed my phone at the
field as hard as I could.  "I'll toss the battery after we get about
another half mile or so.  Now, yours, so they can't be used to track
us.  Shut if off, and pull the battery, first."

She dug it out, then matched what I'd done before she looked at me and
smiled slightly.  "Think they'll ever be found?"

I linked my arm with hers and got us walking again.  Emma, when she
realized it was time to move, went back to exploring and investigating
the puddles when we went past them.

"Maybe, during the new construction.  Let folks wonder, and think the
worst about what happened."

"Now, what?"

"We keep walking, and enjoy our walk for about another mile.  If
anyone stops and asks, we're going to check on the property a friend
of mine owns, to make sure everything is ok."

"Ted's place?"

"Yep.  He still comes in about once a month to do improvements for a
few days, then he goes back to where he's from.  I sold him one of
Ursula's puppies when he first bought the land."

She laughed.  "Everyone knows everyone and their business out here."

"True.  It was one of the reasons I decided to buy in this area, after
I hit town and decided to stay."

Eventually we stopped and tossed the batteries, then we kept walking
until we could see a small cabin that was fenced in with field
fencing.

I unlocked the gate and then closed and locked it after the three of
us had gone through.  I bent down and took off Emma's collar.  "Ok,
Midnight.  We're home.  Go play!"

Pat was staring at me, then she nodded.  "Ok.  If Emma is now
'Midnight'. who are you and I?"

"Quick.  Once I get my long haired wig on, I'll be Ted Simpson, of
course.  Midnight's collar is in the shed, along with some other stuff
we'll need.  You can be one of my casual girlfriends, for now.  Pick
your own name.  I've brought other women out here over the years, as
Ted.  Do you know how to drive an ATV?"

"I can handle one.  I think everyone grew up riding them when I was in
my teens.  Call me...  Marlene.  Got any wigs in there for me?"

I laughed.  "You'll be surprised.  I've had help with stocking things.
One of the come ons I use is that since we're in a different town,
they can dress up and be whoever they want to be while we're here, and
unless they tell someone differently, or have to admit who they are.
Folks think Ted is an amateur actor, and the women he brings along are
actresses who want to live in the country for a few days, while he
spends some time working on his property.  As far as people know, it's
something to do with his money, and someday he'll probably retire
here."

"So *that* explains how come I've never done more than see Ted from a
distance.  Answer me this:  How'd you manage to sell him one of
Ursula's puppies?"

"Simple.  I let people know I was looking for a bitch, and I'd heard
Courtney had some puppies available.  I asked a neighbor to get me a
black one, then, when I was asked, let the neighbor take Emma and hold
on to her until I could pick her up as Ted.  I still had Ursula, so
Emma hadn't bonded yet.  There were several black ones, so nobody ever
looked close and realized Emma and Midnight are the same bitch."

"Slick.  Let's get moving.  I assume you have a way to carry...
Midnight, on the ATV?"

"Enclosed trailer that's set up for her.  It's something else people
are used to seeing.  We'll eat, clean up and get some sleep, then head
out tomorrow at first light if the weather favors us with some heavy
rain.  I could do this at night, but you're not familiar with the
area, so there's no need to take that sort of chance."

She shook her head.  "Headlights, too, right?"

"IR system I can wear.  Only have one, unfortunately."

She smiled.  "I'm feeling especially paranoid.  If the rain keeps up,
let me ride behind you and we'll leave as soon as we eat and get
changed."

I laughed.  "Ok.  Let's make it look good by checking everything
before we take the break."

She stiffened.  "Leave Ted a note to let him know you checked things."

"Oh?"

"Misdirection, and to explain the missing ATV if someone checks
later."

"Ok.  Sounds like you're thinking instead of reacting."

"I think it was 'actress' that did it.  I'm pretending I'm on a movie
set about a couple who are running for their lives, and they can't
afford to make mistakes, so they have to cover for each other."

I sighed.  "A lot of truth in that, probably, but as long as we get it
right, we'll never know for certain."

"I'll get used to it, eventually."

I nodded.  "Let's go.  Everything we need is in the shed."

* * *

A couple hours later, we had everything loaded and we were ready to
go.

I was in my 'Ted Simpson' clothing, Emma had on the fancy collar she
wore when she was being 'Midnight', and Patricia had changed from a
brunette to a long haired blonde with pushed up breasts that were
quite noticeable.

We studied each other and I finally smiled.  "Outfit like that, people
aren't going to pay much attention to what the rest of you looks like,
'Marlene'."

"You should talk, 'Mr. Hayseed'.  Bib overalls?"

I chuckled.  "Part of being an actor.  Pure country hayseed is a role
I take on when I'm relaxing out here.  Part of the role involves me
working on different roles, to keep my hand in, or develop new ones
for my work."

"Smooth, I guess.  Let me get this rain suit on, then I'll be ready.
Aren't you worried about tracks in the mud?"

"I'll get Midnight loaded and be waiting.  Not worried about the
tracks.  One of the first things I did was make a gravel driveway that
linked with the road out front.  Since it's the main road for this
area, the county keeps it graveled.  We'll take it to the power line
road, then follow that out to the main hiway.  It's a rough ride in
places but it should be passable on the ATV.  I'll be going slow since
the IR headset is passive.  About five miles, the way we're headed,
but once we hit the hiway, we go a couple more miles to Marge's All
Nighter, and we'll be on our way in a small pickup I keep in storage
there."

She looked up from putting the rain pants on.  "You are thoroughly
paranoid and prepared, aren't you?"

"Yeah.  I had the basics in place within a few months after I moved
in.  As I've had the extra money, I added refinements, like becoming
Ted Simpson, and putting the clunker in storage as part of my role
playing.  Makes things easier when I arrive on the bus, instead of
driving in."

"What about the ATV?"

"Enclosed storage.  We'll make the swap and leave in the pickup.
Security cameras, so we'll be on tape if someone gets this far, but
it's an acceptable risk right now.  Nothing we can do about it.
Besides, I'm known to be impulsive, so us showing up on the ATV will
be in character, even in this weather.  Done it before when the
weather was better.  Usual excuse is that I decided I needed to get
out for a ride and didn't want to take the time to go around the long
way."

"Go get...  Midnight loaded, so we can leave as soon as I get there."

I left, loaded Midnight and by the time I had the ATV running and
ready, Marlene had settled behind me.

I glanced at her.  "I'll let you get the gate.  After you close it and
make sure it's locked, keep the key ring out so you can toss it later.
I have duplicates for this place in the truck, and we won't be needing
anything for my old place."

"Should I toss my own keys?"

"Up to you.  We might be coming back as Ted and Marlene, but you won't
be able to get to anything of Patricia's."

"I'll worry about it later, since everything is packed away.  Let's
hope the rain stays this heavy for the next few hours, huh?"

"Yeah.  Good point."

We got out the gate, she resettled behind me, then I mostly idled us
the rest of the way, to keep the engine noise down and so I wouldn't
overdrive the visibility my goggles gave me.

Two hours, give or take a few minutes, later, we were riding on the
shoulder of the main hiway and headed for where the truck was stored.
We made the swap, used the dry space to change clothes and then we
were on our way again.

Marge's was about as busy as it usually got during a big storm, which
wasn't very, so I parked, hooked the leash on Midnight, and we went
inside.  

Marge was working and she frowned when she saw us.  "Ted!  Coming or
going?"

I laughed.  "I thought I was coming, but I won't know until I get
there."

She laughed and the frown vanished.  "Road's washed out already, so
you might as well be going, unless you want to hike in the back way."

"Not in this weather!"

"Smart man.  Who's your lady friend with the padding?"

"Marlene.  Marlene, meet Marge.  She's got a good eye for pretenders,
usually.  You're not the first girlfriend she's caught."

Marlene smiled and held out her hand.  "Parts are easier to get, when
people don't remember my face.  Call it a way to advertise my skills."

They shook hands, then Marge turned serious.  "I saw you drive in.
Ever get the radio fixed?"

"No.  Satellite does me fine, most of the time."

"Then you haven't heard about what happened to one of your neighbors
tonight?"

"No.  Which one?"

"Courtney.  Some sort of explosion.  Neighbors did what they could,
but it wasn't enough.  Leveled.  Fire department couldn't get in,
because of the road being out.  However, they did get to fish a couple
of kids out of the washout.  Suspects in an arson investigation, since
Patricia's SUV was what they were driving."

"What about Courtney and Patricia?  They ok?"

"Nobody knows.  Ed saw them walking towards your place, but when he
checked, there was no sign of them.  No answer when people call their
cell phones, so right now, most folks think they were in the house
when it burned."

"Sounds like the arson might have been to hide a couple of murders.
Sorry to hear it, and I hope they're found alive."

"More of that business of dreams?"

I sighed.  "Yeah, I guess it is."

I looked around to see how busy she was, then sighed again.  "Any
chance we could use your office for some privacy?"

"That important?"

"Yeah.  At least I think so."

"You can be the goofball when it suits you, Ted, so if you're being
serious, I'd better find time to listen.  This with or without your
latest guest?"

"With.  I don't want to let my future wife out of my sight, right
now."

"Married?  Finally?"

"Yeah.  Long story I'll try to keep short.  Your office?"

She turned her head slightly.  "Ethel!  Cover for me until I get done
with these two!"

"Done!"

"Come on, let's get this taken care of, whatever it is."

* * *

She led us in, and her eyebrows went up when I turned and made sure
the door was locked before I sat down on the chair that was next to
Marlene's.

"Marge, you've never said, but I'd like to know which branch of the
Feds you used to work for.  It's important."

"Ted, I've never mentioned that to anyone since I moved out here."

"So you admit it?"

She winced.  "Caught.  I don't believe I just did that.  Ok.  FBI
Special Investigations."

I chuckled before I sobered.  "Good!  Do you remember the Mills case,
about ten years ago?"

"Hard to forget something like that.  Couple of teenagers with
futures, and they thought money could buy them anything, I guess.
Before I let you distract me, how'd you spot me?  I need to make some
changes to make sure it doesn't happen again."

I looked at Marlene.  "I told you I had lots of contingency plans.
Marge is one of them I was hoping I wouldn't have to use."

"FBI?"

"Yeah.  Someone is bound to open that safe deposit box, now."

"Oh.  Good point."

I turned back to Marge, then took my wig off.  "Hi, Marge.  It's me,
and we're running for our lives."

"Courtney and Patricia?!"

I winced.  "Yeah.  But there's more.  A LOT more.  The short form is
easy.  I was Charles Robert Mills The Fourth before my sister and I
had our names changed, at my father's insistence, ten or so years ago.
I'll tell everything I know, in return for the two of us being put in
the witness protection program.  

"Oh, to answer how I figured it out, A Mills is always trained to know
how to spot a Federal Investigator.  Any special one, really, but you
Feds have a lot of things in common, because of the way you get
trained.  Little things, like the way you ask and answer questions,
for starters."

She nodded slowly.  "You do realize that you'll need to prove who you
are?"

"Sounds like those kids were pretty sure of who I am.  Ask them.  I
was sixteen when it happened.  My sister was seventeen.  We left a
trail any rookie should have been able to follow.  I think my Dad did
follow it, and while I was just being paranoid when we ran, I'm now
certain he had my house bugged, and decided to prevent some future
problems by having us killed.  I can tell you more about that later."

She studied her hands thoughtfully.  "I wasn't involved in that one,
but I do remember there were a lot of questions that were never
answered.  Let's say that provisionally, I will accept your claim to
be Mr. Mills.  We both know that money can quite often make its own
rules, and buy silence when it has to.  We can proceed as if the two
of you are under oath, or I can continue, for a few more hours, to be
your friend 'Marge'.  Your call."

"Call in backup.  If Ed saw us, he had to be a lot closer than his
house to see us.  Sweat him good, because if he checked out Ted's
place, he had to go through a locked gate and do some breaking and
entering to make sure we weren't still there.  I'm betting he saw us
leave on one of Ted's ATVs, and has already told someone we're still
alive, and what we were wearing."

She glared at me.  "The explosion and fire was a diversion?"

"Maybe.  Dad's not going to be happy Ed lost us in the rain.  I was
able to drive out because I had some passive IR goggles and I've
driven the route more than once."

"Damn it.  I'm getting too old for this sort of nightmare."

She angrily punched some numbers into her phone and as soon as a man
answered, spoke calmly.  "Things have changed.  I need a full
emergency response team to my location, yesterday.  Lives are at
stake, mine and three others, at least.  How long?"

"We saw your guests arrive.  Nobody behind them.  Expecting trouble?"

"Lots of it.  The young man used to be Charles Robert Mills The
Fourth, and he thinks he's been moved up on a hit list."

"Got it.  Nobody in or out, effective immediately.  I'll come in and
apologize to your other customers.  You stay put."

She raised her eyebrows.  "Too fast.  Am I on the need to know list?"

"You are now.  My authority.  Oh, if he's listening in, tell...
Courtney, his sister is doing fine, and has been safe for years."

"Thanks, whoever you are.  Mind if I add some stones to the bucket?
Wasn't planning on it, but blowing my home up made me change my mind
about some things.  All I had planned was a vanishing act, until I
realized someone would find that stuff in the safe deposit box."

"A safe deposit box?"

"Yes, sir.  I consider myself under oath right now."

"Smart young man, and thanks.  Marge?  See that they stay alive, ok?
Let's not blow this chance to take down a broker who interfered with a
federal investigation ten years ago."

"Got it.  Be nice to Ethel.  She has that heart problem we can't
afford to aggravate."

"I'll be nice.  See you soon."

He hung up and she laughed.  "Soon.  I bet he was already in the
parking lot."

She spun her chair and started switching through the cameras on her
security system.  In one shot a man was striding across the parking
lot and she laughed.  "Thought I recognized his voice.  Nice cover,
being a line hauler who stops here overnight."

She switched to one that showed her office door, then locked it so it
wouldn't scan.  "I want to know who knocks on my door before I open
it...  Is something wrong?"

"I think...  Yes.  If you have an ultra secret emergency number, now
is the time to use it.  I came in here as Ted, and he called me
Courtney.  He also said my sister has 'been safe', not that she 'is
safe'.  Then, he knows where my sister is.  He knows too much, and he
moves wrong.  He's a killer, Marge, and he's on the hunt."

"Mole?"

"Can't tell you that.  Make the call before he figures out he's been
spotted!"

She sighed.  "I hope you're wrong, but I know I can't afford to make a
mistake, if you're right.  At least, if we survive this, you're
definitely going in the protection program."

She used her cell phone this time, and spoke casually when a woman
answered.  "Operation Cesspit.  Now.  I don't care who they say they
are, if they move wrong or question you, do whatever you have to do to
stop them from getting to my office."

"Lethal force?"

"If need be, yes.  I'm expendable, my guests are not."

"Got it.  You get under cover, too, Marge.  I don't want to break in a
new boss."

"Will do.  Thanks, Ethel."

Pat looked at Marge.  "Same Ethel?  What about that heart condition
you mentioned?"

"Same one.  She really does have one, of sorts.  Her heart is larger
than it should be, for her body size.  Otherwise, it tests fine."

I sighed.  "Well, whatever she is, she's damn good at it.  I never
spotted her."

Marge laughed while she rolled her chair back.  "We survive this, you
can tell her yourself.  She's a senior agent.  Very senior, and until
now, very, very deep cover as my very own bodyguard.  Now, it's going
to be crowded under my desk, but there's room for you two and your
dog, and I'll be the last one in."

We all managed to get under her desk, then we waited.

Marge was watching the monitor intently, I guess, because she suddenly
snorted.  "Ah!  It looks like your eye is better than mine...  Oh,
hell, I'm going to keep calling you Ted and Marlene until we know
what's going on.  So, Ted, Larry, if that's his real name, must have
thought Ethel was just another old lady working to supplement her
retirement check.  I think she broke his arm before she knocked him
out.  I hope she pulled her strike, because that shot can shatter a
skull if it's not held back."

A few minutes later, there was an oddly patterned series of knocks,
then the door was unlocked.  "Someone called for a Lady Plumber?"

Marge spoke casually.  "And I got Rosie the Riveter.   You get to pay
to fix any damage you did to the wall."

"You ok, Marge?  We have it all under control.  Maybe next time, he'll
have better manners and say please when he asks an old lady to get out
of his way."

"We're fine.  What about our real customers?"

"We got lucky.  Didn't have any."

"None?"

"Nope.  I thought we did, but they turned out to be a state Marshall
and his secretary on their way to an unrelated situation.  We'll
confirm that before we let them go.  The rest were my people."

Marge groaned.  "How many people do you have, now?"

"Need to know, Marge.  Always enough, and that's all I'll ever tell
you."

"Thanks.  Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?...  Oh.  The silly stuff.  Are you going to be a good girl, and
take your medicine?"

"Are you going to put sugar in it again?"

"Not this time.  It's all natural ingredients."

"You're a dear, Ethel."

"Hurry up and retire.  Saving your butt is getting boring."

"Love you, too.  We'll be out after I hear the door close with you in
my office."

Ethel laughed and we heard the door latch, then she came around the
desk.  "Cozy?  I told you that it should have been an executive one. I
know where you can get one that's hand rubbed teak.  Almost
bulletproof without the special rebuild.  Lots more room under it,
too."

Marge got out and stood, then reached to help us out before she
returned to her banter.  "I suppose you know that from personal
experience?"

"Matter of fact, I do.  Back when, there was a secretarial pool that
would see how many of them could get under it and not be seen unless
the viewer was directly behind it.  Record when I moved on, was
seven."

"Sounds like we'd never get it through the door."

"It comes apart for transport.  Be a tight fit in here but I think it
could be made to work."

"I'll think about it, since you have your heart set on it."

"Perceptive."

Marge glanced at me, then sighed.  "Not as good as I should be.  Thank
Ted here, for the tip that saved our butts.  He spotted Larry as a
ringer,  based on a glimpse in the camera covering the truck parking
area."

Ethel studied me, then sighed.  "I saw Ted walk in, and now I see
Courtney.  Neither one of those two has the experience to spot someone
like Larry, when he's working deep cover."

I held out my hand.  "I was someone else when I was trained to spot
all the different types of people I might run into, as part of my
daily life, and after I got older and inherited."

"You must have been quite young when that happened."

"I was sixteen when I was disinherited for managing to win thirty
thousand dollars by fucking my bitch in front a bunch of other rich
kids.  I was Charles Robert Mills The Fourth, and I really , really
hope that my sister, wherever she is, is still ok."

Her jaw went slack briefly.  "One of the Mills brats?"

I winced.  "If that's how it was played when he covered things up,
yeah, I guess I am."

She shook my hand briefly, then let go and offered her hand to Pat.
"And you are, underneath all that..  Costume?"

"Patricia Heathrow, and someday soon, I hope, his wife.  He's a brat
sometimes, but it's a good brattiness."

"So I see, if you're willing to chuck it all for him."

"I did."

"Your point."

She returned to me.  "Think you can trust me?"

"Marge does, but even if she wasn't sure, I am.  Now that you're not
hiding it, it's obvious you're the real thing, and used to being in
charge."

"Pretty extensive training you had."

"I had plenty of incentive to learn it as fast as I could.  Pain was a
good teacher, as was the fear of dying someday if I wasn't paying
attention to the people around me.  I've had ten years to keep in
practice.  Got sloppy, took Pat here to wake me up.  Glad she did."

"You're a good actor, too.  I never spotted Ted and Courtney as being
the same person, and I should have.  Different career path, but the
result of inattention can be the same.  Something we can deal with
later.   Right now, I need to make a phone call and act like I really
know what the hell is going on, that forced us to...  Well, not blow
our cover completely, thank heavens, but we did push our luck a lot
farther than we're supposed to."

I nodded.  "I'd appreciate it if you can check on my sister.  If it
helps, we had our names changed at the first town that had a
courthouse.  We thought we were being devious after that, but looking
back, we weren't.  I wasn't.  I hope she did a  little better than I
did.  Oh.  Larry told me she's been safe for years, if that helps.  It
was another reason I spotted him.  You Feds have a habit of being
pretty careful about how you make sure you say the truth in strange
ways.  He didn't say 'is safe'."

She nodded.  "I'll take that as more evidence that you're who you
claim to be.  I've dealt with Robert Mills a few times, and it's a lot
like looking in a mirror, the way he sounds like an agent gone bad. We
know he isn't, but I'm sure someone will be taking a hard look at the
agents who have been assigned to him over the years."

She turned her head to Marge.  "Larry is one of our own, or he
wouldn't have been your official backup all these years."

Marge sighed.  "Somebody did a better job of securing their perimeter,
than we did.  Ted didn't mention it, but those kids smell like a
contingency plan on a short list of options.  They had to be in the
area somewhere before the rain washed out the road.  Only other way
in, is the way Ted brought his family out."

Patricia spoke thoughtfully.  "Is there any point in us staying Ted,
Marlene, and Midnight?  Sounds like lots of people might know we
didn't die in that fire."

Ethel studied her, then sighed.  "I know it's pushing our luck some
more, but maybe Larry was on a long leash, and acting spur of the
moment.  He might not have called in, yet.  Let's keep our options
open for now, so don't tell anyone else who you really are.  It
sounded like Ed doesn't know Ted is Courtney and we might be able to
use that, later."

Pat nodded.  "If he broke in, he probably found the note we left to
let Ted know we were borrowing one of his ATVs and the trailer.  Maybe
everyone figures we used that so we wouldn't be out in the rain as
long.  It was pretty bad when we left."

I spoke up.  "She's right.  I used a passive system, and even so, I
couldn't see very far.  I would have seen an active system if one had
been out there, so if he had IR, it had to be passive."

Ethel smiled.  "Which would explain his missing your leaving.  That's
good.  He's looking at accessory to murder charges, so maybe he'll
decide to do some plea bargaining.  We also have Larry, and the kids
who probably set up the explosion and fire.  We'll see what their
story is, if they have one."

"Don't expect it to make sense to you.  Dad had a habit of cleaning up
after himself, and it sounds like they were supposed to have some sort
of accident so they wouldn't be around.  I don't know how come they
survived long enough...  Oh.  It's Larry.  Dad liked twisty plans when
he wasn't being direct.  I wouldn't be surprised if they were supposed
to get to Larry after the job.  Not sure what was supposed to happen,
and you'd better check and see if you can find someone who was
watching Larry, as another layer of the insurance."

Ethel and Marge looked at each other, and both of them sighed before
Marge took over.  "How many murders can you lay at your father's
feet."

"At least six that I'm sure of, because I was there when they were
planned.  'Heir Apparent', and he knew he could take the fall at any
time.  If I hadn't been drunk and thinking about sex, I would have
done the smart thing and begged off trying to fuck Ursula.  By the
time it was my turn, enough had happened that I could have had solid
control of most of the next generation of power brokers, including my
sister, if she ever balked.  I think that's what pissed him off more
than anything else that happened.  We never had a chance to talk
because it was mom who did the dirty work of tossing us."

"So you knew these murders were going to happen?"

"Yeah.  I know what it means, which is one reason I'm turning state's
evidence.  I didn't do anything more than listen in, but I knew, and
didn't do anything to stop them.  Dad made it clear that no matter
what I tried to tell someone or who I tried to tell, he'd know, and I
wouldn't survive more than a few hours after I said something."

"You're certain of that?"

"Yeah.  One way or the other, he owns most of the town, and I was
going to inherit that control someday.  Glad I didn't, now.  Fucking
Ursula was done on a bet when I was too drunk to think with more than
my dick, but it turned out to be the right thing to do in the long
run.  It got me out of a situation I didn't want to escape, and I
think I'm a better person for it.

"He always figured he'd make a mistake someday, and that's ok as long
as it wasn't a stupid one.  You Feds are damn good, and dad
appreciates that, because it helps him keep from getting lazy from
dealing with ordinary folks.  I was being groomed to be the same way,
and raise my kids in the same tradition."

"You know what his stupid mistake was, don't you?"

"Wish I didn't.  Yeah.  Letting us live instead of seeing that we
really did go into the river.  Hope Sis is still alive.  It does make
me wonder why he'd pick now to correct things.  It can't all be
because I told Pat who I am, and what happened.  We had an agreement
that we wouldn't try to regain our inheritance.  Nothing was said
about telling someone the truth.  It was implied, but back then, dad
would have used someone else knowing as just another way to control
me.  Dead folks can't be used, you know?"

"I do, and being away from all the infighting left you available for
when he needed someone on the outside, that he could trust.  I think I
agree with you.  Something has changed, and someone sees you as a
liability."

She thought for awhile, then smiled at Pat.  "You sorry you got mixed
up with this young man?"

"Not a bit.  Oh, sure, I feel like I'm seeing a stranger, but he's
still the Courtney I met, fell in love with, and decided to wait until
the time was right to get him to marry me.  Lots of small things
getting explained, too, and I don't have a problem with him having
secret lives.  Going to be a lot of help, later, right?  Less likely
for us to give ourselves away because hiding isn't new to one of us."

She looked down and blushed.  "Oops.  Two of us.  I forgot Emma
already has a secret identity."

"So you're ok with him and Midnight being lovers?"

"Yes.  I just hope she's still ok with me being one of Ted's and
living with them full time.  She's his senior wife, and has first
claim on him.  I'm glad she's been willing to share all these years,
ya know?"

Marge flinched, then smiled.  "You, Marlene, are a very unusual young
woman.  You do understand that if Patricia and Courtney will be able
to come back from the dead, they'll have to move and then vanish?"

"Yeah.  Is that your way of saying we might be able to stay Marlene
and Ted?"

"It is.  I also feel certain that if things had gone as Ted wished,
you would have become someone else in the near future.  That option
will be looked into, along with some other options you have."

"Thanks, Marge.  At least my parents will know I'd finally found a
husband, and had a future ahead of me as a real woman, with a family
and all that.  I know it's not much, but it's better than them
thinking they failed me somehow, which is what they've been thinking,
for years."

I looked around.  "Mind if I sit down again?"

"Go ahead."

"Thanks.  I'm still pretty tired from that drive on the ATV."

I sat, studied Pat, then looked at Marge and Ethel.  "How do you two
feel about lying like rugs?"

They looked at each other, then shrugged before Marge spoke. "Depends,
I guess.  I'm sure you know we can't lie about anything to do with any
of the cases we're working on or know about."

"Yeah.  I've been thinking about things.  It's certain that at some
point, I'll have to admit who I used to be, right?"

"Your point."

"Thanks.  It's been ten years since we signed that agreement, and when
I think about it, I can't help wondering how come there wasn't a
clause in there about not turning informer.  That's an odd lapse on
dad's part, and the more I think about it, the more it bugs me.  Only
one person could have distracted him from that, and that was mom.
Makes me wonder if she was up to something long term."

Marge settled in her chair and motioned for the others to settle.  "I
think I see where you're headed.  Things look a lot different if she
was behind all of this, and not your father."

I nodded.  "Complicated, too, if both of them are working against each
other, and he doesn't know it.  Makes me wonder if I was supposed to
run, and wind up here, spilling my guts.  If we hadn't taken off when
we did, would the house have been blown up, or would it have been done
while we were on our way back?  Be nice to know the timing on that,
and how come it wasn't checked to make sure we were in it.  Kids must
have known we weren't there, because Emma would have gone off when
they stole Pat's SUV.  Where'd they come from, anyway?  Locals?
Doesn't sound like it, since they tried to drive through that washout.
That's been happening for years, and everybody knows better."

Pat sighed.  "I'm wondering how they got it started.  I'll admit to
leaving it unlocked, since it was inside the gate, and his gate was
locked.  Nothing worth stealing in it, anyway.  But still, there's
enough security built in that jerking the lock out of the steering
wouldn't be enough to let you turn it on."

Ethel thought about it and spoke thoughtfully.  "If they had a key,
where did they get it?  Nobody has mentioned any strange vehicles
parked near Courtney's place, so we need to find out who brought them
in, or where they were staying.  If they were staying somewhere
nearby, how is it that nobody has mentioned they noticed there were
strangers in the area?  There has to be at least one 'Mrs. Grundy' who
noticed...  What is it, Patricia?"

"Who, or what, is a 'Mrs. Grundy'?"

"Nosey Parker.  Busybody.  Someone who has nothing better to do, so
they keep their nose in everyone else's business, even when it isn't
wanted there."

She and I both laughed before she smiled.  "Oh.  That's an easy one.
Several of them.  Nearest one..."  

She looked at me with her eyebrows up, so I finished for her.  "Is Ed.
Couple others, but they, and even Ed, were there long before I moved
in.  Most folks notice things, but Ed has always been the unofficial
one to tell when you plan on being away for a long time.  Think of him
as the unofficial head of an unofficial neighborhood watch system."

Ethel nodded.  "Convenient.  One more reason to look at him a little
more closely  Thanks for the tip.  We'll move carefully, just in case
he has links outside the area."

She glanced at Marge before she went on.  "You know, with your
background, and since we'll have to keep an eye on you no matter what
happens in the near future, the two of you could do worse than going
to work for us as field analysts, and living in place somewhere, after
all the other stuff is taken care of.  Having your bitch to deal with
makes it a little trickier, but if you figured you could do it, having
our help would make it a lot easier."

Pat looked at me again and shrugged.  "Too sudden.  I've been assuming
you had some sort of plan."

"I did.  Still do, if for some reason we aren't put under protection,
and we can get out from under for a few days."

Marge laughed.  "Protection is a given.  Don't worry about that."

"Ok.  I never planned on spending much time in this area as Ted
Simpson.  Mainly, it's because of Emma/Midnight.  I've done what I
could to get her to behave a little differently, depending on which
collar she's wearing, but she's too well known, and has too many
people she knows and greets when she sees them."

Ethel must have decided to take over.  "Good point.  I can see a lot
of other problems, too.  Go on."

I blushed.  "Sorry about this, Pat.  Ted's something of a gypsy and
rake who doesn't stay long in one place, but he does have a bunch of
places he's known well enough to have casual girlfriends who don't
mind the way he wanders.  Part of that is being an actor with big
dreams.  He can't be held back, and usually, they have a similar
dream, so they're like him, and always ready to jump if a chance
presents itself."

She had winced at first, then she took my hand and nodded.  "So
someone who landed him would have to be pretty special, but it could
happen, right?  I never asked you to be exclusive."

I bent my head.  "I know you didn't.  Still, I've assumed you'd be
happier if I was, so when I've been home, I haven't seen anyone else
in years, for sex and stuff like that.  Got some friends that are
close, but you know that.  Oh.  For the sex and cuddling when you
weren't there, Emma has always been available."

"I do know you have other women as friends, and never had a problem
with that.  As for Emma...  I'm still a little numb, I guess.  I do
think it's better it's been her, instead of another woman.  After all,
I must have stolen part of you away from her but she's been ok with
it.  Least I can do is keep sharing with her."

She leaned in to kiss me, then she shifted her attention back to Ethel
and Marge.  "Assuming we accept that absurdity of going from fugitives
running for our lives, to becoming federal agents, what did you have
in mind for us?"

Ethel studied the two of us, then nodded again.  "Are the two of you
in all the way?"

I sighed.  "If Pat's willing, so am I.  If all we do is spend the rest
of our lives hiding, we're going to get bored pretty quickly, even if
we have kids someday.  Make it official.  I'm in all the way.  My life
is in your hands anyway, and I know it."

"Smart man.  Patricia?"

"As long as the three of us can stay together, I'm in.  Completely."

"Good!  I know how Ted's mind works, already, so I feel confident his
word, once given, is good.  I'll pay you. Patricia, the same respect.
With that settled, I think I have enough that I can make that phone
call, and with some judicious bending of the truth, You and Courtney
will be able to come back from the dead before you take your bows and
leave the stage.  Clean, reasonable breaks work out better in the long
run."

She settled on the corner of Marge's desk and spun the phone so she
could use it.

"This is Ethel, Kyle.  I'm pretty sure we have things stabilized here,
for now."

"Hello. Ethel.  Any ears I need to know about?"

"Marge is here, of course.  Also have those kids who are supposed to
have died in that fire.  Using the Speakerphone, since they've agreed
to join us as part of the protection plan."

"Join us?  What have you been up to, this time?"

"Remember the Mills case?"

"Too well.  Anyway, we already have a pickup planned for Larry.  We're
not too happy with him, and we'd like to know how he was turned, and
who did it.  It's not supposed to happen that way."

"Too true.  Do we know if it was the wife, or the husband?  Could be
important, later."

"Slow down, Ethel.  What's Larry have to do with the Mills case?  That
was before his time, and it's been closed for years."

"The details aren't all in yet, but Courtney Smith used to be one of
the Mills kids.  Turns out they weren't in that car that went in the
river."

He groaned.  "The fire was a hit?"

"Maybe not.  He thinks he might have been expected to run in this
direction.  Makes Larry's presence interesting, doesn't it?  The kid
spotted him as a killer, we didn't.  I have some other thoughts about
that we can share later.  Been an interesting skull session here.
Kid's willing to sing to us, no strings attached, in return for
protection.  He and his future wife are pragmatic about the situation,
and I can't blame them, after what they've been through."

"Let me see if I understand you.  We have a solid break on the Robert
Mills case, finally, and to protect them, you want us to hire the
young man and woman."

"Got it."

"What about the real reason you folks are out there?"

"Good to go.  We got lucky and there were no innocent bystanders. Only
doubtfuls were a state marshal and his secretary on their way to
somewhere else.  Unconfirmed right now.  I'm still picking up the
pieces from that near...  Whatever was supposed to happen.  I thought
it was a hit, but now I'm not sure.  Depends on who was pulling
Larry's strings."

"You've got the young man.  What about his sister?"

"Unknown.  Larry indicated that he's linked to someone who knows where
she is, at least.  He's still out, I assume, so we can't ask him what
he knows."

"You play rough, Ethel."

"The man was rude to me, after I politely asked him to rethink his
plans.  I only broke his arm before I had to take him down.  We have a
security tape showing what happened, so relax."

"Any other complications, before I ask you what I should do with your
new students?"

"My students?!"

"None better, to teach them, right?"

"Wrong attitude.  I'll be learning from him.  He spotted Marge, while
we never figured out he's been two people around us."

"Is that the complication?"

"No.  He's sexually involved with his bitch, and Patricia is fine with
it.  I have the impression she wants it to continue after they get
married."

"I thought you said there was a complication."

"Only reason they're here, is because he borrowed an ATV from his
other personality, who happens to own a place of his own, nearby.  His
bitch has a second identity, too.  Don't ask me how he managed to make
that work, but she's good enough we never spotted the two bitches as
being the same one."

"Are you telling me you want to make him an instructor?!"

"Nothing so radical.  They ran for their lives in the middle of a
storm, switched identities after they got out, then walked in here and
wound up in Marge's office.  Ted/Courtney, in spite of that stress,
spotted Larry from a glimpse of him walking across the parking lot.
That was...  Oh, about 30 minutes ago.

"Since then, they've had to take cover with Marge under her desk, get
rescued, and now, during the after action chin-chin, *both* of them
are alert enough to spot things out of place that I'm betting I would
have missed if I'd been in their shoes.  I want that tactical sense on
our side, and available whenever someone needs it."

"Gods, Ethel.  I've never heard you admit someone else was better than
you at tactical analysis.  Never met anyone quicker, that I know of."

He sighed audibly.  "We'll find a way.  Anything else?"

"Find his sister, and make sure she stays alive.  I have a feeling
she's at least as good as he is, since we haven't spotted her yet,
that I know of."

"No reason to be looking, but I understand.  Any near future plans I
need to know about?"

"These two are going to return from the dead sometime tomorrow, then
there's going to be a rushed wedding before they leave town by the end
of the day, because they feel they shouldn't stay in this area.  Bad
memories, delayed shock, whatever we need to come up with as an
excuse, after we tie up what loose ends we can, to make their
disappearance believable."

"Need any more people?  Sounds like you expect to flush someone."

"Good man.  I have plenty here, but we need to get a bunch of people
in there to catch our birds before they fly.  Got some serious
suspects."

"I assume you know how to get them in, with the main road out?"

"Part of that return from the dead.  Send them here, then Courtney and
Patricia will guide them in, so they can help investigate the remains
of his house.  Make sure they all have 4bys.  First couple of miles is
a rough ride, and probably worse because the rain hasn't stopped.  Oh.
Bring at least one pickup so they can return the ATV they borrowed
from his alter ego."

I spoke up.  "They coming in openly, or quietly?  I have passive IR
goggles, but they would mean a very slow drive."

"Was that Courtney?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I begin to see why Ethel is obsessed with making you one of us. We'll
come in quietly, using passive gear.  Be interesting to see if anyone
is using active stuff, and spots us.  Ethel.   Expect a crowd within
the next couple hours, at the latest.   Marge, I'm going to get that
area sealed, so if you have any customers, tell them the road has been
shut down because of the storm, and keep them there, somehow. We'll
want to do background checks before we let them go."

I spoke up.  "The three of us took a walk to enjoy a lull in the rain,
and I wanted to make one of my usual checks on Ted's place.  Everyone
knows we have an agreement for me to do that.  After I checked the
place, we borrowed some heavy rain gear, and the ATV and trailer so we
wouldn't get as soaked on the way home.  We took the long way, and
when it got real heavy, we decided it would be just as quick to drive
the rest of the way out, and come here while we waited for daylight.
Couple holes in that if someone wonders about not seeing headlights,
but I know the area, and drove slowly."

"Might work.  The explosion and fire happened in a pretty small
window, if you folks didn't hear it."

I laughed.  "Bundled up, and wouldn't have heard much over the engine
noise.  Besides, we might have heard it and thought it was just
another nearby lightning strike.  It was a good reason for staying on
the power line road, then on the shoulder of the hiway, as much as we
could."

"Ethel, keep them alive so they can collect their pay.  It's always
nice to have someone in the program earn their way.  Anything else?"

"If there is, it can wait for now."

"Right.  Don't do anything until after I get there."

"You?"

"I'm feeling mildly paranoid, and I want to make sure nobody sneaks in
as your new help."

"Ah.  So you did pay attention in class."

"Yep.  Any excuse to get away from this desk, too."

"Glad to have you here."

"Bye."

Ethel was smiling when she turned the phone off, then she sighed. "I'd
better get out there and send some people to keep an eye on that road,
in case someone decides they need to be somewhere else in a hurry."

I chuckled.  "Be easier and quicker to hike out in the direction of
town, if you know where the low spots are.  Driving that direction
isn't going to happen unless you have one of those six wheel jobs that
floats.  Storm keeps up heavy enough, the back way is going to be
iffy, too.  Might need winches in a couple spots already.  Won't know
until we get there."

"All the more reason to make sure we get in there as soon as possible.
I'll be back after I find out what's going on out front...  Wait.  you
kids showed up in that pickup.  Where's the ATV?"

"Same place I store the truck."

"Sorry, been a long night for me.  I should have remembered you store
it nearby.  Anything else you think I should know?"

"Umm...  Maybe.  I have an RV parked in a rental space about twenty
miles away.  Different name, and I only show up a couple times a year
to pay the lease, and make sure it runs and is currently tagged.  My
paranoia has me thinking I should let some experts have the keys so
they can check it for surprises."

She nodded.  "Someday soon, I need a full rundown on your contingency
plans, so we can do damage control.  Be thinking about your parents,
too.  Be nice to have anything you remember, so we have a better
chance of making that go smoothly."

I sighed.  "He owned most of the town then, and I expect that with
what happened to me, he must own my generation, too.  I was the only
guy to fuck his bitch, but several of the girls collected, too.  At a
thousand from each of us, a lot of money changed hands that night.
Petty cash for all of us, so it won't show up on any bank records
unless someone made a deposit.  Don't count on that happening.  By
then we all knew enough to keep our cash transactions away from the
banks.  I honestly don't remember how much cash I had stashed, but it
must have been a couple hundred thousand by then.  I was on an
allowance, but never questioned unless I did something real obvious,
like make a large purchase somewhere, that didn't show up on my bank
statement.  I did watch myself so stuff like that could be explained
by saving for a few months."

Ethel was studying me, then she nodded.  "It will be interesting to
hear how you managed to get all the different ids I assume you have.
We can talk about that later.  I know that if you know what to look
for, that sort of service is easy to find."

"Too easy, sometimes.  A teenager living on his own seems to attract
certain types of people who think they can use him, because he's
probably still pretty naive."

"Most are.  Few would have had the advantages you did.  I'm thinking
you could have used that and gone back to a life you were used to."

"Be a power broker, like my parents?  I thought about it, but I
already had it figured out that doing that would be one of the first
things people would expect me to do.  It wasn't easy at first, but I
managed to stay pretty honest, and only swindle the swindlers, when
they tried to use me."

She laughed.  "We'll swap stories later.  Be back when I get back."

Patricia sighed after Ethel left.  "Gods, Courtney, or whoever you
wind up being.  I was right about being in some sort of weird movie. I
also never thought about how vulnerable you must have looked, because
you were on your own.  I can't let go of you, now.  I'm woman enough
to know when I've linked up with a real survivor."

"You're one, too, you know.  Who was it who saw enough to get us out
of the house, so we could have the talk that probably saved our
lives?"

"Yeah.  You're right.  Maybe it was because I've been stalked before,
so I can relate to what your life has been like when you didn't have
to hide in front of others.  How'd you get the RV?"

"Police auction as myself, then I sold it to one of my other personas
when I realized it needed more work than I wanted to put into it right
away.  I put it in a shop to get it running again, then found an
inexpensive RV park where I could leave it and be pretty confident
nobody would damage it while it was stored.  It helps that I let the
manager rent it to weekenders who need a place to stay.  He takes good
care of it and uses the income to pay my space rent, and fix anything
that needs fixing."

"You're trying to hide a huge grin, I think.  Must be a reason for
that."

"Well, yes.  The outside looked good when I bought it, but the inside
was pretty torn up because it was used to run drugs.  Part of the
seizure was an almost complete disassembly of the interior.  Because
of that, I got it for a couple thousand, instead of what it would have
gone for, if it had been reasonably intact.  Getting it running didn't
cost that much, and I tossed about five thousand more at it before I
parked it.  Over the years, the manager put any extra into rebuilding
the rest of it, and I've sent money to help that along.  It's older,
now, but what I own is an RV that was about $350,000 when it was new,
and I figure it's cost me about $30,000, spread over all these years,
to get it.  Worst case, I could sell it for far more than I have
invested, and we'd have something to live on for several years, at
least.  I've already turned down offers of $250,000 cash for it, a
couple times."

"This rental stuff.  Do people get to drive it?"

"No.  About twice a year I go take it out for a weekend or to get
things checked, after I make sure it isn't going to be rented."

"Sounds like a sweet deal.  Maybe we'll be able to use it someday."

I sighed.  "Be nice, but I imagine we'd have company and be on our way
to a job, instead of being able to completely relax, if they let us
keep it.  It would be too high profile, probably."

Marge had settled back and been listening, and now she smiled.  "Maybe
not.  Sometimes we need that feeling of success in a younger couple. I
can't see you doing field work, but I can see you folks being taken to
meet people, and after some quiet remodeling, that RV would make a
good cover for some situations.  Very few people would think it odd if
you wanted to show it off to strangers who express an interest in it.
Might solve some other problems, too.You'd have to have at least one
driver, and they'd have to be comfortable with your sexuality, but
after that, you could count on having a place where you could pretty
much be yourselves without any fear of getting caught."

Patricia looked at her.  "Might be better if we get a different one
every couple of years, right?  Be stupid to keep something that
recognizable for too long."

"Maybe.  Exteriors can be changed.  So can interiors and license
plates, for less than the cost of a new RV, which would have to be
made over before you could use it."

Pat shook her head slightly.  "Sounds like you folks want to make us
pretty high level, if you're planning on having us ride around in an
armored RV."

"I know how Ethel thinks, and you're right.  You two are damn quick,
and that can be the difference between life and death for a field
agent, sometimes.  The cost of making sure you two stay alive, would
be worth it, even if you never do what you did here, again."

I suddenly realized what her viewpoint must be, and laughed.  "I get
it.  The heir apparent has been turned, and nobody will ever know, if
it all works the way you want it to.  Can't be many agents who were
raised to be power brokers, and not upright citizens that have passed
some pretty extensive background checks."

Marge joined her laughter to mine.  "Exactly.  Usually, they become
trusted informants that aren't told everything, and they're kept on
the outside.  You and Patricia are too good for that to work, so we
might as well make you part of the family, officially.  Only makes
sense, because you've already proven you know how to get inside the
heads of both sides."

I sobered.  "And you want to make damn sure we aren't turned, so our
skills are used against you."

"Damn right!  You know what would happen then, don't you?"

"Turn too many times, and you're considered expendable, by both sides.
I know what it's like to be expendable.  Wouldn't be here if I hadn't
found that out, the hard way."

She sobered.  "Sorry."

"I'm not.  Be nice to let go and have someone else watch my back for
me, finally.  I figure us being analysts of some sort, is a cheap way
to pay for that."

Emma nudged my hand, then looked at the door meaningfully.  I sighed.
"Emma needs to go out and I imagine she needs some water and food,
too.  I know I'm hungry.  Tired, too."

Pat nodded emphatically.  "Include me in that."

Marge stood.  "I'll take you through so you can let Emma use my yard,
because I know it's private, with no surprises waiting for us.  After
that, it will have to be my dining area, or the guest bedroom.  Can't
take a chance and serve you out front."

I yawned.  "Gods...  I don't know.  Bath and bed sounds better than
food, to me.  Actually, the bed sounds best because I might fall
asleep if I take a bath or shower first.  That was a long ride to get
here and I'm feeling it, finally."

"The bedding is washable.  If there's anything you need from your
truck, I'll send someone to go get it.  Probably best you get that
nap, so you'll be able to stay awake during the ride back."

I yawned again.  "Let's go.  If you don't know the area, it's easy to
get in trouble when you try to take a detour."

She led us through, and after she showed us where the room was, I took
Emma out so she could go, then I barely made it back so I could fall
on top of the bed and go to sleep.

* * *

It was a daylight when Ethel came in and woke us up.

"You can get some breakfast, or you can go back to sleep, or whatever.
Plans got changed."

I yawned and stretched, then rolled and propped myself up so I could
look over Pat's body.  "Something happen?"

"Nothing like that.  You three are safe, here, and going back right
now would put you at risk.  Everyone left about an hour ago,  before
it got light."

"They must be there by now, if the road was good enough."

"Specialty team with ATVs was lifted in and dropped at strategic
locations.  The world already knows you're Charles Mills.  Got a match
on some fingerprints they lifted off Pat's SUV.

"So they pulled it out of the washout already?"

"Yes.  Kids had an interesting story.  Said they found a key in your
house."

Pat spoke up.  "Impossible.  One spare is at my apartment, one is in
my purse and the dealer has one in a security box.  Or, that's where
they should be.  I never gave one to Courtney, just like I don't have
anything except keys to his gates and house.

"He have a key to your place?"

I nodded slightly.  "I did.  It was on the key ring we tossed on the
way out.  Pat tossed it at some point but I don't know when she did
it."

"Power line road.  I did it after you got us across one of those dips.
One of the first ones, because I needed to be able to hang on with
both arms.  I was hoping they would get buried."

"What about your cell phones?"

I sighed.  "In a field between my place and Ted's.  We removed the
batteries and tossed those when we were further down the road, but it
was well before we got to Ted's.  I was worried about them being used
to track us."

"Ok.  Not important, since we're going to let the world know you're
both alive, before anyone can dust things at Ted's."

I groaned.  "Yeah.  Wasn't anything I could do about my prints, so I
did what I could to make sure nobody would have a reason to check
them."

She smiled.  "Worked for ten years or so, and that's pretty long in
this business.  Just so you know, matching those prints gave us the
excuse we needed to put together a raid and go collect your parents."

"Will I still need to testify?"

"Depends.  We have enough now, to justify keeping you out of most of
it.  No media, yet, and you're in protective custody, will be the
official line, once they start asking questions."

"So you're going to admit we're alive?"

"Have to.  Ed panicked when he answered his door.  Asked for
protection, because he's certain if he doesn't, he'll get hit, soon."

"Before last night, I would have said you need to worry about my dad,
but now, I'm not certain.  Mom had a lot of power, too.  That much is
obvious, with hindsight."

"Works that way, sometimes.  At least you're alive to worry about what
might be out there.  We have this area sealed pretty good, and I'm
pretty sure my crew is really mine, so there's a good chance that if
someone tries for you now, we'll catch them at it."

"The RV belongs to Mark Jansen, from Maine.  Space 30, Riverside RV
Park.  Manager has keys and copies of all the paperwork."

"We'll do some discreet checking so we don't blow your cover."

"Thanks.  Anything else?"

"Nothing that can't wait.  Mostly, we're out of the loop right now,
and we don't know what's going on back at the remains of your house.
We're also waiting to see if anyone decides to come looking for you,
since Ed admitted he called in and let his control know you'd borrowed
one of Ted's ATVs.  We're pretty confident that none of the locals
know you and Ted are the same person."

"If somebody has run the prints, they'll know."

"True, and we'll be looking at who has accessed your records over the
years."

I frowned, and she noticed.  "Something wrong?"

"Yeah.  I'm supposed to be dead, so except for some low key monitoring
to make sure I keep my word, all this doesn't make sense.  Sure, it
happened right after I told Pat who I am, and how I wound up here, but
dad has to know that I have the safe deposit box.  I haven't accessed
it, and unless someone official got in with a special warrant, it
hasn't been opened since the day I moved here.  Oh...  Maybe nobody
knows where it is.  I made a one time, lifetime payment when I got it
and used it, so there'd be no follow up stuff to link it to me. Still,
he would expect me to do something like that at some point. and he'd
know that if something happens to me, and people find out who I am,
that box would be found, and it would put him in the middle of it
all."

Ethel did her own frown.  "Something's changed, somewhere, hasn't it?
Killing you at any cost, or at least forcing you to run, must be more
profitable than leaving you alone, right now.  Did whoever forced
things know we were in the area, and expect this?..."

I sighed.  "You know, there's a question we haven't asked, yet.  You
thinking what I am?"

She nodded.  "Probably.  What if it hasn't been your parents, all
along?  If someone learned who you are, they could have kept track so
they could use you as a diversion..."

She dug out her cell phone and called someone.  "Go!  Scoop them up,
my authority....  Yes, I know we don't have everything we wanted.
Things might have changed and we need to collect them before they get
clear again.  We'll sort the innocent from the guilty, after we get
them all in one place."

She must have liked what she heard, because she nodded slightly before
she hung up and looked at us.  "Earlier than we expected, and I may
have just blown a long term operation, but I'm willing to take that
chance.  We think they've done this to us before."

"Done what?  Used a convenient diversion to get clear?"

"Yes.  Always something high profile enough that we had to divert
resources to deal with it.  While we were thinned out, they'd get out,
and we've always had to find them again."

Pat rolled out from under my arm and sat up.  "You folks done talking
shop?  I'm hungry, and I imagine Ted is too, once he remembers he has
a stomach.  Only questions I have are when can we get some food, and
who are we right now?"

Ethel was smiling.  "Yourselves.  Patricia Heathrow, and Courtney
Smith.  It was an impulsive, and dangerous thing for the two of you to
do, borrowing one of Ted's ATVS like that, so you could spend today
getting married, before you changed your minds.  Probably saved your
lives, though."

I got up and hugged Pat.  "I'm willing to go along, if you are.  It's
a long drive to someplace we can get married on short notice, but it's
doable and we could be back late this evening."

Ethel laughed.  "Credit us with *some* ability to plan ahead.  You
don't have to go any further than the dining area.  One of the
helicopters diverted and picked up the local JoP so he could identify
the two of you."

Pat stared, then giggled.  "We have some decent clothes in the back of
the pickup, unless someone brought them in for us."

"Everything in the pickup was checked and brought in.  No surprises.
We're pretty sure whoever is after Courtney didn't link him and Ted. I
hate to admit the lapse, but that might be because we never spotted
it, and made it part of our reports.  Something else that's being
looked into."

I looked at her, and she nodded, so I sighed again.  "Ethel, you're
being pretty open with us, for all this happening so fast.  Mind if I
get a little suspicious?  Some people get real open when they know the
listener won't be around much longer."

She smiled.  "Good point.  It was supposed to be a wedding gift, but I
don't mind giving it to you kids early.  While you were asleep, all
three of you were put on the official payroll.  You're even getting a
special bonus for services already rendered to your country, and all
that.  Unspecified services, of course."

Pat smiled.  "Mind if I call you slightly crazy?  Anyway, thanks.
Let's go eat and get married first, then we can legally share a bath
before we put on some clean clothes.  May I make a request that
presumes on you folks?"

"Depends."

"Have the RV checked out, and if it's clean, bring it here so we can
use it for our entrance.  We're going to need a place to stay, and
since we'll be the center of attention, we might as well do this with
some style.  I'll let you folks come up with the explanation for it
being available."

"You presume a lot, young lady."

"So?  Nothing stopping you from hiding a pretty good sized team in it,
right?  From what Courtney said, I'm betting it's a pretty good sized
one, with lots of room in it."

I laughed.  "Forty feet long.  Rebuilt to factory specs so it can
sleep ten, if they're good friends.  Seating for all ten, too, and
seat belts on the beds if you want to have six more."

Pat laughed.  "Sounds more like a bus, than an RV."

"It's not a conversion.  It was custom built that way.  I understand
the folks who got caught were a large family, and the drug running was
a sideline that helped pay to raise all those kids."

Ethel laughed.  "In case you've forgotten, the road is closed."

Pat shook her head.  "So?  You telling me you folks can't figure out a
good reason for some of you to be driving a fancy RV through that road
block?"

"No, I'm not telling you that.  I'm not going to promise it will be
Courtney's RV that shows up, but one will be here sometime today."

"Thanks.  Bathroom, food, and wedding, then you folks can take over
and run our lives."

"You remember the way back to the main dining area?"

"You telling us there isn't anyone outside that door, with backups,
keeping an eye on us?"

"Yes, Patricia.  If someone gets inside our perimeter, then it's
probably all over, for all of us.  All the windows and doors are
covered, and there are plenty of inside people, so relax.  It's not
the kind of situation where you three need full time bodyguards, yet.
That happens later."

"Oh.  Ok.  We'll find our way, somehow.  I do remember a long
hallway."

"Good enough.  We'll be waiting."

We did our best to get cleaned up, then I went and opened the door to
the back yard to look for whoever was keeping an eye on it, found him
and shrugged.  "Ok for me to bring Emma out?"

"Sure."

"Thanks."  She had to go try and make friends, he laughed and touched
her head without losing his focus, so, satisfied, she went, explored a
little, then I called her back and hooked her up.  "Let's go eat,
kid."

We found our way back, and Ethel must have been warned because she
took us to a table that was ready, then handed us the menus.  "You
both have expense accounts, so relax and order anything you want. Emma
is going to have to eat people food until that RV gets here, so it's
up to you."

"If you have it, rice, chicken, peas and carrots for her.  A bowl of
water is a good idea, too.  Give us a couple minutes to decide."

"No problem.  We contacted Kyle, and he's airlifting some of his
people out to go check your RV, since he had a couple of EOD teams
with him."

That made me look up from the menu.  "Sounds like you're expecting
some serious trouble."

"Routine in a case like this.  We think someone important got caught
in our net.  Got some folks on ATVs coming out the back way.  We're
waiting for them to come to us."

"Lots of places you can hide stuff out there."

"We're pretty sure someone panicked and left it all behind.  No
luggage and they're riding fast and hard even though they're two up.
Someone tries to toss anything, they're likely to fall off and be left
behind."

I laughed.  "One of those helicopters have anything to do with your
confidence?"

"Good man!  We took a chance, and parked Larry's rig at that last
narrow spot, with the trailer open and the lift gate down, like he's
waiting for them.  If we're wrong, they're still blocked.  If we're
right, they'll save us the trouble of loading them up."

"Got gas canisters preset in the rig and trailer?"

"Of course.  You folks ready to order?"

"I'll have my usual.  Denver Omlette, hold the salsa this time."

"Coffee or hot chocolate?"

"Hot chocolate."

"Got it.  Patricia?"

"Blueberry pancakes, ham, hash browns and coffee.  No syrup, lots of
real butter, and some extra bacon, well done, so I can spoil Emma some
more."

"That's it?"

"Yes.  Thanks, Ethel."

"Welcome.  Be back with your drinks."

When she came back, Marge was with her and both of them were smiling.

Marge gestured at one of the empty chairs.  "Mind if I sit and we talk
shop?"

I laughed.  "I don't mind.  Don't know about Pat and Emma."

Pat shook her head.  "Like he said, you folks run our lives, now.  You
want to talk shop, we talk shop.  I hope you know more about why those
kids were ready to take my SUV.  Doesn't make sense, unless they had
it planned that way."

"Good point, and you aren't the first to wonder about that.  Your
apartment's been trashed.  We can't be certain, but it looks like all
your stuff is still there, except for the key to your SUV.  We're
adding some pressure to find out if we can get something closer to the
truth out of those kids, and Ed.  He claims he had nothing to do with
that.  He said his job was to keep track of Courtney, and that was
all.  He thinks you might have seen the fire and gone to ground for
some reason, since there was no sign of Ted's ATV in the rubble."

I thought about it.  "So now there's the possibility there are several
different plots, with at least one of them aimed at Pat?"

"Yes.  Officially, we are assuming some of it is because you're
Charles Mills, and someone found out.  Pat may be involved as part of
a blackmail scheme."

"Makes sense.  Sounds like we screwed up some plans by tossing our
phones right at the beginning."

"That's a real possibility, yes."

Pat tilted her head and looked thoughtful.  "Any mysterious phone
calls to my parents, yet?  That would be the next step, right?"

"None that we know of, but we're not in that loop yet.  Kyle would be
the one to ask, and he's busy enough as far as we know."

"Pat showed up before the road was washed out, so someone with more
balls than brains could have come in behind her.  If they know the
area, they'd know there are only the two ways out from my place.  If
they were after either of us, or just keeping an eye on us, it makes
more sense to have watchers out there who can let someone know who's
coming or going.  Doesn't explain how Ed lost us, though."

Marge nodded.  "He could have been counting on them to pick you up and
when they didn't, they all assumed you went home."

"Big problem with that, Marge.  Pat's SUV being stolen.  If we'd gone
home we'd have noticed, and if we'd been there, we'd have known it was
being taken, because Emma probably would have alerted."

"They could have been waiting for you, and given up."

"You know...  We're assuming something we shouldn't.  What if they
really didn't torch my place?  Pat didn't call ahead.  That was why
she caught me sleeping with Emma.  Storm covered her arrival.  Anyway,
if the kids were looking for Pat, and stole her SUV as some sort of
warning, or whatever, someone else could have missed that, and assumed
Emma and I were there by ourselves, like normal."

She nodded again.  "So they could have done what they needed to do,
and since Pat's SUV was gone, if they weren't locals, they might have
assumed she'd gone home.  Professionals would have checked to make
sure you were there, though."

"Yeah, I know.  Ed admitted he saw us headed out, but he didn't see us
come back.  If he was really being paid to keep track of me, I think
he would have focused on my house.  Did he stop by and check on us, or
not?  You know what I'm thinking?"

"No, but I can guess.  Maybe he saw something he knows he shouldn't
have, and he's hoping we don't figure that out."

I stiffened, thought hard, and was glad nobody asked me what I was
doing.

"Marge...  You said the people coming out looked panicked."

"That's the impression Kyle's people have, yes."

"You and Ethel have been here for years, so I don't think they would
know they were being watched somehow, but they must expect it.
Maybe...  This is going to sound a little odd, but suddenly, I'm
betting the investigators are going to find some bodies in the
wreckage."

"Shit!"

"Uh huh.  Maybe they're hoping to catch up with us and use us, since
we're supposed to be dead.  You have to admit, stumbling on Charles
Mills, way out here, would make a lot of people salivate at the
possibilities they could see.  Are you sure Pat and I should return
from the dead?"

"We might have at least three, maybe more plots, all centered on this
area.  How you were discovered is going to help us figure out what's
going on."

"Find out who had my house bugged.  I hate to do this, but it sounds
like Ed is the key to most of it.  He probably knows it, too.  If he
saw something and didn't do anything, that makes him an accessory, so
he must be really sweating right now, and wondering what direction the
attack will come from."

She smiled.  "We can use that.  Be nice to know if he knew about
Larry."

"Maybe he'll recognize those folks coming out."

"You might know them."

"True, and I'll take a look if you want me to."

"We'll save that for later.  I'd like to keep you in reserve for your
father.  I really don't think we'll need your testimony at this point,
but it never hurts to have a star witness in reserve."

"What about those murder charges I can be hit with?"

"You were being blackmailed into silence, and you didn't come forward
because of that fear, right?"

"I guess.  Mostly, once I was out, I didn't want to get mixed up in it
again. The power and control is nice to have, but it's nice not to
have it, too."

"That explain how come you're so calm about this?"

I laughed.  "Oh, come on, Marge.  Be sensible.  That sort of power is
addicting, and you must know that.  I was raised to be a spider with a
web and pulling the strings.  I never stopped having a web around me
to let me know what was going on.  All that's changed is that I have
state approval to maintain it, and not only that, I won't have to
worry as much about being lied to, right?  Pat and I will have plenty
of power and control, so I'm really just picking up where I left off
ten years ago.  Sounds arrogant, but I spent all my life in training
for this sort of stuff.  Wouldn't you be happy if you suddenly found
yourself being begged to do the job you trained to do?"

"I was.  We were.  Glad you're on our side, Courtney, and not running
things out there.  I don't think you would have made as many mistakes,
if you'd made any."

"Thanks.  One more thing.  If all these folks didn't know about each
other before, they do now, right?"

She winced.  "That's what most of the saturation is all about.  Damage
control, even though we know word must be out by now.  Let's hope
there really are bodies in the wreckage.  We'll still have to trot you
and Pat out pretty soon, but we can wait and pick our moment, instead
of feeling forced."

Pat giggled.  "Lots of tree shaking going on."

Marge laughed.  "All over the country.  We're all on heightened
alert."

I smiled.  "You're hoping to remove this branch, aren't you?"

"I've spent twelve years shadowing these folks and hoping I'd be the
one to get the break that nails them.  Unless they were already gone,
we might have the higher ups delivering themselves to us, finally.
They should have stayed put, but that twelve years must have taken
it's toll, finally."

"You're thinking they are assuming you're out here somewhere and they
might be able to get past you again?"

"If you hadn't come out during the storm and your house hadn't been
burned, they would have made it.  We can't be everywhere and our
surveillance of the back way is sporadic because we don't want to be
spotted.  Besides, normally, it would be easier for them to go out the
other way.  We didn't know where they were, but we knew they were in
this area.  Again, we got lucky, and I'll take that and run with it."

I laughed again.  "Can't argue with that attitude."

Ethel showed up with all our food, an action we all approved of, so
conversation was limited while we ate.  Emma finished first, and
begged for more, which she got from both of us.

I was working on my refill when a thought distracted me and I choked,
then spluttered.  "I'll be damned.  It makes perfect sense.  I just
needed to find the right way to look at it."

Pat and Marge looked at each other, then back at me.  Pat took it.
"You have a logical explanation for us needing to run, and all the
other stuff?"

"Well, I can't say it explains what's happening with the people Marge
is after, unless they got caught by surprise and panicked because they
think it was all aimed at them, but yes, if I'm right, I know what's
going on."

"You going to tell us?"

"Of course.  It all started with dad kicking us out after I fucked
Ursula.  He didn't have to do it that way, but he did, for some reason
I never figured out, until now.  It was an excuse, so he could hide
the real reason he wanted us gone."

"Real reason?"

"Yeah.  They wanted us out, and on our own.  If Mary is still out
there, we've survived ten years on our own.  We didn't fail.  We
passed!  He wants out, and he's set things up so I can take over under
conditions that let me do things my way.  We're not tainted by
association.  He's retiring finally, and willing to pay for everything
he's done, as long as he knows I get a chance to get out of the game
he'd locked himself into."

"Why now?"

"You."

"Me?!"

"Sure.  We're getting married, in spite of what's been happening.  If
we have kids, there will be another heir someday, to carry on whatever
we come up with.  I don't think he planned for us joining the Feds,
but it won't bother him when he finds out.  He and the Feds are a lot
alike, you know.  Have to be or he wouldn't be as successful as he's
been."

I looked at Marge and laughed at her shocked look.  "I wouldn't be
surprised if he called you guys in, and started talking as soon as he
knew he was talking to the right people.  You see...

"The agreement was that Mary and I would never try to regain our
inheritance.  He never said he wouldn't someday give it back to us, if
we redeemed ourselves in his eyes."

Marge's eyes went wide, then she nodded.  "Kick you out to sink or
swim on your own, and if you learn how to swim, all is forgiven.  A
tough problem, with a tough solution, and if it doesn't work, he can
make sure he finds another heir, or cashes in quietly, and leaves the
table."

"Yeah.  Tough love.  Elegant solution.  It's a long shot, but I kind
of think Larry was only a messenger, this time.  Maybe I was supposed
to spot him, as another test, to make sure I could think under extreme
stress."

She thought about it, then sighed.  "Might not be much for you to
inherit."

"Trust me, if I'm right, there will be.  He'll cut some sort of deal
to make sure there's enough for us to have a reasonable chance of
making the switch successfully."

"What sort of deal would that be?  He's got a lot to answer for."

"You honestly can't see it?"

"No."

"Pat and I are legit.  Have to be, and you folks know it somehow, or
you wouldn't have hired us so quickly.  I could think it's because
you're smart enough to secure your perimeter, and that means checking
everyone who lives in the area, but I'm betting it was something
simpler.  Someone higher than you knows the truth about me, and when
they knew Pat was a pretty permanent fixture in my life, she got
checked, too.  Same reasoning for me fucking Ursula, then Emma.  Known
and ignored as mostly irrelevant."

"That explains Kyle's agreement to hire you, but it doesn't explain
how your father is going to be able to leave you anything."

"My God, Marge!  Think!  How many times have I told you and Ethel that
he OWNS everyone of importance in that town?  He's going to hand two,
maybe three generations of them to you--on a platter!  Wouldn't you
cut him a damn good deal for that?!"

She turned white from shock.  "Oh.  And if you're not there to be part
of that, he knows he has an heir who will hopefully stay out range of
the Feds...  Slick.  You come back from the dead and seemingly stumble
into your past, and become...  Your father's heir, with a clean slate
and good wishes from everyone that really matters."

"I could be wrong."

"If you are, we lose nothing.  If you're right...  We couldn't have
done it better if we'd planned for something like this.  Either of you
have anything you want to add?"

Pat leaned back and smiled.  "I do."

"Go."

"Usual procedure, once you're done, would be to sell out and move on,
right?"

"Or 'retire' and shut it down."

"So we'd lose a pretty good place to eat and relax.  Be a shame if
that happens.  Might even be more accidents, because people driving
through won't have a place to stop and unwind, or take a long break."

"Stuff like that happens all the time.  Once my job is done, the
budget will dry up and something will have to be done."

"I know.  So, to keep that good will, and satisfy the accountants,
sell it to us and we'll keep it open. You can keep using it as a drop,
or a legit reason for strangers to stop and talk to us.  If we keep
mostly the same people, it becomes a safe haven, right?  Wouldn't it
be easier to keep an eye on us if we stayed in one place most of the
time, instead of moving around every couple of years?"

Marge studied Pat, then looked at me.  "You planning on being a MIlls
again, if you're right?"

"I was disinherited, remember?  It's safe for me to get the windfall.
I used to be a MIlls.  I'm Courtney Smith, now.  Let us suffer through
the few days of fame coming back from the dead will force on us, then
we'll go back to being Mr. Smith, and his wife.  We stay in the area,
it should help keep things low key.  'The guilty run when no man
pursueth', and all that philosophical stuff."

She finally sighed and nodded.  "It might work, since if you're right,
there's no need for any of your testimony.  Victim of the conditions
and all that.  I'll pass it on to Kyle when I can get him by himself,
then we'll wait."

Pat grinned.  "If we're going to have a few free minutes, let's get
that marriage over with, then Courtney and I can retire to the bridal
suite and get cleaned up."

Marge laughed and stood up.  "Don't go away."

A few minutes later Ethel cleared the table, and a man sat down where
Marge had been.  "Hello, Patricia, Courtney.  I understand you two
need some paperwork from me."

I chuckled.  "He's your uncle, Pat.  You deal with him."

"Hi, Uncle Jeff.  Took me a few years, but I think I found the best
unattached man in the state.  Think he'll be good enough for me?"

He smiled slightly.  "If he wasn't, he will be, right?"

"Of course."

"I'd be abusing Marge's hospitality if I asked the usual question
about anyone objecting, so we'll cut to the chase.  Courtney, you want
this Hell Raiser as your wife?"

"Of course.  Wouldn't have drug her along, if I didn't."

"We both know you would have helped anyone who was there, but that
will do for a yes.  What about you, Patricia?  You ready to let your
parents get their hooks into Courtney, once he's officially part of
the family?"

"Yes."

"Then you're man and wife in the eyes of the law.  Now, you'll have to
sign all the paperwork, I'll do some notary stuff, and then I'll find
out how long I have to stay here."

I sighed.  "Don't expect to get away soon, so you might as well figure
on enjoying the break, and the food."

He looked at me, then at the rest of the people in the dining area.
When he refocused on me, he sighed.  "I'm betting that if I go back,
I'll only get called out as a reserve, right?"

I thought about it.  "Maybe not, but I wouldn't bet on that being a
sure thing."

"Anything you can tell me?"

"Appreciate it if you're there when we return from the dead.  Be nice
to let folks know we got married, instead of being killed in that
fire."

"Deft."

"No choice, Jeff.  Lucky to be here, and we know it.  Let the rest of
it be a surprise, ok?"

"I know a hint when I hear it.  I was given a ride here, so if it's
ok, I'll stick around and ride back with you folks."

Pat reached and touched his hand.  "Thanks, Uncle.  I was hoping it
would be you who married me off.  Would have liked it better if mom
and dad were here, but this is the next best thing."

The phone rang and Marge answered it.  "Marge's All Nighter.  Marge
speaking.  Ah.  Ok.  Thanks."

She hung up and looked around.  "That was the road department.  That
blockage has been cleared, but because of the storm, they're going to
convoy people through this area until the storm lets up.  Let's get
ready for some brisk business in about thirty minutes."

She came over and studied Jeff.  "One of my people can take you back
when they go that direction."

He shook his head.  "If there's room, I'll wait until Courtney and Pat
head back.  Courtney asked me to wait and I agreed, if it was
possible."

Marge looked at me and I nodded.  "Be nice to have him there to
confirm we decided to get married."

"Shouldn't be a problem  One of your friends from out of town heard
what happened, and offered to let you use his RV until you figure out
what you're going to do about a place to live.  I don't think he'll
make it with the first convoy, but he should be in the second one, if
he was able to get it ready in time."

"I'll thank him when he gets here.  Who was it?"

"Mark Jansen."

"Ah.  That's him, all right.  Impulsive."

She laughed.  "Sounded like it when I talked to him.  Said all he
needed to do was stock it and top the tanks."

"Gods...  He's only bringing it in from the next town, not halfway
across the country."

"Never hurts to be safe."

"Yeah, I know.  Anyway, Jeff, I've seen that monster.  Unless Marge
decides she wants to use it as a bus and give her staff a break, there
will be room for you in it."

"Thanks, Courtney."

He looked around, then at Marge before he looked at me oddly.  "You've
been out here, so I don't know if you've heard the rumor that was
being talked about when I was Shanghaied."

I winced.  "Rumor, and you're willing to repeat it?"

"Yes, since I'm talking to the man who would know if it's true or
not."

"Oh.  I should have expected folks to get crazy after my place was
burned down and we weren't there."

"Something like that.  Rumor is, that your real name isn't Courtney
Smith."

I sighed.  "Oh.  There's a court that will confirm it's my real name."

"Sounds like you're ducking."

"Wouldn't you, if you had a past you wanted to forget?"

"Your point.  But?"

"Ok.  Yeah, it's true.  I was forced to get my name changed just after
I turned sixteen and was thrown out.  Pat knows about it.  All of it."

The room had gone silent, and he must have realized it because he
suddenly looked away and checked out the people around us.  "You know
something?  I feel like I'm a bug about to hit a windshield.  Can I
avoid the impact?"

I sighed.  "Best you can do is postpone it."

"I'll make it your call, while pointing out if I'm supposed to be all
innocent smiles and congratulations, you don't want me completely
surprised."

"Might be better if you were, but mostly, I'd like another friend I
can trust, at my back when the rest of the world finds out."

"Thanks."

"The rumor, if it's the one I already know about, and I think someone
leaked who shouldn't have, is true.  Ten years ago I was Charles
Mills, and my sister and I supposedly drowned in a local river."

"Oh.  I hadn't heard the name.  People were talking about you maybe
being a fugitive or something.

I laughed.  "Not quite.  We both made mistakes, and we paid for them,
that's all.  Let the rest come to you through the media, and someone
else, if they decide you need to know more."

"Thanks.  I've heard enough."

"Good.  Let's get that paperwork done so Pat and I can go get some
time to ourselves before we go back to the real world."

* * *

We'd managed to nap briefly, and we were sitting in a booth taking it
easy and watching the rain when Pat sighed.  "Gods...  She must be
miserable if they had to wait for the road to reopen."

"Huh?"

"Out there.  See the woman in the wheel chair?"

I looked, and a young woman was pushing a wheel chair that had a woman
in it who was holding an umbrella to keep the rain off of both of
them.  They were accompanied by a man who looked to be about the
woman's age, so I assumed they were a family, when something about the
younger woman caught my attention and I wound up studying her
intently.

Pat touched me lightly.  "What's wrong?"

I looked at the man, my jaw went slack, and then I ignored Pat and
raised my voice.  "Ethel!  VIP headed our way!  I'll get the door!"

She came over and looked out the window.  "What are...  My god!  That
must be what changed!"

Pat sighed.  "Clue me in?"

I got out and stretched.  "That older man is my father, the woman in
the wheel chair is my mother, and the girl is my sister.  They've all
changed, but...  Doesn't matter.  Some things you don't forget.  Be
right back."

Ethel looked at me.  "You sure it's safe enough?"

"For me, yes.  I want to be with them so you people don't do something
stupid, to protect me from something that's not going to happen. You'd
better be there too, because he's probably here to see you, more than
he is me, right?"

"Umm...  Hell if I know.  I definitely want to know what they are
doing here."

"Family reunion, is my guess."

"If you say so.  Let's go."

We met them at the door.   I reached and pulled it open before my dad
could get it, and he froze, then smiled.  "Hello, Son.  Good to see
you.  May we come in?"

I just shook my head mock wearily.  "You and your twisty plots.  Of
course you can come in, Dad.  Should we slide a couple tables
together, or use Marge's office for some privacy?"

Then I looked down.  "Hi, Mom.  Are you what changed?"

"I am.  Cancer.  I'm dying."

"I'm...  Sorry."

Then I looked higher.  "Hello, Sis.  Glad to see that you're ok.  Been
worried ever since this morning."

She nodded.  "I'm fine.  So are my husband and children."

"Good.  After what happened here..."

She sighed.  "Let's get inside and settled, ok?

I winced.  "Sorry.  I expected something like this, but not here, and
not...  For this reason."

Dad sighed and touched mom.  "We didn't expect this, either.  We'll
use the office, if it has room for all of us."

He held out his hand to Ethel.  "Charles tell you the reason I'm
here?"

She took his hand and smiled.  "He did, and I'm still having trouble
believing he called it.  It's been a wonderful game, hasn't it?  I'm
genuinely sorry it ended on such a sour note, like this."

He smiled and let go of her hand.  "Let's get some privacy, so we can
haggle some before we cut the deal we both know is going to happen.
Charles?  Mary?  You'll have to sit this one out."

I shook my head slightly.  "Mary probably should, but Pat and I can be
there if Ethel and Marge say it's ok."

Dad frowned.  "Be better if you keep out of it and stay clean, son.
You know that."

"Relax.  Pat and I work for the Feds, now.  Tactical Analysts.  We can
be in the middle, and nobody is going to raise an eyebrow.  Matter of
fact, Ethel might need us there to back up her judgement.  Pretty
emotional moment for her, you know."

He stared at me, then turned to Ethel.  "Well?"

Ethel bent her head while she thought about it.  When it came up, I
could see that she'd made up her mind, so I nodded.  "No problem.
Mary, let me introduce you to my wife while these three do what they
need to do."

Mary looked down, then sighed.  "Yeah.  Good to see you, Bobby.  I've
had time to get ready for this, but still... "

She kissed mom lightly and smiled.  "You be good, ok?"

Mom smiled.  "I will.  I promise."

"Good!"

Mom looked at me and held out her arms.  "Give me a hug, son.  I've
waited a long time for this to happen again."

I bent down and hugged her tightly.  "Gods...  I...  Thanks, mom, for
everything  I couldn't have done it if you and dad hadn't got me
started."

She giggled.  "An honest Mills.  What branch?"

"FBI."

"Good.  Work for the best, or not at all."

I laughed.  "Yeah, I guess so."

"Been good to see you again.  Ethel is getting antsy, and we're
blocking the door, so let us go have that talk, then we can see about
catching each other up, because it sounds like some of our plans got
derailed somehow.  Oh, before we go get serious, let me see your
wife."

I stood and waved Pat over. "Mom, this is Patricia Heathrow Smith, my
wife, and working partner.  Wasn't for her, we probably wouldn't be
here."

Mom and Pat looked at each other and finally mom smiled and held out
her hand.  "Smith, instead of Mills.  Glad to hear that.  Also glad
you two finally figured out the right thing to do.  Right results, but
wrong path.  We'll explain later."

Pat took her hand.  "Glad to hear it was the right results.  You know
what they say, right?  If you don't know where you're going, any path
will get you there.  That's the path we took.  Don't let Mr. Casual
fool you.  It was only a few hours ago that he figured out what was
really going on, and he didn't predict you'd be *here*."

"But he did predict the reason?"

"Yes, he did, and I'm in worse shape than Ethel, because...  None of
us could figure out what sort of change would trigger it all."

"Took us by surprise, too, and there have been other things happening.
Don't be badgering Mary for details, because she doesn't know them."

Pat laughed.  "She's married, with children.  That's more than enough
to keep my nosiness satisfied."

"Good.  Will you excuse my rudeness?  I'm afraid we'd better take care
of business while I still have the energy."

"Of course, Mrs. Mills."

The three of them left and I watched them enter Marge's office before
I slumped and gestured.  "Let's see if Marge will let us take you back
to the guest bedroom.  What name do I use, anyway?  I'm still Courtney
Smith, so you don't have to use my old name."

Mary sighed.  "I've been Heather ever since I got married, so use
that.  I changed my name a few times during the first few years of
my...  Exile, I guess we should call it.  Moved around quite a bit
before I felt safe enough to settle and get married."

"I can imagine.  I wasn't that smart, but at least I settled in a
place where I could rely on knowing what was going on around me.  Did
it with friendship and mutual respect, which felt odd at first, but
after the fact, I think it gives better long term results.  Worked
fine, untill I got blind sided, but Pat and I survived, and that's
what counts, right?"

"Definitely.  Let's go find someplace private, and if you can supply
some food, I'd appreciate it."

I turned, and nearly ran into Marge, who was smiling a little sadly.
"I heard.  I know it's rude, but the signs are there.  How long does
she have?"

Heather slumped.  "Who knows?  She's already gone weeks past what the
doctors gave her.  Will power, I guess.  She wanted to see Bob...
Courtney, before she died."

"I see.  I also overheard part of your earlier conversation.  You
folks can grab Emma and use my dining area.  What would you like to
eat and drink?"

"Surprise me.  I don't care what it is, as long as it's edible and
doesn't try to eat me."

Marge smiled.  "Any other restrictions?"

"A decent beer of some type.  I need the anesthesia, and I'm done
driving, for quite awhile, I think."

Marge looked in the direction of her office and sighed.  "I imagine
you are, Heather.  Should I put some medical assistance on alert?"

"No.  She's been ready for weeks.  This was her going away gift, a
tour of the country.  She and dad wanted to see it finally, before..."

"I understand.  Courtney, you and Patricia know the way."

I sighed deeply.  "Thanks, Marge.  I never expected..."

"None of us did.  Go get acquainted with your sister."

"Yeah.  I hear you."

* * *

Heather waited until she had her food and Marge had left, before she
relaxed enough to get serious.  "You ever figure out I'd already been
fucking Orson?"

"Yesterday evening, while I was telling Pat what had happened.  Guess
it wasn't sooner, because I really did do my best to forget about
you."

"Thanks.  I didn't look back, either.  Never did figure out what
really happened.  Dad explained it when they showed up about six
months ago.

"They didn't keep track of us.  You were spotted about a year ago,
according to dad, and the people who discovered you decided to try and
blackmail him.  They didn't know why you were out here under a
different name, but they read more into it than was there."

"Must have pissed them both off, right?"

"Definitely.  What happened to Larry?"

"I spotted him as some sort of killer, then he was rude to Ethel when
she first asked him to stop what he was doing.  You're rambling, sis."

"I know I am.  Been pushing mom around for the last six months, while
they've seen the country.  No secret she's dying, so dad, you know how
he thinks, decided to take that tour they always dreamed about being
able to do someday."

"Uh huh.  I must know dad, if I was able to figure out he was leaving
the table, finally.  I take it they always planned on ending up here?"

"Yes.  I know more than mom thinks I do.  Dad...  Needed me, and he
wanted to be sure you'd get the full story, because he wasn't as sure
about getting that deal as he made it sound."

"After everyone recovers from their shock, he'll get pretty much get
whatever he wants, once he gives his word he really is done.  I've
already made it clear I'm not going to be heir to more than the
physical stuff.  Pat and I have our own plans."

"I guess you do, since you're working for the FBI.  Never expected
that to happen.  We assumed you'd put up with the attention as long as
you had to, then they'd make you vanish."

"That was our read, too, until I finally put it all together."

"Who were you going to be?  Gods...  Drove him nuts, trying to figure
out if some of those aliases were you or not.  Wasn't until we heard
about the fire and your survival, that he was sure you were Ted.  That
was just too...  Ballsy, according to him."

Pat laughed.  "I was surprised, too.  Maybe that's the main reason he
was able to pull it off.  Shocked me when he called Emma, 'Midnight'.
What about you?  You going to pick things up?"

"What's to pick up?  Back home is going to be so clean in a few days,
that it squeaks.  Dad's serious about that much.  Oh..."

She dug in her purse briefly, then handed me a savings account book.
"This is yours.  I got one, too, when they found me."

I looked at it, my eyebrows went up, then I handed it to Pat, who also
raised her eyebrows.  "Courtney Smith has almost five million dollars
in a bank I've never heard of?"

I sighed.  "Look at the monthly deposits.  It's going to be
interesting to hear how dad managed to keep people from noticing he
was paying $30,000 out every month.  That amount just happens to be
what my allowance was when he kicked us out."

Sis laughed.  "It gets a lot worse.  He's carrying another bank book,
but that one belongs to a friend of yours.  Guy named Mark Jansen.  He
figures the two of you have known each other long enough, you'll
eventually get together again, and he'll process things so you get
most of it, while he gets a chunk as his commission."

I stared at Heather.  "Are you saying he really doesn't know?"

"Know what?"

Oops.  "Umm...  Mark's the kind of guy, that if he trusts you, he'd do
that sort of thing for free."

She nodded.  "Dad had that much figured out.  You're supposed to find
a way to convince him to take his commission."

"Ahh...  Yeah.  I'll think of something.  Maybe I can give him another
RV, to replace the one he's loaning us."

She laughed.  "We saw it.  Dad stopped and rented it for a week when
mom needed to take a long break."

I sighed.  "Gods...  I know dad.  What he do, leave Mark a surprise?"

"No.  Well, maybe.  The surprise is for you, really.  $213, 417.23 in
cash, and he left that with the manager, in Mark's name."

I looked at Pat in shock, and she looked equally stunned.  "Didn't you
tell us something about leaving some cash behind when you left?  If
I'd had any doubts, this news would have eliminated them."

I simply faced Heather again and raised my eyebrows. 

She smiled.  "Yeah.  It was your money already, and when they found
it, they kept it for you.  Did the same with mine, but since I didn't
party as much, I had more tucked away for emergencies."

"How much, or am I being too nosey?"

"Over a million.  You can imagine how pissed I was when I had to leave
it behind."

I laughed softly.  "I bet!"

Then I sobered.  "I'll be able to accept it all, plus whatever else
they're planning on giving me.  Our current plan is to have Pat and I
come back from the dead and let me stumble into being a MIlls, since
people already know that's who I used to be.  I imagine that's part of
what Ethel is working on with them.  That and the details of cleaning
up the town.  Two generations, or three?"

"Four.  Clean sweep, according to dad.  Before mom found out she was
dying, he was going to try for the protection program.  Now...  He
wants to stay out, but it's not as important to him.  Nothing to live
for, except us, and he doesn't want to do anything to screw us over."

"Other than what he's already done to us."

"Yes.  More to me, than to you."

"Oh?"

"I married a cop.  Good one.  He knew about me and Orson, and he found
out about my past because of a stupid ticket I got, just before we got
married."

I sighed, then got up and walked around while I sorted out my
thoughts.  When I touched the wall phone, and sighed, Heather raised
her eyebrows and I nodded slightly.  "Bet you'd love to use this to
make a call, right?  So would I.  Anyway, I get it.  Federal database.
We'd be in there from one of those raids, wouldn't we?"

"Yes.  It's not a problem for me, now.  I'm cold plate, with a need to
know rider."

"Lucky, or planned?"

"Mostly luck, but I did see it, and mention it to him so he'd know
that wasn't why I chased him."

I chuckled.  "He must have been Orson's best buddy."

"Of course.  Same way for you and Emma, with Pat, right?"

"Yeah.  I wasn't planning on falling in love with Ursula.  It...
Happened somehow.  Best friends, and maybe fucking her took it past
friendship, in her thinking."

"Probably.  Daryl was tolerant.  Thought it was funny, really, and
helped when he was there.  Still looks out for us when Gil can't be
put off or I need...  What I get from a dog and not a human.  Daryl's
sensible and is happy Gil is a dog and not another man.  Actually
keeps his life as a cop simpler, because he knows I can't be seduced
into something stupid."

I sighed.  "Sounds like he still hasn't completely understood what
being a Mills, is."

"I'm working on that.  All the power brokers in our area don't have
the same sense of honor.  We both think it's a major reason they never
last more than a few years."

"Yeah.  I bet Mom and Dad shocked him."

She giggled.  "Definitely!"

I took a deep breath and studied her, then sighed.  "I hate to ask
this.  What about you?  You here as a Mills, or are you hoping to stay
some sort of caregiver, then go home a lot richer?"

"Folks at home know I'm with my parents for their farewell tour.  We
hired Daryl's parents to try and replace me until I get back."

Her knuckles whitened when she tightened her grip on her cup.  "So
far, we've managed to keep the people who know my old name to Daryl
and my parents.  I'm...  We're ready to have me be a Mills again, if
that's what needed."

"But you'd rather stay low key and Heather, right?"

"Of course.  Daryl and I are doing well enough we don't need anything
from mom and dad, and I told dad that when I had the chance.  He just
laughed it off and told me that's why we're getting as much of it as
he can keep away from the feds.  Neither one of us needs their help."

She looked at Pat.  "Dad spotted six aliases.  I'm betting we missed
at least that many more, and the ones he does feel confident about are
all over the country, and range from itinerant laborer to settled
bachelor.  'Ted' is in about the middle as far as how much money he
has."

Pat laughed.  "I haven't heard the details yet.  Only found out about
Ted because it was an emergency and I pushed a little, I think.  After
all, it hasn't been twenty four hours since he told me."

Heather studied Pat and finally nodded.  "I can see that the two of
you are right for each other.  Don't take this wrong, ok?  At heart,
you're a Mills.  That's the only way I know of to say it."

"I'm not a manipulator."

"I'm not talking about that.  I'm talking about the kind of 'stiff
necked, walk into Hell with your head high because you gave your word,
and you'll keep it, pride', that's so old fashioned most folks think
it's a waste of time."

"Oh.  Maybe I've been in Hell already, so it doesn't scare me any
more.  More likely, I've been around Courtney so many years it's
rubbed off and I didn't realize it.  He just...  Lives it and I picked
it up, I guess."

Heather laughed.  "I hope someday we can all get together for a long
visit.  Daryl's getting better, but I think he'd learn more if he was
around a man who is like me, once in awhile."

Pat smiled.  "What do I have?  Nieces, nephews, or both, to look
forward to meeting?"

"Both.  Maybe by next summer, we'll be able to travel without being
noticed.  What about you folks?"

Pat tipped her head at me and I sighed.  "Sis, we don't know, yet.  If
we can do it, we're going to stay in the area as Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Pat wants us to buy the all nighter and keep it open.  I don't have a
problem with that.  It really depends on Marge and Ethel at this
point.  They run our lives, now."

She nodded slightly.  "We never talked about the possibility of me
becoming a Fed.  The protection program got talked about a lot, of
course.  Mom and dad used me as a sounding board and to get a
different viewpoint of his options."

"You know something?  If he did that, excluding you from the
discussions makes less sense than keeping me and Pat out of them."

"I know.  Can I assume we're being recorded?"

I shrugged.  "Might as well.  I've never asked, so I don't know for
certain."

"I see your point.  Nothing I'm worried about, anyway.  It's all
pretty insignificant compared to losing mom."

"Yeah.  I know.  You said will power, right?"

"Yes.  So if you're asking me if she's going to die in that office
before they get finished, all I can say is that it's a real
possibility."

"Sucks.  I hate to say this, Heather, but I'm not going to bet against
you staying with us and calling for your family.  Ethel figured you're
at least as good as Pat and I are, at getting into the heads of your
opponents.  Sounds like your husband must be good, too, or you
wouldn't have been serious about him, right?"

She sighed.  "He is good.  Doesn't let go, either.  He wasn't happy
about letting me take off like this, but the kids needed one of us
there for them."

"You been checking in?"

She giggled.  "Yes.  Not only to make sure the kids don't forget me,
we do it to kind of take a break and plan the next trip.  That happens
every couple of weeks or so.  And there's Gilbert.  Separation
anxiety.  In a way, he's worse than the kids.  He's a good dog, but
he's too enthused about it all to be the kind of dog mom and dad can
travel with.  Too distracting, and ...  It's been ten years, you know?
I wanted to be with them as much as I could, even though it's taken me
away from my family."

I sighed.  "That, I understand.  At least you got six months.  All I
got so far is a hug and a few words.  Hope I get more, even though I
never expected anything."

Pat touched me.  "Quite a switch from the man who never checked, and
didn't want to know."

"I know.  I don't know how I feel about what they did, any more. Can't
change it, I know that.  I don't know how we're going to deal with all
that money, either...  Oh.  Hell.  Yes, I do have an idea if we wind
up buying Marge's"

"You do?"

"Yeah.  First thing we do is find out how much land goes with the
diner..  Then, what if we arrange to buy about a square mile around
it?"

She looked at me, her eyes widened slightly, then she nodded.  "Yes.
If it's safe to do it, I want kids.  You're thinking that instead of
having to wait, we go all out and expand?  Hotel, truck stop, some
stores..."

"Exactly.  Money makes more money, but you have to spend it for that
to work."

Heather laughed a little sourly.  "Are you two dreaming, or arrogant?"

I chuckled.  "I'm my father's son.  We don't need the money, which I'm
sure is the same problem you have, but worse, right?  Anyway, Pat has
a point.  This area is growing, and I don't know if you saw all the
houses, because of the rain, but there are a lot of folks in this area
now, and there's been talk of doing something about it.  If we build a
core area, maybe even build some sort of school complex, the people in
power will get in touch with reality and do what they should have been
doing all along."

She thought about it, then smiled.  "Sounds like you still like to
control people.  Lead, anyway."

I shook my head.  "Not control, Sis.  Do what needs to be done.  If
they want to help, fine, if not, that's ok too as long as they don't
get in my way.  I lost my home because they've got those games they
play.  If we'd had a station, or a usable road, maybe something would
have been saved.  I have lots of friends who could get burned out.  If
we have stuff like that here, maybe we should see...

Pat was watching me.  "What is it?...  Oh.  I get it.  I bet we could
buy enough land so we could  put a new road in.  We'd have to move
fast, before people figure it out and speculate."

I looked around the room, not really looking for any monitoring
devices unless they were obvious, then I grinned.  "Relax, Marge.
Maybe I can get some use out of some of my aliases.  All depends on
buying this place first.  Maybe there's another easement that comes
through to the hiway.  If there is, we can look into hiring a paving
company to do the work.  Good access road would be good for business,
right?"

Heather was grinning.  "I guess you know I don't want to run and hide,
but I'm not going to bet on being able to stay where we are.  Only the
oldest has just started school.  They'll all lose friends and so would
Daryl and I.  I like the idea of hiding in plain sight, and using all
that money to do something useful.  Make a nice contrast to what dad
and mom did with it.  If Daryl is willing, and the Feds are ok with
it, count us in."

Pat smiled.  "Reestablish the Mills dynasty?"

"Smith and Keller dynasties, Pat.  Philanthropists.  I know it's a
cliche, but if we do this, let's put in some sort of public
educational center.  Library, net access, all that stuff."

I smiled.  "If we're dreaming that big, don't forget a good park with
an off leash area for the dogs.  Marge already has a pet area.  We
could expand that."

Then I studied her again and sighed.  "We could do it anywhere, but no
matter where we do it, we're not going to run away from being
'rich-rich' unless we dump the money.  I've been assuming we can keep
what he's already given us."

She nodded.  "That's not absolutely certain, but I think it's a pretty
safe bet, even though you're Feds, now.  You're thinking about using
the money to build a cover that isn't government funded?"

"Yeah.  If we do it all ourselves, and keep our real jobs in the
background, it might be easier in the long run.  At the least, we
won't have to get involved in all the budget infighting every year, if
we're paying our own way for everything except our security."

She nodded, then sighed.  "I guess you also figured that Daryl and I
have already been talking about our future, and that moving would be
almost a given?  A cop family that comes into money, especially money
that came from a broker, is going to be looked at pretty hard."

"Sounds like you'll need the protection worse than we will, if you
keep the money.  You ever think about plastic surgery, and all that?"

"We did.  Wouldn't do much good, because of the children.  Too young
to understand and be expected to maintain the cover."

Pat winced.  "So you might as well keep the money to help pay for the
expenses of trying to have a life of some sort?"

"Yes.  There's something else."

Pat nodded slightly.  "I have a JoP as an uncle.  He's also a
reservist.  It's Daryl, isn't it?  You want a full time father for
your children."

Heather smiled.  "I want a *live* father for my children, the same one
who helped me have them.  He knows it, too."

Pat smiled more.  "Well, talking to you has been like talking to
Courtney, except for the body differences.  If Daryl's as easy to get
along with, I'm ok with figuring out a way we can all do this crazy
movie stuff together."

Heather stared at her and Pat grinned back  "Coping mechanism.  Helps
me focus so I can think instead of react.  It's also a private joke."

"Oh.  Tell us later?"

"If you're around, yes."

Heather looked at me thoughtfully.  "Do you really think you can
dictate terms to the FBI?"

"Strong suggestions, based on what they hired us to do, which won't be
becoming field agents.  Like I think I mentioned earlier, Ethel seemed
pretty adamant about finding you for some reason of her own, which I'm
guessing was your mind.  She seemed to think you'd be at least as good
as I am."

She thought about it.  "I see...  So, if I raised my voice and asked
for the pleasure of Marge's company, since I know Ethel is still busy,
I'd probably get it fairly quickly?"

I laughed.  "You'd get somebody, anyway."

Heather smiled and dug in her purse, then held her cell phone up while
she raised her voice.  "Is anyone going to object if I call my husband
and tell him he should get the kids ready to move, because we've both
been offered better jobs?"

A few seconds later a man's voice came over a speaker that was mounted
on the kitchen wall.  "Marge is on her way.  She's been briefed, but
she'd appreciate it if you wait a little longer before you make that
call."

Heather had flinched, then she recovered.  "I can wait."

She put her phone away, then her smile got real lopsided.  "I found
out what I really wanted to know, which was just how important we are
to them."

Pat laughed.  "Poor Marge.  Hope her heart is ok."

"Oh?"

"Courtney walked in and as much as told Marge he knew she's a Fed,
then asked her which branch she worked for.  I have a feeling Marge
wants some time to do some stuff so she feels like she's caught up
with you, before she settles and tells you what your options will be."

Heather laughed, then spoke to the air.  "I bet she'll move more
quickly if I sweeten the deal by mentioning I'm a fully certified home
teacher, and I'm thinking about building a private school with some of
that money.  Being private and all, I can limit the students I accept.
Maybe there are some Feds out there who'd like to have someplace
secure they can send their kids, yet still count on them being taught
the same values they're expected to live under at home.  Honor,
truthfulness, duty to their country, and other silly stuff like that.
Since it would be privately funded, they wouldn't have to worry about
the administration telling them what values should be taught, once the
educational requirements are met.  Donations to keep it open would be
welcomed, of course."

This time, the man sounded a little startled.  "Hell with Marge. She's
been too busy to have kids.  What grade levels?"

"All of them.  Net connection planned so they can take online courses
for college and university credit, whenever they're ready."

"Only one more question, but it's the most important one, to the rest
of us."

"Oh?  Go."

"Forget Marge, and official channels.  If some of us offer to help,
and provide the students, will you give your word, as a Mills, that
you'll build this school as soon as you can, somewhere?"

Heather looked stunned, and I roared with laughter before I managed to
sober a little.  "Well, Sis?  Forget what it's like to deal with
people who understand the honor of a Mills?"

She faced me and nodded.  "Yes, I did.  Mom and dad are either gonna
freak totally, or laugh and tell me I'm crazier than the idiot who
decided to make one of his neighbors, himself."

"Saved our lives, Sis.  Success is it's own justification, sometimes."

"Sometimes?  Yeah.  I get it.  We *have* changed, haven't we?  We
wouldn't have qualified that, ten years ago.  Your point."

She looked at Pat and smiled wryly.  "Keep him, huh?  You've earned
each other."

"I had that figured out, long before I caught him asleep in Emma,
yesterday."

"Another story you'll have to share, now."

She leaned back in her chair, thought briefly, then nodded firmly.
"Whoever you are, my word as a Mills, that I'll build that school as
soon as I know the money is really mine, and we figure out where I and
my family will be living.  So, add that to the requirements for
wherever we wind up.  It will have to be a place we can stay for a
long time.  I don't believe in school hopping.  That's the reason for
the home ed cert.  Emergency planning and..."  She sighed.  "I got
tired of paying good money for a public education system that isn't
working.  I'll give dad that.  He made sure the schools at home
worked.  It finally makes sense, because we were in them.  Now, I
understand that obsession."

"We're in, all the way.  We should be able to help find teachers who
can meet the background checks.  We have some thoughts about who the
principal should be, too.  Don't worry.  Whoever they are, you'll have
the final say so."

All of us looked at each other, then Pat said it.  "They're up to
something."

Heather sighed.  "Whatever it is, as long as I know my kids will get a
proper education, and go to a school that is as concerned as I am,
with respecting the values taught at home, I don't care.  Home ed is
not my first choice, as long as there's a school around for true
socialization."

Marge found us in the living room, watching the rain and sharing
silence, after we'd cleaned up after ourselves.

"You folks didn't have to clean up.  I do have a kitchen staff."

Heather laughed.  "Gave us a chance to share memories of being brother
and sister, and doing the chores.  Time to forget all this other
stuff. for a little while."

"Well, some folks are screaming about all the security concerns, but
some fast talking with some implacable logic, got us all a deal that I
think we can live with.  That was the main reason for the delay.  I
wanted to come in here and be able to give my word, then keep it."

"Thanks.  I guess I'm the spokeswoman for now, since you've cut your
deal with Courtney?"

"Yes.  He and Pat get the diner, and enough support they can
eventually build that complex they want.  Good choice, since I happen
to know there are already some long term speculators out there who
expect to profit from this area in about ten to twenty years."

"Been asked to sell out?"

"Yes.  Several times."

"So.  Where does my family wind up?"

"Here, as yourselves, and yes, all of you get to keep your money, so
you can build that school, and..."

She paused and looked a little bemused.  "Someday, I'm going to want
to get the details about how a teenager managed to buy up so much land
along the future easement for a major road to the hiway."

I chuckled.  "I wanted to make sure that if I had to bolt, I wouldn't
run into fences and stuff like that.  Because nobody thought anyone
would be building out that way, I got the land for almost nothing.
Used a different name, of course.  That path was a gamble back then,
but after I studied the topo maps, it seemed like a decent bet, so I
took a chance."

Marge finally laughed.  "Well, I guess you can go ahead and build your
road, assuming you can make arrangements with your 'friend'."

She turned back to Heather.  "Anyway, some folks aren't happy about
you not being willing to go into the protection program, but they
can't find any excuses to force you to hide, so it's up to you and
your husband."

"Good.  We've been talking about this a lot in the last six months, so
all I have to do is go home for the rest of the school year, then we
can load up and move."

Marge smiled.  "Well, I guess now is when I thank you for giving Ethel
an unexpected handle on your parents.  Personally, I think your father
should have taken the offer of protection, for his sins, but I guess
what they wound up with proves you kids are really theirs."

Heather and I looked each other, then she sighed.  "Ok.  This is the
place where you have given us all those nice concessions, before you
set the hook and tell us what we have to agree to, or else it's all
off and we're screwed, right?"

"More or less.  It took some doing, and it involved a surprise that I
should have seen coming, but after that, once people quit yelling at
each other, they realized it can be made to work."

"Oh?"

"Yes.  Your mother has a pragmatic streak, and she isn't afraid to use
it to get her way, is she?"

"I guess not.  She always kept in the background back then, so I can't
say either way."

"Well, I can say that however she was in the past, she's not afraid to
speak her mind, now."

"Ok.  I know you're doing a lot of ducking."

"I am?  Oh, I am.  I'm still trying to accept how apt the deal maker
is, for your school."

"Out with it, Marge."

"Mind you, this was not my idea, nor was it Ethel's.  It was presented
as a possibility by the spokesman who told us they were going to back
your school for the children of agents, because you'd given your word
as a Mills, that you'd do it."

"He did say they had some ideas."

"Yes, they did, and that was what the yelling was all about, after we
figured out what he was telling us."

"Just tell us, Marge."

"They wanted your father as the principal, because they trust him, and
they wanted Ethel there to keep an eye on him, as his secretary.  That
was when your mother got involved and said that the two of them should
get married after she dies, because a good marriage is built on
respect, and they have that already, so why waste it?  She also said
your father isn't used to sleeping alone, and he'd need a woman who
knows enough about the world she can soothe him out of his nightmares
when he's not doing the same for her, and wasn't she planning on
retiring soon, anyway?"

Marge grinned.  "She also pointed out that if we did it that way, we'd
avoid all the delays caused by having to do background checks before
you hired a principal and his secretary."

Heather sighed.  "That's mom, all right.  Implacably reasonable and
logical.  Who yelled the most?  Dad, or Ethel?"

"Ethel.  I guess your father is used to it by now, so after he shut up
and thought about it, he went to work on Ethel, too."

"I don't want to know the details.  I guess I have a principal, if
he's agreeable."

"Then you have one with his own secretary, who will be ready to go to
work as soon as you need him."

"He can start immediately, by selling the new school to the people who
will have the chance to send their kids to it.  Tell him 'no bribes'.
Oh, and tell him for his sins of doing such a good job with the ones
we went to, he can help pick the rest of the staff.  I have enough to
do, with taking care of my family, and getting all those dreams on
paper, finally."

"Perceptive young woman, aren't you?  Until we get done with them,
they won't be allowed to see you."

"Does that mean...  No goodbyes?"

"They've already left.  Your mother doesn't have much time, and she
wanted to have some dignity left when she dies."

Heather looked at me.  "I need you, Charles.  Now."

I was shaking when I shifted so we could hold each other while we
cried.

When Emma tried to crawl into my lap and comfort me, Pat moved to stop
her and I shook my head.  "Let her go.  Dad isn't the only one who has
nightmares, but you already know that.  Just  get over here, and if
there's any of her off my lap, add her to yours."

"Got it, although I think she's going to be all yours, since she's
already after your face and settled on your chest."

"Mmmph!"

Heather managed a brief giggle, then she used her off hand to pet
Emma.  "She's as bad as Orson was, and Gil is."

I was too busy letting Emma do her comfort stuff, but Pat was able to
answer for me.  "I never met Ursula.  Saw her at a distance back when
we were in school and for a few years after that.  Seen Emma do this
before, so I'm used to it.  She's been all over me a few times, too."

Heather spoke softly.  "Helped?"

"A lot.  Courtney helped more."

"I understand.  Wish I had Daryl.  You ok with me using him right
now?"

"I just wish I wasn't an only child.  Got my parents, but I always
wanted a brother, too.  I'm a little jealous, but it's because you
have a brother and I don't, not because the two of you are comforting
each other.  Guess I'm glad I'm not at the front of this roller
coaster.  Anyway, it's not like we have any plans that have to be put
on hold while we all recover.  Remember, I just got to meet my step
parents, only to learn I'll never get to know my stepmom.  I thought
we'd at least get to eat a meal together, or something."

She shifted until she spotted Marge.  "You didn't say.  She go out on
a stretcher?"

"No.  Still in the wheel chair and with a big smile, though. I think
she was planning on getting the two of them together."

I sighed.  "Yeah.  I can believe she'd do that.  Probably more right
than I knew when I told Ethel they were probably here more to see her,
than they were to see me."

Heather hugged me.  "You're not upset about that?"

'Friendly enemies.  Dad made sure I understood that when I was just a
kid."

"Same for me.  I got it from mom."

She sighed and touched Emma again, then shifted so she was next to me
instead of turned with her arms around me.  "Hell.  I got six months
of her and I'll be getting whatever dad has left.  Damn lot more than
I ever expected to get."

I sighed.  "Yeah.  At least I got to tell them I was finally ok with
it all.  Shocked me when I figured it out."

"I bet it did!  They showed up with dad pushing her and she had the
old briefcase I'd been stashing my money in, on her lap like it was
nothing.  Daryl answered the door, they asked to see me, and mom made
a little gesture and smiled at me.  'Sorry.  We didn't know about this
or we would have let you take it with you.  By the time we found it,
it was too late for that, so we kept it tucked away in case we ever
had a good excuse to see you again'."

I snorted.  "How'd Daryl take it?"

"Shocked.  Called in the EOD crew and a sniffer dog to check it,
before he let me open it."

"And I bet he kept his distance."

"No, he didn't.  Nervous as hell, and he wasn't shy about calling me
seven different kinds of idiot for taking my parent's word, but he
finally shut up when I glared at him and told him that I'll always be
a Mills, and so will they.  They gave their word it was safe, and that
was good enough for me, and he'd better get used to it, because I
wasn't going to change how I felt."

"Gods... "  I turned slightly.  "Thanks for being you, Pat.  I'd go
crazy if I was married to a woman who couldn't deal with me being used
to my word being enough."

She touched my face.  "I'm glad we don't have to move very far.  Lots
of people are used to you and your 'old fashioned' concept of personal
honor, now.  Funny, isn't it?  You've done your best to not be a
controller like your parents, but if you asked, a sizable portion of
the best people in town would only ask 'how high', if you asked them
to jump."

"I never wanted that.  That's the main reason I've stayed low key."

"It's unusual enough people have talked about it.  When it counts,
though, you've been there a lot more than you haven't.  People noticed
that, too.  I remember in school when people expected you to be an
arrogant snot because you were on your own, but you weren't, and you
worked your butt off, sometimes for free, and never complained about
having to do it.  I met a bunch of guys who were pissed with you
because they lost their easy ride through life when their parents
pointed at you and told them they hoped the lesson was clear."

"I knew about some of that, of course.  Didn't care, because there was
plenty of work to go around, as long as you were willing to work.  Got
me a lot of meals that way, which helped me out quite a bit."

She smiled.  "Anyway, that's why so many people would come if you
asked for help.  You helped them, and they know you wouldn't ask
unless you needed it.  I bet people are going to offer to help us
rebuild."

"You know we can't stay there.  Being this close is taking a chance."

"Be taking a chance no matter where we go."

"Yeah, I know."

I turned back.  "What about you, Sis?  Think having dad is going to
work out?"

"He gives his word, and it sounds like he has, then if it doesn't, it
won't be because of anything we've done.  They didn't say, but I'm
willing to bet he's not going to come back as himself, anyway.  This
would be a logical thing to do if they put him in a protection
program.  Rehabilitated and all that crap."

"Point.  If you're crazy enough, think about making him some sort of
guest instructor for some sort of special class.  I think he'd enjoy
giving the next generation a leg up.  Keep it interesting and more of
a challenge.  He never did like people who could be easily scammed."

"Didn't stop him from taking them to the cleaners."

I laughed.  "Didn't stop me, either.  I own that land because a
speculator with more money than sense wanted someone local to work
through.  He thought I was crazy for wanting to buy it, but he got
what he wanted, and so did I.  We'll see who has he last laugh,
because when I'm done, I'll own the prime land on the only other way
in and out, to *his* land."

She laughed and hugged me.  "Guess we really are their kids, aren't
we?  Never lost sight of the main chance, so we're using their tragedy
to help us keep going."

"They'd never forgive us if we didn't keep going."

"Good point.  Speaking of that..."

She turned her head.  "Ok, Marge.  How long before we return from the
dead and all that crap?"

"I see why Ethel was so hot to get both of you in the same place.
We're waiting on two things.  Kyle's word that it's as safe as we can
make it, and there's been a delay on the RV.  Manager won't turn it
loose until he sees Mark in person, or a special warrant saying we can
seize it.  Since we can't justify seizing it, and Mark isn't available
to go in person, we're delegating a team to keep an eye on it while we
find an RV we can use for now."

I frowned.  "Mark isn't available, or you folks don't want to trot him
out here and into the middle of all this?"

"He's due in a couple months, so we can wait.  Should be a lot safer,
and in the meantime, he'll be getting enough money off the in place
rental, his lease will be paid for a couple years."

"Sweet deal for him and he won't have to worry about someone leaving
him a surprise at some point, before he makes arrangements to have it
delivered here, if we still need it.  I'm thinking my wife needs a
wedding gift, and my sister needs a welcome back present.  What if we
come back from the dead, and then ask if anyone has an RV they want to
sell?"

"We'll have to check it and make some mods."

"Assumed that.  If we find two...  Wait.  Sis?  Is that thing out
there yours, or a rental?"

"Quick, aren't you?  Ours, and it was before dad showed up.  We got a
deal on one that Daryl seized in a local raid.  We combined our
savings and managed to outbid the competition.  We spent our spare
time and cash putting it back together...  What are you three laughing
about?"

Pat was grinning.  "Things went a little differently for Courtney.  He
bought one like that, then realized it was a bigger project than he
wanted, so he sold it to Mark.  The way I understand it, they've kept
in touch ever since."

Heather laughed.  "We almost gave ours up and got rid of it.  Do you
know how many rivets and screws there are in an RV?  Thousands, and we
had to drill most of the rivets out and use extractors on the broken
screws and bolts!  Took us over a year before we could start putting
it back together."

I laughed at her.  "What about the engine and stuff?  This one was
sitting on blocks and all the parts were inside, including the tires
and rims.  If it could come apart, it had been disassembled.  What I
got was a kit, with lots of broken parts.  Had to get the rear axles
put together and the tires put on the rims, just so it could be loaded
on a trailer.  That was when I woke up and decided to find someone who
had time and money to throw at it.  Time, more than money.  I didn't
lose on the deal.  I was just glad to break even and get back what I'd
spent, by the time I sold it."

"It's sweet, now.  I never would have guessed it was taken in a raid.
Must have been pretty serious, if they took it apart that much.  Ours
was a kit by the time we got it, but it still ran.  All we did was put
tires on it, get one of those enclosed RV canopies, then spend our
free time working on it.  It was the prep work that drove us crazy.
There's a local RV dealer who loves us, though.  He's used it in a
couple of ad campaigns to show people what his service department is
capable of doing, since we let them deal with the major mechanical
stuff, and redo the outside so it was sealed and repainted right."

"Who came out ahead on that deal?"

"I think he did in the long run.  We were happy to break even by
asking for what we'd spent at his shop over the years.  What about you
and your folly?  Must have been pretty generous if Mark thinks he came
out ahead."

I glanced at Pat. and started laughing.  "Sorry, Sis, I can't help it.
I came out with the best end of the deal.  I don't know you folks
missed it, but...  I'm Mark Jansen.  Aren't cell phones wonderful?  I
have one tucked away that has a Maine number."

"You?!  We considered it, but the manager convinced us you couldn't
be, because Mark never had a dog with him, and by then we knew how you
and Emma felt about each other."

Pat groaned.  "Blame me.  I was helping and I just realized it. Couple
times a year Courtney takes off on special business trips.  He has to
leave Emma behind, so instead of a kennel, she stayed with me, or I
stayed at his house and took care of her.  Those trips never lasted
more than a few days, so Emma was never a problem."

I nodded.  "They really were business trips, but I also took the time
to keep some of my other aliases visible.  Mark was easy to do because
all I had to do was check in, grab the RV for a drive to the local
shop for a service check, then use it for a couple days as a loaner
from a friend, while I took care of the other stuff that needed
doing."

"Brother, you still have that weird sense of humor, don't you?  Dad
wondered what wild hair up your ass would make you decide on an actor
as one of your aliases.  Ted Simpson is a private joke, isn't he?  You
never cared if he was discovered."

"Joke, yes.  I've always worried about being discovered.  I did my
best to keep him friendly, but pretty distant because of his focus on
his career.  Makes me wonder how the folks who tried to blackmail dad
missed that, if they really did.  Maybe they were counting on me to
run as Ted, and they expected to catch us before I could switch
identities again."

Marge nodded.  "Ethel had to check in before she left with your
parents, and that was something she asked about.  Kyle says their
checks depended on what they could find out from the locals, and they
never considered Ted any sort of a threat, because he wasn't in the
area long enough to be aware of who belonged, and who didn't, without
checking in with people like Ed, and Ed was being paid to keep them
informed.  In fact, They were more concerned about Emma than they were
Courtney, until they managed to get a set of prints run and realized
what they were sitting on.  All they wanted was a handle if they
needed one later, not the hot potato they wound up with.  Bluntly,
they found themselves playing in the senior league, and they didn't
know it until it was too late."

I studied her, accepted she was telling the truth as far as she knew
it, then sighed.  "I must be missing the obvious, finally.  They were
afraid of Emma?"

"Of course.  You're a top level dog trainer, and you've done scent
discrimination work with her, and the local K9 unit.  That would be
enough to make anyone who works with drugs get nervous about having
you as a neighbor.  They did other stuff, but they did dabble in drugs
as a sideline for quick money when they needed it."

Heather had been silent, then she sighed.  "I guess I was already
family when you came back here?"

"Of course.  You're a little tainted by association, but it was for a
damn good reason, and your past doesn't have anyone wondering if you
might have turned."

She looked disgusted.  "So this has been some sort of test?"

"No.  We already had plans in place, but we expected to have to go
find you, not have you come to us.  I have a good crew and soon as
they knew who you really are, they went to work."

"Do I really need to call my family?"

"You should, but you don't have to.  Daryl knows, of course.  Standard
procedure, to let a cop know he's suddenly in the middle, if letting
him know won't blow the case."

"Well, I have an RV out there, and while I'd like it gone over, just
to be sure it's safe, after that it's available for us to use as part
of coming back from the dead.  Unless he changed his mind, Dad was
thinking about using being on the road to explain why everyone is
suddenly getting scooped up.  Sounds silly, but it really is possible
someone back home could have messed up by now, and that would have
triggered the raids.  He's been expecting it to happen, with him
focused on mom and not keeping things under control."

Marge smiled, then shook her head slightly.  "Thanks for the offer,
but we already have a known one coming in, and Courtney and Pat have
some rules they have to play by, now."

"Figured that, but I had to offer.  Family, and they need help."

"I understand, Heather."

"Thanks."

"Welcome.  To get back to it, that was it.  Once Kyle tells me it's
ok, and the RV gets here, we'll settle someplace for some serious
discussion, so we can plan your entrances."

I sighed.  "How about we get this in the open, Marge.  Unless the
rules have changed, you're going to be telling us what to do, and when
to do it, so we don't screw other, more important things up, right?
I'll assume nothing is going to happen today, because Ethel wants to
get mom and dad clear, just in case something goes crazy in this area.
You have to admit we're not in the safest place to be."

She nodded, and I had the impression it was a little reluctantly.
"Sorry.  I'm used to letting people have the illusion of having some
choices.  Your mother was still alive when the three of them were
airlifted out and taken to a more secure location.  She went out as a
medivac, which was almost true, considering how she arrived, and what
she's been through.  I'm told she has a lot wrong with her, but as
long as she wants to live, she has more time left.  Not a lot, but
it's the possibility of weeks, not hours, now that she's being
monitored with a team next to her.  As Ethel put it, she's been ready
to die, not willing."

Heather sighed.  "What does that do for our chances of saying
goodbye."

"Nothing.  It was your parents' decision that this one time, is it.
You'll eventually get to see him, as someone else."

"Principal of my school?"

"Yes, and remarried after your mother dies."

I chuckled and they stared at me, which made me lose control and laugh
even harder.  "Don't you get it?  Talk about having her cake...  Ethel
gets to clean up, finally, but she wound up with dad at her side.  My
ego says I'm good, but she's got the man who made me good, on a short
leash for the rest of his life.  I bet she's going to 'retire' into
the job she really wants to do, which is sitting in a web and telling
you field agents how to run your lives."

Marge laughed.  "She got your father, but that still leaves me with
you three, and Heather's husband.  Just for laughs, someday we might
do a simulation to see what happens when my team goes against hers,
head to head."

Heather stared at her, then smiled hungrily.  "Make it some sort of
classroom thing for the advanced students who are thinking about
following their parents, and you can count me in."

Marge shook her head.  "Oh, I'm much greedier than that.  I want to
let you folks battle it out, and we'll let our senior people study the
results to see what they can learn from people who've been evading us
for generations, not just a few years.  It should give us quite a leg
up on some other operations that are stalled, if you folks haven't
managed to shake something loose for us before then."

Heather kept her smile.  "Greedy woman.  Ok.  No holding back, ever.
You'd better run Daryl through some sort of familiarization program.
He's good, but he's used to petty stuff and talented amateurs who
think one generation is a long time."

"I thought I'd let you handle that.  You folks will be on the payroll,
but I'd like to keep you out of the sacred halls and as invisible as
possible.  We have leaks, and while we expect to have a lot of people
know you're still alive, there's no reason to let people without a
need to know, know that you're working for us, too."

I winced.  "That's bad, Marge.  If it makes you feel better about our
safety, Pat and I will relocate if you want us to.  Keeping the diner
open is a nice dream, and what we'd like to do, but we'd rather be in
a hole, if that's what it takes to do our jobs for you."

Pat was nodding.  "I agree with Courtney.  Let's do what we have to
do, not what we'd like to do."

"Relax.  Moving on is what everyone expects us to do, so this time
we're not going to do it.  Instead, we're going to shake the money
tree, and put a regional office in, with branch offices so we can do a
better job of preventing what happened, which was being so thin these
people were able to get in and set up a solid network of locals before
we spotted them."

I looked at her and finally shrugged.  "You still gong to see about
selling us the diner and whatever else you had to buy as part of your
operation?"

"Yes, after we see what happens when you return from the dead here,
and as a Mills."

"Dad have anything to say about that?"

"They don't know about it."

"What about Heather?  How much does she get to know?"

"All of it, eventually.  Any good school isn't afraid to let its
students study what it's like to fail, as well as encourage them with
stories of the successes."

"A fancy way of saying people who don't know the past, are condemned
to repeat it."

"Your point."

"Thanks.  Tomorrow, so we can all catch our collective breath before
we jump in the snake pit?"

"Maybe longer.  There's a lot going on here, and Kyle's good, but even
he needs time to take statements and study them.  Media thinks you're
dead, let's leave it that way so they can decide if they want to play
you as innocent victims, or as an heir who made a mistake."

I glanced at the others, then shook my head.  "The tired old thing
about letting them put their feet in their mouth before you make them
swallow?"

"Pretty much so, yes.  I don't like to admit it, but sometimes they do
things that shake people loose, who would otherwise have the sense to
wait us out."

Heather shook her head.  "My, my...You must have a lot of people out
there getting wet while they keep an eye on things.  What do you
think, sister-in-law?  Anyone you can think of, who'd be silly enough
to bail out already?"

"I suppose it depends on how obviously obnoxious Kyle and his people
are being.  I can think of a few people who *should* be getting
nervous, but I can't tell you if they'd jump or sit tight.  All
locals, and I think they'd send others out to test things before they
felt threatened enough to get serious about leaving everything behind.
If they hear about the regional office going in, then yes, I think
they'd close up and bolt before they think it through and decide to
just shut down and wait until they have a good read on things."

Marge was smiling.  "I'll need names, later.  We'll settle for getting
some small fish before they have time to grow up."

Pat was smiling when she looked at me.  "Remember those kids I talked
about, who weren't hassled more than once?  I don't remember all their
names, but if someone searches the school records for the years I was
in high school, and finds a few of my old teachers, some names will
probably fall out.  A lot of the bullies should have some sort of
criminal records, too, if they weren't 'lost' over the years."

Marge nodded.  "Something we'll be looking into.  "You mentioned
others like Ed.  Anyone else we should look at?"

"Most of the local brokers hang together at the bowling alley.  I keep
hearing a rumor that a lot of things get discussed during the senior
leagues, or at Pop's Bar, later."

"Ah.  Thanks.  Someone will look into that."

"That's all I can think of, right now, other than keeping an eye out
for people who obsess about Courtney's sudden inheritance.  I imagine
we're going to have to put up with folks offering to manage that for
us."

"Good point.  We'll do what we can to keep them away from you, but
expect some of it to get through, until you get your numbers and email
addresses changed."

Pat sighed.  "You want us to keep our old ones though, so you can
track who calls us, just in case?"

"Of course.  I see personal secretaries in your future."

She laughed.  "As long as you don't isolate us completely, unless
you're forced to, for our safety."

"Again, that's a given, and something that will be discussed in the
near future."

Heather sighed, so we focused on her and she shook her head.  "You
know something, brother?"

"What?"

"If I'm understanding our future right, you're going to have to admit
you're Ted."

"Oh?  What makes you say that?"

"You came out on his ATV.  He and Courtney know each other well enough
for him to trust Courtney.  Even if nobody made the link, both sides
are going to be looking at him pretty hard, and I bet the media is
going to track him down for an interview, to see how he feels about
the availability of his ATV saving your life.  Odds are pretty certain
they'll want the two of you together at some point, right?"

I groaned.  "Crap!"

"Yep!"

"I could...  No.  going in as Ted, before we reveal Pat and I
survived, won't work.  Too many folks are in a position to know we're
the same person, and there's that damn human interest stuff that the
media is going to insist on once they have access to everyone.  Matter
of fact..."

I went silent and thought hard, then came out of it and studied Pat,
then Marge before I refocused on my sister.  "You know, Sis, something
stinks here.  Either that, or we got a little more luck than we
deserved.  I'll settle for that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah.  Pat and I sat out there, happy and dumb, for quite awhile
after we relaxed back here.  Now, with all the crap going down near my
place, and with Pat's SUV being pulled out of the washout, we're
looking at the biggest things to happen in this area, for years,
right, Pat?"

"Definitely...  Where the Hell have our heads been?  Heather didn't
come in with the first group let through, and this isn't the only way
into town, but still...  I can't believe we haven't seen or heard of
any media crews coming in this way, and why haven't they come back to
see if there's anything anyone here knows?  Somebody is bound to
notice that there's no visible FBI presence here, which is going to
really raise some red flags, right, Marge?"

Marge looked a little stunned.  "You know, Pat, I have the sick
feeling I've been hung in the breeze for some reason.  Ethel's gone,
but she left her people in place.  Still...  Kyle should have sent in
some sort of crew by now, just to keep folks from figuring out this
was a covert op.  Was that lack of coverage an oversight, or
deliberate?  Either way, I don't like it, because it means I've been
cut out of the usual loops for some reason."

Pat cut to the chase.  "Someone needs to ask this:  Was Ethel in on
it, or a victim, too?  Can we trust the people she left behind?  I'm
figuring we can trust each other, even though I know that's a pretty
stupid assumption to make.  That sick look of yours would be
impossible to fake, I think."

She didn't answer Pat directly.  "Whoever's monitoring, pass the word.
Until we know otherwise, we're isolated and on our own in hostile
conditions.  Our cover is blown, or going to be blown in the near
future.  I want suggestions, no matter how wild they are."

"Is running an option?"

"I have no idea at this point, but I don't think we should.  We're
pretty secure here, and I'm thinking we should let whoever finds us,
find us here, where we have a hope of controlling access."

"Got it.  We might be able to have some of our own people reveal
themselves and start doing the official stuff, like interviews and all
that."

"Do it.  My authority.  Don't use more people than necessary.  Let's
see what we can do to get our asses covered again."

"Consider it done.  If you have a way to get to Ethel, that we don't
know about, use it."

Heather spoke up.  "She's probably not in a position to do anything.
Dealing with dad is more important than saving our butts.  Besides, if
we contact her, people are going to know that we know there's a
serious problem out here."

Marge sighed.  "I don't like it, but she's right.  I think...  Yes. It
would make sense for me to be a seriously pissed off field agent,
right now."

She went over to the nearest phone, and it was obvious she was getting
her anger under control before she punched in some numbers.  When a
woman answered she spoke firmly.  "This is Marge.  I don't care what
he's doing.  I want to talk to Kyle, and I want to do it now."

"But..."

"Check your access list.  I have the authority."

There was a long silence, then Kyle was there.  "What the fuck are you
doing, Marge?  You know I'm goddamn busy out here."

"Where the fuck is the crew that's supposed to be out here fucking
with my customers, and keeping the media away from me?  For that
matter, where the fuck is the media?  I thought Ethel taught you how
to secure your perimeter, Kyle."

"Whoa!  Hold it!  I don't know where the media is, but I suspect
they're so damn busy making my life a pain, they haven't thought about
doing local humint crap."

"Yeah?  Maybe I'd buy that crap if I wasn't sitting on one of the main
access routes, with the back door less than two miles away.  It's been
long enough that someone should have recovered and wondered if we had
anything unusual happen, that we noticed.  I want to know why it's
business as usual here, and I want to know yesterday.  Matter of fact,
now that I think about it, how come all this shit happened and there
weren't any innocent bystanders in here?"

"Someone will look into that detail, Marge.  I sent a crew out to
harass you and your customers, hours ago.  Matter of fact, they should
have reported to me before Ethel left with her guests.  That little
detail just got to me about fifteen minutes ago."

Marge stared at us, then she seemed to reach a decision of some sort.
"Ok.  The shit just got a lot deeper out here.  We'll see if we can
find some shovels."

"Sorry, Marge.  I did not need that news on top of everything else I'm
dealing with.  I'll get to it as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Kyle."

She hung up and then looked around before she focused on us again.
"Monitoring.  You heard?"

"Yeah.  We haven't had anybody introduce themselves to us, so if he
sent a crew, it never made it."

"Got it.  Shake loose as many people as you can for escort duty. Leave
enough to keep this place open but strip it, otherwise.  Tell the ones
left to wait an hour or so, then do something stupid like discover the
storm knocked out our refrigeration and power, so we might as well
shut down and send people on their way."

"You've decided to run?

"Strategic retreat.  No further contact with anyone except our own
people."

"What if Kyle checks in?"

"Take a message.  Be as creative as you like when you tell him I'm not
available.  He might smell a rat, but there's nothing he can do about
it, I hope."

He laughed.  "You have a bunch of very loyal people, Marge.  You
haven't had any sleep in over 36 hours, and we're not going to disturb
you for anything less than a Presidential order, delivered in person."

She laughed.  "You're dears, all of you.  Tell the escorts to meet us
in the parking lot."

"Done.  Get moving, Marge.  We have the same read you do, and you're
wasting valuable time."

She sighed and looked at us again.  "Grab your stuff."

Pat sighed.  "Again.  I hope I don't get used to this."

She held up her purse.  "This is it.  I'm ready."

Marge smiled.  "Heather?"

"Tell me where, after we get to the parking lot."

"Smart.  Sorry about this.  It's not supposed to happen this way."

I sighed and looked down.  "Come on, Midnight.  Ride time."

She came over and I hooked up her leash, then I stood.  "We're ready.
I'm the paranoid type, so I'm willing to leave everything else behind,
again.  Tracers and all that stuff."

Marge nodded.  "Sensible.  I'll lead.  Let's go."

She stopped at her office and grabbed her purse before she looked at
me and smiled sadly.  "I can't toss the tracer, so I'll have to trust
you folks.  If we don't see each other sometime in the next two days,
watch your backs."

I nodded.  "Thanks, Marge."

She didn't answer, just led us out to the parking lot and we all
waited until a young woman showed up and spoke a little sadly.  "I'm
the last one, Marge.  Let do it, whatever it is."

"What we're doing, is called using our fallback options.  Don't insult
me by trying to tell me Ethel didn't make arrangements for all of you
to have someplace you could rendezvous if things went to Hell on us.
I'm hoping we're not penetrated, but if we are, I expect you folks to
figure out who, and isolate whoever it is, then sit on them until
Ethel gets in touch.  I'll be riding with Heather.  I can't avoid it,
because she's more important than Ted and Marlene are.

"Ted.  You and Marlene are going to have to trust that pickup of
yours.  We'll convoy with escorts at both ends until we get to that
big pullout, then we'll stop and consider our options.  Basically,
we're running until we know what's going on.

"At some point, Ted, see if you can get in touch with your friend and
have him shake his RV loose.  I know it's being watched, so tell him
not to get upset if the watchers won't let anyone have it.  Might take
awhile, but if that happens, I'll shake it loose, somehow, or see that
it gets replaced."

I nodded.  "Ok.  I'll do what I can to play it that way.  I know that
everyone here knows I'm the same person.  Has that been reported
higher, yet?"

"If it was, it was against my direct orders."

"Ok.  Marlene and I will figure something out, just in case.  I'll
assume my truck is bugged, so we won't talk about that or anything
else while we're in it.  Can we be confident we're still deep cover
agents?"

"Yes.  No ids yet, so be careful how you play that."

"Got it."

"Ok, people.  Load up and let's get moving."

We were still a ways away from my truck when I deliberately stopped
and pulled Pat in close so I could kiss her and whisper in her ear.
"Don't freak on me when things get a little crazy.  Marge is a smart
woman."

"I'm not slow, Ted.  Backup plans?"

"Yeah.  Marge didn't ask any of us for our word.  I'm pretty sure she
remembered I mentioned them, and wants us to use them.  She'll still
have Heather, which will help her keep her job."

"Got it.  When are you making your move?"

"At that turn out.  Good choice by Marge, because she doesn't have
enough people to cover all the possible roads we can take once we get
out of sight."

"Any other surprises?"

"Only one more for now.  The reason the truck runs so rough is because
it has a full race cam in it.  I know it's a risk, but we have a
pretty good chance of being able to outrun anything except a police
pursuit car."

She laughed a little.  "Then let's hope they don't have one."

"Yeah.  I wasn't expecting to do this in the rain, so I can't run all
out.  I want to keep us on the road.  Tell you more if we manage to
get away."

"Love you, Courtney."

"I love you, too, Patricia.  Ok.  We're getting glared at, so lets
go."

She grabbed my arm just as I started turning away from her.  "Hold
it!"

"What?"

"Can we get through?  It's still raining, and they were escorting
people, remember?"

"Let's abort and go talk to Marge."

We turned around and by the time we got to Heather's RV, Marge was
waiting, and glaring at us.

I ignored the glare.  "Can we get out, Marge?  They've escorting
people through here, aren't they?"

"Relax.  That turnout is where they're stopping any locals and either
sending them on, or holding them until there's a convoy going the
right direction."

"So if we pass a convoy going the other direction, before we get
there, we'll know the road is clear, once we're past that point?"

"Except for any locals, probably.  Don't count on it.  Could be poles
down, too."

"Maybe we should wait, and tag along after a convoy that's headed for
town, or take a chance and just go that direction.  If you need an
excuse, Heather was headed that way and it would make more sense for
her to keep going that direction."

Marge sighed.  "And what happens if we run into that missing crew? No.
We go out the long way.  Less chance of someone spotting us in time to
do anything."

"You're assuming it was only your people out here and there's nobody
watching us already?"

"No.  I'm remembering Ethel's comment about there always being enough
people keeping an eye on things."

I looked at her, then nodded slightly.  "Let's hope your faith isn't
misplaced."

Pat and I headed back, and she sighed.  "Do we feel stupid now, or
later?"

"Later, or not at all.  We'll go along, for now."

"Ok."

The trip to the pullout was slow and uneventful.  There were other
cars and trucks stopped, so we got added to the line and told to wait.

Shortly after we parked, Marge and Heather got out of the RV.  Marge
motioned at her people, then pointed at us and said something to
Heather.  Heather nodded, then headed back to talk to us while Marge
and her people got in the RV and closed the door.

Heather tapped on Pat's window and spoke easily after Pat rolled it
down a little.

"It's wet out here.  Marge wants to talk to her people without me
there to hear any secrets."

Pat laughed and opened her door.  "Come on in.  At least we  have a
bench seat instead of buckets."

Heather settled, and then said something that got my attention. "She'd
better make it a fairly short discussion.  I could see the end of the
line going the other direction  Should pass us fairly soon."

I looked at her thoughtfully.  "How soon is fairly soon?"

"See for yourself."

I looked, then laughed.  "You're right.  Few more minutes and we'll be
blocking traffic."

"Yep.  If she doesn't want attention, she'd better hurry.  Did you
know it's possible to get kid locks installed in an RV?  Safety thing
we found out about from the insurance company.  Cut our premium way
down."

Pat looked at her, then smiled.  "Never thought about how important
that would be."

Heather laughed.  "Yeah.  We didn't either, until our agent pointed
out that a lot of kids get hurt when they manage to fumble a door open
while one is moving."

I was watching the end of the line approach.  "So how does it work?"

"Keypad.  Can be set so it's automatic after the door has been closed
a certain amount of time, and the engine is running."

"Makes sense.  Warmup time and all that, right?"

"Yes."

I glanced at her and Pat, then grinned.  "I suppose you have some sort
of kid proof parking system, too, to keep them from putting it in gear
when it's parked?"

"Of course."

"Well, I can tell you take care of your family."

The last truck passed us and I casually put the truck in gear and made
a u turn so I could follow it.  "Well, that's the end of the line.
Time for us to get ready to move."

I followed the convoy for a couple miles, then pulled over to let the
escort car pass us.  He stopped and asked if I was having problems and
I smiled.  "Long day.  Just a quick break before I have an accident.
We'll catch up as soon as we can."

He laughed.  "I'll keep an eye out for you and let them know you're
ok."

"We're locals headed home.  If we don't catch up before our turn,
don't panic.  Appreciate it if the return folks keep an eye out for
us, just in case."

"We'd do that anyway.  Have a safe trip."

He left, and I took the time to go, then got back in after he was out
of sight.

Heather and Pat were shaking their heads, and I laughed.  "Let's get
moving again."

I drove slowly and when I reached the road I wanted, I made my turn.
Eventually we reached a gravel access road and I took it until we got
to a gate.  "End of the line, folks.  We walk the rest of the way."

That's what we did, and I led them to a small barn, then opened it to
reveal a truck that looked just like the one we'd arrived in.  "Let's
load up and get moving.  Anyone asks, we had to stop for you ladies to
take a break."

Pat shook her head.  "He's bad enough by himself.  Now that you're
here to help, he's worse."

"He's my brother.  Can't let him start thinking he's better than I
am."

"How'd you convince Marge to be so careless?"

"She wanted to be careless.  If she'd been serious about keeping us,
she would have asked us to give our word that we'd cooperate with her.
I think she expected Ted to make his break later and leave me behind."

"I would have left you, Sis."

"I'm glad.  I was hoping you could do it earlier than anyone expected.
What happens next?"

"Thanks.  We catch up to that convoy before it reaches Marge's, I
hope.  Then, before we get there I'll turn off on a road that leads to
a small housing development, where we'll do the swap stuff again.  All
nice and open and I expect them to figure it out, eventually.  The car
is pretty ordinary and we'll just get on the road and head towards
town like any resident would.  We'll go through, and hopefully hit the
interstate and be on our way without a tail."

Heather laughed.  "Hope you don't mind if I pay our way.  I only put
half of my emergency money in the bank after Mom and Dad gave it back
to me."

Pat giggled and I laughed.  "Well, Heather, since you insist, I'll let
you pay our expenses for the next couple days."

We made the next switch without problems and picked up new id stuff
and changed our clothes at the same time.  I wasn't worried about my
id being able to pass a casual check if we were pulled over, but
theirs would be chancy.  Hopefully the wigs they wore would work and
nobody would want to check any further than a visual inspection.

When Pat mentioned that, all I could do was shrug.  "We get caught, we
get caught.  Worst case, we can pull rank, remember?  We're not
fugitives, we're Federal agents escorting an important witness."

Pat stared at me, then nodded.  "Ok.  I think that would be pushing
things, but I bet Marge has already covered us by saying she expected
us to use our own judgement and get clear if we had the chance."

"Yep.  Wouldn't surprise me at all if she does something along those
lines.  Someday I'd like to know who winds up following our trail.
Only time I showed up back there was to put this car in the garage.
Everything else was handled electronically, through a name different
than the one this car is registered to.  I bought the car from a
private party in a different state, then did the title transfer and
insurance online from a third state.  Hopefully, I did enough that the
trail will dead end or slow folks down long enough we can catch our
breaths, and then decide how we're going to let Marge or Ethel know
where we are."

Heather smiled.  "I'm betting it will be Ethel, and once she can get
away from debriefing mom and dad, she'll come looking for us if we let
her know we're ready for her."

I glanced at her.  "Sounds like you already know how to do that."

"Simple.  I buy one of those pay as you go phones, then send dad a
text message.  Content doesn't matter but I'll make it pure gibberish
just to give folks something to keep them occupied."

I laughed.  "Sign it 'Ethel'."

She giggled.  "That will work.  Should get us a pretty rapid response
of some sort."

"Yeah.  Now, there's one more detail we need to take care of.  Pat?
Take Midnight's collar off and hang on to it until I tell you to toss
it."

"Got it."

"Good.  Heather?  If you have a cell phone you can get rid of, turn it
on and toss it at the same time.  If we're lucky, this will give us
some more time."

I got to the exit I wanted, got off the freeway, then drove a couple
miles until we came to a bridge.  After I parked at the side of the
road I turned so I could look at Pat.  "Grab Midnight's leash and loop
it around her neck, then bring her collar.  Time for us to stretch our
legs a little."

Pat studied me thoughtfully, then nodded.  Heather and I got out,
waited for Pat and Midnight, then the four of us walked to the center
of the bridge.

I leaned on the railing and gestured below us.  "We're in luck.  Think
you folks can toss that stuff so it lands in one of those open rail
cars?"

Pat leaned over and looked things over.  "Toss?  Find the right spot,
all I'll have to do is drop the collar.  No problem."

She moved about twenty feet, looked again, and casually checked out
the area before she held the collar over the railing and let go.

She checked, looked up, then smiled.  "Done."

I laughed.  "Good.  Sis?  Same place."

She dropped her phone, then looked at me.  "I have the feeling you
knew about this place."

"Yep.  Even know some of the 'Bos who used to use it as a place to get
on and off.  That was before security put in the fencing.  Hopefully,
nobody saw you two drop stuff, and we'll get away clean.  Either of
you had any thoughts about what to do next?"

Pat sighed.  "A man, two women, and a dog, are pretty easy to spot, if
someone was fast enough to  start watching the road cams."

"I know.  Nothing we could do about it."

"Sure there is.  If Heather is willing to part with some of her cash,
we can keep our eyes open for a used RV, then buy it.  Only person
visible would be the driver, if everyone else gets in the back and
keeps the curtains drawn."

I shrugged.  "Sis?  You or Pat would have to do the driving."

She laughed.  "How attached are you, to your hair?  Shave it off and
put some sort of hat on you, and the cams would have problems getting
a good look at your face unless the angle was just right."

"I'd rather keep it for now.  Can we table that until you hear what I
have in mind?"

"Sure."

"Thanks.  I was thinking about buying another vehicle of some type,
then we turn around and show up at Pat's uncle's place.  Heather could
try and get him to join us so she could go meet Pat's parents and
introduce herself, as herself."

"Media will be all over me if they're present."

"I know.  Tell them Pat and I are deep cover agents and we had to get
out in a hurry when our covers were blown."

"You're evil, Brother.  You want me to reveal I'm a Mills, and give my
word you're ok, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Make it two RVs.  You and Pat in one, me in the other.  I'll assume
you know plenty of places where you can park and wait for news."

"Yes.  Marge's parking area.  We'll be dumb tourists taking a break
after a long drive.  We get caught, we get caught, but I think it's
more likely someone will pound on the door, give us a quick look over,
then leave us alone.  I'll take your advice and get rid of my hair
before we stop."

"Ballsy."

"Yep.  Way I figure it, won't be any of Ethel's people there and
anyone else will be working from a photo, or sketches.  Having
Midnight is a risk, but I'll take it."

She smiled.  "If it is one of Ethel's people, they're probably smart
enough to not let on they've spotted you, and they'll leave you alone
until they can check in and find out what's going on.  Might work.
Pat?"

She was shaking her head.  "Let me and Midnight go in with the same
story.  Two reasons.  I know the least, and of the three of us, I'm
the most expendable.  If I take Midnight, not having her will give you
two more options."

There was an uncomfortable silence, then Heather and I both sighed
before Heather hugged Pat.  "Brave woman.  Thanks."

I handed Heather the keys.  "You drive.  I want some time in the back
seat with Pat before we split up."

"Can do, brother.  Let's get back on the road."

* * *

We found the RV first, paid cash for it, then went hunting for
something Pat could use.  It took some exploring, but eventually we
were cruising a side street and spotted a one ton toy hauler that was
a van conversion, and most importantly, it had a for sale sign on it.

After a test drive to make sure it ran ok, we bought it.

None of us were happy about splitting up, but we knew it was something
we should do, so Heather took the toy hauler and went looking for
supplies, while Pat and I parked the RV at the truck stop and made an
urgent yet tender love to each other before I snuggled with her and
Midnight while we waited for Heather to get back.

We were both dozing lightly when someone knocked on the door and set
Midnight off.  

"Me!  Come and help me transfer things."

We got dressed, I checked to make sure Heather was alone, and since
she was, I opened the door and let Midnight lead us out.

"Any problems?"

"Nahh.  Sorry I took so long.  I decided to stop and have the propane
system leak tested, then topped off before I topped the fuel tanks and
had the other routine service done.  Mechanic said I got a sweet deal
and he wished he'd known about it.  Don't laugh too hard.  I found out
that if we wanted to, we could probably make a living hauling fifth
wheels for folks in the area.  Fuel prices being what they are, not
many can afford to keep stuff like this unless they keep it on the
road most of the time.  Guess the days of hobby drivers are pretty
much over with.  Got us insurance on both vehicles, too.  New policy
so I paid a lot more than I'm used to, but at least the multi vehicle
discount helped a little."

I laughed at her twisted smile.  "I bet the clean driving record
helped more."

"It did, but not much.  What really helped was getting the seasonal
policy. As long as we pay the full premiums at least two months out of
the year, we get the rest free as long we show an agent a non-op or
some sort of receipt showing they're parked somewhere."

I shrugged.  "Worry about that later.  You get all of us some food?"

"For us, enough to last us at least a week.  Bought a small bag of the
premium food for Midnight.  I figured I'd better let Pat get more,
since she knows what you usually feed her."

Pat smiled.  "Thanks.  I'll do that before I head back.  I hope you
bought some microwave stuff.  I don't want to trust the stove and
stuff in the RV."

"I did, and picked up a couple of those 12 volt ice chests and a
portable grill."

I looked up and studied the sky.  "Rain canopy of some sort?"

"And some folding chairs.  Grill is small enough it will fit on the
counter, so we can cook and eat inside.  Picked up enough
pay-as-you-go cell phones and had them turned on, so we can stay in
touch with each other."

Pat laughed.  "Sounds good to me.  I'll cook."

She and Heather studied each other until Heather nodded.  "Something
you gotta do?"

"Yes."

"Ok. Oh, before I forget..."  She dug in her purse and pulled out a
small envelope.  "Here.  There's a hundred thousand in it.  Couple
thousand is in small bills so you don't have to hit a bank right away.
Don't worry about us.  I still have over three hundred left, and if we
really, really need more, we have our new bank accounts to fall back
on."

Pat took the envelope, looked at it, and finally sighed.  "Those
numbers are unreal to me, but thanks.  I was wondering how we were
going to deal with fuel after we split up."

I sighed.  "Do your best to not tell folks you have it.  After you
make your appearance, you should be able to tap your own accounts for
expenses."

"You folks are seriously paranoid, aren't you?"

Heather hugged her.  "It's the way we were raised."

"I know.  Ted knows I've been stalked a few times, so I really do know
how it works.  Speaking of reminders, do me a huge favor and wait
until I leave before you figure out a place to do your waiting."

"No problem.  I'm new in town, so it will have to be mostly Ted's
decision."

"Ok.  That's obvious, so if someone asks, I'll admit what I know, then
point out you'll probably change your plans.  Let's get that stuff
shared and get something to eat so I can grab Midnight and go get this
over with."

"Scared?"

"Big time.  Aren't you?"

"I'm a little nervous about this, but I guess I'm not scared.  Sounds
stupid, but I know we did it once and mostly succeeded, so we should
be able to do it better this time, because we don't have to watch our
finances.  Besides, we're only going to hide out for a little while,
then show up once we know it's safe enough."

"True.  Any advice?"

"Trust your feelings, Pat.  If you think you need to do something
different than what we've talked about, do it."

"Works both ways, right?"

"Of course."

"Good."
---

End: Crucible! part 1/3

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