© 2024 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

All Aboard Andi's Dream

Chapter 19

Paul's Dream

It had been a wonderful party. Seeing Josh propose to Veronica in front of the entire company was beautiful. Of course, seeing Josh step out to the dance floor in his US Air Force semi-formal dress blues was a shock. Paul wore his uniform, but as a lieutenant colonel flight surgeon, he probably had a quarter of the ribbons that Josh earned. As an aerial gunner on AC-130s for years, Josh was awarded dozens of ribbons and medals. All of Josh and Veronica's co-workers were stunned when Josh stepped up to the dance floor in his dress blues and tapped on Mitch's shoulder to cut in as they practiced. Mitch was in his dress blues too, a major in the NY National Guard, and he had been Veronica's dancing coach for years.

Neither Mitch nor Veronica expected to see Josh in his dress blues, and both were shocked to see the array of ribbons, badges, and wings. The only people that knew he was going to do this was Andi, Macy, John and Paul Jarecki. "Holy shit... step aside and let someone else win the war, will ya sarge?" said Mitch as he eyed Josh's badges and medals. Unconsciously he went to the top of Josh's ribbon rack to see if the baby blue Medal of Honor was there... it's just something you do when you see someone with that many ribbons.

Josh and Veronica danced to the romantic country classic, "Could I Have This Dance for the Rest of my Life," and scores of women sighed as Veronica was swept off her feet. The genuine shock came at the end of Josh and Veronica's dance when Josh knelt and proposed to Veronica. As one, the entire population of Andalon Data Systems gasped. Their crazy buddy Josh was proposing to the backbone of the company, the beauty queen Veronica. And she said yes!

As a couple, they were gorgeous together, handsome Josh in his sharp uniform covered with ribbons and medals, ravishing Veronica in her lovely white gown. They were made for each other, and it looked like they were dressed for their wedding. They posed for a thousand photos. They even posed with Paul and Andi's son Daniel in Veronica's arms and Macy and John's sweet daughter Katarina in Josh's arms. In fact, Josh refused to give his 'little milk dud' back to her parents.

Then somebody noticed that Andi, Macy, and Veronica were all wearing the same dress. They were just different colored. "They are the colors of the flag," said Macy. "American Blue, Cranberry Red, and Snow White." That caused the boss, Anthony Friedman, to line the women up, and pose for more photographs. Anthony branded them "The Springville Three" and promised to make them famous.

"Let's get out of here before he discovers that we sing," said Andi, and Macy agreed.

It was a beautiful ride back to Springville. The snow gently spiraled down from the sky and the Christmas lights were still lighting up the villages they passed through. They took the long way home so they could stop at Tim Horton's in North Boston, NY and get some hot apple cider and look at the Christmas lights in the gentle snow.

It had been two months since the babies were born, and both couples had enough abstinence. For John and Macy, they finally got Cholly to spend the night in his own bed. (Sleeping with his puppy Chiot was what helped.) They were ready for love and kissed all the way home. Then Paul said something that guaranteed their evening. "Yi says that Cholly is doing fine at our house with the girls. Why not let him spend the night?"

"Thank you!" gasped John between passionate kisses from his beautiful wife. Macy hasn't been this playful since last Christmas, when they played a naked game of hide and seek in Paul's attic.

Paul dropped John and Macy off at the beautiful old farmhouse that John was actively re-building. "Busy tomorrow?" Paul asked.

"I'm working out at Gus's wood shop. What do you need?"

"I need a little time with my pastor. I need to make sure my head is screwed on straight as I head into this election."

"Let's do lunch out at Gus's workshop," said John. "I'm buying if you're flying."

"I will buy," chuckled Paul. "What would you like?"

"The usual: ham, provolone, lettuce, onion, tomato, oil, vinegar, salt and vinegar chips, ice cold Pepsi. That's if Fran is behind the counter, if it's Yano, I want the roast beef with lettuce, onion, tomato, mayo, mustard, barbeque chips and a root beer."

Paul tried not to laugh. John was always picky, but selecting your sandwich at the deli based on who is making it? That's just weird. "I'll call to double check. Love ya."

"Love you too," said John as he got out of the van with a fussy little girl in his arms. John and Macy were excited to get into the house. Their year and a half old boy, Cholly, was sleeping at Paul and Andi's house and Josh and Macy were going to take this opportunity to make love in front of their fireplace for the first time in almost a year.

Over on Howard Avenue, Paul pulled into their driveway and stopped at the back patio and he hit the remote to open the garage door. He got out of the van, opened the side door, crawled in the back, and got Danny out of his car seat. The little guy was still asleep from the biggest night in his short life. As Paul carried Danny into the house, he helped Andi up the slippery steps. He placed Danny's diaper bag on the kitchen island and turned to Andi. "That was a wonderful party. Thank you for coming."

They kissed long and sweetly, and as they kissed, Andi's hand traced over Paul's swelling cock. He wanted her so much that his balls ached. Then Andi said, "You left the motor running in the van."

"That's not the only motor that's running," he said with a grin.

Andi was so happy that the headaches he's been having had faded as was the black eye. "Go!" she said as she took Danny from his arms.

"Ok, be right back." Paul stepped back outside, and Wonka happily zipped past him as he went out the door. But once off the porch, Wonka stopped and looked around. The normally happy chocolate lab began growling and snapping, then he barked viciously. "What's wrong, boy?" That's when Paul noticed a crappy Nissan minivan in the driveway behind his Ford Transit van.

He walked toward the running minivan when somebody leaped out from between the vans and put a canvas bag over his head. Someone stepped up from behind and helped the first person yank the mouth of the bag down over Paul's waist and drew the bag tight. Someone zip tied his ankles together, and he fell to the ground. He shouted for help and suddenly heard a loud bang and a loud, heartbreaking yelp of pain from Wonka.

"Keep your mouth shut or the next one goes in your wife."

Paul was then lifted by three people and thrown into the minivan like a chunk of firewood. It must not have seats in the back because he rolled against the side of the van's interior as they shot out of the driveway, slammed into the snow pile on the curb on the other side of the street, then tried to take off but Howard Avenue was covered with a sheet of ice. It had been warm (warm-ish) that day and the snow on the street melted, but the sun didn't come out, so the streets were covered with a layer of water that froze smooth and glossy. A Western New Yorker wouldn't have a problem driving on something like that. It's an annual annoyance and something you learn to deal with in the days of your learner permit. But someone from further south wouldn't be able to travel on a Buffalo area road easily in the winter. Paul could hear the front wheels spinning wildly and decided to brace for a crash.

He turned himself sideways in the van and pressed his feet against the side of the minivan. He noticed that the bottom of the sack wasn't secured and he wiggled it loose and slowly eased it up while the thugs that grabbed him argued up front. One of them was swinging a gun around and another one ordered him to put it away in a voice with a Russian accent. "Put gun avay or I vill find bodily orifice to shove it in," shouted the Russian. He was clearly the brains of the outfit and it didn't sound like it took much brains to earn that title.

Paul's arms were free, and he reached down to discover his ankles were zip tied and he couldn't break the zip tie. He slowly pulled the sack over his head and peered at his kidnappers. There were three of them. The one with the Russian accent was in the passenger seat, the one with the pistol was in the seat behind the driver's seat, and the seat behind the passenger was folded down. He watched the thug in the back reluctantly put his pistol under the seat. Paul tried the rear door, but it was locked. The ancient minivan had manual locks and the knob you'd lift to unlock the door was removed so he couldn't hop out the back.

He quietly crept forward and came up behind the thug with the pistol and immediately put him in a choke hold. The thug gasped and coughed and tried to break free, but Paul was a wrestler in high school; he knew this hold intimately. "Let me go and I won't say a word," said Paul. "I'll say it was a prank by my golf buddies."

"Vith dead dog in yard? I do not tink so," said the Russian in the front seat. "Go. Kill if you vant. Is no matter to me."

Suddenly, the front wheels hit a dry patch, and the madly spinning wheels got traction. The minivan shot forward onto another sheet of ice and spun around before colliding with an enormous pile of snow. The guy with the Russian accent got out and opened the side door next to the man Paul was choking. "I'll fucking kill him!" snarled Paul.

"You tink you vill, after all, he kilt your dog! You Americans... so sentimental over dogs. In mother Russia, dogs are working animals! They are also meals when times are hard or ven they bite hand that feeds."

Paul hauled back, so the thug was half over the low back seat and he could put more pressure on his throat. The thug started shuddering from lack of oxygen to the brain. "I'll kill him! Let me go or I'll kill him!"

"You vill not kill, you are doctor. Hippocratic oath!" said the man with a grin.

"He's not my patient," snarled Paul.

"You vould make goot Russian!" the Russian laughed. "He is useless pain in ass," said the Russian. "I vill allow you to do this vun favor for me. To me, he is vorthless, pain in my ass. Kill if you like! To my employer, you are vorth one hundred million dollars. Ze math is simple, my doctor." The Russian produced a hypodermic needle and poked it in Paul's neck and injected him with something that made him feel light, dizzy, warm... "Now sleep, doctor. Ve have long vay to go before..." but the rest was lost to Paul, who lay unconscious in the back of the van.

The van got back on the road and headed east on NY-39 to Sardinia. Their route took them down the back roads. They were heading generally south and east into the frigid night. "How long is that stuff going to keep him under?" asked the driver.

"Who knows?" said the Russian. "That is my vorry. You? Your vorry is to get us there before sunrise."

"He almost killed me!" gasped the man in the back.

"If he had meant to kill you, you vould be dead," said the Russian. "He is cardiologist. He knows vays to kill you vich make you sorry you ever alive."

"This place sucks," grumbled the driver.

"Is very pretty," said the Russian. "Vat is not to like?"

"It's fucking cold!" he whined as they drove through the sleeping village of Arcade, NY.

"Is colder in Denver no? Vhy not liking New York?"

"It's wet! It's slushy and sloppy, then it all freezes. We'll be lucky to get there before sunrise."

"Where's my gun?" demanded the guy in the back, and suddenly he had the barrel of the gun pressing against his forehead.

"I can gif back. Vun bullet at time." The Russian had whirled around so fast that the guy in the back didn't see it happen.

"Jesus Aleksei, relax!" said the man in the back seat. He didn't know it, but using the Russian's name with a captive in the van, conscious or not, just sealed his fate. "Damn, I should know better than to get involved in one of Rosetti's schemes. The fucker owes me ten grand as it is."

The Russian allowed the man to complain through the night as they wove down forgotten highways and crossed into Pennsylvania. Finally, at six thirty AM, they pulled into a tiny, all-night café just outside of York, Pennsylvania and went inside to have coffee and wait. The driver and the gunman were edgy and didn't like sitting in a café, not with a kidnapped man in the van outside. "Something to take the edge off?" said the Russian, and he set a pill bottle on the table. Outside, a big 18 wheeler pulled into the lot and the Russian went outside to speak with the driver.

The gunman looked inside the pill bottle, and there were two white tablets in there. Shrugging, he washed down one of the tablets with lukewarm coffee and the driver followed suit. Meanwhile, outside, the Russian and the driver of the 18 wheeler hoisted a semiconscious Paul into the cab of the 18 wheeler. They put him in the sleeper and, after dropping Paul's cellphone in a trash can, the Russian named Aleksei Yevgeniy Markov climbed into the cab of the large truck.

There was a chuff and a hiss as the air brakes released, followed by a snort and a growl from the big Cummin's engine and they drove off. They turned onto US 30 and the truck disappeared into the US highway system. Behind them, they left two thugs who sat in the coffee shop. They were supposed to take the mini-van back to Denver, but they sat with cooling coffee as the sun came up, peacefully dying of a fentanyl overdose.

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"This is the last time I'm going to waste my time with you!" snapped the man on the other end of the phone. "Give me the money and I'll release the prisoner." In the most recent calls, the caller has been calling Paul a prisoner. For some reason, the caller also called Paul a planet killer, insinuating that the cars he sells were destroying the earth. Quite often he would spend most of the call spouting semi-coherent bilge about the coming ecological calamity. "Ignore this crap," Judge Atherton whispered into Andi's ear. "It's just mental masturbation. He's either a recent convert to the religion of Eco-lunacy or he's wasting time for some reason."

"Let me talk to Paul," she demanded. "I have what you want right here, one million in cash, one hundred fifty-six million in bitcoin. I have the means to drop it anywhere in the United States. First, I want to hear from Paul." The terrified mouse was gone. Andi was a snarling lioness. The attack on her children had the opposite effect from what the kidnappers had expected.

For the first time in weeks, Andi heard Paul's voice. "Darling Adrianna, I love you. I love Sandy, Maddy, Danny, and Melony. I will be seeing you all soon."

Then another voice came on the line and said, "Ve vill be in touch... soon." Then the line went dead.

"Who was that other voice?" demanded Judge Atherton. A small crowd of FBI agents and police officers clustered around Andi, who was weeping and babbling something. Lucy held Andi in her arms and Veronica looked about nervously. Something set Andi off. Ever since they tried to kidnap her children, she had been a tiny lion. Now she was a shattered mouse again.

"Who was that?" demanded Nicoletta. "The damn commie! Who the hell was that?"

"We believe that was Aleksei Yevgeniy Markov," said an FBI agent at the folding table. He was working extra hard to conceal his terror of the judge. "He's a heavy hitter in the Colorado drugs and gambling cartels." He was scrolling through a laptop, then spun it around to show Nicoletta a picture of Aleksei.

She looked at that face and it reminded her of a hundred faces just like that. Angry, bitter, respectful only of the meanest and the most vicious. They were the trash of Eastern Europe, gutless bullies that crawled through our porous border to avoid Putin's wars. If anyone with a face like that ever stood before her, they soon ended up in a Supermax for a few years, followed by a flight home to Mother Russia. "Denver..." mulled the judge. "Andi baby, do you know him?"

Andi looked at a face she hoped she'd never see again. Aleksei. She never learned his last name, but he came over to their tiny apartment where he, Frank and their idiot buddies played cards, smoked reeking cheap cigars, and swilled whiskey like it was water. And she had to wait on them in a French maid's costume if she wanted to avoid going to work at the hospital with a black eye. She nodded when she saw the picture. "Aleksei," she whispered.

"Yeah, I've seen him too," said Lucy, and she held Andi tighter.

Judge Atherton turned back to the FBI agent. "Any connection to a man named Rosetti?"

"Yeah, good guess, ma'am. Markov owns a thug named Francesco Liberatore Rosetti. Mostly small time, gambling, prostitution... says he sold his wife off as a fuck doll... oh... I'm sorry Missus Jarecki..." said the agent as he read deeper into Frank's profile. Andi just nodded and waved him away. That was then. "Anyhow, he graduated to the big time here in Springville, New York. Attempted murder, attempted vehicular homicide, and is doing hard time in Upstate Correctional."

"What's the matter, baby?" asked Lucy as Andi cried on her shoulder.

"Adrianna... Paul called me Adrianna," she sniffed. "I made him promise he'd only call me that at my funeral."

"Maybe he's terrified that you're in trouble. He doesn't know about this army you have around you now," said Judge Atherton, trying to cheer up Andi.

"No," sniffed Andi. "He said 'I love you Adriana, Sandy, Madeline, Danny, and Melony. I'll see you soon.'" She started crying even harder.

"What is wrong with that?"

"Melony was his first wife," said Lucy as she comforted her friend. "She died ten years ago..."

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Cold... so bitterly cold. Paul moved through his barn, hoping to find something to warm himself with. If he only had a metal bucket that he could start a small wood fire in, and huddle over for warmth. The ground floor was a dirt floor, he could easily start a small campfire on that but all the equipment was moved inside the 150 year old structure: his Ranger, the reliable old Ford 8N tractor, the new Kubota tractor, the snowmobile... There was no place he could safely build a fire to warm himself over. The big old structure creaked and groaned with every gust of wind. Snow found its way through every crack and snow drifts built up inside the structure. He loved this big old building... it was going to be tough to say goodbye when his time came.

His old ham radio gear puts out some heat. The old Hallicrafters SX-115 receiver and the Hallicrafters HT-32 transmitter both put out quite a bit of heat when they get going. He stepped into his ham shack (an old storage room in what used to be the milking parlor) and fired everything up, even the old Collins 30L-1 linear amplifier. He rarely used it, but it was fun on a lonely night cranking up the full kilowatt amplifier and calling "CQ, CQ, CQ. This is KB0LVZ calling CQ, CQ, CQ..." This was old school HAM radio, separate tuner and transmitter. It's possible to be off frequency when transmitting. Getting the receiver and the transmitter both on frequency was an art.

His dreams of having a son and teaching him to talk to any place on earth, the old-fashioned way, came back to him. He pictured showing him how to care for the chickens, fish in the pond, hike in the woods, and so much more. Why did those dreams come back? All that died with Melony. When she died of a heart seizure in the cockpit of an F-15, all of Paul's dreams ended. And so did his career. The cardiologist's wife dying of a cardiac arrest... it was almost funny. So funny that Paul spent his nights staring at the ceiling of the cabin while John and his wife slept upstairs. He was removed from the flight surgeon's position, from any surgical position. His only skills remaining were lecturing young doctors and emptying whiskey bottles... Now he's sleeping in a barn.

Two hours ago, he dashed out of the cabin and trundled up Trevet Road on the tractor to rescue a stuck traveler in one of the nastiest lake effect blizzards he's ever seen. He convinced mama hen and her chicks to come back to his cabin, and like a fool, he volunteered to stay in the barn because his presence made her feel uncomfortable.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Paul shivered, trying to warm himself over the meager warmth radiating from the vacuum tubes, but that wasn't enough. Besides, there was no one on the air to chat with. He shut down his rigs and went up to the heated hen house, which was up in the hayloft. It was warm in there, but the smell drove him out. Chickens are incredibly aromatic, but not in a good way. The stench of chicken shit drove him out. He was moments from vomiting when he burst into the clear, frigid air.

Paul found a couple of old blankets that he threw over truck fenders when working on the trucks and wrapped himself with them and lay back in the hay wagon and covered himself with hay. At least the babies are safe, he thought. Then, with a prayer of thanksgiving, he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. He had almost drifted off when a jingling "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" broke his slumber, it was his phone ringing with an unfamiliar number, the partial ID gave the location of Denver CO. With shivering hands, he picked up his ringing phone. "This is Paul," he said.

He heard that tiny woman's voice on the other end. "Doctor Jarecki, we... I may have acted hastily. I should be thankful, but when it comes to my girls... Please come here. Maybe we could talk about what we are going to do over dinner."

"I'll be there in a moment," he said and dug his way out of the hay. In doing that, he found a small doll that one of the little girls left behind. He headed down the creaking wooden stairs to the side entrance door, then shoved as hard as he could against the snow that was piled up against the door. He wedged himself through the slightly opened door and grabbed the shovel that normally sat by the door for nights like this, and put the shovel outside where it would do the most good.

It seemed to Paul that it took an hour to make it from the barn to the cabin. It was not that far of a walk between the two buildings, but tonight it seemed to take forever. He should have come up on the lights of the cabin by now.

"Hey! Hey, you!" cried somebody that sounded like Melony. "You're going the wrong way!" Some nights are worse than others and he hears her voice everywhere. Paul looked around and couldn't tell where to go in the dark, swirling snow. "Follow me or you'll die out here!" shouted the voice that's been haunting his dreams for a decade.

Paul could barely see what looked like his long-dead wife, Melony, leading him across the farmyard through the whirling snow. "Mel? What's it like to die?" asked Paul.

"I didn't like it. Now get inside before you join me," cried the vision in a flight suit before she faded into the swirling snow at the cabin door.

The wind had really picked up, and the snow was so heavy he could barely see. He truly could have gotten turned around and died out here. When he finally made it to the door, he paused. He was freezing, his body shook from tremors. Paul realized he didn't dress warm enough when he rushed out to help whomever the Concord township police could not reach. He finally opened the door and walked into his cabin. The reason he didn't see the cabin was that the lights were turned off. Even the big-bulb Christmas lights that lined the porch roof were off. He normally leaves them on because they remind him of the last peaceful years of his life... so long ago in Cheektowaga, NY.

Then he realized he wasn't alone. He could almost taste the fear that overwhelmed the small woman inside. With trembling hands, he removed his jacket. He heard a tiny, shuddering voice in the darkness. "Doctor Jarecki? I'm Doctor Adrianna Roberts." In the gloom of the cabin, he saw her and saw the fear on her face, and he also saw the tiny faces peering out from behind her.

The light switches Andi couldn't find were behind jackets hanging from pegs near the door. Paul flipped a switch, and the cabin became illuminated by over a dozen electric candles that gently flickered, making the cabin look even more cozy. A small Christmas tree in the back corner lit up, illuminating a small library.

"Thank you, papa!" the twins called, and they dashed to the table by the front windows and returned to their homework, but they looked bigger than they should. Older. This isn't how it happened. They were tiny. They hid behind their mother until they saw Wonka and then they dashed over to pet Wonka. He looked over to Wonka and there was a tiny boy petting Wonka and next to him was a huge black dog. It was the biggest dog he had ever seen. It sat there staring at the little boy who was petting Wonka. Not an angry or jealous stare, but the gaze of a dog watching over her boy.

The little boy looked up and saw that Paul was there and he toddled over to Paul and held his hands up. The huge Newfoundland followed protectively. The little boy's face was split by a huge grin and he opened and closed his upraised hands. "Oh, pick your son up!" scolded Andi. "He's been waiting for you."

Paul crouched and scooped up the most precious possession he had ever held. Danny's hair was jet black like his and there was no mistaking the Jarecki nose. It was like he was holding a tiny version of himself... and John and Andi all rolled into one precious package. Danny gave Paul a huge grin. Paul saw a faint line of white on the boy's upper gum. "A tooth! You have a tooth coming in! My baby is making teeth!"

"Daaaaaad," groaned the twins in unison.

In response, Danny gave a joyful cry and threw himself against his father, and Paul hugged his boy as tight as he dared. "Of course he's got a tooth. He's been teething all month. That's what all the whining has been about," scolded Andi, as she wrapped her arms around the boys in her life. The only one missing was Wonka, but he wasn't far.

"No, he just missed his daddy..." said Paul, and he held his boy tighter. Such a peaceful, blissful moment and Paul closed his eyes, kissed the little boy's head and thanked a God he almost lost faith in. The smell of the stew, the scent of the pine boughs, he even smelled bread baking in the oven as the Academy of Saint Martin in the Field sweetly sang 'In the Bleak Midwinter' in the background. "Be good for your mommy," Paul whispered as a sudden bang and a jolt woke him. It all faded away. The love, the warmth, his family was gone, and he was back in the sleeper cab of the baby blue Kenworth truck. "You bastards," groaned Paul.

They were in a truck depot and were changing trailers. "Velcome to Ohio, good doctor! If you must peace or sheet, do it here or you vill lick it up," cried Aleksei. "We will not stop once we hit the road."

And so it went, day after day moving from place to place, always changing loads, rarely stopping to spend the night somewhere in some flophouse reeking of cabbage and piss. They hid on the wide open roads and when the driver made the calls demanding the ransom, the FBI's equipment showed them in a different location every time, making it look like a series of spoofed calls and were desperately trying to find the true location of the caller.

Paul spent much of the time drugged. He could always tell when he was drugged, because the dreams were so vivid and they often had a guide. And he learned things he always wondered about...

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The ordeal she went through at the twin's school left Yi terrified for days. She only found comfort in Kenny's arms and she wouldn't let him let go of her. She occasionally got up to cook, but she spent most of her time in her room, terrified by the experience. She kept the twins upstairs with her while Andi spent her time getting briefings from the FBI and local police or doing news interviews in front of the fireplace in the parlor, or she held business meetings for Jarecki motors with Macy in the kitchen.

At the board meetings, their team members included the pianist from John's church who turned out to be a fine executive assistant, Melissa Kraft. With them was Monica Rand, the chief compliance officer who had a finger on the pulse of the organization, Brian Shapiro, the general manager of the Rochester Jarecki Motors location who had been promoted to the head of marketing, and the COO Min Zhong Sun who was truly in a panic over Paul's disappearance.

Yi would keep busy serving coffee and sandwiches while the board meetings were conducted at the dining room table. Andi proved to be an efficient, if not blood thirsty, manager. "Next on the agenda... Jaguar," read Melissa Kraft.

Everyone turned to Andi and Macy, who had talked about this privately. "Fuck them," said Andi.

"They ceased production while they retool," said Macy. "They're going to all electric vehicles when they come back."

"That's if they come back. I personally think the entire company is in a nosedive. Their last commercial proved that. I will not take part in their fantasy of rainbows and unicorn farts. We sell our existing stock and press on with builders who will deliver a product we can sell," said Andi.

"Jarecki motors will not sell a car that was made with slave labor," said Macy. "The cobalt and lithium for e-vehicle batteries are mined using slave labor and child labor and we will have no part of it."

"What if they come up with a battery that's made with responsible methods?" asked Min.

"Then we will put their cars on the lots," said Andi.

As they debated the wording of the letter to the new CEO of Jaguar/Land Rover, Yi kept the children busy. Andi was right when she told Yi, "you have to keep busy or everything will crash down on you."

Yi and the kids spent the day in the old-fashioned living room, coloring on the floor with Cholly and the two Newfoundland puppies. She was holding Danny, and he was asleep. She was working up the courage to take the twins for a walk so they could pull Cholly in a sled and let the puppies romp in the snow. The board meeting was over and Andi had joined them in the living room. That's when Yi heard the detectives arguing. Detective Klafka and Detective Tanaka were having a quiet but heated discussion in the library's corner furthest from her. Finally, they stormed over to Andi and said, "Andi, this could be serious, so we need to know why did you deny knowing Sal Carboni and Theodoro Viola to FBI agent Marks?"

"Who's FBI Agent Marks?" asked Andi. She got up and followed Charlie and Julissa into the library, where the FBI had several agents.

"He's the agent that talked to you on Tuesday about Carboni and Viola," said Julissa.

"Nobody has mentioned those scumbags to me. Why? What did they do now?" asked Andi.

Julissa stuck her tongue out at Detective Klafka. She clearly thought she had won an argument of some nature. Charlie Klafka turned to Special Agent Colella and said, "Frank, where is this Marks character of yours?"

"In DC I think. I shit-canned him on Monday for his shitty work. Why?"

"His final report," said Julissa, and she handed a printed page to Agent Colella. "In his final report, he clearly stated that he spoke to Andi on Tuesday about these two. You say that Tuesday was the day after he was released from the investigation. His report says that she denied all knowledge of the two scumbags in question."

"They were at my wedding to Frank," said Andi. "I've known those two pieces of work for ten years. He was constantly going out drinking and gambling with them." She looked nervously at Lucy, who closed in to support her friend. "I think they may have... they might have..." She didn't want to say that they had sex with her while she was blindfolded and tied down to a bed by her husband Frank to pay off his gambling debts.

"I don't think your beautiful daughters are related to these two," said Special Agent Colella. "They can walk upright without dragging their knuckles on the ground." His remark made Lucy snort with suppressed laughter. She knew those two miscreants also and was happy to move as far away from them as she could get.

"Why would he say that about me?" asked Andi. "Why would he put that in an official report? There was only you and one other agent here on Tuesday."

"I don't know, Missus Jarecki," muttered Special Agent Colella. Actually, he knew. Marks was trying to generate suspicion against Andi, make people think she was in on the kidnapping. Fortunately for Andi, Agent Marks was an incompetent buffoon. The SAC rifled through Agent Marks' report with growing anger. "This is all bullshit! Every word!" He looked at Andi and said, "Sorry ma'am. Cop talk."

Special Agent Colella pulled out his cell phone and made a call. "Cal, Frank here. I want Marks rounded up and questioned on his involvement in the Jarecki kidnapping... rubber hoses and tasers? ... Sure, if you think he'll talk... Oh, that's funny... yeah... let me know what you get out of him." He hung up and looked at Andi with that, 'I have to apologize now' look on his face.

"What did Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber do now?" asked Andi.

"Who?"

"Sal and Theo... Carboni and Viola," she said. "What did those two dummies do now?"

"They were found dead in a York Pennsylvania truck stop."

"What?"

"Drug overdose, both of them. They checked out the morning after Paul was kidnapped... it's the truck stop where they found Paul's phone."

"Why wasn't I told about this?" demanded Andi loudly. "Why didn't somebody tell me that there's two bodies involved in this?"

"Ma'am, we don't know for sure that they're involved in this case."

"I don't care!" she shouted. "I demand to know what is going on and what you people are doing!"

"Is there a link between these two jamokes and Aleksei Markov?" demanded Judge Atherton. She was even angrier than Andi, but years on the bench taught her how to control her anger and project it at the same time.

"Yeah, actually there is," said Special Agent Colella as he looked through a handful of printed reports that another agent handed him. "They're his lapdogs in Colorado."

"There's a central figure in this," said the Judge. "Andi, I'm going for a ride. You stay here and become the mayor we know you can be. I'm going to have a talk with an old friend, then be right back." She turned to her husband and said, "How soon can we leave?"

"I'm going with," said Special Agent Colella. He figured out exactly who she wanted to talk with.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"How much are you demanding for my release?" Paul asked.

"You are bargain. We ask one hundred fifty-seven million," said Aleksei as they rolled through Indiana. The snow was gone, and it was starting to get warm. They just picked up a load of machine parts and were taking them to an assembly plant in Texas. The driver, who refused to speak to Paul, and Aleksei changed driving duties.

"That's an oddly familiar number," said Paul. He knew exactly where it came from. Sammy Wynn, his legal advisor. When Jarecki Motors became a craze in the northeastern states, Sammy said that the magazines and other nosey busy bodies were going to be poking around, looking for his net worth. They settled on $157 Million and allowed that number to leak out to the press. At the time, it was close to the truth. Immediately, the inquiries into his personal wealth stopped as the press glommed on to that number. It was easier to use a number that had been published than to research Paul's actual current worth. If that number appeared in the New York Times and someone shouted that it was wrong, the Times could say, "That's what our research showed." But their research was little more than opinion and a glance at People magazine.

"Do you think Mrs. Jarecki will pay it?"

"Ve don't know. Ve haven't asked her yet," said Aleksei with a grin.

"Are you trying to build up the terror inside of her? Are you trying to break her heart more with every passing day?"

"Da, is good plan, is it not?"

"No, because she doesn't know if I'm alive or not. If she knew I was alive for sure, that would be more terrifying." Paul was sitting in the sleeper on the bed, looking forward between the seats. Inside the truck when he was conscious, he wore handcuffs because they couldn't watch him while driving. At truck stops, he was freed, but he was usually half unconscious. It was hard for him to remember what he needed: vitamins, protein, fiber, carbohydrates. He couldn't plan out what he was eating because he couldn't remember what he ate last... or when. He eventually decided on Taco Salad. Every truck stop had them and they contained everything he needed, and they looked like junk food, so Aleksei and the truck owner Rick Sprague didn't realize he was trying to bulk up. All Paul really knew was that he was always hungry and thirsty.

"Is not part of plan... yet," said Aleksei, turning his back on Paul.

"That sounds like one of Frank Rosetti's plans."

"Sometimes Frank has good ideas, no?"

"No, he doesn't. I didn't realize you were working for Rosetti now. I thought you were sharper than him. It must be hard with your boss in prison."

Aleksei whirled on Paul and demanded, "I do not work for that bolvan! (Oaf) Vere did that idea come from dear doktor?"

"That Frank is your boss and calling the shots now? That's what all of Upstate prison is saying." Paul was lying, but Aleksei seemed to be buying it. Paul found a chink in Aleksei's armor.

"And how did you hear that?"

"Judge Atherton speaks with Frank on occasion. I'm sure she's speaking with him now." Paul was wildly optimistic. He did not know if she even knows he's been kidnapped, but he knew Nicoletta's hate for Frank.

"And she vould tell the likes of you?"

"She's rich... so are we. Andi and Judge Atherton are good friends. Her husband Donald and I are business partners."

"Partners in what?" demanded Aleksei.

"It doesn't matter, you couldn't afford us," said Paul as he laid back.

Aleksei spun around in his seat and jabbed a needle into Paul's neck. "Govnoyed!" (Bastard) he snarled as he injected something into Paul's neck. He had a whole med kit of concoctions to keep Paul under control, and all Paul could do was sleep it off and hope he didn't become addicted.

"Poor John..." thought Paul as he watched his little brother wander around in circles, holding back the tears. Paul was in the old apartment in Tiorunda where they lived for years while his dad got the business under control. John could only be five or six-years-old and the little guy was heartbroken. "What's the matter, buddy?" asked Paul. He walked up and crouched down in front of the boy, who was, in fact, seven. "What's the matter, little guy?"

John looked up at the man crouched in front of him and broke into tears and ran away. "I wonder what his problem is?"

"You're leaving," said a voice behind him. "It was the worst day of my life. You were heading off to college and I knew that you were never coming back. Thank God I was wrong, but it took you years to come home to us."

Paul turned around and there was John. Not the sad little boy John, but the Pastor John that has been Paul's rudder and confidant for the past decade. Was this a dream? Paul reached out and touched the specter in front of him, and it was real. "Oh God," gasped Paul and he threw his arms around John. "Oh God, I'm so scared," and he began to weep. "I'm so lonely... I miss my family."

"We feel the same way," said John. "Some of us aren't handling it well at all." They turned around and Paul found they were in Gus's wood shop. Gus's shop is set up like a high school wood shop, with several worktables laid out at regular intervals. All tables were the same size and design and height. Not because he was teaching students, but because it made sense to him. Because they were the same height, one table could support a long board that was being shaped on another table. All machines - planers, saws, etc. were also at the same height for the same reason. "Saves on sawhorses," was all that Gus said. He never told anyone other than Lucy that all of his equipment came from Springville Vocational School. When Springville Vocational purchased all new equipment for their carpentry and woodwork division, Gus bought all the equipment the school was getting rid of. He snagged up everything he could and put all those lightly used tools to work.

Paul noticed Gus was crouched down behind a worktable, and Josh was over there with him, crouched down facing Gus. "Nobody is taking this well," said John as they approached Gus and Josh and there on his knees was John, weeping as hard as he ever did in his life. "Please don't tell Macy," said John as they watched Gus and Josh try to comfort the kneeling John. "She's with Lucy and they're supporting Andi. The FBI had completely screwed up the investigation, and they fired the special agent in charge of the investigation." He pointed to his crouching figure. "I just found out, and in a few minutes, I'm going to tell Gus. Josh is going to hear and..." John sighed. "Josh is going to be Josh, and he's going to go find the SAC that was fired and punch him. It's not a pretty sight, but after he cooled off in the jail over night the on-coming SAC let him go only if he promised to punch that agent again at the bureau Christmas party. I guess the guy wasn't well liked."

"Andi... how is Andi doing?"

They turned around and stepped into Paul and Andi's parlor. She was seated in front of a crackling fire with a baby on her lap and the room was filled with cameras and lights and a reporter was seated on one of their French provincial chairs and asked her questions. "Do I think that appearing on camera with an infant will turn off some voters? I had never considered that before, but I'm a young, healthy woman who loves my children. I love raising them in Springville despite Samael Windecker's odd policies that are anti-family, anti-senior citizen, anti-recreation, anti-parking, and anti-Jarecki."

"She's a wreck, but she pulls it together for campaign appearances, board meetings, and when the twins need her. Lucy and Macy are with her constantly. Veronica and Josh are with her from six pm until six am. She's got an army of support. We are going to get you back."

"You've always been so strong, and calm," said Paul. "You took over being big brother since that day."

"What day?" said John, and they were in their old apartment in Cheektowaga once again. Cecil had just locked them into the empty apartment. "This day?" asked John.

"Yes, please don't remind me... it was horrible," said Paul. He looked out a window at the bleak and joyless neighborhood he grew up in, then he turned around and he saw that John was dressed in the same clothes he was dressed in on that horrible day.

"Hit me," said John.

"No, I'm done hitting people," said Paul.

"You've got to get that hate out of your system," said John. "Hit me!"

"I don't hate you, and I don't hate me."

"You hate me for not being there when Melony died," said John.

"No, I hated me for being angry with you when she died," said Paul.

"You hate me for not being there when you were kidnapped."

"No, there was no way you could have been there, just like there was no way that you could have been there when Melony died."

John nodded. That was a hard sticking point with Paul. He was such a wreck over her death, he couldn't conceive of John not coming to be his emotional savior, just like Paul did for John when he had that crisis of faith and dropped out of the catholic seminary. Paul was there for him when Melony's sister gave John a mega-dose of LSD just to 'loosen up his tight ass', almost killing John. Paul and Melony spent their honeymoon with John as he came down and lay in the hospital strung out. Paul was devastated that John didn't come to him, yet he refused to go home to his parents and the whole family came to an impasse that Paul let stand for years.

"I missed your wedding," said Paul. "I don't remember you ever telling me about it."

"It was a point in your life you don't want to visit," said John. "It was just a few days before Melony died. The ceremony was very simple."

"Show me, please," begged Paul and John led Paul into a classroom where a young-looking John stood in front of a class of students. "I taught the freshmen," he whispered, which caused Paul to chuckle. The Professor John looked younger than most of the students.

"I guess we will spend our hour asking questions if you would like," said instructor John to his students. "Anything you want, or you can go study for your final exam tomorrow."

Nobody moved. "Well?" After a moment or two, he said, "Nothing?" Finally, a hand shot up. "Yes Joycelyn?"

Joycelyn stood and said, "Have you and Doctor Dagenais set a date yet?"

"Yes, we have. Are there any more questions?"

The classroom was in an uproar. John's habits of telling half the story, burying the lede, and not offering any details drove them all crazy. Even Paul laughed. He wished that he could have watched John grow into a first class wise-ass. "When is it?" demanded the class.

"Ok, ok, hush! Settle down." He stood and put on a tie and began tying it. "You have been such a wonderful class, you really have, that we want to invite you all. Would you like that?" When the class agreed, he said, "Joycelyn, could you come stand here? And Joël, could you come up front and stand here next to me? Good!" He pulled on a black blazer and said, "we only need..."

The class didn't notice John handing Joycelyn and Joël a ring each because, just then, Macy and an older man entered the room. The students gasped when they saw Macy was wearing a simple form fitting white dress instead of her usual pant suit, but also she was wearing a white veil and carrying a small bouquet.

"You got married in a classroom?" chuckled Paul.

"Why not? We were training future pastors to perform wedding ceremonies. Why not teach by example? The fellow with Macy is Doctor Rodolphe Chauvin, the vice chancellor of the university. Everyone else in the room is a freshman student."

Paul watched in delighted amusement as John and Macy faced Dr. Chauvin, and he started the ceremony. "It has been quite a while since I performed a wedding ceremony," said Doctor Chauvin. "I must say, none of them had been as exciting as this one. I know you two know the form of the marriage and I know you are very ready; therefore, I happily say, loved ones... We are gathered here today not only to prepare for our final exam, but to also join Marie-Claude Solange Dagenais and John Matthew Jarecki in holy matrimony."

The students were transfixed. The instructors who taunted and teased them over the possibility of a personal relationship outside of the classroom all semester long were actually getting married in front of them! Doctor Chauvin then said to John. "Please take the ring you have selected for Macy. As you place it on her finger, repeat after me: With this ring, I thee wed..."

"That was so perfect for you and Macy," said Paul.

"It was exactly what we wanted, a quiet ceremony with our friends at the university. I didn't feel right inviting you and mom and dad because Macy had no family."

"I think that was a wise decision. I could picture mom meeting her new black daughter-in-law," laughed Paul. Katarina Jarecki was not a racist, but she had a wicked sense of humor and she loved using it. She used it as a test of humanity because, as far as she was concerned, somebody without a sense of humor was a subhuman.

"Would you like to see it?" said John with a grin.

"Yeah," said Paul with a big grin, and John led him to Montreal.

"Mom and dad took the train here, and they were shocked. They didn't realize how beautiful New York was. The farthest dad got from home was Rochester, so I think the trip gave him the idea to spread out the business through mid-state toward Albany."

They were in the audience, right behind Cecil and Katarina. It was so good to see his parents alive and healthy that Paul almost wept. It hasn't been that long since mom died. He and John believed she died of loneliness after Cecil, her mate since their teens, passed away.

Up on the stage the Chancellor Doctor Paquet and the vice chancellor, Doctor Chauvin, stood with a tall, beautiful black woman. She was presented a special plaque and certificate of appreciation for her years of service to the university and there was some kidding about conducting actual weddings in her freshman class which caused a lot of laughter among the students and the faculty. "We wish you future luck, Doctor Dagenais-Jarecki, and please let us know where you land."

"What are they laughing at?" asked Cecil.

"I don't know," said Katarina, who took French in high school and has forgotten every word.

John leaned forward and said, "That professor held an actual wedding in her classroom. They said it was a teaching success but difficult to reproduce."

"That's a good idea," said Katarina. "Then they will know what to expect when they're ordained."

The ceremony started, and one by one, they called the doctoral candidates up to the stage. John was number three, and his grades were high enough to earn him the golden honors stole. As they called him up, the girls in the senior class went wild. "John must have been a very popular teacher," said Cecil.

"He always had a way with words," said Katarina in agreement.

As his advisor Macy presented John with his stole and diploma, accompanied by a kiss on each cheek, but as his wife he got a more meaningful kiss. As they kissed, their students went wild, clapping and cheering.

"The French are very romantic," said Katarina.

"If they weren't kissing so much, we'd get out of here at a decent hour," groused Cecil.

"That was John!" gasped Katarina. "I missed it because they didn't say his name."

John leaned forward and said, "In French, John is pronounced Jean."

"Oh," said Katarina. "That's very interesting. She must have been very happy with his grades to earn a kiss like that."

"She truly was," agreed John as Paul gave him an elbow in the ribs.

After the ceremony, John led Macy to where his parents waited for them. From the looks on their faces, Macy realized they neglected to warn them about her skin color. "Nous ne leur avons pas dit que j'étais noir!" gasped Macy. (We did not tell them I am black)

"Ne vous inquiétez pas, ils comprendront," said John (Don't worry, they'll figure it out) earning a punch in the arm from Macy. "Mom, dad, this is my advisor, my guide, and my partner Dr. Marie-Claude Solange Dagenais-Jarecki. These are my parents, Cecil and Katarina."

"Marie-Claude Solange... So many names!" gushed Katarina. John had said Dagenais-Jarecki so quickly with such a French accent that his mother didn't catch it right off. "We were hoping to meet Macy," Katarina said. "We heard so much about her."

"Must be hard to keep all those names in line," chuckled Cecil, who didn't understand what Katarina was figuring out.

"John!" snapped Katarina. She looked at the program and found Marie-Claude's name. Her brow furrowed, like she just caught him crossing Genesee street without permission. "Dagenais-Jarecki?"

"Yes mom, we eloped three days ago. This is your daughter, Macy."

"When were you going to tell us?" gasped Cecil.

The scene shifted to a bistro where John and Macy told Cecil and Katarina about their painful past and how the death of Macy's stepmother Romée forced them to realize their love for each other. Finally, Cecil turned to Macy. "Here," said Cecil and he handed Macy a thick envelope. "This was to be John's graduation gift, but it appears he no longer wants money. So, use some of it for a honeymoon getaway and then save the rest for our grandchildren."

"We don't..." John started, but his mother interrupted right away.

"It's for the babies, not for you!" Then she turned to Macy and asked, "The children, will they be spotted or striped?"

Macy was shocked, but John had expected it. "Mother, let her get to know you before you give her both barrels."

"I was just wondering," insisted Katarina. "Zebra stripe would be so pretty, but it will be hard to knit a matching sweater."

Macy broke out into a clear, ringing laughter, and Cecil patted her on the back. "You passed the test. You're a Jarecki now."

As the vision of the past faded, Paul sighed and hugged John. "When did you become the big brother? I'm really going to miss you..."

"We're getting you back," insisted John.

"No, listen. I'm probably going to spend my last few days in this stinking blue truck, just... take care of Andi. She's smart, but guys are going to want her money. Sell everything and take the kids and leave."

"No. You make that decision when you get back... leave us a breadcrumb trail and fight! I love you."

"I love you too..." Paul's tear-filled eyes opened as the truck slammed into a new trailer in a logistics yard in Plano, Texas.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Andi was in her parlor, seated in front of a crackling fire with little Danny on her lap. The room was filled with cameras and lights, and a reporter was seated on one of their French provincial chairs. The reporter had almost as many cameras and lights pointed at her as were pointed at Andi. The reporter was Stephany Braddock from the local CBS affiliate in Buffalo and there was talk that this was going national. Small town mayoral candidate gets kidnapped, his wife takes over running for mayor. This is gold!

Stephany looked over at Andi, who was under tremendous emotional stress. Her best friend and her sister-in-law were crouching down on either side of her and talking with her softly. "Pardon, ma'am," said a voice with a soft southern accent. Stephany looked and saw that a tall, handsome man with a trimmed beard and carrying a tiny black child stood next to her. "I'll be your barista on this flight. If you'd like a coffee-based beverage, I'll be glad to whup one up fer ya. Once the cameras start rolling, the bar will be closed."

"I don't think so," said Stephany. An accent like that is quite surprising to hear in Western New York.

"Josh, get her a cappuccino, please," said Andi.

"Yes Miss Andi," and Josh headed off to the kitchen.

"He makes the best cappuccino," said the statuesque blond, who was standing behind Andi. "I've been all over Italy and his are just as good as any Italian café."

Stephany leaned toward her producer and whispered, "Who's Miss America?"

"Miss Ohio actually," said a short, dark-haired man standing next to her producer. The fellow was now holding the tiny black infant. "That's Veronica von Köster, she's kind of managing Andi's campaign."

"Kind of managing?"

"Well, Andi hired her for a dollar twenty-five because she can't work full time on the campaign... but then, neither can Andi. They both work."

"A dollar twenty-five? What work does Missus Jarecki do?" asked Stephany. She was under the impression that Andi was a rich stay-at-home mother with a nanny and an executive chef, so she didn't have to do anything but drink wine and peel grapes.

"She's the acting CEO of Jarecki Motors," said Josh as he set the cup of cappuccino next to Stephany Braddock. With that, he and John disappeared into the Library where the FBI was nervously waiting for the next call from the kidnapper.

"Thank you, that is good," said Stephany, speaking directly to Andi for the first time. "I'm just going to ask a few questions that you've probably heard a dozen times already while on the campaign trail. Do you mind talking about your children?"

"Only in generalities," said Andi. "We can talk about Danny some. He and his cousin Katarina over next to you have had an interesting life so far. Danny is named after my father, who died in Iraq when I was seven. Katarina was named for my mother-in-law, who passed away a few years before I met Paul."

Just then, two beautiful blond moppets dashed into the living room, with a small boy and two large Newfoundland puppies following along happily. "We're here for your good luck kisses!" announced one of the twins. Dutifully, Andi leaned forward in her rocker and kissed the twins.

"Who is this?" asked Stephany.

"These are our daughters, Sandy and Madeline, and their cousin, Cholly. They are not to be on TV."

Cholly lifted one of the puppies in his tiny arms, then noticed all the TV equipment and, from behind his puppy, he looked nervously at Stephany. "Salut" he said.

"Bonjour jeune homme," (Hello young man) replied Stephany. Cholly grinned and began talking back to her in rapid fire French in an accent that Canadian born Stephany Braddock didn't recognize. "Quel est le nom de ton chien?" (What is the name of your dog?)

"Chiot!" (Puppy) said Cholly happily. He fell under the weight of Chiot and sat happily on the parlor floor with Chiot pinning his legs to the ground, watching the goings on around him.

Before Stephany could ask further, Macy answered, "He named his puppy Chiot. Cholly is an orphan from New Caledonia. John and I are adopting him. He's our little Christmas present." Macy smiled proudly at her little man. It was apparent to Andi that Macy has fallen in love with both of her children. Could it be the terrors that they've been going through brought Macy closer to her family?

"Can I get a picture, just you and your children?" asked Stephany.

"The twins are not to be shown on TV," said Andi.

"I want to be on TV!" cried Sandy.

"Me too!" said Madeline. "I can sing and everything."

"Do you want more bad men coming to your school?" asked Andi.

"No..."

"We'll do TV when poppa comes home, I promise."

"Ok..." and the twins posed with Andi for a photo. Cholly joined them, proudly holding his huge puppy. After the photo, Andi chased off the kids and they dashed upstairs where Yi and Kenny could watch them and the interview began. "Doctor Jarecki, do you believe that appearing on camera like this, with a baby in your arms, will cause voters to think that you don't have enough time to do the job of mayor?"

"Do I think that appearing on camera with an infant will turn off some voters?" asked Andi, slightly surprised. "I had never considered that before, but I'm a young, healthy woman who loves my children. I completely love raising them in Springville despite Samael Windecker's odd policies that are anti-family, anti-senior citizen, anti-recreation, anti-parking, and anti-Jarecki."

"You say that Mayor Windecker is anti-Jarecki. How do you mean that?"

Andi didn't pause with her answer. "Just before Christmas, when Paul was trying to make up his mind about running for mayor, Mayor Windecker sent a park cop here, to this house. He went into Paul's office and pistol whipped my husband, hit him with the butt of his pistol while Paul was feeding the baby. Then he put Paul in hand cuffs and dragged him off to Mayor Windecker's office."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Or are you here to find out what is on my mind? Or are you here to cast doubt on my answers?" said Andi in a scolding tone of voice. "That entire episode was streamed live as it happened, from Paul's assault by Michael Brown to his illegal incarceration and is available on YouTube and Rumble. It's available if you would like to see it."

Chastised, Stephany continued. "What are your plans for the Springville Park Police?"

"One, they're not police. New York law states that a policeman must attend an accredited police training school, and none of them have. They're the equivalent of mall cops that have been allowed to go wild. In fact, they're all guilty of carrying a firearm without a permit. The policing of the village of Springville is conducted by the Town of Concord police department, the Erie County sheriff's department, and the state troopers. If we feel that we need additional policing in Springville, we will work with those agencies to provide more manpower. The park patrol will return to its official legal status, the status that the people of Springville all voted on. The park patrolmen are official greeters, tour guides, and the eyes for the legitimate police departments."

"So, you're saying that the park policemen are going to pick up trash?"

"Again, the park patrol are not police. And yes, helping pick up trash is in the first sentence of their job description and always has been."

"What are some other plans for Springville?"

"For over one hundred years Springville has not only been a quiet farming community, but a place to get away from the heat of the city, a porch to relax on and watch the Fourth of July parade march by, but Mayor Windecker canceled the Fourth of July parade, he canceled the Fall Apple Fest, he canceled the Christmas Parade, he even closed the toboggan run. The only park in Springville that is operating like it did before Windecker got elected to the village council is Howard Avenue park and that's because my husband donated the money to maintain the park and even donated the ice rink. Paul, his brother John, and John's wife Macy are musicians and they play at the park on every Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. We want to see music in the park, folk groups and barbershop quartets. We want to have drum corps marching in the streets playing patriotic music on holidays. And in the winter, we want our streets plowed and our sidewalks cleared."

The interview went on and finally the interviewer asked, "Why did you, a new mother of a two month old child, decide to enter the race?"

"For a year, my husband had been telling me how wonderful Springville was before Mayor Windecker took over. It was our dream to restore the village to its peaceful, quaint atmosphere. We want to replace corruption with competence in governance. We want to help the people in the Argentine neighborhood. My only glimpses to that once wonderful time in Springville's past was John and Macy's performance in the park on Memorial Day, and caroling on Main Street before Christmas. It was our dream together. Then they took Paul from me, but they didn't kill the dream."

"How are you personally handling his absence?"

"Not well... but..." Andi paused, wrestling with a decision. "My Paul is my entire world, and I've been leaning on him for over a year. Now it's time for me to step forward. He put me on the board of Jarecki Motors, and with the other members' knowledge, Macy and I are leading the company in the direction that the founder, Cyryl Jarecki, wanted."

"What do the other managers of Jarecki Motors think of that?" asked Stephany.

"We had a zoom meeting yesterday, and I outlined my plans going forward. My ideas were accepted quite enthusiastically, considering the circumstances. They are very supportive and are behind Macy and me one hundred and ten percent. They also know that when Paul comes back, he will return to the CEO position. The plans I put forward are plans that Paul and Min, the COO, had already agreed upon."

"Will your duties as CEO of Jarecki Motors and that of mother interfere with your duties as mayor?"

"The current mayor is only in his office five hours a week and look how bad he screwed up this sweet village. I'm going to have to fix everything and return Springville to the diamond of the southern tier."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Simple. Look at what was successful and restore it. The parades and festivals are all back on as far as I'm concerned. Committees can start making their plans. But public utilities need to be restored. Fire hydrants need to be dug out of the snow. What happened to plowing the sidewalks? The elderly depend on that. Why did the Department of Public Works stop clearing snow from Main Street with the front-end loader? Now the piles of snow left by the plows had filled the parking lanes, leaving only one place to park in the village for shoppers on Main Street. That one place is a pay lot owned by Dick Harvey, Mayor Windecker's brother-in-law and chief of the park patrol. Who authorized a big box store on the east side of town? I will crush that the minute I take office. They are only allowed on the west side of town on the available yardage there. That is village law."

"Are you any closer to finding who took your husband?" asked Stephany, who was tiring of small town politics.

"I am offering a reward of five hundred thousand dollars for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Paul's kidnappers."

"Five hundred thousand. That's uh..."

"Additionally, to anyone that can return my Paul to me alive, I will pay one million dollars." Andi stared at the camera, tears welling in her eyes. "My Paul stands six foot three, weighs two hundred pounds, has black hair graying at the temples, a goatee beard, and was last seen in his Air Force dress blue uniform. The number to call is 889-469-7285, that's 889-4MY-PAUL."

Stephany's eyes grew enormous when she heard that. This was news! "One million dollars?" she asked in surprise.

"I beg your viewers, if you have seen him, if you've heard anything, call 889-4MY-PAUL."

The FBI agents in the library were listening and realized what had happened. "Oh no," groaned Special Agent Colella. "That's going to blow up the tip line."

"Good," said Josh. "Y'all been lounging around waiting for ol' boy to call an' say, 'I got Paul! Come catch me!' You should be out snaggin' his ass."

"We don't know where they're hiding. They're spoofing the location of their calls." Colella pointed to a map with pins marking where they think the calls came from. "York, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Kentucky, Newport, Arkansas, Nashville Arkansas, this last one was Plano Texas. They're spoofing us all over the map."

John looked at a map and it hit him immediately..." They're not hiding, they're in a truck." For some reason, he thought it was a blue truck.

"A truck..." groaned Special Agent Colella. All this time, they concentrated on an address, thinking that the kidnappers were holed up somewhere and the calls were spoofed. The kidnappers were in a truck, which would make the calls look like they were spoofed. They probably had a case of burner phones to make it look good, too. "Son of a bitch," grinned Agent Colella. "We got him." He patted John on the shoulder. "You may have earned a half million dollars."

"What do you mean?"

"We thought our information was inaccurate... that's what having a failure for a Special Agent in Charge will do to you. It will lead you in the wrong direction... we weren't spoofed, we had them and we didn't know it!"

"Ah don't git it," said Josh.

"We triangulated their rough location using the cell towers that we thought were spoofed, but if they really did hear the call, we can figure out where they called from and determine what direction they were going," said Frank. "When we triangulate using cell towers, we'll query traffic cameras in the area for traffic in the direction they were headed."

"That was days ago," said John. "The traffic cam data is..." He was going to say gone. "You save traffic cam data?"

The SAC didn't answer John's question; he grinned and looked at one of the agents that were in the library waiting for a call. "Jeffries! Get on the line with Langley. Tell them what we suspect."

"Roger, boss!" It was a guess, but it was something. Ninety percent of cop work is perspiration driven by ten percent of inspiration. He grinned as he called their headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Kenny and Yi were cuddled in Yi's enormous bedroom, watching the twins, Cholly and the puppies run laps through the open bedroom door while Andi answered interview questions down in the parlor. The twins were dashing around the balcony with Cholly, Jolie and Chiot chasing them happily. Occasionally, one or both of the twins would run in and crouch down and peer into Yi's eyes as she cuddled on the floor with Kenny snuggled up against her closet and wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. She would prefer being inside the closet, but Kenny convinced her that would be weird.

"How do they recover so fast?" asked Yi. She couldn't get over the terror of those men trying to abduct her and the children. If it wasn't for Kenny, she might have died in a shoot-out or worse, the kidnappers could have evaded capture and she and the twins would be held captive like Paul. Or worse. The thought of 'Or Worse' echoed in her head and terrified her to her core.

"The twins have help," said Kenny.

"What? Tell me."

"I have my suspicions," he said with a smile.

"Tell me!" Yi insisted.

Just then, Kenny's cell phone rang. "I have to take this," said Kenny, and he dug his phone out and held the phone to his ear. "This is Kenny ..."

"A likely story," muttered Yi. That was the same expression that Ayato Tanaka used whenever he doubted someone's word.

"That was dad, a truckload of summer sporting goods and bathing suits just arrived. I need to sort this out or Grandpa Archie will send it back, claiming that it was underwear. I'll be back in time to help Lucy make dinner."

"Help Lucy COOK? Are you trying to poison us all?"

"I want you to relax. I'll be back in time, and you can talk me through it," said Kenny.

"Talk you through what?"

"Veal piccata. She claims that it's Gus's favorite dish."

"NO! You're not touching my veal. You go play with the underwear; I'll get dinner ready."

It worked. They both knew it was a ruse. If Kenny could get Yi mad enough, he can break her out of any depressed funk. "Come on, kids," she told the twins. "Let's go cook."

"YAY!" shouted the twins, and they headed down the back stairs behind Yi, who had a puppy in one hand and Cholly in another. She put Cholly in a highchair and put the puppy in his lap, but she gave him Jolie, which upset the little guy. He squawked and sputtered in his combination of French and English, but the twins figured it out and gave him Chiot to hug.

<><><><><>

Dinner was splendid. Yi outdid herself with the veal piccata, fettuccini Alfredo and a lively Caesar salad with her own dressing. And she did it all without Kenny's help. "This dinner was a masterpiece, Yi!" said Gus as they ate dinner. "This is the best veal piccata I've ever had west of Brooklyn." His remarks even cheered Andi up a bit.

"Please, don't mention Brooklyn," said Lucy.

"Why not?" asked an amused Gus.

"People are eating." Lucy clearly was not impressed with Brooklyn. "The cab driver may have thought it was fun to chat with the hookers at the traffic lights, but I didn't find it funny."

That caused Gus and Harold to roar with laughter, and together Gus and Lucy related their trip from the airport to the train station in a classic Checker cab driven by a standup comedian. Andi smiled at the jokes, but she eventually sadly pushed back from the table and left without even excusing herself. She walked up to her room with Danny in her arms, leaving behind a half-finished dinner. The twins sadly followed with Jolie and Wonka, who climbed the stairs very slowly.

"Is it something I said?" asked Gus.

"I will go check on her," said Heather. "She's getting better..." and Andi's mother headed up the stairs.

"Better?" asked Lucy. They had missed the first week of Paul's captivity and the terror that kept Andi up all night.

Andi's stepdad got up and began clearing dishes. "It's been bad. She didn't come out of her bedroom until John said he was going to run for mayor..."

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Gus.

Harold looked at Gus and said, "You concentrate on John. He's hiding everything."

Gus nodded sadly. "Two attempts on his life and he didn't flinch. He just said, 'Isn't that odd?' He let it get to him yesterday." He had found John behind a workbench, shaking and praying as he cried for his brother. It took him and Josh to get John up off the floor and into a comfortable chair.

They finished up the dishes, helping Yi like Paul would, which made her even sadder. Then she disappeared up the back stairs. "You and Lucy can head out," said Harold. "We have it here."

"When are you going to close on your house?" asked Paul.

"We closed on it a week ago. We are supposed to be back in Denver packing."

"Did you tell Andi?" asked Gus.

"No, we've been here to help with the kids... she needs us. It can wait."

"If you need anything with the new house, let me know," said Gus as Kenny quietly came in the back door.

"Where's Yi?"

"She went to bed," said Harold. "I'll put the little ones down. They like it when I read their story."

Upstairs, Yi stared wide eyed into the darkness of her room, wondering what the next steps were going to be for those kidnappers. She was sure her fate was going to be a ditch with a bullet hole in the head. She didn't move when Kenny slid into bed next to her, but she silently let him know every bit of her terror.

*Shhh, you're safe now*

*You don't know that!*

*Let's go someplace warm...*

Kenny held her close and whispered his love for her in her ear, and he helped her ease into a sweet, healing sleep. The sound of a gentle waterfall came to her and Yi saw she was there on Guoxin's island. She was surrounded by trees and plants with huge, lush leaves and through a break in the leaves, she could see waves crashing on a beach.

"It's been a long time since I've been here," she thought to herself.

"THIS IS A PLACE OF HEALING AND PEACE," said an impossibly deep and powerful voice. "YOU NEED BOTH, BUT EARNED MUCH MORE."

That dream voice again! The dragon that comes to her in her sleep. That voice could only be the yellow emperor of Chinese dragons, Guoxin! It is said that he brings news of invasion and protects his people, the Han. The Han are the largest ethnic group in China and encompass many Koreans, from which Yi is descended. Kenny's great grandmother was a Chinese war bride in WWII, which makes Kenny a Han descendent as well.

The island was beautiful. Birds of colors that were so bright it hurt the eyes sat in the trees and watched her. Fruit of many types hung from the branches, many of which Yi had never seen or heard of before. And the flowers were stunning, they were beautiful! She plucked a pink hibiscus and put it in her hair behind her ear as she walked through the tropical paradise. Behind her, she heard the ocean splashing gently on the sandy shore, but what she was looking for was ahead of her. Wearing only her black pearl necklace, earrings, and engagement ring, she made her way along a sandy path through the tropical forest.

The sand was warm on the soles of her pretty feet and soon the lithe beauty found herself in a clearing that surrounded a pool of fresh, crystal clear water. A stream cascaded from the rise above into the pool and Yi stepped under the falling water and felt the cool refreshment over her body. She shivered as the cool water splashed gently over her, caressing and restoring her, washing away the terror of the past two weeks.

She felt a presence behind her, then a pair of large, strong hands slipped over her round hips and up to her midsection, where they wrapped her with a pair of large arms and pulled her back to his chest. With a sigh of relief, she leaned back on her lover's chest. Even in this semi-real resort, he feels and smells real to her.

"It is real," he whispered. "It's always here, and it's as real as we need it to be." He brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

She turned in his arms and looked into those sweet blue eyes of his. So much love in those eyes. It was almost heartbreaking. "Never leave me," she said. "Not like..."

"They'll never take me away from you," he said, and they kissed passionately, their tongues dancing together as the cool, fresh water cascaded down over them. When their lips parted, they studied their eyes some more, Kenny getting lost in her deep brown almond-shaped eyes. "When this is over, let's move here," said Yi.

"No," said Kenny. He knew deep in his heart if they stayed here too long, they'd never go back. "Maybe when our grandchildren graduate high school and head off to college. They won't need us anymore, and maybe we can retire here." He scooped her up in his arms and waded across the small pool. Her cute butt dipping in the refreshing water at the deepest part of the natural pool.

Her cute face suddenly went serious. "This is the afterlife, isn't it?"

"No, it's a real place, but it belongs to Guoxin. We're only allowed here by invitation. So, let's enjoy the invitation."

"I don't remember him inviting me," said Yi as she wrapped her arms around Kenny's powerful neck.

"YOU HAVE EARNED THIS ISLAND BY PROTECTING THE TWINS."

Yi's eye popped open wide as the voice of Guoxin filled her senses. She heard him in her head and ears. She felt the rumble of his basso profundo voice in her chest. It felt to Yi that the mighty dragon was laughing, which was almost as terrifying as his roar.

Back in early October, Kenny brought her here in a dream and said, "Late at night, when we're separated and need each other, hold one of your black pearls and call out to me and we'll meet right here." And 'here' was this beautiful natural pool. As they kissed, they heard distant gunfire, and then she heard Guoxin's voice booming in her head, the sound slamming against her chest.

"STAY OFF THE BEACH UNTIL THE DANGER IS PAST!" She looked up and saw a huge scaled Chinese dragon. Over 100 meters long, it was as yellow as the sun, covered with yellow scales, and down its spine it had a strip of bright blue fir from its forehead to the tip of its tail. Its eyes were wide and red, and they looked past her skin and into her soul. Its mouth was massive, and his teeth were as long as her forearm. Chinese dragons don't have wings, but a third of them can fly. Most of the dragons that can't fly can walk, and many can swim. Only one dragon can do all three... Guoxin, the Emperor of all dragons.

The sound of gunfire grew closer, and Kenny said, "stay here," and he crept down to the beach and hid behind a log, his US Army training drawing him toward the fight. A naked, terrified Yi crept along behind him. She has a black belt, but gunfire terrifies her. There in the distance was a large boat, a small cargo ship, full of modern-day pirates. Dragons of different colors swooping and diving at the pirates, roaring and snapping at them. Dragons popped up from below the surface of the water and pulled pirates over the side and into the water. All the time, the pirates were shooting in all directions, but the hail of gunfire didn't seem to bother the dragons. A black dragon appeared to be leading the attack while above them, Guoxin circled and generated a massive black cloud.

The black dragon roared, and all the dragons scattered. They flew and swam away as fast as they could. Guoxin then roared and the black cloud he created released its fury on the boat below. Rain, hail, lightning, wind. The boat tried to outrun the storm, but it couldn't and eventually the boat broke up. That's when the dragons returned to feast on the pirates. Yi and Kenny didn't see that final part. They were making love so passionately that even Guoxin thought better of interrupting them.

Now they were laying in the soft sand next to the pool, Kenny's mouth making passionate love to Yi's firm breasts. She moaned and gasped over and over as he suckled and nipped at her right nipple. His left hand pinched and twisted her left nipple, driving her crazy with pleasure. She needed this so badly. The tension and fear of being kidnapped had built up. Just knowing that Kenny was here for her made all the difference.

Two fingers eased into her tight, wet pussy and Kenny once again marveled at how smooth and wet it felt in there. Exquisite. He ached to ease his cock into her tight confines, but he held off. Yi would let him know when she was ready. His mouth moved from one breast to the next and she gasp, wrapping an arm around his head, holding him to his task. He suckled and drew her entire breast into his mouth, which felt oddly satisfying to Yi.

He eased his middle fingers in and out of her pussy and she began the cute little mewling that let him know he was getting to her. "Yes, Kenny, yes!" she sighed over and over. His fingers plunging into her pussy faster and faster, fanning the flames of her passion. Ever since he proposed to her, they've only had one chance to make love, and he was clearly making up for that! He bit and sucked her rock hard nipples, driving her crazy even though he's terrified to bite her nipples as hard as she wants him to.

He drove her to the edge of orgasm with his mouth and fingers and she just sighed and let him worship her lithe body. Normally by now she'd be crying for his cock, but this was so good. She's had far too many lovers that wanted to shove their cocks into her and pop their nut, but Kenny wanted to enjoy her. He wanted her to be happy, which was something previous lovers never cared about.

Kenny pulled up and kissed her, his tongue exploring deep into her mouth, dancing and slithering with her tongue, and she knew he had another kind of kissing on his mind. When he began to kiss his way lower, Yi placed her hands on his head and enthusiastically urged him to kiss her body lower and lower, and soon he was kissing his way through her pussy hair. He insisted she keep her bush, but she still trimmed it for bikini season. He kissed his way through the "Black Forest" to her pussy and began tickling her clit with the tip of his tongue.

She sighed and ran her fingers through his hair as his tongue danced on her clit and her 'favorite fingers' continued to slide in and out of her sopping pussy. She sighed and whimpered as he began suckling on her pussy. The need to come grew inside of her, driving out all other thoughts. She began to pinch and twist her nipples as Kenny began tongue fucking her pussy, causing her to sigh in pleasure. He was in the pond as he licked her, her legs over his shoulders as he drove her out of her mind.

Then Kenny put his hands under her knees and pushed her knees up, which caused her hips to roll and presented her virgin asshole to him. He ran his tongue around her tight, tiny pore, and the thrills were completely different from anything she ever felt before. It was something she was completely unused to. Her anus had been off limits to anyone her entire life, but now Kenny's tongue was making her re-think that concept.

She sighed as he went back to eating her pussy. His tongue wiggled on her clit while three fingers fucked her pussy and his pinky pressed against her anal sphincter. It was all too good, and it drove Yi out of her mind. With a shriek, she came, a tremendous orgasm that put her body into convulsions. As the waves of pleasure crashed over her, she began shouting, "Fuck me, Kenny!"

She felt his cock spreading her open, and she looked up and saw those chiseled abs and his muscular chest looming over her. She knew guys who spent thousands of dollars on gyms and trainers who don't look half that powerful. All they need was a feed and grain store and a broken forklift to force you to do all the loading by hand.

Kenny leaned over her and planted his hands on the sand next to her. Her legs were hooked over his arms and she was completely helpless and wide open to him, and she loved it. She traced her fingers over his chest as she encouraged him. "Fuck me Kenny, give me that cock..."

Kenny was shocked, he had never heard her use language like that, but Yi loved being skewered on Kenny's cock and she was cumming almost non-stop. Her pussy grasped at his cock, her inner walls driving him out of his mind. As she came down from her third orgasm, Kenny groaned, "I'm going to cum."

"Cum in my mouth!" gasped Yi. She had never said that before in her life. If he came in her mouth during a blowjob, so be it, but she never invited it. Now she wanted it. This was the man who saved her and the twins. The man she was going to spend her life with. Kenny loved cumming in her mouth, and now she wanted him to enjoy that pleasure.

Kenny pulled out of her clasping pussy and released her legs, then crawled over her. He lined up his cock with her mouth and she eagerly swallowed him as he came. Her tongue caressing the underside of his cock made his orgasm even more explosive. He came hard, spurt after spurt shooting into her mouth, and she took it all and swallowed every drop.

He almost fainted. His relief was just that powerful, and he collapsed next to Yi in the sand. "Oh God, that was incredible." He kissed her passionately and held her gently in his arms. "What made you decide to do that?"

"You earned it," she whispered between kisses.

"I didn't do anything special," said Kenny.

"You agreed to marry me," she said softly. Then she squealed in excitement. She was getting married to a man that she adores! They rested in each other's arms, panting and kissing and praying that the terror they'd been living in for the past two weeks would come to an end.

"Have I told you that I love you?" asked a winded Kenny. He rolled onto his back and took Yi over with him.

"I don't remember. What does it sound like?" she said as she kissed his chest.

"I love you."

"Hmmm, it sounds familiar, but I don't know..."

Kenny pulled her up and kissed her gently on the lips and playfully squeezed her ass. "I love you."

"Oh yeah, that," she said as she gazed into his eyes. "You tell me every morning. Why do you ask?" His response was quick, and he soon had her doubled up and laughing as he tickled her ribs. They rolled around in the sand, playing and tickling like children, a relief that they needed so badly.

Suddenly Kenny heard a squeal of delight, but it didn't come from Yi. "Shhh!"

"What?" she asked playfully.

"Somebody is here," he said.

"I don't hear anybody," said Yi.

"Shhh..." and another squeal could be heard. "Come on," said Kenny.

"I'm not wearing anything," complained Yi.

"Neither am I," said Kenny and he led her on a path that led out to the beach. They heard another cry to their left, and they saw Guoxin rising out of the water near shore and watching something on the beach in front of him intently. An outcrop of rock prevented Kenny and Yi from seeing what Guoxin was studying. They crept closer and closer and were able to peer around the rock and saw on the other beach two children playing naked on the beach. Yi gasped... it was Sandy and Madeline!

They watched, and they both had a thin stick in their hands and there were several small crabs scampering on a formation of rock in front of them. They were trying to get a crab to grab onto their stick. It was quite fun, and they were laughing happily.

"That has to be how..." gasped Yi.

"How what?"

"How they seem to know what each other is thinking," said Yi.

"There's more to it than that. They seem to know what the future holds," said Kenny.

"THAT IS BECAUSE I TELL THEM."

They didn't realize it, but Guoxin had slid under the surface of the water and rose next to them. He wasn't loud, but his voice still had that booming quality. "Why do you tell them about the future?"

"I DON'T. I GIVE THEM ENOUGH CLUES TO WORK IT OUT FOR THEMSELVES. THEY ARE QUITE INTELLIGENT."

"But why?" asked Yi.

"THEY ARE MY DAUGHTERS. THEY HAVE AN INCREDIBLE FUTURE AND I WANT THEM TO LIVE IT TO THE FULLEST. I GIVE THEM EVERY OPPORTUNITY I CAN. A LOVING MOTHER, A LOVING STEPFATHER THAT CAN RAISE THEM IN COMFORT AND GIVE THEM A GOOD EDUCATION. A GOVERNESS THAT WILL PROTECT THEIR LIVES." Guoxin nodded and said before he slipped under the surface, "THEY WILL GO FAR. VERY FAR."

Yi was now more confused than ever, but Kenny was starting to understand. "They must be Han as well."

"Andi doesn't know who their father is," said Yi. "She thought he was some Russian mobster."

"There's plenty of Russians with Chinese blood in them," said Kenny as he led Yi back to their pool, where they could rest in each other's arms. "Let's not worry about the twin's past. Now that we know that they're cousins, let's worry about their futures."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"Rosetti, visitor!" shouted the guard.

Frank Rosetti was sure this was the day. He was going to get the news that Paul and his favorite pastor were dead, and the twins were in his possession. He was expecting to hear the words "the investment paid off." He put his hands through the opening in his cell bars and the guard put the cuffs on. The angry-looking guard cranked the wrist cuffs down tightly this time.

"Step back," said the guard, and Frank stepped back from the bars. The door slid open, and the guard said, "Step out." Frank stepped to the open door of his cell and two guards put the ankle cuffs on tightly and connected the chains to a waist belt, then connected the wrist cuffs to the waist belt. "Let's go Rosetti."

Frank waddled out into the hallway, doing the ankle cuff shuffle, and there were five guards waiting for him. "Is the breakroom out of donuts this morning, boys?"

"Let's go, funny man, and if you fall behind, you'll end up back in your cell."

"Shit," Frank swore under his breath, and just as he expected, they took off at a fast pace and he had to work extra hard to keep up. By the time he got to the visitors' center, he was completely exhausted. That means he was going to have a tough time keeping up heading back, which may be a painful situation.

He sat down on the steel chair and said, "A little privacy fellas?" He was drenched in sweat, but he couldn't let them know they got to him.

"Have a sweet chat with your lover," said the last guard out the door. He had a shit-eating grin that Frank took to mean that the guard was entertained by his own witticism. Finally, the curtain snapped open and instead of a cowed Oliver Linwood III, he saw something worse, much, much worse.

"Mister Rosetti! You don't look happy to see me again," said Judge Nicolette Atherton. "Did I say something to offend you at our last visit?" Frank went pale white and began sweating. "Oh, he looks miserable. Get him a glass of water, boys." A guard stepped into the viewing room and placed a paper cup full of water in front of Frank. "There you go," Nicoletta said. "Better? Oh, I guess you weren't thirsty." Frank's wrists were still attached to his waist belt. It was impossible for him to reach the cup of water. "So, tell me Frank... how much of this investment scheme eighteen twelve oh one, do you know?"

"I don't recall hearing of it," he finally croaked.

"Let me refresh you. Eighteen Twelve oh One comes into effect for," and she read from a sheet of paper she produced. "...whoever unlawfully seizes, confines, decoys, kidnaps, abducts, or carries away and holds for ransom or reward any person, or when the person is willfully transported in interstate or foreign commerce across a state boundary is guilty of kidnapping and shall be punished by imprisonment for any term of years or life and, if the death results, by death or life imprisonment." She folded up the paper and put it in her briefcase. "That's a lot of words, Frank. Do you need help with any?"

"How does this involve me? I've been sitting in this country club you moved me to," snapped Frank, getting his courage back.

"When we look at this Eighteen Twelve oh One plan, we look at section C, which prohibits conspiracy to kidnap and authorizes imprisonment for any term of years or for life. That's section C... conspiracy starts with a C. Pretty sharp; don't you think?"

"What does this have to do with me?" snarled Frank.

"Let's see..." She took a stack of papers and began reading. "Conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree of Paul Jarecki... Conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree of John Jarecki... No, wait. That one is conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree... I apologize, we'll get back to that one in a moment... Conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree of Sandy Jarecki... Conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree of Madeline Jarecki... do you need a lawyer?"

"You got nothing on me," said Frank.

"No, but what we do have is three gentlemen in custody that attempted to kidnap Sandy and Madeline Jarecki. We have five gentlemen in custody that attempted to kill John Jarecki, and we have the bodies of two gentlemen that were hired to kidnap a public figure."

"What public figure?" demanded Frank.

"Paul Jarecki. Didn't you know? He was running for public office. That carries a lot of weight when your case is brought before a judge and jury. A LOT of weight." Her grin was absolutely bloodthirsty.

"You can't tie any of that to me."

Nicholetta Atherton gave Frank a sassy, sexy smile. With her large breasts tightly contained by her sweater and her flowing silver hair, she looked sexier than a woman sitting in a maximum security prison had a right to be. Her nipples were hard! She was enjoying this! "Remember those letters you sent to Oliver Linwood the Third and ended each letter with, 'Burn this immediately'? He didn't." She gave Frank a huge smile. "We have him too."

"I never sent a letter to..." but it was useless. They've known everything he's done for the past five months.

"We know they're holding Paul in a truck and that he's crossed interstate lines involuntarily... which makes this kidnapping a federal crime. The FBI was merely assisting local law enforcement officers. Now they've put all their resources into it. Framing politicians was just a hobby for the FBI, something to do while they waited for a new director that could tie his own shoes and walk upright without directions from a politician. You and your little friends got their blood boiling. They're not happy with just nine prisoners and two stiffs. They want the whole enchilada."

"What two stiffs?"

"Your old playmates, Salvatore Carboni and Theodoro Viola. Someone slipped them about three grams of pure Chinese fentanyl each, and now they're peacefully roasting in hell."

Frank went whiter than he ever was before, if that was possible. Sal and Teddy... gone! It couldn't be possible. The three of them had been inseparable since reform school. Sal was always a hothead and Teddy was exceptionally stupid, but they had a sense of self-preservation that couldn't be equaled. They were the first two he contacted when this scheme came to mind. "Who killed them?" He demanded.

"We think it's an old girlfriend of yours, Aleksei Markov. He's got Paul in a truck and they're driving cross country like a couple of good ol' boys. So far, they've visited Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, and now Louisiana. Kidnapping and taking the victim across state lines. That means if Paul dies, when I convince a jury, this was all your idea, you die."

"You convince a jury?" scoffed Paul.

"That's the thing about being nice to people. They let you help them. There's not a federal prosecutor that wouldn't let me assist in the prosecution and execution of a bloodthirsty kidnapper that once pled guilty to trying to kill the victim's brother... a preacher!" She took a loose-leaf folder out of her bag and began to flip through the traffic cam pictures of trucks that were seen by traffic cams near the cell towers that carried the phone call from the kidnappers. "See a truck you recognize? This might save us from having to decide lethal injection or nitrogen."

"All right... I helped, but this was all Linwood. He financed the operation, and he was there watching when they kidnapped Jarecki. He even showed me the pictures on his cell phone. It was Markov, Carboni, and Viola. If Markov killed Sal and Teddy, then he's probably with Rick Sprague. Sprague owns a blue Kenworth."

"This one?"

"Could be, his has Sprague Hauling on the doors."

"And who ordered John Jarecki's murder?"

"I didn't want him killed!" shouted Frank.

Nicoletta took a small digital recorder out of her purse and hit the play button. The recording was an excerpt from Frank's last conversation with Oliver Linwood III. "I'm not asking for any extra money to add an investor to the plan. The original finder's fee will be appropriate," said Frank.

"Finder's fee?" asked Oliver

"It's a common thing. It provides me with a stipend, and it secures our trust," said Frank. You could almost hear his shit-eating grin. "I think twenty percent would be reasonable."

"Twenty percent? For a finders' fee?" Oliver Linwood was clearly shocked.

"Ok, tell you what," said Frank with a snake-like grin. "Add my cousin's brother to the deal and we'll make it five percent."

"No!" shouted Frank. "That... I mean... I didn't say..."

"I can prove that in the context of this conversation that you wanted Paul, John, Sandy, and Madeline killed."

"NO!" shouted Frank. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"GUARD!" shouted Nicoletta. "I'm done with this one.

The screen slammed closed, but the guards didn't move him. It snapped open and there was some young dork with thick glasses sitting in the chair looking at him. "I'm Percival Dennings with the public defender's office. The judge handling your case insisted you be assigned a defense attorney." He took out a cloth handkerchief and blew his nose. "I've been assigned to your case..." Percival looked at his notes. "Cases... my apologies. My, but you've been busy..."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"We got a positive ID!" cried an FBI agent who was on a phone.

"What?" demanded Special Agent in Charge Colella. It was early in the morning; the sun hadn't risen yet. Frank Colella had gotten maybe two hours of rest in the easy chair next to their phone center.

"A business card again, but wait..." So far Andi's 889-4MY-PAUL number had generated three calls from people finding Paul's business card on the table in various truck stops. "LEO says that somebody in a blue suit coat gave one of Paul's business cards to a fellow at a truck stop in Chattahoochee, Florida. The local LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) said the guy was able to identify Paul."

"Could he identify the vehicle?"

"Blue Kenworth conventional cab pulling a fifty-three foot trailer. The sign on the door said Sprague Hauling."

"Let's get someone in the air. Search US 90 from Chattahoochee to Jacksonville. Let's go people!"

<><><><><>

As Paul slipped closer to unconsciousness, he tried to fight the drug that Aleksei injected into him. John told him to fight. There was something else that John had said... bread crumb trail. He had a few business cards in his pocket. That's all he had after Aleksei took his wallet. He knew he was on the news, so somebody would call if they found his card, right? He had set out a card each time they stopped, usually hiding it under a dish at the table they ate at. This time, he handed it to someone as they walked into the restaurant. It was a risk Paul had to take; his mark looked like an off-duty policeman. Their driver, Rick Sprague, noticed it and dragged Paul back to the truck and gave him a severe beating behind the truck. Sometime during the beating, Aleksei stuck a needle in his neck and they threw him into the sleeper and went to breakfast without him.

Paul took his name tag off his jacket and studied it. He remembered the day he got it. He had enlisted in OTS Officers' Training School and at some point they were issued uniforms and the blue nametag with white letters that proudly announced to the world JARECKI. He never thought much about it past getting it positioned right on his jacket and shirts. On the shirts, he had placed two spots where the pins of a properly positioned name tag would poke through the fabric. He marked those spots with a ball-point pen so they would never wash out. Later, he learned from a young sergeant to make a piece of plastic the same size as the name tag to mount behind the tag on the inside of the shirt. That would insure the tag was always straight and never sagged.

He considered that tag for a long time... it was hard to say goodbye to a piece of your history. In the end, he wiped it clean, then poked himself with the tag's pins and drew some blood. He pressed his name tag into the fabric covered foam board that made up the semi-soundproof walls of the sleeper cab just as the drugs hit. He pressed in with his thumbs, one bloody, to leave a good fingerprint and DNA sample, and then he slipped into unconsciousness.

It was a beautiful summer in Western New York. Paul was walking with Wonka back through the fields, leaning heavily on his cane but enjoying the chance to get outside in the fresh air and sunshine. It was a beautiful day, and he was sure that the twins would be in the woods playing hide and seek. He walked out past the pond and fought the urge to strip down and jump in on such a warm late summer's day. He followed the stream that flowed out of the pond and into the forest.

He ended up in the campground, where he once built a 'princess cabin' for the twins. He did that the summer their mother was carrying Daniel and never would have gotten it up without John's help. Nearby a young man was putting up the heavy duty cold weather tents. The tents were made of heavy duty canvas and practically weighed a ton. Paul and John had made wooden platforms for the tents. The platforms were up on blocks raised about a foot off the sloping forest floor. They had planned to do family winter camping trips, John, Macy, Cholly and Katarina in one tent, Paul, Andi, the twins, and Danny in the other tent. They had the floors made and the tents ready, but something happened... and Paul couldn't remember what it was.

The tents looked like the old-fashioned army tents you'd see on MASH, but these had tubular aluminum frames and a square wood-burning stove on legs and not the 55-gallon drum used in MASH. The stove had a chimney and a flat cooking surface and just a small fire would keep the tent warm. One tent was up and the young man was working to erect the second tent. The frame was assembled; the canvas floor was in place and now he was lashing the wall pieces to the frame.

Paul eased himself into a folding chair and opened the cooler next to the chair. The cooler was full of ice and green and white cans. Genesee Cream Ale, also known as Genny Screamers. Paul pulled the tab and the click and hiss didn't deter the young man from his work. Paul finally said, "Getting ready for deer season?"

The young man didn't say a word. "Who bought the beer?" Paul asked. The young fellow clearly wasn't old enough to buy alcohol. He looked like Paul's brother John, mostly due to the thick black hair and the "Jarecki nose." As he watched, a slim, sexy black girl stepped out of the tent that was fully erected. She had medium black skin and long, straight hair. She was wearing a crop top showing off her flat tummy and short shorts showing off her slim, elegant legs. Except for the lighter skin tone, she looked exactly like Macy. Paul watched as the young couple embraced. They looked exactly like a youthful version of John and Macy. She tied her hair back and began helping the young man erect the cabin tent.

"Hey! Who bought the beer?" Paul asked. He had nothing against an occasional beer, but this cooler was full, and these two kids probably weren't seventeen yet.

"I did," came a voice from behind him. Wonka hopped up to his feet and began panting, his tail a fan whirring back and forth.

Paul looked back over his shoulder and saw Andi climbing out of the Princess Cabin, back under the pine trees. She was so beautiful, sexy large breasts bobbling as she walked to him, a smile on her ever youthful face, her long bright blond hair cascading over her shoulders. As she grew near, he saw Andi climbing out of the small princess cabin again, large breasts, narrow waist, round hips. Her hair was bright blond. Both Andi's had bright blond hair... but Andi, Paul's Andi, never had bright blond hair. Her hair was a darker blond, a color Andi called "Dishpan Blond" and she never lightened it.

And the lead Andi was wearing glasses.

"Madeline?"

"Mmmm Poppa!" she said as she hugged him from behind. "I missed you so much."

"Sandy?" asked a shocked Paul.

"It's about time you got here," said Sandy. She sounded furious.

"I walked up from the cabins... sorry."

"And where were you before that?" demanded Sandy.

"I..." Paul thought hard... where was he before that? He had to be somewhere, but the last reliable memory he had was handing two month old Danny to Andi after the big Andalon Data Systems bash. That was late December, this is autumn. "I lost a year?"

"You lost seventeen years!" shouted Sandy. "Now we're stuck trying to keep these walking hormones from creating a two-headed monster." She pointed at Danny and Katarina, who clearly saw their relationship as much more than first cousins. They were erecting the second tent, but there was a lot of extra-curricular touching going on.

"Hey! Danny!"

"He can't hear you, Papa. He never really knew you."

"What do you mean? What are you talking about? And where's your mother?"

"Mom is in Washington again," groaned Sandy. "She helped tank the budget and now they're in conference committee forever."

"Why is she in Washington?"

"Uh duh! That's where the senators hang out."

"Andi is a senator?"

"Doctor Adrianna Jarecki is a senator," corrected Madeline. "She was elected mayor and did such a good job with Springville and Jarecki Motors that she made a name for herself. She was elected State Senator and really accomplished a lot."

"Last year when Senator Zeldin was killed, Governor Atherton appointed mom senator to serve out his term. She has another year to decide if she's going to run for re-election." Madeline hugged Paul from behind.

He patted her arm and said, "Can I still call you Maddy?"

"You can call me Doctor Maddy."

"Doctor?"

"She still can't color inside the lines," grumbled Sandy.

"We both are," said Madeline, ignoring Sandy. "She's a pediatrician and my specialty is oncology."

"What made you pick those fields?"

"I spent my life babysitting those two," said Sandy, waving her hand in Danny and Katarina's direction. "I had most of the prerequisites done."

That caused Paul to chuckle. Of the two girls, Sandy was the twin whose temperament did not fit into a pediatric practice. "Wait, what about Yi?"

"She and Kenny got a gig working with Long Air Services for extra money. They'd go out west once or twice a year to work for them for a month," said Madeline.

"One year they never came back," said Sandy, who was clearly angry about that.

"No one knows what happened," said Madeline.

A very confused Paul finally asked Madeline, "Why oncology? It's a noble specialty and of anyone, you have the temperament for it... but why?"

"When Uncle John died of cancer I..."

"Wait! When was that?" Paul demanded.

"Seven years ago," said Madeline softly. "Lung cancer. He wouldn't fight it; he wouldn't take his chemo or radiation..."

"He never smoked! How did he get lung cancer?"

"Radon... his house had radon in the basement and that's where he spent all his time writing sermons," Madeline said with a sniff.

"John's gone?" gasped Paul.

"He said he wanted to be with you," Madeline whispered softly.

"No! That can't be right! What about Macy and the kids?"

"They moved in with us," snarled Sandy. "We were five kids, two giant dogs, and two widows."

Paul felt like he was kicked in the head. Everything he hoped and dreamed of was twisted and wrecked. "What about the church?"

Madeline shrugged. "They found a new pastor. Aunt Macy took over the car business with mom."

Paul shook his head. "Your mom was elected mayor..."

"She was elected mayor the day before they found your body," said Madeline. "She said you didn't fight it. You'd be with us if you had fought..."

"Fight? Fight what?"

"Fight IT!" shrieked Sandy. "DEATH! I had a full family for one year of my life... ONE! Then it was gone! All because you gave up! WHY DIDN'T YOU FIGHT?"

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Andi started election day with a quick cup of coffee for breakfast, then she headed over to the Village Hall where her voting precinct was. She was in a great mood, so she took the kids and her folks. Harold and Heather had their New York State driver's licenses now and a home in Springville, so they were eligible to vote. Along with Andi's ever present FBI agent as a guard, they took the twins, and Danny and walked to Village Hall. There at the Village hall, Yi met up with them with Kenny. They also met with John and Macy, who brought Katarina and Cholly with. Cholly and the twins immediately started a game of tag on the icy sidewalk while they waited for the polls to open. The entire Jarecki family gathered in line and chatted as members of John's church collected around them. "You're in a good mood today," said Macy.

"Somebody saw Paul!" she said happily.

"When?" gushed John.

"Early this morning. Somebody in an Air Force uniform jacket gave an Air Force captain that was on leave one of Paul's business cards. The captain identified the man as Paul!"

"PRAISE THE LORD!" shouted John. "Somebody saw my brother!" He turned to the FBI agent that was guarding Andi and said, "Did they talk to him? Did he say anything?"

"Sorry sir, I wasn't part of that conversation,"

The word went through the line at the election. Paul was seen alive! Paul was a well-liked man in Springville and they were sure that he would have been elected mayor if he hadn't been kidnapped. "I hear you're off the market now," came a voice from behind Andi. She turned around, and it was Samael Windecker.

"Off the market?" said Andi disdainfully. "I've never been on the market."

"What I mean is that I heard they saw Paul in Chattahoochee, Florida, so you're no longer..." The moment he said that, two people stepped out of the crowd and grabbed him.

"You need to come with us and answer several questions, Mister Mayor," said Detective Julissa Tanaka.

"Nobody ever said Florida, let alone Chattahoochee, except the person who met him, and the people who abducted him," said Julissa's partner, Skip Morris. As they led the mayor away, the crowd in line started clapping and cheering.

Andi whirled to the agent guarding her. "Paul's in Florida?"

"I was not briefed on that ma'am," but his grin at seeing the mayor being led away by two town of Concord detectives and an FBI agent said it all. The news that Paul was seen was released by the FBI, but that it was in Florida was kept silent, so that bit of news had to come to Samael Windecker straight from Aleksei Markov, Rick Sprague, or a crooked FBI agent.

"Where are they taking him?" asked Sandy.

"They're taking him inside where it's warm, honey," said Andi.

"Why?" asked Madeline.

Andi sighed. She was sure they had outgrown this phase where they as 'Why?' to everything. "Because he's the mayor and they have a lot of questions for him."

"Why?" asked Cholly.

"Not you too!" He looked up at her with big innocent eyes and her heart melted for the cute little orphan. She picked Cholly up and said, "Maybe he knows where your Uncle Paul is."

Cholly nodded and sighed. "Oncle Paul," he said sadly, then twisted and wriggled so Andi set him down.

"Don't worry," said Madeline to Cholly. "Momma will find him."

Next to them, John was leading a prayer of thanks that Paul was seen and he was walking. John once did a series of sermons on walking in the bible so he saw walking as a sign of hope and health. Finally, at eight AM the doors opened, and the line surged forward. Voting went quickly. The ballots were short, there was the two names for mayor, and there was a change to the village constitution to allow for an armed park police force. When she stepped out of the booth, she found the kids were given ballots made just for kids. They were at a table with crayons and their ballots. "Let's go, you can finish voting at home," said Andi, and she led the kids outside.

Outside of the village hall, there was a photographer and reporter waiting for her. "Doctor Jarecki, what do you say about the reports that your husband was seen alive?"

"Naturally, we're encouraged and excited that he may be home soon. But at the same time, we've heard rumors before, so we remain hopeful and prayerful." With that, she walked past the reporter and said, "If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to."

They walked back to Paul and Andi's house in a group, but John had to go to work, so he got into his Corvair, found reverse on the third try, and headed out to Gus's shop. They were doing the final assembly on the cabinets before shipping them off. Hinges, doors, and drawers had to go on, protective bits of cardboard were put on the edges, and the handles were put in a bag that was taped to the inside of the top drawer so they wouldn't be broken off in transit.

"It's not like you to be late," said Gus as John strolled in and hung his coat up and poured a cup of coffee.

"The lines at Village Hall went around the block! Didn't you see it?"

"Lines?" asked Gus.

"It's election day!" said John, with a confused look at his friend. "You didn't vote?"

"I'm sorry. I've just been so messed up with everything that's going on. You're awful cheerful this frigid morning."

"Andi said that someone spotted Paul early this morning! He was walking through a parking lot."

"Praise the lord!" shouted Gus. "That's such great news!"

"You should go vote now. If you wait, the lines will be longer after work. I'll sort the hardware and when you get back, we can get these wrapped and ready to ship."

"Ok, I'll be back shortly," said Gus. He was so happy over this bit of news he could almost burst.

Gus left and John began sorting hardware. They had 53 cabinets for this contract, a pleasant hotel in Bradford that wanted real wood bedside cabinets, not made from particle board and cheap veneer. They made 55 just in case something happened to one. On large orders, Gus liked to make one or two extra, "Just in case." Especially if the finished product would look good in his house. There's even a "Polish Rocking Chair" being made from John's design to add to the furniture in the house.

As John sorted out the hardware for the cabinets, he heard the door creek open and a cold gust spill into the workshop and collect around his ankles. He looked up and saw Park Patrolman Michael Brown, the man who assaulted Paul up in Paul's office before Christmas. He was standing just inside the doorway and the door was wide open, probably stuck in the snow again. "Hello Michael," said John. "I see you made bail."

"Who else is here?" asked Michael. He had a hate filled expression on his face.

"It's just you and me inside here. Would you like to talk?" John sat on the surface of a worktable and held his hands out in an unthreatening gesture.

"It's all your fault for all of this. You and your brother. Who invited you here?" the park cop demanded.

"The people of Springville Congregational Church. They had an opening when the previous pastor retired. Why? What is my fault?" asked John. "Let's talk this out. Come closer and let's talk. Maybe we can come to a reasonable solution."

"It's over!" Michael Snarled and he lifted his pistol and aimed it at John.

"Michael, think. Don't do anything you'll regret. Please, let's just talk this out." John spoke in a calm, reasonable voice.

Michael didn't answer. He raised the pistol to shooting position, took careful aim, then crumpled to the floor unconscious.

"I was wondering how long you were going to wait," said John.

"I wanted to give you the chance to talk it out with him," said Lucy. She stood over the unconscious cop with Gus's shalaylee, Billy Baroo, in her hands. "I think I killed him." She began to shake and she went white. "I killed him!"

"Shh, it's ok." John crouched and checked the crumpled would-be assassin. "He's got a strong pulse and he's breathing."

"Oh god, I thought I killed him." Lucy started shaking all over. She just submitted the paperwork to change her name to Didomissio on her license to practice medicine. Now she was terrified that she was going to lose that license for killing a scumbag!

John put a comforting arm around Lucy and said, "It's ok, just relax." He led her to her office chair, the one with a piece of red duct tape covering the bullet hole that would have killed her had she been sitting there. He lifted his phone and dialed three numbers.

"Nine One One, what is your emergency?"

"This is John Jarecki. I want to report an injury and an attempted murder." The operator was stunned for a moment, so John continued. "We need an ambulance and law enforcement here at Didomissio Construction."

"How many are injured?"

"Just one. The gunman is unconscious," said John. "For now. We don't know how hard he was hit."

"Gunman? Hit?" The dispatcher marked the call as top priority, which required all available officers to respond. She also marked it as a medical emergency requiring an ambulance. Because an ambulance was rolled, at least one fire truck rolled also to provide manpower to assist the ambulance EMTs.

When Gus got back from voting, he found an ambulance, a ladder truck, a fire department tanker, three police vehicles and one detective's car, all with lights flashing back by the workshop. He pulled up to the workshop where the EMTs were loading a park patrolman onto the stretcher and a cop had him hand cuffed to the stretcher. Detectives Klafka and Gaulin were demanding answers from the man on the stretcher.

"What's going on?" asked Gus. As he stepped into his crowded workshop.

Lucy looked up at him sheepishly over her steaming cup of coffee and said, "Billy Baroo saved John again."

Gus whirled to John, who was surrounded by cops, so he turned to Charlie Klafka, who was finally getting answers from the prisoner. "Why would you pull something this stupid?"

"Aleksei said it was over."

"Shit!" swore Klafka. He immediately called Special Agent Colella, who was at Andi's house. "We just had another attempt on John Jarecki's life. The perp said he did it because Aleksei said it was over."

"Oh damn it," groaned the FBI agent. "Thanks Charlie, mind if I sent an agent to talk to him?"

"Please do. They're transporting him to Bertrand Chafee hospital now."

Agent Colella looked around the library at the agents he had available. "Johnston and Ames, get over to the hospital. Someone tried to whack Pastor Jarecki again. Lean on this clown."

"What?" cried Macy from the other room. "What happened to John?"

"There was an attempt on his life, ma'am, but he's fine."

"I have to get to him," said Macy.

She dressed Cholly in his snow pants and coat, but Agent Colella said, "No, I can't let you out. Pastor Jarecki is headed here. Nobody leaves until we find out what is happening." He turned and asked, "Where's the girls?"

"The twins?" Asked Yi. "They went back to school today."

"Who do I have to get to the school?" asked Agent Colella.

"Detective Tanaka is with them," said Andi. "They wanted to go back to school after we voted and she took them and will spend the day there."

"Julissa, in elementary school?" The entire room went silent, then everyone broke into laughter.

<><><><><>

Julissa was in her civilian clothes. She hoped she looked like a teacher... or maybe a concerned mother... or possibly a concerned grandmother. Even an off duty bar maid would work, anything but a cop. She sighed and tried to keep her eyes open, but the lessons being taught were amazing, considering the age of the students. She remembered learning the same thing in high school. She then realized that if she had a child at Zoar Academy, she'd never be able to help them with their homework. As a bar owner, her math was simple: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Maybe a slight bit of algebra was involved, but that was it. This looked like physics to Julissa.

After that was third grade advanced science. They were learning parts of the body... not hands, fingers, feet and toes. Sandy gave a report on the spleen, and Madeline reported on the pancreas. The older students, the eight and nine-year-olds, were turning to them for help in their biology work.

"This was boring," said Madeline, who preferred chemistry.

"Come on," said Sandy, and they led Julissa to the next classroom where English was being taught.

"That was baby math," said Madeline, as they settled into their seats, leaving Julissa shocked. She went to the teacher and said, "I'm Detective Sergeant Julissa Tanaka with the Town of Concord PD. I'm here to keep an eye on the Jarecki girls and make sure there isn't a repeat of a few days ago."

"By all means, detective," said the teacher, Mrs. Sotheby. "We're reading Charlotte's web if you'd like to read along," and she handed Julissa a copy of the book. She LOVED Charlotte's Web when she read it in the 6th grade, but she looked up at the white board. The board said 2nd Grade English.

They were reading it out loud in second grade, Julissa realized with shock. Each student would stand and read three paragraphs before the next person read. Paragraphs can be pretty tricky things. Some can be a word or two in length, and others can cover an entire page. Being able to identify a paragraph properly was an important skill to young writers. Julissa didn't remember if they even mentioned paragraphs in her 2nd grade class in Whittier, California public school.

The twins made some stumbles, but they read the story cleanly each time the turn to read came to them. After English, the twins dashed off to the cafeteria, forgetting that they had an escort along with. They sat with their friends, who appeared to be much older than them. They were the third graders from their math and science classes. Julissa was challenged during lunch.

Julissa stood nearby, scanning the ever-moving, ultra-noisy crowd of children. There didn't appear to be a grown-up threat other than the carrots Yi packed in their lunch. The twins were plotting something; they had their heads together as they talked over lunch. When lunch was done, the twins led her to their last class... Kindergarten.

Julissa was not prepared for kindergarten. She had been watching the twins through advanced math, advanced science, English far above second grade level, and now kindergarten. What do they learn in kindergarten? Sculpting marble? Painting with oils on canvas? Games like cribbage or pinochle? Scrabble?

It turned out that kindergarten was kindergarten. The class was modified for kids like Madeline and Sandy where their academic level was high but their social level was low. For the first half of the day, kids like Madeline and Sandy took their advanced academic courses, and the kindergarteners did their ABCs and days of the week. For the last half of the day, they attended kindergarten with kids their age and socialized. They worked on handwriting, coloring, and simple tasks like shoe tying which all 4- and 5-year-olds have problems with. Andi held them out of kindergarten when they turned five because they were so tiny. Now at six, they're still the size of the average four-year-old.

Today was their favorite day of all: show and tell. Mrs. Zimmerman stood and said, "Madeline? Did you bring something for show and tell?"

Madeline nodded and walked up to Julissa, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to the front of the room. "For show and tell, I brought Miss Julissa - she's a cop! I got to see her arrest a bad guy this morning."

"I didn't arrest him. I took him in for questioning," said Julissa.

Madeline wasn't deterred. She continued on as if she didn't hear. "...she used handcuffs and everything, it was so cool!" and Madeline held up Julissa's handcuffs that she dug out of Julissa's purse.

"Hey!" said Julissa, and she took her handcuffs back.

"She's got a phaser just like Star Trek..."

"It's a taser," said Julissa.

"I haven't seen her shoot anyone, but her gun makes you go bbbbbbbbbbb ..." and she started convulsing like someone that just got tased. "AND she found the guy who SHOT MY DOG!" Madeline shouted those last words at the top of her lungs, getting Julissa a round of applause from the kindergarten class.

"Wasn't hard, he was already dead," muttered Julissa, but she bowed to the accolades. Madeline later explained that Wonka was a frequent flier on Show and Tell and was loved by everyone there.

The next three or four kids had the usual stuff, toys they got for Christmas. One had a laptop. Then it was Sandy's turn. She pulled Julissa to the front of the class and said, "This is my papa's friend, Julissa. She makes fish fry and beefs on weck and frozen pizza and the best French fries ever!" Julissa rolled her eyes as Mrs. Zimmerman tried to suppress her laughter, but Sandy continued. "She brings my papa beer and my mommy wine, and it makes them kiss. She helps us put the quarters in the air hockey machine and she found the guy who SHOT MY DOG!"

Again, the kids started clapping, but as they did, Julissa saw a movement in the door's window to the hallway. Something in her cop brain said, "Not today, muchacho." She headed back to her seat and saw someone look in the gun slit window on the door. She moved across the back of the classroom and up along the wall until she was next to the door. "I'm too old for this shit," she muttered as the door began to open and the barrel of a nine-millimeter pistol peaked inside the class.

She pulled her taser and held it pointing up. It wasn't the Contact Required type like Yi carries, her police issue taser fired darts on wires. She glanced at the class; they were completely engrossed in Simon's hermit crab that was wearing a shell painted like a NASCAR racing shell. The twins were at a table close to the inside wall, so whoever this was had to fully enter the classroom to see them.

Now the full arm was in the classroom and Mrs. Zimmerman saw it and froze in terror. Julissa grabbed the gun itself and twisted hard. Hard enough to drive the asshole to the ground in pain and wrench the gun out of his grip. She planted her foot on his throat and saw movement out of the corner of her eye. "Fuck!" she cried and raised the taser. The punk she had pinned was blocking the door open, and she saw someone out in the hallway raising a gun. On reflex, she brought the taser to bear and nailed the clown in the hallway. The darts hit him right in the nipples. He jerked so hard he fired his pistol into the ceiling as all the muscles in his body tightened up. She "cooked" the jerk until the battery died in her taser, then she quickly cut the wires and changed the dart/wire cartridge and battery.

The kids were amazed, and Mrs. Zimmerman was in shock. Julissa had to do something with the punk she was standing on, so she stepped back, but she had to get that second gun in the hallway. Stepping back allowed the moron on the ground to do just what she wanted him to do. He started to get up, and Julissa shouted, "ON THE GROUND!" He ignored her, as she hoped, and he continued to get up, which allowed the detective to fire the taser into him.

The would be murderer bounced and convulsed on the ground and Madeline shouted, "SEE? bbbbbbbbbbb!"

Julissa stepped out into the hallway reloading the dart pack and kicked the pistol away from the paralyzed thug and picked it up with a Kleenex. She returned to the classroom and all the kids were standing, shaking like there was an earthquake and chanting, "bbbbbbbbbbb!" like Madeline.

<><><><><>

Andi wheeled into the parking lot of Zoar Academy and the parking lot was full of cop cars. Lights were flashing and the snow, which had stayed away for days, was now coming down hard and creating a light show in the flashing red and blue lights. There were two ambulances there and two stretchers being wheeled out of the elementary school side of the Zoar Academy.

Andi sprinted up to the stretchers, praying prayer against prayer that they didn't contain the twins. She needn't have worried. The twins were following one of the stretcher victims out and they were chattering at them a mile a minute. "My daddy says you should never never never play with guns!" scolded Sandy.

"Never put bullets in a gun indoors!" admonished Madeline.

"Aunty Lucy says you should only shoot deer and turkeys and clay pigeons," shouted Sandy.

"Yeah! And clay pigeons taste like dirt!"

"Cause they ARE dirt!"

"Yeah!"

Andi broke down crying. Her babies were ok! They were fine and feisty and never knew what the danger that threatened them was. She dropped to her knee and called, "Girls!" The twins heard and came running and threw themselves at their mother.

"What's wrong mommy?"

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm just happy you're ok." Andi brushed the tears from her eyes and zipped up their coats. "Did you eat your lunch?"

"Uh huh!" said Sandy as she nodded her head affirmatively.

"Miss Julissa made us eat our carrots."

Andi looked up at Julissa, who just shrugged and turned to watch the first ambulance pull away. It was hauling the miscreant she turned comatose in the hallway with her taser. "You made them eat their carrots?" asked Andi.

"Just doin' my job Madam Mayor."

"Let's wait for the polls to close, Julissa."

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

"Vat do you mean no?" demanded Aleksei.

"Brown blew it again," said Rick Sprague as he listened to a call on his headset. "Mike Brown is now in custody."

"How hard is it to kill preacher?" demanded Aleksei Markov.

"Brown has a concussion and a broken shoulder."

Aleksei looked at Rick. "The preacher broke Mike's arm?"

"No, the carpenter's wife clubbed him from behind."

"Geezus Christ, vat does it take to kill one man?" griped Aleksei. "At least Krebsbach and Weber got the damn twins."

"Negative boss, they're in custody too, with severe neurological damage."

"Small voman with taser again?"

"She was a cop with a taser this time."

"Who is left?" demanded Aleksei.

"Nobody. Dimitriev and Walinski have disappeared, neither are answering their phones. They probably got picked up, too."

The truck lurched and Aleksei banged his head on the door window. They pulled off US 90 when they realized a helicopter was watching them. Ever since then, they've been running off the main highway for hours. Ducking under canopy roads wherever possible and sometimes stopping there shook the helicopter a few times, but they were always picked up again. The Canopy roads are ancient roads where old oak trees arch over the road and provide a canopy of green, and being live oaks which are evergreens, the canopy remains year-round. It's almost like driving through a cave the way that plant life surrounds the road.

They were dead-heading an empty flatbed trailer to Savannah, GA, where they had intended to collect their money, but their network broke down. "Let's just dump the load and sterilize the cab," groaned Rick as he eased under a low-hanging branch.

"Da, cut our losses." Aleksei pointed to a spot where the swamp water came close to the road. "There," said Aleksei. "Alligator needs to eat too, no?"

<><><><><>

"Are you sure it's safe to leave the boys with that old witch?" asked Wedge Donovan. Wedge was a big guy, and with a name like Michael Aloysius Donovan, it was guaranteed that anyone who had ever watched a John Wayne movie would call him "Wedge" after Michael Donovan in "The Fighting Sea Bees," or occasionally "Guns" after Michael Donovan in "Donovan's Reef." The only person who ever calls him Mike or Michael was his wife Roxanne, especially in the throes of passion.

"She's kin," said Phil Budreau. "She'll mind the boys like they were her own. Any boy who comes into the Okefenokee and respects the swamp is Grandma Noah's kin, but your boys are her true kin."

"That Old Witch" that Wedge mention was indeed an old witch. A swamp witch, to be exact. "Any swamp without a witch ain't no swamp!" declared Grandma Noah to the three little boys standing on her porch deep in the Okefenokee swamp. Wedge's boys Wayne and Patrick were enchanted by their brand new great-great-great aunt. She was an old, old black lady who knew everything and had so much cool stuff in her cabin! Their mom, Roxie, mentioned her in passing but didn't tell Wedge that her aunt was a swamp witch.

"Now I want you two fellas to head over to Tomkins Landing. I need you to pick up a package for me. A fellow in a truck will drop it off by the time you get there," said Grandma Noah.

"Ok, boys, back in..." said Wedge, and he pointed toward the boat.

"No, Michael Donovan, you leave these boys here. I'm gonna teach 'em to fish good and proper, like a little boy should. In the meantime, you have work to do."

"Yes ma'am," said Phil, and he turned to the big guy who loved his boys and was terrified of leaving them with this old witch. "The boys will be fine with Grandma Noah," said Phil. "She practically raised our girl, Katy. I trust her completely."

"An ah practically raised your wife, Michael Donovan. Every meal she made for you came from my teachin'," said Grandma Noah.

Michael smiled at the memory of Roxie's fried chicken and cornbread with cucumber salad, flat beans, and collard greens. All foreign food in Wedge's Northeastern upbringing, but he found it a feast for a king. Roxie said her aunt taught her and all the women in their family to cook. "I guess it's time for Wayne and Patrick to start learning more of their heritage."

"Ok," said Grandma Noah with a huge smile, "you boys get your shoes off and grab a cane pole over there." Before Phil and Wedge set off, Wedge's boys were clustered close to Grandma Noah, learning how to properly hook a worm so it would look delicious to a catfish. Phil put the cooler full of drinks for the boys on the dock, and he and Wedge set off for Tomkins Landing.

"You drive," said Phil, and he pointed to the little outboard motor on the back of the big Jon boat.

"You sure?"

"You drive, I'll navigate when it gets..." Phil searched for a word, but all he could come up with was "Weird." He took position up in the bow and stood on the fishing platform. "Once around Grandma Noah's island and we'll head out."

They circled the island, and Wedge got to like the little motor. It was quite old, but it was running nice and smooth. "Like that motor?" asked Phil.

"Yeah, it's not big, but it pushes this boat right along and it's quiet for its age."

Phil grinned. "I bought it from your father-in-law a few years ago. Ever since I lost lung functions, he swings by and tunes my boat motors and my lawn mowers."

"Is that what this is for?" asked Wedge and he held up an oxygen tank in a black canvas cover with a shoulder strap. A nasal canula was connected to the tank.

"Yeah, sometimes I need some oh-two to get back to normal."

"Aw, sorry man," said Wedge.

"Don't be. Wendy finally gets to baby me now. Just like she always wanted to."

They came around the back of Grandma Noah's island. They could see the boys on her dock sitting in a row, their bare feet in the water, the cane poles held out, waiting for a catfish to come to lunch. No fancy monofilament line for Grandma Noah's fishing rig. She used kite string and a bottle cork as a bobber. It was like a Norman Rockwell painting, so Wedge and Phil both got out their phones and took shot after shot of their boys. Lilly white little Noah sitting between his new black friends Wayne and Patrick, all holding cane poles with a string tied to the end, a jug of sweet tea at the ready. It was a picture of the true Deep South.

"How far is this place?" asked Wedge.

"Bout an hour. It's north of the boat landing we put in at." The guys cracked open a couple of beers and Phil sat sideways on the middle bench seat as Wedge drove a boat for the first time in his life. "How's my little buddy doing?" Phil asked. "It's been years since I saw Roxy."

"She's been in Florida several times since we married," said Wedge.

"Yeah, I know. Each time I was out to sea in the Navy or at some tech school in the Air Force." Then Phil grinned, "Being able to say hi is often more revealing than reading the letters she sent to Wendy."

"You read her mail?" asked Wedge with a look of shock.

"No, of course not, First Sergeant. The envelopes were open."

"And that means what?" said Wedge, waiting for an interesting twist in logic.

"If the envelopes are sealed, it's mail. If they're open, they're merely correspondence."

"Oh, my god that's good!" laughed Wedge as they tapped beer bottles. "Next time I get a squabble over mail in the dorm, I'm going to use that."

The two guys laughed and spun their 'war stories' as they eased through the swamp. Phil listened in awe as Wedge told of his courtship with Roxanne Dawson. "We met at Kunsan in Korea and her room was next to mine. I thought I was doing great with her but when she told me that we were just friends I thought 'that's it, I'm done with women!'" said Wedge. "Then she told me she was a lesbian, I didn't know what to think because we were never apart."

"Don't listen to what Roxie says, pay attention to what she does," said Phil. "She had a bad turn with a couple of fellows on the football team in high school and she swore off men. She had one date her entire senior year. When she went with me to see Ironman, I didn't know if that was an honor or an insult."

"That was really a great assignment," sighed Wedge. "Roxie and I had some incredible friends in Korea."

Soon the channel they were traveling on grew narrow, with tight turns. Phil stood up on the fishing platform and looked down into the channel, and guided Wedge with hand signals and voice commands. "Hard right here, then raise your prop out of the water." They felt a scrape of a branch along the belly of the flat-bottom boat as they drifted along.

"Hand me that pole under the starboard gunnel," said Phil.

There was a round wooden pole slung under the gunnel and Wedge handed it forward to Phil who used it for several tasks: pushing through a tight channel, poling the boat with the motor out of the water to avoid logs, and swatting snakes out of the trees. A

"I hope you know where we're going," said Wedge.

"Ah grew up in this swap. Grandma Noah says that Wendy and me have swamp water in our blood."

After a while, the channel grew wider, and Wedge was able to lower the motor and start it up again. They got moving until Wedge felt the motor hit something. "We hit a log," he announced.

"Weren't no log," said Phil and he pointed to a very unhappy alligator swimming away behind them.

"I ran over a gator?" gasped Wedge. Then he grinned. There was something macho about running over an alligator. The boys are going to love hearing about it.

"There's all kinds of gators here," said Phil. "Try not to fall in." When Wedge looked shocked, Phil said, "Don't worry. Noah was right, the gators are sleepy. They're going to be basking in the sun."

"Did you name your son for the swamp witch?" asked Wedge.

"Yep."

"Why?" Wedge didn't mind biblical names, but Noah invites too much joking.

"She told us to."

"WHAT?" Wedge almost shouted. "The witch told you to name your child after her, and you did?"

"Yep," said Phil as he pushed the nose of the boat into deeper water with the pole. "About twelve years ago, I stepped off the USS Maryland at King's Bay submarine base and was in deep trouble. It got worse and worse and Wendy watched my life fall apart. So, she dragged me to Grandma Noah, and your aunt said she'd help us fix it if we named our first boy after her." He emphasized 'your aunt' just to get a rise out of Wedge.

"So, you said yes?"

"Yeah. The problem was another witch... a parasite witch. Wendy and I weren't even dating, but by the time your aunt chased off that parasite, we were engaged."

"You're not yankin' my crank?"

"Nope. When we get back, I'll ask Grandma Noah to tell you. She's got a way with words... Ok, Tompkins Landing is right around the bend in the channel here." When he said that, there was a snort and a chuff of a big truck coming to a stop. "Grandma Noah's never wrong," he said as he turned back to smile at Wedge.

They came around the bend, and there were two guys carrying something from their blue Kenworth. Each guy had a grip on what looked like a rolled-up rug. They took it to the edge of the swamp, swung it back and forth, then tossed it in the ink black water of the swamp.

"HEY YOU ASSHOLES!" shouted Phil. "THIS IS A NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE!" but the men dashed back to the truck and got in and by the time Phil and Wedge got to the thing they threw in the water, they were speeding down the road. "SLOW DOWN! THAT'S A CANOPY ROAD YOU MORONS!" Phil peered into the inky black water, grumbling and complaining. "Assholes come out of the city and because it's a swamp, they think they're allowed to dump their garbage and abandon their dogs here... IT'S FUCKING MOVING!"

"What?" said Wedge, but Phil was already in the water. It was only waist deep, and he had a grip on the roll.

"Toss the anchor and help me!" shouted Phil. He was already short of breath and it was going to get bad.

Wedge tossed the anchor onto the dirt road and jumped into the swamp to help Phil. They pulled the roll onto shore and found it was a man wrapped in a blanket. He was in handcuffs and his legs were zip tied together.

"What the fuck is this?" said Wedge in horror. It was like a mob hit in a movie.

"Shit shit shit shit!" muttered Phil. "He's not breathing."

"I got this," said Wedge and he started doing chest compressions. The man coughed out water and soon began breathing shallow breaths. "He's alive," said Wedge.

Phil was gasping for air now, pulling the man out of the water strained his already compromised pulmonary system. He leaned in and pried open the man's eyes and found that the pupils were the size of pinpoints. He quickly checked the man's fingernails, and they were a slight bluish. "He's OD-ing," and he pulled the boat to shore by the anchor cord. In the boat, he pulled out the first aid kit and pulled out a box that advertised its contents in big red letters: Narcan. "Ever administer Narcan?" Phil asked as he tore open the box and opened the inner plastic package.

"No, have you?"

"Yeah, too many times," mumbled Phil. "Tilt his head back." When Wedge tilted the man's head, Phil put the applicator in the man's nose and squeezed the plunger. "If this doesn't do it, there's a shovel in the boat."

"For what?" asked Wedge.

Phil rolled the man to his left side and said, "A proper burial. Hold him here. When he moves, you can lay him back." As Wedge held the man on his side, Phil went back to the boat, pulled out his oxygen tank and put on the canula and took a few deep breaths. He then put the canula on the mysterious man. "Come on, buddy, fight it! You can do it!" Then he pulled out his phone.

"Nine One One, what is your emergency?"

"Hey Celeste, this is Phil. I'm down at Tomkins landing. Somebody wrapped a man in a blanket and threw him in the swamp. He's in handcuffs and was dosed with something, classic overdose symptoms. We administered CPR and Narcan and he's kind of coming around."

"Ok, we have county rescue headed your way. Can you describe him?"

"Here's Wedge, I can't breathe." And Phil handed the phone to Wedge. Just talking that much took the wind out of him.

"Uh, he's mid-forties? Early fifties? Dark hair, goatee... and it looks like he's wearing an Air Force uniform."

"He's got a white shirt," said Phil between gasps.

"Possibly a semi formal Air Force uniform," said Wedge.

"Copy. Stay by the phone," said the 911 operator. "I'll stay on the call if you need me."

"You ok?" asked Wedge, and he pulled the boat back to shore again and he grabbed a couple of beers and he handed one to Phil. "Doctor's orders." When he said that, the man moaned.

Phil shook the man. "He just called me Andy. Come on buddy, fight! Fight! I have to fight for every breath. You can do it too!"

"Yeah, this is a uniform jacket. Here are the pinholes for his ribbon rack. He wore something above the ribbons. Here's the holes for the name tag." He searched the man's pockets and all he found were the collar brass. The collar brass was the letters U.S. "Are you still on the line Ma'am?" asked Wedge.

"We're still here," said the operator.

"The fellow is wearing an officer's uniform. Everything was removed, ribbons, rank, nametag, but he had the officer's collar brass in his pocket. There are holes in the epaulets for an officer's badge of rank."

"Copy," said the 911 operator. "Is there any form of identification?"

Wedge checked the inside jacket pocket, the only pocket he never checked. "I just found a business card for a doctor in one of his pockets. A cardiologist named Jarecki."

"Roger, is there a place where a helicopter can land? You have a bird inbound."

"Yes, a small island about twenty yards to our southwest. We can transport personnel on Phil's boat." Before the woman could ask about a smoke grenade or some other nonsense, Phil climbed into his boat and putted out to the island.

"Is he ok? He didn't sound good," said the dispatcher.

"He says he'll be ok when he can put on his oxygen. Right now, the victim is using it."

"Keep an eye on Phil, please."

"Yes, ma'am... is he your kin?" Wedge hoped he used the southern term 'kin' properly.

"Coworker..." Just then, a helicopter roared over their location. Phil was out by the island, standing in the stern of his boat, waving his hands. The tiny island was about twice the size of the footprint of the Mercy Flight Kawasaki BK117 helicopter. Phil was wondering if he should marshal down the helicopter, but it landed on the island easily enough. The side doors slid open, and the EMTs leaned out, giving the pilot directions. Soon Phil was putting back to Wedge and the mystery man with an EMT and his equipment on the boat. As soon as the EMT unloaded and began looking at the mysterious stranger, Phil went back for the other EMT and the stretcher.

Soon dust filled the air as cop cars from all over Duval county and Nassau county, Florida and Charlton county Georgia arrived and they all had a thousand questions. Mostly they were asking about the truck and the men that threw the mystery man into the water. Since this part of the river/swamp system was in Nassau County, the Nassau County deputies took off after the truck but were thwarted by the flatbed trailer that the truckers left to block the road.

The EMTs put the victim on their own oxygen and gave Phil his tank back, along with a new nasal canula and Phil transported them back across the swamp to the waiting helicopter. "You guys go!" shouted a Duval county deputy. "I'll bring your equipment to University North."

"Roger!" shouted one of the EMTs. Phil beached the nose of his boat under the tail boom of the helicopter as the rear doors opened. The EMTs carried the stretcher straight off the boat and into the chopper, and as soon as the rear doors closed, it was airborne. Phil returned to get Wedge and a plain-clothes officer addressed them both.

"I need you two fellows to be able to answer questions at the drop of a hat for the next week or so. So don't be going anywhere."

"My wife and I were planning to head back to Colorado the day after tomorrow." The cop gave Wedge a blank look and Wedge said, "I'm first sergeant of the 782nd Airlift Squadron, and my wife is senior enlisted advisor for Buckley Space Force Base."

"Give me your name, rank, and commander's names. We'll be in touch." Wedge gave the man that information and the man handed Wedge and Phil a business card. "If you can think of anything, call me."

"This is probably nothing, but when the guy came around for a moment, he called me Andy." Phil shrugged. "Probably means nothing."

"You never know. We'll be in touch."

As the guy left, Wedge and Phil looked at the card they were given. "FBI Special Agent McKay. He didn't look very special."

"Maybe he has a better suit," said Wedge.

They headed back to Grandma Noah's cabin and by the time they got there, Phil and Wedge were on their way to becoming close friends. The boys had an enamel pail full of catfish and they were excited about their upcoming catfish feast. "Y'all let them fish swim in clean water for two or three days. It'll get that mud out of their system," said Grandma Noah.

"Do you want filets or nuggets?" asked Phil.

"Nuggets with that cornbread coating that Wendy makes if you please," said Grandma. "Just freeze them up raw and I'll cook them as I want them."

"I'll have a bucket of nuggets for you in three days," said Phil as he transferred the fish and water from her bucket to a plastic pail that was stored under the fishing deck at the bow of the Katy B.

Wedge gently shook Grandma Noah's hand, and she said, "Mister Donovan, it truly was a pleasure to meet you and say hello to that darling wife of yours for me."

"I will do that..." but before he could finish his statement, his phone rang.

It was Roxie with news that the base commander has ordered them to remain in place until the FBI is done with their investigation. "What did you two do?"

Patrick Donovan turned to his new friend Noah Beaudreau and said, "My dad gets in trouble all the time."

"Mine too," said young Noah, nodding his head.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

It was late, one of those inky black Georgia nights that were no good for driving but were perfect for disappearing into the gloom. Rick Sprague finished fueling up the baby blue Kenworth at a Flying J truck stop in Waycross, Georgia, and he had arranged a load. He was in a hurry to get that load and get on the road before someone questions the missing flatbed trailer. His plans were dashed when he turned around and there were two uniformed officers and two plain clothes officers standing between him and his truck. "That's a nice-looking truck you got, Mister Sprague," said one of the Ware County Sheriff's deputies. "Mind if we have a closer look?"

"Sorry boys, I'm running behind and..."

A baton swung and there was a loud crack followed by the sound of falling marker light lens pieces. "Looks like you have a marker light out, Mister Sprague. That's a safety violation. We'll have to look at the rest of the truck."

They climbed into the spotless cab of the truck. "Mmmm, Lemony fresh," said one of the plain clothes officers. "It's like you were expecting company and cleaned up like mama would."

"Well, a clean truck is a profitable truck." They had spent hours cleaning that truck and wiping away any chance of Jarecki leaving a fingerprint. Where the hell was Markov? He went to grab a couple of sandwiches and should have been back by now.

One plain-clothes officer climbed in the back and searched everywhere. In cabinets, under sheets, under cushions, behind the TV, but the sleeper was spotless. Rick Sprague cleaned up back there himself. The policeman upfront was flipping through a book of crossword puzzles. "You do crosswords a lot?"

"It passes the time and builds the vocabulary," said Rick. Actually, it was Markov who did them for that reason.

The cop in the back sat in the middle of the bed looking forward out the windshield and he happened to look up. There was a blue tag that was placed perfectly. It was hard to avoid once you looked up there, but who would look up if you're looking for something that may have been dropped? It was a dark blue tag with white letters. "Ok, mister crossword puzzle. What's a seven letter word that starts with J and means Life In Prison?" He took out his knife and eased the tag out of the sleeper wall. The cop knew how long the pins holding it in place were. He wore a tag very similar to it for years. He handled it with latex gloved hands as he put it in an evidence bag.

"Ah, you stumped me, partner. What's a seven letter word that starts with J and means Life In Prison?"

"J A R E C K I."

They slapped handcuffs on Rick Sprague and put him in the back of a police car next to Aleksei Markov.

<><><><><>֍<><><><><>

Special Agent in Charge Frank Colella was sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee and talking with Madeline and Sandy as they ate breakfast. Andi came down the rear staircase dressed in her best pants suit. She had a meeting with investors. She and Macy were planning to expand the Syracuse location and add a luxury/supercar only showroom. Frank stood and said, "good morning madam mayor."

"I went to bed before the results came in. Do you mean that I won?"

"In a landslide. You slaughtered him. You didn't expect that?" asked Frank over the cheering of the twins. Even Danny squeaked his happiness.

"No! Not the way our luck has been going."

Just then, Macy and John came in along with Cholly and Katarina. They were followed by Josh and Veronica. There were cheers and hugs all around and everyone raised their coffee to toast the hero of the hour, Veronica. "Honey, without you we couldn't have come close to victory... now what do I do?"

"You have three weeks to worry about that, so you can study the continuity book," said Veronica.

"The what?"

"Continuity book. It's like an instruction manual for oncoming mayors, so there is continuity between administrations."

"We'll have a special service at the church tonight and seek a blessing on your new administration," said John happily.

As they made their plans, an FBI agent came into the kitchen and handed Frank a phone. "Agent Colella... yes sir... yes sir... right away sir, and thank you, director." He hung up and handed the phone back and said, "Missus Jarecki, I just spoke with Whitaker Vitale, the director of the FBI..." The room suddenly went silent. They knew this was going to be big. "We have him. Your husband is alive and the kidnappers are in prison."

The room broke into a loud cheer. Andi threw her arms around Macy and they hugged and wept in joy. "Where is he?" gasped Andi between the tears.

"He's at the University of Florida's north hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. He's in pretty rough shape; it looks like they were pumping him full of something to keep him under control. They're weening him off the junk now and should be ready to transport in seven to ten days."

Andi looked around excitedly, first at the twins, then at Macy. Before she could say anything, Macy said, "Oh honey, go pack. Jean and I will watch the girls."

"Thank you," and she gave Macy an enormous hug, then dashed upstairs and began packing. She had a suitcase packed for herself and one almost as big packed for Danny. There was no question in her mind that Danny was coming with. For two weeks, she went nowhere without Danny. He was her link to Paul, and she would not let go. She carried her little man in speeches and campaign events. He was with her at business meetings at Jarecki Motors. He was on every television interview, his picture was in the paper with mommy.

"I'm so happy for you!" said Heather as she peeked into Andi's bedroom.

"Oh mom, I'm so... I never thought this day would come," said Andi as they hugged. "I almost lost hope."

"Me neither. Then again, I thought I was going to head home after Danny was born. I didn't expect to bring my home here."

"I can't wait to tell Paul," said Andi, as she resumed packing. "He and dad have really gotten close." She closed up the two suitcases and started changing Danny into a warm onesie.

"Y'all ready to go?" asked Josh as he poked his head inside the bedroom.

"Almost," said Andi. "Can you get our suitcases?"

"Ok, don't take too long. Ronnie has the car warmed up and ready."

Josh grabbed both suitcases and headed downstairs as Andi wrapped up Danny and got him ready to travel. She came downstairs with a diaper bag and her purse hanging over her arm and Macy handed her a travel mug full of coffee made just the way she likes it. "What time is my flight?"

"As soon as you get there," said Macy.

Andi was about to ask Macy what she meant when one of the twins said, "Did you pack for us?"

"No babies, not this time."

"But Danny is going!"

"Well, Danny doesn't have school. And besides, they said poppa is in awful shape. If he was hurting and said something mean because of his pain, it would make you cry."

"Oh..." said Madeline. She thought for a moment and then said, "I know!" and she ran off into the living room, followed by Sandy. They returned with Wonka wearing his support animal harness and leading him on a leash. "Here you go!" called Madeline. "Wonka will fix poppa."

"He needs papa," said Sandy sadly. "He cries without papa."

"I don't think..." Andi started, but Josh came in and took Danny from Andi.

"I'll go put the boys in the car," he said, and he took the leash from Sandy and headed outside with Danny and Wonka.

"When did I lose control?" asked Andi.

Macy gave her sister a hug and said, "You never had control. You're just along for the ride like the rest of us. Now go get your man!"

"Go mommy! Go!" cried the twins as Andi nervously stepped outside and saw that they had put her luggage in Veronica's big Lincoln Navigator and the boys, Danny and Wonka, were in the back with Josh, ready to go.

She gave each of the twins a kiss and said, "I know you'll be good for Aunt Macy. Be good for Miss Yi. Please? Maybe if we're all good, we can bring poppa home soon."

"K!" chimed the twins.

Andi turned to Macy and Yi and was about to say something, but John just said, "GO! Your husband is waiting!"

Andi nodded and hurried to Veronica's Navigator and sat up front. "Do you mind if I set up a few phone conferences and zoom meetings? This is solid PR gold and we don't want to lose the opportunity," said Veronica as she backed out of the driveway.

"I'll be on a plane," said Andi as she searched her purse for a charger and cable for her cell phone and ear buds.

"That's ok, we got a flight with high-speed Wi-Fi. Do a zoom call from the plane for Channel Seven at nine AM. When you're on the ground and heading to the hospital, give me a call and we'll do a quick interview with WBEN."

"I'm not running for president," said Andi. "Besides, you have enough work at Andalon Data Systems."

"For me, this is fun. I used to be on your end of things. Once we get Paul back and you swinging the gavel, we can take a break."

"I don't know how to be mayor!" said Andi.

"In the back seat is your briefcase. The mayoral continuity book is in there, as are the village constitution and the village council by-laws," said Veronica. "Your personal and your business check books are in there too. When Paul is sleeping, you can study."

"How am I going to carry all that?" demanded Andi.

"Josh is going with you. He's your driver and your valet. If you need anything, let him know."

"He doesn't have to," said Andi.

"Yes, he does. He's been sick over this whole thing. I don't think he's slept at all. It took three FBI agents to keep him from killing those jerks that tried to kidnap Yi and the twins. Oh, and by the way, I hear that two local fellows found Paul and kept him alive until help arrived. That's why the check books are in your briefcase. Someone from the County Sheriff's office will brief you on what happened."

"I can see why you're Anthony and Marj's executive assistant. Where are we?" She just noticed that they had turned off the 219 Expressway and were heading east. This wasn't the way to the Buffalo International Airport.

"Orchard Park airport," said Veronica. "And that's your plane." She pointed out a beautiful Cessna Citation CJ4, the gold standard of executive airplanes.

"That's a rocket! We can't afford this."

"Yes, you can, dear," scolded Veronica. But she knew what Andi was going through. A life of scrimping and saving and counting every little penny doesn't teach you how to spoil yourself, not even when you can justify the reason.

"That's the same kind of plane that Paul and Min took to Portsmouth," said Josh as Veronica stopped the Navigator. A couple of fellows came over and helped with the suitcases while Josh unbuckled Danny's carrier from the rear seat and carried the little guy and led Wonka over to the business jet.

"Thank you so much," said Andi. "I don't know what I would have done these past two weeks if you weren't here."

"We're neighbors, we help each other," said Veronica. "That's what we do."

Andi climbed on the airplane and found herself in a seat that was facing Danny in his carrier. The captain leaned back from the cockpit and said, "Strap in folks, we're going to make this quick." The Cessna Citation CJ4 came to life with a rumbling whistle.

The cabin attendant came up to Andi and said, "We keep the cabin pressurized at sea level, so there should be no problem with altitude changes with the little one."

"Thank you, my husband mentioned that when he flew one of these planes last month," said Andi. Was it last month? It feels like a year ago that Paul flew to Portsmouth, but it had only been a month. Once they were off the ground, she got her laptop out and opened it up. Signing on to the Wi-Fi wasn't hard and once she connected, she found she was downloading a ton of emails. "Oh god, how am I going to answer them all?" she groaned.

"You just have to prioritize your emails, go through the list of emails and use flags. Flag the most important with red, the next with yellow, and the least important that you have to respond to with green."

"What about the rest?"

"Don't worry about them. If they were important, you would have flagged them, right? It will slow down in a few days. Everyone wants to congratulate you on your victory."

Andi flagged them by subject. Anything to do with Jarecki Motors got green, anything to do with the election got yellow, and anything to do with Paul got red. "I need a secretary," groaned Andi, when she saw the list of emails that needed immediate attention. She didn't want to adult. Not today. Today, she wanted to be with Paul more than anything in the world. Her heart was racing and aching at the same time.

"I can help," said Josh. "I help Veronica all the time when she gets behind. I've become a master at sending sweet sounding emails that actually say nothing."

The Zoom interview with Channel 7 was incredible. Just a sweet, congratulations Madam Mayor kind of thing. Then they asked, "Where are you now?"

"Amy, we are currently at thirty thousand feet and are beginning our descent into Jacksonville International Airport."

"What are you doing there? People in your village are dying to congratulate you on your unprecedented victory. We thought you would be waiting to hear if your husband's kidnappers have been captured or if they want to issue a ransom demand."

"That's true Amy, and I would love to be back in Springville, but yesterday evening an unconscious man was found, and I was notified three hours ago that the DNA matches my husband Paul. I am flying down to be by his side with our son Danny and Paul's service dog, Wonka. As far as I know, his kidnappers are in custody."

"That's right, you heard it here first, Buffalo. A Channel Seven exclusive, the hunt for Doctor Paul Jarecki is over!"

<><><><><>

They landed at Jax, the common nickname for Jacksonville International Airport, around noon and were soon in their rental SUV. As they were latching Danny's seat in the SUV, Josh said, "Give Veronica that call."

"We're not on the road yet," complained Andi.

"The hospital is two miles away. Call now."

"Shoot," she muttered and called Veronica.

"What timing!" Andi's campaign manager said. "I just got Don Bowerly on the phone. Go ahead Don."

"Ok Andi, we're coming out of the news break. I know where you are and where you're going so we won't waste any of your time, ok?" said the top talk man in Buffalo radio.

"That sounds good to me," said Andi. She's done several interviews with Don. They say he's crazy, but she thought he was insightful and had a wicked sense of humor.

"And we're back," said Don. "While we were out, the new mayor of Springville, New York, called. Doctor Jarecki, Madam Mayor, congratulations on your sweeping victory."

"Thank you Don. It was a crazy time, but we did it. I want to thank my wonderful sister-in-law Macy Jarecki, who stuck by me through thick and thin, and Veronica von Köster, who trained me on these interviews, then set them up for me, and all those wonderful volunteers who helped us get the word out and the money in. My campaign was 100% voter funded and Veronica helped us raise the funds as well."

"Ah yes, Veronica," said Don. "Smart, beautiful, a wonderful woman."

"And her future husband is sitting right next to me. Josh is my driver because I'm so nervous I can barely hold my phone." They were heading out of the airport and Josh pointed out where they were going to turn to get to the hospital.

"And why would you be so nervous? You won your very first election. It's all behind you now." Don Bowerly knew why she was nervous. He was drawing it out of her, trying to get her to say it without being prompted.

"Because they found Paul! We are heading to the hospital to see him now. I can see the building in the distance."

"Is it over? The manhunt is done?"

"Yes, it is. Paul is free. I don't know his condition, but he's free and his kidnappers are now in prison. I want to thank Special Agent Colella of the FBI and his entire team, Detectives Klafka, Gaulin, Tanaka, and Morris of the town of Concord, for their diligence and my ex-husband Frank for providing the information that led to the kidnappers arrest."

Nicoletta and Don were listening to the interview as they prepared to head back to Nisi Arcadia. Andi and Paul were due to visit the island in a month and they wanted to make sure everything was ready for them, and their guests, that included Veronica and Josh. "Did she just say what I thought she just said?" gasped Donald Atherton.

"Yes, she did," said Nicoletta as she nodded in shock and awe.

"She just sentenced her ex husband to death!" cried Donald.

"Yes, she did," said Nicoletta, as she grinned at Andi's seemingly innocent remark on the radio.

Moments later, Josh pulled into the parking lot at the University of Florida hospital and found a place to park. Andi released Danny from his seat and the little guy was alert and excited. He was looking around because he knew something was happening. Josh led Wonka out and he was curious, too. The smells of Florida weren't new to Wonka. He's been in Florida several times, mostly down in Jupiter. They walked through the lobby and to the elevators, and nobody said a word to them. The last time Josh had been here was during the pandemic and the security was unbelievable. He was trying to see a doctor and almost gave up on trying to get in because of the senseless precautions.

They took the elevator up to the fourth floor and followed the signage to room 425. As they turned the corner of the hallway, Wonka suddenly came to life. He whined and whimpered and started yanking at Josh. "Wonka, heel!" but Wonka would have none of it. Crying and barking, he yanked at his leash until Josh just dropped the leash in sympathy.

Wonka took off like a shot. He dashed down the hallway and slid into the turn, then scrambled into room 425. Andi could hear Wonka squeaking and crying with joy and she tried to catch up with him. When she entered room 425, she saw Wonka standing on the bed crying in joy as he licked Paul's face.

Poor Paul! He looked like he hadn't eaten in the entire two weeks. He was scrawny, pale, and drawn, and he was the most wonderful man she had ever seen. He was laughing at Wonka's antics and finally said, "Wonka, down." Wonka whimpered and lay down next to Paul.

Paul looked up, and a vision swam into focus. He hoped it was Andi, because he fell in love with this image. He couldn't speak, the words wouldn't come other than, "Is it you? I missed you so much."

"We missed you too," and she laid Danny in Paul's arms as their lips met.

His chest bursting with emotion, Josh got the picture of the long awaited reunion kiss.

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Next: Chapter 20 - The Love Boat