From:  Snwdemon

Subject:  Who will catch my fall (Part Two)

Chapter 6:  (M/b, b/b, abusive situations, no sex)

WARNING:  This story contains descriptions of abusive acts, both physical and sexual in nature, involving MINOR boys.  I wish to explain that this story is not true!  Further, it is not intended to promote illegal acts against minors, but to educate people as to what a minor child has to do in order to survive in a severely abusive environment that they are trapped in.  One of the most famous examples of this was Steven Stayner, who was kidnapped at age 7 and severely abused for 7 years.  He was subjected to physical, sexual, and mental abuse.  I have had the privilege of working with a number of boys like him, and I consider all of them to be extremely brave.  Many people still believe that children who stay with an abuser/captor do so because they want to.  This is utterly untrue, and is proven through numerous interviews, behavioral, and psychological studies conducted with these victims.  A young child does not have the same ability to cope with stressful situations as an adult would because they have not had the privilege of time and experience that an adult has.  In addition, their brains are growing and developing still so that a young child truly lacks the emotional and physical ability as well as the intricate thought process that adults have.  Therefore, they rely more on their basic instincts, and learn quickly what they need to do in order to survive.  Thus, when they are removed from that abusive situation, they have an extremely hard time adjusting to their new environment because they are not familiar with trust, caring, and compassion.  These are the emotions that the child has to learn once they are put into a new non-abusive environment.  People assume that these emotions are natural.  Many do not realize that much of our human emotional capacities are learned.

The following story is a work of fiction; it also incorporated actual events that I learned from various victims I counseled over the years in the first part of the story.  However, this new part in this story is still a complete work of fiction because I have created, and embellished the facts and individual characters of this story that I took from Part One.  In addition, this story is not intended to be erotic or sexual in nature, but because I have given this story's e publishing rights to Nifty Archives, I am required to include this legal disclaimer.  Therefore, I do not encourage others to perform any kind of abusive or sexual act with minors as described in this story.  If the subject of Man/boy sex, child abuse, and/or rape of minors offends you, or this material is illegal to possess such material of this nature in your place of residence, or if you are under the legal age to possess such material, do not read further!  Finally, I would like to thank Nifty for e publishing this story because without their archive, I would not have the large fan base now.

By downloading this story:  "You implicitly declare and affirm under penalties of perjury that you are not a minor or in the company of a minor, and are entitled to have access to material intended for mature, responsible members of society capable of making decisions about the content of documents they wish to read."  The story is copyrighted under my pseudonym, Snwdemon, and pen name Damion Perez.  A copy has been placed in these archives for your enjoyment.  The story cannot be used to derive monetary gain.  However, if you want to place a copy of this story in your free access archives or free access website, then I give my permission for you to do so.  If your website requires payment for access and you wish to place a copy of my story on your site, then please email me for my permission.  The story cannot be placed in any archives or website that require payment for access, or be printed and distributed in any form that requires payment either directly or indirectly without my written consent first.  Any similarity to individuals, living, or dead, is completely accidental.  Reference is also made in context to some locations, businesses, characters, and people to define the story line.  No other implication about the true sexuality or actions of the people, businesses, or places mentioned is intended.

Author's Note:    Hi again, I know that these next few chapters may be a bit confusing because each chapter is approximately covering the same time period that was laid out in Chapter 3 and 4, which is 02/05/1996 through 02/16/1996.  Instead of jumping from scene to scene in each chapter and between character groups, I have portioned each chapter into sections that are labeled with the date and time.  Each of these sections was devoted to a specific set of characters, and I will be using these chapters to introduce the newest characters that will make up Part 2.  Then Part 3 will be where I will bring closure for all of the characters, and the end of entire story along with an epilogue as well because this will not be a never-ending story as Rodie's Story has become. I had originally written chapters 1 through 4, which turned into eight after breaking them apart before I began editing each chapter. I had reached a point where I was not too happy with the specific chapters, but I was satisfied with the new chapters overall storyline. Then, the Lord must have heard my prayer for help because he did help me by destroying my computer along with half of the electronic equipment in the house like my stereo system, my laptop, MY Wii, and my 21" flat panel hi def LCD monitor.

Therefore, I had nothing except the old proofed copies of the story I had saved in my yahoo account from months and months ago. Then I started with chapter one, and painstakingly rebuilt and revised the entire story for Part Two. This chapter was part of the original Chapter 2, but now encompasses chapters 6, 7, and 8 here. That is because the original chapters were 100 to 150 pages in length each, and I have cut them all down by shifting where each chapter ends, thus extending the overall story well into the teens for chapter count.

You will also notice that all of the chapters are now saved as web pages because I wanted to preserve some of the special formatting I used to emphasize certain things and to keep special type that is not available in plain text documents.  There will also be a small glossary, as well as pronunciation, for all of the foreign language words and certain abbreviations used in that chapter.  Many will be Spanish, Portuguese, French, or Italian, and this way you will know what those words mean and what language and country they are from.  I also want to let you know that none of these chapters has been proofed because I am a bit pressed for time right now.  Therefore, please forgive me for the mistakes, and I will have the chapters corrected and revised in the future...thanks.  God bless my friends, Damion.

Recap from Chapter 5:

            "Let's go join the others," John told them, and they all went into the conference room with the others. John introduced Jonas to everyone before they sat down and began their strategy meeting.

            "Once Merle realizes that we are onto him and he has lost his inside guy, I know his next move will be to call Richard for help." John explained to them.

            "However, when he does that, he will find that Richard is going to tell him to go piss up a tree. I want to force him into acting, and exposing his players in this. Once we do that, then we are going to send our wives to this Catholic retreat in Napa Valley, California so that it will appear that is where we are moving the boys. We will send four boys who look similar to Simon, Ari, Sasha, and Lucky to go in their place with Sara and Jeanne as well. However, when we move our wives, I am having the boys flown to Texas, then driven across the border into Mexico, and then flown to Brazil where Miguel, Paquito, and Maria will be able to protect them. They will just disappear from the face of this planet, and that will leave Foxworth no choice but to expose himself in order to find them. Merle will have to turn to Lou then in order to cover his ass. We will have Foxworth's ass as soon as we rescue Davey, and we already have located where Merle is holding your son Lou. Merle Foxworth cannot afford let the boys or David live because of what they know about his operations. However, when he does give the command, then he will discover that we have rescued David already."

            "Good plan," Jonas said with a wicked smile as he crushed out his cigarette. "It was good of you to think of Sanchez, Juan. Your operation is just as good as mine Miguel and your son Marco is more than a match for anything that Merle Foxworth will throw at you. I like it."

            "What about you?" John asked him. "Once this all goes down, what are you going to tell Sasha?"

            "You know that answer already John. I'm a dead man walking, and once this is finished, I want to spend the little time I have left with Sasha." Jonas said as he thought it through.

            "You have to save the kids though. Almost 100 kids are still out there, and have been reprogrammed besides all of the boys Foxworth sold. Once you have restored their memories, you must keep your promise to destroy everything about this process so nobody will be able to do this again to any kid. That's the deal."

            "How are we going to get everything we need to expose Foxworth, and everyone who knows anything about the process if you die Jonas?" Lee asked him.

            "Simon and Ari know everything, and where everything I took is located. Once I am gone, Simon will show you where the stuff is that you need against Richard and his toadies when you take him back to Billy's house, and Ari can fill you in about the details for Foxworth's operations and players once Simon remembers. They know everything about their operations because they are the ones I chose when I decided to set each of them up. There will be a slight draw back with this though. Once everything is over, the boys will still have some serious psychological problems to deal with, especially Simon and Ari. I programmed them to be terrified of Cass so Billy, Merle, and Richard would not suspect what I was doing. Until you or I release them from that programming, they will be scared shitless just by the sight of me. You will not fully understand until you shutdown Armitage's entire operation, and then take Sasha back to that place near Spokane, and then you will know what these two men were doing to kids. The same is true for Simon and Lucky also. When this is over, you have to take each of them back to where it started for them. However, the only exception to this is Ari. I would advise you to consider seriously all of the consequences it will have on him if you take him back to the boys' home in Tennessee. For Simon, Sasha, and Lucky though, you have to take them back to the places before this all started for this to be truly over for them. When they go back and see these places, it will be the trigger that will release them from the programming and free them from being somebody's pawn." Jonas told Lee.

            "Foxworth will not know that I have hid everything until it is too late. However, once he does realize what I have done, it will be too late for him to change things, and when you use it to take him down he will know that I was the one who destroyed him." Then he turned to Dr. Cruz and Juan.

            "Gentlemen, it is a pleasure to meet both of you. Let us take a walk and I will explain to you how to reverse the process and restore the programmed kids' memories. The process requires specific dosages of different psychotropic medications along with several hypnosis suggestive therapy sessions to be successful. I will also let you know what to expect after you deprogram the kids because many will have psychological problems that will require treatment afterwards." He said before leading them towards the door and out into the lobby. Lee, Jerry and the others came over to John after the others had walked away.

            "What did he mean that we have to take the boys back except for Ari?" Lee asked him.

            "Closure, Lee. That is what he meant, although I do not know why he specifically excluded Ari. I do know that when this is over, we have to take each of the boys back to where everything started for them. Sasha has to return to the programming facility, Simon and Lucky have to go back to the Jefferies and Robinson's place, but for some reason, he does not want Ari to go back to the orphanage,. Evidently, Jonas has fixed their programming so that the boys' minds will be free once they return to the places where it started for them, and when they do; then it will be truly over for them forever. I will ask him why he doesn't want us to do the same for Ari, or to at least explain his reasoning." All of the sudden, John's cell phone began ringing along with Lee's, and the Mayor's. John took the call, as did Lou and Lee also, and the news they heard was not good at all.

End of Chapter 5

Who will catch my fall -- Part Two -- Chapter 6

Tuesday February 13, 1996 -- (2 pm)

Jonas and Juan rushed back in the room as John put down his phone, and he, Lee, and Lou looked at Jerry with stunned expressions.

"There's been an armed kidnapping and shooting at Pinehurst Middle school fifteen minutes ago.  Several people are down," John told him while his eyes flashed with anger.

"It was Foxworth's men.  It has started, and he made his move.  Jerry; his men got away with Sky."

"Bloody fucking hell," Jerry exploded as he stood up and punched a soccer ball sized hole into the drywall with his huge fist.

"I am going to kill that bastard.  He wants a war, well he's got one now, and I'm going to bring hell with me."  Jerry swore as he stood seething as he looked at John. 

"What has happened John?"  Jonas asked him.

"We don't have the details yet, but we were told that a group of armed men launched an assault on the school for the sole purpose of taking Jerry's identical twin sons Sean and Skylar.  The Security detail in place to protect them along with an off duty security guard had a shootout with them and several men are down.  The dispatcher said that one of the security members said that one man and the person driving the van escaped with Skylar, and that is all we know at the moment."  Lee told him.

"Jesus," Jonas said as Betsy stood up immediately.

"He knows I've betrayed them.  Where are the boys John, because Richard is coming for them now."

"What do you mean that he is coming for them?"  Lee asked him.

"Richard must have found out somehow that I've betrayed them, but how he found out I don't know. Anyway that doesn't matter right now, what matters is the fact that Richard will throw everything he's got at us in order to take the boys, and killing us is the least of his concerns."  Jonas told him.

"Rojas is how he found out."  Betsy told them all, Jonas looked at her, and she shared her knowledge with them.

"Richard reneged on his agreement with you Paquito, less than a week after the deaths of your daughter and son-in-law.  He has your every movement monitored along with the men who are still loyal to you.  The last thing he wants is for you to discover what he allowed to happen to your grandson because you will give his man who assumed your position a Columbian necktie.  He must have discovered that Jonas betrayed him and Merle when he tracked your trip here."

"Damn it!  How could I overlook that," Jonas said to himself in frustration while holding the bridge of is nose, but they already knew the answer because it was the tumor inside his head that was the cause.

"We have to move them now John and it might already be too late for even that.  Where are the boys at right now?"

"They are at the cottage with Sara, Jeanne, and Tom."  John said as he snapped out of his shock.

"If we can't move them, how about getting them into a room with only a single entrance like the basement?"

"It will have to do, but we don't have enough manpower to withstand a drawn out siege.  We have to keep as many men as possible out of the basement so we can counter attack after Richard's teams go in."  Jonas told them.

"Lee, call Sara and tell her to get the boys into the basement right now.  Also, tell her to have Sasha and Junior arm themselves. I don't need anyone except for Jerry to hold off his men Jonas."  John told him.

"You forget that I also have Sasha, Junior, and if needed, Simon to help me and Jerry hold them back.  I also know that Jeanne knows how to shoot as well."

"That's right, and with Sasha and Junior, the four of you should be able to hold that basement for at least twenty-four hours, but this will all be over in an hour."  Jonas told them as he smiled with understanding.

"Let's do it.  Lee, Paquito, and Miguel; give your weapons to John and Jerry along with any extra clips you have."

            "Let's go Jerry."  John said as soon as they were passed the weapons and ammo clips.

"Hold on a moment," Jonas said to them, and they paused.

"Betsy, what other weapons do you have?  You too Maria, what do you have available?"

"Two nine mils, and two modified AK-47s with four extra clips of 30 rounds in each in the trunk of my car outside. Oh, I also have my sniper rifle with a hi-powered scope."  Betsy told him as she pulled a snub-nosed .38 revolver from a thigh holster under her skirt and handed it to Paquito, and then dug a box of extra rounds out of her purse giving those to him as well.

"This should be enough for you Paquito."

"Four Machine Pistols, two Sauer fully automatic rifles, and one M-16 with an M-203 Grenade Launcher along with about 1000 rounds of extra ammo for everything."  Maria told him, and Betsy smiled at her.

"Very impressive girl," she said to Maria with a respectful grin.

"I like your style."

"Good enough, we will take point, Lee and Maria, how many men are on your teams outside?"  He asked.

"Seven including myself," Maria answered, and then Lee said.

"I have six men besides John, Jerry, and myself.  There are six armed security guards on the staff here also."

"John and Jerry; get out of here, we don't need you outside.  Do not come out of the basement, we will come to you instead," he said to them, and they bolted out of the room.

"Richard will come with at least two 20-man teams, and they will hit the house from opposite sides at the same time.  You are lucky because the other twenty-five operatives are loyal to me only and not to Richard.  Maria, you and your team cover the west, south sides; and Lee, have your men cover the north, and east sides of the house.  Spread out and take up cover positions 100 feet to 100 yards away from the house, then wait until his teams are fully committed and made entry inside, and counterattack.  Tell your men to shoot to kill because Richard is coming not just for the boys, but also for you Rojas.  Have the Security guards in here lock down this building and Betsy and I will be taking the point because we can move faster alone.  Miguel, one of the teams might split and send a group of men here to take out Paquito, use the security team inside as you see fit, but do not allow them to go outside for any reason until we come for you."  He told him and they all agreed to do as he said.  Maria then left after telling Lee she would send one of her men back with two machine pistols for him and Miguel.  Then Betsy looked Lou up and down for a moment.

"Take off your clothes and be quick about it," she ordered him as she started unbuttoning her nurse's uniform top.

"I will stand out like a deer in headlights in this white outfit."  She explained to Lou and they quickly stripped to their underwear, and she pulled on Lou's khaki colored Dockers pants, light blue dress shirt, and dark brown cardigan sweater.  Once she was finished dressing, Jonas and Betsy left the room, and Miguel took charge of the security guards and gave them their instructions as Lee left him and Lou in charge of the security guards after the Uzi machine pistols were delivered to him.  Then, as he left, Lee also asked one of the staff members to bring Lou a set of scrubs.

Tuesday February 13, 1996 -- (2:10 PM)

John and Jerry burst through the front door, and both were holding a weapon in each hand just as Sara came down the stairs with Simon in her arms with the others behind her while Junior was followed by Sasha who was bringing up the rear.  Junior and Sasha were both armed, and even Ari had the ACH Tactical baton in his left hand, as he stayed right beside Sara and Simon when John and Jerry came into the door.

"Don't stop!  Get down into the basement now," John barked as Sara paused when she saw him.  Then, John saw the masked gunman appear at the top of the steps, and the man cocked the pump action shotgun before raising it up to aim, but Sasha quickly twisted around at the sound, and fired at the same time as the gunman leveled the shotgun on Junior.  The bullet hit the gunman in the center of his forehead leaving a small hole, and he fell backwards dead.

"Nice shot! You be da man lil' bro," Junior said as he turned, and together he and Sasha went back up a few steps in a crouch until they could see down the hall of the second floor.  Both of them fired of a half a dozen shots each before turning and darting back down the steps, and Sasha replied finally as Junior reloaded the revolver.

"It sucked cause I'm rusty. I was aiming for his stomach," he said with a look of disgust on his face while his eyes brimmed a bit as they caught up to John and Jerry just as Tom and Lucky disappeared down the steps leading to the basement.  As John and Jerry motioned for them to go down, someone fired a shot at them, and the bullet splintered the wood above the doorway causing all of them to drop into a crouching position.  Jerry spotted the shooter as he moved from behind the couch, and Jerry fired twice before they heard the shooter cry out, and collapse in the family room while John ordered the boys to get down the steps.  Junior and Sasha went down the stairs two at a time before Jerry and John followed.  John bolted the door from the inside, which he had found unusual when he first noticed that the door locked from the inside instead of the outside.  Now he was thankful for the solid oak door as he went down into the basement that consisted of a large game room, the laundry room, and wine cellar.

Sara and Jeanne sat huddled on the floor with Ari and Simon behind the large pool table in the center of the room.  Tom and Lucky were crouched down against the leather sofa next to Jerry and John, while Junior and Sasha were about 15 feet away behind the pool table with others, and their weapons were all trained on the stairs.  Between the four of them, they had the stairwell covered so that anyone coming down the steps would be seen and shot before they could see their positions.  They heard the doorknob rattle, and then someone began kicking the solid wood door.  They could hear it beginning to splinter when pounding gunfire erupted outside the house as the others counterattacked the gunmen, and the sound of running feet as the intruders scrambled to defend themselves.

After a few tense minutes passed, the sound of gunfire began to fade, and no other sounds came from upstairs.  John and Jerry relaxed a bit, and after cautiously checking the door at the top of the stairs, John came down and holstered his weapon.  Jerry did the same, but Sasha just put his pistol on the pool table beside him after switching on the safety, and Junior could see how his hands were trembling.  He then quietly retreated to the far corner near the laundry room door, and huddled in a ball in the corner as tears welled up in his eyes as the reality that he had just killed a man began to set in.  Tom and Lucky moved over to where Sara, Jeanne, and the boys were at, then John and Jerry came and hugged their wives.

"You think it's clear?"  Tom asked him as he held Lucky in his arms.

"I don't know, but that is the only way in here," John said as he pointed to the stairs.

"We will sit tight until Jonas or Lee comes to get us.  Is everyone all right?"

"I think so, only the boys are just scared shitless is all," Sara told him as he hugged Simon and Ari who were hugging each other and whimpering softly. However, John was quick to notice that Simon was comforting Ari who still held the baton to his chest. He had no doubt that Ari would use it to protect Sara and Simon even though he was terrified about what was happening.

"I think it's over, but where's Sas..." John started to say when he saw Richard open the door and come out of the laundry room as he pointed a machine pistol at them.  John, Jerry, and Junior began to reach for their weapons when he spoke.

"I wouldn't do that if you don't want your kids hurt."  He said causing them all to freeze.

"Hands up everyone.  Now slowly toss your guns over here."  They did as he said and tossed their guns onto the carpet in front of him.

"What do you want?  You should know that your men are either being slaughtered or rounded up by Lee and Jonas right now."  John said coolly as he held up his hands while Tom, Sara, and Jeanne were holding Lucky, Simon, and Ari in their arms.

"You surprised me John.  I never expected you to be able to turn Jonas, but you did.  I was coming here to deal with Rojas before he could talk to you about his grandson, and what do I find instead.  That my most effective and loyal field agent has turned on me.  I have spent my entire career digging through other people's trash discovering their deepest secrets in order to attain the power I have now.  This is my fifth President I have worked for, and now the power to control the Oval office is within my grasp, but then you came along and fucked everything up.  I thought you would have learned your lesson the first time after your wife and daughter died, but no, because you are still here fucking up everything I have worked for again. Now, everything that I have built is crashing down around me because of you, but now I will just have to be satisfied with just killing you.  I had just wanted to interview your son to get Bill's process from him, and once I had the documented process, I would have left all of you alone, and even given you a handsome reward for his cooperation.  However, now I am going to kill everyone you love while you watch as you die slowly, and I will start with your son Simon."  He said with a sneer on his piggish face.  John watched in silence as Sasha stood up directly behind Richard, and he pulled out the 6" double-edged needlepoint knife from his left sleeve.  When Richard first came out of the laundry room past Sasha, John saw that he recognized the man, and then his eyes went blank for a moment.  He knew that seeing Richard had triggered something in Sasha's mind, that he was now remembering, and John realized that he had to keep Richard's attention diverted until Sasha could come within striking distance.

"So how did you do it John?  I want to know how you turned my most loyal agent on me before you die."  Richard asked him.

"Loyal agent?  You really expected Jonas to remain loyal to you after you murdered his wife, both of his sister-in-laws, and his son?"  John asked him with sarcastic undertone in his voice.

"If I were you, I would hardly call the man who murdered my son and daughter and their spouses loyal."

"That was a personal dispute between us that was settled long ago.  I made some blunders, and Jonas made me atone for those mistakes is all.  In addition, Darlene was not his wife, and the kid was her nephew, not his son, but they were distracting him from the job, so I eliminated them.  Anyway, Jonas never had a son, and I killed his only child, a daughter, years ago when I had the Estonian Ambassador and his entire family killed.  The youngest child was Jonas's daughter, and I verified that she was dead when I saw her body, well, what was left of it afterwards. She was the reason for our personal dispute, and Jonas made me pay for my mistake of targeting his child.  To be totally honest with you, I honestly believe that Jonas would suck as a father if he had a son because he'd shoot the first referee who fucked up a call against his son."  Richard said defensively, and then he shook his head as he laughed, and John watched as Sasha began to creep up behind him in complete silence.

"You want to know the truth?  I have been trying to kill Jonas for almost twenty years, and he always walks away without a scratch while leaving a mile wide wake of death and destruction behind him.  When I became director, Jonas was the next in line for the job, but he had turned down the position before it was given to me, and I figured that he wanted the pleasure of eliminating me after watching me trip over my dick in order to prove to the suits that he was the only choice for the job. Therefore, I chose the most dangerous and highest profile targets for his assignments without any assistance, and I even went so far as to ordering him to do the jobs in such a way that no clean up was required.  I figured that he might get lucky, and survive a few of them because he was the best field agent I had at the time, but I did not know that he was about to become a fucking legend.  I know by experience that nobody is that good, but he proved me wrong.  The man is a killing machine, and completely unstoppable; the man is the angel of death as he describes himself, literally."

"You are wrong about Jonas and his family Richard, but I can understand since you were relying on Merle's untrained dogs for your intelligence gathering.  See, while it was not on paper that Darlene was his wife, they had been together as man and wife for almost 15 years, and she was the mother of his son.  However, I was not referring to Eric though, who is in reality Jonas's second son Sasha Cimkovich.  You were right on the fact that Jonas did have a child with the Ambassador's wife, but it was her third child that he fathered.  Her son named Sasha who is Jonas's second son, but he was not the father of the daughter who came after Sasha.  Just so you know, Jonas found out about the assassination, and he rescued his son Sasha just minutes before the bomb went off. Then he planted a child's remains from a local cemetery to be found in order to throw you off his trail.  Sasha's mother made Jonas take Sasha to safety when he arrived and told everyone to get out of the house.  Sasha survived, but the others did not make it out of the house and died.  Jonas then hid his son Sasha as Darlene's nephew, Eric Jones, so that he could protect him from your treachery, and you fell for it completely." John told him while he also continued to stare past Richard at Sasha who was creeping closer in complete silence directly behind the man.

"Anyway, the son that you murdered who I am talking about is Jonas's firstborn child, Devon Seth Lepano, or you might know him as Devon Jefferies.  Devon was Jonas and Darlene's son because his brother Bill had been castrated when he was ten by the people Jonas murdered, and for who he was sentenced to death after his conviction.  Darlene gave up Devon after he was born because Jonas refused to marry her, but she realized it was a mistake and came back looking for him.  Jonas  told her that he had given Devon to his brother Billy and his wife, and explained why it was the best for all of them that nobody knew he had a child or a wife.  That is why she stayed with him because she understood that you were trying to kill him, and that her, and their son Devon would be a target if you knew about them."  John told him calmly as he watched Sasha take another silent step towards Richard, and with catlike grace, he moved sideways whenever Richard moved his head, therefore staying invisible to the man.  John had noticed that Sasha's right hand that held the knife was trembling noticeably when he had first stood up behind Richard, but his hand steadied while Sasha's eyes went flat with pure hatred once Richard told John about assassinating his family.

"Jonas told me that Devon was his brother's kid, and anyway, Devon and his mother were not supposed to die.  Bill was having one of his catatonic episodes, and my men were supposed to take Devon when he came home from school so I could use him as leverage against Billy.  All I wanted from Billy was to let my people document the process is all.  If he had done that instead of being so damn secretive, and smug about it, then none of this would have happened. Devon's mother came home unexpectedly as we were trying to subdue Devon minutes after he arrived home, but my people panicked.  One of them was trying to shoot her when Devon broke free and stepped in front of her, so he was shot and killed accidentally.  It was an accident because they were not supposed to be hurt, but the team was green and fucked everything up.  Once he was dead, we had to kill her so she would not tell Jonas."  Richard explained even though there was no need, but John could see how vain and petty the man was.  He needed to say it in order to justify his actions for himself, and not because it mattered to John.

"The last thing I needed was to have him walking through headquarters leaving a trail of bodies behind him as he looked for me.  I had a cleaning team stage it to make it look as if Billy had done everything during his episode, and that is what everybody believed afterwards.  I only knew about his affair with the ambassador's wife, and figured that Jonas was the father of her last kid because he left shortly after she gave birth to the girl.  That is why he told me to back off from the wife, because he was banging her, and got her knocked up with his daughter.  I didn't know that the boy was his kid, but if he was Eric, then he's still just as dead."  Richard said with a sinister chuckle.

"So is that is how you turned him John, you figured out who his sons were, and told him that I killed them?  You are a smart man, but not for much longer, although I do appreciate knowing that I did succeed in killing his sons."

"Wrong again Richard, I didn't need to turn him because he came to me."  John told him.

"He came to me because I had something precious to him, and he betrayed you so I could save that precious thing that I had."  John told him as he continued to look past him and watch Sasha who was now just a step or two behind Richard.  He was not quite in position yet, and John knew that he had to keep the arrogant bastard talking for just a few moments more. Sasha was now gritting his teeth while his knuckles on his right hand had turned white from him tightening his grip on the blade handle.  He also saw Sasha's ice blue eyes well up with tears, and then spill down his face as Richard spoke about murdering his family as if he was doing Jonas a favor by killing them.

"So, what was that John? That you had the boy Ari, or are you insinuating that Simon is his son also, hmm?"  Richard asked him sarcastically. 

"No, I have Seth Jordan," John told him with a knowing smile.

"You had Seth all that time, and you never realized why Jonas always kept checking on him as your people trained him.  Why do you think he was so interested in Seth, Richard?"

"I have no fucking idea," Richard said with a confused expression, but then he leered at John.

"The boy is fucking gorgeous though.  I figured that Jonas had the hots for the little cunt or something.  Jonas never stayed in one place very long, so nobody could really get to know what he liked except for killing people.  With Seth it was different, he would go every other month to see the kid, he'd stay for two or three weeks, and he always spent three or four days alone with him, so I figured that he was fucking the little cunt, I know that I would have if I didn't need the little cocksucker."  Richard said with a laugh as he squeezed his crotch with his free hand.  This only angered John more, and now that Sasha was in position, John began to goad Richard.

"Did you really think that killing Jonas's son would be that easy?  Did you think that murdering his son would be easier than trying to murder him?  You did, didn't you?  Why did you think that Jonas would be so good on the job, and be so careless with his son?   Because you are not as smart as you believe you are Richard, because the reason Jonas was checking on Seth is because he is really Eric Jones, and Eric Jones was the name Jonas used to hide his son Sasha Cimkovich from you after murdered his entire family with the bombing."  John told him and that superior smile and leer vanished quickly from Richard's face.

"Did you ever bother to check the DNA of the remains discovered in the fire to see if they were actually related since Darlene was supposed to be Eric's Aunt?  You did not though, and I know for a fact that you never once looked at a photo of Eric or Sasha because if you had, then you would have known immediately who Seth was when they brought him to you.  Jonas was not careless because he knew how lazy you were, and that is why he was able to save his son from all of your pathetic attempts to kill him. He didn`t even bother teaching Sasha to disguise his natural accent because he knew that you were too lazy to get off your ass and check."

"Seth is not Jonas's son.  I know Jonas, and he detested everything his brother Billy was doing to kids.  If Seth was his son, he would have never given him to me, and let Billy erase his memory and reprogram him."  Richard told him, but his expression was now one of doubt, and then John told him in his most insulting tone of voice.

"Believe what you want Ritchie boy, but I do want you to think about this.  If you were Jonas, and you knew your perverted scumbag boss was trying to kill your son, where would you hide him if you also knew how lazy he was too?  You would hide him in plain sight, and in the only place that the man who was trying to kill him would never think of looking for him.  You would hide him in the one place where your lazy boss would never check, by making him a part of a covert operation where your boss completely controlled the facility and the people working there.  Such as your facility near Spokane where your people spent 18 months training and programming Seth Jordan to kill off your rival Merle Foxworth along with Jonas, and me." John told him in a condescending tone of voice.

"Tell me since you are so smart, why did it take so long to program Seth?  The entire process is usually done in less than two months, but it took Billy three months to break down Seth's resistance in order to reprogram him, and he damn near had to kill him to do it.  Did you ever suspect why it took that long?  No, you did not because you had your mind on sucking off those pretty-little boys.  It took that long because Jonas had already programmed Seth before he gave him to you, and that is why he has not gone through with his directives to kill me and everyone else in this room when you gave him the command over a month ago.  Just think about it for a moment, think about how Seth was programmed, of how he resisted everything until he was barely clinging to life.  Then Jonas shows up to see him, didn't he?  All of the sudden, Seth is compliant and does not resist the reprogramming process anymore, why?"

"It was successful in less than a month, but then your people tortured Seth for another six months even though the reprogramming was successful.  Your people gave the excuse for his resistance was because of the physical abuse he suffered from his caretaker at the facility, and that is why they had Billy put him through the complete memory suppression process another two times even though he did not need it.  They did it for punishment and personal enjoyment only, because they wanted to punish Seth for resisting their efforts, then Jonas shows up and Seth is a docile and compliant as a kitten.  That really stuck in their craw because Jonas shows up and does what they could not do in three months, and that is to make Seth stop resisting. They wanted to hurt Seth and put him in his place because they knew that you didn`t care as long as Seth would be your puppet in the end. Just as you didn't care how Betsy tortured him for six months while you continued to feed that shit to her like candy. You should thank Jonas for saving your ass from your own arrogance and stupidity because if he had not shown up and stopped all of them, then they would have killed Seth. They would have claimed it was an accident; that he was weak when he is stronger than anyone working for you except Jonas."

"You think you are so smart and clever, but did it ever occur to you that Jonas is just as much of a genius as his brother was, if not more so?  Why do you think he is so damn good at killing people no matter how well protected they are?  It never even occurred to you that Billy had taught him the entire process including how to reverse it before you hired Billy. Did you ever think of that? I doubt it, because I think that kind of foresight is beyond your mental capabilities.  Who was the person who came to you with the process; it was Jonas wasn't it?"  John asked him, and Richard's small piggish eyes blinked several times.

"Jonas came to me about his brother's concept, and he explained the concept to me in general, but once he knew it didn't work very well with adults, he lost interest."  Richard told him as he realized that what John was telling him was the truth.

"So you are telling me that Jonas has been playing me all this time?  If that is true, then it is just another reason I have to make sure he's dead."

"Jonas told you all about it, and he was there during all of the test trials that showed how the process was unreliable in adults.  The reason he lost interest in the project was that he did not want to hurt the kids.  You have known Jonas for over 20 years, and you know about his past too.  Yet, you never understood Jonas, did you?  The reason he lost interest in his brother's process was everything he and Billy suffered through when they were kids.  Merle Foxworth and the rest of the people who were in charge of caring for orphaned children made their lives a living nightmare.  They were beaten and tortured by the adults until they behaved exactly the way those adults wanted them to behave." Jerry said to him, and then John spoke.

"The only difference between the abuse Jonas and Billy suffered, and Billy's concept is that the process achieves the same results in two months instead of torturing a little kid for years is all.  That is why Jonas did not want any part of it because he knew the damage it would cause to a defenseless kid, and to see that damage, all you had to do was to look at what it had done to Billy."  John said goading him, and he could see the way Richard's face flushed red while Seth was inching even closer to his target.  John knew that Richard could kill him at any moment, but he had to keep Richard's attention on him so he could not realize that Seth was now directly behind him, and within inches of him. John decided to push Richard into a rage even though the man could kill him at any moment.

"However, all you and Merle could think about was getting Billy to reprogram those pretty-boys to be your sex slaves, and once he did that, the two of you have been letting Billy lead you around by your dicks.  No wonder Jonas has survived all of your attempts to kill him, because everything I have seen so far from you is pathetic. The only thing that you have been worried about is that others would find out about how you like little boys fist fucking you in the ass before you sucked them off.  You have been using Billy's process for nearly a decade, and yet you never checked out his past, because if you had, then you would have known that Billy had been castrated when he was ten because it is in the trial transcripts."

"Then you would have known that Devon was Jonas's son, and that you and Merle have made Billy into a sadistic serial killer of children.  You had Jonas's second son for over a year, and if you would have used your little damn brain for just five minutes instead of letting your dick do all of the thinking, you would have realized that.  I knew that Seth was his son as soon as I met Jonas because every male in his family have the same genetic defect in the iris of their right eye, and I figured out yours and Foxworth's entire operations in a week.  Neither one of you can get your minds off your dicks long enough to realize that you are both about to die, but I will tell Merle how pathetic you looked as you died once I see him after we are finished here."  John told him all the while watching Richard's piggish face as it turned mottled red with rage while completely unaware that John had just pronounced his death sentence.

"Fuck you!"  Richard bellowed in rage as he raised the machine pistol towards John, then he stiffened before screaming, and the pistol fell limply from his hand as he collapsed to his knees because Sasha drove the steel blade through his kidney and twisted his wrist sharply.  Next, Sasha grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back until Richard could see his tear streaked face.  Then, Sasha spoke to him first without his natural Eastern European accent while his voice was filled with his pain and loss of all of the people he loved so much, and had been taken away from him by Richard.

"No...you can fuck yourself, you piece of shit.  Remember me?"  Sasha asked him without an accent in his voice.

"Y...yes, you're Seth.  Seth Jordan."  Richard squealed in agony as Sasha jerked his wrist.

"No, I am not, and I never was Seth Jordan, just like I never was Eric Jones either. I had to become Seth Jordan to keep me safe from you. My name is Sasha, Sasha Levi Lepano, and I remember you." He said tightly as his tears continued to cascade down his young face. Then his face changed ever so slightly, and when he spoke again, his natural Eastern European accent was present as if someone had flipped a switch inside him so that he was once more Sasha Lepano from Estonia.

"I remember you from the times you came to our house to talk with my stepfather, and I remember who came over that day not long before the house blew up. It was you who came to our house to talk to my stepfather the day my family died, and you left very, very angry.  Then I saw you again that night when you and our maid ran away from our house together. I saw you from my bedroom window when you brought the big box into the basement with her, and then you both ran away.  Then, my father came and told us to get out of the house, and my mother made him take me to the woods, but the house blew up before they could get out.  They all died because that big box was a bomb, and I only survived because my father saved me. I have always remembered that night, and I know you murdered my family because I saw you."

"You also murdered my half brother, Devon Seth Lepano, and you murdered my Aunts, Lisa Ann Jefferies, and Paula Lucille Jordan.  You murdered them just as you murdered my family, remember, because I do.  You murdered my brothers, Karl and Markus Cimkovich, and my little sister Anastasia Cimkovich.  You remember them now too, jah?"  Sasha asked as he gave the knife another twist causing Richard to squeal in pain again.  Sasha's face was wet now as his tears flowed down his beautiful, young, and pain-filled face that was framed with his soft, platinum blond curls of his almost shoulder length, fine as silk hair.

"I re...remember," Richard panted in agony.

"Do you remember my mother; I remember that she is the most beautiful woman in the world.  Her name is Illesia Anastasia Cimkovich, and you murdered her along with the rest of my family."  Sasha asked in a hushed voice as his tears streamed down his face, and Richard nodded vigorously before crying out in agony again as Sasha pulled the blade free.

"I can barely remember her now, because you took her away from me.  You took everyone that I have ever loved away from me, everyone except for my father, Jonas Levi Lepano because he is smarter and better at everything than you could ever hope to be.  He brought me here to live with him and Darlene, and made me be Eric Jones to keep me safe from you, but you found me again.  You murdered her too because I saw you that morning when I got on the school bus. Darlene loved me like her own son because she could not be Devon's mother, and I loved her as my Mom because you took my mother away from me. You murdered her, but you were looking for me, only I didn't come home on the bus because I stayed at my friend's that night.  Then, after you murdered her, my father made me become Seth Jordan.  He made me forget before he sent me to you, and you taught me how to kill, but I remember now."

"I remembered everything though as soon as I saw your face when you came in here. I can remember my family again, and I remember that it was always you, it was your face that I always saw last before someone I loved died, because it was you who murdered everyone that I loved so much.  You taught me to kill, and now I have just killed you just as you murdered everybody I loved.  It's time for you to die, you bastard, so remember me in hell," Sasha said through his clenched teeth as he switched hands before lifting the blade up to Richard's side, and then inserted it between the third and fourth ribs on the left side into his heart exactly as Richard's people had trained him to do.  He felt the blade slide into Richard's heart, and he felt it quiver as the heart missed one beat, then another before going into spasms, and then Sasha twisted his wrist sharply tearing a massive hole in Richard's heart and lung.  Richard stiffened for a long minute while trying to scream, but could not as his lung rapidly filled with his blood because the knife had also severed his aorta. He could only make a choking sound before spitting out a large gush of blood, then he went limp as his heart stopped, and fell face forward onto the floor dead.  Sasha stared at him for a long moment as his tears continued to drip off his face, and then he dropped to his knees and started pounding on Richard's lifeless body with his small, bloodied fists while speaking in between his blows.

"You killed them all [hit], my mother [hit], Darlene [hit], my stepfather Aleksei [hit], my brothers [hit], Karl [hit], Markus [hit], Devon [hit], my [hit], sister [hit], Anastasia [hit], my [hit], whole [hit], family [hit], I [hit], hate [hit], you [hit], so much [hit], you bastard [hit], I hate you!" Sasha screamed in his pain as he delivered blow after blow in chastisement with all his strength to Richard's corpse until he was physically exhausted and breathing heavily.

"It's over Sasha, he cannot hurt you ever again son."  Tom said to him as he and Lucky came over, and knelt beside him.

"He was the one, Father Tom, because I remember now. He was the one who took them all away from me until I was the only one left to remember them.  I thought that when I killed him that the emptiness and pain inside me would end.  I was wrong because it still hurts inside, and I'm still alone."  Sasha said as his tears slid down his cheeks as he sat on his heels with his head hanging down and breathing hard.

"No Sasha, you are not alone...you still have us, and always will."  Tom told him as he put his arm around Lucky before extending his other arm towards him.  Sasha was still breathing hard when he finally looked up at them, and then he fell into Tom's arms sobbing out his pain as Lucky hugged them both and cried with him.  John then heard the door being opened with a key, and he and Jerry quickly retrieved their weapons.

"It's me Jonas, I'm coming down with Lee," Jonas called down to them and they relaxed.  Then Jonas and Lee appeared on the stairs, and they both saw Sasha sobbing as Tom knelt with him beside Richard's dead body.

"Oh no," he said sadly, as he saw his son.

"What happened?"

"Richard was in the laundry room waiting for us. He must have snuck inside before you realized that he was coming.  The arrogant bastard had us cold, but he wanted to know what I had that was so precious to you to make you betray him."  John told him.

"And you told him about Sasha, right?"  Jonas asked him and Jerry shook his head no.

"Aye, and so did your laddie his `on self after he skewered the scallywag in the kidney."  Jerry told him in his Irish brogue before reverting to normal speech.

"When he saw Richard come out of the laundry room, he was huddled in the corner because he killed a man to save Junior as they came down the stairs, but seeing Richard triggered his memory. He remembered because he said that the last face he saw before someone he loved died had always been Richard's face because he was the one who murdered them. Then Sasha told him that he had seen him that day, and then that night right before you showed up and took him out to the woods. It was not someone else, but Richard himself who murdered his family including Darlene, Lisa, Paula, Darlene's sister, and Devon too because Richard admitted all of it to us. Sasha named each of them along with his mother, he told Richard all of their names so that he knew exactly why he was dying.  Then Sasha slid that knife into his heart, twisted his wrist, and Richard became the ugliest throw rug I have ever seen."

"Christ almighty, please have mercy on my son; will he be all right?"  Jonas asked with tears in his eyes as he watched Sasha weeping in Tom's arms as he came over to them, and Tom looked up at him when Jonas came up beside them.

"Ask him yourself," Tom told him before turning back to Sasha and kissing him on top of his platinum blond head.

"Your father is here Sasha; do you want to tell him?"  He asked and Sasha looked at him and nodded.  Then Sasha stood slowly as he faced Jonas, and with tremendous will, he stopped his tears while trying to look brave even though he was in so much pain inside.

"Papa; I avenged them all," he said sadly in his natural accent, and then he added, "For you Papa."  Jonas opened his arms as his tears spilled down his face, and Sasha rushed into his embrace.

"Yes, you avenged their deaths, but not just for me.  You avenged them for us, for our family, and now they can rest in peace because their murderer has been punished."  Jonas told him as he lifted Sasha up in his arms, and hugged him tight.

"I am so proud of you Sasha, and I love you so much.  I am proud that you are my son, my Sasha, who looks so much like your mother Illesia that it hurts."

"I love you too Papa; and I am proud that you are my father."  Sasha said, although his accent made father sound like `fazzur'.

"Does this mean that you will stay this time?  Please Papa, you always leave me.  Please stay this time."

"I know I promised Sasha, but I cannot stay even though I want to stay with you for ever."  Jonas told him as he set Sasha down and knelt in front of him.

"I went to the doctor to see why my headaches were getting worse Sasha, and they found out that I have a large tumor in my brain. They cannot take it out, or stop the cancer because it is too advanced. I am sick and I will not get any better, but will continue to get worse. Sasha, the doctors said that I probably will live for another year at the most, I am sorry Sasha, but I am dying."

"No!"  Sasha wailed in anguish as he heard this, and it wrenched all of their hearts.

"You promised! You promised me that you would stay before you left last time, and now you are leaving me forever.  Why does everyone I love go away and leave me all alone?"

"No; not this time Sasha.  I will not leave you alone, just as I promised you."  Jonas told him as he held Sasha by his slim shoulders.

"I cannot help it that I am dying, but I will keep my promise I made to you.  I love you more than life itself Sasha, but you will never be alone again even after I am gone."  He said, but Sasha just hung his head while his shoulders slumped just as a defeated person would do.

"Yes, I will be alone Papa," he whispered sadly.

"I will not have anyone left when you die.  All of my family will be gone then, and I will be alone forever until I die."

"No Sasha, that is not true. You still have someone who is a part of our family, so you will not be alone." Jonas told him, then he held out his hand to Lucky, and he came over cautiously after Tom nodded to him, but he stayed just out of reach of Jonas.

"You still have someone who is a blood relative to you Sasha.  You remember when I told you about your Aunt Paula. That she died in a car accident on her way to the hospital because she was going to have a baby?" He asked him and Sasha just nodded.

"Paula died before they could get her to the hospital, but she lived long enough to have her baby, a son, and he is still alive. Lucky is her son, he is your real first cousin, and John can show you the proof. So, you are not alone because Lucky is here, and I know that he loves you as much as you love him, only now it is even more special because you know that he is part of our family.  However, I want you to promise me some things that are very important son."

"Don't send me away, please.  Let me stay with you.  I promise that I will be good, and I can take care of you when you are sick, please Papa?"  Sasha pleaded with him because he thought that Jonas was going to send him away again.

"No son, I won't send you away again, and I will not leave you again once this is all over, I promise.  However, I have to know that you will be safe after I am gone because I will no longer be here to protect you anymore.  I need you to promise me so that I know that you will be safe.  I know that you will not like it, but it will be ok, and it will help you to get better also."  Jonas told him, and Sasha finally nodded his platinum-topped head.

"I will promise Papa," he said softly with a sniffle.

"Thank you Sasha.  I love you so much.  Now, I need you to promise me two things," Jonas told him with a warm smile after he kissed Sasha on his forehead.

"I need you to promise me that you will forgive Nurse Graves, and to do what she tells you.  I know how bad she hurt you before I made her go away, and she is truly sorry for hurting you so much, but she was sick when she did those bad things and she is better now.  Her real name is Betsy, and she promised me that she would protect you, Lucky, Simon, and Ari after I am gone.  She will come and visit you guys from time to time, but she will always watch over you guys even though you do not see her.  Will you forgive her, and let her do this for me to make up for all the bad things she did to you Sasha?"  Jonas asked him seriously, and he could see the pain in Sasha's eyes when he said her name.  Sasha stared at him for a long moment as his tears slid down his wet face, then his sniffled once more, and nodded to him.

"Good son.  I know it hurts still because of what she did to you, but that hurt will get better, and you will see that she is not the same person who hurt you back then.  She will come and go just as I have done, but she will keep you safe ok.  The other thing I want you to promise me is this; I want you to make Lucky your brother for real, and to let Tom be your Dad so that I know you will be happy, and so you will never be alone anymore even when I am gone."  Jonas told him and Sasha just embraced Lucky and kissed him before smiling.

"He already is my brother Papa, and I promise to let Father Tom be my Dad and Lucky be my brother for real."  Sasha told him before hugging him, but Lucky stood frozen with fear as he faced Jonas. Jonas moved Sasha aside and took a step towards Lucky, who cringed in terror, but then Ari appeared from nowhere and stepped in front of Lucky. He was holding the ACH baton in both hands, and was ready to do battle.

"Leave him alone Cass," Ari said in a determined voice even though he was visibly trembling with fear.

"It's ok Aristotle Isaac Cohen, you remember me because I gave you the key." Jonas said calmly to him as he knelt down to Ari's level, and Ari looked frightened and confused at first until Jonas spoke his full name. Then Ari slowly lowered the baton before nodding his head, and Jonas moved closer and whispered something to Ari, and then Lucky. The change on their faces was clearly seen as it went from one of terror to relief. Next, Ari and Lucky hugged him tightly and kissed him while softly saying thank you to him.  Then he sent all three of them over to Tom before he stood up, and looked at John.

"I hope that I am doing the right thing for him."

"What was that all about?" John asked him referring to Ari and Lucky.

"I had to make them fear me so Billy wouldn't be suspicious, so they only knew me as Cass, and that is who they feared until I spoke their full birth names. I just undid the block is all, and they thanked me because now they are no longer afraid when they see me. I'll tell you all about it later ok," Jonas explained to him, and John nodded in understanding.

"All right, and as for Sasha, I think you did the right thing for him Jonas.  He is hurting inside right now, but he has also avenged his family, his brother Devon, Darlene's and his mother's death, so that will help.  Seeing Richard was the trigger for him as Dr. Cruz said because he remembered that it was Richard who came to his house the night of the bombing. Now, he knows that soon he is going to lose you too, but he also knows that he will never be alone again now.  He thought that he had lost all those who are related to him, but now he knows that Lucky is his real cousin, and soon will be his brother.  He will never be alone again because you have made him a part of my family, and we will never let any of the boys be alone again.  You even surprised me with that piece of information because I did not know Lucky was your nephew.  Come on; we can talk about it later, let's just get the boys out of this death chamber.  Is the place secured Lee?"  John asked.

"For the most part, it is."  Lee told them.

"Good.  Sara, let's take the boys home."  He told her.

"There are probably bodies upstairs too John."  She pointed out to him.

"I know, but what I meant is let's take the boys to our home, I am sick and tired of these games of hide and seek.  The boys want to go home with us, and we are going to take them home.  I will see if I can get someone to go collect their things for them so we can leave." He explained to her.

"If that is the case, Junior and I can pack up their stuff, and be down in a quarter hour."  Jeanne told them.

"Then do it, but Junior, don`t forget this," Jerry said as he pointed towards Junior's handgun.

"You did good son, and I'm proud of you.  However, a good man never leaves his weapon lying around when children are about, and you never know when you might need it again too."  Jerry told him as he hugged Junior who beamed with pride.  Junior picked up the revolver, and then after checking the safety he put it back into the ankle holster he wore.  Then Jeanne and he went up the stairs as Tom picked up Sasha and carried him. They had all seen how his legs were trembling as he stood there in front of his father. John knelt and opened his arms to Lucky while Jerry did the same with Ari as Sara stood with Simon in her arms.  Then they told the boys to close their eyes before they carried them up the steps. Once they were back in the foyer, Lee opened the door, and once outside, John told them all they could open their eyes again once they were outside as he led them to the entrance of Bayside where Todd met them with Dr. Cruz.  They took the boys back to a large patient room with four beds, and they began assessing each of the boys beginning with Sasha.

             "What about Sean, is he safe?"  Jerry asked Lee as he came up to him in the hallway.

             "He's safe Jerry, and not injured, but he is in shock."  Lee told him with a serious expression as John joined them.

            "They killed one of his abductors as he was using Sean as a shield with a gun to his head.  That is all I know at the moment and I had the officers divert to here.  He should be arriving here soon, and Dr. Cruz will assess him as soon as he arrives."

            "Blessed Mary...what about his mother, Shiloh?"  Jerry asked him with a look of partial relief.

            "Has anyone contacted her yet?"

            "Yes, and a unit picked her up from her office a few minutes ago, she's on her way here."  Lee told him.

            "Is there any news about Sky?"  Jerry asked, and then his voice became choked as his eyes misted over.

            "Is my son dead Lee?"

            "I don't believe so Jerry, and as far as we know from the reports coming in, he was alive when they drove away with him, but one of his abductors was wounded."

            "Thank you Jesus," Jerry said with relief as he wiped his eyes.

            "What else have you heard?"  John asked.

            "I'm not sure about this yet, so it may not be accurate, but it is being reported that the driver of the team sent to kidnap Sean and Skylar alerted one of the officer's as the abduction was about to go down.  Two officers were wounded, but not seriously, while five men of Foxworth's men were killed and the sixth man who got Skylar into the van was wounded before the driver drove off.  We also have one teacher seriously wounded and an 11-year-old boy was shot.  The teacher and boy are both in critical condition John."

            "Damn it!"  John said as he pounded his fist against the concrete wall.

            "Lee, do you know if Richard tipped off Merle that Jonas was meeting me today?"

            "I don't know, but what are we going to do about it if he did?"  Lee asked him.

            "We are going to strike back," Jonas said to them as he approached with Miguel Sanchez, Maria, and her father.  However, John did notice Betsy's absence.

            "You know where Merle is keeping Lou's son, right?" Lee asked.

            "Yes, it's an abandoned prospecting town near El Cajon, California that is owned by a movie studio; why?"  John replied.

            "Then we have to go get him now before Merle has a chance to regroup.  Once he finds out about Richard, then he is going to start covering his own ass.  The first thing he will do is start killing everyone who can connect him to Parrish, and Lou's son will be the first one to die unless Merle has a good damn reason to keep him alive.  We need to rescue him now before he discovers that Richard is dead.  I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he was somehow involved in this also, because Richard is the only reason Merle did not start eliminating people when this began."  Jonas told them, and they all agreed with him.

            "Damn it all!  I wish there was another way we could strike at him to throw him off balance because no matter what we do, we cannot get a team in place to rescue David for at least another 36 hours.  We do not have that much time unless we can cause some kind of diversion so that Merle will not have time to worry about David or Lou.  If I could, I'd strike at Merle's family because it would make him pull all his men back to protect his own and give me the time I need."

            "Jonas, you are a genius," John told him with a surprised smile.

            "What did I say?"  He asked them all.

            "You said that we should strike at his family," John told him.

            "I didn't figure you to be a ruthless killer like me John," Jonas told him with a suspicious expression.

            "Oh, I'm not going to kill anyone, yet.  I am just going to arrest his son Noah and a few of Merle's inner circle of toadies, and take Noah's wife and young son into protective custody.  Noah was on one of those tapes showing him raping a young boy, and the federal prosecutor can have his ass in chains 30 minutes after I call him."  John told them with a grin.

            "That's right; we could charge him with 1^st degree rape of a child and a whole page full of related felony charges; and with that tape, he will not get bail.  We can also arrest a few of his toadies on child trafficking and conspiracy too."  Jerry said with his own grin, and Jonas and John's smiles got bigger.

            "It will also allow us to take his young son, Merle's grandson I should say, into protective custody also, and that should be enough to get his wife to cooperate with us."  Lee told them as he smiled, and John and Jonas's grins became positively vicious.  Jonas could not help laughing before patting John on his back.

            "No wonder you are so good at this game John.  I do things the easy way by just eliminating people to get the desired outcome, but you accomplish the same thing and still play by the rules of law too."  He said with respect.

            "Coming from you Jonas, I appreciate the compliment," John told him with equal respect.

            "By the way, where is Betsy?"

            "Sasha wanted to see her once Todd finished examining him, but he asked Tom and Lucky to stay with him since Alva is busy.  I know about all of the problems he has had because of what she did to him, and I do not think that he will be able to forgive her right now just because I made him promise me.  However, Betsy has changed, and she is just as haunted as much as he is about the things she did to him.  She is willing to die by his hands if that is what it takes for him to heal inside."  Jonas told him, and John understood.

            "Why don't you ask Alva to speak with both of them also because he can help?"  John told him and Jonas just nodded before excusing himself.

            "If that is it, then let's do this, and really fuck up Merle's evening before he can start gloating."  Lee told them.

"All right," Jerry said in a tight voice.  Then he rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

"We will do this, but when we take Foxworth down, that bastard is mine understand!"  Jerry said through clenched teeth.

  "No Dad, he's not."  Junior said from behind them, and everyone turned their attention towards him.  Junior's face was tight with his anger as he stood just behind Jerry.

"He took Sky, who is your son and my brother, and we are the clan O'Malley.  You taught me that when someone harms an O'Malley, then that person has to deal with the entire clan of O'Malley.  That bastard is ours because I'm going with you."

"Tha's me sonny buck a'speakin thar...an a fine young man he be.  Me can't find `o better man to `ave me back," Jerry said with a broad but wicked smile as he proudly draped his arm around Junior's shoulders, and Junior's face beamed with pride.

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Tuesday February 13, 1996 -- (2:40 PM)

            "I was told that you wanted to see me," Betsy said after she knocked on the door before going into the small staff lounge along with Dr. Alva Cruz where Tom, Lucky, and Sasha were waiting for her.  Sasha stood up and stepped close to her, but stopped just out of reach as he faced her while Alva sat down close to him.  He could see the mixture of pain, fear, and anger in Sasha's face as he faced Betsy.

            "You know my father, and he told me that you had changed, that you were not the same person who hurt me so much when I was sent to that place.  I don't know what to believe anymore after what happened this morning."  Sasha said to her softly as his tears spilled down his cheeks again.

            "He told me that he is dying, that he is sick and won't get better.  Then he made me promise to forgive you so that you could protect me after he is gone, but I don't know if I can do that because it is not that easy for me to do.  I still hurt so much inside because of what you did, and the nightmares have never stopped.  I don't know if I can do what he asked even though I promised him that I would."  He told her in his warbling voice that still in the process of changing as he entered puberty and grew.  Betsy carefully stepped closer, and sat down facing him before speaking.

            "I know Sasha; I know that you cannot just forgive me for all the bad things I did to you three years ago, and I don't want your forgiveness. Everything I did to you was wrong, but I really do want to prove to you that I am sorry for what I did."  She told him as he stood about four feet away from her.

            "Sasha, how old do you think I am, and be honest ok?"

            "Honest, somewhere around 35, or maybe a little older I suppose."  Sasha told her softly.

            "No, I am only 20 years old, but I look so much older because when I hurt you I was very sick and dying at the time.  I know it is not an excuse, but I was addicted to drugs, and it was the drugs that did this to me," she told him as she pointed at her face, and then showed him her arms.  Two long, thick ropes of scars went from her wrists to almost her elbows on both of her arms, and dozens of track mark scars dotted her arms too.

            "See, this is what the drugs made me do to hurt myself just as bad as the drugs made me hurt you.  I know that saying `I am sorry' will not help you to forget the pain, or make the hurt inside that I caused you to go away.  However, I know that the way for you make the hurt inside you go away so you can heal is to let go of all those bad things in the past.  You will never forget them, just as I have never forgotten the bad things I have done, or the bad things that were done to me when I was your age.  You can make peace with those memories though, and start over fresh just like I did, and I want to help you to do that so that all of those memories don't hurt you anymore."  She told him with all of her anguish and sincerity in her face and voice.

            "You are only 20?"  Sasha asked in surprise, and then he frowned shortly before saying.

            "That means that you were only 17 back then, so you could have been like my sister."

            "Yes, and I still can be if you want me to be your big Sis.  I know that you are afraid, and that you still have nightmares because of what I did, but I promise you that I will never hurt you like that again.  That is why I did not try to stop you the other day when you remember how much I hurt you because I knew that the pain and fear was still there hurting you inside.  I was so sick from the drugs back then, and I hurt so much inside that I wanted to hurt everyone around me, but then your father came and sent me away to a special hospital, and I got better.  He did not have to forgive me or to help me get better, but he did, and I owe him for saving my life from the drugs.  I owe you too because of all the hurt and pain I caused you when I was sick."

            "Now that I'm better, I want to pay both of you back by helping you to get better, and by making all of the pain that I caused inside you go away.  I am not the same person that I was back then, and I want to help you so that the nightmares will stop.  I promised your father that I would protect you from all the bad people who have been trying to hurt you because your father gave me a second chance when nobody else would have. He saved me because he could see that I was hurting inside just like you are hurting. The doctors helped me get better, and because of them, I know how to help you get better, and how to make the nightmares stop."  She told him, and Sasha was crying again, and hiccupping too.  Then, after hesitating, he moved closer and let her hug him.

            "You mean it?  You can help the nightmares stop, and make the hurt inside me go away. I can`t sleep unless they give me medicine, and it`s supposed to stop me from dreaming, but I still have the nightmares."  He asked her quietly as he hugged her back.

            "I'm sorry I hurt you that morning.  I didn't know that you were sick when you hurt me."

            "I know, and it is not your fault, it was never your fault for anything, it was all my fault," she told him before kissing his cheeks and forehead.

            "Dr. Cruz is here, so you can talk to him about it; then later we can all sit down together, and let him help us so that the nightmares start going away.  You are a very special and brave boy, and I hope that we can be friends one day.  I know that your father is dying, but he is so worried that nobody will be here to protect you once he is gone because just like me, he has many people who are his enemies.  I promised him, and I am promising you that I will always be here to protect you just as he has always done."

            "I hope we can be friends too," Sasha said in his warbling voice, and then he kissed her before saying as fresh tears slid down his face.

            "I promised Papa, and I know that I can keep my promise now.  I can forgive you for hurting me, but I cannot do it right now ok?"

            "I know, and it is ok Sasha.  It takes time to forgive because the hurt has to heal first.  We must make the hurt inside you go away, the nightmares too, and then you will be able to forgive me. Until then, let us just be friends while Dr. Cruz helps both of us.  Your Dad and brother Lucky can help us with Dr. Cruz too, and together we will make everything better so that you can keep your promise to your father."  Betsy told him as she held his hand.  Then she stood up and said to him.

            "Dr. Cruz wants to talk to you about everything I did to hurt you, and it's ok to tell him everything that you remember no matter how bad it is.  He has to know everything so he can help you get better.  I have to go with your father so we can make these bad people stop trying to hurt you and your brothers, I know you are worried that he won't come back, but I will bring your father back safe, I promise ok."

"Ok," he said as she opened the door to leave, but then Sasha grabbed her arm stopping her, and said.

"You be careful, and come back too."  Betsy just smiled at him and nodded before leaving and closing the door.

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Tuesday February 13, 1996 -- (3:00 PM)

            "What is you location?"  Lee said into his radio.

            "ETA is five minutes," Officer Blackwell said into his microphone as he sped along I-5 heading north towards Bayside with the lights and siren going.  His partner Officer Linda Sewell was in the backseat with Sean.

            "Chief, it is closer to take him to University Hospital; he won't respond at all and is in shock. Permission to divert?"

            "Negative, Dr. Cruz is here, and he will assess him as soon as you arrive."  Lee responded over his radio.

            "Has his mother been picked up yet?"

            "Yes sir, Officer Billings is in route and ETA is 10 to 15 minutes."  Officer Blackwell told him.

            "Copy that, 1PC out."  Lee said before turning to Dr. Cruz as he walked out of the lounge with Sasha, Lucky, and Tom.

            "Alva, Sean appears to be in shock, so be ready to treat him, and I will arrange for him to be transported to the hospital if needed."

            "I won't know for sure until I examine him, but the facilities here should be sufficient if he is not injured."  Dr. Alvarado Cruz told him before looking at John.

            "I will need a room to work in and absolute quiet in here.  There cannot be any shouting, arguing, or crowding around him until I can get through to him.  He is in shock from what happened, and if we are not careful, it could cause him to slip into a catatonic state."

            "No problem, we will setup in the conference room, so you can treat him here in the next room."  John told him as he could just make out the approaching siren.  They had just finished clearing out everyone, and ordering them to stay near the main entrance while Todd and Dr. Cruz setup the room beside the room where the boys were resting.  Then they heard the wailing of the siren as the police cruiser came closer, and there was a screech of tires outside, and the siren cut off immediately.  As they came out into the hallway a few moments later, Officer Sewell came through the Emergency entrance with Sean in her arms.

            They could see that Sean was like a limp rag doll in her arms, and the right side of his face, his right arm, and clothes were covered with sticky, bloody gore as Dr. Cruz quickly had her carry him into the room.  John and Jerry were right behind him, but stopped at the door as Dr. Cruz called for Sara to assist him and for Todd.  When she came in, Sean was sitting on the edge of the bed as his tears slid silently down his blood stained face as Dr. Cruz knelt in front of him taking his pulse while Todd checked him for any physical injuries.  Next, Alva checked his blood pressure, breathing, and his eyes before asking Todd if he was injured anywhere.  Todd informed him that other than some scratches and a few bruises, that Sean appeared to be fine.

            "Hi Sean," he said in a soothing voice as he continued to examine him.

            "I'm Dr. Alvarado Cruz and he is Dr. Todd Sloane, but you can call me Dr. Alva and him Dr. Todd.  I heard that some very bad things just happened to you at school.  Do you think you can tell me about them?"  Sean did not respond to him in any way, and his eyes remained unfocused as he stared into nothing.  Sara handed Alva his medical bag and he immediately took out a vial of medication and a syringe as he had Todd push up Sean's left sleeve and exposed his slender brown arm.  Alva quickly measured a dose, and wiped Sean's left arm with an alcohol prep pad before injecting the medication into his arm close to his shoulder.  Within a minute, Sean's emerald green eyes became more focused, he first looked at his left arm where he got the shot and frowned a little, and then he raised his right hand up to his face and stared at the dried blood coating most of his small hand, and arm.  Then his eyes filled again, and he began to whimper and shake.

            "You saw some pretty terrifying things happen today, didn't you?"  Alva asked him soothingly, and Sean just nodded his head slowly after he lowered his hand and looked at him.  Then Dr. Cruz turned to Sara and said as he measured out another dose of a different medication in a new syringe.

            "He is beginning to respond, but the blood and brain matter is very distressing for him.  We need to get him cleaned up and changed, and then let him rest because his mind is barely processing what took place."  He told her before administering the second shot, and continuing his exam of Sean. Sara was speaking with Jeanne about what they would need when Shiloh came running down the hall calling Sean's name, but Jerry intercepted her in the hall before she could see him.  After he quietly explained everything to her, and Sara explained what needed to be done to help him; she went with Sara and Jeanne to gather the things they needed.  Jeanne got a plastic basin for patient use, and filled it with warm soapy water while Shiloh got three washcloths, and three towels.

            Sara brought two sets of pajamas and underwear that belonged to Ari and Simon to try on him, and John could tell that Sean was quite small for his age, but he thought that he was closer to Simon in physical size than he was to Ari.  Then Dr. Cruz explained to them about how to react while they were with him. He explained to them that they needed to act normal, and not to say anything about what happened at the school. Next, he watched how Sean barely reacted as his mother, Jeanne, and Sara came in and began to strip off his bloody gym clothes gently, then his sweat pants, and sweatshirt in silence.  He never looked at them, or tried to respond to what they were doing as they undressed him.  Last of all, Shiloh removed his still damp underwear because in his terror, Sean had wet and soiled his pants.  She also removed his socks leaving Sean completely naked in front of all of them before using one of the cloths to clean the blood and gore from his long, straight, black hair and his face.

            At the same time, Sara and Jeanne washed him thoroughly from head to toe twice before drying him thoroughly, and then dressing him in a pair of clean briefs and pj's that belonged to Simon while Sean's tears continued to flow in complete silence, but they had stopped by the time they had finished bathing and changing him.  Once they had finished, and Sara and Jeanne had removed the bloody clothes, towels, and the basin of blood colored water from the room. Only then did Shiloh speak to him.

            "Sean?  It's me baby, it`s Mama.  Mama's here now, and you are safe.  Talk to me Sean, just say something please."  Shiloh pleaded to him as she gently held his face and looked directly into his brilliant green eyes.  His behavior just now was completely unlike him because he had showed no reaction to them, or tried to resist as they stripped him naked in front of everyone.  She was becoming increasingly worried because she knew that he was very modest unlike his brother Sky, and that he would not allow anyone to see him naked except her and his brothers.  Yet, he did not react at all, try to stop them, or cover his privates even when Sara had washed him causing his young circumcised penis to spring to life as it quickly reached its four-inch length briefly before subsiding just as quick.  Finally, Sean blinked a few times after hearing his mother's voice, his eyes focused on her for just a moment before he raised his right hand to his face again, only now it was clean, and he turned it as if inspecting it for traces of blood.  Then his eyes focused on Shiloh's face once more, and he blinked several more times, as if he recognized her for the first time.

            "Mama?"  He asked in a soft, weak voice as he looked at her, then he looked around the room for a moment before looking at her again.  He began to tremble and whimper even more as he asked in a weak voice.

            "Where am I?"

"Yes baby, I'm here...Mama's here for you."  Shiloh said to him as her eyes filled.

"You are at the hospital because we were afraid you had been hurt, but you are ok now baby."

"Th...the...they shot Mr. Br...Brow...Brown an...and K...Kyle.  The...they took Sky."  Sean finally stuttered to her as he continued to shake all over.  "They ki...kill...ed the m...ma...man who was tr...try...ing to take m...me."  His breathing was becoming labored, and making a whistling sound as he struggled to inhale air through his constricted airways.  Shiloh quickly quieted him, brought out a small fast acting inhaler, and held it to his mouth before pressing it.  It sent a measured dose of medication quickly into his throat and some even made it into his lungs.  His labored breathing began to ease a little, and then Shiloh gave him another shot from his fast acting inhaler.  After another long minute passed, Sean's breathing was much better as she held him in her arms.

            "I know baby, everything is going to be all right.  That man was a very bad man who wanted to hurt you.  Your Daddy is here too, and he is going to get Sky back before they can hurt him, I promise."  She told him as her tears slipped down her face and Sean just nodded.  He finally broke out of the state of shock he was in, and said to her in the same weak, frightened voice as he began to hiccup.

"The cop sh...shot him.  He...he fell on to...top of me.  Th...there wa...was b...bl...blood ever...everywhere.  It...it...it was all over m...m...me, Mama."  He whimpered and hiccupped as she embraced him, and then he began to sob into her chest.  Soft whimpers at first, and then painful, wracking sobs were soon pouring out of him as his mind processed the horrible events that had taken place an hour earlier.

"It is all right, baby.  We made it all right, it is all gone now, and you are all clean Sean.  Mama's here now, so is your Daddy.  You are safe, and we will not let anyone hurt you.  Your Daddy is going to go get your brother, and bring him home safe too.  I promise baby that we will bring Sky home safe."  Shiloh told him softly as she pulled him into her lap and began rocking him back and forth while he hugged her tightly and cried.

            "That was close, but I think he's going to be ok now," Dr. Cruz told Jerry and the others in the hall.

            "His mind is now processing what happened, and the medications I gave him will make him go to sleep in a few minutes. If you go in there Jerry, try to reassure him that his brother is alive, and that we are working to bring him home safe.  For the rest of you, we need to leave them alone for now because Sean needs to cry for his mind to process everything. The medications will make him go into a deep sleep so he will not have nightmares, but he will have them later on and we can deal with those at that time. For now, he needs to rest because he is physically and emotionally exhausted and traumatized by the events that happened."  He said while motioning them all to go back down the hallway towards the conference room.  Jerry hesitated as he looked at Sean and Shiloh through the door, and then over to Junior and Jeanne.  Finally, Jeanne reached up and kissed him on his cheek before saying.  "Sean needs his Daddy right now Jerry.  Junior and I will wait with the others until he falls asleep, then both of you can join us."  Jerry actually blushed before nodding his head.

"Thanks honey, I love you."  He said as he hugged her, and then he wrapped one arm around Junior, pulling him into his embrace with Jeanne.

"I love all of you so much, and I promise I will make things right for all of us.  There won't be anymore hiding, and we will all be a family as we should have been a long time ago."  He said as he hugged and kissed them once more, then went inside the room, and knelt beside Shiloh and Sean while John went and put Sean's bloody and soiled clothes in a bag before joining the others with Jeanne and Junior.

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3:20 PM -- (20 minutes later)

  Once everyone was back in the conference room, Junior stood between his mom and John as they waited for everyone to sit down.  Nobody really said much of anything until Jerry and Shiloh finally appeared after Sean had went to sleep.  John stood up immediately, but Junior went over and hugged Shiloh as he began to cry.

"I'm so sorry Aunt Chi, I couldn't protect them like I promised them," he said softly into her ear.

"It is not your fault Junior, and you are not to blame for this.  However, you have to be strong right now for Sean and Sky, especially Sean because he needs you.  He has always been the sensitive one while Sky is the tough one. They are going to need all of us, but you the most, because they will talk to their big brother more than they will talk to me or your father."  She said as she tenderly stroked his hair, while softly reassuring him that Sean was ok and sleeping as she guided him over to Jeanne. However, she stopped for a moment, and studied Junior's face for a long moment before giving him a reassuring smile.

"You finally told him, didn't you?" She asked him with all of her love for him in her face. Junior just nodded because he did not trust himself enough to speak without crying again.

"See, everything is ok, and he doesn't hate you just as your mother and I have been telling you for the last couple of years. He may act like a bent nosed junkyard mongrel, but he really is just a big softhearted teddy bear underneath, and he loves you and always will. Now you don't have to hide anymore, and worry so much of disappointing him because he's hardly perfect himself." Shiloh told him tenderly, and Junior did cry again, but they were tears of relief and happiness instead of ones of shame and grief.

"Aye, I may be mule headed, but I have never been more proud of my namesake than right now even though I've made a mess of things for him and his brothers." Jerry told her and Junior, and then he hugged Junior and said.

"I am proud of the good young man that you have become, and no matter what you do, I will always love you for better, or worse." He said before gently wiping Junior's tears away with his handkerchief.  Once the three of them had calmed Junior down, Shiloh and Jeanne embraced warmly.

            "Let me introduce you to everyone Chi (pronounced as shy)," Jeanne said before she introduced her to everyone in the room that she did not know.  Then Jeanne went on and said to everyone in the room.  "This beautiful young woman is Shiloh Eaglefeather.  She is a lawyer specializing in civil rights, and criminal defense for the poor and for Native Americans, and the she is the mother of Jerry's identical twin sons, Sean and Skylar along with her being my best friend for the last 13 years."

            "Thanks Jeanne," she said with a smile before her face became very serious as she turned to Jerry and demanded.

            "When are you going to go get our son?  And would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

            "We don't know yet, but they may have taken Sky to try and blackmail me into helping them stop John's investigation into the sex ring.  They have also kidnapped the Mayor's son David, and are the people who are responsible for the threats against the boys' lives. However, John knows where David is being held captive, and he believes that they are taking Sky to the same place."  Jerry told her before dropping his head and saying.

            "If I hadn't been so damn worried about my pride, then this wouldn't have happened.  Now our son is in danger because I was afraid of people finding out that Sky and Sean are my kids. I am so sorry Shiloh for my foolishness because it has now put all of you in danger.  I promise all of you that from now on, that everyone will know that they are my sons, and that we will be a family from now on.  The other thing we want is for the three of you to move in with us.  We have plenty of room now that the girls are all grown up and gone, so you will be able to rent your place for some extra income. I know about all of the troubles the boys have been having at school, and we discovered today that this man we are after has been the cause of their rejection and humiliation at school on purpose. He chose the twins to be made outcasts so that when they disappeared that it would appear that they had run away. However, something made him change his mind and do an armed kidnapping instead, and we do not have a clue why yet, but we will find Sky and bring him back safe. I promise you that this bastard will pay for everything he has done to hurt Sean and Sky.  I also believe that the boys would love it to be with Junior every day, and above all, we want you here too because Junior, Jeanne, and I would love it if you moved in with the boys."

"Is that true Jeanne?  You really want me and the boys to move in with you?"  Shiloh asked her because she could not believe that Jeanne did not hold at least some resentment towards her, but Jeanne showed her that she did not by nodding her head.

"They are my kids too Chi and I love them as much as you do even though you are their mother. We would love it if you and the boys moved in with us, and I thought we should have done it a long time ago, but neither of us really pushed the issue because Bent Beak the Stubborn here.  At least now, we will not have to keep tiptoeing around him so much anymore.  I think we have all done a very good job so far because you and I have kept him from finding out that we knew each other all this time.  Do you remember when the twins turned 10?  Jerry came home unexpectantly when the twins were spending the night with Junior, and they hid in the closet when Jerry came in to say goodnight to Junior.  He never knew how many times he almost caught the boys or us together, but now we will not have to hide it anymore. That alone will help the twins more than anything else because they will no longer have to live in secrecy anymore, or feel that their father is ashamed of them."  Jeanne told her with a smile and both of them laughed with each other at the memories.

"We will all sit down and talk about this together after Sky is rescued, and you are not the only one to blame either Jerry.  We are all just as guilty for telling the twins to keep it a secret of who their father was."  She told him as she came over and embraced him.

"We really fucked up Jerry, but now the three of us have to fix it and save our son.  Once we have Sky back home, then we can all discuss the rest later."

"We will Shiloh," Jerry told her as they separated.

"However, first we have to make sure that you and Sean are safe before we take action.  I am going to insist that you and Sean stay with Jeanne and Junior under police protection for now.  We need to have someone take you home to pack some things for you and the twins for at least two weeks.  Once you and Sean are settled in, then we will make our move and rescue Davey and Sky before they are moved or hurt." John told her.

"No, I'm not leaving Sean right now.  I have to be here in case he wakes up."  She told him, while Todd and Alva agreed with her.

"Mom and I can do it Uncle John."  Junior said.

"Mom can get Aunt Chi's things while I get Sky's and Sean's stuff for them.  I know what they both like the most, where all of their medicine is, and where they keep their important stuff too.  I have been over to their house so many times that it's like my second home."

"Can you Jeanne?"  Shiloh asked her before looking at Junior.

"Of course I will Chi, just tell me what you want me to bring you."  She said with a warm smile before Shiloh looked back at Junior.

"What do you mean by important stuff Junior?" She asked him.

"Sean and Sky have a fireproof lockbox on the shelf in the corner of their closet, Aunt Chi.  It is where they keep their special things like the dream-catchers that their grandfather, Chief Running Wolf made them and other stuff.  Sean and Sky both have the key to it on the neck chains they wear with their house keys and medic alert tags."  He told her.

"That is what that key is for?"  Shiloh asked him, and he nodded.

"I have always wondered what those keys went to.  They have worn those keys around their necks since they turned six.  You gave them the lock box then, didn't you?"  She asked him, and Junior nodded again while blushing this time.

"Dad got me one for Christmas that year, and I thought that Sean and Sky could use one too for the things that are special to them.  It's where they keep all of their pictures of them with Dad, like when he took them to Disneyland when they were 8."  Junior said quietly as he looked down at his feet.  Jerry felt a stab of pain go through him when he heard this because he had promised to take Junior when he was younger, but never did, and he understood how hurt and confused Junior must have been when he learned that he had taken Sean and Sky.  He went over to him and gently lifted Junior's chin until their eyes met.

"I'm sorry son.  I know that I've screwed everything up, but I promise to make it up to you and your brothers if you will let me."  Jerry told him, and Junior just nodded his head a bit before speaking.

"To do that, we have to bring my brother home safe.  Then we can talk about all of this as a family like we should, ok Dad?"  Junior said to him after a moment of thought.

"You and me are going to do just that son, now go with your mother, and get everything your brothers need, and then let's go get Sky and bring him home."  Jerry told him, and Junior smiled with pride while nodding his head before hugging his Dad, and then Shiloh before going to stand by his Mom.

"All right, Junior and Jeanne will go get your clothes and belongings.  Tom, you need to go get yours and Lucky's things, we have the room, so you can stay with us, and the boys.  Lou and Ann are staying with Lee and Helen until we rescue Davey.  Once Alva clears Sean, the two of you will stay with Jerry and Jeanne, and in the morning, we will see about planning our rescue of Davey and Sky.  Junior, I need you to stay here with everyone for now while we go with Lou to setup the trap."  John told them, and then Jerry took off his sports coat and the shoulder holster with his 9mm Glock semi-automatic handgun.

            "You know how to use this son, and I know that you will protect your mother, Shiloh, and your brothers."  He told Junior before handing the gun to him, and Junior took it out of the holster and checked it carefully; making sure that the safety was on before replacing it in the holster.  Then he put on the shoulder holster and adjusted it to fit.

            "I will Dad," he said with respect while his eyes shone with pride.

            "Nobody will hurt them, and if they try, I will make them pay for their mistake."

            "Good man," Jerry said proudly before hugging him, and then he turned to John.

            "Why don't we saunter on over to the Governmental center Johnnie `O', and let's get this son of a bitch once and for all?"

            "Let's go, and if anyone else calls me Johnnie, they are going to be hurt."  John told them with a glare before smiling as the others laughed.

End of Chapter 6

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