Chapter 9



Things were finally smoothing out with Cindi. She seemed to be happy again. She had changed, however. Some of the changes were good, some not so much. On the good side, she was less shy than she used to be. I think our experiences together had helped with that. She also had developed more of a sense of humor than she used to have. She now gave Amy as good as she got in the teasing department. It used to be that Amy always teased her, and Cindi usually just looked at her somewhat blankly, as if she didn't understand. She was almost as smart as Amy was; there was no possibility that she did not understand. My suspicion had always been that she understood perfectly; this was just her way of getting back at Amy by acting dumb so she got no response. If I understood that, so did my little genius, so she just kept teasing. Now Cindi showed she really did have a sense of humor. Fortunately, Amy was very good at taking teasing, but it sure shocked her the first few times it happened. The first time Cindi teased her and pulled a practical joke on her, Amy just sat there stunned, but with a big smile on her face.

"Cindi! You did something funny! Wow! Did you think of that all by yourself, or did the big dork over there help you?" she asked, pointing at me.

"Ha! You know he would never help me to get you, his FAVORITE." Her smile took away all offense. I thought to myself 'WHO am I sleeping with?' "Besides, someone in this family has to have a decent sense of humor!" she said as she stuck out her tongue at her sister. I left the room at that point - no way was I getting in the middle of that one. Good thing, too - from the shrieks coming from there, a massive tickling attack was going on.

The bad part was that she seemed very nervous around boys, and she usually refused to go anywhere by herself, or stay home alone. Not that it was a problem - seldom did any of us go anywhere alone anyway, but it was the idea.

Amy and Cindi had always been very close. After her ordeal, they were even closer. Much of this was due to Amy. She had always had an uncanny way of telling what kind of mood people were in, and could read their emotions. Even before she knew what was happening with Cindi, she was trying her best to cheer her up, doing things for her, leaving her little presents where she could find them. Amy just loved to help people, and her family she loved to help most of all. She felt guilty for a long time about the one time she blew up at Cindi when they were fighting. I finally convinced her that it was the catalyst for correcting the problem.

As I said, things were going smoothly. Of course, the laws of nature say that cannot continue for long in a house full of teenagers. So, imagine my surprise when the next problem to greet us was from one of the adults in the family. A clue - it wasn't me.

One Friday evening I was fixing supper for when Victoria and the girls got home (yes, she was actually in town!) when the phone rang. Did you ever just know when the phone rang that it was not good news? Maybe it was because it did not ring that often - the girls usually got calls on their cell phones and were not home anyway, Victoria was on her way home from work, and no one usually called me. Whatever the reason, somehow I just knew.

It was the highway patrol, informing me that Victoria had been in a car accident on the way home from work, and I needed to come to the hospital right away. The girls had walked in just as I answered the phone and knew immediately, I guess by my face, that something was wrong. I herded the girls into the car and took them to the grandparents to drop them off. Of course, the girls wanted to go too, but I said no. I had no idea what I was going to find there, I did not even know if we could see her - she might be in ICU. They would not tell me anything over the phone. All I knew was that she was alive. Cindi was especially upset, of course, due to her recent previous experience with car accidents.

When I got to the hospital, I found that she was in a private room. She had been brought in semi-conscious, but was now just asleep and was expected to live and fully recover. Since this was the hospital I worked at, I just put my white coat on and had no problems getting in to see her. First, I stopped by the nurse's station and sweet-talked one of the nurses into showing me her chart and the doctor's notes. One of the nurses was the mother of one of the older cheerleaders, not one in our particular close group, but she knew us. The chart stated that the injuries were due to a motor vehicle accident, according to the police that brought her in.

I was glad I had not brought the girls. She looked much worse than she was. Bruises, contusions, no broken bones. Then I looked closer, and went out to find the doctor. I asked him what his findings were. He stated pretty much what was in the chart. I asked him if he was aware that her injuries were not consistent with a motor vehicle accident, but were more consistent with assault. He just looked at me, then stated that he just put down for a cause what the police had told him the preliminary investigation showed. That two others had been brought in from the same accident, one DOA and the other in critical condition. I asked him if their injuries were similar to hers and was he was willing to come in and look her over again with me, and he just walked away.

As I sat in the room with her, with nothing to do but watch her sleep, I was confused. What was going on here? Then, I began to think back to a couple of other instances in the past where odd things had happened connected with Victoria's job that did not make sense.

Victoria's job had always been a small sore point with me. Nothing major, except I did not know what she did for a living, or whom she worked for. I knew she was in the "service" part of the company she worked for, and I knew she was incredibly gifted at programming and fixing computers. I recognized that, because I was good at it too. But she could make them sing. I knew she traveled a lot, all over the country, many times on last minute notice. This actually worked out well for the girls, because on occasion when she went to a neat place, and she felt the workload would allow it, she would take one of the girls with her for a few days. They loved it. However, every time it came up as to whom she worked for or what exactly she did, I got a change of subject or evasive, non-informative answers.

Like I said, it was not a major thing. However, after 15 years of marriage, I thought I ought to know what my wife does for a living. Moreover, the thing that made no sense was that Victoria had always been an open book to me - she never lied to me, at least as far as I knew. It bothered me that I was now saying, "as far as I knew". However, a couple incidents in our life together had me wondering what exactly it was that she did.

The first incident had occurred two years ago, when the girls were 11 years old. It also would have shown me, had I paid attention and caught the significance of it, just how special out little girls were.

Two years ago

Victoria had a trip, planned this time, to go to San Francisco, for a few days. It was Cindi's turn to go with her, and this was a trip that Victoria thought she would have enough downtime to really do some neat stuff with her. Amy was a little put out that she wasn't getting to go, but I reminded her that she had gone last time and the two of them together were too wild for Mom to handle alone. That earned me a stuck out tongue and a pillow upside the head when I looked away.

A week before the trip, plans changed drastically. Victoria's schedule was changed in San Francisco such that there were going to be times that Cindi would have to be alone in a hotel room for periods of time in the evening and possibly at night. Neither of us were comfortable with that, so Cindi was not going to be able to go. She was devastated. Dear, sweet Amy tried her best to console her, saying they would have me all to themselves. Nice try, Amy, but that happened all the time anyway. I offered to take her to an amusement park to compensate. Amy even offered to let her have the next two trips, giving up her own turn (bless her little heart), but none of it helped. She understood and was not trying to be a pain, but she was just so disappointed. They not only looked forward to these trips to neat places, but also the opportunity to spend some time alone with Mom.

That night, the girls were at Rebecca's house for a sleepover with much of the cheerleading crew (wow! Not at our house for a change), so Victoria and I had the house to ourselves. We made good use of it; a nice romantic candlelight dinner and one of the sappy chick flicks that she just loves (ok, I like them too, and it does set the mood for later!), then retired to the bedroom for a night by ourselves. After I slowly took all her clothes off, kissing every inch of her body as I did it, I asked her if she wanted a massage. She squealed and giggled like a little girl (NOW we know where they get it) and dived onto the bed. She loves massages. I got out the oil and proceeded to rub her entire body to relax her. Of course, some of the areas I rubbed did not exactly relax her, but that's ok. We finally ended up in a wonderful 69; I sucked her clit and stuck my tongue as far up into her pussy as I could while she swallowed my entire cock into her mouth. Finally, we ended up with her on her stomach, with me on her back, taking her from behind with our hands intertwined together, as I sensuously kissed her neck. One of her favorite positions. Having been married by this time for 11 years and having sex for almost thirteen, we are usually able to time our orgasms together, and this night was no exception. About ten minutes later, as we were catching our breath, the phone rang.

We both looked at each other, and laughed. We knew what was coming, so we both picked up a phone and said in unison "What is it, girls?" That was greeted with peals of laughter and giggles as Amy and Cindi laughed their butts off. We could never figure out how they knew when we were done, but it never failed. I even checked the room one time for cameras and bugs (just as a joke, not that I expected to find them) but no, they had some other way of knowing. We never asked them, because we didn't want to ruin their fun.

As we were talking, Amy asked Cindi to go get her another soda. While Cindi was out of the room, Amy suggested that I get time off work and we could all go to San Francisco! What a great idea, and what a delightful child for thinking of it, just to make her sister happy. She asked us not to mention it to Cindi, as she wanted it to be a surprise.

Well, it worked out just fine. The squeals of delight, ear piercing as they were, while hugging each other and jumping up and down in the middle of the room when Cindi found out that not only was the trip back on but Amy was going too made it all worth it. A week later, we were flying to San Fran. The only odd thing was that the accommodations were going to be a little strange. Since another company besides her own was now paying for Victoria's room because of the change in plans that caused this whole thing, she could not have anyone else staying with her. No problem - I rented a room for the girls and me in the same hotel. Because of a big convention at the hotel, the rooms were on opposite ends of the floor, but we did not plan on the girls spending much time alone anyway with both of us there.

Things went wonderfully. We saw the sights, the girls got to shop ad nauseum, and Victoria and I even got some alone time while the girls watched TV in the other room. Everything was fine until the last night.

Victoria had to work late that night, finishing up, so I was in my room with the girls. We had watched a movie, and then the girls went to bed, so they could get an early start the next morning (those two get up early? Ha!). I was reading a book when I heard both girls almost simultaneously yell "Daddy!" Before I could even respond, both of them came running into the room where I was, looks of fright on their faces and hair all askew - they had obviously been asleep. When I asked them what was wrong, Cindi cried out "Daddy, Mommy's in trouble!" I told them they had just had a bad dream. Cindi was practically in tears; they looked at each other, and then ran up to me. Amy took my hands in hers, looked at me very calmly, and said quietly "Daddy. Mommy is in trouble". The hair stood up on the back of my neck - when Amy says things and uses that tone I always listen - she is always right and she does not get flustered easily. I asked them how they knew - they looked at each other, hesitated, and then said they had a dream. Both of them? At the same time? Amy looked me straight in the eyes, her large green eyes full of worry, and said, "Please, Daddy, Mommy is in trouble and needs you. In her room."

I told the girls to not open the door for anyone, even if it was me - I would use my key. Cindi was crying and Amy told me to be careful. I raced down the hall to her room. When I got there, the door was open and there were cops everywhere. My wife was leaning against the wall in the hall, down from the room, talking to one of the police officers. She had a couple of tears in her clothes and a bruise on her face. I looked into the room as I passed it and I saw two men, nicely dressed in suits, lying on the floor.

When Victoria saw me, she gave me a small, tired little smile and said something to the police officer she was talking to. He brought me over, and she hugged me tightly, then I asked her what happened. The police officer interrupted and said they had to take her statement before she talked to anyone. He arranged for a police car to pick me up at my room to take me down to the station, and a policewoman to stay with the girls while I was gone. I did not understand why I could not ride to the station in the car with her, but for some unknown reason it was not an option.

When I got back to the room, the girls were more composed. When I walked in, Amy said, "She's ok". I told her yes. I did not realize until much later that her statement was not a question.

When I got down to the station, they let me see Victoria for a few minutes, just to verify she was ok. Then they took her into a room to talk to her and I was not invited. I really did not like how this was going, the lack of information and the almost hush-hush way they were handling this.

I went to look up a colleague who worked there that I had worked with when I was in law enforcement. We knew each other by sight, but I did not even remember his last name and I doubt he knew mine. We had not kept in touch, and he did not know I was no longer in that field. I mentioned that a friend of mine was involved in an incident tonight that might be connected to something I was working on. When I mentioned the name, he looked it up and said there was no such case. For some unknown reason, I gave him Victoria's unmarried name. There was a case being worked on under that name. What the hell? He said a police report was still in the process of being filed, but the notes filed by the officers in the field were available. They were very interesting reading.

Victoria and I spent most of the night at the station. Before we left, I got a preliminary copy of the police report from my acquaintance, after assuring him it would not get him in any trouble. When the cops dropped us off at the hotel, all her stuff had been moved to my room, and I insisted she stay there for the night. She didn't want to talk much, but I got a quickie update on what had happened. She had come to her room, opened the door, two men ran out, one hitting her in the head on the way out, knocking her into something, tearing her clothes, and that was it. Nothing taken, no one hurt, no big deal. Let's go to bed.

While she took a shower, I sat down and read the police report. Then, I sat back, stunned.

My God! Victoria had lied to me! I was shocked. The one thing I was sure of was that we never lied to each other. Maybe we did not tell each other everything or left out details, but not bald-faced lies. The police report collaborated her account to a tee, even using much the same words. It was also now under her married name. However, the officer's notes from the scene told a completely different story. It was listed under her maiden name. There were two bodies in the room. Both dressed in suits. There were signs, both on the bodies and in the room, of a fight. Three different caliber of silenced guns, since no shots were heard, had been fired in the room, one of which was a .25 caliber. A woman's gun made for a purse. Burglars usually did not carry guns. They did not wear suits. In addition, they did not fire on a lone woman interrupting a burglary. Nor did two burglars usually carry three guns, one a .25 caliber that incidentally was not found at the scene. Moreover, why would Victoria be using her unmarried name? That name was not on the hotel registry, or airline tickets, I was sure. But then, had I ever seen those? That was one detail I forgot to check out.

I didn't sleep very well that night; neither did Victoria. She tossed, turned, had nightmares, moaned and cried out a lot. We went home the next day. When we talked about it later, Victoria's account still followed the police report. She did not know I had seen the bodies, or that I had seen the police report and the officer's notes. She didn't know I knew she was lying. I never did get any resolution on what really happened. In all the turmoil in my mind as to what had happened, I completely overlooked and forgot about the "dream" the girls had. I thought it was also significant that it was well over a year before she took Amy on her next trip. Oh, and weeks later, when she was in the shower, I looked in her purse. There, in a small pocket in the bottom, was a .25 caliber Beretta. And a small silencer.

Present Day

I got up, went over to check on Victoria, then went out to get something to snack on, and some coffee. I never drink coffee, it was disgusting, but I did not want to fall asleep without knowing my sweetheart was going to be ok. I went back into the room and sat down again. My mind drifted off to the second instance of strange behavior.

One year Ago

Even though the girls were not competitive, we always made sure that if one got to do something neat by herself, that we did something with the other one too, something special. In this case, Cindi was going to a cheerleader "mini-camp" for the weekend. Usually, Amy would go too, but since she had sprained her ankle in practice a few days ago, she could not go. She insisted she was fine, but the doctor said no, so too bad little girl. Happy camper, right? Not! Amy is a really, really sweet girl, but if she doesn't get something she thinks she should get, and doesn't agree with the reason why not, stay out of her way for awhile. She does not get mean or bitchy, but she will kill you with sweet sarcasm. Believe me; you do not win a sarcasm war with Amy.

Instead, we decided to take Amy to a big fair in town, fireworks, the whole deal. She was excited; she is more a country girl than Cindi is. Cindi is the cultured, sophisticated, high class one, always dressed perfectly, never wants to get dirty or sweaty (unless it's for cheerleading; then she'll muck it up with the best of them and take two showers afterwards). Amy will get in there and get dirty for anything. She likes to tease Cindi, saying that is why God made showers. Cindi says her not having to get dirty is why God made Amys. Until recently, that is the closest to humor you got with Cindi. It is pretty funny, though.

The place was crowded when we got there, so we had to park at the very far end of a parking lot that was really a farmer's field. The fair was great. We had a great time, especially watching Amy run around, squealing at all the little baby animals she saw. Of course, she had to pick up and cuddle every one. I don't know why the girl wants to let every animal she comes across lick her face, but she does. As she would say, "EWWWW"!

After the fireworks, we all ran into people we knew, and got to talking. By the time we were ready to go, it was dark and we were on the back end of the lot. They had strung a few lights, so there was plenty of light, but it was still desolate. Ours was the only car left there.

I screwed up big time that night. Because of my previous law enforcement training, I had the habit of always keeping a close watch on what was going on around me. Always, always, always. Except that night. We had such a good time, Amy was bubbling over, overjoyed because of all the animal spit on her face, I guess (I'm sorry, Amy, that was mean), I was horsing around with her, and Victoria was watching us, amused by it all, that I didn't pay attention. I didn't see the three men approaching us until it was too late to run.

Victoria saw them about the same time I did. Since they came out of the dark, I don't know if I would have seen them sooner had I been paying attention, but damn it, you do not take chances with your wife and daughter. As they started approaching, cutting off all retreats except to the car, they began the normal crap of wanting our money and oooh, what fine looking girls, let's have some fun. My heart went cold as I realized how much trouble we were in. Two men were carrying some type of stick or bat; one looked like he had a knife.

When Victoria heard the remarks they were making, she turned to me. "Take Amy to the car", she said. Then she started walking towards the men. Of course, I ignored her; I was the tough guy who was going to take care of my family. I hadn't recognized yet, as she did right away, that two of them could engage us while the third one grabbed Amy. Then it would be all over. As I moved towards them, I noticed something interesting about how Victoria was approaching the men. Like she really knew what she was doing.

As we got nearer to them, my movement caught Victoria's eye and she turned her head to see me still approaching the men. She turned to me, and in a loud, strong voice of authority I had never heard from her, she yelled at me "Take Amy to the car! NOW!"

I remember thinking at the time that was the first time Victoria had ever yelled at me. It has also been the only time so far. I had been trained to respond to voices of authority, so I probably would have responded anyway. However, two other things galvanized me into action. The first was, as she turned to me and yelled at me, I saw her eyes. They were not the expressive, sparkling eyes of just a few minutes ago. They were flat, devoid of all expression, almost empty. If I was going to dare argue with her tone of voice, I sure was not going to argue with those eyes.

The second thing that galvanized me into action was the realization that she was right. I was in the awful position of having to decide if I was going to save my wife or my daughter. I knew instantly what she knew all along - I had to save Amy. She was a little girl, unable to defend herself. I just prayed that Victoria could survive long enough for me to get back and save her life.

I grabbed Amy in my arms and raced for the car. She did not complain, ask questions, or do anything to distract me; she just wrapped her arms around my neck and held on for dear life. When I got to the car, I opened the door, threw her in, gave her the key, and told her not to open the door for anyone except Mom and Dad. Even if someone else was with us, do not open the door. Start the car and drive out of there - go to the police. If we were not back in five minutes, do that anyway. I had taught her the rudiments of driving a car, so I knew she could do it. Then I closed and locked the door, and turned to run back to help Victoria.

As soon as I turned and looked, I knew I was too late. They had surrounded her and would be all over her in seconds. My heart was in my throat as I started to run. Since I was facing them, running with my head up, I got to see the most amazing spectacle I have ever seen.

I would not have believed it if I had not seen it, but those three men never had a chance. I have never seen anyone move with such grace, fluidness, and speed as I watched Victoria spring into action. As the first guy swung the bat, she just casually stepped inside the swing, grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm outwards, and broke his elbow with the flat of her hand, slamming into it with full force in the opposite direction it was designed to go. I heard the snap all the way over where I was. As she brought her hand back, she angled it upward and slashed it across the bridge of his nose, at the same time kicking him in the chest. He went down and did not move.

As the second man swung at her from behind with his bat, she dropped to the ground and swept his feet out from under him. As he went down, from a prone or nearly prone position, she almost literally kicked his head off. I have received some very specialized training in my younger days, and I recognized that she was not just trying to disable. In no more than 3 or 4 seconds, two of her assailants were down. I didn't see how the second one could even survive that kick.

I don't think the third man even knew what had happened as he started his attack. Or it was too late to stop. As he moved his arm forward to stab her, she just moved to the side, and kicked his arm while bringing the edge of her hand down on it from the opposite direction. Once again, I heard the crack of the bone breaking. Before the knife even hit the ground, she grabbed his arm, pulled him violently towards her, and slammed the flat of her palm into his face as hard as she could. He joined the others on the ground.

In no more than 6-8 seconds, she had done what I don't think I would have even been able to do, much less in that time. When I finally reached her, she was standing there, seemingly relaxed, with her hands at her sides, staring at the ground. I asked her if she was ok; she just looked at me with a blank look and nodded her head slightly. I reached down to put my hand on the neck of the closest guy, to check for a pulse. I couldn't feel one. Oh, fuck, my brain screamed.

As I stood up, Victoria seemed to suddenly come alive. She grabbed my hand and said "Come on, we have to go". I told her I needed to check these men and then call the police and an ambulance. She grabbed my hand even tighter and said, "We have to get out of here. Now." She sounded like she was bordering on hysteria, so, against my better judgment, I held her hand as we raced to the car.

When we got to the car, she got in on the right side, holding Amy in her lap. I was concerned about her. Her breathing was excessively shallow, and her color was pale. I didn't see any signs of injury, and from what I saw, they never even came close to touching her. I thought maybe she might be in shock, as she was trembling also.

Amy, bless her heart, seemed to know what to do. She pulled a blanket up from the back seat and covered the two of them with it. It was summertime, but Victoria seemed to be cold. Then she just held her Mom tight, kissing her, telling her it was all right, it was ok, she had to do it. She kept saying "Thank you Mommy for saving me". Victoria just held on for dear life, telling Amy she was ok, that Mommy and Daddy would save her. I reached over and felt her pulse - it was fast, as expected, but strong, so I felt it was more of an emotional and adrenalin overload situation than anything else. I drove home as fast as I could, trying to get home before Victoria shut down completely.

I carried her into the house, took her clothes off, and put her into bed, covering her up good. I checked quickly to make sure Amy was ok, and then I went in and got into bed with Victoria. I cuddled up to her. She held my hand, then kissed my hand, said thank you, and drifted off to sleep.

After I knew she was ok and just asleep, I went into the living room to check on Amy. She was just sitting in the same chair I left her in, staring at me with her big round green eyes. As I walked in, she said, "She's ok". Just as I missed it a year ago, once again I missed that it was not a question. "Yes, she is" I said.

I asked her if she was ok. She nodded yes. She looked like she was ready to cry, but Amy never cries, so she didn't.

Then she looked at me with big, sad eyes, and said "She probably killed those guys, didn't she Daddy?" I certainly wasn't going to answer that question for Amy. "I don't know, honey". Amy gave me this pathetic look, like 'how stupid do you think I am', then she giggled almost hysterically, and said in a little girl, singsong voice "Don't mess with Mommy's babies".

I told Amy I had to go out for a while. Don't answer the door for anyone; I would use my key to get in. If anything happened, or Mommy woke up, give me a call. She looked scared when I said that, but she said ok.

I called a good friend of mine from my law enforcement days, and asked him to come over right away and watch the house from the outside. He doesn't ask questions. He was there in 5 minutes. I had no evidence that this was anything but a simple crime, but what were the chances of the same person being involved in an altercation like this twice in a year, in two different cities. The family knows him, so I told Amy he was out there, so she would not get scared if she saw him. Then I drove back out to the fairground.

When I got there, there was no police cars, no crime scene tape, no evidence that anyone knew what had happened. I checked the field; there were no bodies.

Was I crazy? I drove back, sent my friend away, went in and sat down with Amy.

"What's wrong, Daddy?"

I asked Amy to tell me exactly what had happened. She looked at me as if I was crazy, and then repeated much the same scene as I had seen, with the natural differences due to distance and angle. When she was finished, I just sat there, looking puzzled. Suddenly, the light seemed to dawn on her.

"There wasn't anything there when you went back, was there?" she asked quietly. "But that's good, Daddy, cause that means she didn't kill them. Or at least we'll never know." Amazing. Certifiable genius.

The next day, Victoria woke up about noon. She seemed ok, just really hungry. I talked to her about what happened, and where she had learned to do that stuff. She looked a little embarrassed and said she really didn't remember all that much about what happened. She heard them threatening Amy and just went berserk. She said her dad had made her take some self-defense classes in high school. I pretended to believe her, but I knew it was BS. I have attended and taught self-defense classes before - they don't teach that stuff. Maybe she did go berserk. Maybe Amy is right - don't mess with her babies. However, that still didn't explain San Francisco or her training, or the gun, or the mysterious job or...

The next day I decided to find out more about what Victoria does for a living. I found an old check stub with the company name on it. I looked it up on the internet. It took some finesse to find it, and some special backdoors I knew about from the old days as it was buried under many layers. No wonder - when I finally found it, it had no sales, no revenue, no expenses, and no employees. It pays no taxes, puts out no quarterly statements. It's not listed on any stock exchange, and has no capital equipment. It has no officers listed. It's also a subsidiary of another company that even my backdoors couldn't find.

Well, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I called an old buddy that could find Elvis if he wanted to, and asked him to look into it. When I told him the name of the holding company, he immediately told me to drop it and leave it alone. I told him I couldn't; it concerned Victoria and her safety. He said he would look into it. An hour later, he called back and told me he couldn't find out anything and to drop it.

Ten minutes later I received a call from a man named "Bob". He asked me politely to meet him at the bar two blocks down in ten minutes. When I asked him what it was about, he said "your wife" and hung up.

When I got there, I walked up to a man sitting in the back. His nametag said Bob. I asked him what this was about. He told me where Victoria, Amy, Cindi and Katie were at the moment. I asked him what his point was. He told me to stop digging into what my wife did for a living, that I could cause all of us harm by doing so. I asked him if he was threatening me. He laughed, and said I had the wrong idea; their job was to protect Victoria and everyone special to her. He said my digging could expose her to others.

I told him I would quit digging if he would answer one question. Was she doing anything illegal? Was she on the side of the law? He said that was two questions, but he would answer them. Sometimes Victoria did things that would be illegal for others to do, but she would never be charged for them. Sometimes things she did were covered up. He looked at me and said "Like San Francisco". However, he assured me she only did those in self-defense. That there was no one more patriotic and law abiding that Victoria when she was given a choice. He sounded like he knew her well, and was proud of her.

I stopped my digging that day. A week later, Victoria and I were lying in bed, basking in the warm glow after having made love. The girls had banished themselves to their rooms in what they termed self-protection. As we lay there, she whispered into my ear "Please don't dig anymore, honey. The girls and I are as safe as we can be. Please? For me, for them, let it go. If I could tell you more, I would. Please don't make me lie to you". Then she put her finger on my lips to keep me from responding, turned over, and went to sleep.

I never found out what my wife does. From the information I dug up, I could take a wild guess. I do not dig anymore. We have never talked about it again.

Present Day

I stopped daydreaming and looked over at Victoria to see her looking back at me, with a tired smile. I went over and kissed her. I asked her what happened. She looked me right in the eye and told me "Car accident". I kissed her and whispered in her ear that she was a liar but I loved her anyway, and gave her a big smile. She looked shocked, and then said, "I love you too, now shut up and kiss me."

I called her parents, and had them bring Cindi and Amy down. I used my connections at the hospital to sneak them in, and we all piled into her bed to spend the night. It was awfully crowded, but what the hell, as Victoria whispered in my ear when Amy went to the bathroom "Cindi's used to sleeping on top of you all night long anyway!"

Victoria went home the next day. I never did find out what happened.