Who Is He?

It was almost dinner time when the shuttle van dropped the Hale’s and the Grayson’s off in front of their houses. They were the last to be dropped off, Cheryl and the Sanders’ had been dropped off at Bryce’s house and they were going to take Cheryl home after dinner.

As they were getting their luggage unloaded and sorted, Troy came out of the house and greeted everyone. Michael and Richard tipped the driver and they soon had all of their luggage where it needed to be. No one felt like cooking, so they piled into the cars and went out for dinner. Upon their return they separated, and went to their own homes.

Upstairs Chris finished his unpacking after helping Tyler with his. He returned to his room and sat on his bed watching TV for awhile before he felt himself falling asleep. He switched off the TV and settled back into bed where he fell asleep almost immediately.

 

---

 

Outside nearby, Jay tapped one of the two teenagers that were sort of loitering around on the back.

"Hey, Jamie, everything look good?" Jay asked.

Jamie nodded, "Yep, they’re all back safe and sound. Well, now we need to keep an eye out for those Marks assholes."

They bumped fists, "Sure thing. See you tomorrow."

The two teens turned and walked off, leaving Jay and Patrick to take over the watch. After they left, Jay turned to Patrick. "Hey Pat, do you think you can hold down the fort for a bit? I’ve got some business to attend to."

Patrick nodded, "Take care of it, I’ll see you later."

Jay turned and walked away. As he passed under a streetlight, and before he put his hood up, you could see that the blond highlights in Jay’s hair had faded completely away and his hair was now back to its normal dark color. He got on a motorcycle that was parked in an alley nearby and drove off. He had other important business to take care of that night before heading back.

After driving for about half an hour, he found the location he was looking for and parked the bike in a concealed place. He hung around in the shadows watching the door to a place called The Other Side. On the street nearby he saw some young guys who were obviously cruising the area looking to make some money. He saw one who looked pretty young, about fourteen or so, sitting on a low wall.

Jay finally saw the one he was waiting for leave the place. He was older, about mid 40’s. The man looked up and down the street for a few moments before making his way toward the young hustler. Jay watched the man. The man had been eyed by some of the older hustlers, but he ignored them as he walked up and stopped in front of the young kid.

The kid stood up as the man approached him. The man put his hand on the kid’s shoulder and talked to him for a few moments. The kid had a nervous look as he nodded and went with the man. He guided the kid over to where he had his car parked. He opened the door on the passenger side and gestured for the kid to get in. Jay started his motorcycle and followed them when the man drove off, when he was certain he knew where they were going, he drove past the car and got ahead of them.

He parked the bike in the back of a supermarket parking lot that was nearby and swiftly made his way to a house in the neighborhood. He hid in the shadows and waited. Soon the man’s car made its way down the street and the garage door opened allowing him to drive inside.

Neither of the two in the car saw a shadow slip into the garage behind the car and move into the shadows. The car shut off and the garage door closed behind it. The man reached over and rubbed the shoulder of the boy in the car before he got out. The man waited until the boy had gotten out and came around the front of the car. The man put his arm around the boy and smiled as he led him to the inside door. He unlocked it and stepped inside to turn off the alarm. Jay made his way to the door and put his ear against it to listen. He could hear the voices of the two on the other side.

"Welcome to my home Danny. Now that I can see you in the light, you’re even cuter than I thought you were. Would you like something to drink; Coke, Pepsi, Seven Up, beer…"

Danny gave a nervous kind of laugh, "No, Coke’s, uh, good."

Jay heard the sound of the refrigerator being opened and closed. Inside the house, the man pulled out a couple of cans and held one out to Danny.

"Here you are." Danny took the Coke held out to him.

The man motioned toward the back of the house, "Why don’t we go to my room where we can be more comfortable? You can clean up a bit if you want."

Danny shyly grinned and thanked the man, "That would be good, thanks."

The man smiled, "Not at all. Just leave your clothes in a pile outside the bathroom, and I’ll get them washed for you as well."

Danny looked nervous, "But I don’t have nothing else to wear while they get cleaned," he protested.

The man chuckled, "Well, you don’t really need anything to wear right away. They’ll be done for you by the time you leave."

Danny gulped a little and bit his lip, "Oh….yeah, I, uh guess you’re right."

The man smiled and put his free hand on Danny’s shoulder to guide him, "Come along, I’ll show you where everything is and then we can get comfortable and have some fun."

Danny smiled a little, "Oh, okay, thanks."

Jay heard them leave the kitchen and he carefully opened the door to peek inside. The coast was clear so he slipped inside, carefully closing the door behind him. He was completely silent as he made his way through the house. It was a pretty nice house, not too big, but not small either. He found a hallway that led farther into the house. He heard the sounds of the two people down the hallway and he waited for a moment. Soon he could hear the sounds of the shower being started and he moved silently down the hall to where he could hear the man whistling. As he neared the bedroom, the man could be heard as he talked to himself.

"You lucked out tonight, a fresh one, ripe for the picking and only thirteen. This should be a fun evening, you lucky bastard."

Jay gritted his teeth as he heard the man talk to himself. He moved up until he could look in the room. It was obviously the master bedroom with a large king sized bed. The man had already removed his shoes and socks and had taken off his shirt. He had just opened the top of the hamper to throw the shirt in, when Jay made his move. The man suddenly found himself with a vise like grip on his throat that kept him from crying out as most of his breath was cutoff. He tried to struggle, but found that another arm held him tightly against the person behind him.

"Hello Nathan. Don’t bother to struggle, it won’t do you any good," the voice menaced him.

Nathan tried to break free again, but the grip on his throat tightened and he started to feel lightheaded as the oxygen was restricted to his brain. He stopped moving in the Jay’s grip.

The voice continued whispering in Nathan’s ear, "Let’s see. You weren’t planning on doing something with this boy you brought home, were you? No, of course not, you’re just helping this poor homeless boy have a nice place to sleep and clean up tonight aren’t you?"

Nathan grabbed the straw that was offered to him and nodded a little in agreement.

Jay smiled. "I knew it. I just knew you were a Good Samaritan when I saw you pick him up on the street and take him home with you. Well, anyone like that deserves to be honored for that."

In Nathan’s mind, he relaxed a little and thought that maybe he was going to be okay, if he could convince the person who held him. The hands the held him looked like they belonged to a teenager and the voice matched a teenage boy’s voice, although there was something else as well; a hardness to it. He thought that maybe if he offered him money, and maybe the boy as well, he would be released. He tried to talk but the hand on his throat prevented him from getting enough air to speak. Jay felt him relax and heard the croak so he relaxed his grip enough so that Nathan could get a breath of air.

"Did you wish to say something Nathan?" Jay asked calmly.

Nathan nodded, "Yeah, take whatever you want. I have some cash and jewelry. Take the kid too if you want him, whatever you want."

"Hmmmm, whatever I want? How much cash?" Jay asked.

"I’ve got five hundred in cash in the drawer."

"Five hundred’s quite a bit, I’m very tempted. And you said I could have the kid, Danny’s his name, right?" Jay said.

"Yeah, yeah, that’s right…Danny, take him, he can be yours for the night or however long you want him," Nathan offered.

"That sounds like fun. So you were planning on having some fun with Danny tonight?" Jay asked.

"Oh….yeah…but I didn’t force him….he came voluntarily," Nathan said as he started to feel some relief.

"And, uh, how old is he, do you think?" Jay asked.

"He said he was thirteen."

"Thirteen, I bet he’s sweet. Maybe even a virgin." Nathan heard what he thought was interest in the voice of the teenager that held him.

"Hey man, how about the three of us have a party, you, me and Danny. You sound like a young guy; I like guys your age too."

"A party sounds fun."

Nathan grabbed what he thought of as another straw, "I’ll pay you too."

"What, five hundred?"

Nathan smiled and tried to turn around, but still could not move. "Well, if we both have fun, then we can be friends and I’ll give you two hundred, I was giving the kid a hundred for a couple of hours, and then I’ll take him back where I found him. Or you can take him with you when the party’s over."

Jay was quiet for a moment, "Interesting proposal. Let me think about it." After another moment Jay continued, "No, I don’t want to share. I’d rather have him to myself."

Nathan nodded his head, "Fine, take him and go; and like I said, let me go and I’ll give you the five hundred."

"Where is the five hundred again?" Jay asked.

"In my dresser," Nathan thought about what else was in the dresser. He had gun in there as well, if he could just get to it, he’d take this intruder out and claim the kid broke in and he feared for his life. He’d plant one of the kitchen knives on the kid, so it looked like he tried to stab him. He was starting to feel better about this situation. He’d have to get Danny out of here though before the cops got here. He’d pay Danny the hundred and tell him to leave. Yeah that would work.

"Let me loose and I’ll get the money from my dresser for you," he said.

There was silence in the room. They heard the shower being turned off.

"I have one more question. Do you think that Matt, the boy that you assaulted last year, would let you get away with doing this with another boy? I don’t think so. He’s kinda messed up right now about it, but he’ll get better……you won’t." Nathan froze at the mention of Matt. "You know he tried to kill himself. Luckily his mom found him in time. You got away with it, but that ends now."

Nathan had become the boyfriend of the boy’s mother and they had gone out a few times. Nathan worked at being a friend to Matt as well, and since Matt’s parents were divorced, he liked the attention that his mom’s boyfriend gave him. One night his mom had to be out of town and Nathan had volunteered to watch Matt. She agreed and left him in his care. That weekend started several week’s of molestation of the boy. Nathan kept him silent by threatening Matt that he would kill both him and his mother if he said anything to her. He showed Matt his gun to emphasize the point.

Matt went along with it until he became withdrawn enough that his mom noticed and got him to tell her what was going on. When she heard what was going on, she immediately called the police and Nathan was arrested. However, he had been very careful and had a good lawyer who got him released on bail. Nathan had also hidden anything incriminating in a hidden place out at another house that he owned under a different name. Matt eventually tried to hang himself, but his mother found him in time to prevent it. He had gone to therapy and was finally able to handle it. She became afraid that the trauma of a trial would hurt Matt more, so with only Matt’s testimony, they declined to prosecute at that time. Matt was not the first one that Nathan had done this too. Just the first one that he had been caught molesting, the others had been too scared. He remembered reading about the suicide attempt and he decided to move away from the area as soon as he could. The voice of the teenager holding him brought him out of his thoughts.

"Well Nathan, any last words," Jay asked him.

"Please don….."

His voice was cut off as the grip tightened on his throat. He felt warmth at his crotch as he peed his pants. He felt something sharp at his neck and then a slight pain and a warm wetness across the front of his bare chest as the coppery smell of blood filled the air.

When Jay was done, he wiped the knife on the man’s bed sheet and turned to the dresser. He looked through it, finding the five hundred and the gun. He put the money in his pocket and had just put the knife away when the door to the bathroom opened and Danny walked out with a towel around his waist. He got very scared when he saw the guy in the hooded sweatshirt walking toward him. He opened his mouth to scream, but Jay rushed forward and clamped his hand on Danny’s mouth to stifle the sound. Danny’s eyes were wide in fear, as he tried to see the face under the hood. All he saw were the blue eyes that looked back at him.

"Shhh, bud. I won’t hurt you. You’re safe now. I’m taking you to a safe place. Trust me. You don’t want to be doing this, believe me. There are safer places for you. If I take my hand off can I trust you to not scream, please?"

Danny looked at Jay’s eyes, the gentle tone he used and he relaxed. Jay took his hand away. When he did, Danny got a glimpse down the hall and he saw Nathan’s legs sticking out from behind the bed. His eyes got wide again and he started to open his mouth to scream for help, when Jay covered his mouth again. He glanced behind him to the bedroom before turning back to Danny.

"Don’t worry about him. He has hurt a lot of other boys and I wanted to save you from him, so he got what he deserved. Come on, grab your clothes and get dressed."

Danny numbly bent down and grabbed his clothes. Jay gently moved him back into the bathroom and stood so as to block his view to the bedroom. Danny slipped his underwear and pants on underneath the towel before he removed it. Jay took it from him and started wiping down all the surfaces in the room. He grabbed the Coke can from where Danny had put it down. He asked Danny about anything else that he might have touched in here.

He next ushered Danny toward the kitchen and as he went through the house, he would ask about anything else that Danny had touched. Jay wiped each surface down as the places were pointed out. Soon they were through and into the garage. Jay reached inside the car and got the garage door remote. He wiped everything down on the car where Danny might have touched it, before he threw the towel on top of the washer. He activated the remote and gently guided Danny outside and into the shadows at the side of the garage. He closed the door behind them and crouched down with his back against the outside wall of the garage, pulling Danny down beside him.

"What’s your last name Danny?" Jay asked.

"Danny Harris," Danny replied.

"Why were you on the street?"

Danny started to tear up, "I couldn’t stand the guys at the group home where I was living. They kept beating on me, and were hinting at doing more, so I ran away."

Jay nodded, "How long have you been on the streets?"

"A week," Danny mumbled.

"How long have you been hustling?"

A tear slipped down his cheek, "This…this was the first time. I was hungry. I haven’t eaten for two days and needed to eat something. I heard you could make some money if you let men…do things with you."

Jay squeezed his shoulder, "Well, that’s the first thing we’ll take care of before I get you to a safe place. C’mon."

Danny looked at him, "Where are we going?"

Jay smiled, "To get you some food, then we’ll go to a nice place where you can stay without worrying about others picking on you or beating you up. Trust me. I would never hurt you. Not like that piece of shit in there."

Danny nodded, "Okay."

Jay stood up and reached a hand down to help Danny up. He placed his arm across Danny’s shoulder and walked him to the supermarket where his motorcycle was parked. There was a McDonald’s there, so he took him there first and ordered him a couple of cheeseburgers, fries and a drink. They went to the outside patio to sit. Jay sat across from Danny and watched him eat.

"How come you ain’t eating?" Danny asked.

"Oh, I ate a little while ago. I’m not hungry," Jay told him.

"Oh." Danny looked down for a few moments. "Why did you do that?" he asked quietly.

"Do what," Jay asked with a small smile.

"Save me."

Jay looked at the nervous boy, "No one should be forced to have to do what you were doing. I don’t mean he forced you, but circumstances forced you and that is not in any way right. You deserve to have a good life with a loving family, and that’s what we’re going to try to do for you. We know lots of people and I’m sure we can find someone who would be happy to have you in their family."

"Are you like Social Services?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, sorta, but we get better results. Trust me. From now on, only good things will happen to you. I haven’t steered you wrong yet, have I?" Jay smiled at him, trying to put him at ease.

"No, but…" Danny stopped what he was going to say.

"But…..?" Danny shook his head. "You, no, forget it."

Jay put his hand on Danny’s arm. "What. C’mon tell me."

Danny looked around before he leaned forward so that only Jay could hear is voice, "Did you kill that guy?"

Jay was silent as he looked at Danny from inside his hood before giving a slight nod.

"People like that, who get away with crimes against a kid, don’t deserve to live. I told you he’s hurt lots of kids. You were probably his next victim. His last one almost killed himself because of that man. He walked away scot free. I just delivered justice."

"But you killed him," Danny protested.

"He would have gone on hurting other boys for many years. Now, other unknown boys are safe since he is no longer in a position where he can hurt them."

"Oh, but isn’t it wrong, killing like that?" Danny protested.

Jay nodded, "From one point of view, yes it is. Look, I don’t like doing it, but it is necessary. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one; especially one like that." Jay pointed back towards Nathan’s house.

"But you can get in trouble and what if you got the wrong guy?" Danny continued.

"Possibly, but as for the wrong guy, we never get the wrong guy. We have ways of knowing that he is the right guy, or girl, before we give them the justice they deserve."

"So there are more of you that do this?" Danny stated.

"Yep. Not a lot, but a few. The world has some pretty bad people, we only go after the worse and only when we are absolutely certain. All we ask is that you forget about what happened and have a great life with the new family you’ll get. Can I ask you what happened to your family?"

"It was a car accident. My mom and dad were hit by a big semi. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. The truck lost control on a rainy day and hit my parent’s car. I ended up in foster care," Danny explained.

"I’m sorry Danny. That really sucks."

"What about you? I haven’t really seen your face, but you sound like you’re only a little older than me," Danny asked.

"That’s a long story and we really need to get you to that safe place I told you about. It’s getting pretty late."

They got up from the table and Danny threw his trash away. They went to where Jay had his motorcycle parked. Jay unhooked his spare helmet and handed it to Danny, before he pushed his hood back and put his own helmet on. Danny finally got to see what Jay looked like for a second. Jay took his outer Jayet off and handed that to Danny to put on. Jay sat down and started the bike and had Danny get on behind him.

"Okay, hold on tight. We’ll be there soon."

Danny put his arms around Jay’s waist and they drove off. They hit the freeway and Jay revved it up, causing Danny to yell with excitement as he was having a great time. Jay pulled off the freeway after half an hour and drove through the town until he came to a big house. He pulled into the driveway and shut down the bike. Jay took the helmet and Jayet back from Danny and walked Danny to the front door. He pushed the doorbell and they soon heard steps inside coming to the door. It was opened by tall, powerful looking man, who towered over the both of them. He smiled when he saw who it was.

"Jay. Hey buddy, long time, no see. Good to see you."

Jay and the man shook hands and hugged. "Hey Cliff. Good to see you, too."

Cliff looked down at Danny, "So what have we here?"

Jay put his arm across Danny’s shoulders, "A boy who needs a good home and lots of love. Danny Harris, meet Clifford Jorgenson."

Cliff held out his hand, "My kind of boy, nice to meet you Danny. Come on in. Have you eaten? I could ask Janet to fix something?"

Jay shook his head, "No, we’ve both eaten."

Cliff cocked an eyebrow and received a small nod from Jay. "Well, come on in guys. We’ll get Danny settled in and comfortable in no time."

Jay shook his head, "Sorry Cliff, I gotta go talk to Robert."

Cliff nodded, "Sure. Come back and visit soon."

They shook hands, "I will, soon."

Jay put his hand on Danny’s shoulders and looked in his eyes. "Cliff and Janet are awesome people. You’re going to like it here and they’re going to help you find a new home with people who will love you and know how to make a boy happy, okay."

Danny nodded, "But will I see you again?" he asked.

Jay shrugged, "Maybe, I told Cliff I’d be back to visit, so if you’re here, I promise to visit you too."

"Can they get my stuff that I left at the group home?" he asked Jay.

Jay looked at Cliff, who nodded and put his hands on Danny’s shoulders. "We’ll take care of all that. You just concentrate on being a kid. Leave it in our hands."

Danny looked shyly at Jay, "Thanks, uh, Jay."

Jay smiled, "Good luck Danny. See ya Cliff."

Before he could leave, Danny put his arms around Jay and hugged him. Jay leaned down and kissed Danny on top of his head before turning back to his bike. He started it up and with one last wave he was gone. Danny and Cliff watched him until he turned the corner and was out of sight, before they went inside.

Thirty minutes later Jay pulled into Robert’s estate and parked the bike. He went inside and found Robert sitting at his desk. He pulled a mug shot out of his Jayet and laid it on the desk. Robert picked it up and looked at the picture.

"It’s done?" he asked.

"Nathan Fields will not hurt anymore kids. He had a kid there that I rescued. I took him to Clifford."

Robert nodded, "Good, they’ll take care of him; so no complications?"

Jay shook his head, "None."

Robert smiled, "Fine, good work. You’ve eaten?"

Jay nodded and smiled, "Yeah."

"Okay, thanks my boy. Anything more with Marks?" Robert asked.

"Nothing so far."

"Well, you guys keep sharp. I can smell something in the wind," he warned.

"Yes sir. Good night."

Robert smiled at him, "Good night son."

Jay made his way to the bathroom near his room and stripped his clothes off. He noticed some blood on his clothes that had not been apparent in the evening light, since they were dark colored. He put them in the hamper to get washed. Once he was cleaned up, he headed back to keep Patrick company while they watched over the families.

 

---

 

In the house of Nathan Fields a small pool of blood had formed on the carpet underneath his sliced open throat. He would not be found until a week had passed; a neighbor noticed that there were a lot of newspapers on the front yard and the mail box seemed to be very full.

The neighbor knocked at the door, he looked through the windows and couldn’t see anything. He had been over the fence neighbors for a year now with Nathan and this was not like him. So the neighbor went around to the back and looked in the other windows. One of the windows to Nathan’s bedroom was cracked open and when he neared it, he could smell that something reeked. It worried him so he called the police.

When they arrived they walked all around and tried all the windows. They couldn’t even open the window to his bedroom. It had a safety latch on it, so it couldn’t open all the way, unless it was unlatched from the inside. As soon as they got near it, one of them nodded to the other. They went to the back door and after inspecting it to see if it had been forced, they forced it open.

They made their way through the house toward the bedroom. The smell got stronger as they neared it. When they looked in, they saw the decomposing body of Nathan Fields and called it in. That evening many miles away, a mother and her son were watching the nine o’clock news. He had a current events report to do and they were watching so that he could pick something out for the report.

"…and today the body of a man, tentatively identified as Nathan Fields, was found murdered in his bedroom. Our sources say that the police have no leads at this time but are investigating. Cause of death has not been reported, other than there being evidence of foul play…"

The mother and son looked at each other for a moment and she hugged him. He got up and went to his room to write his report. From his desk he pulled out a letter that he had received a couple of days ago.

Dear Matt,

I wanted to let you know something. You’re safe now. Nathan has received the justice he deserves. He can never hurt you or another child again.

A Friend

He put the letter back in his lock box and looked out the window for a few minutes before smiling a little before he started writing. He looked up some information on his computer as reference and Matt wrote about an Anti-American protest in an Iraqi mosque. He got an A on the assignment the next day, the first one in a while.

 

---

 

About the time that that Nathan Fields was found, Randy and Leo knocked on the door of Zebulon’s study. Victor opened the door and ushered them in. They stood near the desk until Zebulon had finished his phone call. Once he hung up he looked at them expectantly, "Yes?"

"They’re back sir," Randy announced.

"Indeed, excellent! Then it looks like we are ready to put things in motion. I want you two to shadow them and give Victor constant reports, so that I know where you are at all times. When I’m ready to go I will send Barrett to your location and you can grab the kid and his friend. Questions?" he asked.

They both shook their heads, "No sir."

Zeb nodded, "Very well. It will take about a week to get things going, but at that time, I will want to move on this quickly."

They nodded, "Yes sir."

Zeb dismissed them with a wave of his hand and the two left the house. They got on their bikes and headed back out to start their surveillance.

Zeb continued his planning, while the summer continued for the boys as most of their summers had done in the past. Their free time was taken up with riding their bikes to the mall, going swimming at Bryce’s, hanging out at each other’s houses and just enjoying the summer. What they did not realize were the number of eyes that were on them. Some good, some not so good.

 

---

 

At the Marks estate a few days later, Marius closed his cell phone, looked over to Zebulon and nodded.

"I can have all the people I can spare from the community here two days after you let me know when you want them," he said.

"How many will that be?" Zeb asked.

"Thirty. That should be enough to accomplish what we want."

Zeb nodded in agreement. "Yes, that should be enough, barely. It will give us a numerical advantage."

"Good. When do you want them here?" Marius asked.

"I have one small thing to take care of. It is something that I believe will put them off balance, which will increase our advantage. Once I have that item taken care of, I will call you and await your arrival."

Marius nodded, "Then I will be on my way to gather my people and await your call."

Zeb got up from behind his desk and walked Marius to the front door. They shook hands and he watched as Marius climbed into his Hummer and drove away into the evening. He walked back to his study and sat down at his desk. Once seated, he reached over to the phone and pushed a button.

Victor’s voice came on the intercom, "Yes, sir?"

"Victor, have they been keeping you apprised of their location?" he asked.

"Yes sir," Victor answered.

"Very well, have Randall call me immediately," he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

Zebulon picked up his drink and took a sip as he awaited the return call. Victor called in on the intercom a short time later to let him know that Randy was on the line. Zebulon thanked him and picked up the phone.

"Randall, you have done as I asked?" he inquired.

"Yes sir. We’ve watched them carefully."

"Good, is there a pattern to exploit?"

"No sir, not exactly, but there is a general pattern," Randy said.

"What of the Furginson meddlers?"

"We’ve been careful and have not seen them. But that’s probably because we have been careful to make sure they do not detect our presence."

"Good. Starting tomorrow, I will be sending Barrett with a van to work with you. I expect you to take the first opportunity and take them. Take them both, if possible, and use the boyfriend to control the target if necessary. If there is no other way, kill the boyfriend if he interferes with you taking the boy we want. Once you have the boys, take them to the warehouse; you know which one, and let me know when you arrive. You must not be followed. Do anything you deem necessary to prevent that from happening, including using the boyfriend as a distraction. Are those orders understood?"

"Yes, they are, sir. What about the Furginson guy following the marked kid." Randy asked.

"I have equipped the van with something to defeat that. It is a kind of white noise generator that should block the Furginson’s senses in that regard." Zeb replied.

"Yes, sir we will let you know when we have him." Randy told him.

Zeb smiled into the phone, "Very well. I will leave you to it. Remember, you must not be followed. Furginson does not know about this place, and I mean to keep it that way."

"Yes sir. We won’t fail you."

Zeb nodded, "I know you won’t. The consequences will be dire if you do. Good bye, Randall."

Zebulon pushed the button to end the call, before making the next one.

"Marius….yes the plans are set….I expect to call you within the next two days to bring your people down here….good, I too am looking forward to this. It has been a long time coming….until then."

He returned the receiver to its cradle and pushed the intercom, "Victor, have Barrett come here and get the van ready."

Zebulon got up and took a seat in one of the armchairs. He picked up the remote and turned on the flat screen TV on the wall across from him. He tuned it to the local news show while he waited. Five minutes later Barrett came in the room. Zebulon looked toward him and motioned for him to come over.

"Mr. Marks. Victor told me that you wanted to see me?" he asked.

Zeb nodded, "Yes Barrett. I’m sending you with a van to meet Randall and Leonard. They will brief you further when you meet them."

Barrett nodded. "Tell them that I wish this accomplished within the next two days," Zeb told him.

"Okay, I’ll tell ‘em."

Zebulon turned back to the news as Barrett left the room. In the entrance hall Victor met him with keys to the van and gave him a cell phone with Randy’s phone number programmed in and let him out the door. A dark maroon van was sitting in front of the door. Victor pointed out a small device in the back of the van and explained its function to him.

Barrett nodded that he understood, got in the van and drove off. He called Randy and got directions to where he and Leo were waiting. Barrett pulled into the Burger King parking lot forty minutes later and saw Randy and Leo leaning against their bikes. He parked next to them, and lowered the tinted window as he turned the motor off. Randy and Leo walked over to the window.

"Zebulon said to tell you guys, that he wants this done within the next two days."

Randy nodded in acknowledgement of the instruction, "I think that’s doable. We’ll have to take both of them more than likely, because we have never seen either of them apart; which I guess is understandable. It just complicates things a little."

Barrett gave a malicious grin, "Two kids are no problem."

"Yeah, as long as none of the Furginsons show up, yeah." Leo said.

"How many of these Furginsons are we talking about?" Barrett asked.

"Maybe no more than two of ‘em," Randy told him.

Barrett waved it off as unimportant. "So how soon can we do this?"

"To take them, we’ll have to take a risk that the Furginson bastard will see us, but if we do it fast, we should be able to get away and be gone before the son of a bitch can stop us," Randy said.

"What’s the plan?"

"They have a friend that lives a couple of blocks away. They go over there nearly every day to swim in his pool and either walk or ride their bikes back home. There are a couple of alleys on the way back to the house. I figure we park the van in the alley, with you behind the wheel, Leo and I will grab them when they come by, throw them in the van and you get us out of here as fast as possible."

Barrett nodded as Randy outlined the plan, "Works for me, when?"

"Tomorrow, if they go to the other kid’s house." Randy looked at Leo, "Leo, you’ll conceal yourself near the other kid’s house. Once you see that they are headed this way, get your ass over here as fast as you can and let us know. Clear enough?" Randy glanced at the other two. When they had no questions he nodded. "Let’s go to the warehouse and wait until tomorrow."

Barrett nodded in agreement. Randy and Leo put their helmets on and got on their bikes. The two led the way out of the parking lot and headed to the warehouse that was located a few miles away. When they got near, Randy triggered the door opener and the three of them pulled in and parked inside, closing the door behind them. Randy got off his bike and walked to the wall near the door they had just entered and flipped a switch that turned on the lights in the building.

The warehouse was located in an office park area where several light manufacturing businesses were located. The warehouse was about 12,000 square feet. Besides the large roll up door that they had driven into the building, there were two smaller doors, one near the large door and one on the opposite side of the large door. The ceiling was about twelve feet high and boxes were stacked against all of the walls up to the ceiling. There was an office area on one side of the building. Besides the boxes against the walls, there was a table and some chairs near the office. The windows were located high up on the walls on two sides and were all blacked out with paint. This kept the inside of the warehouse fairly dim except for the fluorescent lights high in the ceiling.

The three of them went into the office. Inside the office was pretty spartan. There was a desk and chair with just a phone on the desk. At the other end of the office were three cots scattered haphazardly. A door near the back led to a small bathroom. Near the cots was a small table with a TV on it. They turned the TV on and watched it for the next couple of hours while lounging on the cots. They finally turned off the TV and the lights, before they lay down and went to sleep.