Path to Convergence
Copyright© 2025 by Vonalt
Chapter 6: Armistice
The meeting, with Karen participating, went about as I thought it would. It was an emotional session, with little accomplished in developing a workable solution. it was a therapeutic session for Karen, however. She got to express her berserker personality, and I shuddered at times at what Karen wanted to do to those who tried to kidnap our daughters. It would have been a bloodbath if she ever gained access to them.
I called for an end to the meeting and decided that it would be best to let everyone relax and collect ourselves. Emotions were running high, mine included, and we would be better served by working on a viable response when we were all less emotional and more logical in our thinking.
We had our takeout pizza earlier that evening, and all adults took time to be with the twins before their bedtime. I think that the girls were overwhelmed by all the attention given to them by their ‘adopted’ aunts and uncles. The thought that someone would have potentially harmed them weighed heavily on everyone’s minds. Everyone who was part of Mercer & Associates was there before the twins were born and had watched them grow. The thought that someone would stoop this low brought out the worst in all the ‘uncles’, especially the ‘Twin Mountains’.
Everyone was tense and wound pretty tight that evening. Some words were directed at people who normally wouldn’t have been on the receiving end, and emotions were running high. I organized a game of frisbee keep-away in an effort to deescalate the situation. Beast and the Dobermans threw themselves into the game, doing their best to snatch the frisbee, which quickly shifted everyone’s focus away from the attempted kidnapping. It became foolhardy to concentrate on anything other than the game when a 100-pound dog body-checked you in a full-on attempt to grab the disk.
I declared the next day as an official holiday, and everyone was to relax and work off today’s stress. Karen tried killing me that night, working off the stress created by our daughters’ attempted kidnapping.
I dragged my weary and abused body to the kitchen the next morning, and fixed myself the breakfast that my weary body needed to recover. Randy, Olive, and Andi were already there eating breakfast of cold cereal and toasted bagels when I stumbled in. They naturally all smirked at my delicate condition.
“Not one word,” I growled, “I don’t need the grief on top of the agony that I am feeling right now.”
That left my friends laughing at my predicament with no sympathy coming from them. It seemed that I had no friends, only acquaintances who took pleasure in my suffering.
I felt somewhat better after breakfast and decided to sneak down to the cabin we built for Mike’s detainment and see if I could hide there and get a nap to allow my body to rest and recuperate. The nap did the trick, and I was able to hide for a couple of hours before Karen sent the hounds out looking for me. It didn’t take long for Beast and the Dobermans to find me. Karen, Andi, and Olive trailed after the dogs when my hiding place was located. Karen and Andi threatened to lock the gate and keep me captive there if it would prevent me from being a target. I’m sure this was all in jest, but I subconsciously think that those two would do it to keep me from being harmed. I got out the enclosure before they could act on that idea.
My family and I went for a pleasant hike along the C&O Canal multiuser trail that was down the hill from our retreat while the rest relaxed and enjoyed themselves that afternoon. It’s been ages since we had done that. The girls had a wonderful time having the dogs chase after them, and the dogs enjoyed the chase as well. It gave them all a chance to burn off pent-up energy. It gave us adults a chance to relax and enjoy being a family. That reminded me that I still hadn’t had that talk with Andi about our new relationship.
We walked almost a mile before turning around and heading back. The hike was too much for little legs, and I and Andi shared the duty of carrying the little ones on our backs on the return trip. Beast and the Dobermans got a chance to check out new smells and trees to water. It was a pleasant time, the complete opposite of the day earlier.
The weekend was wonderful as we could be ourselves and not have to constantly be on guard. It would be us back on alert watching each other’s back come Monday.
We cautiously approached the house when we arrived home late Sunday night, and let Beast and the Dobermans check out the property before we went in. The alarm hadn’t been tripped and nothing in or around the house was out of the ordinary.
I called my friend with the special talents after our usual beginning-of-the-week office meeting Monday morning. I hadn’t found it necessary to call him for anything, until now. We scheduled a meeting at the food truck at noon once again, my treat.
He was already there when I got to the truck and had ordered for both of us. I filled him in on what had been going on with the rivalry between Mercer & Associates, and the other company owned by the corporation controlled by the organization made up of influential families and the movers and shakers of DC, while we ate.
I asked him to convey a message to the people behind the attacks on my company, and on my family. The message was simple; there was plenty of business for everyone to earn a decent return and be profitable. The physical attacks weren’t intimidating. I wanted the opposition to understand that they were influencers, not intimidators. I was the one with ties to the real intimidators.
Their attacks on Mercer & Associates were going to stop, and right now. No more attempted drive-bys, and no more attacks on my home. I made it clear that I would not retaliate, except for one thing. Those who thought that it was appropriate to attempt to kidnap my daughters. There would be no pass for that, there would be retribution, no excuses, and no escape when I found out who was responsible.
He told me that he was glad to see I was back as we were cleaning up after ourselves. The message would be delivered, and any response would be passed along. He said that I should wait for their communication until then.
Molly left a return call memo on my desk two days later. I glanced at the number, didn’t recognize it, and almost threw it away.