Chapter 27

Dan lifted the seat back up into its forward position as he settled into the car with Jan. He thought about what had just been said and how he really felt about it. He dreaded the prospect of having to establish and maintain multiple relationships. However, his 15 year old body and a portion of his 50 year old mind were tremendously excited by the prospect of having multiple teenaged lovers. The hormones were raging in Don's young teenaged body. However, the realistic portion of his mind couldn't quite fathom how he'd manage to relate to a single teenaged girl. And - five of them!? What the hell was he to do?

If this really does play out that way then I'm gonna be stuck between Hell and Heaven.

As he thought his weird mix of thoughts he also scanned their surroundings. They soon got out of Greenville and onto US 13. They headed north towards Danielville. He checked their six for any vehicle that might be following them. His paranoia after the happenings of the day was running high and it seemed quite realistic. The padded nylon bag set between his feet had its rear portion propped up between his legs. One of his hands played with the zipper closure a bit as they drove along.

Jan kept glancing over to check Dan. He seemed to be watching everything around them as they now drove through the countryside. She reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her and saw that she looked a bit worried. Jan spoke first. "Why are you looking around that way?"

"A touch of reality-oriented paranoia."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"And the way you're playing with that zipper..."

"I'm thinking that we might encounter some more trouble. I want to be ready for it."

"More trouble?"

"Yeah. Things are just too strange. Me, being here. Worse - my having knowledge of Henry from our shared past. That insane Snottingham and how weird the combination of things he's shown me makes me think he's not really who he's supposed to be. Then, there have been those attacks on you and me. And Susie was being watched. I mean, are there others? Are there other things we should be on the lookout for? I feel like I'm in a combat zone. I know that feeling. I'm really very familiar with it." He turned and looked her in the eyes for a couple of seconds before she looked back at the road.

"Right! We've got problems. Maybe Dad will have some suggestions or maybe some of his contacts from his past service will be able to answer things for us." Jan shrugged and glanced over to Dan.

His focus on their surroundings got far sharper as a car further back behind them passed the second vehicle behind them. He turned sideways a bit in his seat and began watching the approach of whoever was doing the passing. As he watched the vehicle then passed the car right behind them in a powerful surge of speed. Dan unzipped the bag and drew up the collapsible stocked CAR-15 variant they'd stashed in the trunk for problems that might come their way while on the road. All sorts of alarms were going off in his mind. He checked to their front between watching the car behind them. A car was approaching in the opposing lane and the following car would have a chance to pass them.

"Jan, get ready to duck when that car behind us comes by as he passes." He nodded at the vehicle that was now behind them.

He had withdrawn the little carbine from the bag and extended its stock. It only had a 20 round magazine, but he was an excellent shot with lots of combat experience. The thing was nothing but a short-range blaster, what with it being fitted with only an 8.5" barrel. He drew it up to his chest, but keeping the barrel pointed down between his legs. Jan looked at him and checked the mirror and appeared to be getting to be truly nervous.

However nervous she might be, she just nodded. "OK."

He drew back the charging handle and locked the bolt back. He placed his left thumb on the bolt release and his right thumb now pressed against the safety and selector.

The oncoming traffic cleared and the following car now surged out into the opposite lane and began to pass.

"Jan. Duck!"

Jan hunched down behind the steering wheel as the passing car came up alongside them and Dan swung the CAR-15 in an arc up to the seat backs and pointed out through Jan's window. The passing vehicle had tinted windows. He couldn't see a thing inside the vehicle. Dan pressed his left thumb and the bolt slammed forward, chambering a round. And his right thumb rotated the selector around from safe to the full auto stop. His right index finger rested lightly on the trigger as the passing vehicle's windows came abreast of them. And continued passing them - nothing happened. The passing car didn't slow down as it went past them and reentered their lane ahead of them. It sped away at what must have been 80 or 85 mph. As it had paralleled their left side front panel he'd shifted his aim from Jan's window to the windshield, passing the muzzle along an arc above Jan's head. She remained hunched down and was looking out at the road through the steering wheel. Dan slid down a bit in the seat and just kept the barrel rested atop the console in front of him as he watched the car pull away from them. He watched and waited — hoping that there wouldn't suddenly be the sight of brake lights from the receding vehicle. He also kept checking the passenger side rear view mirror for another vehicle driving aggressively. That would be the way to do it - sandwich them and take them from two or more directions with enfilade fire or a plain old crossfire. However, one of the vehicles behind them had turned off right after it had been passed and now the other one was turning the other way onto a county road.

He thought about and reviewed what had just happened and slowly let out a gush of breath. He safed the carbine and dropped it down between his legs.

Jan looked up and in the mirrors and then over at him.

"You are paranoid, aren't you!"

"Yeah, maybe. Or, they saw I was prepared and decided to keep goin'. Who knows at the moment. Damn! I forgot to get their license plate!"

He shook his head as Jan let out a snort in response to his admission.

He returned the little weapon to its bag.

The rest of the drive to the Nichols home in Danielville passed without incident.

Well — that is, but for the continued teasing of Jan about Dan's very crazy paranoia.

And Dan could almost agree with her, but for the feeling that what he'd just witnessed had been a real attempt on them.

They pulled up in front of the house and parked on the street — right behind a Sheriff's Department cruiser that Dan thought might be assigned to Lester Thomas. They didn't enter the driveway as it was occupied by several other vehicles. Two were the personal vehicles of Henry and Gwen. Another one appeared to be William and Margaret Nichols' SUV. Yet another was a recent model and expensive BMW. Dan couldn't recall having seen that vehicle before. Along the street were several other vehicles. Dan began to think that they were about to enter a large meeting.

He thought about it for a moment and the paranoia arose again. He turned to Jan. "Let's carry our weapons bags with us. I'm still uneasy after what happened on the road."

Jan looked at him strangely for a moment and then nodded. "OK. That was odd how that car passed us. You might be right."

They got out and carried their weapons bags at the ready. Jan walked smoothly while Dan limped a bit from his leg injury. While Dan was a combat veteran, Jan was a rookie. However, she could shoot with the MP-5K she was carrying nearly as well as could Dan. They looked around as they crossed the yard. They reached the porch and checked around them before Dan reached for the doorknob.

He opened the door without entering the foyer. The two of them were still scanning the street and their whole surroundings prior to entering their house. And while they didn't have their weapons in hand, they had the bags partly opened with a right hand gripping the pistol grips of their weapons. Dan walked into the sounds of what might be several discussions. Those quickly ended as the security system announced that the front door had been opened.

He advanced to the end of the foyer and was confronted by two twin girls of age eleven. Terri and Traci Nichols screamed "Don!" and rushed him. Dan backpedaled in Don's body until he could stand behind Jan. She yelled. "Don't grab him! He's been hurt!" The twins came to a sudden halt at those words from their oldest sibling.

Within a few moments the foyer was being crowded with folks wanting to know how both teenagers were doing. Dan managed to get the door closed behind him as the press began. He wanted to yell but couldn't think of what to say. His urge and need to control the press of people was met by Lester Thomas.

"Hold up people! Look at the two of them! You're pressing them too closely! Look in their hands! They came in here with their guns! Back up! Something's goin' on!"

Suddenly there was a retreat of the press and almost as quickly Lester had his service weapon in hand. Only seconds later Henry Nichols was beside them with an H & K MP-5K in hand. Behind him was Susie with an autoloading 12-gauge shotgun.

"What's goin' on Jan!?" That was the question from a scowling Captain Lester Thomas.

Dan stepped up. "It looked like someone was trying to attack us along the road on the way back from Greenville. We're both got kinda alarmed over what seemed to have been about to happen."

Jan nodded while there were very vocal outbursts from their assembled families and friends. "YEAH! Don saw it and was ready for them. But the car just passed us and sped away ahead of us. Maybe it was just someone in a hurry, but maybe not!"

The whole crowd now fell silent for a few short moments as Jan and Dan made their way into the living room of their home. He saw Leroy and Tasha were with Susie, backing off over to the corner of the room. That's when he noticed Don's three younger cousins — the children of William and Margaret.

And so the questioning would soon begin. Dan quickly learned who drove the new BMW. It was Don's Uncle Matt. He'd driven over from Raleigh immediately after learning that his nephew had been attacked twice in one day. Matt greeted him and hugged his nephew for a moment before letting him go. And Matt Jennings wasn't the only attorney present. Martin Anderson was there with his young daughter Julie and older son Marty. As soon as Dan saw them he knew he needed to get something to numb the pain of what was about to follow.

He placed his gun bag on the couch and guided Jan to sit down beside it. He continued on to the kitchen and found a couple of tall glasses and filled them with ice. Gwen Nichols followed her stepson into the kitchen to help him but found him already walking into the dining room with the two glasses of ice. She turned around and was surprised to see him fill the two glasses with bourbon. Henry had told her about how Dan had had a drink in his office when he'd announced that he had been placed in the program. Now, it seemed that he wanted another one and was perhaps getting one for Jan. She had to wonder where this came from.

Gwen simply raised an eyebrow as Dan turned around with the two drinks. He just shrugged Don's shoulders. "I think Jan and I could use a little bit of something to dull the edge that we've put on since things got so strange today. I really feel like drinking the whole bottle, maybe. But I know better than to do that." The grin he gave her at the completion of that statement was a bit stiff from both the injury to his face and the topic.

Gwen snorted. "OK. Just don't do this too often."

"I hope not to." He again shrugged his shoulders.

He reentered the living room and found that Marty was talking with Leroy and Julie was clustered with Susie, Tasha, Don's cousin Addie, and the twins. Addie's two younger siblings were seated with their mother Margaret. Matt Jennings and Martin Anderson were conferring with Henry and William Nichols. Lester was speaking on his radio, standing beside where Jan was seated. Dan guessed that Jan's uncle was reporting their strange encounter on the road to Danielville.

Jan moved his gun bag to the floor and Dan sat down beside her. "Here. Drink it slowly and relax. This'll help take off the edge."

Jan smiled. "Thanks. I hope I don't get drunk."

"Take it slow and the ice will melt and help dilute it. "You should only get relaxed an' a little bit loose as the alcohol has its effects."

Lester frowned for a moment until he caught Gwen shaking her head. He shrugged and let it go.

The huddle of men nearby broke up as the doorbell rang. Lester walked over and stood alongside Henry as his niece's stepfather went over to see who was at the front door. His hand rested on his sidearm as the door was opened. They relaxed when they found Mark Mullins and his daughter Janet standing on the porch. They were welcomed in and Janet went over to sit beside Jan and gave her best friend a hug. She then moved around and gave Dan a hug and quick kiss on Don's uninjured cheek.

The twins observed this and came around to check out their older siblings. Janet smiled and got up, patting her place on the couch. Traci took that place and hugged her brother, asking how he was feeling and if he was hurt very much. Opposite Dan a similar scene was played out with Terri questioning Jan. After a couple of minutes the twins switched places and the two were yet again grilled about their conditions. As this happened Gwen and Margaret Nichols watched and listened. They were greatly concerned about how young Don was dealing with having been attacked. After his injuries and the amnesia of earlier in the Summer, he seemed to be adjusting well to the current situation. Though, both were concerned about his willingness to get drinks for both Jan and himself. However, Henry had explained Don's actions of Monday afternoon and had mentioned that the boy had simply seemed to be in need of treating the tension he was feeling.

The twins got up and their places were taken by Susie and Addie. Dan wondered how Don's cousin felt about her name. She was really named Adeline, but went by the slightly odd, contracted nickname. She attended the same middle school as the twins and Julie, although she was older than them and would be in the high school in the next school year.

Dan sat there and answered more questions. Addie was a very bright and pretty girl of 13 and was asking him about his experiences in the program. Dan tried to answer as best as he could. It was difficult as he was really an older man feeling quite out of place being thrust into the program. But, he tried. And Don's younger cousin seemed to be satisfied with his obviously negative take on the program. She knew of and understood about Don's 'amnesia' and sided with him in that it was a terrible surprise to pull on him to have placed him the program.

Susie soon sat beside him and gave him a hug while whispering into his ear. Addie moved over and spoke with Jan for a few moments before getting up. Her place was taken by Tasha. The two pairs hugged and spoke for several minutes as Susie continued whispering with Don. Gwen Nichols looked on and wondered why the two were being so nearly secretive in their discussion.

Susie got up and Julie Anderson came over to talk to Don about the three attackers who'd tried to rape her earlier that Summer. Julie was a year older than the twins and was beginning to look like a young woman. At twelve she was one year ahead of the Nichols girls and one year behind Addie, who was in the eighth grade. The three seemed to be friends, besides the fact that three of them were related. Julie closely examined Don's swollen eye and asked him about his other injuries. She told him how she was glad that he wasn't more seriously hurt. They continued speaking for a few minutes as Dan wondered why he wasn't getting more attention from the obvious gathering of adult family members and officials. It was beginning to bother him that they seemed to waiting for something else to happen.

Soon, Julie got up and Tasha slipped over to sit beside him. Dan looked up and noticed that Lester was now watching how Tasha was acting. This was beginning to become a bit alarming for him as he considered how Tasha felt about him. He decided to ask Lester a question to break up the man's concentration.

"Lester, where's Martha?"

Tasha's father smiled and answered. "She's workin' tonight. She was called into the hospital to help deal with those three boys you placed there." Martha Thomas was a RN on the Morgan County Hospital medial staff.

"Oh, OK. Sorry for adding to her work load."

Lester's smile got bigger. "That's not a problem, Don. It was all done in a good cause. She's told me about how that mean felluh who punched you is whimperin' like a baby. And his family is shocked that both of their boys went after a 'cripple' and got stomped. Martha tells me that they don't seem to know that she's sorta related to you. They're all upset and promising lawsuits and other things. I've already passed that along to both Matt and Martin. I don't think those boys' folks'll be able to do anything with those threats."

Dan nodded Don's head as he and Jan shared a glance. She'd also been attacked by one of those two brothers. Both of them had come at Don. Both had threatened him with revenge. Dan was beginning to feel like he might be about to descend into the world of the blood feud.

Tasha got back his attention. She pressed into his good side and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "How are you feeling, Don?" Tasha's eyes were both bright and tinged with concern. It was a strikingly expressive manifestation for such a young girl. Dan got an alarming feeling that he'd seen this sometime in Don's past. It was something that just seemed to be niggling at his memory.

Nigglingly familiar is what is seems to be! Damn! What is this I'm feelin'?

Dan observed Lester's eyes narrowing a bit and Dan managed to just shrug his left shoulder. Lester seemed to relax a little bit as if he seemed to understand that Don wasn't sure what was going on with Tasha.

"I'm doing better now, Tasha. I've got some new medications to help reduce the swelling and bruising. I'll be fine." He managed a smile of a limited sort with the injury affecting Don's face.

Tasha looked intense. She pulled his head and right ear to her lips. "You're damned right you'll be fine! And don't get into any more fights! I don't want to go through another day like I experienced today! Do you understand me!?" This was said as a very intense whisper directly into Don's ear.

Lester was watching as Don's eyebrows involuntarily climbed his forehead.

What is goin' on with this girl!? She acts like she's Don's old lover or somethin'. An' Lester's gotta be wonderin' about the why of what's drivin' her behavior. Damn! I sure as hell'm wonderin' about that!

He went over what she'd said to him earlier in the Summer and since. No, Tasha was still a little girl — although, a very insistent and intense little girl. And a near or actual genius of a girl, at that.

I'm really missin' something in the mix of whatever is goin' on with Tasha.

He momentarily re-considered whether Don and Tasha might have done something before Don's accident. But, she'd told him they hadn't, but that she definitely wanted to. Could she be pullin' another Susie act on him?

Damn! Damn! DAMN! I will eventually go crazy with all of this shit goin' on aroun' me and me not knowin' much of a damned thing about any of it.

The doorbell rang again and suddenly Lester Thomas turned away to go towards it. Tasha Thomas took that moment to pull Don's face around to give him a short but forceful kiss to the lips. Dan couldn't fail to notice that Gwen and Margaret Nichols observed this. Tasha then got up and went back to where the other teenagers were gathered.

Dan looked to the two Nichols women and shrugged Don's shoulders while Tasha was walking away. The two women just shook their heads a bit in wonder about what might be going on with young Don and some of the several girls who'd just sat beside him.

Dan turned to check with Jan and discovered that Julie Anderson had also gotten up and moved back to join the group of teens further back in the room. Jan was grinning at his expression and shifted her eyes back and forth between where her mother was still seated and then over to where Tasha had just retreated.

Dan just wanted to groan. AGAIN!

While this had been happening Henry Nichols opened the door and spoke to whoever was there. Dan thought that it had to be someone Don's father didn't know. Then, he heard the voice.

"Good Evening. I'm Jack Robbins and I'm Don's and Susie's Biology teacher. I called a while back and spoke with Mrs. Nichols. I have something for Don that was left in my office."

Dan grinned at Jan as he set aside his drink. He got up and limped towards the foyer. Everyone was watching him as he moved forward towards the foyer.

He turned the corner and there was Mr. Robbins. The poor teacher was standing there with five men starting at him. Dan broke up the tense tableau with an outburst of camaraderie. "HI! Mr. Robbins! Come on in! Jan and I just got back from getting me treated for all of what happened. Hey! I see you've got the shipping tube. Let me take that and you come on in and sit by Jan. Can I get you a drink? Beer, wine, bourbon on rocks, maybe?"

"Uh, thanks Don. I'll take whatever you have." The teacher handed him the used shipping tube. He seemed a bit perplexed at being offered a drink by a 15 year old student. However, he'd already learned to accept that Don wasn't the typical run of the mill student.

Dan stuck his head around the corner and saw that Gwen Nichols was looking his way. "Gwen, would please get Mr. Robbins a bourbon on rocks. He had almost as bad a day as Jan and I had." Dan twitched up one of Don's eyebrows and nodded to Don's stepmother.

Gwen Nichols just jerked her head in an affirmative nod. She got up and headed towards the kitchen.

Dan pointed to the empty seat beside Jan. "Mr. Robbins, please take a seat. My stepmother'll have a drink for you in a few moments."

Jack Robbins looked a bit confused but went over to sit beside Don's stepsister.

Dan was showing half of a silly grin on Don's face as he greeted the teacher. The men gathered around the entrance to the foyer were looking at him oddly. Dan looked at Henry Nichols and Matt Jennings and gestured them over to join him. He leaned in and whispered. "You seem to be waiting on somebody to arrive or something to happen. I hope whatever you're waiting on happens soon. I've got my best bit to show you, now." He tried a half-assed grin and shook the shipping tube. Something in it thumped around. The two older men looked at him sharply.

Henry spoke. "We're waiting for a friend of mine from the FBI. We worked together a few times and we still keep in touch. I called him about what has happened to you and he agreed to come and listen to us explain about all of the BS that's been directed at you. What do you have in that tube?"

Dan grinned and shrugged in a lopsided fashion. "A surprise."

Matt Jennings laughed. "OK, Don. Play your game for now. We'll see what you have, soon enough. I hope it's good!"

Henry studied his son and simply nodded.

Dan nodded Don's head in return and returned to where Jan was seated. He handed her the tube as Gwen was giving Mr. Robbins his drink. Dan spoke. "Guard this little item, Jan. It's our little surprise regarding that damned freak Snottingham.

Jan recalled the discussion between Dan and Mr. Robbins while they stood in the baseball diamond and her eyes lit up a bit. "OK - I'll hold onto it, Don."

Dan now thought of Abe and his possible imagery. He spun and limped over to the phone. He picked up the cordless unit and turned to Tasha. "Tasha, what's Abe's number?"

Both Tasha and Susie both sat up. Tasha just suddenly gleamed in anticipation following what she'd just observed. She hadn't missed what Don had done during the confrontation with the crazy V-P. She correctly figured that what Mr. Robbins had just brought in with him was that riding crop or whatever it had been that Don had taken from Snottingham. She gave Dan the number to Abe Rosen's room.

Dan dialed while wondering about Tasha and Abe. They seemed to be just friends. For his own comfort he could have wished that they were lovers. There was something about Tasha's behavior that was buggin' the Hell out of him. He knew it was there — whatever it was.

Dan got Abe on the second ring. "Hey Abe. How are you doin' this evenin'?"

They spoke for a few moments and then Dan asked the question. "Abe, do you have maybe two or more really interesin' video clips of what happened in the hallway and in class, today?" Dan had stepped into the dining room and so there was no one to hear his question.

"Yeah, Dan. You want 'em?"

"Oh, yeah! Abe, I've got to show some folks our friend the watcher and then how poh ol' crazy Vice-Principal Snottingham went damned near Postal on me. I know you got the first from when Tasha got that video y'all talked about. I'm guessin' you've got something from the Biology class. Am I right?"

"Yeah, Don. I've already got them stored on my system and compressed for ready sending as attachments. You want them now?"

"Damn straight, Abe. Let me walk up to my room and I'll make sure my system's on. Hold on while I walk through the crowd."

He exited the dining room and limped across the living room. He smiled at Jan and Mr. Robbins. He caught Tasha's eyes and winked. He mouthed "Abe Rosen" to her and saw her eyes get big as she realized what might be happening.

He lurched up the stairwell and entered his room. His system was in sleep mode and he activated it. He entered in his password and then went through two additional security procedures. He'd loaded the thing down with filters and everything else he could think of. As he did this he spoke with Abe about maybe reviewing his system for any weaknesses. Abe agreed to come over and have a look at his system.

They quickly got to the point where Dan had the system online and downloaded all e-mails that had been awaiting him on the server. He told Abe to go ahead and send him the videos.

He heard a sound and turned around to find Tasha and Susie standing in his doorway. He gestured them to come on over and they smiled in anticipation of what they were about to see.

A few minutes later they had several hundred megs of video files downloaded from Abe. Dan thanked Abe for managing the files. He then handed the phone over to Tasha as the download was completed. Tasha spoke with Abe and told him that his videos were perfect. She also wanted one of the units like he was always carrying. She extracted a promise from Abe to get one for her. She was smiling in a most wicked manner when they finished the call.

Susie had gasped and cursed a bit along with Tasha as they reviewed the attack by the crazy V-P on Don. Dan just sat there and wore a restrained version of his grim sorta grin as he copied the whole of the video files onto the little server that provided file content to the family's entertainment system. It would shortly be SHOWTIME!

They were getting up as the files transferred and they heard the doorbell ring once again. He urged the girls on down the hall and stairs. His limp was bad enough that he didn't want them hanging along behind him.

No way do I want these two followin' me! They might come up with a scheme to try an' do something like what Janet tried!

There was no way he wanted to try and jump three feet up into the air while descending the stairs!

The girls got down to the bottom of the stairs as Dan started carefully taking each step down in a sideways movement. He was now sure that he wouldn't be riding his bike for a few days.

Damn! It's sittin' there at the school. It'll probably be gone in the mornin'. Someone's gonna steal it for sure!

Then he thought of getting someone to drive him over and pick it up before dark. There was still another hour or two of light before dusk.

He shook his head at his forgetfulness. There were three licensed drivers in the Nichols household. And that's besides the other adults who would likely be willing to go and pick up his bike. Lester and Janet drove, also. Someone could go get it for him even if he was trapped here while undergoing questioning about the day's crazy happenings.

He heard voices engaged in greetings as whoever had arrived came into the house. One of the unknowns seemed to have a voice that seemed to be somehow familiar.

He got to the bottom of the stairs and Susie and Tasha were waiting there as if ready to catch him if he tripped.

Well, I am limpin' and lurchin' around like half of a cripple with this damned knot on my thigh.

Henry Nichols grinned as his son came down the stairs with what had to be a funny, odd expression on his face. Even with the black eye and the bandage covering the wound Henry could see that Don was in one of his recently developed moments of black humor. The boy he'd been was now someone who looked at the world a lot more like how Henry viewed it. After this day he feared that his young son might be even more cynical and paranoid than he himself was.