Chapter 46: No Longer A Game

It’s only ten o’clock and I’m deeply concentrating on programming my database when my cell phone brings me back to the real world with its moaning ring. The caller ID shows a call coming in from the Lang’s home. It must be Andy as it’s one of his days off.

“Hi, Andy,” I answer the phone sweetly.

“Hey, Tina,” he responds. “You got a minute?” He doesn’t sound particularly happy.

“Sure,” I reply with concern. “What can I do for you?”

“Do you think you could meet me for lunch?” he asks. “I really need to talk to you.”

“Sure, Andy. Is everything alright?” I ask with even greater concern.

“Yes and no,” he replies. “I’ll tell you about it at lunch. Shall we pick up sandwiches at Tommie’s Deli around noon and eat them at Carnegie Park?”

“How about one thirty?” I counter offer. “I’ve got to watch the front desk over lunch today.” Not to mention the fact that the park won’t be quite so busy once the lunch hour is over and it’ll take time for the royal protection detail to get in place. I was planning to take a late lunch anyway. “You’ll need to tell me where Tommie’s is.” Actually I know quite well, but I’m supposed to be the new girl from out of town, remember?

“Sure.” He gives me the directions. “See you then.”

I shoot an email off to Aunt Jen and Mrs. Harrison to let them know of my change in schedule.  I don’t want my watch dogs to be surprised and I need to borrow a car. Within minutes Aunt Jen emails back with permission to use her car.

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I’m a few minutes late getting to the deli and Andy is waiting on the bench out front. Judging from the half empty root beer bottle he probably arrived early. Also, he looks as if he’s in some kind of distress, and my heart really goes out to the poor boy. I hope I can find a way to provide some relief for his pain.

Observing Steph and a handsome man window shopping nearby doesn’t surprise me either. I suspect there are a few more of my keepers lurking about somewhere close at hand.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Andy.” He stands to meet me and I greet him with a quick kiss.

“It’s worth the wait,” he gives me a half-hearted grin and a sincere hug. “You look beautiful as always.”

“Thanks, Andy, but what’s wrong?” I ask with heartfelt concern.

“Let’s get some food,” he suggests, “then we can talk about it.”

After purchasing our sandwiches and drinks, we cross the street to walk through the bank’s parking lot to reach the park a block away. Helen is sitting on a bench reading a book, wearing sunglasses. I feel sure that Carl and Manuel are somewhere close by as well.  Remember those two guys who were checking us out at Shadow Cliffs the other day? Well, apparently my new security team was able to connect them with a variety of questionable activities. Everyone’s been on high alert since then.

Smoothing my long skirt under me as I sit, I unwrap my sandwich carefully and start nibbling at it. Andy just stares at his.

“Something’s really bugging you, isn’t it?” I comment with concern.

“Yeah,” he replies. “I didn’t think it’d bother me so much, but Mom told me this morning that she’s filing divorce papers tomorrow. She’s going to confront Dad with them when he gets home tonight. I expect World War III to break out in our living room.”

“You think it’ll get ugly?” I ask with concern.

“Yeah,” he sighs, “I do. Mom wants me to disappear for the evening and let her handle it, but I want to be there for her. I don’t expect Dad to get physical or anything, but I think that she could use the support.”

“Your mother isn’t wasting much time, is she?” I observe. Personally, I’m happy about that. I want her to distance herself from her husband as much as she can before he gets busted.

“No, she’s not,” he replies, “which is kinda funny. Last week she told me that the lawyer wanted her to find more compelling evidence of wrong doing before she made her move. Something must have happened because she was on the war path all day yesterday. When Dad got home from his trip she let him know that she was aware of ‘his activities’ in Washington and that she didn’t want him coming anywhere near her. I don’t think that she ever told him exactly what she’d found out, but she was pretty firm that he had pretty much broken through his thin ice.

“She came home this morning after I called you and spent some time filling me in on her plans. She showed me some official looking papers saying that they represented the end of her marriage. It was a pretty sad moment for both of us. How could something that started out so beautiful turn out so wrong?”  His voice cracks at that last statement and a few tears run down his cheeks.

By now, I’ve put my sandwich down carefully on its wrapper in my lap.  I put an arm around him and give him a hug. I don’t know what to say, but I can feel his pain. I just hold him for a now.

After a few minutes he composes himself and wipes away the tears. “Sorry about the melt down,” he apologizes.

“You’re entitled,” I respond, “plus,” I add to lighten the mood a little, “that was pretty light as far as melt downs go. You seem sad about this but not totally broken up.”

“You’re right,” he gives a sad smile. “I’m not broken up about it. Dad’s a jerk and this has been a long time in coming. I know this sort of thing happens all the time, but it still hurts.”

I try to imagine my parents’ marriage breaking up–it’s just too painful to imagine. This must be really hard on everyone concerned. “So what happens now?” I ask.

“I’m not really sure,” he replies. “I know that Mom’s called in some extra help at the store today so she can stay home to make an inventory of property. She wants to provide a division of assets to the court before he gets a chance to do so. She was printing out bank and credit card statements when I left home.”

I’m sure she doesn’t know about the offshore account. I bet she’d like that information. I just wonder how I can get it to her without disclosing my involvement. On second thought, I doubt she’d get to keep it anyway after her husband gets arrested.

“She’s already packed up some of his things,” Andy continues. “She had me carry a couple of boxes of clothes to the garage.  She washed the clothes in his suitcase and repacked them as well, so he has the basic supplies. She may let him sleep on the couch tonight but she’s hoping he’ll just up and leave.  She’s even made a reservation for him at an extended stay hotel out by the airport just in case.”

“She’s pretty thorough,” I say in awe.

“Yeah,” he agrees, “once she sets her mind on something she doesn’t let grass grow under her feet.”

I notice a couple stroll past us. They sit on the bench across the path and down a little. What do you know it’s–Steph and the guy she’s with. They look like two friends enjoying a pleasant afternoon except they both seem somewhat keyed up.

Gazing around, I notice that Helen isn’t paying much attention to her book any more. I also notice one of the guys from Shadow Cliffs strolling through the park–I’ll call him Creep #1. He’s carrying one of those popular messenger bag things which students use as book/computer bag; you can stash a lot of stuff in one.

“Did you hear me?” Andy asks.

I must have been distracted. “Ah, no, sorry,” I reply, “I must have zoned out for a minute. I was thinking of how awful this is for your family.”

Creep #1 has taken a bench across the park where he has a plain view of us. I really hope he’s just here to observe. My anxiety level shoots way up as he reaches into his bag. I breathe a sigh of relief when all he pulls out is a newspaper.

“Are you alright?” Andy asks with concern.

“Yeah,” I turn my attention back to him, reminding myself that I have to trust the royal protection detail. “So what are you doing tonight?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “I guess I’ll be there for Mom.”

“Are you sure?” I question his decision. “I could skip running and we could go out somewhere.”

“No,” he replies with a sigh, “This is something I have to do.”

Changing subjects, we talk about the upcoming camping trip. He’s not sure this is a good time for him to go out of town. He’d really like to go but is not sure this is a good time to bring it up at home. He’ll wait for an opportunity, but he cautions me not to count on it.

Eventually, it’s past time for me to get to work so we part ways.  Creep #1 is still there. Somewhere along the line he pulled out a camera and appears to be photographing the historic building and grounds, but I’m sure that I’m featured in many of the images.

As we’re packing up to leave–I give what’s left of my sandwich to Andy–Steph and her friend circle around to keep an eye on Creep #1.

Andy gives me a gentle kiss when we reach my Aunt’s car. “Thanks for taking the time, Tina,” he says appreciatively.

“I’m here for you, Andy,” I reply sincerely. “Let me know how I can help.”

A final kiss sends me back to work with a warm glow that doesn’t come from the weather.

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I’m not back long before I get a phone call from Mrs. Harrison. There’s something she wants to discuss with me so I’m directed to go to her office. My supervisor seems okay with that. I imagine, the call has something to do with my mission, you think?

Anyway, Steph and Helen are sitting in Mrs. Harrison’s office when I arrive.

“Nice necklace,” I comment to Helen as I take a seat. She’s wearing the runner’s necklace I gave her back oh so long ago in Alaska. I’m wearing mine today as well. But–then again–I pretty much wear mine all the time.

“It’s one of my favorites,” she replies with a smile.

“Well, ladies,” Steph gets us quickly on track. “I think we have a problem. We’ve connected the guys watching you to Mr. Rana. They’ve spent the last couple of days watching you, Tina, when you’re away from the office.  We’re pretty sure that they are just trying to get a handle on your routine. A phone message we’ve intercepted, however, indicates that Mr. Rana wants you removed from the scene just before Dr. Lang submits the big report they’ve been waiting for. He’s afraid that you might somehow disrupt his program. He is still trying to move heaven and earth as quietly as possible to figure out where you came from–frankly speaking, we’re equally curious. Anyway, the goons have been directed to make it look like an accident. We’re not sure if they just want you out of action or permanently removed.

“We learned from your lunch date with Andy, Tina,”–yes, I had my spy phone on and everyone got to hear my visit with Andy–“that Mrs. Lang is jumping the gun a bit faster than we’d hoped. When things hit the fan tonight, we suspect that Dr. Lang is going to try and drag Rana into the fray. This will only make matters worse.

“Anyway, Tina, our first priority is to keep you as safe as possible. Unfortunately you have a few activities that make that very challenging.  Foremost on the list is your running habit. Trying to cover you discretely while you’re out running is tough at best. The scenarios we can think of involve you being struck by a car or colliding with a pedestrian with evil intent. I don’t think these guys are worried about collateral damage either, so you are putting your friends at risk when you’re out with them.”

“I can’t just stop running,” I observe. “That would be out of character.”

“I agree, but there are a couple of ways we can handle this,” she says. “You can get ‘sick’ or you can get ‘injured’.  We recommend the injury–a minor one which will keep you working but away from running for a few days.”

“Can I get ‘injured’ after today’s run?” I inquire. “After all, I don’t think Mr. Rana will get wind of the Lang divorce until later in the evening.”

Steph looks over at Helen for ideas. “Do you think we can protect her tonight?”

Helen ponders this for a few seconds.  “Only if I can run with her. That means I’ll have to become more visible. We need to know the route and have some assets placed along the way. I could come out as being in her father’s unit and passing through the area visiting friends while on vacation. We were running buddies in Alaska so that’d be a good reason for us to get together for a run now.”

“Okay,” Steph reluctantly agrees. “We’ll risk it. You better make it a good run, girl, as this will be your last for about a week at least. Lang has promised his report by the middle or end of next week. Once that’s out, we’ll nail the bastards and you’ll be out of the woods.

“Next on the list is your time with Andy,” she continues. “You two cannot go somewhere private to make out without our prior approval of the location. You’ll have people watching you do it too. I know that gets in the way of the spontaneity of young love and all that–we’ve all been there–but we can’t protect you if you give the opponent an opening. Not only that but we absolutely need you to carry your smart phone with you everywhere you go and keep the listening feature on. Our double agent whose been monitoring you has received instructions from Rana to keep him posted on your whereabouts. That’s how that guy found you at lunch. We let him pass that information on to Rana because we wanted to see who he calls and who shows up.  We felt confident in our ability to protect you. If he’d tried anything in the park we’d have been all over him like a swarm of angry hornets. By the way, you probably didn’t notice the woman sitting by the fountain. She’s one of them as well. She hooked up with the guy we already know after you left. They were obviously comparing notes. We’re checking her out now.”

“So how do you want me to do this?” I ask her.

“Since you’ll be injured,” she responds, “I think Andy’ll have to come visit you at Jen’s house. If you stay on the property, it’ll be hard for them to get to you. We can set up any number of devices to detect intruders and provide an appropriate response.”

“In other words,” I conclude, “I’ll be under house arrest.”

“I wouldn’t put it that way,” Steph smiles, “it’s more like protective custody for Your Highness. I think you’ll discover that royalty feel rather restricted in their movements at times.”

I just roll my eyes and ask “This may be too obvious of a question, but why don’t you just bust these guys and be done with it?”

“First,” Mrs. Harrison breaks in, “they haven’t done anything wrong that we can pin on them. And second, we need more time to gather the evidence we need to bring down the network. If we bust them now then Rana will be tipped off and go underground. We’re too close to bringing down this network to let the investigation fall apart now.”

“Okay,” I agree reluctantly. “We’ll stay at the Mercer’s house for our visits. Is there anything else?”

“Yeah,” Steph continues, “There’s one more thing. Our cyber sleuths have found their way into the Lang’s home network. They noticed an anomaly with one of Lang’s emails last night.  It seems that he sent an email but it didn’t actually leave his home network until half an hour later so they started digging around his system and found some very sophisticated spyware infesting the system. They also watched someone from your Aunt’s house access the system in the intervening time.–which strangely happened right after you received a cryptic email message on your smart phone. You wouldn’t know anything about that would you?” She’s got that suspecting school teacher look–you know the one–where she’s caught you red handed doing something you shouldn’t. “Our geeks are pretty impressed with the software, by the way.”

I just fidget in my seat a little looking uncomfortable–and it’s not just the pushup bra, thong, panty hose, and three inch heels causing the discomfort. I try to look innocent, but–as Aunt Jen has repeatedly told me–I don’t lie well.

“Umm,” I cautiously reply. “I might.”

“Well, girl,” she continues, “you must be careful. I’d recommend that you stay out of their system for a while. We are watching Rana’s email, you know.”

“Yeah,” I respond, “but we can’t let Lang send the final report. If that somehow doesn’t get caught, then lots of bad things will happen.”

“Agreed,” she says, “but if you want us to be able to use that email as evidence–which we need by the way–then let us catch it. We have a warrant to do so–you don’t, so you’d get in trouble and we would be deprived of legal evidence. Why don’t you show me how our geeks can get access to your censor program?”

These guys are good–but then again you’d expect them to be with the taxes we pay to support them. Admitting defeat, I show her how to access and use the program using Mrs. Harrison’s computer. We add a notification email address for the FBI geeks. She makes me take my email address off the list.  I promise to be a good girl and keep out of the system–the ever honest Chris will kill me, but I failed to inform her about the other monitoring program. I’ll take that off later–maybe.

As we close the meeting, we agree that I’ll ‘injure’ myself on the job tomorrow afternoon and the Lab’s EMTs will take me to a local urgent care clinic where I’ll be diagnosed with a severe sprain by a doctor cooperating with the FBI.  The plan is to find myself alone in a part of the facility and act is if I twisted my ankle by catching a stiletto heel in some grating. Everyone knows how treacherous women’s shoes can be.  I’ll be chastised for wearing heels in a work area and be sent home with one of those plastic boot things and crutches. I’ll be out of action with the running team for a week and easier to watch. I’ll still be able to work.

I also filled them in on our typical Thursday night run so that assets can be put in place. Thinking of all the man/woman power being mobilized it occurs to me that this is going to be one expensive run. My moral compass, Brain Central, suggests that I should just do the injury right now and skip the run in order to make things easier on everyone but I ignore the suggestion because I really feel the need for my running fix.

Back in the office, I see Dr. Lang in passing while walking down a hallway.  I smile and greet him, but he just scowls at me and says nothing. If I had to guess, he’s even more unhappy than the last time I saw him. I cringe a little thinking of what’s waiting for him at home. It’s going to be hard on everyone. I just wish there was something to I could do to ease the pain for all of them–including Dr. Lang–but can’t think of a thing to do.

Late in the afternoon, my Lab phone starts moaning again. It’s Helen.

“Hey, Tina,” she brightly says, “this is Helen. I’m in the area for a week or so on vacation. Your father says to say hello. How’d you like to get together for a run sometime?”

“Helen,” I act happily surprised, “It’s great to hear from you! Dad hasn’t said anything about your coming, but it’s a lovely surprise.” I’ve been keeping up regular calls with my Alaskan family. “I’m running with some friends tonight, how’d you like to join us?”

“I can do that,” she acts excited. “Tell me when and where.”

I take a few minutes to give her the requested details.  Our double agent will now pass the information on to Rana. Maybe he’ll figure out that Helen is from the Major’s unit and keep his dogs at bay tonight. The hope is that the bad guys will become more visible without being unleashed.

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Helen stops in at the Mercer house shortly after we get home from work. The plan is that she’ll go over to the school with me.

Helen is obviously older and in greater physical condition than anyone on the running team. She intimidates the hell out of the guys when they find out she’s in the Army so they give her some space.  For the most part we just chat like old friends about things Alaskan and about my Alaskan family. Caitlin warms to her easily and asks lots of questions. When asked what she does in Alaska all Helen answers is that she ‘works for Tina’s father’ without going into detail. When I point out that she’s ‘Private Clawson’ she corrects me and proudly announces that she’s been promoted to Corporal as of today.

“And I’m responsible for my own team now,” she beams. “I’ll be going to the NCO Candidate Course soon and may make Sergeant after that.”

I give her a big hug in congratulations, “We’ll have to celebrate later.”

Caitlin notices that Helen is wearing the runner’s necklace that we’ve all adopted as our symbol.

“I see you have one too,” Caitlin observes while holding her’s out for inspection.

“We all do,” one of the other girls points out as everyone shows theirs off.

“Tina gave it to me before she left Alaska,” Helen tells them all, “I really treasure it. She’s a great running partner and friend.”

I blush as the other girls pretty much echo the sentiment.

“Let’s get running,” I change the topic and to break up the Tina Fan Club.

The run today is an out-and-back run. We take the same route every Thursday. Everyone will run for twenty minutes in one direction then turn around and run back. The goal is to see who can run the furthest in the twenty minutes.  In the end, everyone ends up back at the school about the same time–theoretically. In practice, the return trip takes longer and people straggle in at various times but not too far apart.

Helen joins me, Caitlin, Dan, and Ben in the lead group. We’re not really pushing too hard as most of us are still a bit sore from last night’s interval training but we are ahead of the rest of the team. The route takes the shortest distance out of town and onto rural roads where there’s less traffic and cross streets. I notice that Helen takes up position on the traffic side of me.

I’m a little hyper tonight keeping an eye on cross traffic at intersections.  We’re running opposite the traffic so we can see what’s coming our way. The problem with that is cross traffic is not looking our way as they approach intersections looking to turn on to the main road. There’s the usual unobservant drivers to watch out for, but in my mind every one of them is a potential bad guy out to intentionally do me harm. I’m beginning to rethink my decision to run today. I have an unexplained bad feeling about this. Caitlin picks up on my skittishness.

“What’s with you today?” She asks me. “You’re unusually cautious tonight.”

“I don’t know,” I shrug my shoulder, “I just have this premonition of disaster.” I’m also wondering how things are going at the Lang house–that is probably where the real disaster is happening.

“Uh oh,” Ben rolls his eyes, “women’s intuition. I hate it when my mother pulls that one on me.”

The three women in our little group give him icy glares.

“Sorry,” he continues to blunder, “but I don’t put much stock in it. It’s just an excuse to keep guys from doing what they want to do. Every time Mom pulls intuition on me, there’s something she won’t let me do.”

When’s this guy going to learn some tact?

“Ben,” I respond coolly, “You know, you’re getting to be a decent runner, but you need to learn a bit more about diplomacy.”

“What’s the problem?” he jabs verbally, “Can’t you women handle the truth.” Poor Ben–he just doesn’t know when to quit.

“Ben, buddy,” interjects Dan, “give it a rest. Don’t dig yourself into a deeper hole.”

Ben starts to protest, “I don’t get it––”

“Watch out!” Helen suddenly yells as she violently shoves me and Caitlin into the ditch along the road just as a car approaching us drifts onto the shoulder. The vehicle just misses us girls but strikes Ben–who was running just behind us– with a sickening crunch. Dan is barely missed. Our little argument had distracted all of us except for Helen.

“Everyone down!” Helen commands with great authority as she scrambles to check out Ben after scanning for additional threats.

Another car roars past us in pursuit of the offending vehicle–which didn’t slow down at all. In fact, I’d guess that it accelerated away from the scene.

Within seconds, a third car screeches to a halt near us with his emergency flashers on. A guy I’ve never met hops out with cell phone in hand. He’s giving our position to someone on the other end. Helen looks ready to take him down if he makes a wrong move. She’s pretty intense.

“I saw the whole thing,” the man exclaims, “Is the boy alright? I’ve got 911 on the line.”

Ben doesn’t look good.  Helen continues working on him. She’s stripped off her top and is using it to staunch some bleeding. Ben is unconscious laying in a crumpled mass.

“Get the EMTs here pronto,” Helen commands with calm authority. “he’s in pretty bad shape. He’s got at least one compound fracture in his thigh and some pretty serious abrasions. He’s unconscious but breathing.” The man with the phone relays the information on to the authorities. Pointing over at me, she adds. “I’m pretty sure that girl twisted her ankle, but is otherwise okay.”

I get the hint and start acting as if I can’t stand on my left foot as I attempt to rise out of the ditch.

Dan pulls off his shirt and offers it to Helen for use as a bandage. Helen obviously knows what she’s doing. She’s also cool as a cucumber.

By this time, there’s several other cars stopped and people are offering to help. I bet 911 received at least ten calls on this one. Two burly looking guys hop out of one car and Helen directs me to stay close to them and to get well off the road. I hobble out of the ditch, taking Caitlin–who is looking decidedly pale and is shaking–with me a few yards off the road where we sit holding each other with tears streaming down our cheeks. Dan stays with Helen as she works on Ben. I wish I could help but I have to act the scared and wounded girl. My two new keepers stand by us and are scanning the area constantly for new threats.

The cops arrive within five minutes of the accident and the EMTs are right behind them. At least four patrol cars show up. Those were the longest five minutes of my short life. Ben may be an insensitive clod, but he doesn’t deserve this. I find myself pleading with whatever powers control the universe to keep him alive. Two of the cops come over to us to see if we need medical help before they start investigating. When they see we’re shaken but have only minor injuries–mostly bruises from being thrown into the ditch by Helen–they begin questioning the other people on site as the EMTs attend to poor Ben. As they’re loading Ben in the ambulance, one of the EMTs does a quick check of my ankle and recommends that I get it seen to right way. They decide to not call another ambulance for me when Helen assures him that I have a ride on its way.

Those people who didn’t actually witness the ‘accident’ are thanked for their concern and sent on their way.

Aunt Jen, Laurie, the Sommers, and Dan’s parents magically appear within twenty minutes of the accident. Someone must have called them. I hope that Ben’s parents get to the hospital to meet the ambulance. My new keepers somehow fade away as help arrives. I never did see them leave, but I suppose they’re not too far away.

It takes over half an hour to answer questions and clean up the scene. Neither Caitlin nor I are able to describe the vehicle to the police when questioned. It was hard to see anything with Helen on top of us. Also, we were too distracted prior to the accident. No one from our group got the license plate number however the driver who tried to pursue the culprit managed to provide both a description of the vehicle and the license number. The car got away.

“Let’s get you in the car, young lady,” Aunt Jen directs, “we need to go get that ankle checked out.”

Dr. Sommers who is standing nearby comforting Caitlin says, “Here, let me help.” He effortlessly scoops me up in his arms and carries me over to Aunt Jen’s Subaru. I’m still crying softly.

“Are you going to be alright?” He asks gently when no one is listening. “How’s the ankle? It doesn’t seem to be swelling or anything.”

“I’ll be fine,” I respond. “It’s just a little tender. What a mess. God, it was so hard to see Ben laying there.” I can feel tears threatening again.

“Does this have anything to do with your spy activities?” he quietly asks looking deeply into my eyes. There’s no way I’ll be able to lie to him.

“Maybe,” I reply. “I’m not sure, but probably. It could, however, be the normal thoughtlessness of drivers everywhere. I’ve had to dodge lots of cars while running over the years. This time we just let our guard down.”

“Could be,” he allows, “please don’t put Caitlin in harm’s way intentionally, okay?”

“I won’t,” I promise him sincerely as he puts me down gently on the rear car seat where I can keep my leg up.

I’m beginning to feel bad for not bailing out of this sooner. I should have listened to my premonition. The seriousness of the situation is really impressed on me now. I can’t help but think that Ben’s injuries are somehow my fault. If it turns out that this was an attempt on my life, then I’ll never forgive myself if he’s permanently injured. He looked really bad as they loaded him in the ambulance.

As we drive to the urgent care clinic to have my ankle ‘looked at’, I start crying again. Brain Central kicks in unexpectedly. ‘If these guys weren’t after you, they’d be after someone else and other innocent people would be hurt. That’s what they do. You didn’t hurt Ben, they did. Heck they’ve probably hurt a lot of people in the past. Do you really want them to continue?’ comes to my mind. At least Brain Central doesn’t scold me for not listening to advice. As I dwell on these thoughts my emotion gradually shifts from sorrow and guilt to anger and revenge. I feel a welling resolve to bring these guys down. They need to pay for what they did to Ben and I’ll never be able to rest knowing that they are loose hurting other people.

The tears have dried up by the time we reach the clinic. They are replaced with a resolve to do all I can to bring these guys to justice.

I want to kick some butt.

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As the end approaches, I'm resisting the urge to just jump to the last chapter. In my rush to complete this tale before real life spoils everything yet again (and it's looming faster than I'd like) I find myself making more and more grammatical errors. Thanks to the diligence of the ever insightful editing by Gabi we're staying somewhat on course.
Thanks Gabi!