On the satphone, from somewhere far off, I can hear Kady crying.

 

She’s being comforted by Brett, who is also busy trying to comfort Sarah.

 

It’s unreal.

 

Ted Ghent was killed.

 

And then, to find out that the Old Man was assassinated, and that the authorities had arrested the Ghents and their Driver on suspicion of murder was too much.

 

Luckily, Martin had again come to the legal rescue of the Ghents, using all of the resources at his disposal to keep the lid on the story until all the facts were out.’

 

Still, the social media sites were burning up with the news that one of their own was in trouble of the very worst kind.

 

Pecker’s stock plummeted, and the Ghents saw their net worth dwindling before their eyes.

 

By the end of the day, they had lost billions.

 

Nonetheless, it didn’t matter to them.

 

Ted was gone.

 

Brett, Kady, and Sarah grieved for their father and husband, and nothing would bring him back.

—————

 

Brian Cox and Kim Wilder sat in their home, watching R.B. playing with some stuffed animals.

 

The boy never seemed to tire of them, and gurgled and laughed.

 

Kim watched, and her remorse at knowing that she was partially responsible for what had happened to the Ghents gnawed at her conscience.

 

“What’s the matter, babe? You look like you lost your best friend!” said Brian.

 

Kim, overwhelmed by the events of the day, and scared witless, came to a sudden decision.

 

“We need to talk to Derek, and we need to do it right away, Brian!” she said.

 

Suddenly, she broke down in tears, wailing and holding her belly.

 

R.B., startled by his mother’s crying, began to cry as well, and ran to her, frightened by the outpouring.

 

She grabbed him and hugged him so tight that Brian had to take the boy away from her.

 

She was unconsciously choking him.

 

Crying even harder, she tried to tell Brian about Kevin Mitchum, sobbing out the words.

 

“Kevin … threat…kill you, kill RB, needed Rache, Rachel…” she croaked out.

 

“Whoa! Kim, slow down, calm down, baby, it’s okay, I love you, look, we are all fine, it’s okay!” he soothed.

 

“Call Derek! Call him!” she said through the sobs.

 

“Okay, I’ll call him tomorrow,” he said, his hands full with R.B., who still wailed in his ear.

 

“No, call now! Now! You’ve got to tell Derek!” she said.

 

Brian, patting the boy on the back as he carried him over to his mother, set him down next to her.

 

She hugged the boy fiercely, but more carefully this time, and R.B. began to calm as well.

 

When they’d both managed to get some semblance of composure, Brian called Derek on the house phone.

 

“Derek, Kim is worried about something regarding Kevin Mitchum. Yes, that was Randall Mitchum’ s brother,” he said.

 

“Here, Kim, tell Derek all about it,” said Brian, handing over the phone.

 

“Derek, I am so, so sorry!” Kim wailed into the phone.

 

“Kim, you’ve got to get some control of yourself and tell me what is happening!” said Derek.

 

“It’s Kevin Mitchum! He wanted me to get with Rachel, and he asked me to…to…do things and give him her DNA and if she had tattoos!” she raced on.

 

“That’s weird, all right, but we haven’t seen Kevin since the attack,” said Derek.

 

“I know, he told me he’d kill Brian and R.B. if I told anyone, and I was so scared, and so I got a good look at her, Rachel, that is, and we, uh…” she trailed off, looking over at Brian, who was listening intently.

 

“Derek, do you remember when you were recuperating and Wernher came to talk with you? And what happened after? When you fell asleep?” she said into the phone, whispering.

 

Derek laughed, but then really heard the fear in Kim’s voice.

 

He quickly put two and two together.

 

“So, that’s how you got her DNA, right? From that…time,” he said.

 

A tear tracked down her cheek.

 

“Yes, Derek. Did you know? You were awake?” she asked him.

 

“Well, not the whole time, but by the end, I certainly was,” he said with a chuckle.

 

“You two could wake a dead man,” he added.

 

“Look, do you have any idea what Kevin was up to, or where he might be or had gone?” asked Derek.

 

“Hey, I have Kevin’s number, Derek,” Brian said.

 

“Let me dial it,” he said as he flipped open his cell phone.

 

There was no answer.

 

“Guys, I want you to try something,” Derek said.

 

“First, I am going to trace this number and anyone you dial out to for the next few minutes, okay? Do I have your permission to do this?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, sure, ok” they both answered.

 

“Great. Now, Brian and Kim, compare the two numbers you have for Kevin, okay?” he said.

 

As they got the numbers, they could hear Derek giving orders to someone.

 

“They aren’t the same, Derek,” said Brian.

 

Kim held R.B., who was yawning and falling asleep.

 

She stroked his head, letting him rest it on her lap.

 

The boy got situated into a more comfortable position, and then dropped off.

 

“I thought so,” Derek said.

 

“Which one of you has this number?” he asked, then recited it.

 

“That’s on my phone,” said Brian.

 

“Wait, why are the numbers not the same?” Kim asked suddenly.

 

“Brian, call that number again, the one Kim has, but use your phone, okay?” said Derek.

 

Brian dialed and the phone rang and then went to voice mail.

 

He waited, and the voice mailbox was full.

 

“Good, thanks! We traced that phone number and it’s located in Miami,” said Derek.

 

“Interesting,” he muttered.

 

“What?” asked Kim.

 

“I’ll tell you in a minute, okay? Promise! Now, Kim, call your number from your phone, okay? Go ahead!” said Derek.

 

 

—————

 

Jonathon Reighland was just about to dial Harlon to torment him when his phone began to ring.

 

He recognized the number.

 

It was that Kim Wilder cunt.

 

What the fuck does she want?

 

He let it ring, and go to voicemail.

 

 

—————

 

“It went to voicemail,” said Kim.

 

“Hang up, now!” ordered Derek.

 

“Okay, we traced it. It’s near the airport. Kim, dial the number using Brian’s phone, and don’t say anything, even if it goes to voicemail, okay? Go!” Derek said.

 

—————

 

Reighland’s phone rang again.

 

This time, he didn’t recognize the incoming number.

 

He decided to answer it.

 

“Hello, may I help you?” he asked.

 

—————

 

“Say your name, and that you have an emergency, Kim,” Brian relayed to her.

 

—————

 

“This is Kim Wilder, and I have an emergency,” said the voice on Reighland’s phone.

 

Switching to his Kevin Mitchum role, Reighland recovered quickly.

 

“Yes, Miss Wilder, how may I be of assistance? I hadn’t expected to hear from you so soon, you know,” he said, chuckling.

 

“I wanted to be sure you got the envelope is all, Kevin,” she said.

 

“I wanted to be sure you are going to leave us alone now!” she added.

 

“Yes, of course, my dear girl. I have what I need now, and won’t darken your door ever again! Good evening to you and yours! Goodbye!” Reighland said and hung up.

 

Shrugging, he put it down to pregnant woman vapors or something similar, and then finally dialed Harlon.

 

—————

 

“That’s NOT Kevin Mitchum, in spite of how similar it sounded,” said Derek.

 

“How can you be sure?” asked Kim.

 

“We used a voice stress analyzer, and it’s currently searching for hits,” replied Derek.

 

“We traced the call as well,” he said, sounding very serious.

 

They heard someone talking to Derek for a few minutes, and then Derek was back online.

 

“You guys need to pack up R.B. and get to a safe house, right now!” he said.

 

He took a moment to give Brian instructions, and by then the results from the database scan were in, and one of the team handed the information to him.

 

“You get out of there, right fucking now! Leave this instant, only the clothes on your back, don’t worry we’ve got plenty of supplies, food – everything, at the safe house!” he shouted.

 

Brian hesitated, looking for his cameras, and a laptop.

 

“I don’t hear your car starting, Brian! Kim, take R.B. and go now!” he thundered from the phone.

 

The two of them ran into the garage and got in the car, Kim carrying R.B. as she slid into the back seat.

 

“Go, Brian, just go!” she cried.

 

“Okay, hang on, Kim!” he said.

 

He started the car and backed out onto their driveway, closing the garage door behind him.

 

—————

 

A short time later, a sedan pulled up to Brian and Kim’s residence.

 

“Is this the place?” asked Bruce.

 

“Yeah, this is it,” said Bart.

 

“Okay, buddy, let’s do this,” said Bruce.

 

They both got out and removed gasoline cans from the trunk of the car.

 

Working together, they circled the house, walking in opposite directions.

 

Then, using an insect sprayer, they hosed down the walls and roof to the house with the liquid.

 

“That’s good enough! You sure they are in there?” asked Bart.

 

“Doesn’t really matter, they’ll be dead one way or another, soon enough!” said Bruce.

 

They got into the car, and as they left, Bart tossed a lit road flare out of his window.

 

There was a loud “FLUMPF!” noise, and the house and yard burst into yellow flames.

 

—————

 

 

Ten minutes later, Brian and Kim’s house had burnt to the ground.

 

 

—————

 

 

Brian’s cell phone rang.

 

It was Derek.

 

“We’ve traced the phone number you called, Brian, to the area where Robert King had his warehouses. We’ve got a response team and Miami P.D. on the way there now. I hope I am right, and that we’re not too late,” said Derek.

 

“What are you talking about?” said Brian.

 

“I think Kevin Mitchum, the real Kevin Mitchum, is in one of those warehouses,” said Derek.

 

“Did you get a hit on that voice, Derek?” asked Brian.

 

For a moment, Derek didn’t answer.

 

“Derek, you there?” asked Brian.

 

“Yeah, we got a hit. I don’t believe it, but we cross-checked it with traces we’ve got from Kevin,” he sighed.

 

“What? Who is it?” Brian asked, anxiously.

 

In the rear-view mirror, Kim’s huge eyes stared back at him.

 

“It’s Jonathon Reighland, Brian,” said Derek.

 

—————