Chapter 5

The police came and went.  They took the green bag and talked to Miri about what happened.  She told them the story of how she got the box and that she had her older cousin call her father on the way home from school.  She was nervous as she spoke but she told the story exactly as it happened.

After the police were gone, Jake sent all of the children off to do their homework or play while he had a meeting with the adults.  “Ok everyone, now that that’s over, I wanted to let everyone know that we’re pulling the kids from school.”

“WHAT?!”Mandy exclaimed.

“Yes, Amanda, we’re pulling all of the kids from school.  The kids are all in danger.  I’m sure that you don’t want your oldest children kidnapped from their school and tortured, right?”

“What makes you think that’s going to happen?”

He held up the copy of the note he’d gotten with the box and read it aloud.  There was horror in the eyes of everyone in the room.  Jordan spoke.  “You know what you have to do, Jake”, Jordan said.

“Yes, Jordan, that’s my plan.  But, I’m making a few executive decisions before doing so.  One, the children are being home schooled until further notice.  James, Marc, Justin; please put in calls to the people that home school and tutor your kids.  We need them here.  Jordan; you are to go NO WHERE alone and you need to learn how to shoot.   I know that you were one of the girls that didn’t want to learn.  Well, guess what.  You need to learn.  Everyone’s safety may very well depend on it.”

“What has my Dad said about it?” Logan asked.

“Not a damn thing yet, but this all just started happening yesterday.  I’m trying to give him enough time to find something for me, but I can’t keep waiting.  My mother says that something is coming, but she doesn’t know what.  I’m going to swallow my pride as soon as we’re all done in here, go up to my office and call my parents in Israel and apologize all over myself for waking them up, and ask my father for advice.  I’m out of my depth at the moment.  I know when I’m in over my head and at the moment I’m in over my head and drowning fast.  The last two days have spiraled out of control.  I need advice.”

Jordan grinned.  “You’ve finally decided to pull a Cornwallis and raise the white flag?”

Jake nodded.  No matter how much he wanted to laugh he couldn’t.  His family was in danger and he wanted to squash it as quickly as he could.  “If that’s was you want to call it.”

---------------

As he prepared to eat crow and call his parent’s, Jacob called his uncle in Texas.  “Hey, Uncle John, have you found anything yet?” he asked when the uncle in question answered his phone.

“Actually Jake, I just got off the phone with a few of my old contacts and was about to call you.  You’re not going to like what I found out.”

“Like it or not, I need to know so that I know how to protect everyone best.”

“The PSUS is actually behind the assassination attempt on Jordan.  It’s being funded by a man named…”

“Porter Grissom, right?”

“How did you know?”

“There was something on the news a few months ago about how he was suspected to be behind the disappearances of several dozen young men and women over the last five years.  He’s also the CEO of York Industries.  Got his start in New York, then moved out to LA because he needed more space.”

“You’ve done a little homework on your own apparently.”

“No actually.  I’m like my Dad.  I’m a news junky.  I do my damnedest to stay up to date on current events.”

“Good for you, Jake.  I’m glad that I’m talking to yet another person that keeps in touch with reality.”

“I try to.  I’m not perfect.”

“Neither is your father.”

“Jordan seems to worship him.”

“Every little girl worships their Dad no matter how old they or their Dad is.  I’ll bet you that Miri and Sammi both worship you.”

“Maybe.  I don’t know.  All I know is that things are too crazy around here.”

“Ask your Dad for a little advice.  Maybe he can guide you.”

Jake sighed.  “I know.  That’s what I’m about to do.  I don’t particularly want to call Mom and Dad but I 

think I have no choice now.”

“Well, good luck and God speed Jake.  Call me if you need anything else that my vast connections can dig up for you.”

“Will do, Uncle John.  Thanks again.”

“No problem, Jacob.  Take care.”

“Will do.  You too.”  Before he could get ‘goodbye’ out of his mouth, the connection went dead.  It was with a heavy heart that Jake made the next call.  He dialed his father’s number and prayed that he didn’t have to eat too much crow.  His pride already tasted bad enough and kept sticking in the way down.

----------------

Sleep wasn’t coming easily for either of them.  They’d been up for two hours just laying on a lounger on the back patio.  They’d doze off and jolt awake again.  Or they would awaken from her having one of her dreams.  It was the same confusing, disconnected images as the first time she had the dream.

‘Riot’ sounded loud and clear into the early morning silence of Jerusalem, startling him awake.  He reached behind him and picked up the phone.  “Hello?” he asked with sleep in his voice.

“Hey, Dad”, his son said.

He adjusted the way he was lying so that he could have a little bit of comfort while he was on the phone.  “Hello Jacob.  What can I do for you at”, he checked the clock on his phone, “2:15 am?”

“Did you fall asleep with your glasses on again, Dad?”

“No.  My eyes aren’t as bad as you think they are.  Now, are you going to answer my question?”

Jake sighed.  “I’m in over my head, Dad, and I need advice.”

“What’s going on?” 

Jake told him about everything that had happened during the day.  “So, what would you do in this situation?”

“Honestly Jake, if it were me I’d follow the suggestions of this ‘friend’ that sent you that stuff.  Pull the kids out of school and have them homeschooled until the threat is neutralized.  Tell Jordan that she needs to have an escort every time she leaves the house and that she needs to learn how to shoot.  Were we there, I’d see if your mother would be willing to teach her and whoever else is interested.  Get Logan over there too.  And I’d turn that bag over to the police.”

“So I did it right?”

“That’s what I would do, Jake.  I can’t tell you what you should do.”

“No, Dad.  I know that.  What I’m saying is that I did what you would do.”

“Then why the fuck did you call me, Jacob?  It’s 2am here and I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep.”

“Why is that?”

“Mom’s having sketchy dreams.”

“Like what?”

“She keeps seeing a rifle muzzle, you kid and the grandkids, and she keeps hearing Psalms 23.”

“’The Lord is my Sheppard, I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures’?”

“Yeah.  The it audio jumps to verse 4.  ‘Yea, and though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou aren’t with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me’.  We’re still trying to figure out what it means.  It’s too broken to tell right now.”

“That’s pretty creepy.”

“No kidding, Jacob.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to sleep until your mother wakes again from her dreams.  You have a good rest of your day, Jacob.  Give your brothers and sisters, you kids, and your nieces and nephews our love.  Goodbye.”  He hung up and didn’t even wait for his son to respond with a good night or a sleep well.  He knew that sleep was going to be hard to come by that night.  He wanted to get as much as he could.

Chapter 4

When all of the school aged kids were at school, Marc arrived with his family.  “Jake, what the hell is going on?” he asked jovially.

“Shit’s hitting the fan, baby brother.  How do you think things are going?” Jake asked.

Marc shrugged.  “True.  Anything from Mom and Dad?”

“Nope, but no news is good news as far as I’m concerned.  The moment the show up at the door and say they’re here for the duration is the moment I’ll start to panic.”

“Who all’s here?” Mercedes asked.

“So far Malachai, Jordan, Maddie, James, ‘Miah, and Makayla and their families.  Now you guys.  The last person to arrive will be Meagan.  She had to find a house sitter for some reason.”

“She works for NASA, Jake.  There are all kinds of secrets in her apartment that she has to keep under lock and key.   Shit that’s top secret.  You have to have someone you can trust to watch shit like that”, Marc said.  “We just did a NASA piece, JJ and me, and I have to say if it weren’t Mae being a NASA employee, I would have been lost for special effects”, Marc said.

Jake shrugged.  “True enough, I guess.  All I know is that things are going rather strangely and I have no idea what to do.  I’m fucking winging it right now.  Other than that…” he chuckled.

“Call Dad”, Jordan said when she walked from the Kitchen so that she could greet her baby brother and niece and nephew.

“No Jordan.  Dad doesn’t need to be bothered with this.  He and Mom have enough going on in their lives that they don’t need to worry about what’s going o here.  And, to be perfectly honest, I feel like I have something to prove here.  Other than the fact that Malachai didn’t want the title, Dad taught me what it meant to be the head of the family for a reason.  I need to show him that his faith in me was warranted.”

“The sign of a good leader is to know when to stand his ground and when to call a retreat.”

“You’ve been listening to Jeremiah’s lecture on Little Big Horn again, have you?”

“What can I say?  Custer’s Last Stand is a fascinating subject to me.  Custer should have fallen back when those Sioux warriors came out of the hills and went crazy.  Hell, their Chief’s name was Crazy Horse.  That alone should have caused him pause.”

Jake laughed.  “If you say so, sis.  What does it have to do with me calling Dad?”

“I’m just cautioning you not to be like Custer.  Know how to pick your battles.”

“Jord, there’s picking your battles and there’s being over cautious.  I’m trying to do the former and not the latter.  Calling Dad would mean I’m being a coward and telling him that I can’t handle the responsibility he’s given me.  I won’t be that.  I’d rather call Dad when it’s a lost cause.  Call surrender when I know I’m beaten like Cornwallis at Yorktown.”

She looked at him with an appreciative smile.  “Touché, twin brother.  Touché.”

---------------

Right before she was being picked up by her older cousin Miranda, Miriam Draiman was called to the office at her school.  She took her hall pass and went to the office to see what was going on.  She thought she was getting an award for her science project.  She had been the only member of her class to do something involved.  With her father’s help, she made a 3D model of the human brain and labeled it.  She knew it would win her first place.

When she walked into the office she approached the secretary’s desk.  “Mrs. Henderson, I was called to the office”, she said politely.

“Oh, Miriam.  Yes, dear.  You were called here for a couple of reasons.  First, your science project was marvelous.  There are some here that think it was unfair that you had help from your father who’s a Nobel prize winning doctor.”

“All he helped me do was label the different parts.  The different kinds of tissue.  Making it was actually my Mom and my Aunt.  They helped me.”

The older woman smiled at the little girl.  “I believe you and so did the judges.  You won first place in the 3^rd grade division.”  She handed Miri a ribbon.

“Sweet!  I can’t wait to show my Dad this.  He’s going to be so proud of me.”  She took the ribbon and folded it in half to stick it in the pocket of her skirt.  “What else was there?”

The woman pivoted in her chair and grabbed a box.  “It looks like you have a secret admirer.  Someone left you this pretty little box.  And there’s a little card here for you.”

Miri looked at the box cautiously.  “Are you sure about that?”

“It’s addressed to you.”

Miri took the card and read it to herself.  “Miriam, take this box to your father.  Do not open it.  Believe me, you don’t want to know what’s inside. –A friend”  She picked the box up and thanked Mrs. Henderson before going back to class for the rest of the day.  When she walked back into the class room, she looked at the clock.  She had two minutes before Miranda would be there to pick her and Ira up from school.  Isaiah would be getting Levi and Matt, and Elijah would get Asher and Daliah.  That was the system, even though they were all going to the same place.  She quietly picked up all of her things and made sure that she had her homework in her homework folder before sitting quietly at her desk until the bell rang. 

All of her classmates were eager to get out of the room, but Miri sat still her classmates were all out of the room.  Her teacher looked at her.  “Miri, is everything ok?”

She smiled.  “My Uncle James is coming down for a visit and he left me a present in the office.  He left one for my cousins and brothers and sister too.  I just wanted to be sure that I didn’t get run over between here and the car.”

“Is Miranda here to pick you up?”

“She should be.  I’m heading out now.  Thank you for checking on me, Ms. Johnson.”

“You’re very welcome, Miriam.  Be careful, ok?”

She smiled brightly.  “Yes, ma’am”, she said and left.

The trip down the hall was slow and deliberate.  She wasn’t sure what was in the box, but she knew one thing: the message on the card with the box was scary.  When she got in Miranda’s car, she looked at her older cousin.  “Miranda, can you call my Dad for me, please?  I need to tell him something.”

“What’s that, Miri?” Miranda asked sweetly.

Miri took a deep breath and handed her cousin the card that came with the box.  “It says not to open it.  I’m curious, but Dad will kill me if I do.”

Miranda pulled out her phone and called her Uncle Jake after reading the card over.  “Uncle Jake, Miri got a delivery at the school today for you.”

-----------------

Jake sat in his office at home and stared at the box that his oldest daughter had brought home to him.  He hadn’t opened it.  He knew it wasn’t rigged to explode because no idiot in the world would leave a box like this at an elementary school for a child to transport home, be they in their right mind or not.  He was waiting on his brothers to join him in the office.

There was a knock.  “Who’s there?” he called.

“Jake, it’s us”, Jeremiah said.

“Come on in, guys.”  He looked at his brothers as they came in the door.  He couldn’t help but think about how he couldn’t enjoy the fact that his daughter had won first place in her division in the science fair.  He had to deal with the package she brought home before he could talk to her about the good job she did on her science project and how he was proud of her.  “Guys, I wanted to wait until you were all in her before I opened this box.”

“It’s been checked for explosives, right?” James asked.

“Yeah, I checked it”, Malachai said.  “It was one of the things Uncle Matt taught us older boys when he taught us all how to shoot.”

“Well, open it”, Marc said.  “Let’s see what it is and who sent it.”

Jake took a deep breath as he opened the small wooden box.  Inside there was a small green velvet bag and a note.  His brothers all stood with bated breath as he read over the note.

“Dr. Draiman,

I hope that this message finds you and your family in good health and happiness.  The contents of this box are a warning.  Keep your children close.  The man I work for wants to do very wicked things to your oldest niece and nephew in order to get to your elder brother.  Your twin sister is in danger as well.  Stay close to each other.  You have no idea who or what you’re up against, but your father and his former band mates do.  The people who are after you and your family are no joke.  Be careful, and were I you I’d turn the contents of this box over to the police.

A friend”

Jake looked up at his brothers.  “Marc, do you think you can have the woman that home schools Josh and Pilar come out here?”

“Yeah.”

“James, what about Hunter and the twin’s tutor?  Would she come out to home school the kids?”

“Yeah.  Why?”

He looked up at all of his brothers.  “Tell our sisters that we’re having a family meeting in a few minutes.  I’m going to call the police about this package that was given to Miri.  After the police leave is when we’ll have the meeting.  It will be adults first, then we’ll involve the kids if need be.  And James, tell Justin that when I call a meeting of the men that I’d like him to join us.  ‘Miah tell your father in law the same, please.”

The boys all nodded and left to follow the orders of the acting patriarch of the family.  Jacob picked up his phone and called the police at the suggestion of the friend that sent the warning.  Dear God, please give me some news about who and what this shit is soon because I don’t know how much longer I can do this.

---------------

Brie spent the night tossing and turning again.  Her wild sleeping kept David up all night.  When she came awake she gasped and he asked, “Baby, what’s the matter?”

“I don’t know, David”, she said as she sat up and took a deep breath.  “I keep seeing these random images in my dreams.  Rifle muzzles, images of the kids and grandkids… a wooden box.  There’s a constant repetition of Psalms 23 in my head.  ‘The Lord is my Sheppard, I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures’ then it jumps to, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me; thy rod and staff, they comfort me’.”

He blinked at her.  “For the love of God, what do you think it all means?”

She shook her head.  “I don’t know.  I wish I did.  Something’s not right.  I have a feeling that Jake’s going to be calling soon.”

“How soon is soon?”

“Within the next hour, hour and a half.  Two hours at the outside.”

He nodded.  “Then we’ll deal with that when it happens.  For now, I think we need to get up so that you can get some fresh air.”

She nodded.  “I think that’s a good idea.”

Chapter 3

After James and Justin arrived at the house and were brought up to speed on what was going on, Jake got into the gun safe in the Master suite and armed everyone that knew how to use a gun.  Hand guns were to be kept on each person at all times and rifles were put in the bedrooms where the adult that shot could reach it.  Miranda, Isaiah and Elijah pulled their father aside to ask him what was going on.  “Dad, why aren’t we at home?” Miranda asked.

Malachai sighed.  “You three are old enough to know, I suppose.  Today, someone tried to kill your Aunt Jordan.  She had Jazzi and was putting her in the car when the bullet ricocheted off the side of the car.”

“So, why are we all here?” Elijah asked.

“Because your grandparents said that we all need to be close to each other so that we can protect each other.  Gramma had one of her dreams.”

“Does that mean that Gramma and Grampa are coming back?” Isaiah asked.

“We don’t know yet.  Aunt Jessi is about to have a baby and I’m sure they’ll want to be there when the baby’s born.  The adults have it all under control.  You guys just need to relax and not worry.  Things are going to go on as usual until there comes a point where we need to pull you out of school; if that point comes.

“So, we’re just going to stay here, with everyone, until when?”

“Until whomever it was that tried to take out your Aunt Jordan is apprehended and brought to justice.  Any problem with that?” Malachai made it clear in his voice that he appreciate his older three questioning him and the decisions he made.  They all shook their heads.  “Good.  Now, go help your little brother and sisters get ready for bed and the three of you had better have all of your homework for tomorrow done.  I’m not going to play around if one of your teachers calls me tomorrow to complain that they’re tired of getting late work from you.  You know better.”

“Yes, sir”, they said in unison.

“Now go do as you’ve been told.”  Malachai walked away.  His oldest three children stood and exchanged a look.  “They’re hiding something from us”, Isaiah said.

“And they’re not going to give us the whole story until they think we need to know”, Miranda said.

“I fucking hate it when Dad does that”, Elijah said.  “He thinks he’s protecting us, but he’s not.”

“They all think they’re protecting us.  The younger kids are just happy to be together because they rarely ever see each other.  We’re older and we know better.  I just wish that the adults would see that and not treat us like little kids”, Isaiah complained.

“Believe me, my brothers, you’re not the only ones.  I’m tempted to call Gramma and Grampa to see if they’ll tell us about what’s going on”, Miranda said sourly.  “Maybe then we’ll get some straight answers.”

---------------

Three hours after soliciting the child hookers, Grissom strolled into the sea side warehouse as planned.  He looked at the kids and they looked exactly how he imagined Miranda and Isaiah Draiman would look when he finally got his hands on them.  Their faces were bloody, bruises, and swollen.  Their hands were tied behind their backs and to their ankles.  It was what he expected of the men on his brute squad.

“Hello Isaiah.  Hello Miranda.  How have you liked my hospitality so far?”

The boy spat blood in his face.  Apparently, they knew the script well.  “Fuck you!” he yelled.

Grissom punched the boy in the face.  “Have you lost your mind, boy?  Didn’t your rock star father teach you manners and to respect your elders?”

“Yeah, he also taught us not to let some sadistic FUCK like you”, the girl playing Miranda screamed.

Grissom grabbed a fist full of her hair and slapped her causing blood to blossom from her lip.  “I thought Daddy taught you not to use such language.  It’s unbecoming a young lady.”

“Go to hell!” she spat back.

Grissom used the hand in her hair to pull her away from the spot where she had endured a severe beating at the hands of his brute squad.  At least he knew they could do their jobs.  This little girl WANTS me to hurt her, he thought to himself as he removed her pants.  She fought against him as he flipped her onto her stomach and removed himself from his pants.  He shoved himself inside her and as she screamed and cried.  He loved the sound of her cries because they weren’t cries of pleasure.  They were cries of pain.

The more she screamed the more he loved it.  He more it urged him on.  He looked over and watched the boy struggle to get free and watched the men of his brute squad restrain the boy and put a knife to his throat.  “STOP IT!  YOU’RE HURTING HER!” the boy screamed.

“That’s the point!” one of the thugs growled at the boy.  “You brats are going to learn some manners.”

---------------

Jake stayed up that night because he couldn’t sleep.  He sat in the living room and watched the news and the DV-R recording of the Presidential debates.  The candidates had been decided in January.  The candidates running for President had until November to convince people to vote for them.  What he saw was beyond appalling.  There was actually a Utopian candidate there participating.  It wasn’t between the Democrats and Republicans anymore.  It was the Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Utopians.  Those his father was decidedly Libertarian, Jake and his siblings were taught to think for themselves and not be sheep.  That was the message of his father’s music when he was still recording.  But, Disturbed had been retired for five years.  Thankfully, the music was still around so the message could be heard still.

Skyler walked in.  He had a key to the house in case he needed it.  “Hey Jake, can I talk to you for a sec?” he asked as he shut the door behind himself.

Jake looked over his shoulder at Skyler.  He then took the remote and hit pause.  “Sure, Skyler, what’s up?”

Skyler took a seat in one of the arm chairs.  “I know shit’s hitting the fan.  If you need another man who can shoot, count me in.  You’re my family as well and I’m not just going to sit on my ass while these bastards try to kill you and your family; especially my daughter, son in law, and my grandchildren.  I maybe 53, but I was also ‘cleaning house’ in the Utopian War and I still keep my aim sharp to this day.”

“We can use every shooter we can get, Skyler.  I don’t know what’s happening just yet, but we’re not going to let the Utopians take over the government again.  I just hope that there are enough people left alive in the country that remember the way things were then.”  He sighed and picked up the rifle on the couch next to him.  “Here, you’ll need this.”  He handed the rifle to Skyler

Skyler took the rifle and played with it, getting a feel for the weight and balance, and handed the rifle back to Jake.  “Thanks Jake, but you keep this here for when you need me.  I also have a rifle and a 9mm hand gun at home just in case.”

Jake grinned.  “Alrighty then.  Let me know should you need ammo, ok?”

Skyler chuckled.  “Will do.  I’m sure that Morbus has plenty of ammo too.”

Jake laughed.  “Yeah, I know.  It’s Morbus we’re talking about.  He has ammo.  He has plenty of ammo for all of us and THEN some.”

“I wonder if he’ll break out some of his old toys.”

“If we need him to he will.  He hates the idea of a Utopian Society as much as the rest of us do.  They’re the reason he’s so badly scarred.  I have offered to recommend him to a good reconstructive plastic surgeon, but he said no.  He likes the way he looks now.  He says, ‘Crazy is as crazy does and I want them to think I’m a psycho’.” He couldn’t help but laugh.

Skyler laughed as well.  “So what has you in here rather than in bed next to your wife?”

“Couldn’t sleep.  Can’t sleep.  Too much shit on my mind.  Sleeping doesn’t come easy when you have to deal with the shit I have to deal with.  I’m just trying to find balance in my mind so that I can focus on the task at hand; defending and taking care of the family.  Dad left me in charge for a reason.  He knows I can handle it.  But, I have to admit- and if this leaves us, I’ll know- there are times when I question my father’s judgment.  Yeah, I’m his first born son, but I’m not his first son.  That’s Malachai.”

“I heard through the grapevine that Malachai didn’t want it when it was offered to him.  He’d rather play lieutenant to you than be the head of the house.”

Jake sighed.  “Yeah, that’s what happened.  When Jordan and I turned 16, Dad took Malachai and me aside.  He said, ‘Boys, as we all know, I’m not going to be around forever.  You’re the oldest of my boys.  Malachai, you’re my oldest son.  Jacob, you’re my first born son.  One of you has to take over when I’m gone and lead the family- be the patriarch, though I hate that term.’  Malachai was quick to say that he didn’t want it.  Dad looked at me and I took the responsibility.  From that point on, I was pretty much groomed to take on the mantle of being the ‘leader of the clan’.”

“Much like in adolescence, you father was being groomed to be a rabbi?”

Jake chuckled.  “Something like that, but I did it out of a sense of duty and responsibility to my family rather than religious habit like Dad did when he was younger.  I knew what I was doing was right then.”  He sighed.  “Right now, I’m not so sure.”

“What proves a leader’s mettle is not how he handles the good, but how he handles the pressure when things get rough.”

Jake smiled.  “Thanks for that, Skyler.  Words of wisdom, as always.”

“Hey, I’m not always a sarcastic bastard.  I can be insightful when I need to be”, Skyler laughed then his face sobered.  “I can also tell you from firsthand experience what it’s like to have to protect your family in a time like this.  I remember the hell of the Utopian Conflict.  You weren’t even born when it started.”

“I remember being trapped inside all the time as a kid.  I remember the rally tour.  I remember Fuzz flipping out.  He was an ass to begin with, then I heard him call Dad a ‘kike’.  I’m still surprised that Dad didn’t blow his head off then.”

“Have you ever gotten to go off on Fuzz?”

“A couple of times, but Jordan is the one that usually cut deepest.”

“Your twin is a mean ass.”

“No kidding.  I feel for the person that’s trying to kill her should she ever come across them.  She will rip them apart.”

Neither of them knew that Jordan would get that chance and she wouldn’t rip them apart; she would blow them apart.

---------------

The night was over just as quickly as it had started.  Daddy knew that his favorite money makers would need time off so that they could heal from the spectacle that they had participated in.  He was informed when he dropped them off at the warehouse to collect the fee upfront.  He said it was insurance that his bread winners would be returned safely to him, but it was actually blood money.  And the blood would be on the hands of the man that he trusted the children to.

The kids were putting new clean clothes on so that they could go home to Daddy and recover from their night.  They were looking forward to the rest.  “I was nervous about this at first, but it came out a more than I could have expected”, the fake Isaiah said.

Fake Miranda grinned.  “I was looking forward to it all night.  I needed a thrill like this.  This guy is one John that I would come back to in a heartbeat- even if that means I have to pretend to be this Miranda girl.”

“I’d come back and pretend to be Isaiah.”

“Daddy said that this guy paid three times what was expected of the night up front.  It’s like he knew we could do an above average job.”

Grissom was in the room outside the changing room listening to the juvenile banter.  He rolled his eyes as he looked at his assistant.  “Children”, he said.

“Indeed, sir.  What would you like to do with them, sir?”

“Dispose of them.  They’re no longer of use to me.  They’ll never tell me how to get a hold of Malachai or Jordan Draiman, so lose them.”

The assistance just smiled.  He knew the script.  It was the same every time.  He would solicit the hookers and delude himself into thinking they were Malachai Draiman’s children.  He would come to his senses the next day when the bodies would be discovered and would spend the day making sure that the murders couldn’t be connected to him.  Eventually, it would catch up to him.  “Anyway in particular, sir?”

“Torch the bodies and send the ashes to the Draiman homestead in Colorado.  Other than that, no.”

The request shocked the man.  He’d never heard such a request before.  “If you’re sure that’s what you want, sir.”

“It is.  Take it to the elementary school that Dr. Draiman’s oldest daughter goes to and have it left as a delivery for her.  Put a note on there, you know what to have it say.”

The man stuttered.  “Yes.  Yes, sir.  Right away.”  He hurried off to find one of the men that had roughed up the children to begin with.  When he spotted the biggest of the bruisers, he pulled him aside.  “Mr. Grissom wants them taken care of without evidence.  Bring the ashes back to me.”  The man nodded and walked away.  The assistant stood and watched as the man moved through the shadows and put a bulletin both of the children’s heads.  Dear God in Heaven, please forgive me for all of the wicked I do in this life.  When I started doing this, I thought it was for the greater good, he thought as he watched the bodies lie lifeless on the floor as every major artery and vein was severed so that they could drain and be taken for disposal.

Once the bodies of the young man and woman were carried off to be burned, he took a deep breath and put on his best cold and professional face.  He made a couple of marks on his tablet and started for his car so that he could be at the office when the ashes were brought to him.  He had to start thinking of a way to warn the Draiman family of what was really going on without telling them who he was.  He would reveal his identity once he knew it was safe. 

“Dr. Draiman,

I hope that this message finds you and your family in good health and happiness.  The contents of this box are a warning.  Keep your children close.  The man I work for wants to do very wicked things to your oldest niece and nephew in order to get to your elder brother.  Your twin sister is in danger as well.  Stay close to each other.

A friend”

Chapter 2

All children old enough to walk were sent to the play room that had been set up in the house after the Draiman parents left.  The older kids were in charge of keeping an eye on their younger siblings and cousins.  The adults all sat in the living room and talked about what had happened.  “Someone seriously tried to shoot you today, Jordan?” Maddie asked.

“Yeah, Maddie.  Someone tried to end me today.  I had just gotten Jazzi out of the cart and was moving toward the door to help her into her seat before something hit the side of my Rover.  Davi and I fucking freaked and hit the pavement.  She made Levi hit the dirt next to her.”

Jeremiah shook his head as he walked in the room from getting his pregnant wife a bottle of water from the fridge.  “What the hell is going on?”

Jake walked in and sighed.  “We don’t know yet, ‘Miah.  I called Uncle John to see if he could find out for me.  He’s looking into it.  I’m waiting on him to call me back.”  He set his briefcase down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch, setting his cell phone on the coffee table next to his briefcase.  “Something is rotten here.  I can feel it.”  His eyes traveled from Maddie to Jeremiah and Jona.  “Have any of you gotten any kind of clues from dreams?”  They all shook their heads.  Skyler had followed Jake in from outside.  “Skyler, have you seen anything?”

Skyler shook his head.  “I’d tell you if I had, Jake.”  The Draiman kids had found about Skyler’s gift a few years before when Delilah was pregnant with Seth and Samantha.  He just looked at her and his eyes glazed over for a few moments.  When he came back to reality, he looked at Delilah.  ‘You’re having twins’, he’d told her.  From that point on, all of the Draiman kids that lived in Colorado Springs knew about Skyler Mason’s gift.

Jake scratched his head and sighed.  “Damn it.  Can’t catch a break here.”  Miri, now 9 almost 10, came into the living room.  “Dad, I’m thirsty.  Can I get a water from the fridge?”

“Yes, Miriam.  Get one for your brothers and sister too”, he said.  He sounded tired.  It wasn’t very late in the day and he was already tired.

Malachai looked at his younger siblings after Miri walked into the kitchen.  “If they want Jordan, then they probably want me too.”

Jordan looked Malachai.  “And Logan and Caleb.  We should warn them”, she said.

Jake nodded.  “Do that.  And tell Logan to get his bottle blonde ass over here.  Another rifle never hurts.”  Miri had just walked back up the stairs before he opened his mouth.  Jordan and Malachai were on it.  Jordan called Logan and Malachai called Caleb.  They were being warned.  As soon as they hung up the phone, Jake’s rang.  He sat forward and answered it.  He knew the tone that sounded and he didn’t want to talk to the person calling until he had the answers he needed, but he did so anyway.  “Hello?  Yeah, Dad?” he said after putting his phone on speaker.

“Jacob, do you have the rest of the kids that live in the Springs there with you?”

“Yeah, Dad.  Why?”

“I’m going to let your mother ask the next question.”  And then his mother’s voice came over the phone.   

“Jacob, did someone get shot today?”

Jordan spoke up.  “Not shot, but shot at.  Why?”

They heard both of their parent heave a sigh of relief.  “Thank God”, they said together.  “You had all better stay close together.  Call your brothers and sisters there in the state and have them come home.  You’re going to need to be close by so that you can fight the coming threat.  I don’t know what it is yet but once I do, I’ll let you know.  If you find out before I do, you will call us immediately”, their mother continued.

“Yes, ma’am”, Jacob said.  He knew that an order from their mother was as good as an order from their father and was to be obeyed.  There was no room for questioning anything.

“Jacob, I suggest you call your Uncle John about intelligence information.  He can find a needle in a haystack”, their father said.

“I’m one step ahead of you there, Dad.  I’ve already called Uncle John and he’s digging for me.”

“Good.  You kids be careful and I mean it.  I don’t want to get a phone call from another sibling telling me that we have to come home to bury any of you.  Do I make myself perfectly understood?”

Jake nodded.  “Crystal clear, Dad.  We’ll be careful.”

“Those who know how to use a weapon need to be armed at all times and I mean that”, their mother said.

“Yes, ma’am.  We’ll be armed at all times.”

“Go about things as though it were any other day.  You go to your office; Maddie, Delilah- you go to the clinic.  Jeremiah, you go to class.  Nothing’s different until you know what’s going on.”

“Aye, ma’am”, they all responded.

“If you need us, call us and we’ll be on the first flight back”, their father said.

“Aye, aye, sir”, they all responded.

“Now, we’re going to let you go.  Jessi and Dave are standing here very patiently waiting on us to go home so that Jessi can lie down.  She’s going to pop soon.”

“That’s the last thing you need, another grandchild.  Don’t you have enough already?” Jake chuckled.

“No such thing as enough grandchildren.  Malachai, how’s the great- grandchild thing coming along?”

“I hope you not in any hurry for great- grandkids, Dad, because I’m in no hurry for Isaiah or Miranda to give me grandchildren.”

Their father laughed.  “That’s great news, because your mother and I are in no hurry to be great- grandparents.  Now, we’ll talk to you later.  Follow our instructions to the letter.  Dot all ‘I’s and cross all ‘T’s.  Take care of yourselves and each other.”

“Yes, sir.  We will.  We’ll talk to you soon, Dad”, Jake said.  They hung up and Jake sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day.  “This just keeps getting better and better”, he said sardonically.

“No kidding”, Jordan added.  “I don’t know who these kooks are that want to kill me, but when I find out they’ll regret fucking with me.”

---------------

As Maddie and Delilah made dinner Jake, Malachai, Jordan and Jeremiah made the necessary phone calls to get the rest of their siblings to come home.  They each took one.  Jake was the lucky one that got to interrupt a date between Marc and Mercedes.  When Marc answered his phone, he was none too happy.  “This had better be good, big brother, or I will make Thanksgiving a living hell for you.”

“Is the fact that someone tried to shoot Jordan today good enough?” Jake asked.

“Do what?  Who tried to shoot Jordan?”

“Would you accept ‘We don’t know yet, but Mom and Dad said rally the troops’ as an answer?”

“I guess so, if that’s the best you’ve got”, Marc said.  “Can I get it from the top?”

“You know everything I know, Christopher.  If I had more information, you know I’d give it to you.”

“So this is really, ‘We don’t know yet’, huh?”

“Yeah, and not long ago Mom and Dad called, having just gotten off of their plane in Jerusalem from Chile, asking if someone had been shot.  We told them what we knew, they said rally the troops.  Are you in the middle of a project at the moment?”

“Nope.  Just finished one.  Do I need to pack up the family and come home until we know what’s going on?”

“Yes, maybe longer.  We have no idea what’s going on, but Mom said that there’s some threat coming and that we all need to be together to fight it.”

Marc took a deep breath.  “We’ll finish dinner, get the kids from JJ’s place, and come back out there.”

“Thank you, Marc.  Give Josh and Pilar Uncle Jake’s best.”

“You’ll be seeing them tomorrow, Jake.”

“I know, but tell them I said hi, you tard”, Jake said with a laugh.  It was the first time he’d really laughed all day.  Everything was just that hectic.

“Ok, I will.  See you tomorrow.”

They hung up.  “Ok.  Marc’s going to be here tomorrow.”  He looked at Malachai.  “How far did you get with Meagan?”

“She’s in between research projects at the moment and will be here as soon as she can.  She has to find someone to watch her apartment.”

“She’s still not dating?”

“I didn’t ask to be honest.”

Jake nodded.  “Jeremiah, what happened with Jay?”

“He was on his way back here anyway.  And Justin’s coming with him.  That’s yet another rifle”, ‘Miah answered.

“And last time I saw Justin shoot, he was a damn good shot”, Malachai added.

“When’s the last time you saw him shoot, ‘Chai?”

“The last time I was in Chicago we went to the range.  That was maybe a month or so ago.”

Jake nodded and looked to Jordan.  “And Makayla?”

“Will be here tomorrow as well.  She’s as scared as I am that someone tried to shoot me and we don’t know anything other than get everyone home and if we need Mom and Dad we’re to call. The entire situation has her worried.”

“We’re all worried”, Malachai said.  “My hope is that Uncle John or Mom comes up with something for us soon because this is going to be difficult as it is.”

Jake nodded.  “I agree, Malachai.  I don’t want to have to do this shit either, especially with the political current being as turbulent as it is right now.”

“Yeah, your buddy McAllister hasn’t been in office in four years, there’s a re- election coming up and there seems to be a new party trying to join the race.”

“A new party?” Jordan asked.  “Who?”

“If Dad were here, he’d flip from hearing this, but they call themselves Utopians.  Their biggest supporters are the PSUS, the People in Support of a Utopian Society.”

Jordan’s jaw nearly fell off her face.  She looked at her twin.  “Call Dad NOW!  I don’t know if he knows this, but he needs to hear it.”

---------------

It was two in the morning and neither David nor Brie could sleep.  The dream she’d had on the plane on the way back was keeping them both awake.  The call that they had just received from their children back in the states was even more unsettling.  They lay out on the back deck of their house and watched the stars.  “Something’s up”, David said.  “I know it.  I can feel it.  Our children are in danger and we need to be there.”

“I agree, but we can’t jump and run right now, babe.  One, we just got back from Chile.  Two, Jessi’s about the have that baby any minute and she wants us here when little Abby Sariah is born.  And three, our children are adults.  We can’t run to the rescue all the time”, Brie responded.

“I know, but something is unsettling about the political state of things back home in the States.  I mean, there’s a Utopian party in the race to the Oval office?  Something’s not right.”

“I agree.  Something is rotten, love.  That’s for sure.”

“But, what can we do about it from half way across the globe?”

“Right now, nothing.  We need to just hang on and wait it out.  They’ll keep us abreast of things.  Jake’s really good about reporting any new changes.  I’m sure he was going to call once he had information.”

“That’s just Jake.  He likes to have facts to report.”

“I know.  But there’s nothing we can do right now.  I’m afraid for them too.  But, they listen when we say rally.  No doubt by now, the first of the kids that lives outside of Colorado is arriving at the house and being brought up to speed on what’s going on.”

“I just hope you’re right about what you saw.  If something happens to our children, grown or not, the Utopians will pay all over again.”

She smiled.  “Hell hath no fury like David Draiman scorned.”

---------------

Porter Grissom had always had a soft spot for young, tender flesh.  The young hookers that walked the streets of LA were his usual victims and it didn’t matter what sex they were.  Boys and girls alike were what caught his eye.  As long as they were young and seemed helpless, he didn’t really care.

His car drove through the ghetto and he scanned the streets for his prize- or prizes- for the night.  After the failure of the day’s mission he needed to hurt someone.  He needed to see the pain in his victim’s eyes and delude himself into thinking he was seeing the pain of his targets.

He spotted a young Hawaiian girl and a boy with dark curls standing practically side by side.  He knew that one of his targets had children around the age of the young man and young woman he’d spotted.  They would be perfect.  He told his driver to pull over as he rolled down the window.  He pointed to the two of them and beckoned them to come over with a finger.  The girl did all the talking.  “What can we do for you, baby?”

“What’s the rate?” he asked.

“Depends on what you want”, the boy responded.

“A little violent role play, perhaps?”

“How violent?” the girl asked.  Her eyes lit up a little bit.  He could tell that she would enjoy what he had in mind.

He faked embarrassment as he responded.  “It’s a bit of a rape fantasy”, he said as he ducked his head.

“Nothing to be ashamed of”, the boy replied.  “You wouldn’t be the first guy we play roles like that for.”

“What are the names?” the girl asked.

“You’ll be Miranda and he’ll be Isaiah.”

They exchanged a look.  “For rape role play it five grand each per hour.  We’re not cheap.  Daddy is very, very proud of the work we do, and he likes that we got a lot of return clientele”, the girl said.

“Really?  I’d think that your Daddy would put you on call rather than on the streets?”

“We requested the street tonight for a change of pace”, the boy replied.  “Now are we going to do this or are we just stand here looking like dumb asses?”

Grissom pulled out a couple thousand dollars for the both of them and handed them a card.  “Get cleaned up and dress like the children of rock stars.  Be at the location on the back of the card in two hours.  I have to go play hubby and papa myself before I can have my fun for the night.”

“You’re going to have to talk to Daddy about your plan.  He doesn’t like things like this usually”, the girl said.

“If it weren’t a rape fantasy, I’d go about this differently.  But, this has to go a certain way… I’ll keep you all night.  You’ll make good money, I promise.  And if you do a good job, I’ll come back for you again.”

The boy stepped away to go talk to ‘Daddy’ about what the Grissom had in mind.  He watched the man think about it and nod.  “We’ll be there.  We’re going to go some new clothes that fit want you want and we’ll be where you want us”, he said and grabbed the girl’s hand.  As they walked away, the girl looked over her shoulder at Grissom with hungry eyes.  She was anticipating the night.  She licked her lips wantonly and fondled her breasts as she watched Grissom’s car pull away.  “Rodrigo, take me home for now.  I’ll need you to pick me up in about three hours so that I can keep my date.”

“You told the children two hours, Senor Grissom”, Rodrigo said with a thick Mexican accent.

“I have men who are going to take care of them for the first hour.  They’re going to put them in the frame of mind that I need them in.”

Little did anyone but Grissom really know, but the boy and girl that he had just commissioned a night with wouldn’t live to see the dawn.  He had no intention of letting it out that he wanted to do these terrible things to the people that these children were pretending to be.  And if he had his way… he would eventually.

Chapter 1

Dr. Jacob Draiman sat in his office at his private practice and scratched his head as he looked at the calendar on his computer.  It was five years to the day after his father and uncles retired.  He sighed.  I think that Mom and Dad are in Brazil at the moment.  Mom had a sudden urge to go to Rio or some shit.  He sighed and picked up the phone, dialing the first number from memory.

“Hello?” a man’s voice asked.

“Hey Dave, it’s Jake.  What’s happening on your side of the globe?”  It was still early in Colorado and there was a nine hour time difference between the two of them.  It was sometime in the evening where his baby sister and her husband lived.

“Not too much.  I think your folks are due back from Santiago today or tomorrow.  I don’t know off the top of my head.  Did you want to talk to Jess?”

“Yes, please.  I just need to hear her voice to know that she’s ok.”

“No problem.”  He heard whispering and then the voice of his baby sister.  “Hey Jake.  What’s crackalackin’?”

He laughed.  “Not too damn much, Jess.  Just making my weekly calls to everyone to make sure that you’re all ok.”

“Not doing too bad.  I’m a little tired after working all day at the consulate, but it comes with the territory.”

Jake nodded as she spoke.  “But everything is quite on the home front over there?”

“Yep, other than the fact that my feet are swollen and I’m a fat cow carrying this baby.”

Jake laughed.  “I’m sure you look don’t that bad, Jess.  Any idea what you’re having?”

“We’re having a girl.  We’re going to name her Abigayle Sariah.”

Jake smiled.  “Very pretty.  ‘Father rejoicing in his princess’.  I love it.  I wish I had thought of it.”  He laughed.

“Too bad.  It’s MINE! You can’t have it!” she teased.

As Jake opened his mouth to respond, his twin walked in the door.  “Jake, we have a problem.”

He sighed.  “Jessi, I’ll have to call you back, baby sister.  Jordan just walked in and it seems that there is a huge problem that needs my immediate attention.”

“No problem, Jake.  Just call back as soon as you’re done with Jordan and everyone else.  I miss having my big brothers to talk to.

“We miss you too, Jess.  We’ll talk to you soon, though.”

“Without a doubt.  Love you, Jake.”

“Love you too, Jess.  Bye.”  He hung up and set his phone on his desk.  “And what seems to be the problem, Jord?”

“I was at the store with Levi, Jazzi, and Davi when someone tried to fucking shoot me, Jake”, Jordan fumed.

Jake raised an eyebrow.  “Someone tried to shoot you while you were at the store with your wife and kids?  Why does that sound farfetched?”

“It’s true.  We were putting things in the back of the car when something ricocheted off of the side of my Rover.  If you want, I can show you the fucking mark and a copy of the police report.”

Jake took a deep breath to center himself.  “Ok.  Show me.”  He stood and went out to the parking lot with his sister.  He saw the mark on the side of her Range Rover where the bullet ricocheted.  “For the love of God, who’s trying to kill you?”

“Fuck if I know, Jake.  All I know is that someone is trying to shoot me or my kids and I’ll be damned if that happens.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.  “Do I need to call a family meeting, Jordan?”

“No.  I know you don’t want to do it, but I think this is over all of our heads.  I think you either need to call the Intel Guru, aka Uncle John, or call Dad.”

Jake nodded.  He knew what he had to do.  But, neither were calls he particularly wanted to make.

---------------

Los Angeles, California- the city of angels.  Porter Grissom, a high powered business man with a mind to change the face of the United States- sat in his office and stared at his computer screen.  He was looking footage from the operation the team he had assembled had just done.  He cursed under his breath as he watched someone who was supposed to be one of the best trained snipers in the world miss his target.  He looked at the men in his office.  “How hard is it to shoot a fucking lesbian with a Hawaiian woman and two kids, you fucking MORON?!” he shouted.

The sniper stood at attention as he was berated.  “I couldn’t get a solid lock on her, sir.  She kept moving around.  When I thought I had her, she moved right as I squeezed the trigger.”

“She has one of the most recognizable faces in the world.  Her voice reaches millions, and you can’t hit the road side of a fucking BARN!”  Grissom took a deep breath to regain his composure.  “You will regroup and figure out a way to kill her before I have you killed.  Do I make myself perfectly fucking clear?”

“Yes sir.”

“Now get the fuck out of my sight.”  The men turned and left and Grissom returned to his desk.  He watched the footage over and over again.  He couldn’t’ believe the incompetence in his organization.  The People in Support of a Utopian Society- PSUS for short- were trying to gain a legitimate foot in the Presidential race.  They wanted to change the country, and in turn, the world.  The last time they tried to take over, they did it by force.  Their reign lasted for eight years while one loud mouthed rock star opened his mouth and challenged the might of the Utopian party.  That rock star was no longer a problem, but his kids were.  He was sure that David Draiman had raised his children to be miniature versions of himself.   He knew that because he’d heard some of Draiman’s oldest daughter’s lyrics.  He knew this because he’d listened to another one of Draiman’s daughters lecture on political science.  He’d listened to one of Draiman’s sons lecture on the philosophy of democracy at a UCLA conference.  He knew that the Draiman children had their strengths.  He needed to know their weaknesses.  So far he couldn’t find any.

---------------

Jake took a deep breath.  He really didn’t want to bother his Uncle John with such trivial bull shit.  Though his gut said something was wrong, he really didn’t want to know what was really going on.  As he sat and ate his lunch, he agonized over making the call.  Finally, he decided to swallow his pride and scrolled through the phonebook on his cell to find his Uncle’s number.  The phone rang a couple of time before it was answered.  “Hello?” the man asked.

“Hey Uncle John.  It’s Jake.  How have you been?”

“I’m fine, Jake.  Getting older, but I’m good.  To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Consider this anything but a pleasure, Uncle John.  I’m calling for a favor.”

“Oh?  What do you need?”

“Apparently, someone took a shot at Jordan this morning.  I’ve seen all of the evidence she had on her.  I’ve even seen the chip in the paint from the bullet ricocheting off of the vehicle.  Do you still have your ear to the ground like you did when we were kids?”

“I’ve always had my ear to the ground.  Since your father, other uncles and I underwent the Agency training before you were thought of; I’ve kept my ear to the ground.  You want me to dig and see what I can find as to why someone wants Jordan dead?”

“Please Uncle John.  You know I really hate asking.”

“You and Jordan are my godchildren.  I’d do it for the asking.  You know that.”

“I know, Uncle John.  Something seems to be off here.  It just doesn’t feel right.”

“Well, I see what I can find, Jake.  It’s the best I can do.  It might take some serious digging, but I’m more than willing because if you guys.”

“Thank you, Uncle John.  I’ll let Jordan know so that she’ll have a little bit of peace of mind.”

“It’s no problem, Jake.  I’ll give you a call when I have something for you.”  John hung up.

Jake sighed as he hit end call in his phone and dialed Jordan’s number.  When she picked up, he didn’t bother saying hello.  “Jord, it’s your twin.  I just talked to Uncle John and he’s looking.”

“Have you called Dad yet?”

“I really don’t want to call our patriarch without proper information.  He’ll ask questions that I don’t have the answers to and I’m not going to sit here and sound like a dumb ass saying, ‘I don’t know, Dad’.  Information before asking his advice.”

“Is that what your infamous dreams have told you?”  She was getting hateful and snippy, taking everything out on her twin brother.

“Jordan, calm down.  I know you’re freaking out.  Someone just tried to shoot you.  But you need to take a step back, get a deep breath, and collect your wits before they get you killed before I can get answers.”

“What do you suggest I do, acting head of the Draiman clan?”

“I suggest you get to somewhere where you’re safe and you’re surrounded by people that can neutralize the threat in case one arises.”

“You mean homestead?”

“If that’s where you want to go, Jord.  Call Malachai and tell him to bring Mandy and the kids over so that everyone is safe and there will be three sharp shooters  that can take care of whatever needs taken care of.”

Jordan sighed.  “I really don’t want to have to go through what we went through as kids again.  I don’t want to put Levi and Jasmine through that either.”

Jake lost his patience for a moment and snapped at her.  “You think I want Miri, Ira, Seth, and Sammi to have to go through it either, Jordan?  I remember that fresh hell as well as you and Malachai do.”

She fell silent.  “I’m sorry, Jake.  I know you were there too and that you don’t want your kids to have to go through it either.”

He took a deep breath to regain his composure.  “I’m good.  It’s cool.  Now get to the house, have Malachai meet you there.  I’ll call Delilah at work to have her give Maddie a heads up to have them come to the house as well and we’ll have Colt there too.  And I’ll call ‘Miah to let him and Jona know to expect everyone.”

“Jake, I’m scared.”

“Jord, you know that none of us will let anything happen if we can help it.  Get to the house and have Malachai meet you there.  I’ll close up the practice for the day and head home.”

“Ok, Jake. I will.”

“And Jordan?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful.  We don’t know what this is yet.”

“I will.  You too.”

---------------

When Jake pulled into the garage, he gave a heavy sigh.  He knew that calling Meagan or Makayla would freak them out.  He knew that calling Marc or James would send them into panic mode.  He had to handle the crisis at hand before he freaked out any of his other siblings or his parents.  He leaned his head against the head rest of his seat; then hit the back of his head against it.  “DAMN IT!” he growled with intent when his head made contact.  “THIS IS BULL SHIT!  WHY, GOD?  WHY MY FAMILY?  WHY ME?  WHAT THE FUCK HAVE I DONE?!  I’VE BEEN NOTHING BUT A HUMBLE SERVANT.  I ASK YOU FOR NOTHING FOR MYSELF!”

There was a knock on his window before he could finish his rant.  He took a deep breath and looked.  It was Skyler Mason, Jeremiah’s father in law.  He rolled down the window.  “Hi Skyler.  What’s up?”

“Couldn’t help but see your tantrum, Jacob.  Is everything ok?”

Jake sighed.  “No, Skyler, unfortunately.  Shit’s hitting the fan and I don’t know why.  I have a call in to Uncle John, but it could take weeks for him to find what I need to know.”

“You want my advice?”

“If you’re willing to share it?”

“You’re supposed to be the leader now, Jake.  Get your frustration out now so that you can handle the frustrations of the other people in that house.  They look to you in time of crisis.  A leader is cool under pressure in front of those he leads and freaks out in private.”

Jake smiled.  “Thanks Skyler.  I needed that.  Did you know that you sounded exactly like my father there for a moment?”

Skyler Mason just shrugged.  “I guess great minds think alike.”