Chapter 15

April-May, 2039

Early the following morning, Rina took a cab to Logan Airport and boarded a shuttle flight to New York City. Once there, she would transfer to another shuttle that would take her into Syracuse.

Usually not a nervous person, Rina was concerned that Christian DeWitt would not believe her claims that she was his granddaughter. After all, she thought, I am his daughter's roommate at school. Why should he believe me?

She didn't know that she had nothing to worry about, that Christian DeWitt had already worked it out for himself.

All Rina wanted was to know if her grandfather knew of her father's whereabouts, or did he, too, believe that his son was dead?

To allay her nervousness, she thought about the surprise birthday party she was giving for Jaime and Helene. The plans were coming together nicely, and nearly everyone who received one of Alexei's invitations indicated they planned to attend.

Including Christian DeWitt, his wife and their children still living at home. Helene's grandfather, his wife and their son would be unable to make it, as Krysta Hope had given birth to a baby girl named Alexandra less than two weeks before.

"How weird does it feel to know that the new baby is your aunt, Helene?" Jaime had asked her.

"A little weird, but not unusual nowadays," Helene replied; "The Occupation brought together many couples who are far apart in age; like my parents, for example."

"I think it would freak me out a little bit," Rina had replied. "I mean, there are people who have aunts and uncles who are either much younger than themselves, or the same age, even. How does one explain that in primary school?"

"I have two brothers who are roughly the same age as my mother," Helene said. "Their kids are my nieces and nephews. Chris, for example, has a daughter not much younger than me, and I'm her aunt! I don't know if Charles had any kids before he died, but I would imagine so. We just haven't met them yet, I suppose."

Rina looked out the window and saw the skyline of Manhattan below her. That didn't take very long, she thought.

But the unsettling idea that her best friend was her aunt had Rina on edge. How am I going to explain that one? she asked herself.

===

Julia had been expecting the call since she found out that someone was following Jaime. So she wasn't surprised when the phone rang the following morning, and Jaime's secure phone number popped up on the Call Identify screen.

"Mom, was the person you sent to follow me yesterday named Ryan Kendall?" Jaime asked barely a second after her mother said hello.

Julia sighed to herself. What do I tell her? she asked silently.

"No, Jaime, Ryan Kendall is a stranger to me," Julia said. "It appears that you are being followed by this person."

"Great," Jaime said; "Now I have to watch my back. What did I do to get such special attention?" she finished sarcastically.

"I have no idea, James," Julia said; "but I've got Uncle Nik on it. We'll find out who this guy is, and why he's following you."

Julia could almost hear Jaime slump down in the chair she was sitting on in her suite.

"What can Uncle Nik do, Mom?" Jaime asked; "He's in Washington working as Uncle Jere's chief of staff."

"He still has access to a wide database of search options, James," Julia said; "One of them is bound to find this Ryan Kendall."

"I wish my sixth sense worked like that, then I would figure out what to do on my own," said Jaime. "Are we headed for a second Occupation, Mom? Am I one of the Undesireables?"

"James, I don't know what to tell you," Julia said; "but there will be no second Occupation! Not if I have anything to say about it."

"You're not going to go all SpineSplitter on us, are you?"

"You are my child and I have an obligation to protect you," Julia said. "I know you have weapons skills and can take care of yourself in that regard, but it shouldn't have to come to that. I won't be pulling any disappearing tricks like I did after Jack died."

"Good, because that was scary, not knowing where you were," Jaime said; "or what you were capable of doing in the frame of mind you were in then. You still don't remember anything about those three weeks, do you?"

Julia sighed; "No Jaime, I don't. I may never know what I did during that time. I'm not sure I want to know. In the mean time, we'll get some answers about this man who was following you. Who he works for, if he's acting alone, if he's an obsessive stalker...fun stuff like that."

"Okay, Mom," Jaime said, "you know what's best. But if he comes back and hurts my family or my friends, then I'm going to make him wish he was never born."

===

Ryan Kendall laid low for a day before reporting to the mystery man who sent him to Chicago to follow a 17 year old girl.

What I've heard about the Summers family is true, he thought; that they somehow know they're in danger. Who is watching over them?

Kendall only took the job because he needed the twenty-five grand to pay off his debts. At this point, he didn't care if he got paid. If this douchebag stiffs me, I'll offer my services to The Triad, he thought. At least they've got their heads screwed on straight.

His secure phone rang. The number on the display was that of the man who hired him for the job of following Jaime Summers.

"Kendall," he said as he answered the phone.

"Tell me about Miss Summers, Kendall," the man on the other end of the line said.

"One, she leads a pretty typical college student's life," Kendall began; "She goes to classes, has a job in a flower shop, and on Wednesday, she was with a group of students who toured the veterinary sciences building at Loyola. Yesterday, she got her hair cut, went to a firing range," he paused, then continued, "then somehow figured out she was being followed and tracked me all the way to the airport."

"A firing range?" asked the mystery man.

"Yes," said Kendall; "She goes there a couple of times a week when she isn't working or studying."

"What about her roommates?"

"Miss DeWitt went to dance rehearsals for the spring recital, and the other girl took a shuttle bus to the airport. And no, I don't know where she went."

"Still no name for the third roommate?"

"I think it's Gina, but I can't be certain that's right," Kendall said; "All I know about her is that she has dark hair, grey eyes, stands about five-seven or eight. She also works at the flower shop, but she wasn't working  for the last three days, possibly because she was leaving town."

There was more silence on the line that Kendall was comfortable with, then he heard, "Your fee will be in your account by close of business today, Mr. Kendall. We never spoke, and the deposit will bear the name of a local company. If we need your services again, we'll be in touch. Goodbye."

The line then went dead in Kendall's hands.

I hope that they never call me again, he thought as he put the phone away in his pocket. I'd hate to be on the wrong end of any weapon wielded by the SpineSplitter's daughter.

===

Rina arrived at the impressive building that housed the DeWitt Corporation offices and suddenly had second thoughts about confronting Christian DeWitt.

She hoped he forgot about their meeting, but somehow, she doubted that.

Looking at her watch, she saw that she was nearly 25 minutes early for their meeing.

Let's go get this over with, Audrina, she told herself. The worst Signore DeWitt could say is that he doesn't know who my father is or where I might find him.

All her research led her to this point. Christian DeWitt had a son named Charles who was deceased. The son had lived in Europe, married, and had at least one child. The son had the same birthdate as her father, grew up in the same hometown; and had a rap sheet a mile long before he was of age, mostly with reports of mischief. He was never convicted of anything or served time in jail. At seventeen, he simply disappeared.

Rina's research may not have uncovered anything, she realized, if people never remarked how much she and Helene looked alike.  Total strangers sometimes resembled each other. Most times, they weren't related.

But she had wanted to find out if her father was really dead, something she doubted from the time she heard about the car accident that supposedly killed him. Had I not saw someone who looked like him out in town before the funeral, she thought, remembering how shaken she felt when she saw a man who looked so much like her father it was scary, I might not be here now. I have to know!

And she honestly thought Christian DeWitt had an answer. Or at least a clue.

Just maybe, he was a grieving father, just like she was a grieving daughter.

But she wouldn't know anything if she didn't go inside the impressive building and find out.

===

Dark hair. Grey eyes. Five-seven or eight.

If I didn't know better, I'd swear that kid was describing Audrina.

Pike sat at his home computer, wondering how Jaime Summers figured out she was being followed. Her family owned Summers Tech Systems, after all, he thought; they could have provided the girl with a means to find people who didn't want to be found.

He had no knowledge of the family's special gifts, ones that extended to all of The Triad's families.

Including those of Joe Donovan and Natasha Vincent.

Maybe I should back off for a while, Pike thought. If Jaime could figure out she was being followed, it might lead to me.

And a scandal was something he did not need right now. Not when his political future hung in the balance.

Richard Pike wanted to be President so badly he could taste it. But if it didn't work out this time, there was always the election in 2044, five years off, to consider.

And A.R.M still needed a lot of work and a lot of people to make his candidacy happen.

But, he would stage a Second Occupation, and put people like The Triad in their place once and for all.

All he needed was one person.

And she didn't even know he existed.

Yet.

===

"Jules," Nik San Marco said, "I may have found Ryan Kendall, but I must warn you that it is a rather common name."

"How many were born in 2012?" asked Julia.

"Lots of them."

"Great," Julia said; "Of those, how many were born in early April that year?"

Nik looked at his information, then came back on the line. "I have four born on April first, two on the second, and one born on the third."

"Look into the one born on April 3, 2012, Nik," Julia said; "That's the DOB that popped up on Jaime's screen. I want to know everything about him, including who he's sleeping with and what he's had for breakfast for the last six months."

"You're kidding about the breakfast thing, right Jules?"

Julia laughed, "Of course, Nik. But the other stuff I was serious about. Find out who he's associated with, if he's in debt, whether he's working, his schooling, all of it. And if you can happen upon his breakfast habits, that's a plus."

"Funny, Jules," said Nik. "When you find this stuff out, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Julia said; "Maybe invite him to the house and see if he can beat Sarge across the pasture."

"Isn't Sarge pretty old for a bull?"

"Maybe, but don't tell him that!" Julia said, laughing. "He thinks he's this bovine stud muffin. All the ladies, bovine and otherwise, love Sarge."

Nik laughed and said, "Okay, seriously, what are you going to do with any info Jere and I come up with?"

"Make him an offer he can't refuse."

"Such as...?"

"Turn him against the bastards who sent him to spy on my daughter, that's what," Julia said.

"Give us a couple of days and we'll get something damning to you about this kid," said Nik.

"Great. Look forward to reading your findings, brother," Julia said. "Give my love to Kate. How are the grandbabies doing?"

"Considering that only Matt and Sandy have kids," Nik said, "the grandbabies are fine. Matt and Lisa are taking Karina and baby Gabriel to Seattle with them before the end of the summer because Matt got a great job out there. Sandy and Alex just have Lexie. She's a year old now and is keeping her parents on their toes!"

"I'll bet," Julia said. "How's Sandy and Danica's wedding planner business doing?"

"Making a mint," Nik said; "But Sandy will be doing everything with only Vixen to help her while Danica is on maternity leave."

"Oh, I know Joe and Tracy are loving the grandbaby thing," Julia said; "I know I can't wait til Miri and John have theirs in August!"

"Joe says he feels old now," Nik said, laughing; "Turning 40 wasn't easy for him. Now he's going to be a grandpa. Seems unreal, huh?"

Julia sighed; "I know what that's like. Miri was just a baby a minute ago, now she's having one!"

"You ain't preachin' to the choir, Julia, trust me!" said Nik.

===

Rina took a big gulp of air conditioned air and exited the elevator on the ninth floor, where DeWitt had his offices. She walked up to the receptionist's desk and said,

"Alexandra St. Claire to see Mr. DeWitt, please?"

The receptionist looked up and did a double take. The young woman in front of her strongly resembled her boss. She then regained her composure and said, "I'll let Mr. DeWitt know you are here, Miss St. Claire. Please have a seat."

"Thank you," Rina said, taking a seat on the leather sofa behind her.

Normally, the receptionist would have just called into DeWitt's office to tell him he had a visitor, but she got up from her desk and went to the office instead.

"Sir, Miss St. Claire is here to see you."

Christian looked up from his desk. He caught the look in the receptionist's eyes like she couldn't believe what she saw. Instead of remarking about it, he said,

"Please send Miss St. Claire in."

The girl left and returned to the reception area, and told Rina that "Mr. DeWitt will see you now."

Rina followed the receptionist to the office, stepped aside so Rina could enter, then left.

Rina looked around the office. DeWitt was working on something and didn't see her enter. Without looking up, he said, "Miss St. Claire, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I was hoping you'd be able to answer some questions I have about my father," said Rina.

Christian looked up, recognizing the voice immediately. Instead of a stranger, in front of him stood Rina Alexander. Helene's suitemate.

He couldn't believe his eyes! How did she come to be here? he asked himself.

Aloud, he only exclaimed in a voice that betrayed his surprise, "Rina! What the hell are you doing here?"

===