Available February 29, 2012

Readers have asked, wondered, emailed, chatted, tweeted questions for Alex. For the next couple months, Alexandra Hargreaves will guest post on this blog to answer your questions. If you have a question you’d like Alex to answer, feel free to email her at: AlexandraHargreaves at gmail dot com.

LZ from Oregon wrote: “Why do you live with your family? It seems a little old fashioned and great at the same time.”

Hi LZ, thanks for the question.

I didn’t start out wanting to live with my family. In the beginning, Max and John were in college. John had no money at all and Mom cut Max off because we broke our ‘individuation’ agreement (read: her individuation agreement). I had been in the US Army for a few years. Since I couldn’t go home, either to my parents house or to see Max (individuation agreement in action), I didn’t really spend any money. I couldn’t spend any money while I was in SF training for a year and a half. When John and I got married I had enough money for a down payment. With a GI mortgage, we were able to buy our little two bedroom apartment in Santa Monica. I didn’t make huge money, but I made enough to feed us and to pay the mortgage. Max and John had jobs to help out and worked full time in the summers. Plus, John is really good with money. I don’t know how he made it all happen, but he did.

I  think it’s pretty common for twins to live together or very near each other. So living with Max is a no brainer. Since Max and John are such good friends, it was easy for us to live together in the apartment. It was hard time because we were pretty broke, very young, and we were striving to better ourselves. We were in college –  they went to UCLA and I went to AMU. Plus I was working with the Fey Special Forces Team. But I think we all have really fond memories of living together in the apartment.

I was stationed at Fort Carson so John and Max applied to graduate programs in and around Denver.  John got into the University of Colorado Medical School and Max went to Denver University Law. For most of that time, we lived together in a Denver Square in South City Park. When I was injured, the house next door, which was a little bigger, was for sale. Max and John bought the house and remodeled it. The idea was that Max would live with John and I while we remodeled our old house. We had agreed that we would decide what to do with the houses after the remodeling was done.

Of course, the houses were blown up by Eleazar before we made our decision.

When I was in the hospital after being in the room, Max and John bought the rooming house from the bank. With the money we had from the insurance company, we were able to rehabilitate the rooming house. We’d planned to live there alone like we had before. We created basement rooms so that team members and guests could live down there. The rest of the house was to be ours. But Cian and Eoin showed up while we were still remodeling. Erin needed a place to stay. Troy needed a place to rehab his leg, and his life, a few months after Erin moved back into her LoDo condo.  Colin arrived on New Year’s.

What were we going to do? They needed a place to live. We had the space.

I think if we had thought it through, we would have done something else. In the day to day living of life, it just happened one family member at a time.

One thing I should say is that Max and I grew up in a  military family. While we didn’t have to do the bi-annual post hop, like most families, but most of the families around us did. We didn’t have long term friends until we moved to Denver. Once in Denver, Max and Colin and I had a hard time making friends. We spent almost all of our time together. Sometimes other people, like Zack, would tag along, but overall, we stayed to ourselves. Sami and Erin were better adjusted than we were. At the same time, when push comes to shove, we Hargreaves siblings rely on each other.

I hope that answered your question.  If anyone has other questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments or email me at AlexandraHargreaves@gmail.com

>>>>>Alexandra Hargreaves is a fictional character created by Claudia Hall Christian for the Alex the Fey thriller series. Opinions expressed are that of Alexandra Hargreaves and may not reflect the opinions of the author or Cook Street Publishing.  Lean on Me, the fourth Alex The Fey thriller, will be available February 29, 2012.

Readers have asked, wondered, emailed, chatted, tweeted questions for Alex. For the next couple months, Alexandra Hargreaves will guest post on this blog to answer your questions. If you have a question you’d like Alex to answer, feel free to email her at: AlexandraHargreaves at gmail dot com.

Sorry for the delay and the handwriting. I’m on a plane without Internet access (grrr) and Dusty is off this weekend. I can fax this in when we land so it’s up. He’ll probably transcribe this when he gets in on Monday.

I’ve been in meetings since Tuesday over the ‘new’ vision for the US Military.  Of course, it’s more like the not so new vision for the US Military. People have been working on a reconfiguration of the military for a long time. Thousands of people have slaved over these changes with the hopes that we can maintain national security and our objectives while shifting from a World War II machine to a modern and more flexible military. We also have to cut 500 billion dollars out of the budget.

Why did I have to go to all those meetings??  Anyone? Yeah, I don’t know either. I think my brain dripped out of my ear sometime mid-day Wednesday.

At least ‘we’ had a chance to get our ducks in a row before Congress comes back in session (and drives us all completely nuts).

But you know? Sometimes I wonder if I’m just a duck too. Of course, my team and I slaved away on the new plan. After everything that happened… Oh right, Mattie just reminded me that you don’t know about all of that yet. Well, suffice it to say, they wanted us to check over the Intelligence plan.

Joseph and Mattie came to Washington with me. Joseph took copious notes and Mattie argued with brass about personnel. Raz was with us too. We went out for some nice dinners. We stayed at the Lamberton Sheridan Circle Mansion, so you know we slept well, ate well, and were catered to in every way. Max met us in New York last night and we saw the Book of Morman. Maybe you have to grow up in the west, but I almost died laughing.

The best thing about the trip?  We’ll be home by 2000 MT and John doesn’t have call tonight or this weekend. We are going to have a fun weekend.

Anyway, I was supposed to talk this week about ‘why our families have had martial arts training and self defense training.’

Frankly, I think they should teach self defense and MMA in the high schools. Everyone should know how to defend themselves from an attacker. All of the Hargreaves kids have taken at least some martial arts. Paddie started when he was about two years old. He and his little friend Katy are real pros now.

I guess the question was why.

I have a dangerous job. Just like everyone in the world, my work, i.e., my dangerous job, spills out over onto the people I love. When people get angry with me or about something I’ve done, they are naturally going to look for my weakest link.

And my weakest link is my family.

Rather than leave them like sitting ducks, (there go the ducks again) everyone on our team has taught their children and partners how to defend themselves. Some of the Fey wives have become really proficient. Quanshay, Royce’s wife, is working toward a black belt in Thai boxing and a few others are pursuing other arts. Colin teaches the kids three times a week when we’re in town.

I think it’s important to be prepared. If we’re lucky, no one will ever come after our families. Since our families have already been targets, I know I’m not that lucky.

I get so irked when action heroes in movies ‘need motivation’ so the writer kills off a family member. For example the movie Salt. Listen Salt, if you didn’t teach your foxy husband how to defend himself? If there isn’t a weapon in the house for him to use? You may as well have killed him yourself. And furthermore, why aren’t you going after bad guys because it’s your job! Why did you need your husband’s death to motivate you? If you had gone after all those sleeper cells and whatever because it was your job, your husband would still be alive. Makes me crazy.

Trust me, my family isn’t going down without a fight.

So that’s why.

Alex

>>>>>Alexandra Hargreaves is a fictional character created by Claudia Hall Christian for the Alex the Fey thriller series. Opinions expressed are that of Alexandra Hargreaves and may not reflect the opinions of the author or Cook Street Publishing.  Lean on Me, the fourth Alex The Fey thriller, will be available February 29, 2012.

The Lieutenant Colonel got called to attend a matter of national security late last night. She was going to write her post on the plane but must have been otherwise occupied. If she’s able to get to this assignment, I’ll post it today or tomorrow.

Thanks for understanding,

Sergeant Dusty Cummings

Readers have asked, wondered, emailed, chatted, tweeted questions for Alex. For the next couple months, Alexandra Hargreaves will guest post on this blog to answer your questions. If you have a question you’d like Alex to answer, feel free to email her at: AlexandraHargreaves at gmail dot com.

Identical male-female twins or Single Zygotic male-female twins

Alex:

Can you imagine saying, ‘I’m a single zygotic male-female twin’ when you’re ten years old? Now imagine being a military kid who just moved to Denver, Colorado (where the people are not all that friendly) from Fort Bragg, NC (a military base where Dad was boss)? I had a thick Southern accent, a bad haircut, and an identical looking male twin.

Trust me. We didn’t go over well in Catholic School.

If you were me or Max, you’d drop the whole single zygote thing and just go with being identical twins.

Not that it made any difference. We had no friends. We didn’t meet Zack until we were almost eleven. No girl wanted to be my friend. And Max never really cared about anyone but me. So we were the weird Hargreaves twins.

You know how that goes: “That Samantha,  she’s the cutest little thing. And Colin, such an athlete. And little Erin is smart and darling. She’s going to grow up to be a man killer. Oh, and those twins? Is there medication for them?”

So when people ask me why I say that Max and I are ‘Identical Twins’ instead of single zygotic male-female twins, I want to punch them in the face.

Because Max says that people have a right to ask a legitimate question, I asked our twin expert Wyatt Klassen, MD, PhD to explain the science of how Max and I can be identical twins or single zygotic male-female twins. You probably remember him from Who I Am. But we don’t talk about him much. You’ll get a better idea of him in Lean on Me (coming February 29, 2012). Because we’re fascinating, Wyatt’s not going anywhere.

So take it away, Wyatt.

FFFFFF

Wyatt Klaussen, MD, PhD

We’re talking today about how Alex and Max can be single zygotic male-female twins. In order to discuss twins, let’s go over the basics of conception. I will provide links in case you’d like more information.  Because this is a general conversation for the general public, we’re going to use generalized terms such as ‘conception,’ ‘chromosomes,’ etc.

Human beings have 23 pairs chromosomes - 22 autosomes and 1 sex chromosome. For the purpose of our conversation, we are going to focus primarily on the sex chromosome. Every human cell has one X sex chromosome. A male human has an X + a Y sex chromosome where as a female human has an X + another X sex chromosome.

Male = XY
Female = XX

Normal conception:

A normal egg carries 22 autosomes and 1 X sex chromosome. Sperm, on the other hand, carry the same total number of chromosomes. However normal sperm carry either an X sex chromosome or a Y sex chromosome.

The egg is confronted with sperm. 

There are a lot of theories and research into the dynamics of eggs and sperm. While the conversation is fascinating, it does not relate to our topic. We have a lot to cover, so let’s stay focused.

The end result of a healthy egg confronted with healthy sperm is usually the creation of a single zygote.

Single zygotes can grow into entire human beings. A single zygote has a single amniotic sac.

Incidence of twins:

Multiple births are relatively rare. Even with the rise of in-vitro fertilization, the chances of an individual having dizygotic twins, non-identical or fraternal twins, is 1:80 in North America. Identical twins  happen at a rate around 3:1000 or .03% of all births are identical twins.

The diagram to the left was created by ChristinaT3 for wikipedia and edited by Trkly. It’s better than anything I created so I thought I’d add it.

So far, we’ve covered normal eggs and normal sperm. Most fertilization events happen with normal sperm and normal eggs. However, Alex and Max weren’t created by normal eggs and possibly normal sperm.

What causes male-female single zygotic twins?

The first step in the creation of male-female single zygotic twins is a post fertilized egg that has the combination of XXY sex chromosomes.

This zygote is created two ways:

1. An egg contains two X sex chromosomes and is fertilized by a Y chormosome.

OR

2. A sperm contains two sex chromosomes XY and fertilizes a normal egg.

The incidence of an XXY zygote is shockingly high – 1:500-650  male births.  Thus it’s more likely to have an XXY zygote than it is to have an identical twin.

An XXY human being is considered to have Klinefelter’s syndrome. Please follow the link to learn more about this syndrome and the challenges these individuals struggle with.  It should be noted that most of these zygotes are miscarried. Less than 40% of these zygotes develop into full term babies. In 2010, 100 such zygotes were altered using in-vitro technology to correct the zygote to a male XY zygote.

Max and Alex started out as a Klinefelter’s syndrome zygote. For reasons we don’t quite understand, even in same sex single zygotic twins, Max and Alex’s zygote split into two zygotes.

Alex and Max have a story that they like to tell about how they became two separate people. The story was created by their father Patrick after they were kicked out of military school. Patrick told them that, like their favorite movie Pinocchio, Max wanted to be a boy so badly, he threw himself into being his own person. Of course, the moment he separated, he regretted it deeply and wanted back. But the damage was done. He could only cling to Alex which is what Alex and Max did the entire time they were in utero. While this is a great story, it is not scientifically accurate.

What we know about Alex and Max:

Alex and Max’s entire family has been incredibly generous with their time. They have withstood every test I’ve asked for including extensive genetic work. This is what I now believe was the genesis of Max and Alex.

1. Rebecca has double XX eggs. We also found these eggs in Alex and Max’s sisters Samantha and Erin. Further, the child Alex called ‘Simon’ was an XXY zygote. We know the potential for XX eggs is passed mother to daughter. We can assume that Rebecca’s mother had the same difficulty.

Thus, we know that Alex and Max were created with a double X egg and a Y sperm.

2. Twins run in the Doucet family. While the incidence of twins is not specifically linked in families, it is correlated equally to both the mother and the father’s family. We can assume that zygote that was Max and Alex split due to the influence of their biological father, Benjamin Doucet.

3. While most twin splits happen late, thus causing chromosomal damage and serious side effects, Alex and Max’s zygote split almost upon conception. The sex chromosomes were able to remanufacture what they lost in the split with ease. In the Hargreaves family, there is an idea that the Hargreaves heal very quickly. We have followed this healing capacity through a number of incidents with Alex, Max, as well as their siblings. For example, Colin Hargreaves was experiencing beginning stages of alcoholic hepatitis from his excessive drinking. One year later, his liver is almost to normal functioning.

We postulate this capacity to heal as the primary reason Alex and Max experience limited effects from this chromosome splitting. The truth is that unless we are able to monitor an XXY zygote split, we will never know exactly how this happened.

When I originally presented the material about Alex and Max, a number of researchers came up to speak with me about a few of their patients. This led me to believe that single zygotic male-female twins are much more common than we think.

Are Max and Alex identical?

No. Primarily because Max has a Y chromosome.

However, looking identical is important to Max and Alex. They work hard to look exactly a like.

For example, Max’s hair is a little more red than Alex’s hair. They both dye their hair chestnut brown to be exactly the same. Alex gets white tips in her hair to cover the fact that she’s died her lighter hair so dark. They are both very thin. While Max is bigger and stronger than Alex, their faces are remarkably similar because they are so thin. They both wore braces and had their teeth modified to be exactly the same. Individually, these changes are minute and subtle. However, their efforts to look identical makes the biggest difference in them seeming identical.

At the same time, in our  testing, we found that they have the same mannerisms, vocal range, and facial expressions. Their brains are the same size, shape, and share near identical neuroelectric patterns. We attribute this to the sheer amount of time they spent together when they were children. However, the fact that their genetics are more than 98% identical cannot be discounted.

If you have questions for myself or Alex, please leave them in the comments.

>>>>>Alexandra Hargreaves is a fictional character created by Claudia Hall Christian for the Alex the Fey thriller series. Opinions expressed are that of Alexandra Hargreaves and may not reflect the opinions of the author or Cook Street Publishing.  Lean on Me, the fourth Alex The Fey thriller, will be available February 29, 2012.

Readers have asked, wondered, emailed, chatted, tweeted questions for Alex. For the next couple months, Alexandra Hargreaves will guest post on this blog to answer your questions. If you have a question you’d like Alex to answer, feel free to email her at: AlexandraHargreaves at gmail dot com.

Special Operations (Spec Ops) vs. Special Forces

I’ve been asked why I use the term Special Forces rather than Special Operations.

I grew up with the concept of “Special Forces.” I grew up around Green Berets. Steve Pershing, my sensei, was a Green Beret.  My father was in a soldier, trainer, and leader in Special Forces. Almost every man who came for dinner at our house was a Special Forces soldier. (Trust me, they’d  have to be to survive my mother’s cooking.)

Sure, people say Special Operations or Spec Ops now. Just to be clear, Special Operations is an all encompassing term that defines a nation’s specialized units. That means any operation which requires trained and specialized personnel is a Spec Ops. It also means that every police force, sheriff’s department, and probably even the Guardian Angels has a Spec Ops group.

To me, using a term like Spec Ops takes the focus away from the men and women who work, train, and risk their lives to complete non-traditional missions. Using the term, Special Operations focuses on the operation rather than the people. And frankly, I don’t like that.

I know it’s old school, but I’m going to use the term Special Forces. I am a Special Forces soldier; my team is filled with Special Forces soldiers.  We complete Special Operations and missions. But first and foremost, we are a Special Force.

So maybe it’s wrong or dumb or lazy or whatever. Maybe I should use the ‘proper’ term.

But my father doesn’t. He believes in a Special Force, not a Special Operation. The difference is subtle, but to him, important.

And he’s right.

That’s about all I have to say about this issue. Next week, I’m going to let Wyatt Klaussen, MD, PhD, our twin expert, take the reins and talk about male female single zygotic twins.

>>>>>Alexandra Hargreaves is a fictional character created by Claudia Hall Christian for the Alex the Fey thriller series. Opinions expressed are that of Alexandra Hargreaves and may not reflect the opinions of the author or Cook Street Publishing.  Lean on Me, the fourth Alex The Fey thriller, will be available February 29, 2012.

Readers have asked, wondered, emailed, chatted, tweeted questions for Alex. For the next couple months, Alexandra Hargreaves will guest post on this blog to answer your questions. If you have a question you’d like Alex to answer, feel free to email her at: AlexandraHargreaves at gmail dot com.

WikiLeaks

A lot of people have asked me what I think about WikiLeaks. I mean, my mother has even asked me what I think about WikiLeaks. So it seemed like a good topic to start this conversation.

Let’s see… WikiLeaks.

The first time Ben saw a desktop computer, he said, ‘You’re looking at the end of keeping secrets.’ He even had a conversation with Bill Gates about the ‘idiocy’ of putting computing in the hands of individuals. He fought against the tide to turn all US Intelligence over to computers.

Ben knew the first time he looked at a computer that someday, some where, someone would leak whatever they knew to the public. So, all this shock and horror and ‘Oh My God How Could This Possibly Happen,’ on the part of policy makers, brass, and big wigs is bullshit.  They knew, as they’ve always known, that this kind of thing was going to happen.

And, make no mistake. The concern is not that our ‘frienemies‘ might get our ‘secrets‘. Trust me, anyone who wants anyone else’s secrets and has the time, money, and energy to make it happen, knows everything there is to know.

The concern is that the public will know what their  government is up to.

Before you say it, yes, most wars are won based on intelligence information. That’s a fact.

But you can trust that this intelligence information isn’t sent around in memos and emails from diplomats.

Why? Because diplomats are nice, good-looking people who are friendly and can carry a conversation. They are the kind of people who make a party fun. You’d like them and want to invite them to your home to hang out with your friends.

They are not huge brain trusts.

Most of them don’t have any idea when or if they stumble upon a noteworthy piece of information. Their job is to smile,  shake hands, make friends, and pass information along to people like me or Ben or Raz. Our job is to connect the dots.

So you have to ask yourself, why is everyone so upset about WikiLeaks? Why doesn’t the government want you to know what the intelligence arm is doing?

I can only give you my opinion: the government doesn’t want you to know what they are doing because you won’t understand it.

Intelligence is a huge chess game. We do this; they do that. When information is leaked, the public only sees one move in a decades long chess game. The one move maybe shocking, unnerving, but it’s only one move. If you saw the entire chess game, you  might understand what’s going on. But no one is going to show you the entire game. Moreover, not very many people know or understand the entire game.

I’m neither defending WikiLeaks or the need for secrecy. Frankly, neither impact my life or job very much.

If you have questions for me about WikiLeaks, you can leave them in the comments. Email me if you have a specific question about anything, otherwise next week we’ll chat about Spec Ops.

>>>>>Alexandra Hargreaves is a fictional character created by Claudia Hall Christian for the Alex the Fey thriller series. Opinions expressed are that of Alexandra Hargreaves and may not reflect the opinions of the author or Cook Street Publishing

Starting Wednesday December 14th, Alex is available to answer questions at AlextheFey.com. She’ll answer one question a week until Lean on Me, the fourth Alex the Fey thriller, is available February 29, 2012.

If you have a question for Alex, about book topics, national security, anything, email: AlexandraHargreaves@gmail.com.

Priority will be given to questions that come from fans of the Alex the Fey page on Facebook!

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Eight and a half hours later
February 16 — 5:00 A.M. MDT
Monday early morning
Fort Logan National Cemetery

Lost in thought, Alex didn’t hear the rattle of the white Lincoln Town Car until it turned the corner to the Fey Special Forces Team Memorial. She grimaced. She’d come this morning to spend time alone with her friends. She’d been talking non-stop since she arrived an hour ago. She cleaned the gravestones while she talked. It wasn’t her turn to clean them, but this morning she longed to tell them every little detail of the last few months with her new team. Thirteen black granite stones in a semicircle around an obelisk. That was all that remained of her friends.

And still, she knew they listened.

Alex leaned back onto her knees when a screech of brakes indicated the car was stopping at the memorial. She saw the tiny visage of Mrs. Harris, Dwight Harris’s grandmother, come around the vehicle. Alex moved to get up.

“Don’t get up,” Mrs. Harris said. “I didn’t come to interrupt your work.”

Alex stood to hug the woman.

“Nice to see you honey,” Mrs. Harris said. “How are you?”

Alex nodded.

“I thought so,” Mrs. Harris said. “It’s hard for me to move on. I can only imagine how it must be for you.”

Mrs. Harris returned to her car. She opened her trunk and took out a bouquet of yellow roses. Starting with Alexander’s grave, the empty grave where Alex should lay, she placed a flower on each grave. Alex finished cleaning the stone she was working on and went to the next.

“Yellow roses?” Alex asked. “I always wondered who left those here. You started about a year ago?”

“I got the big ‘C’, Alex.” Mrs. Harris said.

Alex jumped to her feet and rushed to Mrs. Harris’s side. The elder woman set a rose on Dean Kearney’s grave. Mrs. Harris brushed off Alex’s concern.

“I found out right after I saw you last year.” Squinting, Mrs. Harris looked up at Alex. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s just fine. The Lord will bring me home and I can be with my boy, his Mama, and all my babies.’ I wasn’t going to say a word to anyone.”

Unsure of what to say, Alex’s eyes scanned the deep wrinkles of the woman’s face.

“It was as if my Dwight was there with me,” she said. “I went to the doctor. That doctor said, ‘You got the colon cancer.’ He told me African American people get it. I thought, ‘I’m negro. It’s only fitting.’ I don’t remember driving home, but somehow there I was, standing on my front porch with my key in my hand. I could hear my phone ringing, so I rushed in the house to get the phone. It was little Greta. You know Paul’s girl. Her Momma had to move out of town. Wasn’t going to be able to be with her when she had her baby. Greta wanted me to be there. Me.”

“What did you say?”

“I told her that everyone I’d loved had died. My husband, my children, and my Dwight,” Mrs. Harris said. “She laughed. That little girl laughed at me. She said ‘When you love heroes, they’re bound to die early.’ Well that stopped me in my tracks. I told her I’d think about it. I sat down in my chair, you know the La-z-Boy Dwight purchased for me? Except to use the facilities, I didn’t move from that spot for the rest of the day and most of the next. Can you guess why?”

Alex shook her head.

“I was trying to decide whether I wanted to live or die,” Mrs. Harris said. “Both sides looked pretty attractive.”

Mrs. Harris picked up another yellow rose. She smiled at Alex then set the flower down on Scott’s gravestone.

“You know that,” Mrs. Harris said.

“What did you…?”

“I realized that I’d lost myself when Dwight died,” Mrs. Harris said. “From the moment he was born, he was my boy. His Mama loved drugs more than anything, so Dwight was mine. After raising and burying eight kids, another baby wasn’t hard. But I’ll tell you; before he was born I had other plans. I’d just retired from the phone company. I felt dried up, like a prune. I was going to sleep for a year. God had other plans. Along comes this tiny baby. Suddenly, my life blossomed. I started a daycare for mothers in the neighborhood. I had ten babies who grew into toddlers then little kids. My friends kept telling me to take time off, to stop, but I was in seventh heaven. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live.

“But when Dwight died, I died too. I just didn’t know it,” Mrs. Harris said. “While I sat there in that chair, I realized I had to find my way back.”

“How did you do that?” Alex’s heart raced with the hope of finding an answer for herself.

“Yes, you have to do the same thing don’t you?” Mrs. Harris asked.

“I do,” Alex said. “I’ve been pretending, you know, to be the Fey. But it doesn’t feel real.”

“I followed breadcrumbs, Lieutenant Colonel Alex,” Mrs. Harris said.

“Breadcrumbs?”

“I found the breadcrumb of Dwight,” Mrs. Harris said. “I followed those breadcrumbs until I found the breadcrumb of my children. Most of them died years ago. I’d forgotten how much I loved them. Their children are still here. I just forgot. There was a knock on the door and the neighbor’s little girl was dropping off some cookies as a thank you for taking care of her one afternoon. Breadcrumbs of love, friendship and family. When I came upon the breadcrumb of my husband, Lord Jesus, I loved that man, I knew I was home. You should try it.”

“I don’t know…”

Mrs. Harris took another rose and gave it to Alex. She set it down on Tommy’s grave.

“You make maps, right?” Mrs. Harris asked. “You like that. What are they called?”

“Fey maps, but…”

“That’s a breadcrumb,” Mrs. Harris said. “You have a tattoo of a fairy. Don’t you?”

“Yes but…”

“Another breadcrumb,” Mrs. Harris said. “And that armband? What do those fancy ‘F’s mean? I’ll tell you. I fussed at my boy for getting that tattoo. And you know what he said? My Dwight said, ‘I’m a member of the Fey Team. St. Peter’s still gonna let me in. He probably has this tattoo his own damned self.’ That’s my boy. What do the F’s mean?”

“They stand for the Fey Team, but…”

“Breadcrumb. I heard you talk to your command,” Mrs. Harris said. “On the phone yesterday? What do you say?”

“What do you mean?”

“You have to get through voice recognition. What do you say?” Skipping Dwight’s grave, she set a rose on Jesse’s grave.

“Fey but…”

“Breadcrumbs. I’m telling you, these are breadcrumbs.”

“You don’t understand,” Alex said. “The Fey was all of us! Combined! Together!”

“And who’s left?” Mrs. Harris asked. “You and Major Joseph are the only ones left. And between you and me? That man is no fairy.”

Alex couldn’t help but laugh. Mrs. Harris gave Alex a rose to set on Charlie O’Brien’s grave.

“I asked myself, why is it so hard to just be?” Mrs. Harris asked. “You know, just be me.”

“What did you learn?”

“I wanted the world to stop when Dwight died. I wanted everyone to look and see what I’d lost, what we’d all lost,” Mrs. Harris said. “But they didn’t. Life went on. I either had to keep going or get off the track. In between doesn’t work. I’m either me or I’m gone.”

“What did you do?” Alex asked.

“I went to that doctor and told him to take it out,” Mrs. Harris said. “The whole thing. And he did. I have a bag now. It’s not a big trauma at all. I took the radiation. I took the chemo. The day of my last chemo appointment, Greta and I delivered a gorgeous baby boy she named Paul. I went to that doctor and told him I was cured. He hemmed and hawed. Didn’t want an old negro woman to be right. But I just knew. I was cured. And sure enough. I am.

“When the girls heard I helped Greta, they wanted me with them. I’m going to help Jennifer today or tomorrow,” Mrs. Harris said. “I started my daycare again for all the new Fey babies. My grandson even drops his baby by now and again. Yeah, I’ve seen all my grandbabies and great-grandbabies this year. They’re a little crazy, but I love them.”

Mrs. Harris walked to Dwight’s grave. She touched a place where the cleaning detergent hadn’t dried.

“My boy gave me my life back,” Mrs. Harris said. “Again. Have you found you?”

“I think so,” Alex said.

“But not the Fey?”

“I can use the name but I…”

“The breadcrumbs lead you back to yourself. You’re the Fey.”

Alex put her arm over the elderly woman’s shoulder. They stood watching Dwight’s grave.

“I was so busy yesterday I didn’t have time to bring my baby’s Sunday dinner,” Mrs. Harris said.

Mrs. Harris went back to the car to get the serving dish. Alex picked up the dish near the top of Dwight’s headstone and carried it to Mrs. Harris’s car. She set the rotten food in the large Tupperware and sealed it closed. When she turned around, she heard Mrs. Harris speak.

“I’m gonna ask her now.” Mrs. Harris set a ceramic dish at the top of Dwight’s headstone. “So don’t be mad at me for messing in your business.”

Alex touched Mrs. Harris’s back.

“You can ask me anything,” Alex said.

“Was my Dwight a homosexual?”

“No.” Alex had to work to keep from laughing.

“Then where are his kids?”

Alex looked away from Mrs. Harris. Weighing her options, she took a pack of incense out of her pocket and set a stick at the end of each grave. She was about to light them with Jesse’s Fey Special Forces Team Zippo lighter when Mrs. Harris stopped her.

“Tell me, Lieutenant Colonel Alex. I need to know.”

“He has three children,” Alex said. “They don’t live here in Denver. The oldest, a girl, lives in Texas with her mother. Fort Hood in Texas. Her mother’s stationed there. He has two kids with a woman in North Dakota. A girl and a boy. She’s also Army. His oldest is about twelve now. The woman in North Dakota had the boy two months after he died.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

“He was embarrassed,” Alex said. “The first baby was an accident. The condom ripped or something like that. He didn’t know she existed until the Army started docking his pay. He felt like he’d become his father or all the scumbag men who take advantage of women. He was afraid you’d be disappointed in the man he’d become.”

“Never.”

“The woman in North Dakota, her name is Shonda… Shonda loved Dwight, understood him. They talked about settling down together when we retired. She’s a Colonel. She runs her own team. She didn’t need much from him, just his love. And Dwight loved her. Their daughter’s name is Doris.”

“My name,” Mrs. Harris said. “And the other?”

“Shonda named his son, Dwight,” Alex said.

“Why didn’t his children get his benefits?” Mrs. Harris asked.

“That was Shonda,” Alex said. “She knew that Dwight would want you to be cared for. She declined his death benefits so they went to you.”

“She’s pretty special,” Mrs. Harris said.

“Special enough for Dwight to love her,” Alex said.

“When do I get to meet them?” Mrs. Harris asked.

“When would you like to?”

“Just like that? I get to meet them…”

“He told me to tell you when you asked,” Alex said. “Shonda would love to meet you. She’s a… breadcrumb.”

Mrs. Harris’s eyes filled with tears. Alex hugged her.

“You look around you, Lieutenant Colonel Alex,” Mrs. Harris said. “Everywhere you go, you bring people together. The Fey wives wouldn’t be together if you didn’t put that bug in Charlene O’Brien’s ear. The new babies would never have been born if you hadn’t made the men put away their seed. The new wives would be lost, completely lost, without the Fey wives’ help. And now, I get to see my Dwight live on in the eyes of my great grandkids. What kind of person can affect so many people?”

Mrs. Harris leaned away from Alex. She raised her pointer finger and pressed it into Alex’s chest.

“No kind of person. You are a fairy, pure and simple,” Mrs. Harris said. “Follow the breadcrumbs and you find that you are the Fey. It’s who you are. It’s what you are. And more than anything, none of us can be the Fey. You need to do what you were born to do.”

Alex nodded her head. Mrs. Harris set the last yellow rose on Dwight’s grave. She watched Alex light the incense.

“Now, when do I get to meet my baby’s kids? I bet Jennifer can hold off until tomorrow. How about today?”

Alex laughed.

FFFFF

Ten weeks later

April 30 — 1:30 P.M. MDT
Thursday afternoon
White River National Forest, Colorado

While a spring snowstorm raged around her, Alex sat next to a roaring fire reading her email on her satellite laptop. Rather than fighting the snow from hut to hut, they’d driven as close to this cabin as possible and skied in on Monday. They planned to stay through Saturday. Max was due to arrive from Washington on Friday.

And the cabin was fabulous. The food was amazing. The time together was thrilling. The only exception to their bliss was this laptop.

But there was no way around it. With Sergeant Dusty on medical leave, she had to keep track of her own email and information. She’d originally been assigned a replacement Air Force Sergeant. He took one look at the volume of work and asked for reassignment. Rather than play the Sergeant lotto, Alex took over her own administrative duties.

Sort of.

She was sure there would be a mess for Sergeant Dusty when he returned next month. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer that he would return next month.

Dusty’s recovery had been slow. He lingered in Denver Health ICU for more than a month. Then, by some miracle, he started to get better. The doctors believed he was healing from his surgery. But Alex thought it was nothing less than divine intervention. He’d been home for about a month. He’d called last week begging to return to duty. He wanted to work a few months before taking paternity leave for the new baby.

“Love?” John called from the sleeping loft.

“I’m here.”

Alex walked to the stairwell. When she didn’t hear him get out of bed, she went up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she saw that John had gone back to sleep. She was about to jog down the stairs, when he laughed.

“I was hoping to lure you back to bed,” he said.

“I have to get through my email,” she said.

“Bring the computer up here.” He patted the bed. “Maggie and I will make space for you.”

Smiling, she jogged downstairs to retrieve her laptop. Making sure it was charged, she carried it up the stairs. John and Maggie made a space for her. She sat cross legged on the bed with the picture window and the spring snow storm to her back. He sat up to kiss her and leaned against the headboard.

“Give me the important updates,” he said.

“With the world?” Alex asked.

“Your world,” he said.

“We’ll start with the photos,” Alex turned the computer so John could see. “Dusty sent a photo of Peggy. She’s just starting to show. The docs think it’s another boy.”

“Good for them,” he said.

“How’s he really doing?” Alex asked.

“Really? Really and truly?” John asked.

Alex nodded sincerely at his joke.

“Great,” John said. “His heart has healed. The scar tissue hasn’t returned. His organs have adjusted to the increased blood flow. He says he feels great, better than he has in years. He’s just started physical therapy.”

“And Royce?”

“Did you see the picture of Royce’s first steps?” John asked.

Alex flipped the laptop to show Chief Petty Officer Royce Tubman taking his first steps on crutches.

“I like this one,” Alex said.

She flipped to the next photo. Royce’s daughter was cheering her father on when he took his next steps. Quanshay and his son were cheering in the background.

“He’s doing really well,” Alex said.

“You got him a job?” John asked.

“Admiral,” Alex said. “He’s our liaison between the President’s Office and the Secretary of State’s Office. It’s enough work for a half time person now, but the Admiral thinks the work will grow.”

“Why?” John asked.

“Getting payment from countries and companies,” Alex said. “We have a list of like…”

She shrugged.

“A lot of people need your help,” John said. “Any decision about whether or not you’re training people?”

“Not for a year,” Alex said. “That was Colonel Gordon. He got sick of people calling his office. Frankly, his admin staff is so lazy; he probably got tired of his staff complaining.”

John laughed.

“What about the evil woman spy?” John asked.

“Victoria? She’s been charged with first degree murder, treason, and whatever else they could throw at her,” Alex shrugged. “I don’t know what will happen to her. The Russians don’t want her back.”

“Why not?”

“She’s not a Russian spy,” Alex said.

“I thought she was,” John said. “What did I miss?”

“She grew up in the St. Petersburg brothels,” Alex said. “The woman she called her ‘mother’ worked for Zoya Aguilar.”

“She actually murdered her,” John said.

“Victoria murdered her pretend mother and Leandro Aguilar,” Alex said.

“How did she murder Leandro?” John asked.

“You know that,” Alex said.

“It never makes sense to me,” he said.

“She was their US contact,” Alex said. “The Weasel ordered a wiretap and surveillance before his… issues. No one bothered to remove it.”

“That’s why Leandro telephoned her apartment,” John said.

“He knew the Weasel’s wiretap would pick up his clues to where he was located,” Alex said. “I wish we had found it sooner.”

She gave a sad sigh. He nodded. To keep her talking, he said, “You were talking about how the Russian woman murdered your guy?”

“Right,” Alex said. “Zoya Aguilar called her to check on the information they’d received from torture. Victoria checked out any information they found. Raz found a call where she says, ‘You may as well kill him. There’s nothing here.’ That’s kind of that.”

“Horrible woman,” John said. “How’s Troy about all of this?”

“He took your suggestion,” Alex said.

“I think it was his therapists first,” John said.

“Either way, he’s going to sit down with Dahlia tomorrow. You know the mother of his children?” Alex shrugged. “She’s at the root of why he’s so messed up with women. I think he’s ready to either be free of his brother’s wife or spend his life with her. This in between is too hard and painful.”

“He’s past his year anniversary?” John asked.

“He is,” Alex shrugged.

“But you think he’ll clear this up?”

“I do. Mattie went with him in case he needed help,” Alex said. “You?”

John nodded. Alex dusted off her right shoulder.

“Getting ready?” he asked.

“For the usual post-Dahlia shoulder bending,” Alex laughed.

John laughed. She leaned over to kiss him.

“When does Colin come home?” John asked.

“Next week,” Alex said. “He’s still sober. That’s what amazing. He’s still sober. They’ve pee checked him every day at training. And…”

“He’s still sober,” John said. “What’s happening with Julie?”

“I don’t know,” Alex said. “The divorce went through. They are in the waiting period.”

“Didn’t she go to Washington to visit him?” John asked.

“She did,” Alex said. “Col had a weekend off so he begged her to come. He said they had a great weekend. He thinks she might be pregnant again. But…”

“He didn’t tell her that he was training to be a Homeland Security agent,” John said.

“She thinks he’s vacationing with my parents,” Alex said.

“Why?”

“No idea,” Alex said. “He didn’t tell her about the trust or his sobriety or his new job. She doesn’t even know he works at a bakery he part owns.”

“He thinks she won’t believe him,” John said.

“I guess so,” Alex said. “I’m glad Paddie likes daycare. Have you met his little friend?”

“Katy?” John laughed. “No, but I’ve heard all about her in Paddie-speak. She’s pwetty, fnny, his bery best fwend.”

“They are cute,” Alex said.

“It’s a soul reunion,” John said.

Their eyes held for a moment in acknowledgement of their soul reunion.

“You knew most of that stuff,” Alex said.

“I did,” he said. “Sometimes it’s nice to watch your lips move. What was supposed to happen today?”

“Oh,” she said. “That’s right. You were asleep. It’s pretty exciting. Which video do you want to see first?”

“There’s more than Leena’s case?” he asked.

Alex nodded.

“Pick one,” he said. “I’m just lying here.”

She smiled. Clicking through to CNN, she started a video.

“This is the most surprising,” Alex said.

The video rolled to an announcer’s face.

“In a shocking admission, the Secret Service announced today that the agent who attempted to kill the President was acting in an under cover operation,” the announcer said.

Alex and John watched with rapt attention at a video clip of the back of the Weasel as he was released from Supermax at Florence, Colorado.

“What’s he going to do?” John asked.

“Done. He’s in witness protection,” she said. “He and his children have been relocated out of country.”

“How did he get his kids?” John asked.

“That’s a long story. Turns out their mom’s custody was terminated,” Alex said. “The girls were so thrilled to have their Dad back that they jumped on him and wouldn’t let go. The littlest one held on to his leg. He’s going to be working in Interpol. I think they will be fine.”

“Wow,” John said. “That’s… wow… Did you get the same kind of justice for Leena?”

“Some,” Alex said. “Turns out the father of her child raped two National Guardswomen at a hotel in downtown Baltimore. Here’s the picture of him being arrested.”

“He was arrested in civilian court?” John’s eyes were wide.

Alex nodded.

“That’s fabulous,” John said. “The Army didn’t say they would take care of it.”

“Nope,” Alex said. “He did the crime off base while he was technically AWOL. When you’re AWOL, you’re not in the Army. At least, that’s my argument.”

Alex beamed at her brilliance.

“How much persuading did that take?” John asked.

“Some,” she said. “But we have a lot of evidence against him. There are a lot of women ready to join in the complaint. He’s in big trouble. He’ll get his court martial when the DA’s done with him.”

“Did he make that retroactive child support payment?” John asked.

“Yesterday,” Alex said. “The deposit went through yesterday.”

“That is impressive,” he said.

“I have a good team,” she smiled.

“And the rest?” John asked.

“We’ve collected DNA samples from all seven of her assailants,” Alex said. “They are at the lab. We don’t know what we can do, but Samantha’s working the legal angles.”

“Good to have Samantha on our side,” John said.

“Indeed,” Alex said. “She even helped me get a gorgeous dark blue suit.”

He smiled. His hand reached out to cup her face. Her brown eyes held his cobalt blue eyes.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Alive,” she said. “Grateful for this day and this time with you. Madly in love with you.”

He leaned up and they kissed. He leaned back to look at her face. His finger tips stroked her chin. She clasped him to her. Getting squashed between them, Maggie yipped. They laughed. John lay back on the bed.

“How is it to be the Fey?” John asked.

Alex shrugged. She turned her head to look at the snowstorm raging outside the picture window. In the window, with the chaotic storm as a backdrop, she watched her reflection. Her pensive look became an acknowledging smile. She gave herself a nod.

“What?” he asked.

Turning back to him, she closed her eyes and shrugged in resignation.

“It’s who I am.”

F

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Alex threw down the water bottle and ran toward the toilets.

Shots rang out! One shot was followed by a quick second shot. The men’s bodies fell to the ground.

“M-13,” Jesse said. “Armor piercing rounds.”

“Joseph manage this scene,” Alex screamed. “Troy, Max, get that son of a bitch.”

Troy and Max pulled handguns. Two consecutive shots were fired toward the ridge.

“I can’t see him,” Troy said.

“Jesse!” Alex screamed. “Listen to Jesse.”

“It’s too far, Alex,” Max said.

“Shoot high!” Alex screamed “Mac Clenaghan, Rasmussen get going!”

Below the shooter, dust balls popped where Troy and Max’s bullets hit. Matthew and Raz took off down the path toward the shooter.

“MJ, Colin!” Alex screamed just as they ran passed her on the pathway.

John came next.

“No doctors!” Alex screamed. John skid to a halt. “Not until the scene is secured. Stay with the families.”

He turned to look at her.

“Please,” she said. “Wait for Matthew’s whistle.”

He gave her a nod and jogged back to the families.

“Leena, get Scully’s supplies!” Alex screamed. “His car is unlocked. Go, go, go!”

Leena ran toward the cars.

“Trece, White Boy, seal the area,” Alex screamed.

Nearing the trees, she heard Trece and White Boy move into action.

“Vince, Margaret, assist Joseph,” Alex screamed. “Do not let the families leave the picnic area.”

Nearing the path to the toilet, Alex had her first clear sight of the shooter. Still running, she pulled her handgun.

“Up here.” Jesse flew twenty feet off the ground. “You have to shoot high to get it there.”

“Take the bullet, Jesse,” Alex said.

She shot twice and saw the man flinch. Troy and Max fired again.

“Got him,” Troy and Max said in unison.

“Help with medical supplies,” Alex yelled. Troy and Max sped past her.

She turned and ran the rest of the way up to the ridge. Skidding to a halt, she gasped.

Sergeant Dusty and Royce lay bleeding into the dirt. Colin’s bulk worked over Sergeant Dusty while MJ worked on Royce. Shot in the head, Sergeant Dusty was unconscious. Royce was screaming.

“That man’s a traitor!” Royce screamed. “That man’s a traitor!”

“He was working for me,” Alex said. “He worked for me.”

“No!” Royce screamed. “He’s the betrayer.”

“Alex! MJ’s trying to get you to put your hands over the wound,” Colin yelled.

MJ pointed and Alex put her hands on Royce’s chest wound.

“Traitor! Traitor! I found the…” Royce passed out.

Leena and Troy arrived with MJ and Colin’s medical supplies. Colin barked orders. They needed ice. They needed table cloths and blankets. Leena and Troy ran to get the rest of the supplies. The medics worked to save Sergeant Dusty and Royce’s lives. Under Colin’s orders, Troy and Leena made ice packs.

MJ nudged Alex and she moved. He began to apply Covex powder, anticoagulant bandages, and ice packs.

“There were four shots,” Alex said. “He has to have another wound.”

MJ nodded and pointed to Royce’s arm. A whistle came from across the ridge. Matthew and Raz had caught the shooter.

“Do we need docs?” Alex asked.

“They’re on their way,” Colin said.

She looked up to see John and Emily running from the picnic area. When the doctors arrived, Alex sat back on her heels.

“We have multiple wounds,” Colin said. “This head wound is superficial but enough to knock him out. Possible cracked skull, definitely a concussion. I have a punctured lung and a broken collar bone. MJ?”

MJ shook his head. He couldn’t speak. Noticing Margaret, he pointed to Royce’s chest and back.

“He has a chest wound with possible spinal impairment,” Margaret’s clear voice came from behind Alex. MJ pointed to Royce’s arm. “Royce also has a wound on his right bicep. Hit an artery. The arm is broken. At least.”

Alex looked up at her.

“Max took my place so that I could help my partner,” Margaret said.

“How?” Alex asked.

“I’ve been studying medical terminology and anatomy, sir,” Margaret said. “I need to speak for my partner when he is unable.”

Alex gave her a curt nod.

“We’re here to assist,” John said. “I’ll work with Colin. Emmy?”

“What can I do MJ?” Emily asked. “Just point. I can keep up.”

Alex stood and stepped back from the medical drama.

“Anyone know what happened?” Margaret asked.

“Royce was assigned to find the traitor deep within the Fey Team,” Jesse said. “He didn’t know Sergeant Dusty agreed to spy only after Alex made him. Sergeant Dusty’s been infiltrating the network of people who want Alex dead. Someone told them to meet here. That’s how they found out about each other. I think they would be in worse shape if they hadn’t been fighting.”

“Did you hear that?” Alex asked.

“Hear what?” Margaret asked.

The faint wail of a fire truck and paramedics sirens grew louder until the first responders pulled into the parking lot.

“You have amazing hearing,” Margaret said.

Alex watched Raz meet the firefighters in the parking lot. He pointed to the other side of the mountain then pointed toward them. The paramedics jumped into action.

“We’re losing him!” Colin screamed over Sergeant Dusty.

“NO! NO!” Alex screamed.

A firefighter grabbed her and pulled her away from the action. The paramedics jumped into action. Colin began giving Sergeant Dusty mouth to mouth resuscitation. They were able to get Sergeant Dusty’s heart going again.

The paramedics set up IVs. With help, they got Royce and Sergeant Dusty onto stretchers. The team came forward to carry the stretchers to the ambulance. Peggy and Quanshay jumped in with them. Alex’s eyes followed the ambulance until her line of sight was broken by John. John clutched her to him.

“None of that lass.” Cian touched her back. “The women are carrying on. You have to be strong now.”

Alex choked back her emotion and wiped her face.

“I brought water for you to clean up,” Cian said. “There a woman over there named Luz. She says, and I quote, ‘This kinda shit happens every weekend at my house. Why spoil a perfectly good barbeque?’ I didn’t know she lived in Belfast.”

He laughed at his own joke.

“Those boys are young and healthy,” Cian said. “You’ve done what you can for them. Nancy had arranged kiddie care.”

The team looked to her for orders. She looked up at John for a moment then stepped back.

“There’s nothing we can do for them now,” Alex said.

“The police are on their way,” Raz said. “They’ll want to speak with each of us.”

“We stay here until we’re released by the police,” Alex said. “This is precious family time. Even with our worries and heavy hearts, we must let our families know how much we love and appreciate them.”

“You heard the LC,” Matthew said. “Rasmussen will coordinate with the police.”

Raz nodded.

“The rest of you,” Matthew said. “Get cleaned up and return to your families. When it’s cleared by the police, we’ll clean up this site. But we’re here until we’re released by the police. Let’s do this thing.”

“Yes sir,” the team called.

Paige, one of the original Fey wives, and Maria, Jesse’s wife, brought two more gallon jugs of water. Using Dr. Bonner’s Mint Soap, they did their best to remove the visible signs of violence from their bodies and clothing.

It was harder to remove the violent images and thoughts from their worried hearts and minds. Two vibrant young men’s lives were in the balance. It took more than a little biodegradable soap to erase that fact.

FFFFF

Five hours later

February 15 — 7:30 P.M. MDT
Sunday evening

Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado

Wearing their dress uniforms, Alex, Joseph, and Matthew stood at attention in front of the Admiral and Colonel Gordon. The Admiral had flown in to speak with them. Once there, he was too angry to speak with them. They stood while the Admiral paced back and forth in front of them. Colonel Gordon stood just off to the side of his walking pattern.

“Sir, if I may…” Joseph said.

“You may not,” the Admiral said without breaking a step.

He continued pacing for a few more minutes.

“I can’t decide whether to dismiss Walter and Mac Clenaghan together or speak to them individually,” the Admiral said. “What I know is they will die for you so why wouldn’t they lie for you?”

“Maybe the Admiral could tell us why he is so angry,” Alex said.

The Admiral gave an angry chuckle and continued pacing. He spun in place.

“Mac Clenaghan, did you know what Sergeant Alexander Cummings was involved in?” the Admiral asked.

“Sergeant Dusty, sir?” Matthew asked. “Involved in sir?”

“See what I mean.” The Admiral returned to pacing. He stopped in front of Alex’s face. His rage-filled voice was low and deadly. “Lieutenant Colonel Hargreaves, why was the Fey Special Forces Team murdered?”

“I do not know, sir,” Alex said. “I’ve worked for almost three years trying to find out. But I do not know.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I’ve never lied to you,” Alex said.

“What about Cummings?” the Admiral asked.

“That was not a lie,” Alex started.

“God damn it! I hate intelligence people.”

The Admiral turned his back on them. His back moved up and down with breath as he tried to regain composure.

“Tell me now,” he said.

“Sergeant Alexander Cummings, Dusty, was approached almost three years ago to report on my actions and the building of our team,” Alex said. “He refused out of hand but they returned. They offered him money, vacations, secret bank accounts, women… The offers became more extravagant as time went on. I was unaware of all of this. As you may remember, that was a difficult year for me.”

“Go on.”

“Agent Rasmussen and I were with him when he received another offer,” Alex said. “That was right after I returned from Scotland. You’ll remember we were very hot to find out who was behind Eleazar.”

“I remember.”

“Sergeant Cummings did not want to take the assignment,” Alex said. “I made him do it.”

Alex swallowed at the guilt that rose in her throat.

“He hated it,” Alex said. “When his son was born, he asked if he could be relieved of his double agent status. He tried. I tried. But it was impossible. He was told he had to stay in or his family would pay the price. We weren’t ready to expose the group, so we stayed quiet.

“We learned a hell of a lot about them,” Alex said. “Sergeant Dusty, I mean Cummings is an excellent soldier and a bright, intelligent spy. This is how we knew Joseph Walter was not the Joseph responsible for the murder of the Fey Special Forces Team.”

“And the false agent in Paris?” the Admiral asked.

“Yes,” Alex said. “He had met this man previously. The French were able to apprehend the man before he disappeared or was terminated. He is in their custody because of Sergeant Cummings’ work.”

“Is this the same group Tubman was involved with?” the Admiral asked.

“Yes. Sergeant Cummings had been in a lot longer,” Alex said. “Chief Petty Officer Tubman, Royce, met with a small faction where as Sergeant Cummings was coming to know the scope of the project and everyone involved.”

“Do you have their names?”

“Yes sir,” Alex said. “After we returned to base, we learned that the majority of the men were killed this afternoon.”

“At the same time Sergeant Cummings and Chief Tubman were shot?”

“Yes sir,” Alex said. “It appears to be a unified cleanup effort.”

“And the men Chief Tubman met with?”

“They seem to have scattered,” Alex said. “My assumption is they remain intact as a group, but have moved underground.”

“Mac Clenaghan,” the Admiral said. “Why weren’t Cummings and Tubman killed?”

“If we are to believe the hit was to happen at a specific time, and we do, then the shooter needed to fulfill his contract at that specific time. Sergeant Cummings and Chief Tubman were fighting at that time,” Matthew said. “Moving target from a long distance away. It would have been a difficult shot. The shooter was immediately distracted by the team’s efforts to neutralize him.”

“Your superior officer shot him,” the Admiral said.

“Yes sir. He was distracted by gunfire from Lieutenant Colonel Hargreaves, Max Hargreaves, and Captain Olivas,” Matthew said. “As well as Agent Rasmussen’s and my approach.”

“We also wonder if they might be pointing a finger at Sergeant Cummings and Chief Tubman,” Joseph said. “Almost saying, these boys are responsible for everything we’ve done.”

“I wondered that myself,” the Admiral said. “Is that possible? Are Cummings and Tubman responsible for…?”

“No,” Alex said.

“The shooter is injured but alive. He’s in custody, sir,” Joseph said. “We may be able to ascertain why he was unable to complete the contract. But so far, he’s not talking.”

“These types would rather die than speak,” Admiral said.

“We have a question for you, sir,” Joseph said.

“No, the shooter is not a part of the last President’s murder squad,” the Admiral said. “I checked that myself.”

“And the others?” Alex asked.

“All of the men associated on that squad are accounted for at the time in question,” the Admiral said.

“Good to know,” Matthew said. “And Delta?”

“Son, every man on Delta is in love with the Fey,” the Admiral said. “Orders or no, they’d be more likely to join the damn barbecue than shoot anyone.”

The Admiral turned around to look at them.

“You didn’t tell me about Sergeant Cummings because…”

“I apologize, sir,” Alex said. “There are a number of reasons I chose not to tell you or Colonel Gordon.”

“Enlighten me,” he said.

“First, I feel deeply indebted to you and Colonel Gordon for your trust and faith in me,” Alex said. “Second, I wanted to find out what was going on, even if it was in your office. Third, after we started, I worried for Sergeant Cummings’ safety.”

“You don’t trust me or Colonel Gordon,” the Admiral said.

“Trust, sir?” Alex asked. “I trust you with my life.”

“But not with Sergeant Cummings’ life?”

“Sir, someone killed the Fey Special Forces Team. And I don’t know who,” Alex said. “Or why. I thought if we found information we might find out who was behind all of this.”

“You thought it might be me,” the Admiral said.

“I never thought it was you or Colonel Gordon,” Alex said. “I’ve known Colonel Gordon my entire career. I met him in the class Ben taught while I was in Special Forces training. I’ve known you since…”

“I remember,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure. That’s all,” Alex said.

“Weren’t sure of what?” the Admiral asked.

“It could have easily been someone in your office, someone you knew,” Alex said.

“Could have been someone in line command,” Joseph said. “Someone we don’t know. And…”

Joseph looked at Alex. She shook her head.

“What?” the Admiral asked.

“More than anything,” Alex said. “I wasn’t sure they weren’t coming for you. That’s what we were trying to prevent. When Sergeant Cummings is better, he will confirm what I’m telling you.”

“Sergeant Cummings may not get better,” the Admiral said.

“Why is that sir?” Alex asked.

“He was wounded in Afghanistan, shot in the chest, before he took Special Forces training,” the Admiral said.

“That’s why he understood my recovery so well,” Alex said.

“Yes. That’s one of the reasons I selected him,” the Admiral said. “He was in Afghanistan for two years after training when he was shot in the leg. Doctors in Germany told him he wouldn’t survive another shot.”

“Why?” Alex asked.

“Too much scar tissue around his arteries, heart, some other damned thing,” the Admiral said.

“Sir, if I may,” Alex asked. “Who is Sergeant Cummings to you?”

“He’s my son-in-law,” the Admiral said. “You’ve met my daughter Peggy.”

“Your daughter, sir?” Joseph asked.

“Don’t look like that Walter,” the Admiral said. “She’s an oops baby born after the rest of the kids were out of the house. She’s spoiled rotten and tough as nails. Sergeant Cummings is a phenomenal man. They met in junior high school. He practically grew up in my home.”

“He dragged me back to the land of the living,” Alex said.

“He thinks the world of you, Hargreaves. As does Chief Tubman. Tubman is supposed to work for me. One month under your command and he was clear who his superior officer was. It wasn’t me.”

“Sir? About Sergeant Cummings?”

“What?”

“John’s operating on him right now,” Alex said. “The scans picked up the scar tissue.”

“John said it was bad, but not the worst he’s seen,” Joseph said. “He thought he could clean up the scar tissue and Sergeant Cummings would be ‘right as rain.’”

“John called in a cardiac surgeon he knows,” Alex said. “They work together on cases like this. The surgeon agreed with John. They are confident they will be able to clean up the mess.”

“John said Sergeant Dusty would have needed this surgery anyway,” Matthew said. “This way it’s on the company bill.”

“Your fancy insurance,” the Admiral said.

“Yes sir,” Joseph said. “Both Sergeant Cummings and Chief Tubman are covered under the team health insurance plan.”

“Sir, wouldn’t you prefer to be at the hospital? With your daughter?” Alex asked. “You can be angry with us any time.”

“My daughter says she is a, and I quote, ‘Fey wife’ and will be strong for her husband,” he said. “What the hell is a Fey wife?”

“It’s something Charlene, Charlie O’Brien’s wife, set up for the Fey Special Forces Team,” Joseph said. “She felt team wives needed to support each other. They continue to be a family here in Denver. My wife, Nancy, has worked to integrate the new team wives with the old team wives. They are very…”

“Terrifying,” Alex said.

“I bet,” the Admiral chuckled.

“Captain Jakkman is on base, sir,” Alex said. “He will happily take you to Denver Health.”

“Did your wife come with you, sir?” Joseph asked. “I’m confident the Fey wives will be supportive to her as well.”

“Yes, she’s waiting for me in Gordon’s office.”

“Sir, you must know that we are distraught over the shooting of Sergeant Dusty and Royce,” Alex said. “For myself, I’d much rather take a bullet than see these young men fighting for their lives.”

“Yes,” the Admiral said. “I know that’s true. Gordon? Do you have anything to add?”

“Yes,” Colonel Gordon said. “Good work Alex. This is exactly the exemplary work I expect from you and your team. While I am upset over Sergeant Cummings and Chief Tubman, I’m glad to know all of this had some purpose.”

The Admiral gave Colonel Gordon a long ironic look.

“Thank you, sir,” Alex said.

“I expect a full report on my desk tomorrow morning,” Colonel Gordon said. “Dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’. And do not use a computer. We cannot risk it. You still have that typewriter.”

“Yes, sir,” Alex said.

“I also expect you to hire Colin Hargreaves,” Colonel Gordon said. “From what I understand, his quick thinking is the only reason Chief Tubman has a chance at walking again.”

“I agree,” the Admiral said. “You need that kind of quality medical back up.”

“Yes sir,” Alex said. “I’ll speak with him.”

“He’s sober?” the Admiral asked.

“Yes sir,” Alex said.

“Sobriety is mandatory for his assignment,” the Admiral said.

“Yes sir,” Alex said.

Colonel Gordon shook Alex, Matthew and Joseph’s hand.

“If you don’t mind, sir,” Colonel Gordon said. “I’m going to catch a ride to the hospital with Captain Jakkman. Excuse me.”

Colonel Gordon left the room.

“Only Howard Gordon would have the guts to nudge me to do what I should,” the Admiral said. “I’m still too angry to give you accommodation, but that is probably the appropriate response.”

“Thank you sir,” Alex said.

“How did you get the shooter?” the Admiral asked. “Wait! I don’t want to know. You’re dismissed.”

Alex, Joseph, and Matthew didn’t move.

“What?” the Admiral asked.

“This is my office,” Alex said.

The Admiral was almost to the door when he spun in place.

“Your team is grounded for three months,” he said. “No missions. No favors for friends. You are here. At Buckley until that time.”

“But sir…” Alex started.

“Don’t,” he said. “You need to complete your team. Your team needs training. People need to move. Get your team settled. It’s too dangerous otherwise.”

“Yes sir,” Alex said.

The Admiral gave her a dark look and stalked out. When the door closed, they let out a breath of relief.

“That’s it?” Matthew asked.

“Let’s hope so,” Alex said. “Hospital?”

Joseph nodded.

“Helicopter?” Matthew asked.

“I think I’d like to drive,” Alex said. “I need some time to process everything.”

“Shot gun,” Matthew pulled at his tie.

Smiling, they made their way to the parking lot.

F