HEROES Chapter 6

'Friar Tucks' had only opened a few hours ago at two in the afternoon and it was pretty quiet, which suited Devon just fine. It was a classic neighbourhood pub frequented by locals but from what could be observed also catered to a wide range of the Broadway traffic drawn into it's welcoming atmosphere.

"You Karaoke?" Asked Simon as he slid into a booth and gestured toward the stage.

Devon smiled and shook his head. "Not really my thing."

The agent nodded in agreement. "They sometimes get some pretty good bands here on the weekends, mostly local talent. They have open-mic night's as well."

Devon nodded and turned his attention to the approaching server, a vibrant young girl, the college type working her way through school.

"Hey, guys. What'll be." she asked.

"A 'Newkie Brown' for me." Requested Simon then he looked to Devon awaiting his response.

Devon was impressed by the agent's order and the correct use of the slang term for a Newcastle Brown Ale. "Yeah, I'll have one of those too."

"And could ya bring us a plate of your hot wings as well, luv. Thank ya."

The waitress promptly brought them their pints and Henkel raised his glass. "Cheers!"

"Skål." Replied Devon in his native tongue completely forgetting himself.

Simon took a gulp of his beer and placed his glass on the table. "What language is that?", he inquired.

Devon could feel the heat rising up to his neck but he remained calm. Why should he try and conceal his heritage? After all, he did look stereotypically Norwegian and lacking any sort of accent he was no different than any other American ethnicity.

"Norwegian." He answered, "My parents are from Norway."

"Hmm, a real Viking, huh?" Joked Simon.

Devon smiled and took another sip of his ale. "So what brings you to Chicago?"

"Typical transfer." Lied Henkel, "Was getting bored with my New York post and thought I would return to the windy city. So how about you? You're obviously new to the area. Just move?"

Devon went on to explain that he had just stared a new job and explained to the agent the nature of his work. The conversation then turned to where he was originally from and not wanting to weave a story he couldn't undo honestly told Henken that he was from Canada. Simon then probed for the specifics to which Devon had not wanted to share and thankfully at that point his PDA went off.

"Excuse me, this could be work." Said Devon, stretching the truth.

He pulled out the device and checked the display and saw that it was a call from an unlisted number and he wasn't the type to answer them. He did note though, that whoever it was they were leaving a message but it could wait until he got home. Despite the uncomfortable 'getting to know one another' small talk (because he really couldn't let anyone know him) the evening was a lot more enjoyable than he had expected. The agent was proving to be a colourful character and Devon really didn't see a problem hanging out with a federal law enforcement officer since his life as Devon Gale the research technician was completely separate from that of Wraith. As long as he kept his distance everything would be fine, or at least he hoped it would.

They drove for about twenty minutes before Stefan found a motel to check into. Oddly enough it was called the 'Nebrask Inn', but Scavenger didn't care to analyze what the significance was. He got a room and pulled up to the door and passed Grey the second key card.

"There was a drug store back down the road. I'm gonna get some smokes and snacks, and some medical shit, okay." he told Grey.

Scav waited a few minutes to find out if Grey needed anything specific but he just opened the door and went into the room without a word. He then drove off down to the drug store and proceeded to fill a basket with all sort of chips, candy bars, energy and soft drinks and medical supplies like antiseptic, kits and whatever else he thought that Grey might need. He even pulled out some of his fake prescriptions and picked up a few more goodies that the hit man would appreciate.

"I can't believe you eat this crap!" Exclaimed the Highwayman as he dug a hand into the items of Scav's basket, sneered and dropped it back with a shake of his head.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Scav, "You almost gave me a #$%@ing heart attack, man! Someone ought a put a #$%@ing bell on you."

The Highwayman laughed.

"So, you're friend did well with the first part of the trial." he commented.

"He killed the @#$*er if that's what you're talking about, but look what that asshole did me!" Scavenger pointed to the scab across his head.

"Pitiful aim that man had." Said Highwayman in a dry tone.

"Oh, you're @#$%ing hilarious, Lance."

"Who's joking. Anyway, make sure he's good and rested for the next part of the test, this one's important."

Scavenger nodded and by the time he walked up to the cashier the Highwayman had sauntered out of the drug store. He paid for everything with cash, then made his way back to the motel. He parked the car and entered the room with two bags of supplies.

"Hey, honey, I'm #$%&ing home." he said in a sickly sweet voice as he tossed the bags on the table by the window. "I got a medical kit so you can tape up that slice across your neck, plus there's some other shit in there you might like."

"Thank for the drinks and the company, Simon." Said Devon as they stepped out of Friar Tucks and started to make his way home. It was already seven o'clock, time had flown by and despite the excuse he had given the agent he could have easily sat around for another hour. Henkel was a great story and had a familiar sense of humour that he felt comfortable with but duty called and the night was young.

Simon walked along with Devon across Broadway until they reached the Atlas gym parking lot.

"See ya around the gym." Bid Devon as he continued on down the street toward his apartment block.

"Hey." Called Simon as he took out his car keys, "What are you doing tomorrow night?"

Devon turned around, his hands in pockets. "No plans.", he said shrugging his shoulders.

"Great. Why don't you stop by my place. I'm having a barbecue, kind of a house warming. Nothing big, just a few friends. You can meet my partner."

This was one of those lines he shouldn't cross, considered Devon, but he never actually realized how much he craved normalcy in his life until that very moment. "Sure." he said.

Simon already had one of his business cards out and had written his address and home phone number on the back.Devon quickly checked out the address then tucked the card in his pocket. "Should I bring anything?"

"Just yourself." Said Simon as he made his away into the parking lot, "And a date if you like."

Devon turned around and continued down the street. A date? Krystal's face suddenly came to mind and he quickly forced it away after he had considered their true age difference to be too great of a span. His thoughts then drifted to Amazon and then Sun Storm. Damn, he missed his wife. Things were so complicated now, but then again if she would have lived what would their lives had been like? There was seventeen years between them and when he met her he looked nearly the same as he did now. She would have been turning forty now while he had aged so slow he still looked like a man of about thirty, not that he would of cared but as the years passed he wondered what life would have been like. Was it really fair to involve a Human in the affairs of a Meta-human? Especially one that didn't age normally. No matter how hard one tried to separate their personal life from their crime fighting identity one would always bleed into the other.

As Devon climbed the steps to his apartment block he mused at the idea of him and Amazon, a known criminal. He didn't even know her and deep down he just couldn't get his mind around a relationship with another masked meta, it just seemed too cliché and underneath it all he was a simple guy or at least he wanted to be. He could never really understand why he attracted such dangerous women. After Tatyana's death, Sara-lynn had been there for him which had been a mistake. He was aware from the start of her malevolent tendencies and foolishly he believed that he could change or at least subdue her. Devon knew better than to repeat his mistakes, but the last time he ran into Sara-lynn, she seemed different or maybe the wounds had just healed, who knew? All he was really sure about at this point in time in his life is that he was going to get it right this time and if that meant taking the lonely road he was prepared to walk it.

To take his mind off of things, Devon checked his messages. He called up the unlisted number and played it:

"Wraith, it's Allie....Flaming Angel.....Morgan is with me and Mikayla as I'm sure you know but we just had a run in with Sasha. Apparantly she can track Morgan and something weird happened while we fighting the bug lady. Morgan called her 'Daddy' and Sasha called Morgan a demon. Call me back and give me some advice big guy. I'm not real sure as what to do at this point. Oh, and Sasha and Morgan had it out....calling on spiders, cats, and bats. Not something I'd particularly like to repeat. Especially the spider thing. Call me."

Wraith had theorized that this 'Sasha' was some kind of incarnation of Morgan's father and it now seemed to be a fact. Incredible! He would have never believed that a physical entity could be conjured from psychic energy. Morgan's father must have been a lot more powerful than he or anyone else suspected.

Pausing in the stairwell, Wraith took out a special PDA given to him by Vacily. A device specially designed so that Wraith could keep it near his body even when in his wind form. It was highly secure and virtually untraceable and decided to use it while he was within his personal residence.

"Angel. It's Wraith —

Yes, good to hear from you too. Look, I'm afraid there isn't anything else I can do to help, Morgan. I can only advise you that this thing is a 'simulacrum' of someone that both she and her father shared a strong connection with. I think I recall, Morgan recognizing her. This Sasha, I believe had made up a reality for herself, but now I suspect that will be breaking down as her father begins to take over. She is, however, also this 'girl' that Morgan knew, or more appropriately, her perception of what this 'girl' would have been like if she had not died.—

They're connected. When they are near each other killing one I believe will also kill the other, but if they are far enough apart, this Sasha can be destroyed without harming, Morgan. Thing is, I don't know how real this 'girl' actually is and even more frightening is that I have another theory that you may not like. I believe that this thing wants to somehow, consume or absorb, Morgan and if that happens we might see the return of a more powerful Frank Shepherd. —

Yeah, I wish I had some good news, Angel. —

You take care too —"

Agent Henkel got in his car and headed up Broadway. He drove for a little over ten minutes before he hung a right then made a left onto a one way street called North Kenmore Avenue, a nice residential street lined with grand old homes most of which had been transformed into rental properties or condos. He slowed down when he came to a renovated three story brick building that had been divided into single family dwellings and pressed the garage door opener remote lying on the passenger seat. A single garage door slid open and he pulled into into it.


Henkel had decided to take advantage of R.A.I.D.'s expense account. Since he was officially in collaboration with them, he tapped into their housing budget which greatly exceeded the Bureau's and leased a condo in a popular area of the city. He thought, 'what the hell'. If R.A.I.D. was willing to shell out for 80% of the expenses he might as well get himself a nice place, and maybe after everything was over he might even consider staying. It was a big dream maybe of course, but a guy had to have dreams, Henkel considered.

When he was settled in, Henkel climbed the stairs to the second level, walked down the hallway and unlocked the door to an out-of-the-way room. The spare room had been converted into an office, and sensitive material was strewn across the desk and tacked up on the walls, completely covering one. He took a sip of his beer then held it above the desk while he searched for a small island of clear area to set it down, then he struck his keyboard and woke up his computer. A familiar face flashed up on the monitor, one distinctly recognizable as one, Tim Rutherford.

Henkel sat down and started to check the progress of his searches in the Chicago area. Still nothing. Old, Cowboy was playing it safe, he figured, but it was only a matter of time before trouble found him, guys like him just couldn't avoid it. He pulled out an old report from a few days ago. A task force of R.A.I.D., enforcers had a run in with two men suspected to be meta's, one of aboriginal descent and the other was described as none other than Rutherford, a.k.a, Cowboy. That was the last known point of contact, after that he fell off the grid but then a guy like him knew how to make himself scarce, but that wasn't what was troubling Henkel. He brought a map of recent meta-human activity and the Green Street warehouse district was a hot bed. That's where Rutherford had vanished and Henkel would bet dollars to donuts that there was something more than met the eye in the place, but he was concerned with that at the moment. Thus far he had kept his knowledge of Tim Rutherford's identity a secret from Birkshire, and R.A.I.D., the moment he told them they'd just go off all half-cocked and scare him off. No, he needed to find a way to get close to the Cowboy, but first he needed to find him, and that meant thinking like him.

Henkel opened one of many files on his desk and sifted through the contents. He came across the death certificates of Rutherford's wife, Abby and his son, Samuel, murdered in a drive by shooting at their home in Dallas. Understandably he took a leave of absence after the tragic event, and that's when he seemed to turn and go rogue. He opened another folder that had, 'Arnette, Texas' written on it. Henkel had already alerted, Mitchell to get his ass back out there and stake it out, but he wasn't convinced that's where Rutherford was headed. He knew that he served in the N.Y.P.D. for a while, but his transfer back to Texas curiously coincided with the passing of the 'Riggs Act'. Maybe he has unfinished business back east? Henkel just didn't know yet, but he was getting close, all he had to do was have patience and hope in the mean time, R.A.I.D. didn't catch wind of him.

Yelena spent a night at the motel she stopped at to grab a bite to eat after leaving Chicago. While she didn’t particularly like stopping in an unfamiliar place, she knew she had to get some rest or she would wind up being a smudge mark on the road when she wrecked her bike. To her surprise, she got relatively good sleep and after a good breakfast the next morning was able to move on again.

She found the United States to be a beautiful country. Each state she passed through had it’s own unique beauty to boast about and almost everywhere she went, the people were rather friendly but not overly so. It made her more comfortable than anything to know no one was prying into her business. Especially seeing a lone woman traveling on a motorcycle. Yelena could have easily changed her appearance to be male, but truth be told, it felt good for her to be out on the open road and be herself.

She traveled through Arkansas and Oklahoma taking a scenic route so she could see more of the country she was now going to call her home. Yelena had decided she would take Tim up on his offer to stay at his ranch at the old out post cabin on his property. While she and Tim had always had their differences of opinion, they respected each other and understood what the other was going through. In short, Tim was always like the older brother she had lost when she was a child. And like siblings, disagreements were just part of being individuals.

As the Texas state line came into view, Yelena pulled her bike over to the side of the road and stopped. The weather was already getting warmer and for that, she was thankful. The whole country seemed to be in some sort of deep freeze lately forcing her to stay at a couple of more motels along the way to keep from becoming a victim of that cold. She’d even pulled her bike into the motel room with her for both concealment and to keep it warmed and ready to go at a moments notice.

Double checking her GPS she saw how many more miles she would need to travel to get to Arnette. It was still a good ride but she could make it before it got dark. Putting the Hyabusa in gear, Yelena headed back out onto the road and began making her way towards Arnette. While there was vast flatlands, she could see the mountains in the distance and knew if she needed to get away for any reason, she wouldn’t have far to go.

The closer she got to Arnette, Yelena began to realize why Tim liked it so much here. There was wide, open spaces and some distance between home sites. There was no doubt in her mind now she had chosen the right place to go. Or at least she hoped. It was strange; actually, how much this area of the United States reminded her of her own home.

The sign for Arnette finally came into view and while Yelena liked riding the open road, she was damn glad she was reaching the end of her trip. Remembering she needed to check in with the Timbles if Tim wasn’t home, she pulled to the side of the road once more and entered some info into her GPS. A few moments later, Yelena was pulling off again with the directions to the Circle T ranch.

Riding through the town of Arnette, Yelena soon found herself riding out a dusty, unpaved road that led to the end of the Circle T’s driveway. Pulling the bike into the long driveway, Yelena hoped she wouldn’t be interrupting anything important and that she wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to the Timbles. Tim told her when the Riggs Act looked to be a sure thing she always had a place to go if she wanted to just disappear but Yelena thought it would be best to do things by the rules. Boy had she been the naïve one. If she had just listened to Tim then, things just might be different for her now. But there was no need in wishing for things that can’t be changed. What was done was done. All Yelena could do now was move on.

And move on she was. As the Timbles home came into view, Yelena became nervous and wondered if she might be making a mistake. There was no one with her to vouch for her identity. No license. No passport. No form of identification what so ever. Just her word she was who she says she is. Would they honestly accept that from her as the truth? Even though that’s exactly what it was? Well. All but her name, anyway. She couldn’t use Yelena Petrokovich for obvious reasons. But she could be Oksona Melinskova. All she had to do was recall an image of someone she met in the past and change her appearance to match the name. And Yelena had just the image in mnd that would work perfectly.

By the time she pulled the bike up to the front porch and turned it off, a woman with long, dark hair, piercing eyes and a serious look on her face was standing on the porch watching Yelena like a hawk watches it’s prey. Coming in from the pasture was a man on horseback wearing a cowboy hat. Yelena could only guess these were the Timbles and they didn’t look any too friendly.

Pulling the helmet off her head and feeling the breeze drift over her head, Yelena took in a deep breath and let the fresh air fill her lungs before she placed the helmet on the bike and walked towards the porch, stopping at the bottom step and going no further. Her looks had changed completely and she was now a brunette with green eyes and an easy smile.


By now the man on horseback had tethered the horse at the corral and came walking towards the porch, stopping just a few feet from Yelena. Swallowing hard, Yelena let her eyes move from the woman then to the man. Letting a small but nervous smile ease over her features, the Russian introduced herself to them and tried to find a way of explaining why she was here. Alone.

”H-hello. My..my name is…Oksona Melinskova. Tim said if I ever need place to stay, I would always have one on ranch he owned. When I talk to him few days ago, he told me to come here first, to Circle T and talk to Timbles. He told me to tell you I was malinkiya sistra.”

Yelena’s eyes moved from the woman to the man not sure what was going to happen next. They exchanged looks and finally the man nodded slightly to the woman. The woman looked Yelena up and down before she moved and gestured for Yelena to come into the home.

“Well…..we’re the Timbles, alright. I’m Kathryn but you can call me Kathy. That’s Henry, my husband. And by the looks of you, I would say you’ve been riding for a while. Come on in and rest yourself for a bit. You can tell us how Tim’s doing.”

”Spasiba. Thank you. I appreciate your hospitality.”

Yelena smiled genuinely and nodded as she walked up the steps and across the porch to enter the home behind Kathy. Henry followed Yelena and just before he walked into the house behind her, he looked out over the distance to see what, if anything, may be coming their direction as well. Something told him his quiet, easy life was not going to be that way for long.

Henery smiled at Kathy and nodded then watched as Kathy and Oksona started into the house he said "Well now ifin' yur a friend a Tim's, I reckon we oughta git this har two wheeled comtraption hid away sumwhars. Thars a fella from tha FBI been pokin his nose around har. But don't ya go worryin' bout him now, we'll keep ya as safe as a coyote's pup in his den." With that said, Henery turned and yelled at Manuel " Manuel! Ya git this har two wheeled death trap over ta the barn. Ya hide it real good now, we don't want nobody dtumblin on ta it. An ifin' ya ur the boys see that thar governmt fella snoopin' round, ya bring him ta me. Ifin' he gives ya any crap, ....... Well just persuade him along."

Manuel said with a grin "Si Senior Henery, we make sure he no find and he do as you say."

"And Manuel when Josh gits home tell him I wanta talk ta him, for he goes over ta Tim's" Henery said, then started up the stairs to the house.

Once Kathy and Yelena were inside, Kathy said to Yelena "I imagine you wuld like a hot bath, then git into something comfortable and sumthin ta eat. Conswellow here will show you where to put yur things and and draw a hot bath fur ya. You just tell her if there ia anything you need. I guess we better git ya lookin like a real Texacan. Then after you have eaten we can have a long talk and you can tell us how our Tim is gettin 'long."

"Dis way please Senorita." Conzwellow said as she curtsied and started down the hall towards the spare bedroom and bath.

Yelena gave them both another smile as she felt the welcome in their words. The fact an FBI agent was snooping around didn’t set well with her, but as long as she maintained her composure and stuck with her story and used an American accent, she’d be just fine. And the accent she heard from Kathy and Henry sounded like one that would work well around this area and not raise any suspicion.

As Henry called to his ranch hands to take care of her bike, Yelena glanced over her shoulder to make sure they didn’t treat it too roughly but when she saw Manuel use care and caution, Yelena knew her bike would be in very good hands.

As Kathy offered her the hot bath, clothes and food, Yelena smiled shyly and nodded once more.

”Yes. I like that very much, thank you.”

Following the young woman Consuello further into the house, Yelena was shown the bathroom. It was quite large and had enough room for about five people, if need be. Turning on the water and making sure it got to the right temperature, Consuello returned with some clothes Kathy had given her for Yelena to use. The young woman pulled out one large and one regular sized bath towel for Yelena to use explaining the smaller one was for her hair.

Leaving Yelena to her privacy, Consuello left, closing the door behind her. As the water continued to run in the large tub, Yelena looked around again and felt as though she had finally reached the end of a very long journey. By the time she turned the water off and eased into the tub, letting her tired body sink into the very warm water, Yelena was glad she had decided to come here.

It was some time later before Yelena finally returned to the others. Dressed now in a long sleeved, button down cotton shirt with a southwestern print on it in shades of blue, green, orange and red, a pair of blue jeans that seemed to move perfectly with each step she made and a pair of lace up packer boots. She looked as though she’d been living in Texas all her life. When Kathy and Henry saw her they both smiled.

“Hot dern…I knew Kathy would make a cowgirl outta ya the minute ya took that helmet o’ yers off. Tim’s gonna have trouble keeping the bulls at bay when they git a load o’you.”

“Henry….the woman just got here. And yer embarrassin’ her. Stop. Let her git settled first ‘fore you start talkin’ ‘bout the men.”

Yelena actually chuckled softly at their good hearted bickering.

”I cannot thank you enough for clothes and hospitality. And what ever is cooking smells delicious.”

“Good ‘cause supper’s ready and you cin talk to us ‘bout Tim as we eat and catch up on that ornery cowpoke.”

Kathy agreed and gestured for Yelena to follow her to the dining room where supper was indeed ready and the table was all set. Henry escorted Yelena to her char and helped her get settled before he did the same for Kathy. After a small blessing over the food and thanks for unexpected guests, the meal was started.

“So tell us, Oksona…how is Tim doin’? We haven’t seen nor heard anythin’ from him since he left a while ago.”

Yelena was filling her plate with the delicious food as she began to explain a believable story she and Tim had discussed in the past in case something like this ever came to fruition.

”He is fine. Same old Tim, of course. Last time I saw him he was keeping head down and trying to stay out of trouble. Of course that not easy to do with things the way they are.”

Henry finished his mouthful of food and nodded.

“Yeah…well….with the government stickin’ their noses in every ones business, it’s a wonder we ain’t got some sort of revolt goin’ on around this country. No disrespect to your native country, ma’am.”

”Is quite alright. But is hard to talk of revolting when government already knows every move you make. As Tim always say, too much Big Brother is never good thing.”

“Ya got that right.”

Kathy changed the subject then.

“So Tim is alright, though, right?”

”Oh yes. At least, last time I saw him. I have not talked to him since I come this way. I will contact him later to let him know I am OK.”

“When you do, tell him everything is OK here as well.”

”Da. I will.”

Henkel glanced over at the time on his main monitor and was surprised to see that he had been working for a couple of hours now. Leaning back in his chair he slowly raised his burly arms and stretched. He was about ready call it a night and hit the couch when the third monitor to his right alerted him of a video conference call. Henkel moused over to click on the receive call button, and the F.B.I. symbol that covered the screen was replaced by agent Kaleb Mitchell.


"Kaleb. How are ya doin'?" Greeted Henkel, "I was just about to try and find something decent on t.v."

"Well if you can find something other than all that reality-shit, let me know." Replied Mitchell.

Henkel laughed. "So what you got?"

"You should be receiving it right now." Said Mitchell.

Henkel's attention was drawn to the monitor far to his left, where he kept a window for his email. A message was coming through, and when he accessed it the face of Yelena's most recent disguise popped up.


"This was taken at the Timbles?" Asked Henkel

"Yeah, she showed up today." Answered Mitchell

Henkel stared at the picture for a while, then on his main monitor accessed an F.B.I. surveillance site and brought up a satellite image of the Timble's ranch house, then split the screen and brought up an arial shot of the Circle T Ranch. He was disappointed to see that there was no activity at Rutherford's place and began to doubt his hunch, that the woman might be one of Cowboy's known associates, the Chameleon.

"Keep an eye on her." Ordered Henkel.

"Already taken care of."

"Good work, Kaleb. Say, you haven't got any sound yet, have you?"

Kaleb laughed a little at the question. "Well, you see that Henry must be part night owl or something, 'cause I swear that bastard never sleeps. The other night, while I moving in to set up the transmitters that son-of-a-bitch took a shot at me!"

"What!" Exclaimed Henkel.

"Well he didn't know it was me. The guy thought I was a coyote or something. Damn fine shot though, over three hundred yards at night, I figure and the guy maybe missed me by a few yards. Almost crapped my pants."

Simon smiled, musing at the thought of Mitchell getting the crap scared out of him. "Alright, we can do without audio at the Timbles. Use the long range scanners and let me know what you pick up."

"Will do."

"And, Kaleb. Don't take any chances with that woman. If she's who I think it might be make sure you have plenty of back up."

Mitchell gave Henkel an innocent look. "Hey, you know me..."

"Yeah, I know you." Henkel interjected, "Don't take any unnecessary risks. Talk to you tomorrow."

Before Mitchell could try and retort, Henkel ended the call. He stood up and wandered into the living room where he flicked on the television and did some surfing. It was still early and one never knew what would happen in Chicago.

Dinner at the Timbles turned out to be a little bit of interrogation from the Timbles and a little get to know you sort of evening. The Timbles questions were necessary for Yelena to establish herself as a friend to Tim and not some government agent trying to weasel her way close to the Timbles to try and get info on the man who was their friend.

While Yelena didn’t go into specifics on how she and Tim knew each other, she did tell them she and Tim had worked on a case together to bring down a leader in the Russian Mafia who was bringing guns and other weapons into the US from defunct former Soviet controlled countries. Henry and Kathy seemed to understand she couldn’t go into much detail.

When they asked her about her family, Yelena didn’t tell the whole truth but she didn’t lie either. Telling the Timbles there was no one from her family left but her they didn’t pry into her life except to ask her what she did when she wasn’t working on thwarting the bad guys. When Yelena explained she had a goat farm back in the old country, Henry laughed and slapped his thigh.

”Then I take it ya know how t’handle a horse. Well I’ll be dipped in horse sh…..”

When he caught the look Kathy was giving him he didn’t finish the word he was going to use.

“Maybe tomorrow we’ll git ya saddled up and I’ll take ya for a tour of our property and show ya Tim’s. Kathy’s ain’t had another woman around for a while to ride with. And as pale as you look, a good day in the sun would do ya some good.”

Kathy rolled her eyes.

“Ya’d think I needed a play mate by the way he talks. Like keeping up with the horses and other live stock don’t take up a lot of my time already. But it would be nice ta have another woman around these parts. ‘Specially takin’ care a Tim’s stuff. He ain’t had a woman lookin’ after his stuff since…”

Kathy trailed off and Yelena finished it for her.

”Abbey was alive. My heart ached when I hear of what happen to her and their son. They were world to Tim.”

Henry and Kathy could tell by the tone of Yelena’s voice and the look in her eyes her words were sincere. And they were. While Yelena had never talked to Tim about what happened, she knew when he wanted to talk to her about it, he would. Until then, she wouldn’t bring up anything that could rub salt in a deep wound. Besides, it wasn’t like they had the opportunity to get caught up since she returned to the states.

“That they were. And I worry he’ll live out the rest of his days alone.”

”Tim is never alone. He is always surrounded by friends. Like you…and me.”

Kathy nodded and smiled

“Yep. You got that right.”

Nicolia sat in his hotel room staring at his laptop as the commentartor of FOX News rambled on and on about the recent increase in violence in Chicago, New York, Kansas City and Los Angeles. Nicolia had hit a brick wall in his search for Yelena. It seemed as though either the city or the entire country had just swallowed her up. After two weeks of searching he had come up with nothing. As the comentaror mentioned the FBI's involvement in a recent investigation, Nicolia smiled. Of course why hadn't he thought of this before? Granted it would be a risk, but one worth taking. After all he could always just vanish as he was trained to do. Picking up the phone, Nicolia dialed the Chicago Field office of the FBI. When the receptionist answered he said "Dis is Agent Romanolf Chikinsky of de Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, connect me please with your Special Agent Simon Hinkle, please.