The next day we got back to business. It looked like the repairs to the training room wouldn't cost more than a few hundred dollars. Once we figured that out, Jane and I both heaved great sighs of relief. Her because it wouldn't cost as much as she'd feared, and me because if it had been substantially more, she would have nagged me about it for weeks.

  Well you would Jane, so there!

  After lunch I was in my bedroom tidying up little odds and ends that I'd ignored previously, when Jane suddenly stormed in.

  "You.....you....how.....you couldn't.......impossible........you......"

  "You already said that Jane, what's on your mind?"

  "HOW IN THE WORLD did you know that I was still reading your diary? I'm absolutely positive that I didn't leave any signs and...oops!"

  She clapped her hands over her mouth so hard that I thought for a moment that she'd knock herself over backwards.

  "Too late. MUCH too late Honey. Let's just say that I have my ways. Let me also say that I've also read Podkayne of Mars. If your brain was turned on, you'd remember that I'm the one who gave it to you when we were in Fresno. You're way too sneaky not to have tried something like that by now."

  <>

  "Now shoo. I have things to do besides paddling your butt. Besides, you might hit back."

  Jane backed up slowly, hands still over her mouth, astonishment all over her face. That and maybe a fair amount of respect. No way was I going to tell her that it was all guesswork and a bluff. Parents need at least a FEW secrets from their children.

  (Yes Jane, I know that you'll be reading this eventually, but in the future you'll never know when I KNOW and when I'm guessing. I need to keep you on your toes.)

  Seeing as how she was backing up, she had a good view of my dragon tapestry when she got to the door. She dropped her hands and stared at it.

  "Mama, what did you do to your tapestry?"

  "What do you mean sweetheart?"

  "Both the front feet have 4 toes, and 2 claws on each foot are gold. That's what I mean. I'm sure that there were only 3 toes before and that the claws were black, like the rest of them."

  I meandered over as nonchalantly as I could, and made as if I was peering at it closely.

  "I do believe that you're right. Interesting."

  Then I went over to my dresser and continued rearranging things. That and pretending to ignore her.

  She got the message and indignantly huffed her way down the hall. No way was I going to mention that I hadn't noticed that it had changed again. I'd been too tired when I came in last night. I especially wasn't going to let on that I had no more idea of what was going on than she did.

  At dinner she was almost ready to admit that I was still among the living and worth talking to, so I figured that I'd start.

  "I got a report from Mr. Forsythe this afternoon about our double break-in two weeks ago. It's rather handy knowing that he'll talk to me directly now. They've ID'd the female and are following her, discretely, to see if she leads them anywhere useful.

  "It seems that our client was able to duplicate that prototype device that she stole in just over a week, so they're back on track -- just a small delay that shouldn't be critical."

  I stopped talking and took a big mouthful of pasta and waited. I also chewed quite slowly.

  Jane finally couldn't take it anymore, so she asked, "What about the male?"

  "Oh him. They caught him within 5 days. Apparently his employers were trying to extort a couple million for the security codes. It seems that they couldn't figure out how to get past the encryption on the data, or get access to one of the client's buildings, and figured that the second best option was to at least ransom them back.

  "His prints had been on file and, can you believe it? He was on parole. They knew right where he was and just picked him up when he reported for his regular visit to his parole officer.

  "I'm told that he was astonished that the police had figured out that he'd been out of town to do the job. He kept asking them how they'd broken the security on his little program that made it seem like he and his ankle bracelet were still in his house.

  "You were right. He had no idea that he'd been picked up by matching his prints. Good job on both the codes and the trap Janie!"

  That got her back to normal. A little blush and a big smile at the compliment.

  <>

  "As for things in general, it's about as we expected. A number of atypical crimes, all over the place. About 1/3 of them were present or past clients of one or both of us, which is way too many for it to have been totally random. We weren't notified because they wanted this to die down naturally when the 'enemy' or 'enemies' failed to see any kind of organized response.

  "A couple of the crimes have been solved, several not. About what you'd expect with normal police investigations. Mr. Forsythe says that it's probably OK for us to start getting active again, carefully."

  -------------------

  We were still taking things easy, and it was Friday before we realized it. We were at breakfast when it happened. All of a sudden Jane fell to the floor and grabbed her head. I felt like something weighing several tons was about to fall on me and braced my feet like I was shipboard and in a choppy sea.

  She croaked out: "Shield, shield!" and slapped her hand on something on her belt. I rather belatedly remembered and thwacked the case in my shirt pocket.

  (Later on I might laugh a bit at the irony but only when I was in private. In spite of my protestations to the contrary, it really was easy to reach there and it fit all too well in the pocket.)

  The pressure stopped immediately and Janie slowly pushed herself up off the floor and moaned.

  "What the freaking HELL was that? I thought my head was going to be turned inside out!"

  She looked up and glared at me. "And how come you weren't affected by, whatever it was, as much as I was? You looked panicky, so I know that you felt something."

  "Beats me. Are you sure that you're all right? You look awful."

  "I feel awful, but it's fading fast. Hmmm close your eyes and point Mama."

  "Huh?"

  "Just do it, right now! Close your eyes and point."

  Whatever. I figured that she was a bit out of it from getting hit by whatever it was, so I humored her. I closed my eyes and pointed.

  "OK Mama, you can open your eyes."

  I did. I saw that she was pointing too and that we both were pointing essentially the same direction. North and a bit to the east. Right toward the Portland Metro area.

  Then it came again, but not nearly as strongly. This time it only lasted a few seconds.

  Without speaking we both closed our eyes and pointed again. Once again, when we opened our eyes, we were pointing toward Portland.

  "Do you have any plans in particular today Mama?"

  "Not that I can't cancel easily Janie. Tell you what. Why don't we go on a shopping trip up north. We can stop in Wilsonville, at Fry's. You can get some electronic doo-dads, and I can look at DVDs. Then we can drop by Washington Square and Clackamas Town Center and see what we can find there."

  Jane clapped her hands and gave out with a girlish squeal. "That sounds like a LOT of fun Mama. And you know what, if anything like this should happen again while we're there, isn't it interesting that those three locations would let us do a rough triangulation of wherever this thing is. Whatever it is."

  I clapped my hands together and giggled. "What a wonderful idea. I wish I'd thought of that."

  We looked at each other then collapsed on the floor laughing.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  <>

  We got organized. Cats cuddled and fed. Spare clothes and IDs just in case. Threw the FBI issue jackets and bullet proof vests in the trunk. Fortunately an obviously clueless courier (who'd have thunk?) had dropped them and a box of other things off earlier in the week. Remember, constructive paranoia is constructive! Gotta love that Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared." At least that part of their organization was spot on.

  Raided the fridge for sandwiches and tea, then we headed off to I-5 and whatever lay ahead of us.

  .

  <>

  As we headed up the highway, we were hit sporadically by whatever it was. Not all that hard now. It had a sort of drowsy feel to it.

  We pulled off the freeway at Wilsonville and did pull into the Fry's parking lot, but only long enough to do the pointy thing and put a line on the map.

  Same thing at Washington Square and then Clackamas Town Center. Yes, technically you only need two lines to triangulate, but we were pointing our fingers for gods' sake!

  It took longer each time and the pulses felt even more sleepy. Oddly enough there was a hint of panic in each of them now. No, I don't have any idea how you can feel sleepy and panicky at the same time.

  Our lines almost intersected. They formed a tight triangle just north of OMSI, in the warehouse district east of the Willamette River in Portland.

  Jane got on the phone and started punching.

  "What's up honey?"

  "Hang on a second Mama, I've had an idea.

  "Hi Mr. Forsythe. Yes, I'm fine. You and your wife doing OK? That's great. Say, I have a little question for you.

  "What do you mean you'd better call in the Air Force when I say that? Besides, she's probably sitting next to you, right? It really is just a little thing.

  "Of course, of course. I really DO understand. Right. It won't take much time. Truly.

  "Sure. I'll make it brief. Do you, meaning the FBI, just by chance, happen to have something going on -- right now -- within about 2 or 3 blocks north of OMSI?"

  She held the phone away from her ear so as not to be deafened by the noise. Once the shouting stopped she put the phone back to her ear.

  "Yes, one of my nerds got wind of it, but he had no idea what it was about. Why yes, we're close by."

  I was already on my way out of the parking lot. We could be there in about 15 minutes if I headed west on Harmony Rd. and then onto 224 and up SE 17th.

  Jane had stopped talking and her face got darker and darker and more stern than I'd ever seen it before.

  "I see. Yes of course. We'll stay in the background as long as we're not needed. I agree. We don't want anyone figuring out who we are.

  "Ah, you'll let the agent in charge know that some more out of town backup will be coming in shortly, just in case. Thanks. Yes. We'll let you know if anything happens outside of the ordinary. Love to the Missus too. Bye.

  "You know Mama. He knows too much and can do things MUCH too quickly to really be retired."

  "Yep. I have to agree. That speaks of some sort of high level communications center in his home.

  "Anyway, GIVE. What are we getting ourselves into?"

  Jane spoke in the monotone I've always associated with some rape victims. I think it's almost as horrible for the police to hear as it is for the victim to tell it. (No, please, don't ask how I know.)

  "They call it 'human trafficking' Mama. Can you believe this society? It's freaking SLAVERY and they still try to be politically correct and gloss it over with 'human trafficking'.

  "I saw a story on it on TV last week. Apparently Portland is a major center for it. There's been some sort of joint investigation by the local U.S. Attorney, the FBI, and the Portland police. There are people flying into Portland on sex vacations so they can rape underage girls.

  "The AVERAGE age is 13. Some have been as young as 8."

  By now Jane was weeping, silently, but her shoulders were shaking enough that the car was shaking with her. To tell the truth, I wanted to join her, but I couldn't drive if my eyes teared up too much.

  "The FBI has tracked one of the groups 'importing' new girls to a warehouse by the river. They're going to raid it in a few minutes. We'll have to park a couple blocks or so away and walk in. Keep the FBI windbreaker under your arm until we get there. Forget the vests."

  "OK honey, let's go see if we can help."

  ----------------

  We arrived and parked south of some vegetable wholesaler and sauntered up the road. For a few seconds that is. The force that hit us this time almost knocked both of us off our feet.

  I saw Jane hit her shield so fast that her hand seemed to blur.

  What I felt this time wasn't sleepy at all. It was full-on panic accompanied by a wordless cry that seemed to be shouting at us to "HURRY HURRY HURRY!!"

  So that's exactly what we did. We ran around the corner and saw lights flashing everywhere as police cars seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

  Since there were people throwing on FBI and police jackets and bullet proof vests all over the place, we did the same and joined the crowd.

  The door of the place was steel plated, but there was a ram team working on the lock. The door might have been steel, but the frame was still just wood, and they broke it down in seconds.

  I turned to wave Jane back, but she was already at the rear with her back to the building across the street. The next thing I knew, I found myself charging in along with the rest. People were peeling off in all directions, down corridors and up stairs.

  I felt myself being pulled straight down a long corridor running toward the back of the building, and I kicked in the door that I found there.

  Later, I almost wished that I hadn't been first. The stench was overwhelming. Unwashed bodies, feces, urine, and fear. If someone ever tells you that fear doesn't have a smell all its own, it's just because they've never been scared enough. I can tell you for certain that it does, and that room was full of it.

  There were maybe a dozen girls in the room. Their ages looked to be anywhere from 15 down to 6 or so. It made me want to vomit. It still does when I think of it, so I try not to. Maybe in a year or ten I won't remember it so clearly any more.

  As soon as I was through the door one child, maybe 8 or 9 literally threw herself on me and wrapped her arms and legs around me like a baby monkey does to its mother. She didn't make a sound, but in my mind I heard someone shouting, "It's about time, what the hell took ya so long!?" Then she started to cry. Vast, soundless sobs that seemed like they'd never end.

  By then several other officers had come into the room and pulled up when the stench hit them.

  When the other kids saw what had just happened, and saw other officers charge into the room, they all went crazy, jumping all over the police and FBI agents like they were oxygen being offered to people who had almost suffocated.

  I wrapped my free arm around my little monkey child, and used the other to grab the frame of the door and catapult us back down the hall toward the exit. We were followed by the sound of lots of running feet.

  We all hurried back out of the building as fast as we could. A few other kids were being escorted or carried out from other parts of the building when there was a vast WHOOSH of an explosion at the far rear of the building.

  There was a sudden babble from the people around me. "Did we get them all? Are they all out? Could there be any more? Did you find any records? Were there any of the perps inside?"

  The latter was answered as several handcuffed men, and two women(!) were dragged, not very carefully, out of the building.

  One of the girls who had been rescued was screaming, and not in fear. I'm not sure if anyone else beside me heard her, given the general noise level.

  "There are more girls, the oldest ones, locked behind a steel door at the rear of the building. They're right where the fire is!"

  I turned my head and saw that a couple of the men in handcuffs were laughing.

  Suddenly, I realized that someone else had heard her, because Jane walked past me toward the door. Very slowly and deliberately. She was glowing again (again?), but this time everyone on the street suddenly stopped and turned toward her. She was as bright as a searchlight in the darkest night, and every eye was drawn toward her.

  What she said was whispered, but I have no doubts that everyone in the city heard her. "THIS.......MUST.....NOT......BE!"

  She raised her hands toward the sky, as if in supplication, but I realized in a moment that it was not that but rather in command. Suddenly the entire sky went dark, and incredibly heavy clouds gathered overhead. There was immense thunder for a few seconds, then everyone was blinded by what seemed like continuous lightning strikes. The thunder was...well..... I can't describe it, so I won't try. My brain wasn't working on but 2 cylinders about then anyway.

  Then we were hit by the most torrential rain I'd ever heard of much less experienced. The street was 3 inches deep in water within less than a minute.

  I'd been knocked flat on my back by the blast from the wind that accompanied the rain and by the weight of the girl trying to meld herself to my chest, so I guess that I may have been the only person who was looking straight up.

  In the middle of the clouds above us there was, gods above, it couldn't be, could it?

  Dang, it was a freaking Chinese dragon! It was silver and black and looked more than just a little angry. And the size of it! Oh my God! The body was about as long as two 747s. What was odd was that I could see through it. I'm sure about that because I could see lightning in the clouds on the other side.

  About that time someone much braver or stupider than the rest ran back into the building. 20 seconds later he was back and shouting that what had looked like a wall at the back of the building was a concealed door that the lightning had somehow blasted open and there were more children inside.

  Well, that got folks buzzing like a hornet's nest with a stick poked inside it, and everyone who was not already dealing with a victim flew back inside. It took me a bit to get my brain back online, but when I did I saw that the police who'd been hanging onto the trash in handcuffs were in the crowd heading back inside and that the perps must have been left unattended. That was practically unimaginable. What if they got away in the confusion?

  I got back up on my feet somehow, and it took me only a couple of seconds to see why those guarding them had gone back inside along with the rest. When I looked where they had been standing, I saw that they were now trash in reality. The only things left of them were seven large piles of ash that were rapidly being washed down the street toward the river.

  Jane staggered back toward me and draped herself over my right shoulder.

  I figured that I'd better find someone to take the girl from me and then Jane and I should do a quick fade while everyone else was still busy.

  That's what I planned to do. What really happened was quite different.

  SHE put in an appearance, so to speak, since I only heard her voice.

  "Really little one, I took all this trouble to make sure that you were here in time, and I gave you this child to care for, AND you're trying to refuse my gift? How ungrateful can you be?"

  "Now hurry up and get out of here. Quickly now. I have a few memories to modify." She chuckled at me. "A lot people need to be Wally'd. Hmmmm. What an interesting word you invented. I think I like it. Anyway, BEGONE!"

  I found myself back at the car, well, all three of us were, so I did what I'd been told and got us all situated and seat-belted, turned the car around, and headed back to Salem.