Jimmy had expected to be happy at the rescue.

Not terrified.

He could remember the block plunging into darkness. The silence.

Then the screams.

When the first guests had come rushing out of the club, he’d seen the panic on their faces. The cries of ‘Fire!’ and ‘Villain!’

Then the blast that had shaken the building.

He’d feared for Andrew, after that. What could a man with a sledgehammer truly do against laser-armed mercenaries?

Quite a lot, it had turned out.

Now, he sat with his father and the others in a seedy motel, along with Lou and Mike, as his father screamed at the three of them.

“.... can’t believe you could be so irresponsible!” yelled Dr. Reagan. “Trafficking with a villain?”

“He’s not a villain,” protested Jimmy.

“Oh?” Mr. Halloran’s eyebrows went up. “Tell that to the men he left dead on the floor.”

“You didn’t see him, Jimmy,” Mrs. Halloran added. “He was …. Black as night, like some horror from a movie, only real. What he did to those men…. I can’t even describe it.”

“I almost puked,” Clarice said. “When I saw…. He burnt some of them alive, Jimmy. Their faces… they were half black.”

“There was blood all over the floor,” put in Mrs. Armstrong. “We walked through… a river of blood.” She shuddered. “I’m going to have nightmares about it.”

“And you contacted him,” Dr. Reagan stormed. “Turned him on the Grunters… Do you have any idea what they’ll do to us if they find out?”

“They won’t, Dad. He won’t talk.”

“And you can guarantee that how?”

Jimmy kept quiet.

“There was no need for this mess,” rumbled Mr. Armstrong.

Jimmy stared at the man. “They kidnapped all of you!”

“And they would have released us, too,” replied Dr. Regan. “I had almost convinced the Grunters’ man to let us go for a half share of the business. They’d have wanted us selling, shipping….”

“All that’s out of the window now,” Liam Halloran observed. “If we’re lucky, they’ll think we were killed in the raid. Or decided to go legit.”

“We were only trying to help,” Lou spoke up.

“You should have stayed out of it,” barked Mr. Armstrong. “Bad enough that you boys know the identity of that villain. There was no need to involve him!”

“Dad,” interrupted Clarice, “I’m pregnant.”

There was silence in the room.

Clarice continued. “And Jimmy and I are getting married.”

Mr. Armstrong shot Dr. Reagan a betrayed look.

“Damn,” Jimmy’s dad muttered. “As if this day could get any worse.”

“Don’t tempt fate,” replied Mrs. Armstrong. “Dear. Are you and Jimmy sure about this?”

“I told him yesterday night,” Clarice replied. “We talked about it.” She stared at Jimmy.

“I…. I want to marry Clarice,” Jimmy stammered. This wasn’t how he’d expected to be talking to her parents, but….

“Well,” added Mr. Halloran, “at least we know why the boys panicked. I would, too, if our kids were at risk.”

“Not what I wanted for my daughter’s wedding,” growled Mr. Armstrong.

“We don’t always get what we want, Davis. Jill and I walked down the aisle with her showing.”

Mrs. Halloran blushed. “It was four months. How far along are you, dear?”

“Uh… four weeks. I think.”

“Well, we’ve time. Lily, I’ll help with the wedding.”

Lily Armstrong nodded. “I’d appreciate that, Jill.”

“What wedding?” Dr. Reagan grumbled. “We’re going to be on the run for a while.”

Jill Halloran gave him a sharp look. “That doesn’t mean we can’t stop at a chapel for an hour. Do a proper ceremony.”

“It’s your son’s wedding, Doc,” added her husband. “And your daughter’s, Davis. We can spare that much time.”

“I suppose,” Davis Armstrong muttered. “We’ll have to make do for now.”

Jimmy turned to look at his dad.

The man sighed. “I suppose us parents don’t have a choice in this anymore.”

“We’ve not had many choices for a while,” Mr. Armstrong said gently. “Look - all things considered, they’ve already made up their minds. You want to be like your dad, Bill?”

Dr. Reagan nodded in acknowledgement. “Jimmy,” he said.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll allow it on one condition. You have to contact Belessar,” his father insisted.

Jimmy squirmed. “Dad, I can’t. He said not to call.”

“Then tell me how to.”

“Doc,” interrupted Liam Halloran, “it’s best if he doesn’t. I don’t even like the fact that our sons know a villain’s true identity. Having them tell us would be even more foolish.”

“Having us not pay him his share would be even more foolish.”

“He didn’t ask for money,” said Jimmy.

“Which is why we pay him anyway, Jimmy. I’ve dealt with ultras before - they don’t ask. They expect you to know their rates, and pay accordingly.”

“He’s not like that,” protested Mike.

“This man is not your friend, Jimmy,” Dr Reagan . “He’s dangerous. Sociopathic. What we saw… If you know who he is, you’re going to be a marked man forever.”

“And never let anyone else know you know,” added Mr. Halloran. “All of you boys. This Belessar can look after himself, but if Grumman’s men know that you know...”

The three boys looked at each other.

“Either way, we stay out of Grunter territory, and we make sure - damned sure - that Belessar never has a reason to come after any of you.”

“We’re going to have to rebuild, anyway,” muttered Dr. Reagan. “Baja California is supposed to be good this time of the year….”

“Isn’t that in Mexico?” asked Lou.

Dr. Reagan shot him a withering look. “After this, do you think we’ll be safe anywhere in the United States?”

Lou was silent.

“Now, what we have to do,” Dr. Reagan muttered, “is send a message to Belessar. Somehow, we need to get him his money.”

“How would you pay him in the first place?” asked Linda Halloran.

“You weren’t there, but he stopped me before he left and gave me a huge chunk of cash. Grunter cash. I had to stuff it in my pocket.”

“.... you stole from the Grunters?”

“Belessar stole; he just made me his mule. Still, that’s not going to help if the Grunters find out; and it’ll be worse if I keep the money.”

“How much is there?”

“Nearly $400,000. Mostly in large bills.”

“Crap.” Mr. Armstrong swore. “That’s a lot of money.”

“Which is why we need to make sure we send it to Belessar. Somehow. I have channels that can launder the money - but we need to hand over Belessar’s share first.” He turned to Jimmy. “Do you have a dead drop where you can leave the cash?”

“A… dead drop?”

“A locker, preferably in a public place, to which both of you have the keys. I’ll put half the money in a bag. You drop it off at the locker and request Belessar to pick it up.”

Jimmy thought about Andrew’s locker at school. “I can do that.”

“That’ll deal with the issue of giving him his payment. But you can’t let anyone else know this, got it?”

“... yeah.”

“Good. Jimmy - be careful when you drop off the bag. Don’t let him see you.”

“Dad, he won’t hurt me.”

“You’ve got a baby on the way now, Jimmy. Promise me you won’t take any risks.”

“Are you sure he’ll only want half?” asked Jill Halloran.

“If he wants more, we’ll do a second dead drop. I doubt he had time to count, though.”

“Dad… he definitely doesn’t want the money.”

“Time will tell. In the meantime, let’s just hope he keeps the Grunters distracted.”