Closing the last journal, Jason sighed. He felt he needed to scrub his mind of the recorded evil. Unfortunately, there was no way to make that happen. Sighing, he rose from where he sat, stretching and taking in the room. It had been quiet for some time, and Candy had long since put her headphones on. Something she usually did if she didn't want to be interrupted or needed to hear something more clearly. Glancing at her, he moved toward her, but something about how she sat staring at the computer screen made him pause and frown.

Slowly moving to stand behind her, he read the document on the screen; a quiet sniffle rose from over the headphones, and Candy reached under the desk, pulled out a tissue, wiped at her face, blew her nose and shook her head as though she attempted to rid her mind of something. Bending a little, Jason began to read the document on the screen. Confusion slammed through him as he found his sister's name staring back at him, and a few lines down, Bevis' name came into focus. Moving to the side, he startled his sister as he waved at her and waited while she slowly took her headphones off.

"What are you reading?" he asked, noting how she avoided meeting his eyes.

"How much did you read?" the question came out of a damp whisper.

"A few paragraphs," he said, "I thought you were doing research."

"I was ... am," she said, shifting and sighing, "before they left ... Sabra and Bevis ... Bev got a phone call from a strange phone. It was in her backpack; it could have been there for years. It wasn't a pocket she went into often, if at all."

"Okay, the phone received ...check," Jason said, pulling the chair from under the adjacent desk and quickly sitting down. 'What about it?"

"There was a voice on the other side that spoke and set up a meeting place with Bev ... where it all started," Candy said, "I ... I was trying to find out where it all started and came across this document ... from my last year in high school."

"High school? That was years ago," Jason said, "did something happen while Jake and I were away studying?"

Candy glanced away, sighed and nodded, "Mom and Dad never thought telling you would make any difference as I was found and came home."

"Found?" Jason spat the word into the space between them. He didn't like the conversation's direction, "We never knew you were lost."

"Not lost..." Candy's head sank low as her hands clung to each other in her lap, "taken."

The word sliced through Jason like an icy knife. She couldn't mean what she was saying; his mind whirled and refused to function.

"Taken ..." he cleared his throat, "... taken where?"

"Not as in taken to a function, Jase," Candy whispered, "taken in the worse sense of the word."

A gust of air came from between his suddenly dry lips. "Huh ..." he cleared his throat again as his eyes fluttered against the strange wetness welling in them, and his thoughts reeled with this new information. "Mom and Dad didn't think it would be good to tell Jake and me... because you were found and returned home."

Candy nodded, "Yes."

"Before or after the end-of-year dance?" Jason asked.

"After," Candy said, "the night after the dance," she finished, "and I wasn't found and returned for a month."

Jason stared at the clenched hands and bowed head, "Do you still blame yourself?"

Candy glanced up at her brother before lowering her eyes. Her thoughtful expression told him she hadn't considered that question, if not for a long time, then for a while.

"I used to," Candy said, "then I reasoned that I was played..." she sighed, "... then as I matured and realised it could happen to anyone, even if you're super vigilant ... I felt scared for myself but forgave myself for being a kid having a good time."

Jason nodded, "That's good. It wasn't your fault, Candy. Whoever took you would have continued trying until they succeeded or were caught. You have to know that."

"I learned that from Jake when he spoke of his cases," Candy said, "and it helped that Dad got someone to let me write my exams here at home under supervision. Graduation was hard ..." Candy swallowed, "my friends wanted to go and have fun, but I ..." tears welled up and slowly ran down her cheeks, "... I wasn't ready to do that. Not after what happened after the dance, plus I had a security team at the graduation who were so vigilant my friends were happy not to have me along. I never heard from them after that."

Jason's heart clenched as Candy's words trailed off. How could their parents not say anything?

"Is that why you were so edgy that Christmas?" Jason asked, "I remember giving you a hug, and you nearly shot out of your skin."

Candy grimaced before nodding, "Yeah, but I could hug you both by the time you left again."

"You were going to apply to study," Jason said, frowning before closing his eyes, "I remember Jake giving you a hard time because you decided on an online course ... I'm so sorry, Candy."

"Neither of you knew," Candy said, shrugging, "... after all this time ... he ... that man ... wants to meet where it all started, and apparently, Bev must ask the family coddling her where that is."

"Did he give a time frame?" Jason asked.

"Half an hour," Candy whispered, looking at her watch, "which was supposed to be an hour ago. Bev went with Sabra and said he could wait his turn," Candy chuckled. "It amazed me that words that mean could feel so good when she said that."

"You know who took you?" Jason asked.

Candy shook her head, "I know the voice and what he looked like, but not a name."

Jason nodded, "Why is Bev involved? Was she also taken?"

Candy cleared her throat, "No, Bev was part of the extraction team."

Jason frowned, chuckling, "Hold on; Bev was part of the extraction team."

"Yes," Candy said, "I didn't know she was there, and she never knew I was there. How strange is that?"

"You never saw the people who saved you?" Jason asked, watching Candy's every move.

She shook her head, "They were a group of armed people dressed in black from head to toe, with night vision on, and they took out the guards, opened the cages and let us out. Some took us to a waiting van, while others stayed behind. We never saw the van's driver or where we were taken to, but when it stopped, we were in an enclosed space with people milling around, and some women helped us out and took our names."

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"What happened to the driver?" Jason asked.

"Once the van was empty, one of the women went to the driver's window with a clipboard, spoke to whomever it was, and marked something off on the board," Candy said. "I remember the woman saying something about the driver mustn't forget to have the van washed."

"Did you hear anything the driver said?" Jason asked.

Candy shook her head, "But I don't think Bev was the driver."

"Why?" Jason asked.

"The man who phoned spoke about the violets spattered with blood against the grey sky ... or something like that. Bev paled. She wouldn't have known anything about that if she was the driver 'cause the driver was already in the van ... waiting."

Nodding, Jason sighed, "So what in this document brings you to tears?"

"It's an account of tracking down the go-between... the man who worked between the two families, who got Chelsea's family and our family members involved with the Calderones," Candy said. "The only reason Bev's name is here is because she was fully authorised to end the person taking the women."

"End? You mean to kill?" Jason asked.

"The word they used here was ..." Candy's finger ran across the screen, "... terminate."

Jason mouthed the word silently before moving forward to read the line Candy was indicating, "I thought you were kidding."

"Apparently, that was her last task," Candy said. "I see it's noted at the bottom that she indicated she would finish this task should he ... this madman ... surface again but not to use her unless it was the last resort."

"Last resort," Jason's frown deepened, "what was she? An Assassin?"

"That's what I thought, but then right at the bottom here, it says something about DD retired," Candy said, "I looked at the legend on the side, and a double D like that speaks of a Death Dealer."

"What the heck is that?" Jason asked.

"I have no idea," Candy said, "but it doesn't sound good. According to the note at the bottom, she is one of four for the eight-two-zero-zero ... which means that she may be called back to whatever life this was sometime in the future."

Jason sat back in the chair, staring blankly around him, his mind whirling, "A Death Dealer .... I've read about that ..." he shot out of his chair, moving quickly toward the journals, "... I remember marking the page because I didn't know what that was ..." he quickly looked between books finding the one with a specific marker, "... here it is ..." locating the passage he began reading, "... Jonaraja has completed her training in record time but refuses to be listed as a Death Dealer she has shown preference to join her namesake not only in marriage but also in secret keeping."

Candy gasped, "Bev's mother."

Jason looked up, "It goes on to say the decision was a good one as she has no propensity for killing, and her character doesn't suit the life."

"Bev always said her mother never wanted her near anything to do with the life her parents led," Candy said, "what do you think happened to make Bev become a Death Dealer?"

Jason shook his head and frowned, his eyes snapping up to meet his sisters, "Her parents died, and the company never told her the truth as her parents wanted her to be told."

"Do you think that was done of purpose?" Candy asked, rising from the chair and walking toward her brother.

"I don't know," Jason said, "half of me is saying give Bev the benefit of the doubt ... the other half, the half that takes the protection of these lands and peoples seriously ..." he sighed.

"What does it say?" Candy asked after Jason didn't continue.

"Can I trust her not to kill?" Jason said, "Will our people be safe with her living among us?"

"I think they will," Candy said, "or is it something else, Jason?"

"Like what?" Jason asked, watching his sister move to the beverage cart and pour herself some water.

"She never told you, so how can you trust her now?" Candy asked, "There is that, and oh ... yes ... can you trust her with yourself and your heart?"

Jason's eyebrows shot up as he considered his sister's words, and he nodded, "Those are valid questions. She could be a dormant killer, an assassin who can explode any moment."

"Do you really think she's like that?" Candy asked.

"Who is like what?" Jonaraja asked, striding into the room.

Jason and Candy gasped in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"I've been helping to relocate the people who surrendered," he said, picking up his bag, "I need to change as one of the kids vomited down the side of my pants."

Candy slowly moved away from Jonaraja, "Ah, that's what I've been smelling."

"I'm glad you're here," Jason said. "We came across a term we were a little confused about."

"Oh, what term," Jonaraja asked.

"Death Dealer," Candy said, "is it something like an Assassin?"

Jonaraja stood still, slowly looking up at them. "Not many of our company do that training. It's not easy. In fact …" he shuddered, "… it's brutal and almost inhumane. It takes a special person to do it and still be human afterwards."

"Do you know any Death Dealers?" Jason asked.

Jonaraja sighed, "My wife did the training," shaking his head, "but she didn't want to be one."

"Is that why she was adamant about Bev not being part of the lives you were leading?" Candy asked.

He leaned against the wall. "My wife comes from a long line of Intelligence and military people; her family can be found in all branches …" He shook his head. " It was considered an honour for her to do the training. At first, she thought so too, but when it came to her first assignment, and they wanted her to blindly end the person they had assigned her … she refused and instead asked to be transferred to what she is today."

"Was she any good at the training?" Jason asked.

"Yes, she completed it in six weeks," Jonaraja said, "stunned everyone. Why all these questions?"

"You may know one other Death Dealer," Candy said.

"Who?" Jonaraja frowned, pushing away from the wall and looking between brother and sister.

"Bevis," Jason said, "before you ask … she was active but is retired now."

Jonaraja stared at him blankly, blinking quickly before shaking his head, "Not possible. Where is she?"

"The assigned bodyguard for Sabra," Candy said, "before you ask ... it was a request on Sabra's part to your organisation, and apparently Bevis has been approved …" Candy read from a file lying open on her desk, "… to discern the situation and use whatever measures are required to contain the situation with Sabra coming out alive."

Jonaraja paled further, "How? Those words …" he cleared his throat, swallowing hard, "… that terminology is only used for active Death Dealers."

"Perhaps a reinstatement order was requested and granted along with the Bodygaurd request," Jason said, "but it may only be for this moment in time."

"I never thought Bevis capable of …. termination …" he shuddered, "what did they do to her to make her take that training?"

"We don't know how or why it happened," Candy said. One thing we are sure of," she sighed, "is that we were all blindsided by this … so right now, we have to trust Bevis to remain on our side and help us protect our family and friends."

"Candy is right," Jason said. "After all this havoc is over, we can corner her and ask all our questions."

"Corner her? Really, Jason?" Candy shook her head, "She's not a wayward animal."

Jonaraja suddenly pulled his phone from his pocket, greeting the caller before remaining silent. "I understand," he muttered, "and we'll see each other on the other side of this."

Lowering the phone, he slowly looked at the two, waiting to hear what he understood: "My wife just told me there is a lot more going on down at the site than we anticipated, and she may be required to … change hats to save our daughter's life. The place where it all started," he looked at Candy. "Apparently, you're looking for the place ... it's where the fighting is right now."

Candy paled, "He …" she sank shakily to the chair, "...he is on the lands."

"Yes, and he is the Calderone's Uncle," Jonaraja said, "so let's hope we all live through this."

"It's going to be bad, right," Jason whispered, "how bad?"

"Two Death Dealers keeping us all alive and well," Jonaraja shook his head and sighed. "We'll need a cemetery to clear up the carnage."

Silence stretched in the room, filling the emptiness loudly. Finally, Candy sighed.

"In that case, I'm thrilled they're on our side," she whispered. Let's make sure they have something to come home to."