Jonathan's last vestige of control slipped and his anger turned to fury. Not only had all his plans been thwarted, his wife and stepdaughter had poisoned his own sons' minds until they stood against him, too. Outraged, he backhanded Lisa.

Jason thrust his weight against his father as he attempted to push him toward the door. He hollered, "Justin, call 911!"

Watching in horror as his hero disintegrated before his eyes, his brother's frantic words spurred the teenager to action. Justin grabbed the phone from the counter and dialed the emergency number.

Jonathan hit Jason, loosening the teen's hold on his arm. He'd teach his son who was in control. Suddenly realizing that Justin had called the police, a surge of adrenaline allowed him to toss his wife and older son away from him.

Devastated, Justin stared disbelievingly at his mother sprawled on the floor and his brother crumpled against the wall. Unable to move, his wide eyes tracked his father's furious approach. As the phone was wrenched out of his hands, the boy missed hearing the dispatcher come on the line.

The frightened look on his son's face disgusted Jonathan. His youngest son was nothing but a sissy. At least Jason had the balls to stand up to him. He heard the dispatcher's voice coming over the receiver and pressed the off button before tossing the phone back to Justin, sneering when the boy flinched.

Knowing the dispatcher had probably already summoned a unit to respond, he turned around and hurried out the door without a backward glance. He had no intentions of ending up in jail again.

Jason reached his mother at the same time Justin did. They helped her to her feet. "You okay, Mom?"

"I'm okay." Lisa hugged her sons, horrified at the bruising on Jason's face. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Mom," Jason assured her. "He's gone now."

All three hurried toward the door when they heard a commotion out in the yard and almost bumped into a policewoman who was just raising her hand to knock on the door.

"Is everyone okay?"

Lisa nodded. "We're okay. How'd you get here so fast?"

"Just luck really. My partner and I were only a street over. When the dispatcher lost contact, we got the call."

"Did you get him?"

"Yeah. Tried to run though. My partner tackled him and the guy just about pulled Pete's arm of its socket trying to get away. He'll be charged with resisting arrest and assault on a police officer, too."

Lisa said, "He'll never learn."

"I'll be right back to take statements. I have to get the camera. I'll need to take pictures for evidence in court."

Taking a deep breath, Lisa nodded. This time she would see it through. "Okay."

Justin looked at his mother, once the officer left to get her camera. "Mom, why?"

"He's sick, honey. He needs help."

"He said he was better." Justin struggled to make sense of what had happened. "Dad already got treatment."

"I know. It just wasn't enough." Lisa gazed into her son's eyes. "He might not be able to be cured."

Justin nodded as he wrapped his mind around that thought.

Lisa knew she hadn't protected her daughters and she couldn't undo that. The only thing she could do was make sure she didn't repeat the same mistakes she'd made so many years before. Her sons had suffered physical and emotional damage trying to protect her because she hadn't acted sooner.

She looked at the boys. "I'm filing charges against your father and testifying in court this time. He's going to jail."

Jason nodded. "Can I testify?"

Lisa started crying harder. Jason was only a teenager and he was already braver than she'd ever been. She managed to say, "I'm proud of you both."

Justin said, "Mom, please don't cry."

Lisa smiled through her tears. "I'm fine, honey. I'm just glad you're both okay."



*  *  *

Hal and Ron sat at one side of the interrogation table, waiting for Blue to sit down on the other side. They both knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant debriefing, because of the amount of time it had taken to tie up all the loose ends.

Blue slid into a chair and glared at the two men sitting opposite her. "What do you want now? I kept my part of the bargain, and you still hung me out to dry."

The taller of the two men cleared his throat. "We didn't have a choice..."

Blue spat, "Bullshit! I could've been killed, my partner could've been killed, my mother could've been killed and you didn't have a choice? Do you really expect me to believe that? And even supposing that's true, where in the hell have you been for the last two weeks."

Ron spoke quietly. "Michael was one of ours."

The operative's eyes briefly widened. "So you are the ones that protected him when he fucked up our extraction three years ago."

Hal nodded. "We've suspected him of working for the other side for quite some time, but we needed something solid. With the pictures and recordings your partner gave Earl, we have that."

Blue shook her head in disbelief. "You had no way of knowing we'd uncover anything on him, yet you still jeopardized innocent lives? Shelby and my mother could have been killed. I don't fucking believe this."

"Every time we made a move, the Russians knew about it. We had to find the leak. You were our best bet."

Suddenly some pieces began falling into place. "You let Michael know I was returning to headquarters and when I'd be arriving."

Both men remained silent, and Blue continued her accusatory litany. "Our deal was that I notify you when I was activated. I did that. So instead of honoring your part of the deal, you leave me to fend off the Russians alone and catch Michael."

She snorted and said sarcastically, "And we're supposed to be on the same side? Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?"

"Our options were limited. We had to break Michael before we could honor our part of the agreement."

Kris crossed her arms and sat back in the chair. "Care to explain that? You were given pictures and recordings."

"Yes, we were, but he claimed he was just going along with Maggie, and was going to turn her in. Before we could turn him again, we had to break him. He's good. It took a while."

Ron met Blue's eyes. "If we couldn't break him, we needed you around until we did."

Blue finally understood why she'd been held in total isolation after her initial debriefing. These guys had covered up who and what she was, but the operative wanted to hear them admit it. "How were you going to manage that? Earl knows the whole story."

"He's been sworn to secrecy." Ron smiled. "It didn't hurt that he was on your side, anyway. Made our job really easy."

Blue sarcastically said, "I assume you broke Michael. Mind telling me what you needed me for, if you hadn't?"

"To shadow him. Report his every move and contact. You know the routine. You've done it before."

Blue just shook her head, disgustedly.

Ron commented. "Just until he agreed to double."

Blue rose to her feet angrily and began pacing back and forth behind the table. "So he walks?"

Hal shrugged. "We need him. Gregor reneged on his request for political asylum and he doesn't know about Michael. It could take us years to get another agent in place to provide information he's already in a position to get for us."

"And you trust him?"

"No. But it seems he was a little more attached to Maggie than we realized. In exchange for her complete cooperation, we plea bargain to a lesser charge than treason and she gets probation. Michael knows if he reneges on any part of the deal, we'll throw the book at both of them."

Blue was irritated at having been used, but knew these guys were acting in what they felt were the best interests of the country.

She sighed. "So now what? Am I free to go? Or do you have some other surprises in store?"

Ron handed her a folder. She pulled out a sheaf of papers and began reading. A few minutes later she signed a nondisclosure agreement, pushed it across the table and stood up, her heart beating wildly. She was finally free. Maintaining her composure, she nodded at the two men.

"I would say it's been nice working with you, but that would be a lie. Thanks for keeping our deal."

The two men watched her leave, then Hal looked at Ron. "She's really pissed."

"Yeah. Hope we don't have to activate her anytime soon."

"You think she knows we'll recall her if we need her?"

Ron shrugged. "She's smart. I'd bet on it."



*  *  *

Shelby and Masha sat at the dining room table in Lisa's house, waiting for the police to complete their questioning. The officers had finished taking pictures and were completing statements from both boys and her mother. They had arrived as the police were leading Jonathan to the police car in cuffs.

Shuddering, Shelby remembered the venomous glare and barrage of threats Jonathan had shouted at her as the police officer was pushing him into the back seat. She'd ignored him, running into the house followed closely by Masha, and breathed a sigh of relief to see no one seriously injured, although Jason's black eye turned her stomach.

She listened in silence as each related to the police what had happened, and felt a surge of happiness and relief when she heard her mother agree to press charges. At least one of their lives was improving. Shelby had called Kim after arriving at her mother's house and her friend was on her way over.

A few hours later, Shelby got ready to leave. It had been a good visit. Lisa had even agreed to Kim's suggestion that both she and the boys see a psychologist for a while. The analyst smiled, knowing that was a huge milestone for her mother, given her reluctance to even talk to Kim a few weeks before.