Here we get to see two previously unheard from participants. Hope you like them.

Once again I have to say that I write for my own pleasure and have no intentions to infringe on the reel 'Covert Affairs'.


Alexis Anderson

Sixteen-year-old Alexis Anderson, eldest daughter of Adam and Olivia Anderson of Highland Park, Illinois, stood with her thirteen-year-old sister, Megan, in the back yard of her grandparent's Glencoe, Illinois home talking to her grandmother and grandfather. She found her grandparents to be interesting people. They tried to keep up with what their grandchildren were interested in. They had computers and smartphones and knew how to use Google to find topics that their grandchildren might be interested in talking about. At the moment her grandmother, Abigail, had her engaged in a discussion of a new music group that had just burst onto the music scene. Out of the corner of her eye, Alexis noticed her new Aunt Annie come out of the house and onto the deck. Her attention shifted from the discussion with her sister and grandmother to her Aunt Annie. Her mother and both of her other aunts, Jessica and Jenna, were beautiful women, but there was something about her Aunt Annie that had captivated Alexis from the first moment they'd met. She'd only met her newest aunt a few times, the last being when Annie had married her father's youngest brother, Auggie.

Alexis loved Auggie even though he'd been gone so much. He'd left for college, and then the Army when she was barely in kindergarten. Then he was home in uniform like Uncle Alan. And then he'd been hurt horribly in the war and had come home blind. That first time he'd been home, Alexis found him to be scary, quick to anger, and very defensive. Then he was gone, out of her life, out of everybody's lives, till he showed up with Aunt Annie. She remembered being almost shocked when she first saw her Aunt Annie with Auggie. Here was her Uncle Auggie with this stunning woman who moved with a casual balanced grace that just blew her away. Alexis remembered being skeptical at first. What was this woman doing with her Uncle Auggie, the blind war veteran? Was she taking advantage of him? Did she want money? What was the deal?

It took her about two minutes watching Annie's actions around Auggie to realize she was completely head over heels in love with her Uncle Auggie. And he with her. The wedding had been amazing. It was really the first one of her Uncle's weddings she had been old enough to really appreciate. She had cried for her Uncle Auggie not being able to see Annie coming down the aisle. She'd spent hours reading People Magazine, and seen wedding picture of celebrities; none of them could hold a candle to her new aunt's walk down the aisle with eyes shining and looking lovingly at her future husband.

To say her aunt had won Alexis love and respect would be an understatement. Then last night, they had been invaded by three people who had come to kill them, maybe torture and rape the women, including her, and it gave her a chill just thinking about it. But her totally awesome aunt had … had … killed them at the door before they could even get all the way in the house. Alexis shuddered and looked again at her aunt approaching with that way of moving she had.

After pulling her iPhone from her pocket, Alexis opened the camera app and switched it to video mode. She wanted a video of the way her Aunt Annie moved; so gracefully it was almost cat-like.

Alexis's attention was suddenly captured by noise at the nearby gate. A man, a big, rough looking man, burst through it shouting, "Which one of you sons-of-bitches killed my son? Who did it? I want to rip off your head you miserable scum." He scanned the family and then focused on her grandfather, Alfred. In horror she saw the man draw back his fist to strike her Grandpa; then her Aunt Annie was there between the men and deflecting the intended punch to her Grandpa's face. She watched in wide-eyed amazement as her tiny, sometimes fragile looking aunt, put the big man on the ground.

Beside her she heard her sister gasp – first in horror and then moments later in amazement. She heard her Granny call 911 and tell them someone had just tried to assault her husband. Then she heard her Aunt Annie yelling, "Austin! Alan! Adam! Somebody bring me something to tie this guy up with. Zip ties would be great but they need to be thick and long."

Finally remembering that she had the video recording app running on her phone, Alexis deliberately focused it on her Aunt Annie. Through the view screen she watched in disbelief as her aunt wrenched hard on the big man's arm and shouted at him, "Shut up or I'll leave you with an arm that won't work at all." Her aunt put more pressure on the man's arm and hissed in his ear, "You get loose and I'll have to kill you before you get up because you are too big for me to fight. Now lie quietly before I have to do permanent damage." Finally the angry man stopped struggling, but he was spewing out curses in a tone and with words that Alexis had never heard before and hoped never to hear again.

Totally in awe of her aunt, Alexis continued to watch, mouth agape and eyes wide, as Annie interrogated the prone man. "Who are you and how did you find us?" When he didn't immediately answer, her aunt once again applied pressure to the man's shoulder. "Answer me!"

"On a news broadcast early this morning. I only heard it once, but once was enough. No name was given just the block and street name. Bits of crime scene tape led me to this house," the man said between intakes of air.

Austin arrived with some big black zip ties and Aunt Annie told the man, "I'm going to have my brother-in-law here help me zip tie your hands behind you and to your belt; then you will lay right where you are till the police get here. If you struggle, you will go to the hospital. Got it?"

The man nodded.

Austin grabbed the intruder's free arm and, with some difficulty, was able to get in position to put the zip ties on like handcuffs without Aunt Annie releasing her grip. Then Annie used one to hook his wrists to his belt. When her aunt stood and stepped away from the man on the ground, Alexis stopped the recording.

From where she stood, eyes transfixed on her Aunt Annie, Alexis could also see her Uncle Auggie trying to make his way to where his wife was. For the first time that day, Alexis was painfully aware that her Uncle Auggie was blind. The last few times she'd seen him he'd managed so well it was sometimes easy to forget that he couldn't see; right now the fact that he could not have seen what had happened was heartbreakingly obvious – he'd stumbled over the edging to one of the flowerbeds. The look on his face Alexis could only describe as panicked. Annie must have seen her husband trying to get to her because she commanded, "Megan, go help your Uncle Auggie over here, please."

Megan didn't take her eyes from her aunt. Alexis was about ready to nudge her sister, or go to her uncle's aid when she noticed Uncle Austin slip away toward his brother. A few moments later Uncle Auggie was at his wife's side. He reached out to locate his wife in a manner that must have reassured him because some of the panicked look left him, but he asked, with a bit of desperation in his tone, "Annie, please tell me straight, are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Without taking her gaze from the man on the ground, Annie replied, "Auggie, I don't think so. But until the adrenaline works out of me, I won't know for sure. He didn't hit me but it took all the strength I had to get him over me to the ground in that interception move you taught me a year or so ago. It worked great. He's all of two-hundred-and-eighty pounds and a good six feet tall with arms like hams but he never landed a punch."

Alexis wanted to move away, to give the adults, especially Aunt Annie and Uncle Auggie, a bit of space to do the adult things they needed to do, but she, and her little sister, stayed riveted in place. Even when her grandfather moved to stand behind his son, Alexis couldn't seem to move; she was awestruck by the whole incident.

"Auggie," Alfred said, touching his son on the shoulder, "he launched a huge punch at my face but somehow Annie got between me and him, deflected it, pushed me out of her way, and turned it into a takedown. It was like magic or something. Annie this was apparently nothing compared to what you did last night, but I saw this. Or I think I did, and it was pretty awesome to me."

"Oh my God, to me too," Alexis gushed. Her sister, still hanging onto her arm and staring at Annie in wide-eyed wonder, echoed the sentiment.

"Girls, we will talk about this later, I promise, but for the moment, please move back," Annie said looking straight at Alexis. "Everybody, let's keep a bit of a clear area around this guy. I'm going to have him stay right where he is and I'm going to stand here behind him where he can't see me to keep him there. Trust me on this; he won't succeed in getting up if he even tries."

From her aunt's tone of voice it was clear to Alexis that she was in charge and clearly expected to be obeyed. Half-dragging her little sister with her, Alexis moved a few feet away. She took in the whole scene now, and was even more awestruck by the contrast between the large man on the ground and the petite woman who had put him there. All Alexis could think was, I want to be just like her. I want to be able to do something like that if someone ever threatens me or someone I love. I want to be in charge of my own safety like she is. She isn't afraid of anybody. That is about the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Alexis's grandfather and grandmother moved back a couple of steps and her grandmother, somewhat cheerily, said, "I called 911 … again. They seemed to know the address by heart. I may have to put them on my Christmas list. In any event, I hear a siren that is getting louder so I think they got the message."

Still focused on the small circle of people gathered around the man that had arrived, uninvited, to the family gathering, Alexis was brought back to the fact that there were other people around when her Uncle Alan yelled, "Hey, bro, got a beer for a Marine?"

Uncle Auggie smiled slightly and remarked to his wife, "You got this." It was not a question but a clear statement. Alexis couldn't help but wonder if her Uncle Alan had specifically addressed her Uncle Auggie with his request for a beer, but she thought that her Uncle Auggie had taken it that way. He seemed much more at ease and reached to his side for Austin's arm.

Then in a moment approaching an epiphany Alexis thought, Uncle Auggie wasn't surprised she could do what she just did. She knew he wasn't surprised. He was only concerned the guy hadn't hurt her. Then she remembered vaguely Aunt Annie saying Uncle Auggie had trained her. Her increasingly awesome blind uncle trained her equally awesome aunt.

In response to her husband's comment, Annie calmly replied, "Yup. No problem. I'll just stay right here till those policemen come and take him away. Hopefully, since he isn't injured enough to require hospitalization – at least I don't think so – the statements will go very quickly. Compared to last night, this is a bump in the night."

When the sirens stopped out front, Alexis realized that some very adult stuff was about to happen. Part of her was excited to be a part of that, another part was a bit nervous about maybe being questioned by the police. She'd never been close to anything like that. As far as she could remember, she'd never even been in the car when either of her parents had been stopped by an officer, just had heard them commenting on being pulled over for some traffic infraction.

She was aware that her Uncle Anthony had come over from where he'd been sitting with his wife, Aunt Jess, on the patio and slipped out of the open gate toward the front of the house. He came back a few minutes later followed by two uniformed patrol officers. One of them, a man who seemed to be her father's age, addressed the men, "Which of you guys took him down?"

Alfred said quietly, "None of us guys. She did." He pointed at Aunt Annie. "She stopped him from hitting me, put him on the ground and controlled him until we could get zip ties to hold his hands. He has been lying there cursing and sobbing now and then since."

To Alexis's eyes the officer looked shocked when her Grandpa had pointed at her Aunt Annie. She couldn't wait to see what happened next; she listened intently to the interaction between the adults and the police officer.

"Let me start from the beginning, what happened? You first young lady," the officer said looking at Aunt Annie.

Her aunt stated in a clear, confident tone, "I thought I heard a shout near the front of the house but there was a lot of conversation going on at the party back here. Then that gate opened and this guy came in shouting something about which one of us killed his son, threatening to kill whoever had, and he took a punch at my father-in-law, Fred Anderson."

"You don't look like you got punched," the officer said looking hard at Alfred.

"I didn't. She slid in between the two of us did something really quick and ninja like, pushed me out of the way, and next thing I knew he was on the ground and she had him in some sort of hold that kept him there. He didn't want to be there, but he had zero choice," Grandpa Alfred stated firmly.

Zero choice is right, thought Alexis at that moment. His destiny left his control when he threatened my grandfather with Aunt Annie close enough to stop him.

The officer looked at Annie and appeared as if he was just about to say something when another voice boomed through the gate saying, "You do your Jason Bourne act again Ms. Anderson?"

Alexis watched as her Aunt Annie's head snapped round and she got an almost pleased look when she caught sight of a third uniformed patrol officer entering the yard.

The officer who had been questioning Aunt Annie looked at him and said, "You know these people Sarge?"

The new officer replied, "Yes, this is the house you heard about in the shift briefing where the three home invaders were … stopped. I was among the first responders to that one, too."

The first officer's head snapped around, he looked at Aunt Annie wide-eyed and said, "Ohmygosh! You are her."

Yeah! Alexis thought. That's Her with a capital H. Meet Awesome Aunt Annie Mr. Policeman. Isn't she cool?

The newly arrived officer said, "Yes, that's her. You should know there is a federal court gag order so I'm not going to tell you her name and you don't need to ask."

The first officer stuttered and said, "Bu- bu- but, she's just a little squirt."

Alexis almost blurted out; she's bigger than the bad guys!

The third officer said, "Stop right there. We'll continue this conversation in about twenty years." Then he turned to the man on the ground and commanded the first two officers, "Okay. Let's get him on his feet and properly cuffed. Try not to let him escape. If he does, she will be pissed. Trust me on this; you do not want her pissed."

Alexis thought, Really? Ya think? Aunt Annie didn't look pissed, just completely in control. I'm not sure I'd want to see her pissed, she concluded to herself.

Then he turned to Alexis's Aunt Annie and stated, "I'll book him on assault for now. Ms. Anderson, did he hurt you? Or anybody else here?"

Aunt Annie smiled at the officer and replied, "No sergeant, he never laid a finger on me. He seems to have been by himself so I just contained him till we could tie him up. I had to wrench a bit on his left shoulder and had him in a semi-choke hold so the shoulder and his throat may be a sore and bruised, and he landed face first, but there shouldn't be any permanent injury. Can I bring my brother-in-law Anthony and father-in-law Fred with me to the side yard and give you a quick statement so we can get back to family fun and barbeque I really don't want this to mess up this evening too. "

"I think that is exactly what we should do. You didn't even get worked up this time?" the officer said politely.

"No, this was a piece of cake." Annie was almost laughing. Alexis marveled that her aunt could take an incident like what just happened so lightly.

Remembering the video on her phone, Alexis' heart skipped a beat but she dared to address her aunt anyway, "Aunt Annie, I've got something that might help."

"What's that Alexis?" Annie asked softly giving Alexis her full attention.

Somehow, having her aunt's full attention was comforting more than intimidating, she felt like an equal. She offered, "I was playing with the video recorder app on my phone. I don't have all the video of what he did, but I'm pretty sure I got the audio of it from the time he came through the gate and then video of you holding him down."

"You do?" the remaining officer asked, taking a step toward her. He seemed pleased which made Alexis stand a little taller. "I've got a recorder in the patrol car. I'll let you play it so I can catch the audio of what happened and then I'll jot down an e-mail address where you can send the video. Sometimes we don't like people making videos, but I think this time it's a good thing. You okay with doing that?"

"Yeah. Sure," Alexis said brightly. She was excited to be able to help.

Alexis poked at her phone for a few seconds and held it up so the police officer could see. She couldn't see the picture, but the guy's voice was clear; she hoped that what she had captured would help her aunt. Even though she had respect for those in law enforcement, Alexis had heard of innocent people going to jail; she didn't want that to happen to her aunt. The pleased looks on both her aunt's and the police officer's faces both made her proud and let Alexis know that what she'd captured on the video proved her aunt's innocence – that the intruder had been the aggressor. When the audio stopped, Alexis lowered her phone, but kept it open to the camera function – just in case.

What happened next sort of surprised her; she didn't think that police officers were supposed to act like that. The officer, addressing Annie directly said, "I couldn't do it last night, but I'd sure like to give you a high five now. That was awesome." Her aunt grinned at the officer and raised her right hand. The officer did the same and their hands met with a good "WHACK" the first time.

Aunt Annie could do a high five right too, thought Alexis. Sometimes even she and her friends didn't get it right.

After a brief trip to his patrol car for his digital recorder, Alexis was asked to accompany them outside the gate. She saw Megan looking at her like she was a rock star for having a part in it all. The officer talked to the adults – her Aunt Annie and her Grandpa with her Uncle Anthony standing by – just outside of the gate on the drive near the side entrance to the house. First he talked to Annie – Annie briefly, and without emotion, described what the intruder did and what she did in response. Then Grandpa Fred told almost the same story of what the man did and what he saw his daughter-in-law do in response to the man's aggression. Uncle Anthony quietly stood by and listened to his father and sister-in-law recount the man's actions. Finally the officer turned to Alexis. "Okay, young lady, it's your turn. Please tell me your name, how old you are and where you were when all of this was going on."

Alexis surprised herself by not being at all nervous when she began to speak to the officer's recorder trying to follow her Aunt Annie's example, "I'm Alexis Anderson and I'm sixteen. I was standing near my grandfather, grandmother, my younger sister, and my aunt when this big, scary looking man came busting through the back gate. He threatened my grandfather and my aunt intervened. I'd been playing with the video app on my cell phone and caught all of it on audio and much of it on video."

"Are you willing to share that video with the police?" the officer asked gently.

"Of course," Alexis responded.

"Would you play it now so that I can capture the audio? And will you send the video to me in an e-mail?"

"Yes. I'll play it for you now, and you've already given me an e-mail address for me to send the video." Holding the phone close to the officer's recorder, Alexis touched the screen on her phone a few times and the video began to play again. Alexis watched it for the first time and was pleasantly surprised that she'd caught the whole incident, as well as her Aunt Annie holding the man down. She felt a broad grin spread across her face as she watched her aunt in action again. Feelings of awe and a desire to be just like her aunt washed over her again, too. Then her Aunt Annie said something that totally surprised Alexis.

"You know that this video falls under that federal gag order, don't you? Neither of you can share it with anyone, even if my name isn't used," Annie said firmly.

Sergeant Jamison nodded. "I'm fully aware of that. A copy of the federal order will be on the file that contains the video – if you allow it to be e-mailed to me – and as soon as it's not needed for anything it will mysteriously be lost. Erased. Deleted."

"Thanks," Annie replied. "It would not be good for either my husband or I if that got posted on YouTube or somewhere like that."

When she was through talking to the police officer, Annie then turned to Alexis and asked gently, "Alexis, why were you videoing me?"

Alexis was alarmed at the question. She felt like she'd done something totally wrong. She began to answer, even though she didn't really think that what she'd done was so bad, in a subdued voice, "I started when you came out on the deck a bit ago. You move so gracefully that I wanted to video you so I could study the way you moved so that I could learn how to move like you do. I only wanted to study it; I never intended to share it with anyone." Alexis studied her aunt's face very carefully as she told her why she had wanted the video in the first place. Her Aunt Annie didn't seem at all upset so Alexis relaxed a little bit.

"Okay. When we get a chance, I want to see you send it to the address that the sergeant gave you and then I have to insist on you deleting it off your phone. Even though I trust you not to share it, just knowing that someone could maybe get ahold of your phone and look at it makes me very uncomfortable. I'm sorry Lexi, but I have to insist that you do that."

Looking down at the ground Alexis felt her stomach drop a bit. Her totally awesome Aunt Annie didn't want anyone see her be totally kick-ass. Alexis wondered why, but also heard herself say, "I'm sorry, Aunt Annie. I'll do it right now and not even send it to the officer if that's what you want." Alexis held her breath for her Aunt Annie's response. Even though she sort of knew what her aunt would say, Alexis hoped that she'd at least be able to send the video on to the nice policeman; he'd make sure that her Aunt Annie would not be in trouble. After what seemed to be forever, Alexis heard her Aunt Annie say, "The officer is an adult and has a lot to lose if the federal gag order isn't obeyed. I think I'm okay with sending it on to him, but once it's sent I need it to be gone. Okay?"

Without saying a word, Alexis opened the Camera Roll function on her phone and selected the video of her aunt being totally kick-ass, then she touched the area that would allow her to e-mail the video to the address written on the policeman's card; when the keypad opened, she carefully, but quickly, keyed in the address. Once that was done she handed the phone over to her Aunt Annie, "Check to make sure that I've input the e-mail address correctly. I don't want to accidentally send it to the wrong place."

Aunt Annie looked from the card and then at the iPhone screen. The police officer took the phone from Aunt Annie and said, "That's the correct address, Miss Alexis"

He handed the phone back to Alexis who quickly, before her aunt had a chance to change her mind, touched the 'SEND' button. The phone made a whooshing sound and then dinged. The video had been sent on to the police officer.

"It's sent. Now I'll delete it Aunt Annie." Then Alexis moved so that her aunt could see what she was doing on the phone. Once again she brought up the video and touched the tiny garbage can in the lower right corner, and then on the red delete video bar. With another sick feeling in her stomach Alexis watched the video disappear. Once it was gone, Alexis said, "I've deleted it."

Aunt Annie wrapped her arms gently around Alexis. Alexis thought her aunt was trying to be comforting, but at that moment, her aunt's embrace felt anything but comforting.

"Thank you, Lexi. I know that was hard for you to do. But, you do understand that I wouldn't ask you to do that if it wasn't so important?"

Aunt Annie doesn't have a clue how hard that was, Alexis thought.

"Yeah," Alexis said and nodded against her aunt's arm. No, I don't understand, Alexis thought. Why don't you want people to know how totally awesome you can be?

While Alexis and the adults were telling what happened, one of the other officers came back and stood patiently to one side until the first officer shut off the recorder. "Here Sarge," the officer began. "We've got the guy in the patrol car for the trip downtown. We've gotten all the formalities out of the way. We got his name out of him; here's his rap sheet. Thought you might like to see it." He handed several sheets of paper to the sergeant.

Alexis watched as the sergeant looked over the pages in his hand. She couldn't be sure, but Alexis thought that she saw alarm register on the sergeant's face.

"May I see that?" Annie asked and held out her hand.

The sergeant seemed to hesitate for a moment and then handed the pages over to Annie. "Sure, why not. I can print another one, you keep that one."

Annie said, "Thanks Sergeant. I'd like to understand this guy that raised a son who wanted to kill people for an evening's entertainment."

Alexis studied her aunt reading the papers in her hand. Her aunt gave no outward indication of what she thought of what she read on the pages. Pages of rap sheet, Alexis thought. What kind of person has encountered the police often enough to have PAGES of arrests?

Once Annie had finished studying the pages in her hand the sergeant said, "Thanks to all of you. You made this easy. He's the father of one of the three boys, the first one through the door. He had a really bad night at the hospital and the boy died early this morning. Doesn't excuse what he did here, or what his son attempted to do last night. But it puts his actions today in context a little bit. He should be grateful you didn't put him in the hospital. He has a reputation as a bar room brawler that handles himself pretty well."

"I heard that the first boy through the door died this morning," Annie said softly. "I'm sorry about that. But, you're right it doesn't make what he did just now okay."

Alexis looked at her aunt again in a new light. Aunt Annie really did look sad that the boy had died. Even though she knew that her aunt would be – she seemed to be that kind of person – it also seemed a bit odd to be sad for someone, who by all reports, had come to kill everyone in the house. Alexis wasn't even sure she was all that sorry that those boys last night had been killed. They'd come to kill people for sport. Sport? She didn't even condone killing animals for that.

"How do you know that?" the officer asked in surprise. "You mean you knew before this guy came shouting you'd killed his son?"

Annie nodded, "I didn't know he was the kid's father. But, yeah. I'd been informed of that earlier today. How that information came to be known by me is need to know, and no one here needs to know." Annie looked sternly at each person around her and then continued, "This guy wasn't a lethal threat – at least not to me – I just did what I had to do to stop the attack on my father-in-law."

There was that feeling again – the one that said that there was something more to her Aunt Annie than met the eye; and her Uncle Auggie, too, for that matter. When the conversation turned to work stuff, they were always quiet on the subject. Aunt Annie said that for the most part her job was boring; Uncle Auggie hid behind the fact that his job was classified. She'd heard her parents, and her Uncle Anthony, openly wonder if their brother and his new wife really did what they said they did. Aunt Annie traveled way too much and would rarely talk about where she'd been or about what she'd been sent to acquire. It was strange; whenever Alexis had been to Europe with her family she couldn't wait to share the details of the trip with her friends and family. Aunt Annie didn't say anything voluntarily and little even if asked. And she didn't have a FaceBook page either, or Twitter account. Neither did Uncle Auggie. Alexis knew because she had looked.

Alexis's attention went back to the police officers when the sergeant said to Aunt Annie, "You did him a favor not breaking his neck. Okay folks, we're out of here. Enjoy your barbeque." Alexis was amused when the officer tipped his cap toward Annie before he headed off down the drive to his waiting patrol car.

After the officer had departed Alexis's grandfather nudged her arm and the two of them headed back toward the gate and the, now subdued, party on the other side of the fence. As she walked back, Alexis pondered everything that had happened in the last 45 minutes – from the moment that the guy had busted up the family gathering to the time the police left. It was all sort of exciting even though it had started out quite frighteningly. The main thing that Alexis took away was a strong desire to take self-defense classes so that she could be just like her newest, coolest, and seriously awesome, aunt.

Adam Anderson

Adam was enjoying some quiet time with his wife, Olivia, on the edge of the gathering. They were both really busy with demanding schedules, and moments like this were cherished by both of them as a chance to nurture their bond together. With the comfort of nearly twenty years of marriage they sat in chairs they'd drawn close and watched the family and their kids interacting. Adam was watching the grills, one for the steaks for the adults, and one for the hamburgers and hot dogs for the teens. Not like the teens were relegated to having hamburgers and hot dogs, it just sort of worked out that way today. Olivia had taken on the task of watching the pots of boiling fresh sweet corn-on-the-cob that were on the side burners of the gas grills.

A movement appeared at the patio door on the back of the house when the screen door slid open and their newest sister-in-law appeared on the deck. Adam saw Olivia's head turn to watch her without staring; he saw others, especially Austin, do it too. They were still trying to come to grips with their new understanding of Annie, her selflessness when it came to protecting them all from what might have been the last night of their lives, and her having an apparent extreme level of adeptness with violence.

This stream of thought ran rapidly through Adam's consciousness as he watched her, blond hair, jean shorts, and T-shirt walk nonchalantly across the patio scanning casually over the gathering. He saw her smile as she looked in the direction of Mom and Dad who were talking with the girls, Megan and Alexis by the gate to the driveway. There were times when Annie didn't look any older than the girls; other times when she was all of her age and another ten in maturity.

Olivia said, "She looks like the really pretty girl-next-door that drives the guys wild and doesn't even know it. I still can't picture her doing what I know full well she did last night. You saw the bruises; we all saw the mess in the foyer, and heard the FBI lady tell us how blessed we were to have her here. But that's an intellectual truth that is really hard to reconcile with the girl I see walking across the deck in the direction of our girls. Yes, I said girl; today she doesn't look that much older than Alexis."

Adam nodded and added, "Look at the expression on the girl's faces when they look at her. Livvie, they idolize her. They've never known anybody like her before in their lives."

She replied, "None of us have, honey. I mean we know Auggie is a decorated combat veteran; so is Alan; but she's just one of us. She's the prototype of the smart, talented, intelligent, wholesome, beautiful girl-next-door every mom wants her son to bring home. She's perfect for Auggie. More perfect than any of us might have suspected. We girls got a clue when she took on Jessica in the shopping mall the day she and Auggie were engaged. But until last night I had no idea she had the depth of character, never mind the martial arts skills, to do what she did."

"I know what you mean. I am, however, more than a little intrigued by the fact that Auggie took it all in stride. He wasn't taken aback by it at all. In fact he took it for granted she'd have done what she did. How could he have known that?"

Olivia was about to answer when she held her hand up to Adam and tilted her head like she also heard what sounded to Adam like it might have been a shout from the front of the house. They looked at each other, then back across the yard where they could see a dark head of hair moving rapidly up the driveway that was outside of the fence. Adam was just about to say something when the gate burst open and a big burley looking man came through it yelling, "Which one of you sons-of-a-bitches killed my son? Who did it? I want to rip off your head you miserable scum."

Adam saw the man's gaze fix on his dad and started to rise when he saw Annie begin to move rapidly toward the man who was easily twice her size and then some. Adam got a chill of fear all over, felt Olivia's hand on his arm grab so tight it hurt, when he realized Annie was charging the man who was certain to kill or maim her – he was huge and rough looking. All of this happened in an instant; then the man launched a punch for his dad's face and … there was a blur of motion as Annie arrived between his dad and the big man … the punch never landed, he appeared to levitate, land on his face, and then suddenly he was on the ground with Annie holding his arm in a position that made Adam wince with her other arm wrapped around with his throat captured in the bend of her elbow, her hands joining in such a way that she could put incredible leverage on the man's shoulder. She was doing it. She had her legs straight, feet at right angles to the ground spread maybe four feet apart supporting her weight on her toes, legs straight and rigid to maximize both her stability and the body weight that was holding her down on the man's back.

Adam heard her say loud enough for all to hear in the dead silence that ensued after she acted, "Austin! Alan! Adam! Somebody bring me something to tie this guy up with. Zip ties would be great but they need to be thick and long."

Adam moved to get up and go to her aid when Olivia put hand on his arm saying, "My God, she did it again, just like that. Adam look at her, she has that big guy on the ground and try as he might, he can't get up. I hope she doesn't let go."

"No chance of that while she's still alive, I'll give her a hand-"

"No you won't. You'd just get in her way. Austin has gone into the shop. I'm sure he's gone to see if he can find what she wants."

Adam said, "Livvie, I had no idea there were women on the planet that could take down grown men more than twice their size, and as rare as they must be, Auggie married one. He has a live-in bodyguard. As if he needs one."

Olivia said, "None of this is lost on Megan and Alexis. Stand by to be besieged for martial arts training classes. I can see how they are looking at Annie right now," she paused as he interrupted his struggling and cursing to issue the cry of someone in excruciating pain. "Yup, right at this moment they want to be just like her. I'm thinking it's not a bad thing, but they need to realize you don't take on bad guys after a week of martial arts classes from the local self-proclaimed expert."

Adam said, "Assuming you are right, and it's not a stretch at all, we should ask Annie what sort of training she thinks would be the most valuable for the girls in terms of protecting themselves."

Olivia said, "I think, from something I overheard her say, she'll say situational awareness training."

They both paused while they watched Austin work with Annie to put the zip ties on the man's wrist.

Adam said, "I wonder who he is. From what he said, I think he had a son in the group of thugs who invaded the house last night."

Olivia added, "Which would mean, the girl who just took him down and made it look easy, relatively speaking, killed his son. I think that man's very bad week just went from very bad to worse. Much worse."

Their heads swiveled as one in the direction of the sirens they heard approaching. Adam spoke first, "I think we are going to get another visit from the police. Dad's neighbors are going to wonder what it was this time."

Olivia, ever the practical one, replied, "They will read all about it in the paper and hear all about it on the TV news, but it won't be what we just saw."

They watched as Annie stood up leaving the man on the ground. It looked to them like she had said or done something that convinced him getting up would be a very bad idea. Very bad indeed. In fact Olivia said, "He's lying there like he's more afraid of her than the cops that are coming."

Adam replied, "Do you blame him? I bet this isn't his first rodeo, but I'd also bet large it's the first time he's been taken down by a hot blonde a third his size." Adam got up and took a few steps toward the grills, turning them off and closing the lids to keep the meats from overcooking or getting too cold to be appetizing once the hubbub was over.

"No doubt," Olivia agreed.

Out of the corner of his eye Adam saw Auggie, a look of panic on his face, get up and stumble toward his wife. Austin, now finished with tying up the intruder, separated from the clutch of people surrounding the fallen man and went to his brother's aid.

"No doubt at all," Alan said as he hobbled up to join their conversation. "You saw that, right?"

Adam said, "I think I did, it was over before I had time to realize it was happening."

Alan said, "Same thing last night. I saw the whole thing like just now, and I almost can't tell you what happened it happened so fast. Did you see how she took that guy down? I didn't."

"I didn't. Olivia, did you see it?"

"I had my eyes open, I was looking in that direction, but I could not tell you how she did that, only that she did it. I'm not sure I believe it is even possible to do what she did. That guy is a man mountain."

"Yes, he is," Alan agreed. He looked thoughtful for a moment then called to Auggie, "Hey, bro, got a beer for a Marine?"

Austin, with Auggie on his arm, wandered in their direction no longer needed by Annie. The brothers climbed the steps to the deck and Auggie separated from Austin and headed toward the house. Austin then approached Adam, Olivia and Alan and joined their conversation late asking, "Did any of you see how she did that? I was only fifteen feet away and I'm not sure I saw what I saw."

"I know what you mean," Alan replied.

Austin said, "She reacted so fast I'm not sure it's humanly possible to react that fast, I mean she stopped a punch from landing. Fact. I saw it. Nobody can react that fast, so how does that woman do the impossible?"

Adam said thoughtfully, "I think I know." That got all their attention.

Alan said, "C'mon Adam, drop the other foot."

Adam said, "I saw her start to move toward him before he knew himself he was going to throw the punch. She literally had a head start. She was in full motion when he drew back his fist; all she had to do was react to the punch she was already headed for. I am not sure what is more impressive, her ability to handle him physically like she did, or her anticipation that gave her the edge to do it."

"I saw that too," Alan said. "She's remarkably alert to danger, even here in Mom and Dad's back yard where nothing ever happens. She seems to have a gift for it. Special Agent Parker said it was a gift. I have to believe it is, and that it is remarkably rare."

Adam said, "I'm feeling a little guilty sitting here talking about her like this, but on the other hand, I don't know any other way for us to understand and appreciate her, and Auggie. And you for that matter, Alan. I'm beginning to regard the three of you as sort of peers in the area of self-defense. Auggie is handicapped by his sight; you, for the moment, by that walking cast. She's the one that's able to respond." He paused, the others nodded, and he added, "Which reminds me I need to find out if she aggravated any of her injuries from last night with this latest fight."

Olivia said, "It was a fight, wasn't it. I mean, sorry to be so dense and to take so long to figure it out, but she was in a fight to the death with those three guys last night, and won. Right? I mean, this isn't the Roman Coliseum but that is exactly what she was up against yesterday. I hadn't thought of it in those terms. That big guy it takes two cops to walk out the gate could have hurt her horribly, maybe killed her with one blow, and she didn't even blink. Do you think any of that occurred to her when she launched herself in his direction to save Dad?"

Alan said, "You would have to ask her, but my guess is she would be surprised by the question. It would never occur to her to think of herself, to do a risk-reward assessment in that situation. She's wired to go, to get between danger and those she loves, to get it on, all in. Her analysis is limited to will he attack or not? If her assessment is yes, as far as she is concerned, it's on. Period."

Adam said, "I read something in one of the medical journals several years ago about Warrior Personalities. I think I just saw one in action tonight, and benefited from that same one saving my life last night."

Alan said, "How do you repay a debt like that?"

Adam said, "With unconditional love."

Olivia said, "That's really the answer, isn't it. She can do it, I'll swear to it. I loved that girl when she demonstrated to us how much she loved Auggie in the mall that day she backed Jess down. I love her more now. I just hope it never backfires on her. We have to find ways to let her know we love her for herself, just like she is, sweet girl, vivacious blonde, charming companion, gifted language expert, sister-in-law, Auggie's wife, and Warrior. She's the whole package, comes with accessories most of us don't have."

Alan said, "I've heard about the exchange between her and Jess more than once, but never heard the details."

Olivia said, "You would need to ask her or Jess. I don't think you'd get far asking Annie because she wouldn't want to say anything that might make you think less of Jess. Jessica, on the other hand, would use it to build up Annie. She did at the time."

"Then I suppose I'll never really know," Alan said.

While this conversation was going on, Alfred, Anthony, Alexis, the police, and Annie had walked out through the gate. Alfred returned looking back as he came through the gate with Alexis; Anthony and Annie returned to the yard a couple of minutes later with Annie leading the way. Once everyone was back in the yard and the gate closed and latched, Abigail suggested that, since the food was ready, everybody ought to think about getting it while it was serving temperature.

Auggie came out through the patio door holding two bottles of beer around the necks with his left hand. "Alan?"

"Over here, bro," Alan responded. "Far end of the deck. If you don't veer too far off course you've got a straight shot to me from there."

"Okay. Are the four of you through discussing my wife now?"

Adam said to those in the vicinity, "I think I'm going to take Mom up on her suggestion right now. I've been sitting here manning that grill for the last almost an hour and I really, really, want to get some of what has been on there." He wasn't about to admit to his brother that he'd been talking about his wife behind his back. But he also wondered how Auggie knew that. His brother might have honed his listening skills, but he certainly didn't have super hearing.

With that, the group broke up – Austin headed to where his wife stood talking to Jessica; Alan remained where he was until Auggie got to him with the beer, and then they took up seats at the patio table. Adam made a mental note to find a moment to thank Annie one-on-one as he took his place in line for the buffet that was ready to go. With his practiced doctor's eye Adam watched the way Annie moved as she walked to where her husband sat and then as the pair, at Abigail's insistence, took a place near the front of the line. She didn't seem to be moving any more gingerly that she had before she'd tossed that hulk of a man like he was a rag doll. He watched as she loaded a plate for her husband, and then guided Auggie back to where he had been sitting with Alan. It was no surprise to him when she place the laden plate in front of her husband, leaned in and whispered something to him before moving back to the buffet line to make her own plate. Every time they'd been in this sort of situation she'd taken care of her husband before thinking of herself. He knew that his brother looked out for Annie in other ways, just as he did Olivia and his children. Neither of those women put others ahead of themselves from a position of subservience, but from a position of self-empowerment – they thought of others first because they wanted to, not because it was expected of them.


Thanks for reading. Anyone have a comment?