"J'ai la clef si vous avez l'argent"

"Et la blonde?"

"Être bientôt mort, comme son défunt amoureux..."

"Le secret de l'ordre de la rue "Alessa" est crucial. La vie du garçon

doit être prise. L'échec n'est pas une option."

The phone was clicked, and hung up. The face read Call Ended. Regan, of course, was as cool as a cucumber. "I didn't know ya spoke french."

"Barrel was digging too deeply for his own good...You understand why we had to do what we did." he said, his voice deep, trembling. Regan leaned back into his seat. "Of course sir."

The room was dimmed, darkened, only lit by a small greene lamp upon his desk. "So, what did they say?"

"The boy must be taken care of. He knows more than he should."

"It'll be done."

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"Sir" he heard the intercom begin. He hadn't heard the damn thing so much in his life. Just how he wanted to start his morning.

"Mr. Atwood is here to see you."

"Send him in." he groaned. In walked the boy, with an unusual air about him. His eyes were concealed by dark sunglasses, so Caleb couldn't quite tell what his intent was.

"You're probably wondering why I had those things locked up like that?" he said. Ryan laughed. "Really, is that what I'm wondering?"

"I know you think that I gave Norman the order to lock you in the Vault, but I swear it wasn't. The little prick, after everything I'd done for him, had been moon lighting for McKenzie." he said. Ryan rasied a brow, confused.

"Regan McKenzie is the one who was behind your 'situation'." He explained. Ryan sat down across from the man, sitting in the chair he had become familiar with.

Caleb slid a plain, baige folder across to Ryan. "That has everything you need to know to find him." Ryan nodded.

"Now you know, once you start, you can't turn back. From what happened to you yesterday, it seems they're already trying to get rid of you...I thought you'd have more time to prepare..."

"So what's the story between you two?"

"If your going through with this, then you'll find out soon enough."

"Figures you wouldn't tell me straight forward..." Ryan said. He stood, picked up the file, and headed for the door. "One more thing," Caleb called.

"Once you walk out of this Office, you cannot contant anyone. If you do, it could cost them their life." he said. Ryan understood. He was on his own now. What he was doing, he wasn't exactly sure of. He hadn't really thought it through.

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The sun was shining high in the sky, without a cloud in sight. The trees along the freeway seemed to be greener, possibly by the White Squall that had suddenly appeared. However, before Ryan was lost unto his mission, he had to make a call, disregarding what Caleb told him.

He scanned the numbers programed in his phone, and came across the one he had been searching for. He dialed the number, 'Summer', and placed the small device by his ear. It rang four times, and then the automated voice told him to wait for a beep, and something about a call back number.

"Summer...It Ryan. Listen...I'm sorry for getting you involved in all of this. But you should be out of the Hospitol in about three weeks, and by what I hear, your pelvis should he stronger." he laughed, but then turned back to his serious attitude.

"You won't see me, possibly never again. I don't know if I'm gonna die, or if I'll get him, it's all tossed up now...Just...tell Sandy and Kirsten...Thanks." with this said, he hung up. He would have liked to say more, but he figured it best to leave it at that. Like Caleb said, the less he knew, the better. And, his theory turned out to be true.

So to recap things to himself, Ryan thought this through. Basically, Caleb had some bad business back in the day, and he figured this "McKenzie" guy was pissed. So, he decided to get some money by taking Caleb's grandson hostage. And, if Ryan had gotten there unseen, Seth would still be alive, and this guy probably would have finished his business directly with Caleb, instead of draggin Ryan and Seth into it.

Ryan glanced back to the map on the seat beside him, the one that Caleb had printed for him out of the folder, and showed that he needed to drive two more exits. Good ol' Map Quest, he thought.

Ryan looked up to the photo. The photo he had hung below his rear view mirror. The photo of Seth. Of course, he thought it was kind of corny trying to hold onto his memory, after all, most people just moved on. But what happened to Ryan was unfair.

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Kirsten glanced up into the house, sitting in her car in the driveway. She finally decided it was time to confront this. She pulled the handle of the door, pushed it open, stepping one foot out. She grabbed her purse, locked up, and looked once more at the large house, which in only days, had seemed to come to a dead, emptiness.

Upon walking into the house, she made her way to the livingroom to sit her things down, but found Sany asleep on the sofa.

"Sandy..." she said. He murmured something incoherant, and then turned over. "Sandy!" she finally yelled. He jerked, opened his eyes, and whipped around to look, but eventually fell off of the couch.

Standing up, rubbing his now aching body, he looked to his wife. "Where've you been? I was up all night waiting for you..." he said. She only shook her head and looked up into his face. She didn't even know him anymore.

"You lying son of a bitch..." she said. He knew something was wrong. He knew she had been swearing a lot since Seth's death, but she hadn't quite turned on him yet. "What's wrong?" he asked, stepping toward her to comfort. She didn't seem to need any at the moment, for she backed away and held up her hand.

"How could you keep this from me all these years?" she said. He sat down, still bewildered at what she meant. Then it dawned on him. "Honey, look, I only have a cigarette every once in a while - I'm not addicted to them again." he said. She only glared at him.

"I'm talking about our son! How could you not tell me that he wasn't...our..." she began to break near the end, and broke down once more.

"Honey, I'm sure you have a good reason to be mad, but I still don't know what it is." he said, kneeling beside her. He placed her arms around her, and slowly stroked her hair.

"You didn't tell me that my son was dead!"

"Well, honey, we found out at the same time..." still comforting her. Did she think it was any easier on him? Seth was his son as well...

"I'm not talking about that!" she said, struggling out of him. "Caleb told me everything! About the baby not surviving, and being switched!"

Sandy was now at utter confusion. There was no way she knew what she was saying, because she wasn't making one bit of sense.

"You mean after the accident? Kirsten, they saved the baby. It's heart had stopped, but they performed a C-section and got it in time. Now what were you saying about Caleb?" he said, looking at her in the most strange way she had ever seen. She had finally figured out what happened. The old bastard had pulled one on her, and she had actually believed him.

"Did Caleb tell you that Seth was switched at birth?" he said, now looking both disgusted, and angry - an interesting combonation.

She sat down on the couch, unable to believe that she had actually fallen for his little game. "Oh my God..." she said. "He lied to me..."

"Well, it doesn't surprise me. It wouldn't be the first time." Sandy said sarcastically.

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The parlor was dim, of course that was to be expected. However, what Ryan was motsly surprised to see was the fact that there were this many men, fifteen at least, in a strip-joint at 2:30 in the afternoon.

"Can I help you, shug?" a bar maid asked him, in fishnet stockings and a bow-tie. She wasn't half bad looking to Ryan herself, and under different circumstances, may have even been flattered that she happened to be checking him out at the moment. However, his mind went directly back to business.

"Yeah, I'm lookin' for George Moore. Is he here?" he asked. She looked him up and down, then jerked her head to the side. "Hey Shell! Take over for me!" she called. A taller, timid girl ran up, and took the platter of drinks from her.

The girl lead him into the women's bathroom (which he was surprised they had one in a Strip-Joint like this) and shut the door behind them. He looked around, and was surprised...and a little disgusted which was one of Sandy's thoughts, but we'll get to that later .

The wall tiles were chipped, the floor hadn't been cleaned in some time, clearly, and the place held a putrid oder.

She lead his to the last stall, which had an Out Of Order. She kicked the door open, and stepped inside. As Ryan leaned over to peek inside, it appeared to be the worst toilet he had seen in his days.

The smell was un-bareable, most of the place was a rust-brown color. Ryan was trying not to throw up from the smeel by covering his nose with his sleeve. "Why are we here?" he choked up.

"You said you were looking for George." she said. She pulled out a rubber glove and put it on. "I never like touching this thing..." she murmured, and pressed the flush handle down. And, just like that, the wall in that stall slowly rose.

"Fancy eh?" she winked, and lead him through the large "doorway". She then shut the wall behind them. Inside this new area, it sort of reminded Ryan of an illegal gambling place.

"Well come on and have a seat" he heard someone say. An old man, african-american, sat in a stool at the opposite end of the small room. He wore dark sunglasses, ashed hair, and a smile on his face.

Ryan walked up to him, and sat in the stoole the old man implied, about four feet from his own. Ryan sat down, and looked to the old man, and the guy just kept smiling. "So what can I do you for?"

"I'm looking for someone." he replied. "George" seemed to nod, and pulled his cane to his side. "Well you gonna have to be specific. Y'see, tha's why I'm here. E'rybody's always comin' to me lookin' fo' someone, and I consider myself the ri' man to find 'em." he laughed. "So the question is, who are ya lookin for son?"

"Regan McKenzie."

At this, the old man's everlasting smile, had drastically faded. The girl looked to him, and then back to Ryan. "Well, I don't think this one's mine, sweetheart." he said as he stood, using the cane for support. He had to be in his early 70's at least. The girl nodded, and he walked past Ryan toward the "door". However, before he reached the exit, he turned and told Ryan one thing.

"Nice shades, by the way son." he said. Ryan smiled when he realized what he meant. The two happened to be wearing the same glasses.

"So, I was told that George would give me the information I needed, and now he's leaving?" Ryan said, turning to look at the girl, but finger still pointed at the exit. She walked over, and sat before him on the aluminum stool, and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, the name's George Moore." she said. He raised an eyebrow, and looked at her. "You're George?" he said, unbelieving. She simply nodded, crossing her legs.

"So, your name is George?" he laughed. She shook her head, and gave him the oddest look. "It's short for Georgia, but helps me keep my cover." she said.

"So McKenzie eh? That's a pretty big fish you're lookin to fry..."You a sushi chef or somethin?" she laughed. He didn't seem to be in the chiper mood, and eventually George caught on to this, and stopped her giggling.

"Well, I'm sorry, but that's pretty dangerous info...I mean, the less you know-"

"-The better...yeah, heard it before, and now I'm being hunted." he said. She only shrugged. "He's not hard to find, if you know where to look for him." she said. He crossed his arms and stared.

"Then where is he?"

"You know," she said. "When I was a little girl, my father used to tale me fishing out in international waters. No laws, so we could catch whatever we wanted. Anyway, he showed me something interesting."

"He took a small fish, and placed it on the floor. It started flapping, and not three minutes later, it was dead. Zip, Ziltch, Nada. Then, he pulled out the Mogrel Koi we had just caught, about four feet long, thick, put up a little fight. He placed it on the ground, and you know what happened?"

"It died?"

"I thought it would too...But, what it did, was flail around until it reached the small fish, managed to eat it, and then somehow - by some kinda skill - had found its way back to the water, jumping over the small side rail."

"I really don't see your point..." he said. She cleared her throat, and continued.

"My point is that, when it comes to killing, you are a small fish - probably no bigger than a feeder fish. And, when it comes to McKenzie, he is the Mongrel Koi.

"Seasoned pro's like him take out other "Mogrel's" easily. So, this being said, I can only give some advice, which I find wise; Go home."

It seemed that everyone was telling him to go home, and by now, he was sick of it. However, he kept his cool, and patience. The truth was, however, that there wasn't a "home" without Seth. Seth, in a way, was his home.

"But I am curious," she said. "Who bailed you out of the whole vault thing?"

"You know about that?"

"Oh please. Anyone who's anyone knows about that."

"Well, I, uh, don't really know..."

"Ooh, a secret admirer?" she teased. "Wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more-"

"Can I just get an address or something, please?"

She then gave him a look, and then turned. "Of course you know by now, at least I hope so, that I do run a business here. So, it's gonna cost ya."

"How much?" he sighed. Of course, he thought.

"100 grand." she said. This brought back a strange sense of deja vu, as Ryan thought back on it. 100,000 dollars...the cost of Seth's life. But he was worth more...Seth was priceless.

"Easily done." he said. He pulled out one bundle of cash, each bill a 10, 000 dollar bill, and counted out 10 of those. She seemed to be almost drooling over the money, but composed herself.

He handed the money over, and it seemed like she was willing herself not to snatch it. Instead, she held some dignity, and slowly, oh so daintifully, slid it from his fingers.

"Regan McKenzie's on the Via Quadro, on the road to Selina." she said. Ryan was confised. "I've never heard of anywhere like that in California."

"That's because it's not. It's in Mexico."

He looked up to her. Mexico? "However, had you come a few nights ago, he was in town for business. Retrieving a shipment for his boss."

"His boss?" he asked. She nodded. "Yeah, scary dude. I think he's the one who had some beef with Caleb."

"So who's his boss?"

She sort of snorted, and pulled out a peanut bag. "You know what I've learned from peanuts?"

"No, but I have a feeling that it's going to be another metaphore for something, just to waiste time?"

"Alright, I'll skip over the story. Point in fact, no one knows who, what, or where to find his boss. Some secret order, or cult, I dunno. In fact, everyone just calls him "Boss" he he he..." she said.

At this moment, three men walked into the room. Aparently, by her face, she was not expecting them at all, nor know who they were. However, when they pulled out guns, she immediately decided not to ask questions.

They began shooting, but she was quick enough to capsoze the pool table so they could hide behind it. This proved not too helpful, as some bullets ripped through the table itself, but it was good enough.

"Here. Take this." she said, handing him a gun. He took it. "When you get a chance, shoot." she said. He herd a paused, in which he figured them to be reloading. He glanced to his right to see her stand up, and shoot. Though he heard her get only one shot off, she was pleased as she had "nailed" one right between the eyes.

"Why didn't you shoot!" she hissed, waiting while bullets hit the table, sending a vibrant feeling to their backs. The truth was, though he had just realized it, was that he had never really killed a man before.

When the second pause came, she stood, and he heard her let out wave after wave of bullet shots. She then dropped, and glared at him. "Did I not tell you to shoot?" she said. "I-I've never really..." he trailed off. Then he was grabbed by the collar, face to face with a very frightening sight indeed.

"I said shoot BITCH!" she said, and he nodded. She stood once more, he not even noticing the 'pause', and fired her gun. The first shot glazed the tall, midle one's ear, but the second shot when straight through his eye, sending a collagued piece of brain-meets-wall art. Ryan stood, and in a split second, it was over.

He had aimed, pulled the trigger, felt the force of the shot, and semi closed his eyes. When he looked, the man was sprawled out on the ground, twitching. "Ooh...you got a twitcher..." she added.

He, on the other hand was still in aww that he'd actually shot the man. "I didn't know you were that good." she mused, impressed, truly she was. He figured he wouldn't tell her that was his first time, seeing as he didn't want to come off as amature-ish.

"Well, nice shoot'n Rex, but I think we should get outta here, because obviously you've brought some shit to my territory. That I don't tollerate, and I'll punish you later - for now, we should stay focued on surviving."