Emerson said, "All is riddle and the key to a riddle is another riddle".
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
THE HOUSE ACROSS RICHARD SALESMAN'S HOUSE
Wally whistled lightly and then said in hushed tone, "Hey …Arty …Get over here and get behind me". They were currently hiding behind the big sofa in the house right across the Richard Salesman's house where dozens of SWAT team members were already hiding in the dark.
"WHAT? ..WHY?...and who are you calling Arty?", Artemis whispered back and gave him a playful smack on the shoulder but did crouch down behind the sofa with a packet of chips in her hands.
"Oh you know the person hiding behind the curtain,", Artemis turned and nodded," I am calling him Arty…Of course you dumb ass I am calling you Arty…now get behind me so I can protect you", Wally said in hushed tone and nudged her to get closer to him. A hushed "hey" came from behind the curtain which they both ignored.
Artemis glared and freed her arm. "First of all, don't call me Arty, Secondly I can protect myself. Worry about unsub not me, you twat", She said while taking another bite from the chips and crunching it loudly.
"First of all don't tell me what to do. You are not the boss of me. Secondly, what exactly are you gonna do if he shows up…throw chips at him and wait for him to drown in the sea of crunches", Wally said while stealing one of the chips from her hands and swallowing it down with a triumph smirk, " Besides don't worry babe, I could be your knight in shining armor".
"Ah! Good lord", Artemis sighed dramatically and placed one hand on her heart, "A retard wrapped in an aluminum foil has finally arrived to save me, what do you want as a reward my master; A slap on the face or a kick to the balls", Artemis said while bowing slightly.
"Hey! I am trying to be nice here", Wally said offended at her response, "ungrateful bitch".
"Mouthy bastard"
"Fuck face"
"Crack head"
"Stupid nerd"
"Fucking twat"
"Sir, you want me to shut them up", One of the SWAT member asked in the radio causing all the radios of everyone in the room to come alive at the same moment.
"Nahh…just put a bullet in their heads next time they speak", Kaldur replied in monotone.
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"Remind me again why have we send her there alone", Richard asked frustrated by the whole situation.
"Because he is the only guy police interviewed who fits the profile, he owns Jeep Cherokee and we can't send a SWAT team in a house full of children", Kaldur told him for assurance, "Don't worry Richard she will be fine. Our unsub is an anger excitation rapist. As long as she do nothing to provoke him she will be fine".
Richard sighed and asked after a while, "So what's the secret? I have never seen you to be so objective of someone. So Why the hostility towards Artemis?"
"I am doing my job", Kaldur said casually on which he received an accusing glare from Richard.
"Care to elaborate", Richard asked while keeping his eyes on Zatanna who was walking towards unsub's house.
"I have been asked to present an assessment report on her. So, I am just pushing her buttons to test her. Believe me my friend, I don't hold any personal vendetta against her", Kaldur answered truthfully.
Richard nodded and asked, "So, what kind of assessment they want on her?".
"She has a history of mental illness though only for a year but nonetheless a history, they want to know whether she is good to be a field agent or not", Kaldur explained with hesitation.
"And your judgment about her is…", Richard asked while drawing his weapon out.
"Pretty obvious, wouldn't you say", Kaldur answered with a smile, "only a mentally ill person would prefer to eat while catching a psychopath"
"And only a mentally devastated person would try to snatch chips from others while cornering the psychopath", Richard added after a smile referring towards Wally, "toast to our mentally ill friends". They both laughed and clicked the barrels of guns with each other. "But Seriously why judge her when she is disturbed why not turb her and then judge", Richard added as an afterthought.
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RICHARD SALESMAN'S HOUSE
Zatanna knocked on the door and waited patiently for the door to open. An elderly woman probably in her 80's carrying an inhaler with her answered the door. In the back she can see a woman carrying a child probably of two to get to sleep and a ten year old boy playing in the TV lounge. Zatanna smiled shadily and asked, "Hi…I am sorry to bother you. I am house-sitting down the street and when I got back, the door was wide open and the lights weren't working", she said while faking a worried expression, "I feel stupid of asking you this but is there someone who might be able to take a look inside with me".
The woman bought her act. "RICHARD….Richard ….get down here", the aged woman shouted with a shaky voice.
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"Are you sure you locked it", the blond guy of an average built not more than 26 asked while waving flash light around.
"Yeah", Zatanna answered and stayed behind Richard. He said hello two or three times and entered into the house. He carefully waved the flash light around and entered into the living room. The moment he stepped into the room, Kaldur came from behind and pushed him down. The room came alive in matter of seconds with the shouts of "F.B.I, Freeze" and Richard found dozens of riffles and guns aimed at him. Zatanna lowered down to his level and whispered in his ear, "Mr. Salesman you are under the arrest for the kidnapping of Sarah woodland and the murder of four other women". Richard only smirked and glared at Wally for some odd reason. Wally took notice of that but didn't approach him.
Kaldur ordered the SWAT team to keep him here until they searched the house for Sarah. In the meantime, Artemis put another chip in her mouth while Wally keeps on trying to steal her chips but failed miserably.
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"There is no sign of a girl here. We could arrest him for probable cause but we wouldn't be able to hold him", Wally told them his team members as they entered into the Richard's house.
"How long can we hold him? We only have four hours to find Sarah", Zatanna asked concerned about the victim.
"Salesman has done time in jail. He knows the process. He will demand the lawyer right away. We can hold him for 72 hours but we will not be able to get a confession out of him. So let's find something that we can pin him with", Kaldur ordered, "Artemis you with me. We are searching the attic and basement. Richard and Wally take his room and Zatanna make sure media doesn't get a wind of what's going on".
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"This isn't going well is it?", Artemis asked Kaldur as they were climbing upstairs for going into attic, "I mean the victim bodies have defensive wounds, that prick doesn't have a mark on him. He looks like a twang I can break with my hands. How is he pulling this off?"
Kaldur sighed and answered. "Firstly don't call him prick, until we are sure that he is the unsub, treat him as another person. Secondly, have faith in the profile we built. Profile is built on evidence and logics if interpreted correctly, we will find the guy and everything will get explained itself", he said while entering into the attic, "Right now focus on finding leverage on him".
"BTW I am treating him as another person", Artemis growled while Kaldur raised an eyebrow on that, "What….I have called Wally a prick dozen times". Kaldur moved into the attic with a smile on his face.
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"We are doomed aren't we?", Wally said while standing in the Richard Salesman's room. The room was filled with filth. There were posters of girls everywhere and filthy clothes were littering on the floor. On one side of the room, there were stacks of CDs of songs and on the other books were piled up in the distorted mountain.
Richard picked up the batman shorts from the bed with the help of a long stick he found in the room and replied with gauging expression, "yeah man; shitty doomed".
"This isn't right?", Wally said frustratingly, "this is the boy's room not a man's".
"We are missing something here", Richard replied with grim expression. He sighed and said,
"I am gonna look for his computer, you handle things out here".
"Yeah dude; leave me with the shitty junk", Wally complained but obliged anyway, "very nice".
"Love you man", Richard shouted as he left the door and stopped when he saw Salesman's grandmother giving him an odd look with a raised eyebrow. "your cute ass owes me, dog" was the reply he received from inside the room and it only takes two seconds for the old lady to went into coughing fit. "Young love these days", she mumbled as she entered into the adjacent room to find something to sit on. This isn't what it looks like, Richard thought and inwardly groaned.
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The attic was filled with garbage. There was a TV set placed in the right most corner with the sofa and mini table placed right in front of it. The TV was switched on and on the mini table was placed a checkered board with certain rounded small stone in black and white were on the top of it. "What kind of a game is it", Zatanna asked in amazement.
"In China, it's called Wei-Chi. Here we call it "go". It's considered to be the most difficult board game ever conceived", Artemis answered for her and starts observing the position of the pieces on board.
"Chairman Mao required its general to learn it", Kaldur also added additional information for Zatanna, "It also look like he was playing himself".
"How can you tell?" Zatanna asked.
"There is nothing in the attic for another person to sit on", Kaldur explained.
"This might provide an advantage actually", Artemis said while bowing down to the level of mini table, "Go is considered to be psychologically revealing game. There are profiles for every player, the conservative, the point counter, the aggressor, the finessor".
"What kind of a player is Salesman?", Kaldur asked with interest.
Artemis observed the board for a while and answered, "Extreme aggressor".
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"Damn he is good", Richard praises the Salesman's effort he put in protecting his computer. He attached another device to his laptop and the computer turned on.
"What do you got?", Kaldur asked as he entered into the Salesman's room.
"Beside the stink that have ruined the ability of my nostrils to work, nothing", Wally answered with irritation cleared in his voice, "there is nothing here to indicate that he is involved in any of the murder or kidnapping".
"Most of your body parts are non-functional. Don't blame others for it", Artemis retorted as she entered into the room too, "blame your genes".
"Wanna see the working body parts of mine, my sex genes are quite active", Wally said suggestively with a smirk while everyone else shook their head at their unreasonable argument again.
"Gross", Artemis snorted and moved toward Richard, "What is the number 2 at the bottom of the screen?". Wally moved towards the books and started going through it.
"Number of password attempts before the program wiped the hard drive", Richard explained impressed by the unsub, "the guy is a tech genius. He used the dead bolt defense software and even encrypted the whole program by his own techno software".
"There could be a journal or video or anything in his computer that might tell us where Sarah is. Can you crack it?", Artemis asked.
"In two tries", Richard scoffed and answered, "I can try but it will take time".
"Richard, get on it right away", Kaldur explained.
Artemis then started helping Wally with the books. Wally found a bundle of newspapers hidden between the books. He opened it but was overcome with shock instantly. All the newspaper has one thing in common, the main news, the death of Jay Allen and how a field agent loses to Zoom to save his life. "I am going to talk to him", he said suddenly anger lacing his voice and left the room with one piece of paper in hand. Every one exchanged worried glances with each other while Artemis went after him.
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"You read Jay Allen's Paper. Learn anything", Wally said in an emotionless voice and tossed the book towards the Salesman. He was handcuffed to a chair in the living room heavily guarded by four police officers present in the same room.
"Zoom said that the man living inside his head was the one who committed the murders. Jay Allen or should I say…your grandfather said that there's never been an actual case of multiple personalities", He answered smugly taking pleasure in his discomfort.
"You have academic interest in dissociative identity disorder or you just planning your defense", Wally said and he just laughed at him. Wally waited for him to stop and then placed the newspaper piece in front of him, "Are you a fan of Zoom's work?".
"No, But I am a fan of yours", He hunched forward so that he can come face to face with Wally, "You know…they never gave you the real facts about CPR…that outside the hospital it's only effective seven percent of time. Your Grandfather has 93% certainty of dying….but you kept trying…even after you'd broken his ribs….even after his blood was all over your hands…even after…"…
Wally punched him on the face and cut off his ranting, "You piece of shit…", he roared and tried to punch him again but one of the Police officers grabbed him from behind and stopped him from doing so. Artemis also came from behind and took control of the situation.
"Wally calm down… Please calm down", she came in his line of sight and forcefully made him to look into her eyes, "Calm down Wally, if he placed charges of abuse against us, we will lose this case and he will roam around free...So, calm down", Artemis whispered as she pushed him away from Salesman who only laughed at him again.
"Yeah listen to the hot one mate", Salesman said from behind having a smug smile on his face.
Artemis turned around sharply and said while glaring him down, "Why don't you tell us where Sarah woodland is?"
He didn't answer at first instead keep on observing her from head to toe. Then after some time answered with a smile, "Woodland...isn't she the girl who went missing a couple of days ago", he asked with a fake innocent expression.
Wally growled and freed himself from the police officer. He glared once towards Richard then towards Artemis and left the room. "Get him out of here", Artemis ordered and left the room too.
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"Tell me we got something to nail this bastard with", Wally said angrily as he entered into the room.
"Nothing solid man", Richard answered concernedly as he noticed the anger in his demeanor, "hey! Are you okay?". At the same moment Artemis enters into the room and Wally lashed out on her.
"This is all your fault. You are supposed to be our chief profiler", Wally said accusingly pointing a finger towards her, "If instead of assumptions you would have tried to do your job we would have found her by now" Wally marched towards her but Artemis kept her ground.
"Wally we all agreed to the profile", Kaldur said calmly trying to diffuse out the tension but to no use.
Artemis glared and said in the same threatening tone, "and instead of lashing out and hitting him if you would have tried to interrogate him we would have gotten her location by now. Don't blame me because you messed up. If you can't keep your emotions in check…" Wally cut her off mid-sentence and pushed her back causing her to hit her head on the wall and then pinned her there with a hand at her neck.
"Don't go there. I am warning you", Wally whispered in deadly tone, "and never intervenes in my fight again". In a moment, Richard got up from his seat and pushed Wally back while Zatanna immediately went to Artemis side and tried to make sure if she is okay. Artemis jerks her hand off and glared at Wally.
Their eyes met and fierceness collides with anger, Artemis broke the contact first and replied in an emotionless voice, "For what it's worth, I truly am sorry for your loss" and she left the room leaving everyone in the room more confused than ever. The flash of recognition and guilt enters in the Wally's soul and he slumped down on the couch and sighed loudly.
Kaldur rubbed his temples and asked in desperate tone, "Would anybody please tell me what the heck is going on?". Kaldur demanded an answer from Wally.
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Artemis found a quite spot at the back of house away near the pool from all the sirens and hustle. She sighed loudly and bought about the cigarette pack and place on in her mouth. Before she could light up the cigarette, her wrist watch starts beeping. She cursed and looked around to make sure that no one is seeing her. When satisfied, she bought out the yellow bottle with pills in it and swallowed one of the pills. She then went back to lightning up the cigarette once again and this time succeeded with no further distraction.
"If we see you smoking we will assume you are on fire and will take appropriate action like throwing you in the pool or …well you can imagine other drastic steps", Kaldur said from behind with a kind smile gracing his lips.
Artemis huffed and complained, "Yeah!... Does that supposed to mean you care".
Kaldur straightened up a bit and answered, "I know we didn't get off to a best start…"
"Well no Shit….Sherlock", Artemis replied with a straight face cutting him off.
"…..But let's try to work that out….Okay", Kaldur replied a glint of hope in his eyes, "Come on! Cheetos breath….Please" Kaldur referred to the chips she was eating earlier and tried to normalize her. Artemis snorted again but nodded her head too. Kaldur decides to actually bringing out the core matter in the open, "Look, Don't hold the grudge against Wally about the whole Jay Allen thing, Wally has been devastated by …", he rubbed his neck tiredly thinking that he might be crossing his limits here, "Just know when it comes to family no sane person has the ability to think straight"
Artemis nodded reflecting to her and Jade relationship unconsciously playing with the necklace around her neck and nodded. The silence becomes their companion for a while then Artemis changed the topic by saying, "Sarah is alive", She said while releasing a puff of smoke in the air, "and before you say I am making another assumption just hear me out… during the bastard and asshole fight….he said isn't she the girl, if he had already killed her he would have said wasn't she the girl…", Artemis ranted on while putting emphasis with her gestures through hands. Kaldur glared at her for the use of Bastard for Wally to which she replied with a smile, "What …I am not gonna stop calling what he is ….if that's what you want from me".
Kaldur smiled but then noticed a clear change in her demeanor from earlier. Her hands were shaking and she looked a bit pale than normal. He became worried instantly and decided to address the matter, "Kid are you alright… Are you cold?"
"No, I am fine…really I am ok", She answered and placed her hands in the pockets of her jacket to avoid being observed again, "it's just in your head".
"Are you?", Kaldur asked skeptically and observed her from up to down knowing way too well she was hiding an obvious lie.
Artemis instantly became angry at him and nearly shouted, "What …you think that I can't do my job too…".
Kaldur looked like he wants to bang his head on the wall but he patiently listened to her accusation and simply provide her with an honest answer, "What I think is you can't be two people at once ….either you are okay or you are not…So, I am asking you again. Are you okay?"
"yeah I am fine, Now please go and bother someone el…HOLY Shit", Artemis was firstly only dismissing Kaldur but suddenly become excited like she has won the lottery scaring Kaldur a little bit with her sudden enthusiasm, "the conflicts in the profile…two different behaviors…"
Artemis waited for Kaldur to get to her point which he did after a second thought. "Two different people… there is a second killer", Kaldur completed the sentence for her. "We need to tell the others", Kaldur said while making his way into the house and then shouted afterwards, "and get inside you are obviously cold"
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"It's not unusual, Remember Highway killers", Kaldur explained to everyone in the room.
"1979. They outfitted the van to murder and rape the girls in the California", Richard piped in, "so we are looking for someone who fits the similar relationship?"
"No, they are not equals. Salesman is smart but he has a submissive personality", Artemis contributed as she entered the room and come to stand right beside Wally. Richard passes an impressed smile towards Kaldur which he gladly returned.
"So, the number 2 is dominant, authoritative and arrogant", Wally said while sparing a glance towards Artemis but when she didn't look towards him, he looked away too, "probably not smart as Salesmen"
"It's like a school yard bully recruiting a good underling…he will be protective of Salesman …he will make him feels like he owns him", Kaldur explained. "If Salesman is being up in the attic fanaticizing about being an extreme aggressor, this guy showed him how to do it".
"He helped him take the first step", Wally concluded, "I say we interview Salesman and use this as pressure".
"No we need a leverage", Kaldur declared.
"A name from a suspect list", Richard suggested.
"That will take too long", Kaldur stated having another thought in his mind, "and I think I have a better way. Where is Salesman's grandmother?". Richard chocked on his coffee on that. Kaldur gave him a questioning look but let it go.
"At the station with Salesman", Artemis answered.
"Ok…Richard stay here and crack the password, Zatanna you stay with him, you two are coming with me. Everyone get online on your com, we only have three hours to save the girl, let's do it", Kaldur ordered everyone.
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F.B.I, FIELD OFFICE
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
"Careful…this might be a little hot", Kaldur advised the elderly woman as he handed her the cup of the tea, "Mrs. Salesman, I don't think we got the right guy. I think the person we are looking for might be a friend's of Richard", Kaldur allowed the woman to settle down and have one sip of tea and then asked her the question.
"Richard never had many friends", the woman answered in a shaky voice.
"You sure", Kaldur asked with an emphasizing tone, "there got to be someone".
"Well there was….there was this one young man ….I think his name was Charlie", She said after thinking for a while.
"Thank you", Kaldur replied with a respect and said in his Com after moving some distance away from grandmother, "Cross reference Charlie as the second unsub".
"Charlie is probably Charles Linder. He was Salesman's cell mate and received a dishonorable discharge from military", Artemis said while going through Salesman's file in the room adjacent to the interrogation room, "He is bigger, tougher, he could have protected Richard in prison".
"They were incarcerated in Cascadia", Wally supplied with a smile, "It's less than a mile from here".
"Both of you visit there and find as much as you can on both of them", Kaldur ordered, "I will get his history and will get back at you….and try to work out your differences if you can. It's bad for the team"
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"No…No..NO…Damn", Richard cried out in desperation while working on his laptop. The whole screen turned red and the no. of attempts reduced to the one.
Zatanna came from behind and bent down on his seat level and asked, "What happened?"
"His program recognized my software. Now we only got one shot at it or this girl is dead", Richard said irritated at his failure.
Zatanna ruffled his hairs and said, "So what's the problem Mr. Brain, Crack the Password", Richard only sighed at her attempts to cheer him up, Zatanna smiled again and said, "Okay tell me how do you guess someone's password?"
"Either we hack it or get inside the owner's head", Richard supplied casually.
"So, Genius what are you waiting for? Get inside his head…. Impress me", Zatanna said suggestively, "Role play or something…" Richard finally gave in her attempts and smiled.
"Ok fine… We already went through his room, his bathroom, his wardrobe and everything" Richard said while compiling every aspect of his life, "So If I am a person who has been completely babied my whole life by my grandmother… I have been bullied at school…and can't find a way out of problems…I am insomniac and have trouble sleeping… So, to avoid depression I have these stacks of books and these thousands of CDs of rock music….What do I value the most in all of this…"
"To me it looks like he values his serenity or satisfaction the most…look mostly his books are on psychology meaning his sole focus is on getting himself mentally strong", Zatanna added while waving the books around, "not to mention music also provide sense of satisfaction"
Richard lay down on his bed and rest his head on his pillow, "So, I am a Richard Salesman and I have trouble sleeping What do I do when I am trying to sleep?", Richard said to himself and looked around. On one side of the bed was placed a side table and there were placed Mp3 CD player, Head phones and certain stacks of CDs. He instantly got up from the bed and said with appreciation, "Zee you rock". Zatanna presented him the genuine smile. He then called the police officers in and said, "Guys, a little help we are going through every one of these CD's … scratches, wear and tear. I want to know which CD he played the most. Let's go".
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"This doesn't make us friends", Artemis said as she entered the Cascadia Prison facility through the door which Wally has so generously opened for her.
"Wouldn't dream of it Witch", Wally replied as he entered behind her sophistically and then forcefully crossed her to shake the hand of the Warden of the prison, "Mr. Ray, We talked on the phone", he greeted him with an avid smile mostly referred towards her. Artemis glared at him from behind but kept her mouth shut.
"Yeah this way Agents…please", He said and moved towards the small path leading towards the main cell facility. He gestured to one of the police officers who start opening the locks from the large key bunch for them. While they were passing the cells, the prisoners' starts giving weird looks to her, most of them sadistically smiled or winked at her. Artemis suddenly felt herself being judged and nervously starts playing with the necklace but kept the tough exterior. Wally also become agitated at the attention she was getting and a sudden overwhelming sense to protect her took control of him. He scooted closer to her and for once Artemis didn't complain.
"So, anyone who could tell us more about Charles Linder?", Wally asked as they were about to reach the Warden's office.
Before Mr. Ray could answer, the police man who was opening the door for Mr. Ray spoke up, "Charles….Charles Linder…isn't he dead?" Every one turned around to look at him which he takes as a gesture to introduce himself, "I am Tim Vogel. I was the security guard who covers the Salesman's block"
Both Wally and Artemis was taken aback by hearing the name of Salesman from the Tim Vogel but covered it well. Artemis asked innocently, "Who is Salesman?"
"He was his cell mate. Nice Kid by the way", Tim Vogel answered without giving any hint of recognition of any relationship with him.
Both Wally and Artemis exchanged glances and Wally said after a while, "So, how did he die?" He asked the question about Linder to distract him.
"Prison fight", He answered plainly.
"Shit we are ruined… Sorry for the disturbance Mr. Ray. I think we have to find another suspect", Wally said while faking an irritation.
"No problem Mr. West…we are here to help in any way we can", He said politely, "Tim will see you out" Wally nodded and gestured for Vogel to lead the way.
"Too bad you guys came here for nothing, I mean talk about scum. I can't remember how many times I put Linder in Solitary for causing a trouble with us", Vogel said as he opened another bared door for them to leave. Wally noticed the key chain with Z emblem and spared another glance to Artemis to which she answered with a nod. Vogel continued, "you would think that inmate would try to stay on our good side, right", Wally start walking right along with him to avoid suspicion and nodded at his question with a fake smile, "Especially since it's half our job to protect them from each other"
"You protect them?", Artemis asked surprised.
"If you are a little white guy…in a prison like this?", he answered skeptically.
"Linder's 6.4 you talking about Salesman", Wally asked casually and he nodded as he opened the last door, "thanks for the help", Wally said with fake happiness and left the building along with Artemis.
The moment they moved few feet away from the prison towards the parking lot. Artemis on her Com and said, "Kaldur we have just found you leverage. His name is Tim Vogel".
CHAPTER END…
AGAIN THANK YOU EVERY ONE WHO APPRECIATED AND LIKE THE STORY….REVIEW PLEASE AND I AM UP FOR SUGGESTIONS…TAKE CARE..:)
NOTE: The word retard has been removed…I totally apologize if I offended someone.