Matty watched as they put his dad in the back seat of a black Sedan. His sister was crying. Matty wanted to cry too. But he couldn't. He had to be strong now for his sister. Maybe they would put his dad in the same holding cell Matty was in. Then his dad could escape. His father probably knew the same trick to open the secret passage his mom did. Then a fear hit Matty, what if his dad escaped and he never saw him again? Then Matty threw that thought aside. His father would never leave them. He flew on a plane with two bullets in him just to get back to Matty. Maybe they could all just live in the basement. It would not be ideal but at least they would all be together.

He turned to his sister. "Don't cry Leann. It will be ok. Uncle Joe will help dad. If not, mom will. Mom helped me escape. She is pretty awesome." Leann looked up at him through tears and signed back. "I don't want Daddy to go to prison. I didn't tell anyone not even Joey." Matty hugged her. "I know it wasn't you. You were doing the best job of the whole family pretending he was a different person whenever somebody else was around."

Leann put her head on Matty's shoulder, and he put her arm around her. The young blonde agent who was driving them turned back to them. "Don't be scared kids. It will be ok. My name is Pete. I went through Agent candidate training with Prince. Uh I mean Phillip. He is a good friend of mine. I'll make sure they take good care of you two when get there."

Pete parked the car in the Agency garage, and they went in through the main entrance. An older lady who looked like an annoyed librarian was sitting at a desk. "Agent Pearson." He nodded. "The word of the day is Balderdash." She nodded and then looked at Leann and him. The older lady's face got warmer when she turned to them. "It is good to see you again Alex. And Leann you've grown a couple of inches since last time." Leann tried to smile a little, but she was upset. "Hi Mrs. Marsden." Leann said in a sad voice. Mrs. Marsden looked at them. "They are still trying to get a hold of your mother. I am sure she will be here just as soon as she can."

"Agent Pearson, Mr. Melrose wants you to bring the children upstairs to Amanda and Phillip's office. They can wait there. Stay with them until you are relieved. Someone else will be along shortly to watch them."

The young agent with them nodded. "Yes ma'am." They followed him up the stairs into an office. It was a nice office with two wooden desks with a vault in the back. There was a little fridge and a brown leather couch. Matty & Leann sat on the couch. Matty put her arm around her. She wasn't crying anymore but she was scared. He could tell.

Just then the door opened a friendly looking middle-aged man with graying dark brown hair came in. "I got them Pete. You can go back downstairs." "Thank you, sir." The middle-aged man walked over to his sister and hugged her. "Don't cry, little Ace. It is going to be ok. Your mommy will be here soon." His sister looked up to him. "Thanks Leatherneck." Then he turned to Matty. "And Alex it sure is good to see you again. I have been meaning to come by the house. Just haven't had a chance."

Then Matty went over to the desk that looked like it was probably his mother's desk and grabbed a pad and pen. He wrote. "Can you call Joe King, sir? He is my father's lawyer." Leatherneck smiled, "You don't have to call me sir, Junior." Then his sister spoke. "I'm Junior, Leatherneck. I was named after my daddy so that makes me a Junior because we have the same name. I just have a girl's version of his name."

Leatherneck laughed. "Ok well how about I switch up your nicknames then? Alex you are Little Ace from now on and Leann you are Ace Junior. Does that work?" His sister nodded yes. Then Leatherneck turned to them. "I think your Uncle Joe was the second call Francine made after trying to get a hold of your mother. They are just having a little bit of an issue getting a hold of your mother because she was still on route to Station One. Look you kids don't have to stay in the office and worry. How about I take you downstairs? I'll set up the virtual shooting range for you both. Might keep your mind off things for a little."

Leann looked at him. "Ok. But I don't really want to shoot anything today. I'll watch Matty if he wants to do it though." Leatherneck nodded. "C'mon kids. Follow me." They followed Leatherneck. Matty took the pad and paper and pen with him. Matty kept his arm around Leann protectively as they followed Leatherneck.

Leatherneck seemed very nice, but Matty really wanted to ditch him and help his father escape. They went into a closet with coats in it. Then Matty realized it was really an elevator. When they brought him in before he had been blindfolded when they took him in. They went down in the elevator and the doors opened. They followed Leatherneck to his office which looked like was also an equipment room. Matty thought maybe he should steal some of the equipment. His father might need it. Then they went through a door in the equipment room and there was the virtual shooting range.

"I'll just set this up for you. Give me a minute. I'll put it on the beginner level for you." Matty took the gun and went through the scenario. He got a perfect score. Leatherneck looked at him impressed. "Wow Little Ace. You really are Lee's son, aren't you? Want to go again on one of the harder settings?" Matty nodded yes. Matty got another perfect score. Leatherneck whistled. "Wow Little Ace. Big Ace must have taught you how to shoot. When you get older you might break some of his records." Actually, Karbala had taught Matty how to shoot but he wasn't going to tell Leatherneck that. He didn't like talking about it. Plus this game was not much different than some of the shooter video games he had at home. Except the virtual shooting range was easier.

Then the door of the virtual shooting range opened. It was Agent Pearson. "Hi Leatherneck. Billy wants me to take the kids to his office. Matty and Leann followed Agent Pearson to the elevator and went up a couple levels. They got out and the hallway was bustling with people. They went over to some glass doors and Agent Pearson opened it for them.

They walked in and there were a lot of desks and people working. But they all seemed to stop working at once and started staring at them. Matty could feel everyone's eyes on his sister and him. It was an uncomfortable feeling. Agent Pearson knocked on the door of an office and then opened it. Their Uncle Billy motioned for them to sit on the couch.
"Hi Uncle Billy." His sister said in a sad voice. "Hi Leann and Matty. How are you kids doing? I am so sorry that they arrested your father like that in front of you kids. Believe me that was not my doing." Then Leann started crying again, "Don't send my Daddy to prison Uncle Billy. Please. He helped all those kids. He was a hero. He saved Matty. I really like having a daddy. I don't want to lose him." Matty hugged his sister and tried to comfort her.

Their Uncle Billy rubbed his temples. Matty could tell he felt bad too. He looked sad too. "I'm sorry kids. I really am. I will do whatever is in my power to help him. I still can't believe I didn't recognize him earlier. It was so obvious who he really is. Makes way more sense too as to why your mother was so protective of him. I thought it was a little weird when she started dating him. But I figured it was because he looked a little like Lee with a lot of hair. Your Uncle Joe is down with your father now. Doctor Smyth is interviewing your father at the moment." Matty wrote on the pad. "Can we go see him sir?"

Uncle Billy sighed, "When your mother gets here, and they put your father back in the holding cell. I will see what I can do about you two getting to see him before you go home. Ok?" Matty wrote "Thank you sir." Uncle Billy smiled warmly at him. "Do you kids want some snacks or anything?" Matty looked at him and wrote. "I'd like a coffee sir." "You really are Lee's son. Aren't you? How do you take it?" Matty wrote. "Just cream." He nodded. "You want some hot chocolate or tea, Leann?" She said, "I don't want anything Uncle Billy. Just my daddy back."

Then their mother came storming into the office. She immediately went over to Matty and Leann. "Are you both ok?" She touched the side of Matty's face. He nodded yes. He tapped on his mom. "I can help with the escape plan. If you want me to provide a distraction. Whatever you need me to do. I want to help dad," She tapped back. "Hold that thought for later." Then she went over to Leann who immediately started crying again. His mother picked her up. "It's going to be ok sweet girl, I've got you." She was holding Leann while she cried softly into her shoulder.

His mother turned to Uncle Billy and gave him a look of pure anger. He had never seen his mother look that angry before. "You arrested him in front of the children, sir? The children? How many years have I worked for the Agency? Everything Lee & I have done for the Agency? You could have just called me. Had me bring him in. Or if you thought we would flee tricked me into bringing him in as Michael. You did not need to arrest him in front of the children."

Billy sighed, "I am sorry Amanda. I was not involved in how Lee was brought in. I didn't even know about it until it was in progress. Doctor Smyth kept Francine and I in the dark until this morning. Used young agents for the raid. Ones that didn't know Lee." Then his mother said, "How did this happen Billy? How was his secret exposed?"

Billy sighed, "Michael Winthrope's mother Corinne Winthrope. She is still alive. Doctor Smyth sent some agents to interview her in Ottawa. That is where she is living now. The Agents showed her a picture of Michael Winthrope. She said that wasn't her son. Then she gave them a picture of the real Michael Winthrope as a teenager." Uncle Billy pulled out a picture from a folder on his desk of a red headed, freckled faced, very blue-eyed teenager wearing a t-shirt and bell bottoms that looked absolutely nothing like his father. Now that Matty saw the picture, the real Michael Winthrope looked nothing like his grandfather either. Maybe Michael wasn't actually his grandfather's.

Uncle Billy started speaking again. "They started investigating Michael Winthrope even further and found that the photos of him in the missing person's file had gone missing. His mug shots from when he was arrested as a teenager are missing as well. There were absolutely no official photos of Michael Winthrope when he was young anywhere.

Then Doctor Smyth sent the agents to Vancouver and started looking into when he changed his identity to Michael Tremblay. Sent the Agents to Vancouver College. There are records of him working there but nobody remembered him or knew him. Same with the college in Toronto he attended. The only actual photos of Michael Tremblay were from his passport and his Canadian Driver's license, and both were the exact same photo.

Doctor Smyth became even more suspicious. So, he had them run a DNA test of Michael Winthrope against Matty to see if he was even related to your family. Turns out that Michael Winthrope's results were a perfect match to be the boy's father. Doctor Smyth kept Francine and I in the dark until this morning when they arrested Lee and brought him in. He called us both into his office. Told us what he had been doing."

His mother looked at Billy. "What interrogation room is he in? I want to see him." Billy sighed. "Amanda, Joe is with him. Francine is in the room with them too. I will do my best to work it out so that you and the kids can see Lee in his holding cell after Doctor Smyth is done." His mom looked at Billy angrily. "I want to see him now. You are not going to stop me. I will just figure out what interrogation room he is in myself." Billy sighed, "He is in 2B." She nodded at Uncle Billy "Thanks. You will keep an eye on these two for now?" Uncle Billy nodded yes. His mother put his sister down. "No mommy. I want to go with you. I want to see daddy." Leann looked at their mother with big sad hazel eyes. "Later sweet girl. Stay with Uncle Billy and Matty."

Then she turned to Matty. "Keep an eye on your sister. You are being so brave. I'm very proud of you." Matty tapped. "Just let me know if you need me to create a distraction. I want to help." She kissed his forehead. She tapped back so Uncle Billy couldn't see. "I may take you up on that but later. I want to talk to your daddy first."

Notes:

It was the Canadian Hippie lady's fault? Really? LOL

Next chapter: Will Lee get out of this mess somehow? Will Joe use tv lawyer magic? Will Matty and Amanda team up to help Lee escape? Will it be something even crazier than either of those options? You will have to read the next chapter to find out.