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think I’m going to fix myself a drink and get some fresh air. Would you like to join me?”
    “Make mine a double.”
    They exited the Director’s office and strolled the walk that encompassed the massive white house. After a moment, the big man said, “Does it have to be Ackerman?”
    “We’ve been over this. You and I both know from past experience that it will take someone of his…his caliber to accomplish our goal. Plus, you know his connection to all of this. We need him. Hell, we’ve set the whole thing up around him. Besides, we’ve done things similar in the past.”
    “Not with someone like Ackerman.” The big man shook his head. “He scares me.”
    “I know. I feel the same way, but events were set in motion years ago that have led us to this day. It’s fate. Well, fate with a little help from us anyway. We both know that it sometimes takes extreme actions in order to radically change a person’s way of thinking. We’ve planned everything as best we can, and our people know their jobs. They’re the best. You trained most of them. We can pull this off.”
    The big man tilted back his head and let the contents of the entire glass slide down his throat. “God help us if you’re wrong.”
    The Director shrugged. “God help us, either way.”

CHAPTER 3
    Maureen Hill sat alone at her kitchen table and stared at the chair that had once belonged to her husband. Jack had sat across from her every morning for forty-two years as they drank coffee and ate breakfast. The realization that he would never sit in that chair again still shocked her even after nearly two years of being without him.
    She and Jack had horded their money for years, never indulging themselves, never spending or enjoying it. They had planned to travel and see the world. She had wanted to see Paris and Venice before she died, and her husband had always dreamed of Australia. The couple had nurtured hopes of one day growing old in style while they indulged in the simple pleasures that they had denied themselves for so many years. Their children were grown, and they had been good providers and protectors. Their golden years were supposed to be their own, a time for them to enjoy life and each other.
    Now, all the years of saving and sacrificing seemed a terrible waste to her. She searched her memory for one instance where they had gone out to eat at a nice restaurant or had splurged on a night of simple enjoyment. There were none to remember.
    The diagnosis of cancer had changed all of their well-laid plans. She wished that she could turn back the hands of time and do things differently. She wished that they had lived in the present rather than always looking toward the future. As the tears ran down her cheeks, she wished that they had enjoyed the time they were given rather than assuming that their time would never run out. She dried her tears and attempted to distract herself from old memories and regrets.
    With kind eyes and a warm smile, she glanced over at a family photo. Twenty-two grandchildren, whom she adored, filled a modest portion of her time, but they could never truly fill the space left by her husband’s passing—nothing could.
    She let out an audible sigh and picked up the paperback David Morrell novel from the table. She read a few pages but had been up late the previous night enjoying a good movie on TV, and her eyelids felt heavy and eventually closed. The book fell to the floor as her head lolled to one side and she fell fast asleep.
    ~~*~~
    A man with cold, gray eyes watched the silver-haired woman through the kitchen window. The dark soul behind the eyes contemplated the manner in which she would die.
    Ackerman watched her stare at the chair opposite her. He reasoned from the woman’s actions that she had recently lost her spouse and was now feeling depressed and alone. Although she was unaware of the fact, she wasn’t alone anymore. She had company.
    He felt sorry for her. He knew that it would only be a matter