Chase

4

December 27th
2007
11 o'clock in the morning

Sarah watched out the window of their farmhouse as Peter played in the snow with their kids. They were building tiny snowmen and pretending to be Godzilla. She smiled. If only things could always be like this. The phone rang suddenly, breaking her out of her thoughts. Picking it up, she hoped it wasn't who she thought it was.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mrs. Phipps, may I talk to your husband? This is an urgent matter," the woman on the other side of the phone answered.

"He's off work right now, could you please get someone else to do it? We just had Christmas and he's outside with the kids right now."

"I'm sorry Sarah, but he needs to come in."

"Please Darleen? Just this one time? We can't have him gone all the time, it's hard on the kids, and you know how much she loves him!" Sarah was really hoping that Peter could stay. He hadn't come home since last year, and he had missed a lot. It had been a miracle when he returned unharmed.

There was pause and then a sigh on the other end of the line. "Fine," Darleen finally said. "But he has to come in in a few days, okay? This is very important." And with that she hung up.

Outside, Peter was about to have an equally important conversation. As he looked into his daughter's eyes, he knew that she was ready for anything, but he also knew that she would have to know how to defend herself if any of his enemies found her.

Reaching his gloved hand out and putting it on her shoulder, he asked her. "Sweetie? You know how my job is sometimes a bit dangerous?" She nodded her head happily, quickly realizing where this was going. "Well I was wondering if you would like to learn how to use a gun. I know that you're only nine, but this will take some practice and I want you to be safe, okay?" She nodded again, smiling. "Great! I can start to teach you tomorrow."

That night, Tommy was the only one who slept well. But whether the lack of sleep was caused by excitement or worry depended on the person.