She awoke the next morning with the determination in mind that she was going to get to the bottom of her suspicion. She just had to know if Brie Draiman was related to Irian Cartwright. She gathered her courage as she walked into the Kitchen for breakfast. “Mrs. Draiman, may I speak to you in private?” Karyn asked.
“Sure sweetie.” Brie set David’s plate in front of him and walked out of the room with the young woman.
“Mrs. Draiman, I have a very odd question for you. I’m going to ask you to keep an open mind about it. Can you do that?”
Brie gave the girl an odd look. “Of course hon.”
“In my Oral Com class we covered a woman named Irian Cartwright. I noticed that you look an awful lot like her. Are you related to her somehow?”
Brie fought not to laugh. “No, honey, I'm not related to her; I AM her. I used to be known as Irian Cartwright in another lifetime. When the Establishment tried to assassinate me, I had to go into hiding; but not before they blew up my house after they had spotted me inside. David saved my life and the Agency saw fit to reward him with marrying us.”
“Did you two ever actually get married?”
“Yes”, Brie lied to the girl easily. “Before we went and picked Malachai up from my parent’s house, we went to Vegas. It was quick and simple and not too much hassle.”
“That’s pretty cool. How hard was it to fall in love with David Draiman?”
“It wasn’t, to be honest. When he’s not stressed beyond reason, he’s one of the funniest guys you’ll ever meet. Hell, they all are.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
Brie nodded. “It is. Now, I have a question for you.”
“Ok, shoot.”
“Were you one of our gophers before the quads were born? At the first safe house in Grand Junction?”
“To be perfectly honest with you, Mrs. Draiman, I don’t really remember. I was in a really bad car accident several years ago and since then I’ve been having trouble with my long term memory.”
Brie nodded. “I understand. I’m surprised that you remember Morbus though.”
“He and I were childhood sweethearts. I could never forget him. And I always listened to Disturbed, that’s how I remembered the band. Other than that, my long term memory is Swiss cheese.”
“That’s understandable. So, why did you agree to be our surrogate?”
“I had a good feeling about you and David, and I know that I can trust Morbus’s judgment”, Karyn said with a smile.
Brie couldn’t help but smile back. “Well, on behalf of myself and David, I want to thank you. You have no idea how much this means to the both of us.”
--------------
Matt and Jenn finally didn’t have to hide anymore. Matt couldn’t have been happier. He’s been asked to be his aunt’s personal bodyguard when she took office, but he didn’t care. He finally got to be with his saving grace. The only woman on the planet that kept him from being a total monster was finally his full time. He didn’t have to sneak around and hide with her anymore. He even made it a point to take her to the house and introduce her to his little sister and his brother in law.
As usual, he didn’t knock. He just walked in the door. “Hello everyone!” he exclaimed.
Brie laughed. “Wow, you’re in a good mood, Matt. What’s got you so freaking cheery?”
He held his hand out toward the open door and in walked a beautiful blond woman in a sundress that hit her mid thigh. “Everyone, this is Jennifer Jessop. She’s my girlfriend. Well, for the moment she’s my girlfriend.”
She smiled brightly at everyone. “Hello.”
Brie stood up and looked the woman over for a few moments. “So, YOU’RE the woman who’s been putting a shit eating grin on my big brother’s face the last few times he’s been here.”
Jenn laughed. “That would be me. And I take it you’re the brilliant little sister he’s spoken so much about.”
Brie laughed. “That would be me.” She extended her hand. “I’m Brie Draiman, Matt’s little sister.”
Jenn took Brie’s hand and shook it. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” She looked around the room at all the boxes. “I see you guys are packing. Is everyone ready to get the hell out of hiding?”
“Hell yes we are!” Nicole said. “I know I can speak for everyone in the room when I say that I’m glad that the War is FINALLY over. We’ve all been getting a very bad case of cabin fever.”
“Oh, I can certainly imagine.”
“So”, Brie asked Jenn, “how is it that you met my brother?”
“He actually trained me with the Ghost Squad.”
“So, you’re one of Matt’s Ghosts?” David asked to clarify.
“That’s right. I was top in the class and assigned to assassinate both the Major and the Lieutenant.”
“So, which killed the lieutenant, the stab wound or the five story fall?” John asked.
“To be honest, I like to think it was the combination that killed him.”
“How did you manage to get close enough to slip the knife under his sternum?” Brie asked.
“He wanted to get freaky, so I let him long enough to get in close and stab him. It was pretty simple, to be perfectly honest.”
Brie and David laughed out loud. “That’s classic!” David said as he laughed. “Let the bastard THINK he’s
getting lucky then stick a knife in his chest! I fucking love it!”
---------------
Malachai and Jacob were helping James and Jeremiah pack up their room. “’Chai, are we moving to another save house?” James asked.
“No, James. We’re going home. Mama and Daddy are taking us home as soon as Great-aunt Gail says they can take us home.”
“Where is home?” Jeremiah asked as he looked at Jacob.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, ‘Miah. I wasn’t even born when the war started.”
“’Chai, where is home?” Jeremiah asked.
“A town called Colorado Springs. Daddy bought the house before the war started before he and Mama got
married.”
“That’s cool!” Jeremiah said. He threw a bunch of blocks into the bucket they came in. “I can’t WAIT to get home. I hope I have my own room!”
Malachai laughed. “We’ll see, ‘Miah. You could always ask Mama and Daddy about that.”
“I’ll do that when we finally move out of here.”
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