Peter Brandon paused and several minutes of silence followed. Jack saw his father brushing tears from his eyes as he stared out across the snow-covered lawn.

Shadow broke the spell by pushing the door open and leaping off the porch in pursuit of one of life’s real villains, a gray squirrel. Jack’s father said, “You know, it’s grown cold out here. I’m going back inside. When you’re ready, come back inside and we’ll talk some more.”

With Shadow bouncing beside him as he walked down the snow-covered trail in the park behind his father’s house, Jack knew he had a lot to think over. To find out he has been using a false name his entire life and is not even a citizen of the country he served, shook him badly. Not to mention his father was a former KGB agent and probably still on the Russian Intelligence Service wanted list. Maybe the CIA could cope with these facts but the FBI would slap both him and his father in the lock-up at the first opportunity. No matter what he did, the facts remained the same. He still loved and admired his father and was proud to be an American. He wondered if he were any different from the millions of illegal aliens residing in the United States. After an hour watching Shadow splashing in a small partly frozen brook, Jack headed back to the house. He had convinced himself to go with his gut and pick up his father’s work.

A slow fire burned in the small Brandon library and threw a flickering light on the floor-to-ceiling book shelves. A small lamp on a writing table with an open bottle of port was the only other light. All else was in shadow. They clinked glasses and drank a silent toast. Peter Brandon set his glass down on the pine coffee table, looked at Jack and said, “Which is it? Do you think I’m nuts, scared you to death or both?”

“Dad, I know you aren’t nuts. You didn’t scare me, but I’m confused and more than a little troubled. I guess our illegal status bothers me. And I wonder if the Boulder cops blamed you for the death of my mother and sister.”

“I don’t think so. The only warrant they issued for me was as a material witness. I’ve learned to live with my illegal status, and I hope it will be easier for you. You have a long documented history in this country that can be checked. A certified copy of a John Alexander Brandon’s birth certificate is in a safety deposit box along with some other things. Remember when I said I wanted to open a safety deposit box in your name and had you sign the forms. Well, the key to the box is in the house safe. You used the original of your birth certificate when you became a Marine and when the Pittsburgh police did a background check. I don’t have any birth records for me. I claimed they were burned in a courthouse fire, a real fire and a real courthouse. Also, you have served in the Armed Forces of the United States and have a real history. I wouldn’t worry about your citizenship status.”

“Dad, I’m ready for a career change and after my job in homicide, I’m ready for a new challenge. Do you think I can handle it?”

His father laughed and then coughed. Finally he said, “Son, it never was my style to throw you into something over your head. For at least a few months I will be there to help. After I’m gone you will control all the money and all the activities. Remember ninety-five per cent of all I did was well within the law. I believe it will take only a few months before you’re comfortable taking over.”

“Okay! I’ll do it.”

Shortly after their late lunch his father went to bed for a nap. Jack carried a cup of tea out on the back deck. The sun was out and, with the protection from the wind, he was quite comfortable. Shadow curled up next to his chair, at peace with the world. Jack’s world was far from being at peace. The respect Jack had for his father had grown with these revelations. He wondered how he could have been so naïve. He had never suspected his father had a secret life of such magnitude. Now Jack knew the details, he could see he had plenty of opportunities in the past to be suspicious. Now he had to make a plan to kill a man he had never seen, a man who had in cold blood murdered his mother and infant sister.