" "Ryan." He nodded. "How are you?" "Good, thanks." Ryan tried to ignore the awkward feeling she had whenever she talked to her father. Most people go... at least a clap on the shoulder from James Thomas Bancroft, Sr.; she got a nod. With a deep breath, she rummaged in a large cooler for a soda. "So, um . . . how's work?" He shrugged and reached for a beer. "Not too bad." "Great." The usual strained silence fell between them. "So . . . did Mom tell you about our gig at the 9:30 Club? We're pretty. It wasn't time for her to come home from work so they must be going back to Ace Realty. I went home and thought how I was going to handle this. I had my two kids to consider and I didn't want to hurt them unduly. I did want to cause Betty some grief, though.Betty was going to be thirty-eight-years-old next month. Jake, our oldest, was seventeen and Lara was almost sixteen. Betty and I had been married eighteen years. I looked back on my life with Betty. We did everything together up until she. "John took that as a sound of approval and he lashed the fourth stroke with similar power and Richard let out a soft groan.John was fascinated by the red lines that were appearing on his friend's backside and almost forgot about continuing until Richard swayed his arse as if to encourage another stroke.From now on John slashed strokes against the target at regular intervals and he must have delivered ten and Richard was now squirming and appearing to be humping the table.Richard had told him. We both walk downstairs, I smile at Sally, shake her hand and ask, "Would you like the grand tour of the place before you get started?"Sally's eyes are travelling everywhere, soaking in all the surroundings while she replies, "That would be great."I motion to Bill and say, "This is my right hand man Bill, he will show you everything."Sally leaves with Bill while I look at Samantha and ask, "Well, now that we've read the report on the Sedankina twins, what are your thoughts?"Samantha replies,.