I will make them pay for that.”“Then Myrialis called, and suddenly I had hope again.”“I suspect the Empire and Amantil had their suspicions so...ething wasn’t right.”“I think so, but they never said. Oh, it’s just so good to see you again.” She broke down into tears again, as suddenly Kiria and Dayyev appeared in the cube beside her, yelling out “Daddy!” at the tops of their voices.“My loves,” I greeted them. Now tears from my own eyes flowed.“I leave the Empire in your capable hands, Regencia. I had already been paid well enough for my detective work and neither expected nor needed a bonus, but it would have been churlish to raise any argument at our emotional time of parting.If it was in the form of a cheque or banker’s draft I could always tear it up or ignore it. I really wanted for nothing that money would buy.I didn’t even feel like going back to the office after a week away, although I thought there might be some post there to deal with. Instead, I decided to go back to my digs. I have special plans for the both of you and I don't want to kill either of you just yet."Robert said, shaking and crying from the pain, "What... what... are you going to... do to us?"The truck driver says, "You will find out! Now! Get in the back of the truck, with Ben! And don't make a sound." Crazy Al and the two boys enter the cargo area of the truck. "My name is Crazy Al, but you can call me Al, and the other guy, is Ben. What are your names?"Scared of being hit again by either of them. We made surprisingly good time, though she had to drive cautiously through several areas. I wasn’t afraid of getting stuck in the mud. Miss Julia was a skilled driver, had an electric winch on the front bumper, and a few other tools to get us out of a jam. I was in good hands.When we caught up with the group, as Miss Julia predicted, Mike was stuck. Somehow he had managed to slide sideways off the trail into a muddy ditch, putting a dent in a rear quarter panel as it pressed against a tree..