"I remembered Veronica. She had undergone a rather shocking transformation, but come through with her pride intact. Once she discovered that her new l...zard form could swim much better than a human, she had turned her attention to swimming and lifeguarding. The local pool had received quite a few howls when they hired her three years ago to be a swim instructor, but most people stopped protesting once they saw her work. I made a mental note to see if I could bring Wendy and Veronica back. One of the men walked around the side of the house. He drove back after a minute in a crew cab truck. Jake and Boris got in the back.“Wait a second,” Jake said.He scanned the ranch house. There were a cook and a housekeeper in the central part of the house. There were two relatives in the near wing, an older woman and a younger man. Jake realized that the man was Jimmie, Cox’s half-brother. Jake took control of all four. He thought there might have been someone else in the far wing, but if so,. I asked her a few times what time she had to be home and she never told me about any curfew she had. “ Roger shot out.“I know that, Roger. June told me that she told you she had no time limit to be home. It seems she didn’t want you to think she was a little kid. Unfortunately, she was told by our parents that if she was late one more time, they would forbid her from seeing you anymore. That ‘one more time’ was last night when she got home at 1:30.”“Wow! “ Roger exclaimed. “You mean we will not. Sam handed Rachel out of the vehicle and nodded to Mark. Mark let himself out and stood straight. He seemed to draw strength from inside himself somewhere. "Be it ever so humble," he said under his breath.The four black clad members of the protection detail that had met them at the federal building formed a phalanx around Mark and Rachel. Sam shoved a way clear for another man to bring Cole's power chair through the news media members. Cole grinned and yelled, "Yes!"The four vehicles that had.