Nick hung up. For once, he was speechless. The man had obviously suffered a lot, and Nick wished he could do something for him. He checked his e-mail. Nothing yet. He didn’t doubt that Vladimir would send it to him, but he wondered what the "material" contented.

The phone rang, and Nick jumped up. His heart beat twice in a row and he almost felt dizzy. Afraid of who it might be, he picked up the phone and answered. Nothing was heard on the other line, just the sound of someone breathing.

"Hello?" he said. The person on the other end finally spoke.

"Hi Nicky, how are you?" a female voice asked. Nick sighed of relief.

"Hi mum. I’m just fine. You sound strange, is something wrong?"

"Oh no, I was just…no, I can’t lie to you"

"Why would you lie? What has happened, mum?" Nick was getting worried. His mum sounded so weak and tired.

"Somebody has been here Nick"

"Where? In the house?"

"Yeah…"

"When did it happen?"

"We don’t know, the police are investigating now, we got home yesterday and found it like this. It seems as though someone have searched the house. Whoever did this could have done it a month ago when we came to Florida to…well…"

"I know mum. But why wouldn’t you tell me what had happened?"

"You have gone through so much already"

"But mum, I’m not made of glass, you have to tell me when something like this happens. Have anything else happened?" he asked. Jane hesitated and Nick understood that something else was wrong. When his mum finally answered, she sounded scared.

"Leslie and BJ were being followed today" she said. Nick felt a clump in his throat. Someone had followed his sisters.

"By who?"

"I don’t know. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything, but after all that has happened, we can’t take any risks"

"I know. What are you going to do about it?"

"I will have them tutored at home. When the police have finished the investigation…"

"Ok"

He had a feeling that this had something to do with everything else. Suddenly he felt an urge to check his e-mail again. Maybe the material Vladimir sent to him could help him.

"Look, mum, I have to go"

"You are up to something, aren’t you" Jane asked. Nick’s face grew hot. How could she know?

"Yeah, but I can’t tell you what it is, I’m sorry mum"

"It’s ok Nicky. But take care of yourself"

"I will. Tell Leslie and BJ that I love them, and the others too. I love you mum"

"I love you too Nicky. Bye"

"Bye mum" he hung up and sighed. Maybe he made a mistake. If something happened to his family, he would never be able to forgive himself.

But he would never get some peace if he didn’t do this, he knew that.

He opened up his e-mail and clicked on Inbox. There was a mail from Vladimir. Nick took a deep breath before he opened it. The few seconds it took made him think of what he was getting himself into. If he didn’t read it, just deleted it, then maybe he could put all this behind him. But before he decided whether to delete it or read it, it had appeared on the screen.

He leaned forward and began to read it.

Subject: (none)

Alexandrevitj.

Before you read this mail, I want you to think about what you are doing. I can tell you that you are dealing with things that can destroy you, your life. I will not send you real articles, I don’t wanna give out more names than I have to. But the material is anyhow dangerous, although it’s my own collection and opinions.

Think of me. I have nothing left. It can be you, who sits in a wheel-chair in two weeks. If you are lucky that will be all.

Are you ready to risk it? Think about it.