“Good idea,” Apollo said.“It’ll be easier to protect them here.Have we set up security systems over at their property?”
“Yes,” Ace answered.“Anybody so much as sneezes in that direction, we’ll know about it.”
“Good.”
“If Levy and his associates track down Tom’s family, it’d be easier to take them down while they’re out here than back in town,” Hendrix said.“No innocent bystander moments.”
“We can only hope they make it that easy on us,” Blade agreed.
“They never do,” Jagger huffed.“That’s the problem.”
“No, they don’t,” Apollo agreed.“So, we’ll likely have to go after them to shut them down.”
“How are we supposed to do that?”Ellen asked.
Ellen’s tone had Rocko looking over in the young woman’s direction.By all outward appearances, she was fine.However, he could see the sadness in her eyes, pulling at Rocko to fix it.The conversation carried on around them, and a few moments later, she got up and headed into the kitchen.Rocko followed, and he waved off Apollo when he stood.He found her staring out the window over the sink.
“It’s going to be okay, Ellen.You’re safe here,” he said.
“Does it matter?”she asked without turning around.
“Yes.Your safety matters.”
“What about Asher?She’s only a baby.What could she have done to warrant a death sentence?”
Rocko’s heart ached for Ellen.
“These people are driven by fear and hate of something they can’t understand.There’s no way we can make sense of their actions or reasoning or argue the facts with them.Tom merely used his telekinesis to protect a fellow worker from a falling beam, and Levy still viewed him as a threat and kidnapped him.It’ll drive you crazy trying to apply logic to these people.No matter what any of us do, they will never understand.”
“So we have to live in fear for the rest of our lives?”
Rocko placed his hand on Ellen’s shoulder, and she finally turned around to show her red eyes and tear-stained cheeks.
“People have the wrong view of fear.Fear is human nature’s way of keeping you safe and out of harm’s way, allowing you to rethink your actions before suffering the consequences.Fear isn’t the problem.It all comes down to how you use that fear and how much you allow it to control you.I’m fearful at times.”
“You?You’re a detective.You face horrible things all the time.”
“Yes, that’s the trick.I choose to face my fears.I listen to them, and then it’s up to me to make a choice.”
“Choice?”
“We all have the power of choice.Either we choose to let that fear rule us and sink deeper, or we acknowledge it, understand it’s there to protect us, and decide how to move forward.Using an element of that fear to keep you safe and on alert, while facing it, accepting it, and allowing it to strengthen you.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“It’s one of the hardest skills I’m still trying to master.”
“Still?”
“Yeah.I doubt I’ll ever fully overcome it, but what matters is that I use that fear to push forward.I believe it’s my duty to stand up when others can’t.I’ve made my choice.”
Ellen looked at him thoughtfully, and Rocko couldn’t help but worry he’d said too much or made no sense at all and looked like an idiot.Her smile slowly returned, and he took that as a good sign.
“I choose to stand and protect people like Asher who can’t protect themselves.”
“Good choice.”
Ellen lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Rocko, hugging him tight.
