"Easy, Frank," Laura said wrapping her arms around his shoulder. "It’s all right."

Fred stepped further into the room and shook Fenton’s hand. "I thought I’d stop by to see how you both were doing."

"We’re doing all right," Fenton said. "We both had some smoke inhalation, but we’ll be fine."

"That’s good to hear," Fred said.

"Is everything wrapped up?" Joe asked.

"It is," Fred answered. "Jim and his two cohorts have admitted they tried to kill off Mrs. Dilmer in an attempt to make her husband suffer, just like Jim had."

"Isn’t causing an avalanche taking it to the extreme?" Joe asked.

"They had the Dilmer’s under surveillance for a while hoping to get their chance at revenge."

"Wait," Frank said and started coughing. He took another drink of water. He looked at his father. "Would you please tell me what’s going on?"

"Sorry, son," Fenton said. "Well, to start with, Fred has been investigating threats against the Dilner’s for a while and this incident brought him here."

"I was personified as an investigator on the take to try and bring them down," Fred said. "You see, Secretary of State Dilmer had been receiving death threats for the last six months."

"But aren’t the security people on guard for these kinds of threats?" Joe asked.

"They are, but most of the time, they think they are empty threats."

"What happened?" Frank asked.

"We knew something was seriously wrong when the call came about the avalanche and that word spread that Mrs. Dilmer had been there with some friends," Fred said. "We figured this was a definite attack toward the Secretary of State."

"And then we became targets because we had seen the start of the avalanche," Joe said.

"You had, but what really made you targets was that Jim overheard you talking to your father about what you had seen."

"And his two partners took me from the hospital," Joe said.

"They did. They wanted to tie up all loose ends and figured you two needed to be dealt with," Jim said.

"At least they are in custody now," Fenton said.

"How were they caught?" Frank asked before swallowing gingerly.

"Well, I went with them to a hotel where they were planning to attack Mrs. Dilmer. I was wearing a wire. When their plans were finalized, the authorities came in. They didn’t fight when they realized they had been caught."

"At least this is over now," Laura said.

Fred looked at Frank. "I’ll need you to come down to the station when you’re released to give your statement."

"No problem."

Fred said goodbye and left the room. Once they were alone, Frank looked at Joe. "How are you feeling?"

"I’m fine. But I think we’re all more worried about you."

Frank leaned his head back on the pillow. "I’m all right."

"But you are tired," Laura observed.

"Maybe. I’m just trying to absorb everything. A lot happened."

"It has been a couple busy days," Fenton said. "You should probably get some rest."

"In a minute. I just have one more question."

"And what’s that?" Laura asked.

"How did we get out of the office? I don’t remember."

Well," Fenton began. "After you got me loose, we started to leave, but you collapsed. The flames were growing steadily and it didn’t seem like we were going to make it. I had just started to lift you off the floor when the firefighters arrived. We were led outside and then brought here."

"How long will I be here?" Frank asked and tried to stifle a yawn.

"A day or two," Laura answered. "Or whatever the doctor decides. We’re not taking any chances. You were sick up at the lodge and we don’t need you to have a relapse."

Frank’s eyes began to slide shut. "I don’t want that either."

As he drifted to sleep, Frank felt relieved that his family was safe and that another case had been solved.

-THE END-