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I couldn't believe what I just heard. My paws curled into fists again.

"Bullshit!" I yelled.

"It's not bullshit," said the panther, "That otter's father is the one who hired me to finish him off."

"I'll finish you off you don't start telling the truth!" I couldn't control myself. I moved towards the panther. Bosh grabbed my shirt and forcefully pulled me away.

"Control yourself," Bosh said angrily to me.

I didn't answer, I exhaled some, but I didn't make another move when Bosh let go of my shirt. Bosh them turned toward the panther again. "I have to say, I don't buy this either."

"It was fucking him," the panther was getting desperate, "He told us that we needed to kill his son."

"What for?" Bosh asked.

"I don't know. I'm not paid to ask questions, I'm paid for to do what I'm asked of and then get a shit ton of money. He said that he was his father and he definitely looked like that otter boy," the panther answered.

"I can't listen to this anymore?" I said and turned to walk out of the hospital room.

I heard the panther call out from behind me, "Does he have a younger brother? About two years younger?"

I stopped in my tracks when I heard this. How could he have known that? I didn't turn around immediately. My brain worked to find a way around what the panther was saying with no luck. Maybe he was right. Maybe, Kyle's father was behind the attack.

"How did you know that?" I asked turning to face him.

"Because he was next." The panther said, "we were suppose to kill the younger otter right afterwards."

I felt sick. Something in the pit of my stomach was killing me as the reality set in.

"I gotta go," I said and rushed towards the door.

"Allen!" Bosh yelled. It stopped me from leaving. My paw gripped the door handle tightly and I stood there no facing as he continued, "What was said here, stays here. No one can know of this, not even Kyle. We have to make sure this is credible before we can do anything about it."

I nodded and walked out of the hospital room.

--x--

That night, I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, all I could do was lay on my bed and stare at the rough pattern of the ceiling that looked like white sand as my mind wandered over these past events.

I heard my phone buzz a couple of times which told me that I got a text message, but I made no attempt to read it. Solitary was the only thing that I needed. My mind continued to drive with no signs of stopping as different thoughts and scenarios danced around in my head. I didn't even realize that I fell asleep.

The pounding at my door woke me up with a start. I jumped a little, but continued to stare at the ceiling until the knocking continued. Realizing that the knocker was not giving up, I slid out of my bad and padded to the door and opened it.

The light from the hallway flooded in and I closed my eyes and put a paw over them to shield myself from the invading brightness. I had to blink a few times as my pupils got smaller and I adjusted to the light.

"You're just getting up?" Kyle said, "It's two thirty in the afternoon you lazy ass."

"Sorry," I said, "I've, uh, I haven't been feeling well lately."

"Maybe I can fix that," Kyle said as he stepped in and gave me a kiss.

It relaxed me for a moment. I returned it for a bit and then it ended.

"Come on Allen," Kyle said as he turned around and headed out the door.

Unsure of what he was talking about, I grabbed my phone, wallet, and room key and headed out with him. We made our way outside and Kyle led the way to his car and unlocked it.

I climbed into the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt. I still had no idea where we were going; I knew I forgot something.

"My brother's really excited that you're coming over again, I guess you made a really good impression on him," said Kyle as we pulled out.

The sleepover! I had completely forgotten about it. Normally, I would have been thrilled, but after hearing that Kyle's own father ordered his death as well as his younger brother's. I didn't know how I would hold up seeing Kyle's dad there.

"Is your, uh, mom going to be there?" I asked. I didn't want to say 'dad' because I wanted to seem like nothing was going on.

Kyle didn't seem to notice anything, "yeah she'll be there, but my dad will be out for a while because he's on his way back from Arizona so he has a long flight back home."

This eased the tension a little. At least I didn't have to face Kyle's dad at first, but when he does come home, then who knows what I'll do.

--x-

"Kyle!" Cole yelled as he hugged his older brother. Kyle returned the hug and then Cole ran over to me and hugged me.

"Good to see you too," I said smiling at Cole greeting. Cole was very excited and had a big smile across his muzzle and it made me think, Who would want to harm this kid?

We stepped inside the house and I could smell cooking going on in the kitchen. We entered and I saw Mrs. Grey working on something that smelled of fish.

Mrs. Grey turned around and walked over to me and gave a quick hug and a kiss on my forehead, "It's so good to see you again, dear."

"It's good to see you too Mrs. Grey," I said once she stepped back.

"Dinner wont be ready for a while, you guys can do whatever until dad get home." Mrs. Grey said.

We decided to go outside and shoot some hoops. We ended up playing a few games of twenty-one and Kyle and I got our asses kicked by Cole. I don't know how that otter did it, but he couldn't miss a shot. We started to get really sweaty, but we didn't care.

After Cole won his fourth game in a row, a black SUV rolled into the driveway and Kyle's dad stepped out of it. A large stone seemed to fall in my stomach when I saw Mr. Grey hugging Kyle. He then walked up to me and put out his paw. I reluctantly took it. I didn't want to do anything rash and say something about what I now knew, but there is a time and place for it. Here and now was not that time.

"Glad you could visit again," Mr. Grey said.

I didn't reply. I just nodded slightly and he released my paw and headed inside. We followed him in the house, me in the back, and into the kitchen where Kyle's mom was setting up the table.

We sat down to a display of clams, tilefish, and steamed vegetables. The meal was really good, but it was hard to enjoy as I kept looking at Mr. Grey with a very cold expression. Whenever he would look at me, I darted my eyes downward as though I was interested in the fish. I didn't engage very much in the conversation though whenever someone talked to me directly, I just gave short, one or two word answers.

Afterwards, Kyle and I went into the basement and started up his xbox. We had just turned it on when we heard Kyle's mom shout down, "Kyle, could you help clean up?" It was one of those rhetorical questions where Kyle didn't have to answer, he just had to go up. I stayed down in the basement and just after Kyle went up, I heard pawsteps on the stairs. Expecting Cole, I looked over and say Kyle's dad standing at the bottom of the stairs.

I jumped little when I saw who it was. My heart started racing as anger and fear dwelled up inside of me.

"Hello Allen," he said as he took a few step towards me. I sat up straight and faced him. "Sorry," he continued, " I didn't mean to scare you."

I still didn't say anything to him. I didn't think that I could keep my voice level, so I continued looking at him.

"You alright Allen?" he asked, "You didn't talk a lot at dinner."

"I, uh, I haven't been feeling my best lately," I said. My voice quivered a little but not too much. Mr. Grey didn't seem to notice.

"How have you been holding up since, you know, since that evening?"

I wanted to punch him in jaw and say something like "you mean the evening where you ordered for your two sons to be killed?" but I had to hold myself back. Instead, I answered, "fine."

"I'm sorry to bring that up, it's been hard on all of us, but we can't act like it never happened." He sat on the other end of the couch that I was already sitting at. I tensed up a bit and scooted away slightly so that it separated us more, but was unnoticed.

"It's just-" I started, "just hard to think that someone would do that to anyone." I was testing him; I wanted to see his reaction.

"I know what you mean," he said, "I've been thinking of that everyday since then." He didn't give any signs that would give anything away.

"At least," my voice started to shack and stammer, "th-the right people g-got what-what they d-deserved." As soon as that left my muzzle, I knew I messed up. He was going to see right through me and know that I knew the truth.

"Allen," Kyle's dad looked questioningly at me, "is everything alright?"

I couldn't think of an answer, I was giving myself away and now I felt like I just backed myself into a corner with no escape.

Just then, Kyle came storming down the stairs. He rounded the bottom of the stairs. "Allen! Dad! It's Mike! He came out of his coma!"

All my thoughts of Kyle's dad were vanished when I heard this. Kyle ran up the stairs and I followed him. We got to the top of the stairs and headed for the front door. Kyle's mom was there and said, "You two head on over, we'll go to the hospital later."

We jumped into Kyle's car and we sped off to the hospital. The drive there seemed longer than usual. Kyle weaved around the other cars. We received plenty of honks and some flipped us off but we didn't care.

I was sick of this emotional rollercoaster that I was on. I didn't know what to think of this because last time Mike woke up, we had a stroke. A paw came on top of mine and I looked over at Kyle. Nothing was said because nothing needed to be said. We both knew what was going on in each other's mind.

We pulled into the parking lot and rushed into the hospital lobby and saw Mike's father. The Dalmatian smiled as we saw him and he led us through the familiar hallways. We got to the room and stepped in.

Mike was sitting upright in his hospital bed. His mother held a cup of water, which Mike was sipping through a straw. Mike looked up at Kyle and I in the doorway and smiled. That smile spoke so much to me. After all that he has gone through, he still can smile. It warmed me inside and Kyle and I walked up to the side of his bed.

"Hi," Mike said weakly. Hearing his voice again was one of the best sounds I have every heard.

"Hey Mike." I said, "How have you been holding up?"

Mike coughed a bit, "Alright, I guess. I'm sick of this hospital though."

I let out a small laugh, "I'm sure you are."

Mike looked over at Kyle, "So, you been keeping Allen under control?"

"I've been doing my best" Kyle answered.

Mike nodded and then started to look down. Tears formed in his eyes and started to run down the sides of his face. Mike put his paws over his eyes as his sobbing increased. Kyle and I had no idea what Mike was becoming so upset about, but we didn't want to question it.

Mikes mother put her paw on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said to Kyle and me, "the doctors told us of this. Mike's moods might change suddenly with forms of depression. It's something that happens with a lot of patients coming out of a coma."

A knock came from the door. I turned around to see the source of the noise and saw that it was Kyle's mother, brother, and his father.

I almost gasped when I saw Kyle's father standing there. Ever since I heard that it was him that sent the attack, I always get the same shock every time that I see him. Mike's dad walked over to them and shook paws. I heard them muttering between them, but I didn't listen to what they were saying. My eyes were fixed on Kyle's father.

They made their way over to Mike's bed. Mike recovered from his sobbing and was talking with his mother. Just before they got to the bed, I stepped in front of Kyle's dad.

He stopped for a moment, and gave me a curious look. I stared right into those eyes. I'm sure that my anger showed in my face because he raised an eyebrow, "Is there something wrong?" he asked.

I didn't answer him. My breathing started to increase and my paws tightened up. I felt Kyle grab my arm and pull slightly as if to move me to the side, but I resisted. My teeth gritted together and I showed them from the sides of my muzzle.

"Allen" Kyle said grabbing my arm again but with more force. It moved me to the side a couple of steps and then I stormed out of the room without glancing at anyone. My feet seemed to work on their own because I had no idea where I was going, but somehow, I ended up in the lobby and headed out the front doors.

The cool night air greeted me as I exited the hospital. I saw a vacant bench to my right and sat on it. I just stared forward at a couple of cars with no particular interest. I heard the doors open again and then a figure stepped in front on my vision.

"Mind telling me what the hell that was all about?" Kyle asked forcefully.

I delayed a response because I didn't know what to tell him without mentioning what I knew.

"Well?" Kyle asked without losing any of the authority.

I had to tell him. "H-He can't be near Mike."

"What?"

"Your father," I said, "He can't be near Mike."

"Why the hell not?" Kyle asked. This time he sounded a little confused.

"Because Kyle, he's the one that all of this happened. He's the reason that you were mugged, the reason that Mike's in the hospital, the reason for everything that has happened."

"What are you talking ab-"

"I talked to Bosh today," I interrupted Kyle's question, "he called me in because he felt that there was more to the attack than what we thought at first. Your attack wasn't random, it wasn't even a mugging; It was suppose to be an execution. We talked to the panther and he hold us that it was your father that sent him and that bear to kill you. He knew about Cole too, they were suppose to kill him as well."

Kyle just stood there. His muzzle slightly opened as he absorbed what I told him. He put a paw to his forehead and muttered quietly, "Oh my God. Oh my God."

I was surprised that he didn't try to say that I was wrong. I expected that Kyle would think that what I said was ridiculous. It was as though he was convinced. A scared look across his face showed and he shook his head slightly as his mind raced.

I put my paw on his shoulder, "We have to get him away from Mike. We have to tell someone." I headed back toward the front doors when Kyle's paw grabbed the back of my shirt.

"No" Kyle said as I turned around.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, "He wanted to kill you and Cole."

"Because it's not him."

This really confused me, first Kyle seemed to believe what I told him and now, all of a sudden, he's defending his father.

"But the panther," I tried to remind him, "he said-"

"I know what he said, but you've got it all wrong," Kyle said quickly.

"Me?"

"Yes. There's-there's more to it than what you think."

"More than I think?"

Kyle turned around and faced away from me. Something was going on and I wanted to know what it was. Kyle started sniffing and I could tell that he was crying. Kyle said in a soft tone, "I shouldn't be telling you this."

Even though I saw that something was upsetting him, all I cared about was that someone who hires for murder is here and near both Mike and Cole. I spoke with slight anger, "What is it? Stop beating around the bush and just tell me what it is."

Kyle turned to face me and I saw his watery eyes. He closed them and looked down towards the cement that they stood on. "Promise that you wont leave me or tell anyone?"

That question really concerned me. What could he possible say that would make me want to leave him? I looked at him and said, "I promise."

He opened his eyes and look at me, "He isn't the one who hired the attack because he isn't my father."

I stood there in complete silence. Kyle's eyes looked at me as he saw me take in that bit of news. I wanted to say something to that but before I could say anything, he opened his muzzle and continued.

"And my name isn't Kyle Grey."

*******************************************

Another cliffhanger! It feels good to get back to speed on this series. Please comment, vote, and whatever else you want to do. I love hearing from you guys. Thank you for reading my stories, because if you didn't read them, then I would have no motivation to write them. I now a lot of you are probably really happy to know that nothing bad happened to Mike in this one!