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The last of the boxes were being unpacked as the Richards family settled down in the living room of their new home.

There weren't quite so many boxes to move; getting a moving truck just wasn't in the cards for Steven and his family. He still believed that this was going to be a temporary move, and he hoped that by leaving some of the essentials at their old home, it would keep them motivated to cling to the idea of the life that they once had, and with any luck, the life they'd have again soon.

His family was losing trust in him, however, as they grilled him with question after question on the couch.

"So you still can't tell us anything?" his wife asked, while she wiped a little sweat from her brow. "It doesn't do well for a man to lie to his family, Steven."

"I'm not lying, Tandy. I'm just telling you all only as much as you need to know."

Living the life that he did, and working for a shadow company that effectively didn't have a name, Steven had been dancing around the subject of what he did for work for over twenty years, and his children, now adults themselves, were completely disillusioned with their father.

It was a fun game for them as children, pretending that their father was some kind of secret agent or international super spy. These days, they figured that he was in a custodial field, and just didn't want to admit what he did for a living.

"Throwing sawdust on a different pile of puke today, dad?" Tabitha asked, as she came to settle down on the loveseat across the living room. Bringing hardly anything with her, it was clear that Tabitha was taking the move the hardest, and certainly, she was still in denial about it.

Used to his daughter's dry sarcasm, Steven shook his head and managed a chuckle at her terrible joke. "You don't get to live in a house like the one that we had if you're a janitor, dear."

"Yeah, it was a really nice house," she shot back. "It makes no sense to move away from it right now."

"It does when your job doesn't give you a choice," Steven pointed out. "And the sooner I finish up the job here, the sooner we can all head back there, and we can act like this summer never even happened."

Clearly, his family wasn't sold on the idea, but Steven knew that he was locked into his situation, and he felt a certain sense of guilt for the assumed death of his old friend and co-worker, Hans. That sense of duty made him believe that he had to avenge his fallen comrade, and he knew that even if he was given a choice about accepting the assignment or not, he would have done it regardless.

"You seem to know a lot more about the town than the rest of us do," Tandy cut in. She knew that her husband was involved in a dangerous line of work, and it made her nervous for the safety of her family that they were forced to follow Steven toward the threat. "Is there anything that we should know about before we settle into our lives here?"

"Actually, there is," Steven recalled. "I'll be working in and around the dairy plant here in Stonebury. Don't drink the milk...or consume anything with dairy in it whatsoever."

This time, it was Clyde who spoke up, despite his being rather passive about the move until then. "Wait. I can't have any milk, any cheese, any ice cream the whole time we're here?"

"That's right," Steven replied calmly. "I'm sorry, but until I can assure all of you that it's safe, I need to make absolutely sure that no one eats or drinks anything with dairy in it."

As a father, Steven seemed that much worse to his adult children with his admittance, but Clyde was willing to overlook the issue. He realized that his father must have been someone very important to have such a say in what the family ate and drank, even if Tabitha was still convinced that this was all a move to torture her.

Steven was sure that Tabitha was getting ready to throw a fit when they heard a knock on the front door, and he stood right up to go answer it.

A kindly looking woman was standing on their front porch with a friendly smile. "Good afternoon, sir! I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm your next door neighbor. It's always great to see a new family here in Stonebury!"

"And our family could always use a warm welcome," Steven admitted, as he opened the screen door and welcomed his new neighbor in. "I'm Steven Richards. It's great to meet you, miss...?"

"Tina. Tina Walton," she introduced herself as she smiled and stepped inside. "We knew this house wasn't going to last long when it went up on the market. You picked a wonderful home to move into, and it's fitting for such a lovely family!"

Playing polite despite the tension in the room, Tandy smiled and stood up to greet their neighbor with a quick handshake. "Tandy Richards. Thank you for coming over to say hello! We didn't see anyone next door when we pulled in, but it's great to know there's a nice family living right beside us!"

"Everyone else is out and about today. I just happened to be home and noticed all of you pulling in!"

Tina seemed like a genuinely kind woman, but knowing what he did about the place, Steven wasn't convinced in the least that she didn't have an ulterior motive. "Real shame we couldn't get you to help with some of the boxes," he teased her, as the parents in the room shared a quick laugh. "Seriously, though, it was very nice of you to stop by. We're just getting set up here at the moment."

"Well, I won't keep you, then," Tina said. "Though I'd be terribly rude if I didn't mention that our neighbor, Ms. Schafer, was having a get-together in three weeks. She's quite well to do, and I'm sure she'd be glad to convert it into something of a welcoming party for all of you!"

Steven tried to hide the discomfort on his face. That last name was mentioned several times in his mission report, and knowing that they lived so close to such a high profile character made him hesitant to welcome Tina in; there was no doubt in his mind that she'd already been compromised.

"We'll be sure to make it, then," Steven agreed. "Can't wait to see you there!"

Tina nodded politely as she excused herself from the house, letting the Richards family unpack in a false semblance of peace.

**

Steven's cover story was much better than Hans', at least, on paper.

His work around the dairy plant wasn't something that he'd told anyone in the town except for his immediate family, but he'd need something else to keep prying eyes at bay, and his company had enough sway to pull strings when and where it was necessary.

Teaching at the local high school would give him enough of a pedestrian job that no one would consider him to be a high profile member of the community, and it would excuse any trips that he decided to make to the dairy plant as field trips, whenever he decided to go there to collect evidence.

"These sure are nice classrooms," he murmured to himself, as he stepped into one of the larger science labs. There were desks in the middle of the room, surrounded by tables on the outside edges that were equipped with test tubes, beakers and burners, allowing the students to take part in a number of different experiments. "Not a big surprise, though. They've got a budget the size of a damned football field, with the way they're pulling in money."

Acting as casual about the act as possible, Steven snapped a few pictures of the room on his smartphone, compiling all of the evidence that he could that something might be going on behind the scenes. If the tainted milk was coming from the dairy plant, it was surely leaking into the school through the cafeteria, and there might have been some sort of surplus of the same in the science labs at the school.

An experienced field agent, Steven wasn't spooked at all when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "You the new guy, mister?"

"Sure am," he replied without so much as turning around. He locked his phone and finally did spin to face whoever was addressing him, wearing a smile that was a little bit thin; he didn't want to seem too eager to be taking on his new job. "Steven Richards."

A male was standing right behind him, next to a slightly shorter female. "Brian Smith," he introduced himself, "And this is my wife, Linda. We just recently got hired here ourselves!"

"Very nice to meet you," Steven said, as he placed his smartphone in his pocket and shook hands with each of his new colleagues. "Seems that this school has a bit of a high turnaround rate. It's a little bit concerning!"

"They sure do," Brian admitted, "But I can't imagine why. All of the families in this community have been so nice to us, and the students are wonderful so far! I think some people just get bored of the small town feel and decide they want to do more with their lives."

"I know that feeling," Steven lied, "But there's nothing wrong with getting back to the basics sometimes and enjoying a calm, quiet life again."

"This is certainly quieter than things were at BYU," Linda suggested. "There's nothing wrong with a nice, quiet community to take part in, but I didn't think it got any quieter than Utah!"

Steven chuckled. "I guess you'd be surprised!"

"Indeed, but it's been quite the pleasant surprise. I'm hoping there's more of that in store for us."

"I'm sure that there will be," Steven lied yet again. He knew that if this couple stayed in the area, no matter how nice they were, their lives were going to be ruined, and there was nothing he could do about it; telling them about his mission would compromise the entire operation, and potentially doom his family. "Sorry to sound rude, but I suppose I should finish setting up my desk."

"Oh, not a problem at all!" Brian exclaimed. "We were just making the rounds with all of the new hires. Good luck to you, Steven. I'm sure you'll love it here!"

"Me too!" Steven concluded his small talk with a smile that he tried not to force too hard.

I hate it here already...just seeing all of you innocent people, completely and blissfully aware of the danger you've walked right into...I'm sorry...so, so sorry...

There was heavy guilt in Steven's heart as he closed the door to his classroom behind him and stepped into the small, cramped teacher's office in the back of the room. He knew that he'd be spending a lot of time there over the course of the next few weeks, but he didn't want to leave any hints or clues that he was an undercover agent in a place that could be so easily breached.

He hung a picture of his wife on the computer screen in the small office, and just below that, a picture of his wonderful children. His lips trembled with a heavy sigh as he embraced the cold, terrible person that he believed himself to be inside, knowing that he might have to do some horrible things before this mission was completed.

For the sake of the ones he loved, however, he'd be willing to do whatever the mission called for.

**

"They seem like a lovely family," Tina Walton spoke into her house phone, as she lazed about on the couch. "A handsome man, a beautiful woman, and two children that are at least out of high school."

"You're absolutely sure they're out of high school?" The voice on the other end of the phone replied.

"Almost certain. They're old enough to join in the festivities, anyway."

"That's good to hear. We've been struggling to keep people coming into the city lately...I was worried that we were going to stagnate. A surplus of milk is never a good thing."

"Don't worry. I'm sure you've got four new playthings living just a couple doors down from you."

"And you invited them?"

"Of course I did. What kind of a neighbor doesn't invite their new friends to a party?"

"Good...you've done well, Tina. I never would have guessed that you'd be such a useful ally, when we first met."

"You're too kind, Ms. Schafer. I'm just hoping you have as much fun with these ones as you did with my family."