"Unstrap the box," ordered Jim.

Sam complied, removing the treasure he had found on the lake bed.

"At a loss for words?" Jim continued. "No matter. It'll soon be over, Superspy."

Sam looked at Jim. Even in the dark, Sam could see the glint of Jim's eyes.  These weren't the eyes of a madman; they were the eyes of a friend.

Sam asked, "Besides my life, what else will be over?"

"You really want to know?"

"Indulge me. Start with the part about faking your own death."

"Sure, may as well. You know part of it. I was approached by an elderly man who happened to have been in Dallas the week JFK was shot. He said he knew who really was behind the assassination and he had sufficient evidence to back it up. He was right. Rich somehow got wind and kidnapped me -- well, his sidekick Laticia was the primary culprit there. I managed to escape and went out on my own.  Now I'm in it just for me.  After all I'd been through in my undercover work for the government, I had almost nothing to show for it. I wanted -- and now I'll get -- millions, maybe more."

"So you faked your death?"

"Yep. Perfectly. Even Rich bought it."

"So what's really in the box?"

"The contents in this box will start World War III -- or at least it will start the ball rolling. Once this gets out and investigations begin, everything will unravel. See, the JFK assassination, the attempted assassinations of Ford and Reagan, and the events of 9/11 are all tied together. And it'll surprise you."

"Whose kool-aid are you drinking, Jim?"

"You're the one who is deceived, Sam. See, I know there's no hope. At least not here. You know, it's not too late to change your mind."

"Never in a million years."

"Too bad. You're such a nice guy, too."

"So Rich isn't in on this with you."

"Nope, just us chickens. I'll be able to sell the contents of this box to the highest bidder. It'll be interesting to see who pays more -- my client, who wants the cat to come out of the bag, or my other client, who wants to keep it silent."

"Who are your clients?"

"You won't know them."

"Try me."

"Soo Cho."

"North Korean ambassador?"

"Very good."

"And the other?"

"Duncan Bradshaw."

Sam's heart was racing, but he continued the conversation.  "Texas oil man."

"You're good."

"Playing both ends against the middle? It won't work."

"Wanna bet? I've got four aces."

"And I've got a royal flush," said a voice in the woods.

Jim whipped around and fired in the direction of the noise!

Two gun shots fired in return. Jim fell to his knees as Nathan stepped out of the woods.

"Boy am I glad to see you," sighed Sam. "I thought you'd never get here."

BANG!

Sam fell to the ground, motionless. Jim, having fired the shot, collapsed face down in the mossy turf.

"Sam!" Nathan cried, scrambling to the side of his friend. Nathan felt Sam's neck.

"Sam ..." sobbed Mary, still tied to the tree.

"I'm sorry, Mary," sighed Nathan.

Nathan checked Jim's pulse. "He's dead too," said Nathan. "Come on Mary, we've got to get out of here." Nathan untied Mary from the tree.

"What about the box?"

"It's time to be done with it."

Nathan pried open the lid, set a small device inside the box, and closed it up.

"Stand back," he told Mary.

Within seconds, there was a small explosion. The box and all its contents went up in flames.

"Let's go," urged Nathan. "I've got men coming in minutes. They'll remove the bodies for us."

Mary and Nathan quickly left.

Moments later, unnoticed, a fisherman emerged from the brush on the other side of the cove. He viewed the bodies of Sam and Jim from afar. He came forward to check the contents of the box and found everything totally destroyed.

He sighed, swore under his breath, and pulled out his cell phone.

"Hey, it's Rich ... both are dead.  What?  Yeah, it's destroyed ... tell your guy that he's safe.  Tell Laticia I'll meet her in Minsk.  Bye."

Rich left in his boat, paddling quickly back out of the cove.

Five minutes later, Nathan and Mary came out of the woods. "I have something to show you," Nathan whispered. "Believe in miracles?"

Mary stared at him.

"He's gone," Nathan whispered.

Jim opened one eye and sat up.

Sam did likewise.

"Man you're good," said Sam.

"Not bad yourself," smiled Jim.

Mary fainted.

In the following hours, Sam, Jim, and Nathan explained everything to Mary.  For a while, Sam didn't know where Jim's allegiances were.  Jim indeed had been kidnapped, but his love for Mary was so strong that he managed to escape and put the plan into motion that would result in Rich believing the rest of Red Four was dead.

Later, Sam really had thought Jim was dead, based on the phone call he had received at his cabin earleir -- that was the only information he had to go on -- and when he first saw Jim on the shoreline, he wasn't sure at first what was happening. But when Jim called Sam "Superspy," that set into motion a protocol of events that Sam and Jim had worked out years before.   Fortunately, Nathan knew the protocol too. Rich didn't.

Sam didn't know if Jim was bluffing, but Jim had the upper hand anyway so it didn't matter. Sam went along with it, and in the end Rich left the scene believing that Jim and Sam were both dead.

With Rich no longer hunting down the other members of Red Four, Jim and Sam and families could live in relative safety; Rich, too, would be likely to let down his guard, leaving the door wide open for the government to convict him on a number of counts and put him away for a long long time.

As for Mary and Jim, and Mary and Sam ... the reuniting of Mary and Jim brought their love closer together than ever. Mary did give Sam a big hug and a small kiss good-bye.

Sam took the next flight out and went home to visit Mrs. Sam, who indeed was still enjoying being married to Sam's father after all these years.