"Incendiary bullets? Are you entirely sure that's what they were?" the lead investigator asked.

A few hours had passed since the fire was brought under control and Ryan stood with his brother talking to the detectives leading the case against the Helix. If Ryan's arm hadn't already been patched up, he'd have shown the slight burns that surrounded the scar. It would heal quickly of course, because he was who he was, but the mark left no doubt about what he was shot with.

"I'm sure. The projectile was much faster than a dart and had too much piercing power to be anything else than a bullet. It left a steaming hole through a Helix advocate and set fire to whatever it hit. The explosions started as soon as one made contact inside the gas-filled kitchen."

"My brother has enough experience with arson to know his stuff. I'd take his word as fact if I were you," Carman added. His face a hard mask of rumination.

"I have no doubt, Mr. Krag. Just trying to be thorough. We know that the Helix have been building a weapon stock, but incendiary bullets that can be fired from a sniper rifle are something entirely different," he said meeting the red-head's gaze. Inspector Carson earned their respect instantly by holding his ground that way. "We'll need to start looking into possible sellers. Hell, we'll need to start looking at engineers and chemists who could even make such things."

"Agreed. We also need to deal with him," Carson's partner said, pointing to where Kyle sat a few yards away. "The Canes only ever purchased one plot of land. Now, I'm not sure how much money he's got saved in those trusts, but we can't just leave him to his own devices anymore. The Helix know we're on to them and the drug, so we can't just leave him to be snatched up."

Silence followed that point as they all saw the issue for what it was. The Helix Taijitu had grown too powerful. Kyle had told them about how the pale-faced invader used the white chord on himself and was able to shrug off a broken arm. With such a powerful tool of control in their hands, there may not be any place safe from their reach. Any who protected him, could just as easily become a pawn for the Taijitu.

Carman broke the silence. "We'll hold onto him then. Make it clear among relevant officers that the Krag family will protect Kyle Cane. As long as one of us is around, he's about as safe as it gets," he declared.

Detective Carson nodded thoughtfully, but his partner wasn't convinced. "Not to be disrespectful to such a reputable family, but I don't see why that works out for anyone. From what I've been informed, there are only five of you on the islands and two of which are children under the age of thirteen. If Cane goes with you, we risk losing valuable officers as well as the lead."

Both Carman and Ryan raised an eyebrow while Detective Carson simply smiled. "No offense taken. To be honest, I wasn't even referring to my father and the twins. My brother and I are more than enough to handle any Helix attack force. No matter who they send...well...they're still only going to be people."

The cryptic statement had the detective about to argue, but Carson put a hand up to interrupt. He knew what the Krag family was capable of when protecting someone. There was one rumor of Ryan's father protecting an Arabian girl for two weeks against an entire country's military. These two would be as good as it got.

"Alright, we'll be in touch. I know we already owe you more than we can give, but please keep Cane safe until we can deal with these bastards." Handshakes were exchanged and soon Kyle was riding in the back seat of Ryan's car, heading right back to where he'd started the afternoon.

===================the dreamer's desires=================

Julie knew she had the element of surprise going for her. When she heard footsteps approaching the door, a mischievous smile worked its way onto her lips. She quickly set to work, laying a blanket down in the center of the room where it could easily be seen. She stripped off her denim jacket and slippers, then wrapped herself in a bathing suit and splashed a glass of water over her hair.

By the time a key could be heard entering the lock, she had sprawled herself over the blanket with her phone in hand. She managed to subdue her smile as the door opened and someone walked in.

She was right in the middle of an arching yoga pose when, "Holy shit! Julie?" Ryan walked into his house followed by Kyle and his brother.

Julie's head whipped around in utter shock and- forever the actress in training- she screamed in shock and terror. Her face contorted in surprise and embarrassment. She scrambled to her feet and wrapped the bathrobe tightly around her body- silently hoping that her t-shirt and skirt weren't visible beneath. "Oh my god, Ryan? Don't you know how to knock? Get out!" she screamed again. The boys would swear that her reddening cheeks were the sign of genuine shock.

Their eyes flew wide and they immediately turned tail to run. Ryan going as far as dropping his head and mumbling his apologies as he closed the door behind them.

Julie was more than satisfied. Her heart was racing and her throat itched from forcing out such a spontaneous scream. It took almost an entire minute for Ryan to come to his senses and realize he'd been had.

When he furiously stormed back in, she had already dropped the bathrobe- Ryan's robe of course- and tied her hair into a loose blonde braid over the side of her left shoulder. Her brown eyes opened wide and stared fearfully at her furious best friend. "What the hell was that? You don't even live here!" he boomed.

She flinched with her entire body as if she'd been struck by an angry parent. Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper and she played nervously with her hair, saying, "I'm sorry Rye, please don't be mad at me. I was just trying to play."

Now it was Ryan's turn to feel wounded. She must have been crazy, he thought. The person in front of him felt like an entirely different person and he was thrown off balance. "What? Wait what? You're screwing with me, aren't you?" he growled, trying to regain control of the situation.

Then she sniffled and Julie knew she'd win from the look on their faces. Her eyes welled with tears and she dipped her head before looking at the boys. She sniffled again and said, "I'm...so," a sob interrupted her line, but she powered through it. "So sorry. Please forgive me."

Kyle spoke up for her, "Dude, chill. She was just playing around."

The other guy who looked like an older, redder Ryan stepped up and grabbed his shoulder. "It was just a joke, little brother. Don't be so harsh," he scolded.

"Okay, okay, I'm not mad. Let's just drop it," he groaned. As much as it pained him, Ryan had to admit his best friend had talent. Her performance nearly fooled him completely, and it would have if he wasn't getting used to her 'practice'. He just wished the performing arts school she went to didn't encourage her to use him as a punching bag for drama exercises. "Anyway, this is Julie Ortega. If she hasn't made it obvious enough, she's an actress.

"Julie, this is my brother, Carman and Kyle Cane. Kyle will be staying with me for the time being since his house burned down, so you'll be seeing a lot more of him," he introduced.

Yet, her attention was already on something else. Now, Julie liked to play with her friends, especially Ryan because of how much of cute boy she considered him to be, but his brother... "Oh, man..." she breathed subconsciously.

"I've seen you at school before. Julliard, right?" the insignificant- but slightly familiar- boy on the right asked. She nodded and tried for a split second to tear her eyes away from the six-foot-tall bronze statue to her left.

"Are those contacts and hair dye, by any chance? You two don't seem too similar, honestly," she practically purred.

To his credit, Carman didn't miss a beat. "Nah, the eyes are real and the hair is dyed."

Ryan could feel the sparks forming in the space between them, but he wasn't having it. "Julie, get out. I have private stuff to go over with these guys. You're not sleeping over tonight, again."

She would have killed her best friend in cold blood right then and there if she thought she could get away with it. His choice of words couldn't have been more inappropriate and he knew it too. "That's not..." she gave up when she saw the threatening amber stare and grabbed her jacket. "I'll just head out now. I guess I'll see you around, Carman."

"I hope so," the embodiment of sexiness smirked at her as she walked through the door.

Ryan saw the smirk and literally body checked his brother like an angry gorilla before running to shut the door behind her.

==

I tweaked the perspective style around to give you guys a more personal perspective this chapter. so you got a ton of Julie Ortega tunnel vision lol. What do you guys think? should I have just made it a first-person chapter?