Fateful Inheritance

Coming of age wasn't supposed to mean coming to grips. The sudden and unexpected death of a father and husband was like the impact of a frangible bullet: producing multiple wound channels that caused significant damage. A solitary grave in a rural hidden valley marked the final resting place of a deceased man who once flew from great heights in combat and later pre-negotiated treaties of potentially global economic importance. But the one paragraph obituary in a local newspaper could not do either his overt or clandestine history justice, as the legend of record was leading more than a double life.

The former spy died believing he had shaped his family members sufficiently to protect themselves from the echoes resonating out of his personal and professional exploits, with foundations allowing them to reach escape velocities and lead "normal" lives. Yet, as a master strategist, he also ensured that a mechanism was in place to guide them, just in case. Thus, when two criminal events on opposite sides of the globe set events in motion, the result disturbed the delicate equilibrium, bequeathing a fateful inheritance, passing along ponderous Marley-like chains, and revealing the enormity of the tangled Douglas legacy.