Artemis chuckled, "It was a long time ago. Nearly two years ago, actually. The mafiya was holding my father for ransom, so I took him back."

It hadn't been the smoothest of operations, to be certain, but in the end his father had returned home safely--and a changed man at that. Artemis was beginning to see how near-death experiences had an effect on a man.

"And I'm sure there's something I haven't done. Like taking over a small country."