Full Circle

By  Chris B.

The applause was exuberant as Commander Lee Crane, captain of the Nelson Institute of Marine Research submarine Seaview, completed his presentation on NIMR ocean research and conservation projects at the International Ocean Forum being held in Providence, Rhode Island.  He was tapped at the last minute to make the presentation for his boss and NIMR founder Admiral Harriman Nelson when Nelson was suddenly summoned to Washington D.C. to meet with the SecNav.  As he stepped down from the dais he was immediately surrounded by forum participants with questions about the Institute and spent the next hour answering their inquiries and fending off some of the more aggressive female participants.  All the while he interacted with the attendees he got the very distinct impression that he was being watched.

Excusing himself from the meeting room he headed for the elevator and returned to his room in the Biltmore Hotel.  Entering his room he sighed heavily, doffed his uniform jacket, kicked off his shoes and flopped down on the bed.  Although he was an excellent public speaker, he hated that aspect of his duties and much preferred taking care of his gray lady and her crew.  After relaxing for a moment he got to his feet and finished removing his uniform and slipped into a comfortable pair of blue jeans and an oxford shirt.  Lee grabbed his wallet and keys, pulled on his sneakers, snagged his jacket and headed out the door to amble around the downtown Providence area.

He hadn’t been back in years and it felt strange to be in this place once again. In truth it was the last place he ever wanted to revisit. The last time he’d been here was when he was in the group home he’d placed in after he was released from the hospital when he was 11 years old.  Before that he had spent nearly two years on the city’s streets desperately trying to survive while staying out of the clutches of the police and child services.  That was a lifetime ago and the life that he led now would have seemed completely inconceivable to the battered and lonely boy he was back then.

Exiting the elevator he walked over to the display of tourist pamphlets seeing what all was available.  As he stood there his sixth sense began to tingle as once again he became aware that he was being stared at by a man across the lobby.  Not enamored with the attention he quickly decided to head out of the hotel and see if he could find a good pub where he could grab a beer and hopefully a good meal.

As he exited the hotel and walked down the street he quickly spied the man from the lobby trying to discretely follow him.  Years as an ONI operative had honed his natural wariness and his constant need for situational awareness.  He quickened his pace and easily managed to shake his tail as he ducked unobtrusively into an alley.  As his shadow passed Lee quickly stepped out, grabbed the man and forced him into the alleyway.

“You want to tell me why you’re following me?” Lee asked coldly. 

The man, about Lee’s age, stared intently at Lee looking him up and down, but focusing primarily on his eyes.  Tentatively he responded. “LC?  Is it really you?”

No one had called him LC in years.  In fact the last time anyone had called him that was when he was a kid and living on the streets here in Providence.  “Do I know you?” Lee responded cautiously, wariness etched across his face.

“Oh my god, it is you. There’s nobody else I’ve ever met that has eyes like you. LC it’s me TJ.  Remember we were at the Jenkins’* place together until you busted us all out and we escaped.”

“TJ?  Terry Jacobson?” Lee inquired incredulously.  He slowly released his grip on the other man’s jacket and stepped back.

“Yeah it’s me.  I always wondered what happened to you after they took you off to the hospital.  I’ve always felt so guilty that I had to let the cops get you but you were hurt so bad there was nothing else I could do.  But it looks like things worked out well for you in the long run.” Terry replied, a big smile growing across his face.

Lee quickly looked over Terry and took notice of the name tag on his jacket that identified him as the assistant manager of the hotel.  A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as the now adult face meshed with the one belonging to the young boy he knew all those years ago.

“My god, Terry, it is you. It looks like you made things work as well; assistant manager of the Biltmore is no small accomplishment.” Lee answered.

“Yes, after everything went to hell in that alley I finally got placed in a good foster home.  Hey do you have time to go grab a beer and talk for a bit.  I’m still just stunned to realize you’re that Lee Crane, captain of the Seaview.  I would really like to hear what happened after we went our separate ways.”

“Sure, I was headed out to do just that when you started stalking me,” Lee said teasingly.  “If you know a good place to grab a drink and some dinner I’d like to hear how things went for you as well.”

“Quite obviously you still have those uncanny skills of knowing when things aren’t right.” Terry said smiling.  “As I recall on more than one occasion they were the only things that kept us alive and safe.  There’s a nice little pub called Morgan’s just down the street.  It’s quiet and has great steaks and burgers.  Would that do?”

“Sounds like a plan, lead the way.”

As they walked down the street to the pub they chatted idly about when Lee got into town and how long he was staying; the usual social pleasantries.  The important stuff could wait until they were seated with a good beer and meal.

When they entered the pub Terry nodded to the bartender and moved to his usual booth in a quiet corner of the establishment. The bartender followed after them.  “Hey Terry what can I get you and your friend tonight?”

“I’ll take a Guinness, Sam.  What would you like LC, I mean Lee?”

“I’ll have an amber ale, if you’ve got it.” Lee replied.

“Sure thing, I’ll be right back with your drinks.  Do you need menus tonight as well?” Both men nodded then sat quietly waiting for their drinks to arrive.  Sam rapidly returned with their beers and the menus.  Lee and Terry quickly made their dinner decisions and placed their order.

Terry picked up his beer, “To old friends.”

“Old friends.” Lee echoed and they both took a deep draught of their drinks.  “So why didn’t you just come up to me in the hotel instead of following me?”

Terry turned a bit red.  “Well I wasn’t sure if it was you at first, and I really didn’t want to bring it up in front of everyone.  It’s not like I could come up and say ‘Hey are you the same kid that lived in the abandoned warehouse with me all those years ago?’  It’s not something I really would want brought up in public.”

Lee laughed and nodded his agreement.  “So tell me what happened with you after we got split up.”

“Well after that scene in the alleyway the cops managed to grab me and Alice before we could make our escape, which turned out to be a really good thing.  We both got placed in a good foster home and stayed with the Mitchells until we both headed off to college.  For all intents and purposes they are our parents and have always made us feel we were home.  That’s something I never in my wildest dreams expected to find.” Terry answered.  “How about you?”

“I spent about two weeks in the hospital after they sewed up the knife wound and set my broken arm.  After that they put me in a group home with a bunch of other kids.  It wasn’t bad; it was clean, there was good food to eat and they made sure we all went to school and stayed out of trouble, as much as possible.” Lee chuckled.

“Anyway I really took to the school part and after about six months they had me take some tests and shortly following that I was awarded a scholarship to Farragut Military Academy, and the rest as they say is history.  I really thrived in that environment for some reason; I think it was having that structure and a set routine after all those years of having nothing.  I did well and got into the Naval Academy and never looked back.  I really need to thank you for getting help; I know you didn’t want to but in actuality it made everything else in my life possible.”

“Hell LC if you hadn’t taken Cougan on, you and I would probably be dead or worse and I shudder to think where Alice would have wound up.  I still have nightmares about that.” The two men stared down at their drinks for a moment as they drifted back in time then finally raised their glasses and silently toasted each other again.

“So do you know what happened to Alice?” Lee asked breaking the somber silence.

“Oh yeah, I know exactly what happened to Alice.  She and I got married shortly after we graduated from college.  She’s working as an accountant for one of the big accounting firms here in town; in fact she was just promoted to senior program manager for one of their divisions.  I couldn’t be more proud of her.  We have a daughter, Emily, who is 12 and the light of our lives.”  Terry answered.  “How about you; is there anyone special in your life?”

“That’s great to hear.  I couldn’t be happier for you both; you deserve it after all you’ve been through.” Lee answered.  “Not really, I haven’t had the time to have much of a personal life.  The Navy kept me pretty busy and it’s only gotten busier working for NIMR.  I totally love what I do and have some great friends that are more like family.”

“Glad to hear it.  I know Alice would love to see you again Lee, would you be able to come to the house for dinner tomorrow night?”

“That would be great; I would love to see her again too.  I’ve got to head over to Brown University tomorrow and meet with the president and some of the other officials regarding scholarships and research programs but I’m free after that.” Lee answered.

“Great! Why don’t you come out to the house and we can sit and reminisce about the bad old days and catch up on all the good ones.”  Terry replied.

“Sounds like a plan.”

Sam showed up then with their meals and they spent the next couple of hours eating and chatting about what was going on in their lives.  When they finished they walked back to the hotel, Lee went up to his room and Terry headed home.

It was nearly 2300 by the time Lee made it back to his suite.  He cleaned up then crawled into bed feeling spent from the day’s events.  Tired as he was there were too many old memories crawling out from the recesses of his mind where he had stashed them all those years ago.  He laid there quietly staring up at the ceiling seeing it all dance before his eyes once again.

oooOOOooo

It had been over a year and a half since they had all escaped from the Jenkins’ place, their so called foster parents, and made it to Providence. Lee, TJ and Alice had become fast friends and they had finally found a place to live in an abandoned old warehouse on the edge of the downtown area where they could stay safe from the other people roaming the streets.  There were five or six other kids who had claimed places within the huge structure but they all kept their hideout secret knowing full well if too many people found it, unsavory types would come calling and eventually the cops would catch on to the fact that they were there.

The three of them had taken over one of the small offices on the top floor and managed to find a mattress for them all to sleep on along with a number of blankets and a few pillows.  Someone who had used the room before had set up a small wood stove and vented it out the window.  That was a bonus as they could at least have some warmth in the winter and heat up what food they found or were able to buy.  TJ was the oldest at 13, Alice was12 and Lee 11.  Although he was the youngest Lee was the tallest of the group and the unofficial leader of their little troupe. He had been the one that had got them away from the Jenkins and the one that had found them places to live; taking care of them and being responsible for everyone just seemed to be a natural inclination for him.

They each had their own talents; TJ was the best at finding food, Alice was best at getting spare change from people and Lee ensured they all stayed safe.  He always made sure they had more than one way in or out of where they stayed; he kept a wary eye on the neighborhood and for new people sniffing around their hideout.  He seemed to always be able to feel when something wasn’t right and they were in danger, it was as though he had a sixth sense that alerted him to changes that posed a threat to them.  More than once that ability saved them from either being caught by the cops or by other denizens of the street that meant them no good.

As he thought back over it, that was actually one of the happier times of his young life.  He had true friends, family in a way, and they all looked out for each other. They were eating regular enough, no one was beating him up or yelling at him and they had been able to stay in their current place for almost six months.  He should have known it was too good to last.

oooOOOooo

The meetings at Brown went very well and Lee finished up his business early.  He was excited about hooking up with Terry and Alice that evening and reconnecting with his friends from long ago. He was thrilled that they had done so well after having such a rocky start in life; they definitely deserved it.  He hit a local florist’s shop and bought a nice bouquet of flowers for Alice and the liquor store for a good bottle of wine for dinner then went back to his hotel to get changed.  At 1800 he headed out the door and down to the garage to grab his rental car and drive over to Terry and Alice’s place. 

It was about a 20 minute trip and took him to one of the older neighborhoods comprised of tree lined streets with many houses from the early days of Providence’s history.  The whole place looked like the quintessential historic New England town with all the colonial houses lining the street.  Lee pulled into the driveway and killed the engine.  He noticed the large yellow ribbons tied around a number of the trees in front of their house and figured they probably had a friend in the military deployed somewhere overseas and were awaiting their return.  As he stepped out of the car he was immediately greeted by Terry as he descended the front steps.  

“Lee, good to see you again,” Terry called out.

“Hey Terry, how are you doing tonight?” Lee responded as he shook Terry’s outstretched hand.

“Doing well, thanks.  You wouldn’t believe how excited Alice got when I told her who was coming for dinner.  I think that’s the cleanest the house has been since we moved in.” Terry replied with a laugh.

“She didn’t need to go to all that trouble for me.” Lee said with a smile.

“There was nothing that could be done to prevent that.  After she planned out the menu and did all the food prep, she was just a bundle of excitement and that was the only way she was going to burn off the excess energy.”  They both started laughing; each knowing well how Alice acted when she got excited about something. 

As they stood there talking Alice emerged from the house.  “LC?  Oh my god it really is you!” she said as she bolted down the steps and jumped into his arms.  They exchanged hugs and then backed up taking in each other all grown up.

Alice had grown into a beautiful, willowy, woman, standing about 5’8”, long blond hair and dark chocolate brown eyes.  Terry was slightly taller but just as thin with short brown hair and brown eyes.   Lee was still the tallest and still looked years younger than the rest of the group.  They stood there for what seemed forever just taking in the sight of each other amazed that they all survived and had done so well.

“Wow you clean up nice Alice.” Lee said with a big grin. 

“Not too bad yourself, LC.  Looks like you still have that baby face; don’t you ever age? Terry tried to describe how you looked last night, but he just didn’t do you justice.” She replied with a laugh.

“I guess he needs to work on his descriptive skills, you’re even prettier than he described you.  You guys are a great looking couple.  I couldn’t be happier that you ended up together; you always were so close.” Lee replied.  “Here, these are for you,” he said offering her the flowers he had purchased.

Alice blushed slightly and accepted the flowers.  “Thanks LC, I mean Lee, you didn’t need to do this.”

“I thought a lovely hostess deserved some pretty flowers.” Lee replied.

“Well why don’t we head inside, it’s a lot more comfortable.” Terry said patting Lee on the back and motioning towards the front door.  They moved across the walk and into the house.

“This is a really beautiful house,” Lee said looking around as he entered.

“Thanks,” Terry replied.  “We’ve been here about two years now and Alice has been busily making it a true home.  As you can see she has great taste.”  Alice blushed and gave her husband a quick hug then moved off into the kitchen to tend to dinner.  “Can I get you something to drink, Lee?”

“Scotch if you’ve got it.” Lee replied.

“Sure thing, I’ve a very nice single malt here.  Neat or on the rocks?” Terry asked.

“On the rocks, please.”

As Terry worked on getting drinks for them Lee walked around the living room looking at the family pictures on the wall.  There were a couple of Terry and Alice in their teens with an older couple, who Lee assumed were the Mitchells, a number of a young girl at varying ages and a few of the three of them.  Lee smiled at how happy they all looked and was again thrilled that Terry and Alice had found happiness and family.

Terry walked over to Lee and handed him his drink.  “Thanks.  Is this your daughter Emily?  She’s beautiful.” Lee remarked.

“Yes, that’s her.” Terry answered somewhat sadly.

Lee turned and looked at his old friend.  “Is something wrong?”

“Emily has gone missing.  It’s been about a month now.  We’ve had the police engaged in trying to find her but they are of the opinion that she’s a runaway.  That’s not something Emily would have done.  She’s a straight A student, very active at school and in the community volunteer program and is keenly aware that living on the streets is not something she should ever resort to.”

“I’m sorry to hear that; I can only imagine what you’re feeling.  I wondered about the ribbons on the trees, I assume they are for Emily.” Lee replied quietly.

“Yes they’re for Emily.  We’re not giving up hope plus we’re looking to hire a private investigator to start looking for her in addition to whatever the cops may or may not be doing.  Alice and I have always been up front with Emily about how we grew up and let her know no matter what problems she may have that we would always be here for her and that life on the streets was no solution.” Terry responded.

Alice came back into the living room and slid her arm around her husband’s waist.  There was a profound sadness in both their faces.  Terry eased his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug and kissed her on the forehead.

“We’re hopeful that she’s all right, we have to be.  As Terry said we can’t see her willingly running away from home; she knows how hard and dangerous it can be out there.  She has always been a happy child, never lacking for attention or just about anything she ever needed.  One of her favorite community service activities has been working at the food bank and homeless shelter in the city so she’s seen firsthand how hard it can be on the streets. In fact she had just finished her volunteer time at the shelter when she disappeared,” Alice said after a moment.

“Again I’m truly sorry,” Lee said.  “You know I do have access to a number of ‘special’ resources, I may be able to check into a few things if you can give me the information regarding her disappearance and a photo.”

Terry and Alice’s faces lit up at that bit of news.  “Really?!  That would be absolutely fantastic Lee; anything would be a help.  I’ve got all the police and missing person reports here and can make copies for you before you leave.” Terry responded.

“I’d be happy to do anything I can to help.” Lee said earnestly.

“Thank you Lee. This is truly unexpected and very welcome.  I guess our reunion was supposed to be; it seems like you’ve always been there to come to our rescue.  I know we’ll find Emily now that we’re back together.” Alice answered with a small smile.  “There’s not much we can do right now, so why don’t we sit down and catch up on all that’s gone on in our lives since that day.”

They spent the rest of the evening telling each other where life had taken them after they were separated following the attack in the alley.  Terry and Alice told of how they were placed in a foster home with an older couple living in the suburbs.  After their rocky start in life they finally found the family they had longed for in the Mitchells.  The Mitchells had lost their only child in a car crash and filled the void by becoming foster parents to Terry and Alice.  They doted on them both and the love and respect was returned a hundred fold by the two children they had taken in and rescued.

Lee went over what happened after he was taken to the hospital with a knife wound in his side and a broken left arm.  He told how he had been first gone to a group home then was given a scholarship to a local military academy and upon graduation was accepted into the US Naval Academy.  From there he went on about his time in the Navy, his current life as captain of NIMR submarine SSRN Seaview and his friends and family there.

They talked well into the night; Lee finally said his farewell around midnight and headed back to the hotel.  He would be returning to Santa Barbara in the morning but promised as soon as he got home he would start tapping his resources to see what he could dredge up on Emily’s disappearance. 

oooOOOooo

Returning to his room, Lee set to repacking his bags; he had an early flight in the morning and it would make his 0500 departure from the hotel less stressful if it was already done.  He laid out his clothes for his trip back, set up his wakeup call then climbed into bed and shut off the lights.  Thoughts of that day long ago quickly consumed his thoughts as he lay there in the dark again just staring at the ceiling.

That day, that ‘day’ loomed large in Lee’s thoughts now that everything had been pulled back into the light.  He always felt he had let his friends down allowing Cougan to get that close to them.  For several days LC had had a gnawing feeling that something wasn’t quite right around their hideaway, that someone was watching them.  Every time they went out, LC tried in vain to spot whoever was out there tracking their movements but never seemed to be able to lock in on anyone.  He debated with himself if he should tell TJ and Alice that he thought they were being watched and maybe this place wasn’t safe anymore.  All things considered they had a nice place to stay and he hated the thought of them having to pack up and find somewhere new to live.  He finally convinced himself he was just being silly and there was no need to worry the other two.  In the end he kept his sense of foreboding to himself, something that would always weigh heavily on his conscience.

The day before ‘that day’ they headed out to get food and some wood for the stove.  It was early spring and still quite cold at night.  TJ headed off to hit the various dumpsters behind the grocery store and local restaurants to pick through them and pull out what they could eat, LC went out looking for broken pallets and other things that could be used as fuel for their stove and Alice headed out to try and get some spare change from the morning commute crowd down by the bus station. 

As usual after about four hours they all returned to their hideaway to warm up and have   something to eat.  Lee and TJ had returned first and were already in their little room watching out the window for Alice’s return.  TJ was the first to spot her as she rounded the corner and then they saw an old, light yellow sedan pull up next to her and start pacing her as she walked down the street, the driver apparently talking to her as they moved.  From the way she moved back from the car and kept looking straight ahead, it was obvious that Alice wanted nothing to do with the people inside.  The boys watched in horror as suddenly the car pulled to a halt and a man sprang out of the back grabbed Alice and forced her into the car.  Alice fought as hard as she could as she screamed for help from her friends.

“Noooooo!” both TJ and LC screamed as Alice disappeared into the backseat.  They immediately flew out of the room and down the stairs to try and help her.  As they burst out of the door they hit the street just in time to see the back end of the car disappear around the corner.  They ran for all they were worth trying in vain to catch up to the car.  When they reached the corner the car was nowhere in sight, they stood their panting their shoulders drooped in resignation and despair.

LC buried his head in his hands fighting hard to keep back the tears.  He should have said something sooner, he should have listened to that little feeling he had and told them that he thought they were being watched.  He should have insisted that they find a new place to live since he somehow knew things were no longer safe.  This was all his fault. ‘I’m so sorry Alice,’ he said to himself.

TJ was likewise fighting back the tears of frustration and dread.  “Alice, oh Alice,” he kept repeating over and over again.

After a few moments, Lee raised his head and gently placed his arm around TJ’s shoulder.  “Come on TJ, let’s go back inside and start making a plan to find her and get her back.”

TJ turned his head and looked at LC, the tears freely streaming down his face.  “We gotta get her back LC, I can’t lose Alice too.”  TJ had lost his entire family in a house fire and with no relatives had become a ward of the state.  He had only started to open up and relax when Alice joined their little group at the Jenkins’ place; he and Alice had bonded instantly.

“We’ll find her, I promise.” LC replied.

Fighting back the tears and focusing their resolve, the boys turned around and went back to their hideaway to start making plans on how to find her.  Returning to their room they sat down and began recalling everything they could about the car and the man they saw get out of the car and grab Alice.

“What do you remember about the car?” asked LC.

“Let’s see, it was an old one, I think it was a Buick, four doors, faded yellow paint with a big dent in the left rear panel.” TJ said screwing his eyes shut as he concentrated on visualizing the car.

“Yeah.  The left rear tail light was broken and I remember the license plate had 688 T …something.  There was a pukey green bumper sticker on the right side of the rear bumper with black letters.  I can’t remember what it said but there was a drawing of a gun on it.” LC added.  “Do you remember seeing that car anywhere we hang out or the guy that grabbed Alice?”

The boys sat quietly mentally running through all the places they usually go and what vehicles they were used to seeing in those places.  After a minute or so TJ’s eyes popped open when he realized he had seen that car before.  “I’ve seen it before, LC!” TJ yelled.

LC looked up quickly startled by TJ’s outburst.  “Where, where have you seen it?”

“Over by Denton’s Market and all those old apartment buildings; it’s usually parked on the street about halfway down the block.”

“Come on,” LC called out as he jumped to his feet and bolted towards the door.  “We need to get down there and see if we can spot it.  We find the car then hopefully we can follow them and find Alice.”

The boys flew out of the door and down onto the street running the ten blocks to Denton’s Market.  They moved to one of the apartment buildings and were able to get up the fire escape and make it to the roof where they could scope out the entire area.  The hours passed interminably slow as they kept watch for the yellow sedan. It was cold and well into the night before they finally spotted the car.  They sat there shivering as they covertly watched two men get out of the vehicle and enter the apartment building across the street.  They now had a building and as soon as they got a look at the face of the man that got out of the passenger side they knew they had found who they were after.

“Gotcha,” said LC quietly as he eyed the apartment building and saw the lights in a third floor room go on.

“What do we do now?” TJ asked quietly.

“Well we can’t go to the cops cuz they’d never believe us, plus they’d grab us in a heartbeat and probably send us back to the Jenkins.  Do you remember if the car is usually there when you hit Denton’s in the morning?” LC replied.

“Yeah, it’s usually still there and stays there until well after I’ve made all the dumpsters in the area.” TJ offered.

“Good that means they probably sleep late.  Let’s go back home, we need to make a plan and I’m getting cold.” LC answered.

“Are you sure we should leave?  I mean they could take off at any time and then we wouldn’t be able to find Alice.”

“They gotta sleep and so do we.  We know where they live and we’ll be back long before they leave in the morning.  I’ve got some ideas about how to get Alice back and we need to talk them over. Kay?” LC said.

“Okay LC.  I’m getting cold and a little bit hungry too.” TJ finally said acquiescing to LC’s logic.  They quickly descended the fire escape and made their way back to their room.

Once inside LC lit a small fire in the stove to drive off the chill and wrapped himself up in a blanket.  TJ did the same.  They sat there quietly watching the flames sway and dance caught up in the sinking feeling that they may never see Alice again.  After a few minutes LC stood up and went over to the vent shaft on the far side of the room and pulled the grate open.  He withdrew a small packet that held his ‘tools’ then returned to the stove, sat down in front of it and opened the packet.  Inside were a number of slender picks, a knife and a small coil of nylon line.

“Whatcha thinking LC?  What are you going to do with that stuff?” TJ finally asked.

“When we lived down by the bus station, my friend Slapjack showed me how to pick car locks.  I’m thinking if we go back down to where the car is parked, I can pick the lock on the trunk and then we can climb inside and wait for them to drive back to where they took Alice.  I’m hoping they’re keeping her some place and haven’t…” LC said his words trailing off.  He couldn’t finish his thought out loud as all the bad things they could have done to Alice filled him with fear.

TJ nodded solemnly, his eyes wide with dread, he too knowing what they could have done to Alice.  “That sounds like a good plan.  That street gets real quiet at night so no one will see us.  Geez I hope they haven’t hurt Alice; I miss her so much.”

“Me too.” LC said with a quiet sniffle.

oooOOOooo

Lee’s trip home had been the flight from hell, delays at every turn and then an accident on the freeway that closed down the road for nearly 3 hours.  By the time he hit Santa Barbara he was totally spent and decided to just go home instead of dropping by the office.  He hadn’t been sleeping well since reuniting with Terry and Alice with all the memories that evoked along with his promise to try and help them find their daughter Emily.

As soon as he made it through the door Lee headed up to his study and booted up his computer so that he could search the not so public websites and databases he had access to as an ONI operative. He accessed the national missing children’s database then quickly input the information regarding the case and started accessing surveillance video footage with face recognition software from the area where she was last seen to see if he could spot Emily anywhere on the streets before she vanished.  He started the program running then headed to his bedroom peeling off his uniform as he went.

He pulled on a pair a shorts and a tee shirt then headed downstairs to the kitchen to grab a beer and sit back and relax for a bit.  He moved out to the deck and sank down gratefully into his favorite lounge chair and sipped on his beer as he watched the tide come in and went over in his mind all that had happened on his trip.  About an hour later he was pulled from his contemplation by the sound of his doorbell.  He figured it was probably Chip Morton, his Executive Officer and best friend/surrogate brother and stayed put knowing he would let himself in after the courtesy bell.

“Hey Lee you home?” Chip called out as he ambled through the living room and headed for the deck.

“Hey Chip, go grab a beer and come on out.” Lee replied looking over his shoulder towards the door.

A couple of minutes later Chip emerged onto the deck with a beer in one hand and slowly divesting himself of his tie with the other.  “Welcome back.  We missed you at the office this afternoon.” He plopped down in the chair next to Lee and sighed in relief as he took a swallow of his beer.

“Yeah, I was just too beat to head in.  The trip back was a total pain and then once I finally did make it out of the airport I got caught up in that accident on the highway and had to sit there for another 3 hours.  By the time everything broke free I just wanted a cold beer and quiet place to sit.” Lee replied.

“You really didn’t miss much with both you and the admiral gone things have been quiet.  We’ve been looking for more ways to arrange that more often.” Chip answered with a smile.

Lee laughed.  “Yeah, I just bet you have.  So is everything set up for the start of the refit and system upgrades?”

“Everything is squared away and ready to roll come Monday.” Chip said as he looked over his friend and CO.  “Man you do look beat.  Did you sleep at all while you were gone?”

“Not really, I seemed to toss and turn every night.  The trip went as planned so there was no worry there; I’m probably just fretting about the upcoming modifications to Seaview.”

“That’s probably it.” Chip responded but he could tell that there was something else playing on Lee’s mind and at this point in time he was not inclined to share what that was.  “So you want to order a pizza and watch the sun set?”

“Nah, I think I’m going to take a rain check, I really am tired.  I think I’ll grab something from the freezer and then head off to bed and see if I can catch up on some sleep.  How about tomorrow night?” Lee answered.

“Works for me.  You really do look like you could use more than a few good night’s sleep.  I’ll see you tomorrow at work, okay?” Chip said as he polished off his beer and rose to his feet.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Alrighty then, I’m gonna shove off and let you relax.  Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Night Chip.” Lee replied and waved to Chip as he went back into the house and out the front door.

Lee sat on the deck sipping absently at his beer pondering how best to proceed with the search for his friend’s daughter.  His surveillance footage review program was going to take time and without some hint as to where to start it was going to be difficult at best to do anything from California.  As he watched the sun begin to sink into the sea he flashed back again to Providence.

oooOOOooo

In was nearly 3 a.m. as LC worked quietly on the trunk lock until suddenly there was a click and it lifted slightly as the latch released.   He eased the trunk open just wide enough to crawl in without letting the trunk light turn on.  TJ climbed in next and they jammed the lock so it couldn’t be slammed shut then strung the nylon line through the trunk hasp and pulled it almost completely closed so it looked as though it was locked.  The night was cold and the boys huddled together trying to keep warm; it was going to be a long wait.

They knew it was getting late in the morning as they began to hear the street noise pick up as people came out of the buildings and headed off to work, or school or wherever they needed to go.  The sun was up and began warming the car much to the relief of the boys inside.  After what seemed to be a lifetime they finally felt someone open the car doors, climb in and fire up the engine.  The car was put in gear and they were off, hopefully to where their friend Alice had been taken.

There were multiple stops as the guys driving stopped for breakfast then went to the grocery store, a liquor store and finally into a section of town full of old abandoned buildings.  With each stop the boys would carefully raise the trunk to try and get an idea of where they were.  Seeing this old part of town they figured this had to be the place where they were keeping Alice.  Once they were sure that the guys up front had gone into the building they slowly opened the trunk and quietly climbed out.

They were surrounded by dingy dark buildings on a long forgotten street; junk piled around everywhere, weeds had claimed all the cracks in the pavement and there was very little sign that anyone had been in the area for some time.  Not wanting to be caught LC and TJ quickly ducked behind an old dumpster and some broken pallets to wait for the men to come out and leave.  It was cold in this place as the sun didn’t seem to make it into the recesses between the buildings and the boys shivered violently trying to get warm.  Rats scurried back and forth between the various piles of trash looking for something to eat.  The boys’ stomachs growled as well as they hadn’t eaten since before they climbed into the back of the car.

“Do you think she’s in there?” TJ asked quietly.

“Don’t know but it seems like a really good place to hide somebody,” LC replied as he scanned the broken windows trying to find any sign of movement and looking for another way into the building.  “I think we should wait until these guys leave and then try and get inside to check it out.  If she’s not there we’ll just do the same thing tomorrow night till we find her.  Okay?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.”

The boys huddled together trying to keep warm as they maintained their watch on the building and the car.  After about an hour the men came out joking and laughing about something then climbed into the car and drove off.  When they were quite sure the men were gone, the boys eased themselves out of their hiding place and started scouting around the building to find another way in.

They finally found a door leading down into the basement that was unlocked.  Slowly LC pushed opened the door and cringed as it creaked loudly.  They both froze instantly listening intently for any indication that they had alerted anyone inside to their presence.  After a few moments they were sure no one had heard them and cautiously entered the room.

They found themselves in an old boiler room that hadn’t seen use in decades.  Thick sheets of cobwebs hung from all the rafters, dirt and debris covered the floor and only a wan glow of sunlight was able to push its way through the grimy windows located near the ceiling.  Across the room they spied a short flight of stairs going up to a closed door.  They walked carefully over to the door taking special care not to trip over anything that could alert someone they were in the building.

Reaching the stairs LC stopped and indicated TJ should stay there while he checked it out.  He slowly climbed the steps silently and then gently grabbed the door knob and tried turning it.  Much to his relief the knob turned easily and he eased the door open to check out what was behind it.  As he peered out the crack he spied a long hallway lined with a number of doors, at the end of the corridor was a kind of lobby and a staircase leading up to the next floor.  Most of the doors were open and there didn’t appear to be any footprints in the dirt on the floor so LC figured there was probably no one in that hallway and cautiously opened the door wider and stepped out.

LC silently worked his way down the corridor peeking surreptitiously into each room making sure they were empty.  Once he reached the end of the hall, having checked all the rooms he waved to TJ letting him know it was safe to follow.  TJ stepped quietly into the hallway and walked quickly over to LC so they could continue their search of the building.

At the base of the staircase was a larger lobby where a number of hallways converged, they saw a well-worn trail in the dirt on the floor leading up the stairs and back down the hallway towards the door the men entered.  That told them that the men went upstairs to take care of their business and if Alice was here they would most likely find her there. 

“TJ go stakeout the front door and let me know if anyone shows up.  I’m going to sneak upstairs and see if I can find anything,” LC said softly.

“Okay.  Be careful,” whispered back TJ as he moved down the hallway.

LC slowly started making his way up the staircase trying desperately not to make any noise that would alert anybody in the building.  As he made it to the second floor landing he looked quickly around finding the floor layout similar to the one below.  He scanned the floor and noticed that apparently no one had been down those halls in a while so he continued up to the next floor.  Reaching the third floor it was immediately obvious this is where the men had gone.  Most of the doors on this floor were shut and there were hasps with padlocks on those doors making sure nothing got in or out. LC stood quietly on the landing listening intently for the slightest sound that would indicate if someone was up there but everything remained silent.

He quickly looked up the next flight of stairs and saw that no one had been up those steps in some time so whatever they were doing was located here on the third floor and just down the one hallway.  LC cautiously walked down the length of the hall with all the locked doors checking things out.  Reaching the one door with no lock, he carefully turned the knob and eased it open and peered inside.

The room had been converted into a makeshift kitchen there was a large propane camp stove with a big pot on top and racks filled with big cans of soup and tuna, lots of bottled water and jars of peanut butter and loaves of bread.  There were also stacks of Styrofoam bowls and plates, boxes of plastic spoons and rolls of toilet paper and paper towels.  He also spotted a number of propane lanterns which were most likely the only source of light at night. LC figured they probably grabbed lots of kids and kept them here until they could send them somewhere else.  He quickly exited the room and headed back downstairs to get TJ.

“Hey TJ come on up,” LC said from midway down the second floor staircase.

“On my way.  Nobody’s been back since those guys left.  What did you find?” TJ replied as he quickly climbed the stairs.

“There are all these locked doors and a kitchen stocked up with all kinds of food.  I think they probably bring the kids they snatch here and keep them until they do whatever they do with them.” LC replied.  “There’re no adults up here so I think we should start knocking on doors and see if anyone is behind them.  Hopefully Alice is here.”

“Okay.  I’ll start at this end and you go to the other and we’ll meet in the middle.”

LC nodded in agreement and hurried down to the last room in the hallway.  Both boys knocked softly on each door and listened intently for any sound.  On the third door that LC knocked on he got a response.  “Who’s there?” answered a frightened voice from behind the door.

“I’m LC, who are you?”

“I’m Rebecca.  Can you get me out of here, please?”

LC looked down the hall and called out to TJ.  “Hey I found somebody, have you had any luck?”

“Not yet.  Is it Alice?” he yelled back.

“No her name is Rebecca.” LC replied.

Suddenly they heard a loud pounding on one of the unchecked doors.  “I’m Alice, is that you TJ, LC?” the voice screamed.

“Alice!” both boys yelled in unison.  They hurried down the hallway to the door and knocked.  “Alice, are you in there?” TJ called.

“Yes!  I knew you guys would come for me, I just knew it.” Alice replied tearfully.

“Is there anyone else here besides Rebecca and Alice?” LC called out down the hall.  Three more names were called out from behind the remaining doors and LC moved quickly to each one and let them know they would try and get them out.  “Does anyone know what time they usually come back?” LC hollered down the hall.

“They usually don’t come back til dark.” Rebecca replied.

“How come they brought you here, Alice?” TJ inquired.

“The guy who grabbed me, Cougan, said they were going to sell us to some men for sex.  Said they get lots of money for us and pretty boys too.  He kept asking me where you two holed up.  You gotta get us out of here; I don’t want to be like the hookers down by the bus station.” Alice answered as she started to cry.

“Hang on Alice; I’ll see if I can pick the locks like I did at Jenkins.” LC said trying to ease her fears.  “Can you guys see the street below where they park their car?”

“No, they painted the windows black.”

“See if you can scratch off the paint, we need everyone on lookout so we know if they come back early.” LC said.  “Did you all hear that? Can you all scrape off a peep hole so you can watch for those jerks?”

All the girls answered “Yes.”

“If anybody shows up, sing out loud, okay?” LC instructed.  “TJ see if you can find anything we can use to pry these locks off.  I’m going to start working on this one to see if I can get it open.  If I can’t we need a plan B.”

“Gotcha, I’ll be back in a flash.” TJ called as he flew down the stairs back to the boiler room.

LC pulled out his small packet and drew out the lock picks and started working on the lock to Alice’s door.  It was slow work as he manipulated the tools in and out of the keyhole.  He really hoped TJ would come back with something they could use and make this go much faster.

About 20 minutes later TJ returned carrying a long piece of rebar.  “LC this is the only thing that I could find that I think we can use to break the locks.”

“Let’s give it a try; I’m having a tough time getting the right moves in the lock.” LC replied.

Taking the piece of rebar they wedged it between the hasp and the door and then pushed down on it with all their might.  The hasp pulled out of the door just a bit but they didn’t have the strength or weight necessary to force it all the way out.  They tried three or four more times on Alice’s door to no avail.  Next they moved to each of the other doors and had a similar lack of success.

“Damn! There’s no way we’re gonna break those locks.  I guess it’s all up to you and your magic fingers.” TJ said patting LC on the back giving him all the encouragement he could.

LC sighed heavily and returned to Alice’s door.  “Okay, we gotta do this the hard way.  You girls keep your eyes peeled and sing out if anyone shows up.”

After two hours the lock on Alice’s door finally dropped open.  LC smiled and said a silent prayer that at least he would be able to get her out.  He removed the lock and then opened the door to be nearly tackled as Alice jumped into his arms.  They hugged each other fiercely as TJ came over and joined in on their happy reunion.  Tears of joy streamed down Alice’s face as she kept squeezing the living daylights out of her two heroes.

“Okay, okay.  I’m glad to see you too,” laughed LC.  “Let me go so I can start working on the other locks and we can get everyone out.  Hopefully I can do this faster or we’re going to run out of time.”

As LC moved down the hall to the next door Alice glommed on to TJ and would not let him go.  TJ was holding on to her just as tightly as he reveled in having his friend back.  “Come on let’s go to the kitchen and get some sandwiches; I’m kind of hungry.  I heard LC’s stomach growl a while ago so I know he’s hungry too.”  Alice smiled brightly and wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded.  They moved into the kitchen and started making lunch for their group. 

LC was able to get the next lock off in just over an hour and Rebecca joined them.  He was gaining confidence in his skills as he worked on each lock.  It was well past noon now and he was feeling the pressure to get the rest of the locks open before Cougan and the other man returned.  He moved to the next door and within another hour Karen was free.  Dianne joined the list of the freed 45 minutes later and LC moved on to the final door.

As he looked at the lock on the door his heart sank, this lock was different from the others making it harder to figure out which moves he needed to get it open.  He just hoped that this one was easier than the other four or they were going to run out of time.  LC had been at the lock for over an hour when he heard Jenny call out.  “Hurry they’re back!”

Everyone’s head shot up, eyes wide and full of fear as they heard those words.  LC was the first to recover.  “TJ get the girls down to the basement fast and get the hell out of here.  Go hide in one of the other buildings or go looking for a cop, just go!”

“Oh god, please don’t leave me,” wailed Jenny from behind the locked door.

“We’re not leaving you,” TJ called.  “Come on girls we gotta go get help.  Jenny how many people are in the car?”

“It looks like it’s just Cougan.  Please don’t leave me, please.” Jenny cried.

“Get the girls and go,” LC yelled.  “Hurry before he gets in here and sees you.  He’s gonna be pissed as it is.  Once you get outside see if you can make a diversion so he comes back out.  Do something to his car like honk the horn and break the windows then run like hell.”

“What are you gonna do LC?” asked Alice her eyes wide with fear.

“I’m gonna keep working on this lock as long as I can.  If you guys can draw him off hopefully that will give me the time I need to get this to open.  Jenny what’s he doing?”

“He’s just sitting in the car, looks like he’s talking to someone on a car phone.” Jenny answered.

“Guys get out of here before he comes in.  Don’t kick up the dust or nothing so he doesn’t know where you went.  Hurry, go!” LC ordered as he continued to work on the lock.  “Jenny let me know when he comes in, okay?”

“Kay.”

TJ and the girls hurried down the hallway and down the stairs towards the boiler room.  Just as they cleared the lobby they heard the door open behind them and knew Cougan was coming in.  They raced down into the boiler room then out the back door.  TJ sent the girls to go find a cop or anyone to bring help. 

Meanwhile he turned and ran towards Cougan’s car.  He found a stick lying on the ground then opened the driver’s door and wedged the stick between the horn and the seat making it blare uninterrupted; he then locked all the doors so Cougan would have to use the keys to shut the noise off. Next he grabbed the broken bricks and rocks along the street and started pelting the windshield putting big spider web breaks in the glass.

As the horn started to blare, TJ heard Cougan swear loudly from inside and the sound of his boots running back down the stairs.  He burst through the door into the alleyway, “What the fu…” he yelled as he tried to open the door, finding it locked he fumbled around in his pockets trying to get his keys out.  TJ started pelting him with rocks from behind the dumpster then scurried back down the alleyway and around the back of the building.  Cougan swore again and started running after him.

All the noise and excitement seemed to focus LC’s attention even more than before and he finally got the lock on Jenny’s door to fall open.  He removed the lock and opened the door just as Jenny flew into his arms; tears of fear and relief streaming down her face.  LC pushed her off gently, “Come on, no time for that we have to get out of here before he comes back.”  He grabbed her hand and began pulling her down the corridor behind him.

They bolted down the stairs and were just entering the lobby when Cougan caught sight of them.  He yelled at them to stop but that only made their feet move faster as they dashed down the hallway to the boiler room below.  As they made the door, LC pushed Jenny towards the stairs then jammed the door shut with an old chunk of wood lying next to the door.

Cougan hit the door like a freight train and it rattled and vibrated so hard LC thought it would shatter.  He turned and ran down the steps following Jenny as he heard Cougan launch himself against the door trying to batter it down.  They sped across the room towards the back door and hopefully to freedom.

As they bolted out of the door they heard Cougan break through and come barreling across the boiler room after them in hot pursuit.  He flew up the steps and paused at the top of the stairs trying to figure out which way they had run.  He headed off in the opposite direction for a few steps but when he didn’t see them he turned around and ran back around the building the same direction LC and Jenny had run.

LC and Jenny tore down the alley at the back of the building and much to their dismay found that it was blocked by a high fence running between the two buildings.  As they skidded to a halt and turned to run back the way they came, they found their way blocked by a royally pissed off Cougan.

oooOOOooo

Lee was pulled back to the present by the sound of his cell phone ringing.  He pushed up from his seat on the deck and went inside to answer the summons.  “Crane,” he answered.

“Lee, its Nelson.”

“Good evening sir, are you back from D.C.? How’d your trip go?” Lee asked.

“Yes, I made it home a couple of hours ago.  The trip went as well as any trip can go there,” Harri replied with a laugh.  “I’ve got us all set up for a Navy sponsored research trip once the refit is complete and we’re ready to sail. How about your trip to Providence, did you run into any problems?”

“No, went like clockwork.  The presentation went well and the university is extremely excited about partnering with NIMR on a number of research projects we’ve got going on.” Lee replied.

“That’s great to hear, Lee.  So did you do anything fun while you were there?” Harri asked.

“Not really, just hung out.  Providence is not really my favorite place to be; I found it rather odd being back there after all these years.”

“I forgot you grew up there.  I imagine it was a bit eerie going back.  If I had remembered I would have sent Chip instead.”

“No biggie, sir; it was just odd.  How about you, did you hit the night life of D.C.?” Lee answered trying to change the subject.

“Jiggs and I went out for dinner a couple of nights but other than that I just stayed in and reviewed research reports.” Nelson answered.

“Now THAT sounds exciting,” Lee answered with a laugh.  “I’m sure Jamie will have some comment on how you spend your free time.” 

“I’m sure of that,” chuckled Harri.  “Well I don’t want to keep you, I just wanted to check in with you and see how things went.  I know you are probably tired after your flight back, I know I’m feeling mine.  Have a good evening and I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, sir.  Have a good evening yourself and I’ll see you at staff meeting. Bye.” Lee replied.

“Bye Lee.” Harri answered and hung up.

Lee ambled into the kitchen, opened the freezer door and scanned the inside for anything that looked edible.  He wasn’t particularly hungry but knew he needed something since he hadn’t eaten since breakfast.  He spotted a frozen pizza in the back and pulled it out.  He started the oven and placed the frozen disk inside to heat up.  Next he grabbed another beer and sipped on that as he put together a small salad to go with his pizza.

He quietly ate his dinner, not really tasting any of it.  He quickly washed his dishes, then headed upstairs to check the status of his computer program and then to bed.  Lee climbed tiredly between the covers and let out an audible sigh as his body relaxed into the bed.  He hoped tonight he would finally get a decent night’s sleep.  He flipped off the lights and closed his eyes.

oooOOOooo

LC and Jenny stood there gasping for breath their faces paled as they realized they were trapped.  Cougan advanced on them menacingly, intent on getting his prizes back into their cages.  “Well, well, well, it looks like you’ve been busy boy.” Cougan sneered at LC.  “But it’s nice you came to me; you’re going to be worth all kinds of money sweet meat.”

LC moved slightly in front of Jenny.  He whispered to her over his shoulder, “When he goes for me run like the wind. Go find TJ and the rest of the girls; I’ll try and give you as big of a head start as I can.”

Jenny whimpered and sniffed loudly.  “Okay,” she replied meekly.

“Go to hell!” LC spat trying to sound as tough and dangerous as an 11 year old could as he covertly worked his knife out of his back pocket.

Coungan laughed derisively at him.  “Gotta admit you got balls, kid. Now why don’t you show me you got common sense and just come over here and avoid the fight?  I don’t want to mess you up.  I know a number of people that would love to get their hands on a sweet piece like you.”

LC started moving away from Jenny, he had to make it hard for Cougan to grab them both.  Cougan kept his eyes fixed on LC and closed the distance between them.  As he lunged for him, LC yelled “Run!” and Jenny lit out down the alleyway leaving LC to fend for himself.

“Damn you!” Cougan cursed at him and snagged LC by the arm, his grip like an iron vice.  As Cougan grabbed him LC brought his other hand from behind his back and sunk his knife deep into the man’s left shoulder.  Cougan screamed in pain and hurled LC back across the alleyway where he smashed into some old crates breaking his left arm.  He crumpled to the ground, his head spinning from the impact with the crates and he grabbed his left arm as the agony of the break tore through his small body. 

Cougan pulled the knife out of his shoulder and turned back towards LC.  “You’re dead boy!” he screamed as he raised the knife and plunged it into his side.

LC screamed out in pain at the shock of the blade entering his body.  His eyes were wide with fear as he felt Cougan pull the knife out and watched him prepare to stab him again.  Just as he was ready to deliver his killing blow TJ called out grabbing his attention. As he turned, TJ hit him in the head with an old board then dashed back down the alleyway out reach.

Cougan fell hard to his knees his head spinning from the shot from the board.  Slowly he climbed to his feet and staggered towards TJ ready to give him the same treatment he’d given LC when he heard the sound of sirens rapidly approaching the area.  He spat at the boy and pointed the knife at him in a threatening manner then headed back to his car leaving a trail of blood from his badly bleeding shoulder.

After Cougan left the alley TJ ran to LC to check on his friend.  LC was bleeding just as bad, his skin had become pasty white, and his face twisted with a grimace of pain from the wound and the broken bone.  Tears streamed down his face as he writhed in agony on the cold ground.

“LC!  LC can you hear me?” TJ nearly shrieked, taken aback by all the blood. 

LC slowly pried his eyes open at the sound of his friend’s voice.  “TJ, you guys okay?”

“Yeah LC we’re all fine.  Alice and the rest of the girls went to get a cop.  Oh god LC you’re bleeding all over.  Please don’t die. ”

“TJ help me up, we gotta get out of here before the cops get here.  Don’t want to get sent back to the Jenkins.” LC coughed out.  The sound of the sirens was nearly upon them.

“Just lay still LC.  There’s no way Alice and I can take care of you, you need a hospital bad.” TJ replied.

LC looked up pleadingly into TJ’s eyes, “Please…don’t let them get me TJ,…please.” His eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out from the pain and blood loss just as the police car pulled to a stop at the end of the alley.

“LC!  LC!  LC wake up, please don’t die! Please don’t die on me.” TJ wailed out as he broke down sobbing his head resting on LC’s chest his hand grasping LC’s in a death grip.

oooOOOooo

Lee groaned loudly at the alarm clock’s relentless nattering.  Not even cracking an eyelid he rolled over and slammed the off button silencing the horrific beast.  It had been another long and restless night as the memories flooded his dreams each time he slipped off.  Absently he brushed his hand over the long-healed scar on his right side as he thought back over his dream. He felt a thousand years old and barely had the energy to pry his eyes open and drag himself out of bed.

Taking care of his morning needs he trudged downstairs and started a pot of coffee.  He usually rose early and went for a run before getting dressed and heading into the office but he just didn’t have the energy at the moment.  The lack of restful sleep was tearing at him and he knew the effects were written across his face and the way he moved. He also knew Nelson, Morton and Jamieson were going to go off on him like a roman candle on the 4th of July once they got a good look at him.

Even before the last drops of coffee slipped from the maker, Lee had snagged the pot and poured a large cup of the dark and restorative brew.  He inhaled the top half of the cup in one long draw and groaned in pleasure as it rushed to his stomach and the caffeine surged into his system.  He moved over to the kitchen table and lowered himself into one of the chairs as he polished off the bottom half of the cup.  He refilled his cup and this time inhaled the aroma and actually tasted the drink.  He stared out the kitchen window at nothing in particular his head propped on his hand as he replayed the events of so long ago.

After a few moments he pushed up from the table and headed back up to his computer to review any results from his search.  He quickly pulled up the program and saw that it had completed its run.  He clicked on the icon for any matches and was disappointed to see that there had been none.  As he prepared to close out the program in frustration he noted there was an alert on one of the files and opened it up.  According to the program there was a 15 minute gap in the time signatures meaning that portion of the recording had been erased.  That fact alone set off warning bells in Lee’s mind; only someone with access to the raw footage would have been able to cut out that segment and that meant someone within in the law enforcement system was involved. 

Lee ground his teeth, infuriated at the thought of some predator entrenched within the establishment designated to recover missing children, using their positions to choose which children they wanted and then having the resources to erase their activities after the fact.  There was no way he would allow this to continue but without an idea as to who was behind it, all he had we’re baseless accusations.

He quickly pulled up the list of missing children and focused on those who had gone missing in the last six months.  Next he identified all the files with video footage from those locations and initiated another search to identify any discrepancies with time signatures for those files.  If his hunch was right, there were going to be a number of blanks and that would provide him with more ammunition when he took his findings to the authorities.

The looming question in his mind was how high the scum was entrenched within the system. He needed to go back to the streets and find out who was involved and where they had burrowed into the Providence police force.  The next question to arise was how he could make the break from NIMR without piquing his friends’ curiosity.  This was something he felt he needed to take care of himself, to bring closure to that segment of his life.  He had the leave, geez he had been reminded of that fact enough times by his CMO Will Jamieson, but the fact he decided to take it would undoubtedly set off all kind warning bells; damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.

Looking at the clock on the computer screen Lee realized he needed to get moving to get to work on time.  He quickly moved to the bathroom to finish his morning ablutions and got dressed for the day.  Coming downstairs once he was ready, he grabbed his ‘to go’ coffee mug, poured in the rest of the pot of coffee and was out the door.

As he drove to the Institute he mentally reviewed the upcoming activities scheduled to occur over the next few weeks.  Seaview was going to be refit with a number of upgraded systems along with refurbishment of the officer and crew quarters and refinishing the floors on the entire boat.  The refurbishment would occur first which would drastically limit access to the boat and would provide a plausible reason for him to take leave during that portion of the project.  The time estimates were for two to three weeks to get that all done before the new equipment was brought in and installed.  That should be sufficient time for him to get a handle on what was going on back in Providence, hopefully recover his friends’ daughter and bring down the people behind her abduction.  His only problem now was how to sell his extended leave to his boss.

oooOOOooo

Lee went first to his office and dropped off his briefcase and uniform jacket.  His admin assistant had arrived before him and thankfully had the coffee already made.  He grabbed the pot and refilled his cup then headed off down the hall to the morning staff meeting.  As he entered Nelson’s office almost everyone else was already assembled.  He nodded his greeting to a couple of the junior officers then walked over to greet the admiral and Chip who were talking quietly on the other side of the room.

“Good morning Admiral, Chip,” Lee said.  Both men turned at his greeting.

“Morning Lee,” Nelson replied.

“Morning Lee.  Running a little bit late today are we?” chided Chip.

Lee glowered at him for a moment then smiled.  “Just had a hard time getting started this morning, seems the jet lag is really holding on this time,” he said with a laugh.

Nelson and Morton both took in Lee’s appearance and a look of concern spread across their faces.  “Geez didn’t you get any sleep last night?” Chip inquired.  “You look like an advertisement for dead.”

“I’ve got to agree with Chip, Lee you look like you can barely keep your eyes open.  What’s wrong?” Harri added.

“I’ve just been having a bit of insomnia the last couple of days, that’s all.  It’s nothing to worry about; now that I’m home everything will sort itself out.” Lee replied trying to assuage their concerns.

Both men looked at him rather dubiously at his declaration, although Lee never seemed to need much sleep it was unusual for him to have trouble doing so when he needed it.  He looked beat and in need of a rest. “We’ll talk about this later.  Let’s all sit down and get this meeting started.” Nelson finally said.

Everyone quickly claimed their seats and the meeting proceeded with briefings provided from each department head on what had been accomplished during the week and what was planned for the next.  It was finally Will Jamieson’s turn.

“I’ve been looking over all the leave status of the officer’s and crew and have made some rather disturbing discoveries especially amongst the command staff,” Will started glaring at the three men sitting at the end of the table.  “It seems that you gentlemen don’t seem to feel that you require a break to recharge your batteries and that the Institute will fall to ruin should you, god forbid, take any time off.  Admiral you haven’t taken more than a day’s leave in over three months, and Mr. Morton here has nearly three months of leave on the books.  The worst offender in all of this is of course the esteemed Captain Crane with over six month’s leave on the books.”

All three men stared blankly at the doctor and finally sighed resignedly at his assault.  Jamie fixed Lee in his sights and continued, “As Chip so tactfully stated this morning, you look like an ad for dead Captain and you need to start using some of that time.  If you don’t take at least three weeks off I will use all my authority as CMO to have you banned from the Institute grounds until I feel you’ve relaxed and just gotten away from the day to day grind.”

Chip tried desperately to choke back a laugh. Lee fixed him with a glare that usually sent even the chief running for cover but it bounced off ineffectually.  Nelson too tried to bite back a smile but failed miserably. 

Just as Lee was about to speak Jamie held up his hand, “Lee I’m serious, you need a break.  This is the perfect time with Seaview being pretty much off limits with the refit and refurb activities.  There’s nothing you can really do down there and I’m sure your paperwork will be just fine while you go off and have some fun.  The only thing I want to hear from you and the other two offenders is ‘Yes Doctor, I see the wisdom of your words and I’ll gladly take the time off.’”

Lee rolled his eyes at Jamie.  He was actually privately elated at this attack as it provided the necessary excuse for him to take the time off he needed to investigate things back in Rhode Island. He sighed deeply allowing a wave of resignation to ripple across his face and in his body posture then spoke, “Yes Doctor, I see the wisdom of your words and I’ll gladly take the three weeks off, starting Monday.”

Jamie sat back as though he’d been slapped so startled by the captain’s total capitulation.  Nelson’s eyebrows shot up and Chip’s mouth dropped open as they too were caught off guard by Lee’s agreement to take the leave.

“Chip you’re gonna catch flies if you don’t shut your mouth.” Lee responded as he took in his expression.  “Is that satisfactory with you Admiral?”

Chip snapped his mouth shut and just eyed Lee suspiciously.  That came entirely too easily and he suspected that Lee was no doubt planning some extracurricular activities with ONI which was the last thing he needed. 

Nelson also scrutinized his captain closely.  “That would be fine Lee, but one more condition no ONI.  This has to be a true break from duty.”

Lee let his face cloud for a moment, not that he actually had plans to work for ONI but just because he didn’t like caveats attached to his free time, free time that he was ordered to take.  He sat quietly for a moment and then petulantly replied, “Fine, no ONI.  Is everyone happy now?” 

“Yes Lee we’re all happy now.” Harri answered still eyeing his friend and surrogate son suspiciously.

“Good.  Can we finish up with this meeting now so I can get to my desk and start parceling things out to others to do while I’m gone?” Lee responded looking directly at Chip letting him know he was going to be the prime beneficiary of his largess. Nelson and Jamie laughed and they continued on with the next item of business.

When the meeting finally drew to a close, Lee was the first one out of the Admiral’s office further continuing his act of resentment at having been forced to take leave.  Chip and Jamie remained behind as the rest of the attendees filtered out and back to their respective offices.

“Well mission accomplished Jamie,” Harri said as the last person exited.

“Yes, I suppose so, but I get this sinking feeling it was accomplished all too easily.  He never gives in that quickly and to agree to the entire three weeks is unheard of,” Jamie replied

“Yeah, I’ve got the same feeling as well.  There’s something devious going on in that curly head.  We’re supposed to get together for dinner tonight so I think I’ll try and worm out his twisted plans then,” Chip offered.

Harri just chuckled.  “Here you are getting exactly what you wanted and are still less than thrilled with it; poor Lee, damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.  Though I must admit I too think we’re just being handled.  There’s more going on here than meets the eye; let us know what you uncover tonight, okay Chip.”

“That’s a given sir,” Chip said with a smile.  “Might as well get a start on it right now.”  He bounced his eyebrows a couple of times and headed out to door to go rattle Lee’s cage.

Harri nodded and smiled as Chip walked out the door.  “I think I’ll be making a call to Tom Hardy at ONI as well, making sure he knows Lee is off limits for the next three weeks.”

Jamie smiled and turned back to Harri.  “I think that is a very wise thing to do, sir.  So what are you going to do with your leave time Harri?”

oooOOOooo

Reaching his office Lee quickly logged on to his computer and pulled up his airline reservation website and booked a flight to Boston for the next day; it was easier to get flights there and just a short drive away.  Just as he finished and closed the site, Chip came ambling in to start mining Lee for information on his ‘vacation’ plans.

“Okay, what’s up?” Chip asked as he plopped down in the chair in front of Lee’s desk.

“What do you mean, ‘what’s up’?” Lee replied innocently.

“What have you got brewing in that curly head of yours?  You never, repeat never willing go on leave for more than a couple of days, let alone three weeks.  Why all of a sudden are you so agreeable to this?”

“I just decided not to fight it for a change Chip.  I think that in itself should mess with Jamie’s mind wondering ‘what I’m up to’ for the entire time I’m gone.  By the time I get back he should be ripe for an extended leave himself.” Lee answered with a laugh and an evil glint in his eye.

“Hmmmm.  Possibly…but I think there’s more to your sudden change in behavior than just screwing with Jamie.  Where are you going to go?” Chip prodded.

“I think I’ll just stock up my boat and go for a nice sail up the coast.  I should be able to make it to Washington and back in three weeks.  That also keeps me pretty much incommunicado most the time and both Jamie and Nelson will be fit to be tied.”

Chip stared at Lee for a long moment not buying one ounce of his story.  He knew something was going on from his trip back east but had nothing concrete to prove it.  “You will check in from time to time, won’t you?  You have the worst ability to remain out of trouble for even the shortest periods of time of anyone I’ve ever met.”

Lee glared at him then rolled his eyes.  “I can take care of myself Mr. Morton, I’ve actually managed to reach adulthood and go for entire months at a time with not so much as a scratch.  Anyone ever tell you, you’d make a fantastic mother?”

Chip scowled and flipped Lee the bird.  “Fine, just be that way.  Here I am looking out for your best interests and you get all snitty about it.”  Both men broke out laughing.

“Thanks for the concern mother goose.  I’ll be just fine, I was actually thinking about taking a little time off in the first place and this just worked out well.  Now Jamie can’t say I never take his advice.  So what are you going to do with your time off?” Lee queried.

Chip laughed again.  “I haven’t a clue.  Maybe I’ll head back to Ohio and see the folks for a few days; I haven’t been home in quite a while.  So are we still on for pizza tonight?”

“I’m going to take another rain check.  Now that I’ve got these plans I want to get everything squared away and see if I can make it out tonight with the tide.” Lee answered.

“Why all the rush? You’ve got three weeks to harass the dolphins.” Chip replied.

“I just want to strike while the iron is hot and I don’t get distracted by something else.  Plus I always seem to sleep well on the boat and as you pointed out already I could use a good night’s sleep.  How about we take a long lunch today instead?” Lee offered.

“Okay, I know how you tend to get stuck in the Valley of Distraction when something shiny catches your eye.  It’s probably best you git while the gittin’s good.” Chip chuckled.  “Lunch sounds like a plan; you’re buying.”

Lee sneered at Chip momentarily then broke into a big grin.  “You’re on.”

oooOOOooo

The afternoon seemed to drag on and Lee could hardly wait to go home to check on his search program and to begin planning his trip back to Providence.  He knew he had to actually move his boat because Chip would more than likely check so he would sail down to Santa Monica where he could moor it then catch a cab to the airport.  The trip there would give him the time he needed to work without interruption reviewing any information his program had gleaned.

Lee gathered up the majority of the folders and reports from his inbox and strode down the hall to Chip’s office.  He entered and moved directly to Chip’s inbox and rather unceremoniously plopped them all down.  He smiled wickedly as Chip grimaced at him.  “Here, a farewell gift for you while I’m gone.  Wouldn’t want you to get bored.”

“You’re a cruel man Crane, you know that?” Chip grumbled at him.

“I thought I was just being generous, sharing the wealth and all.  You know the old saying Morton, ‘be careful what you ask for, you just might get it’.” Lee replied unable to hold the laughter back.  “I’m heading out now.  Have a good break Chip, tell the folks ‘hi’ for me and give Mom a kiss for me too.”

“Will do Lee.  Have a good break yourself and please be careful.” Chip replied with a smile.

“Yes mother.  See you in three weeks.” Lee answered and headed out the door to say his farewell to Nelson.  Giving a perfunctory knock on the door he ambled into Harri’s office. 

“Ah, Lee come on in, have a seat.” Nelson said as Lee walked in.

“I just came by to say goodbye sir.  I’m heading out to start my ‘vacation’.” Lee answered.

“Already?” Nelson replied as he looked down at his watch.  “Keeping banker’s hours are we now?” he said with a glimmer of amusement in his eye.

“Well since it was made rather apparent that my presence is no longer desired here, at least for the next three weeks, I thought I might as well get a jump on my leave.” Lee responded with a chuckle.

“So what plans have you come up with, son?”

“Thought I’d take my sailboat out for a nice sail up the coast to Washington.  I haven’t had her out for a good long run in a while and this will be the perfect opportunity to do that.”

“You going alone?” Harri inquired.

“Well I’m starting out that way; one never knows who I’ll find along the way.” Lee replied with a wink.

They both laughed.  “Have a good time then and be safe.  You will be checking in periodically.” The last was not a question but a statement demanding compliance.

“Yes Dad,” Lee whined then broke out laughing.  “I’ll give you a holler every now and then to let you know my progress.  Will that be okay?”

“Make sure you do.” Harri said chuckling.

Lee nodded and head out the door.  “See you in a few weeks.  Enjoy your leave too, sir.”

oooOOOooo

Lee had to struggle to keep from speeding home; he was anxious to see if his search program would yield the results he feared.  He pulled into the garage, bolted into the house and upstairs to his office.  He rapidly pulled up the program and scanned the screen for any additional instances of missing video footage.  As he suspected there were five more instances where blocks of 10 to 15 minutes of video footage were erased from surveillance cameras in the areas where children were reported missing.  He sighed deeply and hung his head in dismay.

Lee picked up the phone and dialed Terry’s number.  After three rings there was an answer.

“Hello,” inquired a woman’s voice.

“Alice, is that you?  It’s Lee.” Lee asked.

“Lee, it’s good to hear from you again so soon.  How was your trip home?” she asked.

“Long,” Lee replied with a chuckle.  “Hey I just wanted to let you know that I think I’m on to something regarding Emily’s disappearance and I’m going to be heading back your way tomorrow to check things out.  Are you and Terry going to be available in the next couple of days; I’d like to go over what I’ve found and ask you a couple more questions.”

“Of course we’ll be available anytime you need us.  What have you found?” Alice answered.

“I need to check on a couple more things before I lay out what I suspect but I think I’ve got a starting point to track down Emily and probably quite a few more missing children.”

“That’s good news Lee.  I wish Terry was home so you could talk with him.  Do you want to stay with us while you’re here?  We would love to have you.” 

“No but thanks for the offer Alice.  I will be keeping very odd hours as I check things out and would hate to disturb you with my erratic comings and goings.  I’ll give you a call once I get settled and we can get together and talk.” Lee replied.

“Great Lee, we’ll be looking forward to your call.  Have a good flight and if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.” Alice offered.

“Thanks Alice.  I’ll be talking to you soon.  Bye.”  Lee said and hung up the phone.  He sat there at the computer for a few more minutes downloading the information on a thumb drive then got up and began packing for his trip back east. 

He moved to the back of his closet and began pulling out his ONI equipment.  He would be working undercover trying to determine who was hunting the children on the streets of Providence and knew he needed much of his kit.  He pulled out his gun and extra ammunition, miniature surveillance cameras, night vision goggles, digital camera, computer tablet and laptop and his set of lock picks, other electronic devices and knife.  Next he grabbed a couple sets of black jeans and black pullover jerseys and shoved them into his bag along with some blue jeans, shirts, underwear and socks. He went into the bathroom and picked up his toiletry kit and added that to the bag and zipped it shut.

Next he went back into the office and slid open a panel that hid a small safe in the floor.  He entered the combination, opened it up and withdrew a packet containing multiple fake IDs and credentials.  He rifled through the pack and pulled out the card for Lee Carstairs, private detective hailing from Los Angeles.  He returned the rest of the cards to the packet, placed them in the safe, sealed it up and slid back the panel.

Lee then headed back downstairs to pack a snack and grab some beers and Cokes so he’d have something to eat as he sailed to Santa Monica.  Once he had his dinner assembled, he moved through the house shutting off computers and lights, securing doors and engaging the security system.  He picked up his bags, threw them in the back of the car and was out the door and on his way to the marina in just under an hour.

Arriving at the marina he immediately filed a float plan with the harbor master so if anyone checked it would look as though he had headed north.  He then went down to his boat and began the process of getting her ready for the trip south.  He pulled the covers off the sails, powered up the generator, untied from the dock and was on his way.  As he exited the marina he wondered to himself if all this subterfuge was actually necessary but knowing Chip and the admiral they would probably both check to see if he had really left and if they knew his true purpose would insist on getting involved.  He had a feeling this could all turn deadly and he didn’t want them at risk.

oooOOOooo

LC gradually became aware of someone talking to him as they fiddled with the wound on his side.  He gasped in pain and tried to sit up as whoever it was placed something over it only to find himself pushed back down.  He realized he was lying on some sort of bed now instead of the cold hard street, as he pried his eyes open he recognized the bed to be a gurney and the person poking at his wound was an EMT with the fire department.

Noticing his patient was now awake the EMT smiled at him. “Hi glad to see you back with us. My name is Mike, what’s yours?” he said as he shined his penlight in LC’s eyes trying to determine if he had a concussion.

“LC,” he answered weakly.

“Just LC?  There’s got to be more than that.” Mike replied.

“My full name is Lee Benjamin Crane, but everyone calls me LC.” LC answered then screwed his eyes shut as a wave of pain coursed through his body.

“Okay, LC it is.  Where can we find your parents LC?  We need to let them know which hospital we’re going to take you to.” Mike said as he added a splint to LC’s arm.

“Don’t got any parents.”

“Well who takes care of you then?” asked Mike as he worked to start an IV and introduce a light painkiller to take the edge off LC’s discomfort.

“Nobody.  Me and TJ and Alice take care of each other, we don’t need anyone else.” LC responded defiantly.  He tried to sit up again looking desperately for his friends.  “Where are TJ and Alice, are they okay?”

Mike gently pushed LC back down onto the gurney.  “Just relax LC they’re fine.  If you promise to lie still I’ll let them come over and see you, okay?”

“Kay.” LC answered as he eased himself back down and closed his eyes feeling somewhat dizzy from the blood loss and the concussion he had picked up.  Mike looked up towards the cop standing with the kids at the end of the alley and waved them forward.  TJ and Alice ran down the alley to the gurney to see their friend.

“LC are you okay?  Is he gonna be okay?” asked TJ frantically.

“He should be just fine once the doctor gets him all fixed up.  You can talk to him as we roll him out to the ambulance.  Try and keep him calm, all right.” Mike instructed as he let the two come over to LC.

“LC he says you’re gonna be okay.  Thanks for coming to get me.  I knew you wouldn’t leave me,” Alice said as she grasped LC’s hand.

LC opened his eyes and smiled.  “I’m glad you’re okay.  Thanks for getting help; I couldn’t have kept him off any longer. Did the police get him?”

“No the cops didn’t get him, he got away. You did great LC; you got everyone out safe,” TJ offered as he walked laying his hand on LC’s shoulder.  His eyes got huge as LC groaned and grimaced in pain.

“If he’s still out there you gotta take care of Alice, kay?” LC said quietly after the wave of pain passed.

“Count on it LC.  We’ll come see you at the hospital, if they’ll let us in.” TJ said as the EMTs placed the gurney in the back of the ambulance.  As they closed the door LC caught his last glimpse of his friends through the small glass panels in the door.  Lee had always wondered what had happened to TJ and Alice.  He had tried to find out where they were but no one seemed to know or was willing to say when he asked the people at child services.

Lee slowly came back to the moment as he spotted the marina in Santa Monica and dropped his sails.  He engaged the small engine and motored his way into marina and the slip he had rented for the next three weeks.  As he brought the boat to a stop he quickly secured it to the dock and set to buttoning up the boat until he returned.  He climbed onto the dock, called for a taxi and headed up the gantry to start the next phase of his investigation.

oooOOOooo

The flight to Boston went well arriving on time.  Lee made his way down to baggage claim picked up his bags then headed to the car rental counter to pick up his ride.  He made his way out of the airport and headed north to Providence.  Upon reaching Providence he checked into the small hotel where he had reserved a room on the edge of downtown.

Once checked in he got back in the car and drove through the area where Emily and the other children had disappeared to get a feel for the place.  He parked his car and started walking the streets to get an idea about who might have seen what happened to the kids.  His next stop was the main police station to check on Emily’s status with the missing person’s division and follow up on ongoing investigations.

Flashing the Carstairs identification, Lee stopped at the front desk and requested to see the primary detective in charge of the case.  He was escorted up to the 5th floor and to the office of missing persons. 

“Mr. Carstairs, I’m Detective Shandler.  You wanted to speak with me?”

“Yes Detective, I’ve been retained by the Jacobson’s to investigate the disappearance of their daughter Emily and I’m interested in getting a current status of what has been done to date.” Lee said.

“I see.  Well we’ve been working on the case and following up on any leads that have come in but there hasn’t been much.  She just seems to have just vanished, whether she ran away or was abducted, we at this time don’t have a clue.”

“Don’t you find that rather odd?” Lee inquired.

“Not really, at this point. Odds are she ran away.  We haven’t been able to find any witnesses that saw her being abducted or even harassed.  Without a lead there’s not much we can do beyond canvassing the area and hitting the locations where runaways tend to congregate. We’ve got posters out on her and have patrols looking but that’s the best we can do.” Shandler explained.

“Okay, thank you for your time,” Lee replied handing Shandler his card. “Here’s my number, I would appreciate it if you could let me know if anything changes.”

“Sure thing and I would ask that you share anything you come up with as well,” Shandler replied handing Lee his card. 

Lee nodded and as he turned to leave he bumped into a man walking in the door.  “Excuse me,” Lee said as he stepped back and took a look at the man.  He froze in place as though he had just seen a ghost.  He could feel the blood drain from his face and the room seemed to momentarily tilt and whirl as he took in the visage before him.

“Are you alright?” the man said as he reached out to steady Lee as he appeared ready to faint.

Lee stood transfixed, incapable of moving for the moment as the memory of Cougan’s face was transformed by more than 25 years of life and floated menacingly before his eyes.  “Oh yeah, I’m fine,” Lee finally said as he got control over himself.  “I haven’t eaten in a while and I think my blood sugar is a little low.”

“Why don’t you have a seat, Mr. …”

“Carstairs, Lee Carstairs.  No thank you, I’m fine now.  You are?”

“I’m Lieutenant Mark Preston, head of missing person’s child recovery unit.” Cougan/Preston replied. Preston stared at Lee as though trying to place his face and those eyes.  “Have we met before?”

“No, not that I’m aware of Lieutenant.” Lee responded.

“Lieutenant, Mr. Carstairs here was hired by the Jacobson’s to try and find their daughter.  He was just getting an update on what we’ve done so far.” Shandler offered.

“Really?  Are you from around here Mr. Carstairs?” Cougan asked.

“No not anymore, I’m from LA now. I lived in Providence briefly as a kid and have been friends with Terry and Alice since then.  They asked me to take a look into the case to see if I could dig up anything.  They realize how tight the police department is stretched and felt that if someone could focus their entire effort on finding Emily things might shake loose.”  Lee responded once more in control.

“Yes, well I guess I can’t really blame them though I don’t think you’ll be any more successful than we have been.  If you’ve looked at the reports we’ve done a very comprehensive investigation to date.” Preston stated.

‘I just bet you have’ thought Lee as he stared genially into the face of the devil.  “I’m quite sure of that but as a parent I would want to put every tool at my disposal to work in trying to recover my child.  I’m sure they’re not the only parents that have done so for missing children.”

“True.  Well I wish you good luck in your search Mr. Carstairs.” Preston said.  “Detective Shandler will be more than happy to provide you any information that we have or receive in our continuing investigation.”

“I appreciate that very much, Lieutenant, Detective.  Again thank you for your time.” Lee replied as he turned and left. 

It was now blatantly obvious who had manipulated the evidence or at the very least sanctioned the erasure of the footage.  The big question was how widespread this disease was within the police department.  Until he could determine how far this extended it wasn’t safe to reveal his discovery for Emily’s sake, if she was still in the area.  Lee strode quickly down the hall, into the elevator and out the front door anxious to take a look at Preston’s record.

Arriving back at his hotel room, Lee quickly logged into his ONI account and gained access to the Providence police department personnel files.  He located Preston’s files and began reading his past employment history.  It seemed that he was working undercover for the narcotics division during that period of time when Alice had been snatched from the street.  That apparently ended after he showed up with a stab wound claiming that his cover had been blown and he was attacked by one of the local drug dealers. 

From narcotics he went to the vice division and then finally transferred to missing person’s ten years ago.  In that time he had worked his way up from Inspector to Lieutenant in charge of the child recovery unit.  The promotions came by way of some highly publicized recoveries of missing children over the years most likely orchestrated by the son of a bitch to help him look good.  The thought of that bastard in charge of the unit he created work for, made him ill.

He had a starting point, now Lee needed to determine who else was involved and where the missing children were.  His first course of business was to start surveillance on Preston; tap his computer and phones and monitor his movements.  He pulled up Preston’s address, phone numbers and other personal bits of information he could find.  He needed to watch Preston for the next couple of days to get an idea as to his daily routine then work on installing the necessary devices to keep constant tabs on him.  There was no way he was getting away with anything this time if Lee had any say in the matter.

oooOOOooo

Now came the hard part, letting Terry and Alice in on what was going on.  He could only imagine their response and needed them to remain calm and play along with his plans if he was to bring down Preston for all his crimes past and present.

“Hello?”

“Terry, it’s me Lee.”

“Lee, great to hear from you so soon.  Alice said you called and you were coming back this way to help look for Emily.  Are you back in town already?” Terry inquired.

“Yes I’m back.  I need to talk with you and Alice about what I’ve found thus far and what I need from you.” Lee replied.

“Sure thing.  Do you want to come on out to the house?”

“If we could meet somewhere else that would be great.  There’s a small restaurant named Donovan’s about 10 minutes from your house, do you know where that is?” Lee asked.

“Yes, we eat there often.  Lee what’s going on?” Terry asked.

“Can you meet me there at 1900, I mean 7 p.m. tonight?”

“Yeah, we can do that.  Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“When we get to the restaurant I’ll answer your questions and share what I’ve learned okay.  There are things we need to discuss and things I need you and Alice to do.  See you there at 7. Bye.” Lee replied.

“See you at 7, bye.”

oooOOOooo

Lee arrived at the restaurant at 1845 and had a seat at the bar to wait for his friends to arrive.  He sipped distractedly on his beer going over in his mind how he was going to break the news to them that Emily was most likely in the control of the man they knew as Cougan.  At 1855 he spotted Terry and Alice enter the restaurant, he paid for his drink and moved out to the reception area to greet them.

They spied him immediately, exchanged handshakes and hugs and were shown to their table in a quiet corner of the restaurant.  They quickly ordered drinks and accepted the menus from the waiter.  Lee indicated that they should order their meals and then he would share what he had with them.  When the waiter returned they ordered dinner and then all eyes were on Lee.

“So you said you’ve found something and that you were going to share it with us,” Alice said breaking the ice.

“Always to the point,” Lee said with a smile.  “Yes I’ve made some rather startling discoveries and also need to tell you a little bit more about what I’ve done for the Navy.” 

“We’re all ears Lee, please.” Terry implored.

“First by way of explanation for how I came by some of the information I have, I’ve spent much of my Navy career working for the Office of Naval Intelligence or ONI.  That aspect of the Navy is similar in many ways to the CIA and we employ the same tactics and practices as the CIA to gather intelligence on activities that could impact Navy operations and other threats to the security of this nation.  Through that agency I have wide access to a number of databases, files, and other sources of information not generally available to John Q. Public and it’s through those contacts that I gained access to the national missing person’s database.  My work with ONI is not widely known outside the people I work with so I would appreciate it if you would keep this to yourselves.” Lee began.  Terry and Alice nodded in agreement with Lee’s request.

“Once I got back home, I pulled up that database and ran a search program to see if I could find anything in the video footage gathered from the area Emily disappeared; it was primarily traffic cams and a couple of bank cameras so it was limited to the streets along major intersections.  My program was unable to locate her in any of the surveillance footage on file but what my program did find was a discrepancy in the date-time stamps in one file for the day and general area where Emily disappeared; 15 minutes of that recording had been erased.”

“Erased?” Alice asked.  “How could it be erased?”

“I asked that same question.  I pulled up all the missing child cases for the greater Providence area over the previous six months and found 5 more instances where the video recordings had been altered.  That tells me that someone within the system who had access to those files was modifying them to hide their activities.” Lee continued.

Terry and Alice’s eyes grew wide and their expressions darkened as the implications of what Lee had just told them hit home.  The anger in their eyes was undeniable and Lee readily recognized the same reaction he had had when he started putting the pieces together.

“Do you know who it is?” Terry asked tensely.

“I’m pretty certain who one of the main players is in the game, I just don’t know how widespread it is within the department.” Lee responded. 

“Well who is it?” Alice demanded.

“Cougan.”

The color drained rapidly from both Terry and Alice’s faces at the single name Lee mentioned.  Alice closed her eyes as the tears started rolling down her cheeks as she recalled her own experience with the man.  Terry’s hands became fists and a flash of hate and rage played across his face.

“How do you know it’s him?” Terry finally said as he brought his emotions under control.

“I literally bumped into him at the police station today. I thought I was going to pass out it shocked me so much.  I recognized his face immediately; it is so indelibly etched into my memory.  As soon as I got back to my hotel I pulled up his record to verify it was the same man. He was an undercover cop with narcotics when he grabbed Alice and he’s still working for the department in a MUCH higher capacity these days.”

“Where?!  Why haven’t you already gone after the son of a bitch?” Terry stormed.

“Right now it’s all supposition, I don’t have anything concrete to prove it and a 25 year old memory is not going to be enough for anyone to launch an internal police investigation.” Lee answered.  “I need to find incontrovertible proof that this bastard is abducting children and most likely selling them as sex slaves.  I also have to uncover as much of his organization as possible to get the rest of the people involved in this and get them off the streets because odds are he won’t roll over on them when caught.”

They all sat there quietly as the waiter returned with their meals and they ordered another round of drinks.  By the expressions on their faces, it was obvious that what Lee had revealed hit Terry and Alice hard.  He could see the pain and fear as old memories resurfaced and dread over what may be happening to Emily washed across their expressions.

“So what do you need from us?” Alice asked quietly.

“When I paid my visit to the police department I identified myself as Lee Carstairs, a private detective and old childhood friend you brought in from LA to delve deeper into Emily’s disappearance.  If you’re asked about it by the cops or anyone else please verify my cover.  I told them I only spent a brief time in Providence as a child but we’ve kept in touch over the years.  I didn’t delve into any specifics but I’m sure they’ve done background checks on you already, it’s SOP for missing person cases to check out the families first, and they know you went through the foster care system, so if Cougan gets curious he may ask you how we met.  Tell them we met when we were living on the streets near the bus station and through a chance meeting on a flight to LA we reconnected several years ago. I’ve alerted my people to let me know if anyone starts investigating my background which will tell us he suspects something.” Lee answered.

“What else do you need us to do?” Terry inquired.

“Pretty much keep doing what you have been doing; posting flyers, driving around the areas where she was last seen, don’t change your pattern.”

“That we can do.  So is Cougan the bastard’s real name?” Terry asked.

“No, that was his cover.  I’m not going to tell you who he is because I don’t want him spooked.  I know you would be tempted to go down and confront him but that won’t get us Emily, the other children or close down his racket.  Please don’t go poking around, will you promise me that?” Lee replied. 

“Okay Lee we promise.  May I ask why you wanted to meet us here instead of our house?” Alice finally asked.

“Put it down to one of my feelings,” Lee said with a smile as he saw the amused grins on their faces as they recalled LC and his funny feelings. “I’ve learned some very painful lessons not listening to that little voice and survived situations where I had no right to be alive by paying attention when it talks to me.  The first time I ignored it was just before you were grabbed Alice, so I’m taking no chances this time especially with your daughter and Cougan involved.”

“Also I got the feeling there was something about me that Cougan recognized; I could see it in his eyes.  I think that he may have us under surveillance to try and put the pieces together.  This is a public place with enough ambient noise around us that it would be difficult for him to tap into our conversation in the short amount of time I gave you to arrive. I’ll come over to your house in a couple of days to give you an ‘update’ on my progress but will also sweep your place for bugs.  I think this has the potential for being a huge operation and he has the assets and authority to make that happen.  I’ll also give you a couple of phones that can’t be tapped for times when it’s critical we speak.” Lee explained.

Terry and Alice exchanged concerned looks and nodded.  Never in their wildest dreams had they considered such a nefarious scenario behind Emily’s disappearance.

“I’m going to do all I can to find Emily and get her back,” Lee said as he placed his hand on top of Alice’s and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  “I’m very good at all this cloak and dagger stuff and have all the cool gadgets and contacts to make this happen.”

Alice and Terry both smiled wanly, the immense gratitude they felt at having Lee involved in looking for Emily was apparent.  “Thank you Lee, you’ve given us the most hope we’ve had since this entire nightmare began.  Don’t hesitate to ask us for anything you need.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Lee replied.  “We need to bring this to an end before you even consider that.  Come on eat up, our meal is getting cold.”

oooOOOooo

Lee spent the next few days shadowing Preston trying to identify his routine.  Thus far he hadn’t done anything unexpected but Lee still had an uneasy feeling that he thought something was up.  He had been able to gain access to Preston’s house and managed to tap into his own home security system and use his own cameras to provide surveillance.  He was actually very impressed at how robust and expensive the system was, generally not something a mid-level civil servant could afford.

Bypassing the security Lee got inside and planted listening devices in every room and familiarized himself with the entire layout of the house.  He also positioned tracking devices on the vehicles in Preston’s garage. Next he turned on Preston’s computer and tried to get access to his files.  He quickly discovered that he had robust encryption on his login and it would take more time than he felt comfortable spending at the moment to hack.  He located a safe hidden behind a painting in the guest bedroom and added that to the list of things he needed to investigate next. Not wanting to push his luck any further than he already had, Lee eased out of the house and turned the security system back on after he created a backdoor to let him in when he wanted, then carefully erased all record of his activity from the surveillance cameras.

He drove back to his hotel and returned to his room. He quickly checked the camera he set up in his room to see if he had had any visitors other than the maid.  As he reviewed the footage he frowned when he discovered he had in fact had a caller who had rummaged through everything in his room, no doubt looking for any information he had uncovered during his investigation.

Lee downloaded the intruder’s image into the National Criminal Information Center database then hit enter.  Hopefully the program would give him a little more insight into who was all behind the missing children.  He reset his camera and then made a call to Terry.

“Hello Terry.  It’s me Lee Carstairs…Fine, I’m doing fine. Listen I was wondering if I could come over tonight and show you what all I’ve found in my investigation? …Yes, yes I think I’ve got some solid leads that take us one step closer to finding Emily. ...Great, 7:30 would be fine.  See you then.”  That should perk their ears up Lee thought to himself as he hung up the phone.

Lee picked up his car keys and jacket and headed out of his room; next stop was Terry and Alice’s to give them an update and to maintain appearances for anyone who might be watching.  As he climbed into the car he pulled out his other cell phone and dialed the admiral’s office number.  Much to his relief no one answered so he just left a message saying all was well and that he was near San Francisco and would anchor there for the next couple days.

Lee started the car and as he pulled out into the street he noticed the tail on him immediately.  This was getting interesting, he really had stirred up a hornet’s nest and they were more than a little riled to be following him so soon. Things had taken a very serious turn and he would have to be extra careful as he worked his way to the end of this puzzle.  He took a very scenic tour of the city then stopped at a burger joint and grabbed a quick meal before heading over to his friends’ place all the while making sure he didn’t lose his tail.

oooOOOooo

Lee pulled into the driveway at the Jacobson’s right on time.  He shut off the engine, climbed out and walked up the steps to the front door.  Just as he was about to ring the bell Alice opened the door and invited him in.

“Hi Lee, how’s the investigation going?” Terry asked as his friend entered the living room.

“Hi Terry.  As I said on the phone I think I’ve got some real leads and I’d like to share them with you and Alice.”  While he was talking Lee pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to his friends.  Terry unfolded the sheet and both he and Alice read what was printed on the page.

“Keep talking normally, I need to sweep the house with this device to determine if they have bugged it yet.  Once we know we’re not being overheard I’ll give you the real update on my activities.”  They both nodded they understood.  Lee smiled and nodded back.

“Why don’t you tell me what all you’ve been doing lately?” Lee asked as he began using his device to scan for the telltale signs of remote listening devices in use.  Terry and Alice started outlining their activities posting flyers, checking the homeless shelters and so on as Lee moved around the room. After he had completed the sweep of the room he shut off the device and smiled.

“So far they haven’t done anything in here.  I’ll do the rest of the house later, just in case but we can safely talk in here.” Lee said.

Terry and Alice both sighed in relief and sat down on the couch.  Lee moved to the chair across from them and sat as well.  “My limited activities to date have already stirred interest by someone.  My room at the hotel has been searched and I have acquired a shadow that followed me over here.”

His friends’ expressions took on a look of alarm as Lee gave them this information.  He could see that they were shocked that these things really happened and not just on TV.

“I paid a visit to Cougan’s house today and was quite surprised by what I found.  He’s got a state of the art security system that would put the one at Ft. Knox to shame which is very unusual for a civil servant; those things don’t come cheap.  His computer is encrypted as good as any Department of Defense system which means he wants no one idly stumbling onto anything on that machine.  During my visit I tapped into his security system so it will be providing me information on his visitors and I planted a few of my own bugs to monitor what’s going on in the house.”

“Isn’t that highly illegal?” Alice asked.  “And wouldn’t that make any evidence you gather unusable in court?”

“Yes it is, but so is what he’s doing. I guess you could classify it as industrial espionage,” Lee said with a grin. “I’m not acting as a government agent in this case so my activities shouldn’t make a difference.  When I go forward to bring this all crumbling down, the evidence will be undeniable and come via an anonymous source.  It will be provided to both the police and the news media to ensure that action is taken to make sure the police department is swept clean.”

Both Terry and Alice smiled.  “So what’s your next step Lee?” Terry asked.

“Now it’s time to start rattling cages.  I’ll monitor what’s going on at Cougan’s house and hopefully get the break I need to find out the scope of his operation and where he’s stashing the kids.  This is a business to him so I don’t think he’s necessarily harming them he’s just selling a product to the highest bidder and the prices won’t be high for damaged merchandise.” Lee finished grimly.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two cell phones and handed one to Terry and Alice.  “Here, these two phones are setup so they can’t be tapped.  Whenever I have information to share with you or you have something you need to tell me in private we’ll use these phones.  I’ve programmed my number in it already so just hit speed dial.  I also want to set up a system that will monitor your house so we’ll know if anyone has visited while you’re away.” Lee said as he pulled out a couple of small cameras from his pocket.

“My god Lee is all of this really necessary?” Terry asked.

“As I said Terry I’ve got a bad feeling about all this and I would rather err on the side of caution than get caught unaware and end up with you or Emily hurt because I wouldn’t listen.”

“Lee you’ve proven time and again that you’re little voice has a pretty good take on what isn’t right.  We’ll go along with all of this especially if it gives you one less thing to worry about.” Alice replied.

“Thank you,” Lee said earnestly.  “Now let me get to work setting this up and then I can get out of your hair for tonight.  I hope this is all unnecessary but in the event it is we’re ready.”

Lee set to work installing his cameras on the points of entry to the house and finished his sweep for listening devices.  He was relieved that he found nothing and passed that on to Terry and Alice.  With his system up and functioning he wished his friends a good evening and headed back to his hotel, his shadow firmly in tow.

oooOOOooo

Back in his room he quickly checked it out for bugs or other devices to keep tabs on him and came up empty; at least they hadn’t gone that full route, yet.  Lee pulled out his computer and dialed into his setup monitoring Preston.  He quickly ran through the video footage and saw nothing that looked promising.  Next he started his review of the audio log and hit his first pay dirt.

“Hey, it’s me,” Preston said into the phone.  “We need to talk, something’s come up and we may need to go with only a partial shipment. …The parents of one of the missing girls hired a PI and he’s been nosing around. I get this weird feeling I’ve met him before but can’t seem to place him; he makes me nervous. The way he looked at me was as if he’d seen a ghost; I get the feeling he knows something’s going on. I’ve got people checking on him and I’ve got a tail on him as well.  …Yeah, the usual place tomorrow night at 11.  See you there.”

Lee smiled at the bit of fortune he had just picked up.  He also smiled at the fact that he had unnerved Preston enough that he was spending resources to keep tabs on him and checking out his cover.  He’d have to touch base with his ‘references’ to see what all they had been asked.  Tomorrow he’d need to ditch his tail, which should be relatively easy, then get a new car to follow Preston to the meeting place. 

Next Lee tapped into NCIC database the face recognition program to see if it had come up with a match for his earlier visitor.  The program had indeed found a match and Lee paled at the record associated with the face.  Marty Trent, a big time drug dealer and pimp with an arrest and conviction record a mile long and had a predilection for underage girls.  The man was an animal and should have been locked up for good years ago.  If a creep this ‘big’ in the crime world was scoping out his room like the hired help, this racket had to be even bigger than Lee imagined.  He sighed uneasily and ran his hand through his hair a sure sign of his concern and apprehension.

It was late and he had one more thing to take care of before he called it a night.  He picked up his personal cell and called the admiral’s office again to provide an update on his status.  He lucked out once more when Nelson didn’t answer so he left another message telling him he was nearing Astoria, Oregon and would anchor there for the next few days before heading further north.  That done Lee got ready for bed and shut off the lights.

oooOOOooo

Chip had just returned after a week spent with his parents in Ohio and he still had one more to go before Jamie would even let him near the NIMR front gate.  He decided he would get in a few rounds of golf to help kill the remaining time but remembered that his clubs were still at Lee’s place after the last time they played.  He sighed heavily, went out got in his SUV and headed over to Lee’s house to pick up his clubs.  Lee had given him a key to his house when he first bought the place in case of emergencies or if he just wanted to use the beach when Lee was gone. 

He pulled up in the driveway and hopped out sorting through his keys until he found the correct one.  He unlocked the front door then walked in and deactivated the security system before it went ballistic alerting both the police department and NIMR.  Chip headed into the garage and immediately spotted his clubs standing in the corner next to Lee’s.  He picked them up and went back into the house and then out on the deck where he could clean the club heads before he went to the golf course.  As he came into the house to get a bowl of soapy water and a towel he heard the phone ring and then the answering machine pick up. 

“Hi, um Mr. Crane this is Dave Sutter at the Santa Monica Yacht Club.  I needed to let you know that we had to move your boat to another area of the marina because the dock your boat was moored at was damaged when some drunk rammed his boat into it.  Your new slip number is P-63.  Your boat was not damaged in the mishap so don’t worry about that.  If you have any questions or you need to rent the slip beyond the 25th please give me a call at (310) 555-2661.  Have a good one.”

Chip almost dropped the bowl of water as he listened to the message.  What the hell was going on, Lee was supposed to be sailing north up to Washington.  “I knew it!” Chip sputtered aloud. “I knew he agreed to go on leave all too easily.”

He put down the bowl on the kitchen counter and bolted up the stairs to Lee’s bedroom.  He moved to the closet, opened the door and went directly to Lee’s ONI kit bag and pulled it open; sure enough almost everything was gone.  “Damn him!” Chip swore now certain Lee had accepted an ONI mission despite promising not to do so while on leave.  Closing the bag back up, he quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Admiral Nelson.

“Nelson.”

“Admiral, its Chip.”

“Hi Chip, how’s your leave going?  Are you back from visiting your family already?” Nelson inquired.

“Uh yes, sir, I got back late last night.  Have you heard from Lee lately?” Chip asked.

“As a matter of fact yes, he called in yesterday evening and left a message saying his was near Astoria.  Why do you ask?”

“Sir I’m over at Lee’s place, I had left my golf clubs here the last time we played, and as I was picking them up the phone rang and it was someone from the Santa Monica Yacht Club leaving a message letting Lee know that they had to move his boat to another slip and to give them a call if he needed to rent the slip past the 25th.  I went up to his room and checked his ONI kit bag and it’s almost empty,” Chip replied.

Chip’s report was greeted with dead silence on the other end of the line.  “Sir, are you still there?”

“Damn him,” muttered Harri.  “He sat there and promised me he would not go off on some ONI errand while he was on leave.  I am going to skin him alive.  Have you tried calling him Chip?”

“No sir.  I pretty much figured that if he went on a mission he left his cell here in the house or at ONI headquarters.  Do you want me to give it a try?”

“Yes, go ahead and try your luck.  I’m going to call Admiral Hardy and ring his bell for lying to me as well about not sending Lee off on any new missions while on leave.  Odds are you’ll be able to hear my side of the conversation from there,” Nelson fumed.

An involuntary shudder ran through Chip’s body having been witness to Nelson at full temper.  “Okay sir, I’ll try his cell and check around here to see if he perchance left any clues as to where he went.”

“I’ll give you a call after I get done with Hardy, so just hang out there for a while,” Nelson replied.

“Aye sir.  I’ll be waiting for your call.” Chip said cutting the connection.  “Oh Lee you’ve stepped in it big time now.”  He dialed Lee’s number and was immediately greeted by a message letting him know the owner was not currently available, or in other words the phone had been turned off.  “Hey Lee its Chip, the marina in Santa Monica called and they had to move your boat to a new slip, call me if you want the number.”  That ought to put a twist in his tail thought Chip.  “If there’s anything left after the admiral gets done with you, it’s mine,” he snarled.

oooOOOooo

Chip went upstairs to Lee’s office and perused the top of his desk for any sign of where he may have gone.  As usual it was neat and tidy with not so much as a paperclip out of place.  Next he rifled through the wastebasket and still came up empty.  As he was putting the basket back in place his cell phone began to ring.

“Morton,”

“Chip its Nelson.  I just got off the phone with Tom Hardy at ONI and he swears that Lee is not involved with anything sanctioned by the agency.  He was quite adamant about that and I’m inclined to believe him.  Have you come up with anything there?”

“No sir.  Everything is neat as a pin and there’s no indication where he’s gone.  I’m thinking sir, he may have gone back east,” Chip replied.

“What makes you say that?”

“Just a feeling I got when I talked to him the day he got back.  Besides looking beat I got the impression that something had happened to him while he was in Providence and that was probably why he wasn’t getting any sleep.  You know he lived there as a kid, don’t you?”

“Yes I’m aware of that.  He did say it was odd going back there after all these years but he didn’t dwell on what he did beyond the presentation and meetings.  In fact now that I look back on our conversation he changed the subject rather quickly.” Nelson answered.

“I called his cell phone and it went directly to voice mail so I don’t know if he’s got it with him or left it here.  I did leave a message letting him know we knew he wasn’t on his boat.”

“Hold on a second Chip and let me check my recent incoming calls list and I can tell you which phone he’s using. --- According to the log he’s using his NIMR phone so he’s got that with him.  The next time he calls to check in we can try and locate him via the GPS in his phone.  That would at least give us a general idea where he is.” Nelson replied.

“Great idea sir.  Since he seems to like calling when he thinks you’re not in we can set up call forwarding so the call gets through to you no matter when he calls.” Chip offered.

“That’s a good plan Chip.  I’m curious why he went to all these lengths to keep his plans a secret?  What could he possibly be doing that he felt he couldn’t share it with us?” Nelson queried.

“There’s no telling with Lee sir.  I’m guessing it has something to do with his time in Providence and it more than likely has some element of danger that he didn’t want us to know about.  He’s incredibly secretive about his past and it’s like pulling teeth to get him to open up about it.” Chip replied.

“Yes, I’ve experienced that as well.  Alright Chip, I’ll set up my call forwarding and let’s see if we can bag us a captain.  If he checks in I’ll let you know and you’ll do the same, correct?”

“Yes sir.”

oooOOOooo

Amazingly Lee actually slept well and felt rested and ready for the day’s activities.  It was going to be a long and busy day since he had to ditch his shadow, arrange for another car, and tail Preston to his meeting at 2300. 

He got up shaved and showered then headed out the door to grab some breakfast at the diner across the street.  As he walked out the hotel lobby door he immediately spotted his shadow and had to bury a smile to keep from letting on the guy had been made.  He trotted across the street, entered the diner and selected a booth next to a window so he could keep tabs on his shadow’s activities. 

He gave his order to the waitress and then pulled out his NIMR cell to check messages.  After keying in his PIN he started listening to his missed calls, when he got to Chip’s he couldn’t repress the “Shit!” that blurted out at discovering his subterfuge had unfortunately come to light.  He was so dead.  He sat there debating whether to check in and come clean or just quit calling now that they knew he wasn’t sailing somewhere up the coast. Knowing Harri and Chip there was no way he was going to get by again leaving a message, if he called he would no doubt wind up speaking with one or both of them and that would be unpleasant to say the least.  He finally decided to decide what to do after he had taken care of his business tonight.

As he sat there eating his oatmeal he noticed his shadow get out of his car and enter the hotel.  He was no doubt checking out Lee’s room for any insight into what he had found through his investigation.  Lee quickly gulped down the rest of his coffee, left some money on the table and bolted across the street to the guy’s car and placed a tracking device on it.  It would be nice knowing where he went after he was through watching Lee.  Taking the opportunity he had been given, Lee got in his own car and drove off watching carefully to see if there was another tail hiding in the wings somewhere. 

He wove in and out of the rush hour traffic to find out if he was still being followed.  After about 30 minutes he figured that he was momentarily free of his shadow and headed for a secluded park where he stopped and parked the car.  Anyone who had ever been given the job of tailing someone knew that what had been allowed to happen was a rookie mistake and Lee guessed that his car had been tagged as well.  He got out and conducted a comprehensive search of his vehicle and quickly found the tracker he suspected was there.  He peeled the device off and stuck it in the ashtray of his car for ready access when he was ready.

Lee needed to make it seem as though he were following up leads so he decided to head back to the area where Emily had been taken and canvas the neighborhood again.  It would be easy for his shadow to pick him back up and report that he was doing what a PI should be doing to find a missing person.  He talked to a number of the street people in the area and then began snooping around the abandoned buildings in the area looking for places the homeless would hang out.  Not surprisingly he found a couple of places where kids were hiding out and managed to get them to talk to him about any strange disappearances there on the streets.  His heart ached for them but there wasn’t much he could do right now other than give them a few bucks so they could get something decent to eat.

After a day poking around the neighborhood Lee decided to head back to his hotel room and get ready for his rendezvous that night.  As he was walking back to his car, his cell phone rang and it was Terry.  “Carstairs,” he answered.

“Lee, its Terry.”

“Hi Terry, what’s up?” Lee replied.

“We just had a visit from the cops to give us an update on their investigation”, Terry said his voice dripping with disdain.  “They also asked a number of questions about you and if you had turned up anything in your investigation.  They were really curious about where and how we met.  We used the story you laid out about meeting on the streets in Providence as kids.  We also told them you had just moved on one day and we never knew where you went until we happened to meet on that flight to LA.”

“Thanks Terry; that’s great to know.  I think Cougan is starting to put things together which is not a good thing.  He’s got a meeting with someone in his organization tonight to discuss what I assume are issues with my investigation and the need to move their merchandise now as opposed to later.  I fully intend to be there to hopefully get some more insight into this.” Lee replied.

“Do you need any help, Lee?”

“No I’ve got everything pretty well set up.  Come to think of it you wouldn’t by any chance be able to borrow a car from someone that I could use tonight?  They’re watching me pretty closely and have a tracker on the car I’m using.” Lee asked.

“I’ve got a friend who’s out of town for the next couple of weeks; he left me the keys to his house and car and told me to use either if I needed them.  I could drop the car off at a local garage like I’m having it serviced for him and you could pick it up there, would that work?” Terry offered.

“You sure you haven’t done this before,” Lee joked. “That would be absolutely perfect. Give me the directions and I’ll pick it up later tonight.”

Terry provided the address and directions and told Lee where he would hide the keys.  Lee thanked him and told him he’d be in touch as soon as he found anything out following the meeting.  Now that he had the car problem solved, all Lee needed to do was ditch the shadow, which would be relatively easy.

He drove back to his hotel and returned to his room.  He quickly checked his security cam and was not disappointed when he saw he had a visitor while he was having breakfast.  He watched closely as the intruder did something near the phone then exited the room.  Lee checked out the area and this time found a listening device next to the phone.  Things were really getting serious now. 

Lee pulled out the phone book and called a local pizza delivery place and ordered dinner.  He changed into his dark jeans and shirt as he waited for the delivery then turned on the TV to make it sound as though he were settling in for the night.  He dropped a towel over the bug on the nightstand to muffle the sound. After the pizza arrived he put on a disguise, exited his room and walked casually out the lobby door leaving his shadow to stake out an empty room.  Lee hailed a cab and had it take him to the garage where he picked up his ride then headed over to Preston’s house to await his departure for the meeting.

At 2200 one of Preston’s vehicles pulled out of the garage and headed down the street.  Using his night vision goggles Lee could just make out Preston behind the wheel as the car passed by his position. Lee remained parked a few minutes after he left so as not to be picked up immediately as a tail; he was getting a good signal from the tracking beacon so he wasn’t concerned about losing him.  Lee started the car and drove casually down the road after his prey.

oooOOOooo

Watching the progress of the tracking beacon, it was obvious to Lee that Preston was making damn sure no one was on his tail.  He made numerous turns winding around the streets then finally convinced he was alone returned to the main thoroughfare and made a bee line for his rendezvous.  Looks like old habits are hard to break thought Lee as Preston headed for an older part of town with numerous abandoned structures.  He eventually came to a stop, parked the car and sat waiting for whoever he was meeting.

Lee parked his car well out of sight and made his way stealthily to where Preston had parked.  As it came upon 2300 a dark sedan pulled up next to his car and killed the engine.  After a moment the driver exited as did Preston and they moved quickly to the building in front of them and entered. Lee ran over to the new man’s car and positioned another tracking device on the car then moved discretely over to the building and cautiously approached the door listening intently for sounds of the men inside.

Lee carefully cracked open the door and found a hallway leading from the door to a number of rooms.  He scanned the area to determine if there was any monitoring equipment and finding none eased the door open and slipped into the building.  At the far end of the corridor he spotted a light under the closed door and moved silently towards it.  As he neared the door he could just hear voices on the other side.

“So what’s so damn important that you have to get me out here in the middle of the night to discuss?” demanded the man in heavily accented English.

“I think someone is on to us.  One of the girls you had grabbed wasn’t living on the street and her parents hired a PI to investigate her disappearance.” Preston replied.

“That shouldn’t be a problem, no one saw us take her and you erased any evidence so why are you worried about this guy?”

“There’s something about him that bothers me.  I know I’ve seen him somewhere and it was quite obvious he knew me.  I get the feeling I’m being watched.”

“Oh that’s real bright then, pulling me out here so he can connect me to the operation,” the man said glaring at Preston. “Has he done anything unexpected since he started looking for the girl?”

“Don’t worry about that I made sure I wasn’t followed.  I’ve got Trent following him around and monitoring his activities.  According to Trent he’s just done the usual things like visiting the area the girl went missing, talking to the residents and hitting the homeless camps.  Trent was surprised he found a place where a bunch of runaway kids had holed up and actually managed to talk to them.” Preston replied.  “According to what the girl’s parents told my inspector about their PI, they all met when they were kids living on the streets here in Providence so he must know what to look for and how to approach them.”

As Preston said those last words, it dawned on him where he knew Carstairs from.  “Shit! I knew I’d seen those eyes somewhere before.” he snarled.

“What?” his partner asked.

“Now I know where I’ve seen that son of a bitch, no wonder he nearly passed out when he saw me.  It was back when I was working undercover for narcotics.  We grabbed this pretty little girl who was living with two boys some place near warehouse row.  Somehow the little pricks found out where we had hidden the girl and managed to break her out along with the other girls we had stashed there.  That little move cost me a bundle,” he growled.

“I stumbled on them just as they were making their getaway and managed to corner the boy and one of the girls in an alleyway.  As I tried to capture the kid he managed to stab me in the shoulder when I grabbed him.  I threw him off me then stabbed him with his own knife, just as I was ready to finish him off the other boy nailed me in the head with a two by four.  As I finally cleared my head and was going after the second brat I heard police sirens closing in; I had to beat feet to keep from being caught.  I just assumed the kid died and figured no one would believe the others.  I told my captain my cover got blown and was pulled off the streets.”

“Well that’s just great,” snarled his partner. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing right now, it would only heighten scrutiny if he suddenly disappeared.  We need to move the girls we have right now so if he does stumble onto anything the evidence is gone.  After that then I think Mr. Carstairs will have an unfortunate accident.  He’s probably shared his suspicions with the girl’s parents so they’ll have to be taken out of the picture as well.”

“That doesn’t work for me; I need a full shipment to get the money to cover the arms shipment I’ve got coming.  If you go forward with this you give me your share plus cover the difference.”

“You’re full of shit!  You’re men screwed up by grabbing the wrong girl; all this is your fault,” Preston stormed back.

“Yeah well if you had cleaned up your loose ends, this wouldn’t be a problem in the first place,” his partner countered.  The two men stood there glaring at each other.

“How many more do we need to have a full shipment?” asked Preston.

“We’re short four; girls or boys will work as long as they’re all pretty.”

“I’ll ask Trent where Carstairs found those kids yesterday.  It will be risky but we could snatch the four we need all at once and have them on the boat and out of the country in two days.  Then I can see to Carstairs and the Jacobsons.”

“I’ll let the men know so they can get ready.  Send me the information as soon as you get it and we’ll take care of everything,” the man replied.

Hearing those last words Lee realized that the meeting was about to break up.  He quickly and quietly moved down the hallway, out the door and back into the shadows.  He had to fight back the urge to take out Preston and his partner as he held his temper in check by the thinnest of threads.  He couldn’t move until he knew where they were keeping the children they abducted and until he had identified all those involved. As they emerged from the building Lee snapped pictures of the new man and eased his way back to his car.

oooOOOooo

Lee dropped his borrowed car off at the garage and caught a cab back to the hotel.  His disguise firmly in place he entered the hotel and silently reentered his room.  He quickly checked his video camera to determine if anyone had ‘come calling’ while he was out and was relieved to find everything still in order.

He grabbed his camera and downloaded the pictures he took of Preston’s partner and entered that into the NCIC and hit search.  Lee was shocked when the program returned a hit almost immediately.  The man, Abdullah bin Assad, was a known terrorist and arms and drug dealer wanted by just about every intelligence and law agency in the country.  His hate and loathing for Preston reached new heights as he added this new information about the man.

This was bigger than Lee ever imagined and knew he needed to pull in some assistance to track all the players and bring this racket to a halt.  He was also concerned that his activities had now placed his friends’ lives in jeopardy along with the girls already abducted and the homeless kids he had talked to downtown.  He would have to move quickly now to ensure everyone stayed safe, the missing children were recovered and that all involved were rounded up and brought to justice.

Lee sighed heavily knowing he needed to pull in ONI since they had the assets to meet all his objectives.  He probably should also let the admiral and Chip know so they don’t think he intentionally lied to them about working with the agency while on his leave.  He laid back and closed his eyes; he was dead tired and needed some rest the next couple of days were going to be hectic.

oooOOOooo

Lee groaned loudly and stretched out his back as he woke.  He knew he had to get moving and start things in motion to carry out his plans.  The one thing he knew for sure was that he had to get access to Preston’s computer and find out what he had in his safe. He rushed through is morning ablutions and exited his room heading for the diner across the street for a quick breakfast.  He was gratified to see his shadow still in the same place he’d been last night when Lee snuck back into the hotel.

This morning he chose a seat away from the window to ensure what he did next was not recorded.  He placed his order for breakfast and as he sat sipping on his coffee he debated who he should call first, Nelson, Hardy or the Jacobsons.  Since people’s lives, other than his, were dependent on what ONI could do, the decision was made pretty quickly.  He opened his phone and placed the first call directly to Admiral Hardy’s private number.  It was god awful early but he knew Hardy practically lived at the office and was most likely already there.

“Hardy,” answered the gruff voice at the other end of the line.

“Admiral its Crane,” Lee responded softly so as not to be overheard.

“Where the hell have you been, Mister?  I damn near had my head taken off by your over-protective boss because he has no friggin’ idea where you snuck off to,” bellowed Hardy.

“Sorry about that sir.  I’m in Providence, Rhode Island and I’m in need of backup.  I’ve stumbled across something with international terrorist implications and require immediate assistance.” Lee replied.  The line went quiet for a moment.

“God Crane only you,” groused Hardy.  “Are you somewhere you can talk?”

“Not right now sir.  I just needed to put you on alert and have you standing by to provide assistance to help bring this situation to an end.  I’m being closely watched so I’ll have to check back in with you when I reach a secure location.  I’ll give you a call when that occurs, hopefully no later than 1300.”

“Very well Commander, I’ll put things in motion and await your call.”

“Thank you, sir.  Talk to you soon.” He hung up and took a deep breath, now the toughest phone call.  He dialed the secure number to Terry and Alice and after a few rings a groggy voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Terry, its Lee. Don’t talk, just listen, okay?  I don’t know if your house has been bugged and we don’t want to give anything away.” Lee said then waited a moment for what he said to sink in.

“Okay.” Terry replied.

“You and Alice are in danger and I need to get you stashed in a safe place until all this plays out.  Cougan knows who I am; he finally figured out that I’m the kid that stabbed him in the alley that day.  I’m sure he’ll eventually put together that you and Alice were there as well but regardless of whether he does or not he’s already putting plans in motion for you two to have an unfortunate accident because I’ve probably shared everything I have with you,” Lee continued.

“Here’s what I would like you to do.  I want you to be at the Meadowview Mall at 11:00 this morning.  Park your car by the Quarter’s Department store entrance then enter the mall and stroll around as though you’re shopping for something.  Make your way to Marchand’s by 11:30 and exit the doors on the north side.  I’ll be waiting there for you in your friend’s car, do you understand?”

“Yes I understand.  Should we bring anything?” Terry asked trying desperately to get a handle on what was being thrown at him.

“No, this has to look like you’re just heading to the mall as you would any other day. Does your friend who left you his keys live anywhere near you, yes or no nothing more.”

“No.” Terry replied.

“Good,” Lee said.  “When you leave also bring the keys to your friend’s house, that’s where I’ll take you and where you’ll be safe. Keep this phone with you at all times so we can get in touch.  I’ll be watching you from the time you enter the parking lot and make sure you’re not being followed inside.  If you are, I’ll give you a call and give you more instructions on how to meet me.  Got everything?”

“Yes, I believe so.  See you tonight, Jeremy.” Terry responded and hung up.  Lee let a smile creep across his face, Terry was really getting good at this.

oooOOOooo

Alice sat up in bed staring at Terry listening to his side of the conversation.  She knew it had to be Lee because the call came in on the phone he gave them.  As she watched, Terry began to pale the longer the conversation went on and was nearly white by the time he hung up.  She looked at him questioningly.

“That was Jeremy; he wanted to invite us to dinner this evening.  His mother just arrived and he wanted company to help entertain her and to nab us before we could get away,” Terry explained with a forced laugh.

He reached over and pulled Alice into a tight embrace and kissed her lightly then whispered quietly into her ear.  “Lee thinks we are in danger and wants to put us in a safe house.  He said Cougan has figured out who he is and is planning to come after us.  We need to go to the mall at 11:00 where Lee will pick us up and take us over to Allan’s place until all this is over.  He said to make it look like a normal shopping trip and not to bring anything special other than our phones.”

Alice pushed back and stared intently into Terry’s eyes.  She saw her fear and concern reflected in his eyes and nodded solemnly that she understood.  “That’s sounds like FUN,” Alice replied with a sarcastic tone.  “Jeremy’s mom is such a hoot to be around.” They both laughed and lay back down in bed snuggled securely in each other’s arms.  Both hoped that this was a sign that everything was coming to an end and they would soon be reunited with Emily.

oooOOOooo

Lee returned to his hotel room and puttered around for a few minutes then exited and went out to his car.  He made his way through rush hour traffic and quickly managed to scrape off his tail.  Next he headed to a popular local park and parked his car.  Spotting a garbage truck emptying the dumpsters in the parking lot Lee pulled the tracking device out of the ashtray, ambled over to truck and tossed it in the back.  That should keep Trent busy for quite a while.  Next he called a cab to pick him up and had it deliver him to where he’d dropped off the other car he used last night.

Based on the surveillance he had done on Preston, he knew he tended to leave the house early and head in to work, so if he held true to form, Lee should be able get into his house and access his computer and safe before he got in touch with Hardy.  He made a bee line for Preston’s place parking well out of sight and waited for him to leave.  He was not disappointed as he left right on time presumably heading for the office.  Lee waited in the car another 20 minutes until he was sure he wouldn’t return.  He moved the car further down the block, got out and worked his way cautiously back to the house making sure no one saw him.

Lee hiked himself over the brick wall encircling the backyard and once inside moved quickly to the house and let himself in.  Using his code he disarmed the security system and went directly to Preston’s office to begin work on hacking into his computer. After nearly an hour he finally made his way past the encryption and proceeded to download everything on Preston’s hard drive.

As that was going on, he moved next to the spare room and set to cracking the safe.  He pulled out one of his ONI special devices and set it to the task of disarming and opening the safe.  Minutes later the machine let loose a nearly silent ping and the door popped open.  Looking inside Lee observed bundles of cash, gold coins, jewelry boxes, a laptop and what appeared to be ledgers of some sort.  Bypassing the money and baubles he grabbed the computer and books, shut the safe and returned to the office where the computer had just completed its download.

Lee snatched his portable drive, shut down the computer then made his way back outside and reengaged the security system.  He moved quickly to the wall, boosted himself over and worked his way back to his car.  Once inside the car he remotely accessed Preston’s security system and erased any video evidence of his activities.  As he looked down at his watch it was time to head over to the mall to pick up Terry and Alice.

He arrived at the mall about 90 minutes before Terry and Alice were due to arrive, and a half hour before the mall opened for business.  Steeling himself for the coming storm he flipped open his phone and made the call to Nelson.  He knew it was early on the west coast but Nelson had never been one to sleep much past 0500.  Lee reasoned if he struck early he might, just might, catch him a bit off guard and escape with his head and his job.

The phone rang twice and he was greeted by a terse, “Nelson.”

“Admiral, its Lee.”  At that point all bets were off. 

“So nice of you to check in Commander; how are things there in Astoria?” Nelson’s said his words dripping with sarcasm. 

“They’re probably very nice sir, but I wouldn’t know since I’m nowhere near there.” Lee replied honestly.

“Yes, we are fully aware that you’re nowhere near there.  Do you mind telling me where the hell you are?” Harri fumed. 

“I’m on the east coast sir, Providence to be exact,” Lee replied quietly.

“What the hell are you doing there?  You aren’t working for Hardy are you?” Nelson demanded.

“My reason for being here is personal; it has nothing to do with ONI. And no sir, I’m not working for Admiral Hardy, at least not yet.  That will change in the next couple of hours but only because of what I happened upon while taking care of my business.” Lee answered.

Harri sighed loudly finally coming down after the rush of anger and relief faded away at hearing his surrogate son’s voice.  “What are you doing in Providence, Lee?” he asked more civilly.  “Are you all right?”

“Believe it or not sir, I’m fine,” Lee replied with a chuckle knowing full well Harri had just rolled his eyes.  “Sir when I was back here for the presentation, I ran into a couple of the people I used to live with on the streets when I was a kid.  That was great reunion until I found out their daughter had been abducted much like her mother had been when we were all together.  When I found out she had been taken I told them I would do a little checking using my resources to see if I could come up with anything the police hadn’t.  Well sir, after running my check I came up with a huge discovery and felt I needed to follow it up personally.  When Jamie backed me into a corner about my leave, it was just what I needed to get away without any undue questions regarding my need for leave.”

“I see,” replied Harri neutrally.  “Why didn’t you just tell us Lee?  Why all the subterfuge and why didn’t you give your information to the police?”

“As I said Admiral this is personal.  I feel like I let them down when we were kids and this was my way of trying to pay them back.  I wanted to take care of this myself without involving you or Chip, there are a lot of emotions and painful memories associated with this and I needed to work through them by myself.  As far as going to the police, there are people within the department that are involved.  In fact the same person that abducted my friend when we were kids is directly responsible for the abduction of their daughter and holds a rather high position within the department.”

“I’ve been tracking leads and gathering proof of his activities while I’ve been here.  In the course of my investigation I’ve discovered that this animal is also in league with a known terrorist wanted by the majority of the intelligence agencies in this country and internationally. They are trafficking in abducted children and some of the proceeds from those sales are being used to by arms.”

“That’s quite an accusation Lee, can you prove it?” Nelson replied.

“Yes sir I can.  I contacted Admiral Hardy this morning and asked for back up support to take down their operation.  Preston, the man from the police department, has finally realized that I’m the kid responsible for bringing down his operation some 25 years ago and is ready to even the score.  They’re accelerating their most current sale because I’ve gotten too close so I’m pulling in ONI to put a stop to it all, recover my friends’ daughter and hopefully put them all behind bars where they belong.” Lee finished.

“Is there anything we can do from here, son?” Harri asked concern obvious in his voice.

“No sir.  Between ONI and me, we should be able to close this down, but thank you for the offer.”

“It sounds like you’ve stumbled on a very dangerous situation, lad.  You take care; we want you back off leave in one piece.  If there’s anything that I can do you let me know, okay?” Harri replied.

“Yes, sir; I appreciate your offer very much.  I’ll be in touch.” Lee answered.

“Mind my words, Captain, one piece. Take care son,” Harri added and hung up.

Lee breathed a deep sigh of relief; he had survived his encounter with the dragon, everything else was going to be a walk in the park. 

oooOOOooo

After hanging up with Lee, Nelson immediately dialed Chip.  “Chip, its Nelson.”

“Morning sir, what’s up?” Chip replied sleepily.

“I just heard from Lee and as expected he’s up to his eyebrows in intrigue and danger.  As you suspected he’s back in Providence.  He’s helping out some friends from his childhood recover their abducted daughter and shut down an international child trafficking ring with police corruption and terrorist connections.”

“What?!” Chip nearly yelled.

“Yes, I know, only Lee.  According to him everything is coming to a head and he’s bringing in ONI to help capture all the parties involved and shut down the operation for good.” Nelson continued.

“Well that sounds like a recipe for success,” Chip replied facetiously.  “And he didn’t think he could let us know what he was doing because…?”

“It’s complicated, at least as far as Lee’s concerned.  He said he’s dealing with a lot of bad personal history and trying to atone for some mistake he thinks he made as a kid feeling he somehow let these people down when they were all children.”

“Geez was he ever not responsible for the world?  He had to be all of 10 or 11 at the time, what kind of mistake could he have made?” Chip asked.

“This is Lee we’re talking about,” Nelson continued.  “I also think that there’s a fair amount of danger associated with this and he didn’t want us put at risk.  I’m sure he expected us to tell him to turn it over to the authorities or insist on coming with him had he revealed what he intended to do.”

“Yeah, well he got that right.  So when are we leaving sir?” Chip answered flatly.

Nelson chuckled.  “I’ll call down and have FS-1 prepped for use.  I probably should give Jamie a call and let him know what’s going on; if I know him he’ll insist on coming along since odds are his services will be needed.  Everything should be ready to go within 90 minutes.  Can you make that Chip?”

Chip laughed.  “I could be there in 30.  I’m going to knock some sense into that curly covered skull if it kills me.  I’ll see you at the dock shortly sir.”

As Harri hung up the phone he sighed deeply, “When are you ever going to let us be there for you son?”  He then started making the calls he needed to get them on their way to Providence.

oooOOOooo

Once the mall opened Lee went inside and scouted out the facility.  After he knew where all the exits were, he moved to Quarter’s and started watching the parking lot for the arrival of his friends.  Right at 11:00 he spotted Terry and Alice pull in and park.  He watched them closely as they entered the mall and then scanned the parking lot to determine if anyone was monitoring their movements.  Much to his relief he hadn’t spotted anyone shadowing them.

He moved quickly to the other end of the mall and awaited the arrival of his friends.  As they stepped out of the north entrance, Lee pulled up in the car and honked the horn.  Terry and Alice quickly got in and Lee moved through the parking lot towards the exit.

“Hi kids, how are you doing?” Lee asked.

“Hi Lee, a whole lot better once this is all over,” answered Alice tensely.

“Totally understandable,” Lee replied.  “So where are we headed?”

Terry gave Lee directions to his friend’s place and they were on their way.  As he drove, Lee provided a synopsis of what he had found out over the last couple of days.  Shock gave way to anger as Lee relayed what he had heard last night especially as it pertained to the sale of the children overseas and how the money was to be used.  He finished his report just as he pulled into the driveway of the friend’s house.

Terry and Alice just sat there immobile, stunned by everything Lee had revealed.  “Are you sure about this Lee?” Terry finally asked.

“As sure as I can be Terry. I’m sure they had no idea I was following them or listening in on their conversation and I seriously doubt that they made up that whole bit about moving up their schedule or harming you two. This is far bigger than I ever imagined and because of the scope and the involvement of known terrorists, I’ve called in ONI to help close this down.  Come on let’s go inside; I need to make a phone call to put the next step of this plan in motion and take a look at what I got from Cougan’s place.” Lee replied.

They nodded and everyone exited the car and waited as Terry opened the door to the house.  As soon as they were in Lee opened up his cell and contacted Admiral Hardy.

“Admiral, Crane. I’m in a safe place and can talk freely now.  By the way, I did contact Admiral Nelson and let him know that I was involving ONI in this.  He fully understands that you did not request I take part in this mission.”

“That’s a comfort, Commander,” Hardy replied snidely.  “Now what is the situation and who all is involved in this rat’s nest you’ve uncovered?”

“When I was in Providence a while back I ran into some old friends.  In the process of catching up on each other’s lives they mentioned that their 12 year old daughter had been abducted and there had been no breaks in the search for her.  I offered to check out some of the resources we have at hand in case I could find something the police might have missed.  In checking out one of the national databases I came across some altered records which led me to believe someone within the Providence police department was involved in the disappearance of her and a number of other children in the city.” Lee started.

“Go on,” Hardy replied noncommittally.

“I returned to Providence and went down to the police department to touch base with the detective in charge.  During that visit I literally ran into a man I know for a fact had abducted children for the sex trade over 25 years ago.  He was personally responsible for the abduction of my friend when she was a child, and was an undercover cop at the time.  Last night I followed him to a meeting with his partner and that is where I came across the terrorist affiliation.”

“Shit,” Hardy replied.  “Do you have the names of those involved?”

“The prime movers in this operation are Providence Police Lieutenant Mark Preston, head of the missing person’s child recovery unit and Abdullah bin Assad, wanted terrorist and arms and drug trafficker.  Assad’s people snatch the children and Preston erases any evidence to prevent recovery of the kids they grab.  Based on what I heard last night, they sell the kids to overseas buyers then at least Assad uses his share of the money to buy arms to support his terrorist activities.”

‘Damn’ was Hardy’s only response to Lee’s revelation.  Looks of anger and outrage spread across Terry and Alice’s faces as they finally found out who Cougan really was.  He could tell by the look on their faces he was right in withholding that information because he knew they would have gone immediately down to the station and confronted the man.

“During last night’s meeting, they laid out plans to arrange for accidents to befall both me and the parents of one of the missing girls.  I have moved the girl’s parents to a safe house to take them out of the line of fire.  They also indicated that because I had been poking around they felt it was necessary to advance their schedule for the next sale. According to Assad they are short four children for a full delivery and will go after some runaway kids I discovered during my investigation, to complete the order.” Lee continued.

“What all have you done so far, Crane?” Hardy inquired.

“Thus far I have tracking devices on all of Preston’s cars, I also have trackers on the car Assad used last night and on the vehicle of the thug hired to follow me.  I’ve tapped into Preston’s personal security system at his residence and established a backdoor within the system to allow remote access when needed.  I’ve got monitoring equipment set up in the hotel room where I’m staying and at the Jacobson’s residence to capture visits from unwanted company.  What I don’t have is the location where they are holding the kids or where they intend to load them for export from the country.  I accessed his computer and his personal safe this morning but haven’t had a chance to review what I managed to get.”

“Sounds as though you’ve been busy while on leave, Commander,” Hardy answered sarcastically.  “I’ve got a team ready to roll to your location.  How do you envision this going down?”

“I need a couple of agents to apprehend the men that go for the kids and hopefully get a bead on where they’re supposed to deliver them.  Another agent needs to keep Assad in our sights and make sure he doesn’t slip through our fingers and one more for Preston.  What I need to do right now is go through the information I recovered this morning and see if it provides any indication where they are keeping the children or where the intend to transfer them and to whom.”

“Alright Commander that sounds like a good start,” Hardy replied.  “Where do you want to meet up with the team?  I can have them in the Providence area in 4 hours.”

“I think the safe house would be the best place, sir.  Preston has no idea where it is and it’s centrally located based on their activities.”

“That will work.  I’ll transfer you over to the team lead and you can provide all the contact information.”

“Aye sir.” Lee replied.

oooOOOooo

As Lee ended the call he was met by the angry glares from his friends.  “Why the hell didn’t you tell us who was behind this?” demanded Terry.

“What would you have done if I had?  Would you have run down to the police station and demand that he give you your daughter back?  What proof did you have that he was behind it or that he was the creep who grabbed Alice and the other girls all those years ago?” Lee responded neutrally.

Terry sighed angrily fighting back the urge to go after Lee for not sharing that little bit of information.  Alice stepped between them and put a hand on each of their shoulders.  “Lee’s right Terry and you know it.  If he had told us right off the bat we most likely would have given him away and lost whatever chance we have at getting Emily back and making sure that son of a bitch goes to prison, for life.”

Listening to his wife’s words Terry relaxed and nodded in agreement.  “I’m sorry Lee, I know you’ve been doing your best and yes I probably would have bolted down to the station and gone after Preston.”

“Don’t worry about it Terry, this is a powder keg of emotions for you and Alice and I’m surprised you haven’t gone off already.  The main thing now is to go through the information I picked up this morning and see if we can discover where they’re holding the kids and when they plan to move.”  Lee reached into his bag and pulled out his laptop and the laptop and books he had lifted from Preston’s safe.  He handed the books to Alice, “Here you two start working your way through these and I’ll start on the computer files.”

oooOOOooo

After nearly four hours of reviewing Preston’s records, files and emails Lee and the Jacobson’s were appalled at how large and profitable his operation was and even more unsettling was how long he’d been at it.  He had initially become involved in the scheme when he worked undercover over 25 years ago, drawn into it by his police captain.  He went from scout and muscle grabbing the kids to running the entire operation once his superior retired.  The thing they all couldn’t stomach was the sickening number of young lives stolen by this bastard and his cohorts. Seeing red didn’t even come close to describing the anger and rage they all felt seeing everything laid out before them.  These animals, for lack of a better word, had preyed on the children least able to protect themselves, who had no advocates or loved ones looking for them or demanding their return once they disappeared. 

“This man and his associates need to be wiped from the face of this earth,” Alice finally spat, tears rolling down her cheeks as she sat back in her chair shaken by what she had read.

“No, that’s too damn good for him; I can’t even begin to think of a torture bad enough to atone for the evil he has laid out on all those poor kids.” Terry replied equally affected by the information in the books he had reviewed.

“Prison is exactly what he needs,” replied Lee.  “Child molesters and disgraced cops are the lowest of the low and receive special attention from the other inmates unless they are locked away in solitary.  I’m not one to advocate torture or abuse, but in his case I would definitely make an exception.”  Lee literally growled trying to suppress his rage and disgust.

“You know they made a huge mistake in taking Emily because she wasn’t a street kid.  The only reason this is coming to light is that they grabbed a child who is lucky enough to be part of a loving family and her parents weren’t willing to rely solely on police efforts to recover their child.  There is some good coming out of this entire ordeal.” Lee said.

“It doesn’t hurt that her parents lucked upon their childhood friend who always looked out for them and has stepped back in to do it again.  I also doesn’t hurt that said friend just happened to grow up to be a spy with all the resources needed to bring this to an end,” Terry added with a wry grin.

Lee blushed slightly and returned the grin.  “I guess she’s a pretty lucky kid.  Come on, let’s get something to drink and then get back to the books and get her home so you can tell her.”

As they stood and moved towards the kitchen there was a knock on the door.  Lee moved quickly to the front door and peered out of the peep hole, standing on the stoop was the five-person ONI team dispatched to bring down Preston’s empire.  He quickly opened the door and escorted the agents in.  He made introductions and then proceeded to provide a situation brief and laid out what their objectives and tasks were.

Two agents would go down to the abandoned building where Lee had met with the homeless kids to maintain watch over them and ensure that they apprehended Assad’s men when they moved to snatch the kids.  Once they grabbed them, they were to get as much information on when and where they were supposed to deliver the children to Preston, using whatever means they needed.

The third agent was given the task of tracking Preston’s movements.  Lee really wanted to do that himself but since Preston knew what he looked like and who he was it made more sense to have someone unknown to him taking over that task.  He passed on the tracking device detector with the frequencies for each vehicle Lee had tagged so he could follow regardless of the car Preston used.

Another agent was assigned to locate and follow Assad.  Lee provided him with the tracking device detector in hopes that the car he had tagged was one Assad used on a regular basis.  If he was able to locate him he was to keep him in sight at all times and then once the signal came, grab him so he wouldn’t get an opportunity to disappear in the confusion.

The last agent was going to help them plow through all of Preston’s computer records Lee had collected in hopes that they could identify where Preston was keeping the children or where he was supposed to deliver them.  If they could get that information then they could possibly get there before the transaction, release the kids he had and then nab everyone involved when it came time for the transaction.  They had less than two days before the sale was supposed to occur so they had to act fast.  With the briefings complete everyone jumped to their tasks in hopes of bringing this to a happy conclusion for all.

oooOOOooo

After working his way through the voluminous files he had downloaded from Preston’s computer and in need of a break from all the reading, Lee logged into his surveillance program and pulled up the audio recordings he was making at Preston’s house.  As he skimmed through the recordings sampling the various conversations his attention was suddenly riveted to the file he had just opened.

“It’s me.  I’ve been in contact with the buyer and everything is set for tomorrow night.  The only way he’ll accept the shipment is if we have the full order.  Let your men know they need to go snatch the kids and get them to the building no later than midnight tomorrow.” Preston said.  “Like you said boys or girls will work as long as they’re pretty…. No I haven’t heard anything from Trent about Carstair’s location, he hasn’t checked in today….Just worry about getting your end taken care of, I’ll take care of the rest….Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Lee played the message again for everyone in the room to hear.  “Well we now have a time line.  Steve, give Phipps and Watson a call and update them on the situation and tell them to stay alert it could go down any time now.  Also let the other guys know what we’ve got.” 

“Will do, Lee.” Gorman said as he moved off into the other room to update the rest of the team.

“Have you guys come up with anything yet?” Lee asked Terry and Alice.

“Most of what I’m finding is his accounting records for all his transactions.  The IRS will definitely be interested in that.  He may get out early on the crimes against humanity, but he’ll never see the light of day once they see how much income he’s neglected to pay taxes on,” replied Alice.

“The records I’ve got seem to be property and other assets he’s purchased all over the world.  If he needed to he could escape to any number of countries and live quite comfortably.  I’m assuming there are no extradition treaties with these places so he would be safe,” Terry added.

“The files I’ve been looking at involve his customers.  He’s very meticulous in keeping their identities and what they purchased, most likely for blackmail if he needed it.  There are quite a few federal and state agencies that will enjoy getting this information and arresting those involved,” Lee said providing his update to the group.

As they resumed their research Lee’s NIMR cell phone rang.  “Crane,” Lee answered.  “Admiral, um what can I do for you sir? ... You’re where? … Who’s with you?” Lee swore quietly under his breath.  “You didn’t need to come back here sir; we’ve got it all under control…. Why are you laughing? ... Tell Chip to go…Yes sir.  Do you have a piece of paper?  We’re at…”

Lee sighed and closed his phone.  Just as he had feared Harri felt he needed to be involved and of course that included Chip and Jamie.  Terry and Alice stared and Lee inquisitively.  “We’re about to get some more assistance,” Lee replied resignedly.  “My boss Admiral Harriman Nelson, my XO and self-appointed big brother Chip Morton, and my CMO, Dr. Will Jamieson have decided to join in on the party and should be here in a few hours.”

“Is that a problem Lee,” Alice inquired.

“No, not really it’s just that I really didn’t want them involved in this. It’s sort of like having my father, big brother and uncle all show up to make sure I don’t do anything stupid.  I often refer to them as my personal mother hens; they seem to think I’m incapable of staying out of trouble and I’m in need of a keeper.”

“Sounds like they care; it’s nice having family to watch out for you Lee,” Terry added.

“Oh don’t get me wrong I’m very fond of them all and appreciate how much they care, but I didn’t want them put at risk.  They will undoubtedly insist on being there when we move in to take down Preston and Assad.” Lee replied.  Both Terry and Alice chuckled and resumed their review of the books.

Two hours later Terry suddenly sat up, “Oh my god, I know where they’re holding the kids,” he yelled.  All eyes fixed on him immediately.

“What? Where, where are they,” asked Alice.

“According to this ledger, he owns an old hotel located in a seedy and almost abandoned part of town near the docks.  The whole area is slated for eventual demolition as part of a large urban renewal project being pushed by the city.”

“Are you sure, does it actually say that in the log?” Lee queried.

“It doesn’t say anything in the log other than a description of the building and the address.  Thing is everything else he seems to own in the area is upscale and based on what I’ve seen he’s not into speculative acquisitions for possible future development.  There’s no reason in the world why he would have this lone piece of junk unless he’s using it to hold the kids before he moves them out.  As I said it’s close to the docks so if he’s shipping them out by boat it would be very convenient to transport them directly there without having to transit any main thoroughfares and run the risk of being stopped by the cops,” Terry answered.

“Great work Terry.  We need to get over there and check it out.” Lee replied.

Just then his secure phone rang, “Crane…. When?  How did he lose you? ... Damn, he must be on to us…. Sit tight, we think we know where he’s got the kids stashed.  Let me check my audio surveillance at his house and I’ll give you a call back.” Lee snapped the phone shut and growled.

“What?” asked Gorman.

“That was Madison, he’s lost Preston.  He went into a restaurant and when Madison went in to check on him he was gone, and his car was still in the parking lot.  I need to check Preston’s place to see if he’s shown back up.”

Lee quickly tapped into Preston’s security system and found video footage of him returning home.  Next he pulled up the audio files and quickly started running through them.  On the second file he found what he feared.

“It’s me.  We got big problems. I finally heard from Trent, turns out he’s been tailing a garbage truck for most of the day.  Carstairs found the bug and chucked it in the trash or in the truck. Trent said he went by the parent’s house and they’re gone as well…. They’re on to me now; I’ve got some guy following me.  I managed to shake him and make it back home….Shit I don’t know how much they know.  I just spotted the guy tailing me….No listen to me; we need to accelerate things more.  Tell your guys to make their move on those kids sooner rather than later so we can get the shipment together.  We’ll get them in the cargo container and stage it at the dock as soon as we get the last kids that way the buyer can pick it up any time…. I’m hoping he’ll just trust me and take delivery without me being there so he can inspect his goods…. I’ll contact the buyer and then give you a call back.  Give me a call as soon as your guys grab the kids.”

“Damn,” Lee hissed. “Now it gets really dangerous since they’re aware they’re being watched.  That makes things much more volatile with a greater chance of someone getting hurt.”

“What do we do now?” Alice asked, worry and concern written across her face.

“Steve and I need to get down to the hotel before Preston to see if the kids are there and get them out.  Steve, alert the rest of the team that things have accelerated again,” Lee said.  Steve nodded and began calling the other members.

“I’m going with you,” Terry stated.

“No Terry you need to stay here and keep going through Preston’s books in case he isn’t keeping the kids there,” Lee responded.

“No Lee I’m coming with you.  Alice can review these documents as well if not better than me and I’m going along to get my daughter back, end of discussion.”

“Terry this could get very dangerous in a hurry and I don’t want to run the risk of you being hurt.  We’re trained for these types of operations and know the risks, you don’t.  I can’t guarantee your safety if you come along.” Lee reasoned.

“Lee I’m coming.  I know the risks, we’ve been down this road before remember?  I have to be there for Emily.  If you don’t take me with you I’ll just drive down there myself,” Terry countered.

Lee stared at him in total exasperation.  He didn’t want to have an untrained person with him and run the risk of him either giving away their presence or possibly getting hurt if the situation degraded into shooting.  He could tell by the determined look on Terry’s face the only way he could keep him from going along would be to tie him and Alice up.

Lee sighed in defeat.  “Alright, you can come along but you will do exactly what I tell you to do without question.  Do you understand?  The players in this round of the game are a thousand times more dangerous than just a flunky cop; they won’t hesitate to shoot any of us or the kids.”  Lee was in full command mode and he left no doubt in anyone’s mind that failure to comply with his orders was not an option.

“I understand.  Thanks Lee this means a great deal to me; I have to be there for Emily,” Terry said with a sigh of relief. 

“Alice we really need you here to continue to go through Preston’s files, monitor his communications and let us know if anything changes. You have all the phone numbers for the team members so don’t hesitate to contact any of us if something comes up.  Keep me updated of any change,” said Lee.

“Okay Lee, I think I can do the most good here anyway.  I would truly love to be there when you find Emily but I don’t want to put anyone at risk unnecessarily.” Alice replied.

“Great, we’ll be relying on you to be our eyes and ears.  Admiral Nelson and crew should be arriving within the next hour and will be able to help you out should you need it.  Alright guys let’s saddle up and ride.” Lee said.

oooOOOooo

The ride over to the hotel was an eye-opening experience for Terry as Lee transformed into the cold and professional ONI field agent.  His whole persona changed as he slipped from the genial and friendly man he had come to know in the last few weeks to that of a covert agent, licensed to kill.  There was a deadly seriousness about him that left no doubt this was not someone to mess with lightly and though he may regret having to kill he would do it if the situation demanded it without hesitation.  Even his eyes reflected the change as they seemingly morphed from the warm amber to a dark and cold brown. His posture and the way he moved also was different making him seem more like a lethal predator stalking his prey.

Arriving at the building they casually drove around it then pulled off down the street to find a place to park the car out of view.  Once parked Lee turned to Terry and fixed him with almost a feral stare.  “Okay, Terry this is your one chance to back out.  If you decide you still want to come along you must obey all my commands, move as we move and remain quiet at all costs, regardless of what we encounter.  Do you understand?”

Terry felt the heat of Lee’s stare and physically shuddered at the power and intensity of it.  This was the last man he ever wanted to cross or let down. He realized that this is probably what made Lee such a good captain and brought him the respect and obedience of his crew. He swallowed hard fixing his resolve.  “Yes Lee I understand.  I’ll do everything you say, I just want to get Emily back and free the rest of the children.”

“Okay, let’s go.  First thing we are going to do is scout out the building to see if there is anyone minding the store or if they leave the kids like they did with Alice.  Keep your eyes open for any surveillance cameras or security systems.  Terry you stay with me, Steve you take the front and north side and we’ll take the back and south side of the building.  We’ll meet back across the street behind that shed to make our plans for entry.”  The men nodded and moved off to accomplish their tasks.

Fifteen minutes later they regrouped behind the shed to share what they had observed.  “There’s an alarm system set up on the doors I checked and I spotted at least four cameras covering the entrances.” Steve reported.

“That’s pretty much what we observed.  The alarm looks to be fairly basic and we can bypass that easily.  I think the best way forward would be to knock out the power to the building and see if they’ve got battery backup on the systems.  My guess is they don’t but I would rather be safe than sorry.” Lee added.  Steve nodded his agreement with Lee’s assessment and moved to cut power to the building.

Lee motioned to Terry to follow him and they moved to a position where they could monitor the exits once the power was shut off.  Steve signaled Lee that the power off and they waited to see if anyone came out to investigate.  When 10 minutes had passed and no one emerged from the building they assumed that there was probably nobody stationed to keep watch over the facility.  Lee used his binoculars to sweep the cameras he had seen and verified that the power indicators were now dark so there was no battery back up on the system.

They next moved down the alley to the rear exit and began working on the lock to gain entrance to the building.  Lee pulled out his picks and had to grin when Terry snickered.  “Hey it’s a very useful skill,” Lee said with a shrug and small smile.  Within minutes he had opened the lock and they entered the hotel kitchen.

As they entered it was immediately obvious that this building hadn’t been used in some time.  The floors were covered in dirt and debris, there were holes in the walls, broken light fixtures everywhere and a dank and musty smell mingling with the odor of rancid grease. They moved quietly through the kitchen and emerged into the dining room finding its condition similar to the kitchen.  They walked through the room to the lobby.

The lobby wasn’t much better but it was apparent that there had been recent activity in this part of the hotel.  The dirt on the floor showed a definite path towards the elevator indicating whatever activity going on here was on one of the upper floors.  Lee told them to start looking for the stairs.  Terry spotted them right away; he tapped Lee on the shoulder and indicated the direction.  Lee nodded and they all moved toward the stairwell and climbed the stairs to the next floor.

Cautiously opening the door, Lee perused the hallway in front of him.  The majority of the room doors were open and it looked as though no one had been down the corridor is some time.  He guessed that the kids were probably being kept on the floor above based on his past experience with Preston.  He looked back at his team and shook his head ‘no’ and indicated they should go up to the next floor.

Reaching the third floor Lee once again cracked the stairwell door and glanced down the hall; bingo.  The majority of the doors were closed and a path was clearly evident from the elevator down the hallway.  Lee silently eased open the door and entered the corridor.  He stood frozen listening for any indication that there was someone moving freely around on the floor.  After a minute of hearing no sounds of movement he cautiously made his way down the hall.  Each door he passed had what appeared to be a relatively new deadbolt and was securely locked.  He had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Finding no one about, he waived Terry and Steve in.

“Is there anyone here?” Lee called out loudly.  The hall was suddenly alive with cries for help.  A small smile spread across his face; they had found them.

“Emily Jacobson, are you here?” yelled Terry.

“Yes!  Daddy is that you?  Oh Daddy, please get me out of here,” Emily responded.

“Knock on your door Emily, show me where you are.” Terry cried out in relief, tears of joy welled up in his eyes.

oooOOOooo

Alice had just finished reviewing the books Lee had taken from Preston’s home and was preparing to review the computer files that Lee had started reviewing when she heard the doorbell.  She walked to the door and peered out the peephole seeing three men all dressed in military-like uniforms.  Cautiously she opened the door.  “Yes, may I help you?” she asked.

“Hello, my name is Admiral Harriman Nelson and I’m looking for Commander Lee Crane, is he here?”

Alice stepped back and opened the door wider.  “Hello Admiral, my name is Alice Jacobson.  Lee isn’t here at the moment, would you and your men like to come in and wait?”

“Yes, thank you.” Harri replied.  He, Chip and Will entered the house.  “These are Commanders Chip Morton and Will Jamieson.”  Each man nodded his greeting as he stepped into the living room.

“Welcome gentlemen.  Lee has told us so much about you, I feel as though I already know you.” Alice said as they passed by her.

“You said Lee’s not here, where is he?” Chip asked.

“We think we found where our daughter is being held and Lee, Terry, my husband, and Steve Gorman one of the ONI agents went down to the location to see if she’s there.  They left a little over an hour ago.  I have yet to hear anything from Lee letting me know what they found,” Alice answered.

“Where did they go?” Harri inquired.

“They went down to an old hotel in a rundown section of Providence near the docks.  The man who took our daughter owns the building and that’s where we think he keeps the children he abducts before he ships them off.”

“Can we get the address?  I’m sure that they could use some back up.” Harri asked.

Alice was just about to answer when she heard Preston’s voice coming over the speakers on Lee’s computer.  She had left the monitoring program open so that she would catch anything that he did.

“It’s me.  I’m heading down to the building to start loading up our cargo.  I couldn’t convince the buyer to trust me so I have to be there to get the money and to transfer the container.  Have your guys picked up the other kids yet? … What do you mean you haven’t heard from them?  When did they go down after them? … Have you tried calling them? … No I don’t think you’re an idiot I was just asking. Geez this whole deal is going to hell in a hand basket. … I’ll send Trent down there to see if he can spot them.  Meet me at the building and let’s get this taken care of.  If this has all gone south we’ll need to dispose of the kids we have so there are no witnesses.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” commented Will.

“No it doesn’t.  Mrs. Jacobson would you please give us the address to the building and we’ll head down there and see if we can help Lee and your husband?” Nelson asked.

“Yes of course. Please, call me Alice.  Let me go get the address.”

Seconds later she handed the address to Harri and he quickly opened his phone and called Hardy at ONI.  “Tom, its Harri.  Listen we’re here at the safe house and it sounds as though things are starting to unravel since it appears the parties involved are aware they’re being watched.  Who can we call in at this point?”

“Why am I not surprised you’re there Harri?” Hardy replied. “I’ve got the FBI and CIA ready to roll.  Do you have the location where they’re keeping the kids?” Hardy replied.

“Yes, they think they’re being held at an abandoned hotel down near the waterfront,” Harri replied giving Hardy the address. “Lee and his party have already gone down to verify if the kids are there.  We just heard Preston tell someone he’s heading down there to prepare the kids for shipment or if they can’t make the full shipment then eliminate the witnesses.”

“Okay Harri I’ll set things in motion from here.  Is Crane aware that Preston is heading his way?”

“Not yet, we’ll update him now.”

“Alright.  I’ll talk to you once this is over.” Hardy replied and hung up.

“Alice can you get in touch with Lee?” Harri inquired.

“Yes, he gave me the numbers for all the team and told me to update him when anything new came up,” Alice replied as she pulled out her cell and hit the pre-programmed number.  As it began to ring she passed the phone to Nelson.

oooOOOooo

Lee moved quickly to the door where Emily cried out.  He pulled out his pick and immediately started to work on the lock, as the lock turned and the bolt slid back, his phone rang.  Lee opened the door and Emily flew out of the room rushing into her father’s arms.  Tears of joy streamed down both their faces as they hugged and kissed each other.  Lee smiled, and then answered his phone.

“Crane.”

“Lee its Nelson.  We’re here with Alice and it sounds as though you will be getting company shortly.”

“Do you know how soon?” Lee inquired.

“No we just overheard Preston’s conversation with someone saying he was heading down to wherever he keeps the children.  He knows he’s being followed and that they either have to make the delivery or eliminate the witnesses.” Nelson replied. “I called Tom Hardy and let him know what the situation is and he has activated the FBI and CIA to provide backup.”

“We’ve found the kids, sir.  Let Alice know that Emily is safe and in Terry’s arms right now.  Sir, I need to know if the rest of the team has accomplished their tasks.  Would you contact the rest of the team, and find out their status; we need to know who might show up on us.  Alice has all the contact numbers programmed into that phone.  We’re going to see about freeing all the other kids here and getting them out before Preston arrives.”

“Will do Lee, I’ll give you a call back once I’ve talked to everyone.”

“Thank you sir, talk to you later.” Lee replied and hung up.  He looked at Terry and Steve.  “We’ve got company coming.  Steve you go up to the roof and keep watch for any visitors.  Terry you get Emily out of the building and in the car.  I’ll start working on these doors and get these kids free.”

“We’re staying here until you free all of the kids so we can get them all out.” Terry said as he hugged Emily. He watched Lee’s face begin to cloud at his failure to follow his order but after a moment he relented as he realized he needed help.

“Alright, but next time I tell you to leave I mean it,” Lee replied.  “Head down the hall and find all the rooms that have kids in them.  Mark them so I can move quickly to the next door as I get the locks open.”

Lee moved to the next door and started working on the lock as Terry and Emily moved down the hallway knocking on doors.  By the time they had finished there was a total eight other kids locked up.  Terry stared in amazement as Lee quickly opened door after door as he worked his way down the hallway.  He was a hell of a lot quicker than the frightened 11 year old Terry remembered fumbling frantically with the padlocks on that day.

“Who is that man Daddy?” Emily finally asked.

“Do you remember me telling you about the boy who rescued your mom when we were kids?”

“Yes. LC right?” Emily answered.

“That’s him.” Terry said with a big smile.

“Is he a criminal?  He sure can pick locks fast.” Emily replied quietly.

Terry broke out laughing, causing Lee to stop momentarily and look at him.  “No honey, he’s not a criminal he’s the captain of the submarine Seaview and a Commander in the Navy.”

Lee shook his head and gave them both a slight smile before returning to his work.  He had six doors open when Steve came bursting through the stairwell.

“We’ve got company.  There are four of them in the car and they’re at the front door right now.” Steve called out.  “I also checked with the rest of the team and the thugs sent to grab the kids have been apprehended and the kids are safe, Scott has managed to acquire Assad and it looks like he’s headed this way too.”

“Damn!” Lee replied under his breath.  “Terry, you and Steve get these kids out of the building and to safety using the far stairwell.  I’ll keep working on the remaining doors and get the other two kids free.”

“I can stay and provide back up,” Steve replied.

“No, get these kids out of here now.” Lee answered while he continued to work desperately on the lock.  Seconds later the latch opened and one more child was free.  “Go! Now, before it’s too late.” he said glaring at his men.

Steve and Terry nodded and started moving down the hall rapidly with the seven kids in tow.  Lee moved to the final door and started manipulating his picks in the lock.  Just as he made his final move in the lock, the stairwell at the opposite end of the hallway opened up and Preston and his men entered.

oooOOOooo

Harri smiled broadly at Lee’s words.  “Lee said they found the children and Emily is safe and in her father’s arms right now.”

Alice nearly collapsed in relief at the news.  Jamie stepped quickly to her side and escorted her to a chair and sat her down.  Tears of joy flowed down her cheeks as she said a quiet prayer of thanks. 

“Are you okay?” inquired Jamie.

“I’m the best I’ve been in over a month,” replied Alice between joyous sobs.  “I’m sorry I’m just so relieved and overwhelmed that she’s been found and is safe.  I had almost lost hope that we would ever get her back.  Somehow I knew once LC came back into our lives that things were going to work out.”

The three men smiled, all knowing that Lee seemed to have that effect on whatever situation he found himself in.  “Yes, he does seem to have that ability to make things turn out right.” Nelson replied with a chuckle.  “Lee asked me to contact the rest of the team to get their status, can you tell me who I need to contact?”

“Of course,” Alice answered wiping the tears from her eyes and cheeks.  She quickly gave Harri the other men’s names and he began contacting them to get updates.  As he spoke to the last man, he found out that the agent with Lee had already been in contact and Lee was aware of what all the major players were doing.

“Lee’s already been updated,” Nelson said as he hung up with the last agent.  “The men sent to grab more kids have been apprehended and the rest of the agents are moving towards the hotel.  Let’s get going and see if we can give Lee a hand.”

“Admiral, may I come with you too?” Alice asked.  “I want to be with Emily as soon as possible.”

“I suppose it would be okay.  It sounds as though the cavalry will be there about the time we arrive so it should be safe.” Nelson replied.

“Well let’s get going then, sir.” Chip said as he picked up his keys and headed for the door.

oooOOOooo

“Hey! Freeze!” yelled Preston as it dawned on him what was happening.

Lee thrust open the door he had just unlocked and pushed the anxious child back inside.  He quickly pulled out his gun and signaled that she should get on the floor and stay there to keep out of harm’s way. 

“Damn it!” thundered Preston as he took in all the open doors realizing his merchandise was gone. “You’ve done this one too many times, ‘boy’.  I should have finished you in that alleyway a long time ago.”

“So it’s finally dawned on you who I am, has it?” Lee taunted back. “You couldn’t see it through then and you won’t now.”

“Get him!” screamed Preston at his men.

Lee heard them moving rapidly down the hall.  As they approached the door he flung it open and fired two shots dropping the men to the floor.  He dove across the hall through the open door on the opposite side, then quickly rolled to his feet and picked off the third man just as he started to come after him. 

By then Preston had his weapon out and fired nearly an entire clip down the hallway forcing Lee back into the room.  He then turned and headed back for the stairwell realizing quickly he had lost control of the situation and needed to escape before anyone else showed up.

Lee peeked out of the room and spotted Preston running down the hall and through the stairwell door.  He moved rapidly back across the hall to check on the girl.  Her eyes were wide with terror but otherwise unhurt.  “Stay here and you’ll be safe.  Someone will come get you in a moment. Okay?”

The girl nodded slightly, she sat up and hugged her knees rocking slowly back and forth.  Lee desperately wanted to comfort her and let her know she was safe but there was no way in hell he was letting Preston get away again.  He smiled reassuringly to her then bolted down the hall after his quarry. 

Preston barreled down the stairs toward the lobby.  As he came out the door onto the main floor he spotted cars pulling up outside the front door.  He turned and headed towards the dining room in hopes of making it out the back before they could find him.

Lee flew down the steps and was only seconds behind Preston.  He too saw the cars out front and spotted the door to the dining room swinging shut telling him Preston had gone that way.  He ran across the lobby and into the dining room and back towards the kitchen.  As he entered the kitchen a single shot rang out and a bullet clipped him in the side as Preston fired on him.  Lee slammed back into the swinging kitchen door and fell onto the dining room floor.  Preston advanced on him took aim and pulled the trigger only to be greeted by a click.

As he felt the bullet hit him Lee thought to himself ‘idiot’!  He had let his emotions get the better of him and thrown caution to the wind.  He should have scoped out the kitchen but just  blundered into the room assuming Preston had already fled.  He watched Preston walk slowly towards him and take aim. He refused to cringe or show any sign of fear as he pulled the trigger.  The resulting click was mesmerizing as both men were momentarily frozen in place at the realization of what had just happened.

Preston spun on his heel and once again started making his way for the back door.  Lee quickly pushed himself to his feet and followed after; his hatred of the man before him worked as a powerful painkiller allowing him to move freely after him. 

Preston blundered through the door and ran down the alley only to find it blocked by old dumpsters and debris.  He whirled around just in time to see Lee burst out the door and enter the alleyway as well.  He was trapped just like those kids all those years ago; the irony was not lost on him.    

Lee quickly evaluated the scene and realized that Preston had found himself in a blind alley.  A satisfied smile crept across his face at this sudden turnabout.  “Going somewhere, Cougan?” Lee spat using the undercover name.  He reached behind his back to grab his gun then realized it was missing.  He’d somehow lost it when he hit the floor after being shot.

Preston also realized that Lee didn’t have his gun and quickly pulled out his knife and started moving slowly towards him.  “Looks like it’s time to finish this boy.” Preston taunted waving the knife threateningly at Lee.  “You’ve cost me time and money for the last time.  I’m gonna finish what I started back in that alley all those years ago.”

Lee dropped instinctively into a crouch, balanced perfectly on the balls of his feet ready for Preston’s charge.  In the back of his mind it dawned on Preston that this man was not acting like someone with a bullet wound usually did.  He should be doing his best to make it back down the alley away from his attacker, not preparing to take him on.  The realization unsettled him and made him question taking him on.

They circled each other warily, Preston feinting at Lee with the knife looking for an opening.  Finally thinking he’d found his chance Preston made his move and in the next moment found himself flat on his back on the ground, his head ringing like a church bell with his knife buried in his shoulder. He was at a loss to remember how all that had happened in the blink of an eye, all he could focus on was the agony of the blade.

Lee sneered menacingly at the downed man, one hand on his throat and the other slowly pulling the knife out of his shoulder.  Raising the blade high, poised to make the final strike Lee stopped when he heard Chip’s voice calling his name.

“Lee!” Chip called out seeing his friend ready to drive the knife into the man beneath him.  He ran down the alleyway coming to a halt just behind him.  “Lee,” he said more softly. “Put the knife down, we’ve got him buddy.  He won’t get away this time.”

Lee stayed there frozen as he fought to gain control over his desire to end this man.  He had been completely unaware of Chip’s entrance into the alley during the fight; he was so focused on Preston.  After a moment he let the knife fall from his hand as he returned to the present.  He looked down at Preston, his eyes wide with pain and fear, blood saturating his shirt where Lee had stabbed him.  “You’re going to hell Preston.” Lee said as a satisfied smile spread across his face.

Lee pushed himself up to his feet, giving Preston one last satisfying shove, as he got off of him.  Gaining his feet it dawned on him that he had been shot and grimaced slightly at the pain in his side and the growing red stain on his shirt.  As he backed away two FBI agents moved in and took custody of Preston.  The man still looked stunned at the rapid turn of events.

Lee turned slowly and was greeted by Chip’s concerned face.  “Lee, are you okay?” Chip said as he handed Lee his handkerchief to place on his side and laid his hand reassuringly on his shoulder.

“Yeah Chip I’m better than I’ve been in years,” he said with a slight smile. 

“Yeah, I can see that.  I always wondered where you got that move; I guess I know the answer now.” Chip replied as he watched the agents drag Preston down the alley, recalling the incident in another alleyway the first time he brought Lee home.  “Come on time to go face the music.  Jamie is going to have a blooming fit,” he said with a chuckle as Lee grimaced again, this time it had nothing to do with the pain in his side.

They turned and walked slowly down the alley towards the plethora of waiting vehicles that had descended on the scene while Lee had been inside.  As they exited the alley he spotted Alice, Terry and Emily all joyfully intertwined in each other’s arms.  Lee smiled widely and made his way over to them.  Chip sighed in exasperation; he needed to get him into Jamie’s hands so he would stop leaking blood all over the street.

“I take it this is the lovely Emily Jacobson,” Lee said as he approached his friends.

They turned to face him; their faces were lit up with huge smiles until they spotted the red stain on his shirt.  They all suddenly blanched as they took in his bloodied appearance “Oh my god, Lee you’re hurt!” Alice exclaimed as she moved to his side. 

“I’m fine,” Lee replied as he gave her a slight hug, careful not to get blood on her.  “It’s just a scratch; the bullet just grazed my side, nothing to worry about.  I’ve had much worse.”

Terry moved quickly to Lee’s side and drew him into a hug.  “Lee I don’t know how to begin to thank you.  You’ve given me the joy of my life back, once again.”

“I’m glad everything worked out in the end,” Lee replied with a slight blush.  “Did they get everybody arrested?”

“Yes they did son,” Harri answered as he came up behind Lee.  He placed his hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  “Come on its time to get you to the hospital and taken care of.”

Lee turned towards Harri and gave him a guilt tinged smile as he saw his friend and surrogate father.  “Welcome to Rhode Island, sir.”

“Hrumph,” Harri responded desperately trying not to smile.

Just then Jamie walked up and let loose and exasperated sigh.  “Well what have you done to yourself this time?”

“I’m fine Jamie; it’s just a scratch, nothing serious.  A couple of stiches and a Band-Aid and I’ll be good as new.”

“How about letting me be the judge of that, Dr. Crane?  Come on there’s an ambulance over there with your name on it.”

Lee gave Jamie a scowl then let him steer him towards the waiting vehicle.  He climbed into the back slowly and was less than thrilled when Jamie made him lie down on the gurney and started cutting away his shirt to check out the damage.  Jamie grimaced at the raw looking wound.  As he worked wiping away the blood and cleansing the wound Lee hissed loudly at the pain.

“Just lay back and relax Lee, it will be a quick trip.” Jamie said as he pulled a syringe and a small vial out of his bag.  Once the EMT had the IV in place he injected the pain killer and sedative into the line and soon the grimace of pain slowly melted from Lee’s face along with consciousness.  The last memory he had was seeing his friends and their daughter through the small windows in the back of the ambulance door. The EMT raised an eyebrow as he looked at the doctor.  “It’s the only way to get him sewed up and admitted to the hospital without a fight,” Jamie said with a chuckle.

Chip and Harri who had been watching from the back doors started laughing.  “You know Jamie, paybacks will be hell,” Harri said.

“I’ll take my chances,” replied Jamie with a smile and a wink.

oooOOOooo

It was nearly 1000 when Lee started moving towards consciousness.  He registered the hint of antiseptic and the soft bed beneath him as he fought to get his eyes open. 

“Lee.  Lee, can you wake up for us now?” a familiar voiced called to him.

Giving it all he could he pried his eyes open and after a moment focused on the face of the admiral.  “It’s about time you made your way back.  We thought you were going to sleep the day away,” he said a relieved smile warming his face.

“Ugh, what time is it?” Lee asked, his head feeling as though it had been stuffed with cotton.

“It’s just after 1000,” Chip replied from the other side of the bed.

“Is everyone okay?  Did they get all the kids to safety? Did they get Preston and his associates?” Lee asked trying to sit up as the events of the previous day quickly began to register in his mind.

“Just lay back and relax Captain,” Jamie said as he pushed Lee back down onto the bed and began taking his vitals. “Let me take care of this then the admiral can fill you in on all that’s happened.” After a quick vitals check and examination of the wound Jamie nodded to the admiral and Chip and stepped back. 

“Well?” Harri inquired.

“He’ll live.  You got off lucky this time Lee, a few centimeters to the left and we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Lee smiled at his friend and physician.  “Thanks Jamie,” he said sincerely.  Jamie just nodded acknowledging Lee’s gratitude and leaned back against the wall.

“Well Lee when you stumble into a situation you never do it half-assed,” Harri said with a chuckle. “Your little discovery has any number of federal agencies all abuzz as they work to sew up loose ends on decade’s old cases, go after Preston’s customers and try to recover as many children as they can.  The CIA, ONI and FBI are having a field day with all the intelligence they’re reaping from the records and information from Preston and Assad’s homes.  The kids that you found at the hotel are all doing fine and the police department is working to reunite them with their families.  Preston is in the prison medical ward under 24 hour guard to make sure he goes nowhere and is held accountable for all the harm he’s done to the children he’s exploited throughout the years.  They’re also rounding up those the police officers past and present that were involved in this scheme.  It looks as though there was very limited involvement by PD members, just enough to manipulate the system and to cover their tracks.”

“Emily is back at home with her parents and they are all extremely grateful.  Great job bro,” added Chip

A satisfied smile worked its way across Lee’s face as he listened to Harri’s report.  He hoped their efforts provided closure to those impacted by Preston and his cohorts over the years.  He felt his own old wound and misplaced sense of guilt begin to fade at the realization that the streets had just become a little safer for those forced to live there.

“That’s great to hear.  I was honestly afraid that we weren’t going to be able to get there in time to save Emily.  I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t worked out.” Lee said.

“You know Lee we would have all been willing to help you find your friend’s daughter, all you had to do was ask.  We’re always there for you son, I wish you’d realize that.” Harri replied.

“I know that sir, but this was something that I needed to take care of myself, TJ and Alice in all reality were the first family I ever had.  I just felt I needed to make it up to them for not keeping us safe and allowing Preston to grab Alice in the first place.   It was all a part of my past that needed to be exorcised and laid to rest.  When I first got into this I wasn’t certain I could do much good but once I found out Preston was involved it became like a personal quest, almost a vendetta, I had to see through to the end.”

“Terry and Alice filled us in on what happened all those years ago, so I guess I can understand why you thought you had to take this on alone. They never felt you let them down Lee; all they talked about was how you rescued Alice and the other girls and then took on Preston to keep the last girl safe.  As the admiral said, we’re always here for you so don’t forget to ask, got it?” Chip added.

Lee chuckled and smiled.  He was deeply warmed by the genuine concern and affection his friends had for him and felt extremely lucky to have happened into this unique family.  “I promise next time I happen to bump into childhood friends I haven’t seen in years and find out their daughter has been abducted by a corrupt police officer and an international terrorist I’ll call you in to help.”

Harri and Jamie just groaned and glared at Lee.  Chip walked over and popped him on the back of the head.  “Smart ass,” he growled. Lee smiled again then failed to bite back a huge yawn. 

“Well that looks like our cue to be on our way and for you to get some sleep,” Jamie stated.  “If you behave yourself today and do as you’re told; I may just let you out tomorrow afternoon.”

At that bit of news Lee brightened noticeably.  “You’re on,” he said as he snuggled beneath the covers and smiled.  “Thank you all for being there for me, I sincerely mean that.”

Harri smiled warmly at his surrogate son. “You’re welcome Lee.  You sleep well and we’ll see you later.”

 oooOOOooo

Once Lee was released from the hospital, they all headed over to Terry and Alice’s place for a welcome home dinner for Emily.  Alice had pulled out all the stops and laid out a gourmet meal that would have rivaled anything created by a celebrity chef.  Fully sated they all sat relaxing and chatting in the living room sipping on a fine cognac Harri had picked up on their way from the hospital.

“That was an incredible meal, Alice. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that much. Thank you,” Lee said.  A round of agreement came from the rest of the group.

“I’m glad you all enjoyed it; it was the least I could do.  I can’t begin to repay you all for what you did in finding Emily and getting her safely back to us.” Alice said as she gave her daughter a tight hug.

“Just seeing your happy faces and getting to finally meet this wonderful young lady is all the thanks I need,” Lee replied.

“You were a lifesaver Lee, just like you were all those years ago.  I’m still somewhat amazed at how you came back into our lives in our greatest hour of need and took care of us now just like you did back then. It boggles my mind how all this has come full circle; starting and ending with most of the same players in basically the same situation. Never in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned Cougan coming back to haunt our lives one more time. I guess the old adage ‘what goes around comes around’ really holds true.  The big difference this time is that all the good guys won and all the bad guys got just what they deserved.  Thank you for everything you did for us Lee, we’ll never forget it.”

Lee blushed slightly and stared almost bashfully through his long lashes at Terry, Alice and Emily.  “You’re welcome, I’m glad I could help.”  Harri, Chip and Jamie chuckled at Lee’s discomfort, always amazed at his reticence to accept the praise and gratitude from those he helped.

With that the grandfather clock chimed 11 making them all realize how late it had gotten. “Well I think it’s time we shove off,” said Lee as he rose carefully to his feet. “We’ve got an early flight back to Santa Barbara and it has been a couple of very long days for all of us.”

“Thank you again for the fantastic meal,” Harri said as he shook hands with Alice and Terry.  “It has been a real treat to meet you and your daughter and to get a little more insight into Captain Chaos over there.  I hope to see you again soon in Santa Barbara.”  Chip and Jamie readily agreed and shook hands with their hosts and exited the house.

Alice walked over to Lee and gave him a big hug.  “Thank you again LC.  You’ve given us everything.”

LC hugged her back just as hard.  “You’re welcome Alice.  You have to take care of family. It has been so good reconnecting and I’m happy everything has worked out.”  He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and stepped back.

Emily moved in next to give Lee a hug.  “Thank you so much Lee for finding and rescuing me.  Mom and Dad have talked about you for as long as I can remember, they were always telling me how brave and smart you were and how you saved Mom.  It was great to finally get to meet you and find out that all they’ve told me is true.  I owe you so much.”

“You’re welcome sweetheart.  I’m happy I got the chance to meet you too; I just wish it had been under better circumstances.  You keep your parents out of trouble now, okay?” Lee replied with a smile.

Terry drew LC into a bear hug as well.  “You’re right LC we are family.  You’ve never let us down LC, remember that.  Not 25 years ago and not now. You were the reason we survived and the reason we’ve got our lives back with Emily safe at home. Thank you so very much.”

Lee gladly returned TJ’s hug.  “You’re welcome TJ that means a lot to me.  Well I better get out to the car before Chip starts laying on the horn and waking up your neighbors.  Remember you promised to come out to Santa Barbara once school is out.  I would love to show you around and take you on a tour of Seaview.  Goodbye guys, I’ll see you again soon.”

Lee exited the house and headed down to the car.  He felt a genuine sense of peace having reconnected with two of the most important people in his early life, knowing that he would see his friends again and that they had managed to bring to justice the scum who had torn them apart all those years ago.  He would be happy to return to Providence again.

oooOOOooo

Harri slowly opened eyes and turned to look at the clock, it was a little after 0300 and something had awakened him in the other room.  He climbed out of bed, grabbed his robe and went into the common sitting room of the penthouse suite at the Biltmore, Terry had arranged for them.  Looking across the room to the large windows he spotted Lee leaning against the sill, silhouetted in the moonlight staring out at the street below.

“Lee, are you okay lad?” Harri inquired quietly.

“Yes sir, I’m fine. I’m sorry I woke you,” Lee responded.

“What are you doing up at this hour?  Will finds out and he’ll have a fit,” Harri chided gently.

“I just couldn’t sleep, that’s all.  Probably too much time spent sleeping in the hospital, it throws my internal clock off.”

“Is that all it is?” replied Harri dubiously gently placing his hand on Lee’s shoulder.

Lee smiled slightly realizing just how well this man knew him. “No, I just keeping going over things and reflecting on how that one day 25 years ago proved to be the catalyst for how all our lives turned out. Had Preston not snatched Alice, had Terry and I not been able to find her and had I not been stabbed by Preston in that alley everything would have been completely different. I probably would have never gone to the Academy or met you or Chip. In a sick sort of way we kids owe him for the happiness and success we’ve all been able to attain.  Without his heinous little side business odds are none of us would have made it off the streets or even survived to adulthood.”

Lee grew quiet and resumed staring out the window.  Harri stood by his side quietly regarding the remarkable man before him that had overcome so much to just survive. Only through his own quiet determination was he able to escape from the hell of living on the streets, an unwanted and abused child and become one of the best submarine captains and espionage agents in the world.  The more he learned about his past the more he grew in awe of this young man, the man he had come to regard as his own son.  Lee was right, in a sick way they all owed Preston for what they had today. 

After a moment Lee resumed speaking. “I think, like Terry, what amazes me the most is how we were all drawn back together to finish what was started all those years ago, as though we were compelled to go full circle to make our lives whole. What were the chances that Preston would show up in our lives again by grabbing Emily just like he did her mother, then an improbable reunion with TJ and Alice, my access to the tools we needed to find her and our struggle to bring our original tormentor to justice? It really plays with the mind, sir.” Lee finished.

“I have to agree with you there Lee, this whole episode defies belief.  I think Shakespeare probably said it best in Hamlet, ‘There are more things under heaven and earth Horatio than are dreamt of in your philosophy’.  I can’t even begin to guess at the forces at play in all of this.”

Lee turned his head and stared at Harri for a moment then chuckled quietly.  “Well if you can’t figure it all out then I don’t feel so bad.”

Harri scowled at him for a moment then started chuckling as well.  He slung his arm over Lee’s shoulder and pulled him close.  “Come on son, it’s time we put all this and ourselves to bed.  It’s time we get back home and start minding the store again.”

Lee nodded and smiled.  He felt another piece of contentment and happiness slide into place as he closed this chapter of his life.  “I couldn’t agree more, Dad.”

 

The End.

 

*  Family Found by Chris B.