However, when Finch heard Jillian screaming for someone not to touch them, all thoughts for reconnaissance went out the window. He and Bruiser stormed the little hut where the screams originated using flashbangs. At the same time, Toad and Hick took out another hut with Cowboy assaulting the third. Behind them, in the trees overlooking the compound, Railroad supplied covering fire, sniping anyone who fired upon the team. Within twenty minutes, all of the terrorists were dead and the two girls safely recovered. Although Finch knew the blame for jumping the gun and the resulting death of every one of the kidnappers rested on his shoulders, the team would take responsibility as a whole. They would catch hell for it, but there was no way they were going to leave those girls in the hands of those men even one more second. And the fact they were all dead? Good. Maybe the world was just a tiny bit safer for the other little girls out there.
What Amelia and Jillian had endured ate at Finch's gut. It reminded me of his little girl, somewhere. It had been five months since the Thanksgiving dinner where his team had pledged to help find her, but they were no closer than before. Not even Digger and Tex had been able to find any trace of them. Sarah and Lolly had just vanished as if they were smoke, leaving only a cryptic message on his voicemail that she was "finding herself" and would bring Lolly back in a couple of months. Now it was almost a year later, and he hadn't heard a word from her. Were they all right? Safe? It almost tore him to shreds thinking they could be hurt, hungry, or just alone. When they came home again, would Lolly even remember him? He missed her sweet smile so badly; it was a knife twisting in his gut. The uncertainty ate at him. He gritted his teeth and returned his focus on the jungle floor. Though Lolly was never far from his thoughts, letting his imagination run away with a bevy of "what ifs" would only distract him from the now. Their helicopter was waiting in the clearing less than a klick ahead. Once they got their precious cargo taken care of, he would let the self-doubts occupy his mind. Jillian and Amelia were their priority.
By the time they touched down at U-Tapao Naval Air Base and handed their charges off to the waiting medical staff, it was well past sundown. Grabbing his gear, Finch followed his team to the building where they would be de-briefed before catching a flight back to the US.
Cowboy slung an arm over Bruiser's shoulders. "Since we didn't bring back a prisoner for interrogation, I know we're in trouble. So, how bad do you think the ass-chewing we're going to get will be?"
Their leader shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know and don't care. I'd make the same decision again under those circumstances. Finch may have taken the first step, but I was right behind him. No way in hell I was going just to gather evidence while that little girl screamed and fought off the pedophiles."
"Got that shit right," Railroad murmured. "I'll take as many reprimands as they want to give me."
The others agreed. Finch grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, ushering the others through. As Toad passed, he pursed his lips and sashayed through with an exaggerated sway of hips. Putting his hand up toward Finch, fingers down he drawled in a falsetto, "Why I do de-clare. A real live bonefide gentleman. Thank you, Sir," and winked at him seductively.
Finch rolled his eyes and lightly kicked the jokester in the seat of his pants. "Ass," he muttered good-naturedly as Toad lurched forward.
The others laughed as they dropped their gear on the floor and filed into the room. All brevity ceased as they realized they weren't alone. At the front of the room, three men stood, waiting patiently for them to finish their tomfoolery and settle into the chairs. Once they quieted down, the beat-down for going off orders commenced.
"Well that was fun," Hick murmured as he shoved his fingers through his hair. "Not."
"Probably would be a helluva lot worse if the Ambassador hadn't stormed in and demanded we receive awards," Railroad added. "At least we have enough seat meat left to sit."
"True, that," Toad agreed. He bumped shoulders with Hick as they walked toward the service plane waiting to take them to Japan then on to California. "What you got planned for the weekend? I was thinking about taking a cruise on my bike up into the hills and figured you could take your new one out with me."
"Nah. After being away from Georgia for the past week, I'm ready to get home." He grinned slyly at his best friend. "We're still trying for a baby."
"God, no. Shut up. I don't want to hear that," Toad griped. "Man, I know you're a newlywed and all but Jeez, shouldn't you wait a while before turning in that sweet new Harley for a baby buggy?"
"Nope, we're both ready for a family. I can't wait to have a little girl with red pigtails and big green eyes like my Georgia." He ran up the ramp and dropped into one of the seats. He grinned broadly and wiggled his eyebrows.
Finch listened to their talk as he followed behind. Every mention of a little girl tore his gut more and more. He couldn't fault Hick for being happy where his life was at the moment, and honestly, he couldn't wait for the day he could introduce Lolly to her uncles and aunts. He just wished that day was sooner than later.
"I know it's rough," Bruiser muttered as he sat. Grabbing Finch's shoulder, he squeezed gently. "Hang in there, we'll find her. Digger has been working non-stop along with a few of our other information specialist friends. As soon as she pops up, we'll know about it."
"I hope so," Finch muttered.
"We will," Toad assured him from the other side.
Their support meant the world to him. Finch sighed and dropped his face into his hands. "I'm worried, Bruise." Scratching his light beard with his nails, he glanced at their team leader. "Will she even remember me when I see her again?"
"She will."
"She's not quite four yet. Her memory isn't as defined. I'm going to be a stranger to her - again. If I can even find her at all."
Bruiser smacked him on the back of his head. "Stop it. You're defeating yourself before you even get started. The best minds in the world are working on this. In today's age, nobody can vanish completely. She's out there, and she'll come home. Have faith, Finch. Have faith for you and them. They deserve your best, and this pitiful me bullshit isn't helping anyone. Get your act together."
Finch rubbed his head with a wry grin. "Yeah, okay. You hammered the point home real good. Thanks for the wake-up."
"Anytime, man. You'd do the same for me." Bruiser stood and took a seat across from him. Relaxing against the hold, he closed his eyes.
They sat quietly while the flight crew ran through their checklists. The engines fired up, and the big plane slowly taxied toward the runway. But instead of revving faster, it slowed and stopped.
"What's going on?" Cowboy muttered as he looked around.
"No idea," Bruiser returned as he stood. He looked toward the cockpit but turned quickly as the rear door opened. A young man stood by patiently waiting until the ramp was close enough to the ground for him to jump up. Hurrying up, he yelled over the top of the roar of the engines. "Asher Finchly?"
Finch stood, "Yeah, that's me."
"Important call for you." He whirled and jogged down the ramp. Finch's eyebrow rose questioningly then he hurried after him. Behind them, the engines cut on the plane.
Finch was lead through a door and into an office adjacent to the tower. Several desks filled the room each staffed by harried looking personnel. The enlisted man pointed toward a desk with the telephone lying on top of a stack of folders. "You can take it there," he told him before dropping back to the chair and turning to a computer to type.
"Finchly," Finch spoke into the receiver.
"Good, thank God they got you," a woman's voice filled his ear. "I was afraid I waited too late. I knew you were in debriefing, so I waited, then they said you were already on board and I didn't want to wait."
"Okay." Finch hesitated a moment. How did this woman have information about where he was - much less what he was doing there? The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up. "Who are you?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry. This is Beth Parkins. You don't know me, but I'
m a friend of Tex's. He's out of town on business, so I've been helping him look for Lorelei and Sarah for you."
Finch's heart double-timed in his chest until he could hear the wump-wump-wump loud in his ears. He swallowed hard. "You found them?"
Beth let out a long breath. "Yeah. I've put out search parameters to ping their names, descriptions, and anything about anyone that could be them. Believe me; every day is a huge new list to wade through which is why I hadn't caught it before now."
"Where are they? What happened? Are they all right?"
"Well, it's like this. Last night, two women showed up in a deserted part of Texas. One of them said her name was Breeze and the other was Lily. The funny thing was, they were found by a friend of mine on the Texas Highway Patrol. He was telling us about it today at a ballgame. I didn't think anything about it until he told me that the strangest thing about it was the little girl that was with them. Breeze called her Gaia, but she insisted her name was 'Lolly.' I thought it was a bit of a coincidence for two different three-year-olds to have such an unusual nickname so I told TJ about your case. They didn't have any identification on them, but he called and had someone take their fingerprints. Breeze had no record, but Lily did. It came back matching Sarah Ann Nolan who had a shoplifting charge from when she was nineteen. It's Sarah and Lorelei."
Equal parts elation and fear filled his blood. "Where are they?"
"Sarah is in a hospital in San Antonio. TJ said she's septic from an injury. Asher, I'm sorry. Her prognosis isn't good."
The fear inside ramped up until it threatened to overwhelm him. "What about my daughter? Where is she?"
"She's at the hospital with Breeze. They tried to get them to go to a hotel room, but she refused. Some of my friends are there keeping her company. Hayden told me Breeze seems overwhelmed with everything, almost like she has no idea what to do just to take care of herself much less Lorelei."
Finch's resolve solidified. "I have to get there. Damn, I'll need to get in touch with Dixon for emergency leave first."
Beth's voice helped calm him. "Already have it handled. You'll have your papers waiting for you when you get to Yokosuka. You're booked for a flight from Tokyo to Texas in the morning. By this time tomorrow, you'll be in San Antonio." She hesitated a moment then lowered her voice. "Asher, I had to fudge a few facts to get to you before you took off so I'd appreciate it if you didn't let on that I'm not really General Hower's personal assistant."
"No problem." If it got him to San Antonio any faster, he'd pretend she was the Pope. For the first time since this nightmare had started, he felt a bit of relief, and he was going to hang onto it with everything he had.
Chapter 4
This place was terrifying.
Breeze sat as close to the corner of the room as she could get, careful to keep Gaia between herself and the wall. Other people milled around the area, talking softly between themselves or to something cradled in their palms. She had heard about cell phones from some of the new Family but hadn't seen one before. How it carried words from one person to another confused her. Until two days ago, she hadn't ever held one. When the man who found them had handed her one and told her to call her family, she had balked at it. How did it work? And if she figured out how it worked, who would she contact? Instead of showing her ignorance, she handed it back to him and muttered that she had no one. That fact became even more painfully obvious when she held a crying Gaia as her mother was taken by a screaming truck away from them. The man who introduced himself as TJ said she was being taken to a hospital for treatment and he would give them a ride to the same place. If it weren't for Gaia, Breeze would have refused and tried to find her way back Home. Instead, she took his help and now found herself in this hospital with no idea what to do.
"Hi, Breeze. I'm Deputy Hayden Yates. This is my friend, Adeline. The furry one beside her is Coco, her service dog. We're friends of TJ and wanted to check in on you. Are you and Lolly okay?"
The woman standing a couple of feet away looked at Breeze with a smile on her face. Even though she was small of stature, she put off a vibe of strength and compassion. The other woman with her was relaxed but also smiled. Deputy Hayden Yates must be an elder for her circle, even though she was very young. "Fire," Breeze whispered to herself. Yes, they must be Fire, but the dog was confusing. Maybe Adeline was Earth? Earths were always more concerned with nurturing and the way Adeline stroked Coco's head spoke volumes.
"I'm sorry, what?" Hayden took a step forward.
Knowing that Fires appreciated directness when speaking, Breeze smiled and motioned toward her. "Just trying to figure everyone out," she told her truthfully.
Hayden turned to her friend and gave her a nod, and she sat into a nearby chair. Coco laid her head on Adeline's knee, and the woman continued to stroke his head. Hayden gave Breeze a warm, friendly smile. "So, are you two doing all right? I know Sophie and Melina came out to stay with you yesterday. They said you were both sleeping in the lounge chairs here. Do you need anything?"
Breeze blinked in confusion. Maybe she had it wrong. Now, Hayden sounded more like an Earth or even a Water. She seemed to flow easily around a subject without letting it sway her.
"We're fine, thank you." She hugged Gaia gently. The child opened her eyes and yawned, finally waking from her nap. She spied Coco and squealed. "Doggie!" she exclaimed and tried to slide off the chair. Breeze caught her before she sprinted away and wrapped her arms around the wiggling child. "Leggo, Bees. I wanna see doggie."
"It's okay," Adeline smiled gently. "Coco is very tame and wouldn't mind her. She can come over."
Definitely Earth.
"No, thank you," Breeze smiled with a shake of her head. She didn't trust things she didn't understand, and this pair of women was bewildering. Not for the first time, she wished she was back Home again. Home was simple, easy and familiar. Why couldn't Lily have stayed where she belonged? Things would have been much simpler if she had accepted her place and let things be as they were supposed to be.
Beside her, Gaia whimpered and struggled to slip through her hands. "Leggo, Bees," she demanded. "I wanna see doggie, now!" Gaia's voice was rising by the second, but Breeze wasn't about to let her charge leave the safety of her arms.
"Gaia, please," she whispered and hugged the child gently.
"LEGGO!" The screech hurt Breeze's ears, and she ducked her head reflexively. The child squirmed and wriggled like a fish.
One of the women who worked in the room next to them hurried in. "Ma'am, I've warned you before. You have to keep that child quiet, or she'll have to leave. Small children aren't allowed in the ICU waiting room for that very reason."
"I'm Sheriff Deputy Hayden Yates. I'll make sure everything is okay."
The woman nodded curtly. "See that you do. I don't know why the hospital administrator made an exception for them, but I won't have a problem making them leave if they continue to upset my patients."
"Yes Ma'am," Hayden nodded. Turning to Breeze, she put her hands out in a placating manner. "It's okay, Breeze. She's safe. You can let her go," Hayden murmured softly. "You're both safe here, I promise."
Breeze eyed them with a sense of growing panic. What would she do if they tried to take Gaia from her? She wasn't of Fire. She wouldn't be able to stop them if they grabbed Gaia. She was just a Wind, a nobody. Winds were the calmest, least intimidating ones of all. That's why they were never in charge of anything.
"I have an idea," Adeline said. "How about I sit on the floor with Coco between us and she can stay at your feet and pet him. That should make her happy."
Breeze looked at the black dog and then to Gaia, still trying to slip through her arms. With a resigned sigh, she nodded. "Okay."
Adeline did as she promised, sitting on the floor a couple of feet away and led Coco to sit in front of her. Breeze reluctantly let Gaia go, and the girl slid to the floor beside the dog. Her little hands slowly stroked the black fur as she murmured, "good doggie," in her sweet little voice. Breeze's
heart cracked at the sound. Gaia was all of them - Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. It's what made her perfect.
"So, Breeze," Adeline broke the silence. "Where are you from?"
"Home," she replied softly.
"Well, I get that, but where is home?"
Breeze lifted her gaze. "TJ said Home was to the north of where we were," she replied. Her eyes fell as she whispered, "I'm bad with directions."
Adeline looked at Hayden. Lifting her shoulders slightly, she said, "Okay then."
Breeze didn't like all the questions being thrown at her. First, the man, TJ, asked a lot of them and then a doctor, a lady from a place called Child Protection, and now these women. They all made her feel like she had done something wrong. She hadn't. She knew her duty and stuck to it, no matter what anyone said. However, it was wearing on her. She longed to find a quiet place where she could connect and realign herself. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Until Lily was well enough to return Home, Breeze would have to remain vigilant and keep Gaia safe. It was a lot for a Wind to handle, but she would do it. She just had to wait.
Breeze drew her legs up until her feet touched her rear and wrapped her arms around her knees as she watched Gaia play with the dog. Her clothes were still slightly damp in spots from when she had washed them in the sink in the bathroom earlier, and the room was kept cooler than she was used to. She could feel goosebumps rise on her arms. She was cold, tired, hungry, and longing for Home. This place was much too strange. She just wanted to take Gaia and go Home.
"Let us get you a hotel room at the least. I'd take you to my place, but it's a little far away. You both could use a good meal and a change of clothes." Hayden's face was full of determination even as her face held a gentle smile. "Doesn't that sound nice?"
Fire.
Justice for Breeze Page 3
