The Girl From Diana Park

by Alec Peche

  “Okay,” Damian said trying to slow his thundering heart.

  “Look we've been sent here to arrange a meeting. We have two guests that would like to visit your island around ten tonight. We would like Hermione Knowles to be on your island at that time.”

  “Are you taking Hermione away?”

  “That's not the plan that we been informed of. The party that will come with us, will leave with us, with no new guests expected,” said Hill.

  “So this is just a face to face meeting between Hermione and the Sherwoods.”

  “I can neither confirm nor deny that statement,” Hill said.

  “Okay. We'll be there. How is your party arriving?”

  “I'm unable to provide that information, sir.”

  “Okay, well there's a spot to land a helicopter on top of my island. If you come by boat, you'll need a gang-plank to get from the boat to my beach. I'll turn the lights on for either approach.”

  “Sir, please don't do anything different from normal. It sounds like the lights are off normally, so leave them off.”

  “Actually the lights are on a sensor. If it's a foggy night, the lights are on, so someone doesn't hit my island in the dark. If the night is clear, there's a single high light to again prevent boats from hitting the island in the dark. At this moment I don't know what the forecast is for tonight, but I'll just plan on the sensor doing its work. You say ten tonight?”

  “Yes, though the time may vary.”

  “Try and not be too late. This is a school night, and Hermione needs her sleep. She has a soccer game tomorrow.”

  “I'll pass that on sir. I can make no promises about the time.”

  With that, the two marshals departed, and seconds later the entire brief conversation felt like a mirage to Damian. He shook his head and entered the building trying to switch gears and greet his employees without betraying the urgency of calling Ariana to tell her of the night's plan.

  Thirty minutes later he closed the door to his office and called Ariana.

  “What's up? I'm doing a little grocery shopping after dropping Hermione off at school.”

  “I was just visited by two U.S. Marshals, and..”

  “Is Hermione going to be taken from us?” Ariana interrupted him with urgency to her question.

  “I don't think so. It was a weird conversation with some missing facts, but at around ten tonight my island is going to be visited by two guests. We're to have Hermione on the island. I don't know if they're coming by air or water, and it might not be at ten.”

  “Okay,” Ariana said with the word drawn out while she thought. “So probably her parents are being granted a visit to see her in person. The kid will be excited by the opportunity. Do you think they'll take her home with them?”

  “I don't think so. The agents said they were departing with two guests.”

  “Hooray for that! That's the right thing to do for Hermione.”

  “Yeah, Why don't you come to the island right after school. I checked the weather, and it's clear and rather cold tonight, not too much wind. You can stay overnight or leave once they leave. I cautioned them that tonight's a school night and she has a soccer game tomorrow so they should try and not keep her awake too long.”

  “You didn't?” Ariana laughed.

  “Well, she does have school tomorrow and a game,” Damian said defensively.

  “You must have sounded like a cool customer with that reply.”

  “Actually, when they first approached, my heart thundered as I thought they had taken Hermione and possibly arrested you and were just coming to arrest me. So I moved fast to the point that Hermione had school tomorrow.”

  “Oh my! It sounds like you need to go to Pete's bar for lunch and have a large mug of beer to calm down after that encounter.”

  “I might do that. I had to walk into the office as if nothing special occurred in the parking lot. I'm running out of energy for my cool customer facade.”

  “Poor baby! We'll prop you up tonight. Thought I think you and Hermione should probably play Fortnite so you can both take your mind off the coming meeting.”

  “That's a good suggestion. We'll need to give her some time for homework, I'll cook a meal, and then I'll just wait for my security system to alarm when someone approaches.”

  “Have a calm day, do go to Pete's and we'll see you around five or six tonight.”

  Damian took Ariana's advice and went to lunch early at Pete's. In fact to take his mind off the coming event that night, he took his entire crew there for lunch. The effort of talking to his staff would take his mind off the meeting.

  He worked the rest of the afternoon on a variety of projects and left early to pick up some chicken for the barbecue along with a key lime pie for dessert. He was putting stuff away when he got the text from Ariana that they were five minutes out from his island. He went down to his garage and awaited the approach of Ariana's boat. He tied up the pontoon boat, glad the bay was calm at the moment. They followed him into the lab and dropped their overnight bags just inside the door. Their use would depend on when the meeting ended as to where they would spend the night. Following him up the stairs to his main lab, Hermione waited until then to ask questions.

  “Ariana said two guests would be arriving tonight probably at ten by air or sea, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think it will be my parents?”

  “Either them or the President and Vice President of the United States. I'm sure they want to meet you on this secret island under cover of darkness.”

  “I'd rather it be my parents.”

  “So would I.”

  “Do you know why they're coming here?”

  “I don't, but if I were them, meaning parents that love you, I would want to meet face to face with you to assure myself that you're safe and to explain my decision.”

  “What decision?”

  “Whether you stay with us or retreat with them.”

  “Don't I have a say in this?”

  “No, not legally, but I can't believe your parents would ignore your wishes. I also think they want to meet Ariana and me to have a sense of us despite what the FBI may or may not have said about us.”

  “Okay. Do you need help making dinner? Ariana mentioned we would get to play Fortnite again after I did my homework. If I can have thirty minutes down in my room, I think I can get my homework done.”

  And just like that, the teenager switched topics. Damian still wasn't used to the lightning changes in what the teenager was focused on.

  “Go ahead kiddo. We'll call you up for dinner in forty-five minutes in case you need a little extra time.”

  They watched her head downstairs to her lower level bedroom slightly amazed she could work on homework at a time like this.

  Damian shook his head and said, “I don't know how she stays so even emotionally despite teenage hormones probably raging through her.”

  “Sounds like life on the run with her parents has made her cope in that manner, take the punches as they come and move on.”

  “I feel that way about her parents. Even though I saw the video of their kidnapping, I still want to punch them for nearly getting the girl killed, forcing her to survive by herself. She's incredibly lucky she ended up with us instead of a sex trafficking ring, or other perverts out there looking for girls her age.”

  “You sound like a father,” Ariana said with a smile.

  “I guess I am and I do. It's complicated. I feel as protective towards her as I did for my two daughters that were murdered. Maybe I'm trying to redeem myself through her.”

  “No, you're just a man with a strong moral core.”

  “Let's change the topic, or I'll be crying on your shoulder soon.”

  “Did I blubber badly on Hermione's shoulder?”

  “She did roll her eyes over it, but she was touched.”

  “Will you teach me some tricks on Fortnite? I'd like to play her without getting slaughtered.”

  “Sur
e, let me put the chicken on the barbecue, and I'll show you a few tricks.”

  An hour later, they were all sitting around eating dinner and checking the clock out.

  “It's about three hours now before the guests arrive although the agents said we should consider it an estimate not an absolute of the arrival time,” Damian said.

  “How will we know when they're here? It's really dark out there.”

  “I have my usual security cameras on, though we won't get much warning with a helicopter approach. I'm also trying a new technology I invented last weekend. I'll put two drones in the air around nine and have them look for invaders. They have a longer range than the island's cameras, and they'll be able to see what's above the island.”

  “Wow, you're always thinking Damian,” Hermione said. “It sounds like you created this thing with the drones before you knew you were going to have special guests. What made you think of that?”

  “Actually I don't know what made me think of it. I guess I was looking for more drone uses.”

  “Okay then let's play Fortnite. Ariana, are you going to join us?”

  “I will this time. Maybe Damian will distract you enough that I'll be able to beat you.”

  “Ha! Game on!”

  Within minutes they were all deeply engrossed in building their worlds and trying to kill each other in the video world. They were surprised when an alarm sounded on Damian's phone. He quickly exited the game and opened the phone screen to see what the alarm was. He heard Ariana and Hermione shutting down as well and all three of them looking at the time.

  “My drone has spotted an incoming boat, rather large, with at least twelve men on board, but not a yacht. Let me have some cameras focus on it, the shape looks familiar.”

  There was silence in the room waiting for Damian to get a better handle on the boat.

  “It's the Coast Guard. At least we're not under attack. I wonder what they're doing here, or maybe they're bringing the special guests.”

  Damian's cell phone rang with an incoming blocked call.

  Chapter 36

  “Hello.”

  “This is Captain John Dumas of the United States Coast Guard. We are approaching your island. Where do you advise we send our rigid inflatable boat?”

  “Captain, this is Damian Green of Red Rock Island, you will find a beach at Geo-coordinates 37,92901 -122.432096. It's the northwest side of the island. I have your vessel on approach and suggest you turn your ship slightly to the left.”

  “How are you tracking my ship?”

  “I have a drone in the air off your bow, I'll pull it back to my island.”

  “Ah, I'd wondered what the blip on our radar screen was. We'll see you shortly.”

  Damian asked the two women to stay inside while he went out to greet the boat. As it was dark and he still had his chairlift at that cliff, it was likely the best way to get people up on top the island.

  “I want to come with you,” Hermione said.

  “Look there are people holding guns out there, and if I were them, I would search me, then come to the house and search you guys and make sure it's safe for their guests to step on the island. It will go faster if you stay inside and I won't have to worry about some gun-sight being on you, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Damian grabbed his jacket and a flashlight and walked down the hill toward the craggy cliff and its beach below.

  As he approached the hill, he saw people on board the 110-foot patrol boat and the inflatable boat being launched. He suspected the marshal would climb out of the boat and inspect the island then come back for their guests. He was curious to watch what happened.

  He dropped his flashlight to the ground and held his hands in the air and yelled about the noise of the boat.

  “Hello, I'm Damian Green. Welcome to Red Rock Island. There's a chairlift that will lift you up the cliff. There's the seat in the rocks straight ahead and you'll see a green button that will move you up here, or you can scale the cliff. I'm going to put my hands down and stay still until you arrive on top.”

  Damian felt like a fool shouting out suggestions, then standing there waiting for someone to arrive and frisk him, but really it was just as he told Hermione. The marshals were very intent on keeping their guests safe.

  When they were finally cleared, Hermione and Ariana came to the cliff's edge to watch her parents leave the Coast Guard patrol boat and come ashore in the inflatable then take the chair up the hill. Hermione/Hannah hugged first her mother and then her father. The patrol boat idled off his coast. The three marshals escorted everyone inside Damian's house.

  Damian was surprised when after introductions were performed, Mrs. Sherwood gave him a fierce hug for saving, then protecting, then encouraging her daughter in school and in sports. Damian was embarrassed and was happy when she turned to Ariana and likewise praised her for taking on her daughter and the small acts of kindness like taking her to school.

  “Look, Hermione has school and a soccer game tomorrow, and I somehow don't think that you folks plan on being overnight guests here. There's an unopened bottle of wine of the counter and glasses. Ariana and I are going downstairs to give you privacy. The marshals are welcome to come with us, or you can stand outside my front door, or wait in my bedroom. Holler down the stairs when you need us.”

  They also left Miguel with Hermione as he was a calming influence on a fraught situation.

  Ariana and Damian retreated to the lower level. Distracted as they were, they tried to get some business done but were called back upstairs after about twenty minutes. The Sherwoods were satisfied that they had the whole story of Hermione's adventure from her, and they now understood the power this genius and inventor had in saving her life.

  “We wanted to hear from our daughter and then from you that you would be pleased to continue being her parents for the next few years. You've likely managed better than we did and she's happy and thriving, and you've kept her safe. We are entangled in this court case we're told for at least three years or by the time she's ready for college. We don't know if once the case is over, that we'll immediately be free. We could bring her with us into protective custody, but she'll have a better life here,” Jason said as Amy continued to wipe her tears.

  “I'll speak for both of us and say we'd love to continue to be her fake parents as we call ourselves. We're grateful you raised a daughter who hasn't flaked out on us in her teenage years. She rarely thinks we're stupid to our faces and someday I'm going to beat her at Fortnite.”

  “I'll add that I can create a secure way for you to communicate with your daughter over the coming years. I have my own communication satellite in orbit, and you can use that to bounce off of while not giving away your physical location. Perhaps someone in the Marshals Service IT department can investigate to assure your safety.”

  “That would be cool especially if they could watch one of my games or swim meets live instead of waiting several days to get a link to a tape,” Hermione said.

  “We're going to have to get used to calling you Hermione instead of Hannah because by the time we come back into your life you'll have had the name for several years,” Amy Sherwood said. “I assume you chose that name from Harry Potter, it was always your favorite book.”

  Hermione nodded.

  “I also like your new look. I remember you begging me to make those changes, and I wouldn't allow it, but you're a very pretty young lady.”

  Hermione just blushed over her mom's praise.

  The marshals had been standing near the door during this part of the conversation, and they spoke, “Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood, we need to leave now for your own safety. The patrol boat is waiting, and we need to descend the cliff. We'll have our IT person contact you, Mr. Green, about that connection. It sounds like a great idea, and it would give the Sherwoods some peace of mind to be in more frequent communication with their daughter.”

  Ten minutes later, Hermione stood at the cliff's edge waving goodbye to her parents long a
fter she was still able to see them on the boat in the dark.

  “Well sweetie, we need to get back across the bay and get to sleep. You have a long day tomorrow.”

  As Damian reached to open his front door, she grabbed him and pulled these two wonderful adults in for a hug.

  “Thank you.”

  The hug went on for a while, then Damian said, “I'll be rolling my eyes soon over your head at Ariana.”

  “Haha. Open the door, and we'll get out of your hair. Did you teach Ariana all the Fortnite secrets?”

  “No, because then she would beat me, but she'll definitely conquer you when you next play.”

  Damian carried their bags to Ariana's boat and looked at an app on his phone. It was always a good idea to check the weather for weird wind changes in the wintertime. They should have a smooth sail across the Bay. They were off in no time, and twenty minutes later, he got a text that they were safely tied up at her house.

  Epilogue

  All three were surprised when they slept through the night. Damian arrived the next afternoon to cheer Hermione on during her soccer game. Her school had won again, and there was real talk about going on to regional finals.

  Hermione chose take-out from a Thai restaurant as her post-game calorie load.

  “Do you think we'll get a connection to my parents?”

  “I think so. The Marshals should have their IT person check out my idea, which I know to be sound.”

  “Won't you know where my parents are when they call since it's your satellite? Not that I don't think you can be trusted.”

  “No. I'll give their IT person space on my satellite to set up their own protocol. Once they do that I'll be locked out of that part of my satellite.”

  “Sounds like a plan! Can I have some more red wine with my Thai food?”

  “No,” both Ariana and Damian said at the same time.

  “Kiddo, we're not going to let you drink wine every night. Let's save it for special occasions.”

  “Isn't today a special occasion? I know my parents are alive and well and we won my soccer game.”

  “Your parent thing was yesterday, and you win every game so today's not a special occasion. It's an average day. Besides any wine connoisseur would tell you red wine doesn't go with a spicy chicken dish, a Riesling would be a far better pairing.”