by K. J. Dahlen
“Can you tell what he was doing during that time?” Dewey asked.
Jim shrugged. “I can try to expand the search a bit. I’ve barely scratched the surface so far. I’m also running a search on his boats. So far, I’ve found five that have the same name. Ownership is still under question but I’m narrowing it down.”
“Too bad we can’t track the boats. If we knew where they went, we might be able to know where they are going to end up,” Caine spoke for the first time.
Jim chuckled. “I’m looking for anything I can find on where the boats are going.” He paused then looked over at Pappy. “Phoebe might have been on to something. Several newspaper articles popped up over the years in question. Cyber thefts was in its infancy back then but it was around. I’ve found at least three occasions where money disappeared from accounts and it was never found by the police or Secret Service. Several million dollars is still missing.”
“Oh, we have to find this guy and shut him down,” Pappy vowed. Turning back to Phoebe he asked, “What else can you remember about this guy? Did he ever talk about what he wanted to do when he was older?”
“Just that he wasn’t going to let anyone tell him what to do anymore. He wasn’t going to be beholden to anyone for anything. No paying bills for him. He wasn’t going to work for anyone else instead, he would be the one giving orders…. live in order not chaos. He felt chaos was when a person worked hard for every penny but never got ahead. He always said the man had everyone under his thumb for everything. From food to utilities to even the car we drive. Someone is always telling us what we can do, how to think, what to think, what we can eat. He claimed it was a vicious cycle with no end in sight. He would never have a child and turn his back on them. One night he talked about how he was going to hunt his father down and ruin him. He blamed his dad for everything that ever happened to him, even the fact that his mother finally ended up abandoning him. She was just a kid herself when his much older father took advantage of her. He held her job over her head and told her that if she wanted to keep her job she’d better sleep with him, then when she did he treated her like crap. When she told him about the baby, he kicked her out. She was without a job, pregnant with a married man’s baby and her family didn’t want her around. He told me she kept him as long as she could but when he was five, she ended up leaving him behind. She wanted a better life for him than she could give him. He told me she thought the foster system would give him what she couldn’t.” Phoebe shrugged. “Personally I think she took the easy way out. From what I found out later, she just left him behind. What kind of mother leaves her child behind?”
“You’d be surprised at what some parents would do to their children,” Pappy told her.
Phoebe rolled her eyes and the motion was echoed by Willow. The friends shared a look then Phoebe turned to Pappy. “Willow and I grew up in the system. We also left that system because we saw just about every situation of how bad parents treat their kids. We also saw what kind of parents take in other people’s kids for the money. Some are better than others, but that kind of life leaves you screwed up. Some more than others in all reality but that life did a number on Leroy. Because he was always in trouble, he was left on his own too much. Then at an early age, he discovered the wonder of the internet. Every night he would tell me what he was able to find on the World Wide Web. He told me just months before he left, he was looking for his father. Since his mother never told him who that was he began a game of elimination.” She looked down at the brand on her arm rubbing it. “I think he found him. The night he did this he told me he would be back for me once he got his revenge on the man who fathered him.”
Phoebe shuddered. “I ran away so he couldn’t find me. But social services caught me and put me into another foster home. Then I met Willow and the next time we ran away they couldn’t find us. We were very careful but I had reason to look over my shoulder every day since then. I couldn’t even tell Willow what I was so afraid of.”
“I remember the day you stopped looking over your shoulder.” Willow spoke softly.
Phoebe looked over at her and smiled. “I know you do.” She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “It was the day we got to Lansing, Michigan.”
“What happened in Lansing?” Dewey asked.
“We were fifteen at the time.” Willow told them. “We’d been moving around a lot but for some reason that place felt like home. The people were friendly and we found a place to stay and we even had jobs for a while. They didn’t make us what to run or hide. They accepted us for who we were, two young girls just looking for a life. We even made friends there. We couldn’t tell them why we were out there but we didn’t have to. No one asked.”
“One of the people we met there encouraged us to take self-defense classes.” Phoebe picked up the story and took it further. “Rob took us to his gym and taught us what to do if someone came up to us with mayhem on his mind. He gave us tips on how to avoid situations we might find ourselves in. We felt safe for the first time in a long time. I could finally breathe again and it felt wonderful. I began taking back my life. I took back the power I had given Leroy over my very existence, and it felt great.” She looked over at Michael and nodded. “Rob gave us the confidence we needed to survive life on the streets. After that I didn’t need to keep looking over my shoulder and life just became better.”
“We moved around a lot trying to find a place we could just stop and live for a while.” Willow told them. “We finally went back to Chicago. We both found jobs and settled in.”
“Until one of us got a bug up her butt about taking a trip to Marlborough to pick up a book she buried half a lifetime ago.” Phoebe grumbled.
“Did Leroy ever tell you about his dad?” Bastian asked. He’d been listening to her story and as usual, his mind was three steps ahead of everyone else’s. Leroy would have gone after the man he felt was responsible for his rotten life.
Phoebe shrugged. “Not by name, he never told me his father’s name but the day he branded me he told me to wait for him. When he took care of his problem, he would be back. He told me he would have enough money to make a good life for us.” She shook her head. “But I wasn’t waiting for him. He was just plain nuts. He never felt pain and enjoyed inflicting it on others. When he hurt the other kids, he had a cold look in his eyes. I got myself the hell out of there. I changed my name and got out. The name I went by then was Phoebe Snow.”
“What is the name you went by when you knew Leroy?” Pappy asked.
“Angelina Roman.”
“Did he have a nickname or anything?” Bastian asked.
“He always called me his Angel.” Phoebe admitted. Tears sprang up in her eyes and she whispered her worst secret. “The day he branded me he told me my name was from that time Angel Nash. He said from that time on the world would know me by that name because he would never let me go.”
Bastian glanced over at Jim and he turned to his computer. His fingers flew over the keys as he began his search on social media. It wasn’t long before he got his first hit. Then before he could tell anyone, he got several more hits.
He printed out the notices as they showed up. There were sixty seven hits. Jim went over to the printer and gathered the pages together. The oldest one was ten years old, the latest was three days old. He glanced at Bastian. “I think you guys better see this.” He handed the pages off to the group and went back to his chair. He bent over his keyboard and began typing again.
Bastian glanced over the pages and passed them along the line. They started out as a loving message and over time changed to a threat. He was worried about her lack of response to his messages. He asked her time and time again to respond but she never did. He looked at the words Leroy had written and as he studied them, he couldn’t help but think Phoebe had been right. This man was nuts.
He walked over to the photos Jim had taken before they went in and took out Tomas’s crew. One of the photos took in the back of the boat. The name of the boat was shown but t
here was something else in the photo as well. More numbers just below the ship’s name. The numbers were so small, he couldn’t read them.
He went over to the printer and found the info Jim had collected on the licenses of the other boats. He noted they all had numbers under the name of the boat. Turing to Jim he called out, “Jim, do you still have those pictures of Tomas’s crew on your camera?”
Jim got up and brought his camera over. Pappy, Dewey, Calico and some of the others joined them.
“What’s going on?” Pappy asked.
Bastian looked up and shook his head. “I’m not sure but I noticed something odd in the picture of the name of the boat.”
Jim found the photo and swiped his camera enlarging the photo somewhat. There the name was more pronounced. The numbers were enlarged as well. Bastian pointed it out. “There, see it? There is a group of numbers under the name of the boat.”
Jim and the others took note. “Yeah, I see it now.” He murmured. Taking the camera over to his computer, he typed in the numbers and ran a search. It took a moment then something showed up. Jim scowled and turned to his friend. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“What is it?” Pappy asked as he came over to where Jim was sitting.
“The numbers he found were longitude and latitude coordinates for Sabine Pass,” Jim announced.
“They’re what?” Calico asked.
“Position coordinates,” Jim explained. He snapped his fingers and turned back to his computer. He brought up a search of the other boats listed under the Sea Serpent name. He researched the other names for a moment then turned to Bastian. “Well, I’ll be damned. I have at least two more boats with numbers under the name. The coordinates for those are located in Cairo, and Huntington, Kentucky. Actually, there is another of the boats with the same name listed in Paden City, West Virginia. I’ll have to do more research on the other boats and find out if they have the coordinates as well. If we can find the boats, we may be able to figure out what’s going on.”
“Ok, we have one boat in Sabine Pass, one in Cairo, and another in Huntington Kentucky,” Pappy stated. “Now we just have to figure out what they all have in common, besides their names.”
“How about the fact they are all on rivers?” Trudy stated. “Even Paden City is on the river.”
“What do you mean?” Dewey asked.
“Sabine Pass is on the Sabine River, Cairo is where the Mississippi River and the Ohio River come together. Huntington is also on the Ohio, along with Paden City.”
Pappy looked over at Jim, “You need to find the rest of those boats and find out where they are.”
Jim nodded. “I’m working on it.”
Pappy glanced over at Michael and Phoebe. Gage and Willow were standing with them. He walked over and gazed at the small group. “Your friend is crazy, you know that don’t you?”
Phoebe shivered. “Leroy is not my friend. He never has been, never will be.”
Pappy nodded. “I get that, but I read his messages to you over the last decade.”
Phoebe shook her head. “But I never knew he was messaging me. I never got them, so how could I answer them?”
“He messaged you under the name Angel Nash.”
Phoebe wrapped her arms around her stomach and tears rolled down her face. “I never knew that.”
Michael stepped over and wrapped his own arms around her shoulder. He put his face against her head and whispered something in her ears.
Phoebe buried her face in his neck and sobbed out loud.
“Don’t you worry about this guy,” Pappy told her. “We aren’t going to let him get to you.”
Phoebe glanced out of the safety of Michael’s embrace and said, “If he knows where I am, you aren’t going to be able to stop him. I think the only reason I’ve been safe all these years is because I go by the name Phoebe Snow now. Plus, the fact I’ve been off the radar for so long. Willow and I have been moving around so much, it would be hard for anyone to find us.”
“That’s probably what saved you this whole time.” Pappy nodded. “Cuz he’s been looking for you this whole time.”
Phoebe turned her head into Michael’s neck and sobbed. “Please don’t let him find me. He’ll kill me, I just know it.”
Michael tightened his arms around her. “He won’t get close to you baby, I promise.”
“We all can promise you that.” Pappy nodded. “Now we just have to find this creep.”
Michael and Gage looked at Pappy.
“Can you do that? Can you really find him?” Michael asked.
Pappy nodded then looked over his shoulder at the group behind him. “We’re going to try. We have some great minds working on it. We’ll find him.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Phoebe murmured as she snuggled into Michael’s chest.
Chapter Eleven
Later that afternoon while Jim and Trudy were still looking for the boats, Michael, Gage, Willow and Phoebe were shown to rooms and Sawyer and Bastian were in their room. Sawyer was exhausted and Bastian was checking on her.
He moved over to the bed where Sawyer was laying. Her eyes were closed but he slid in behind her, she opened them and stared at the man behind her. “How are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m good, just tired. So much has happened it just zapped my strength.”
Bastian cuddled her closer to him. “I know and I wish I could take it all back.”
Sawyer shook her head. “But you can’t. You can’t change what happened any more than you can change what happened all those years ago.”
“I know but it doesn’t change the fact I would, if I could,” he whispered in her ear.
“Do you think my father did the right thing?” she finally asked.
“Protecting the woman?” Bastian scoffed. “Without a doubt, he did. Tomas was a bastard to her. If I had been there, I would have done the same thing.”
“Really?” she whispered.
“Absolutely. Tomas took her prisoner and then he raped her. The child she carried was not born of love between a man and a woman. No, he was born of a bully and his victim. She was right to ask your dad to hide her son. The boy is better off without him.”
She took his hand and placed it on her belly. “And our baby?”
Bastian groaned. “Our baby was born out of love. I have no doubt of that. I fell in love with you in that warehouse. I tried to stay away but when I had you all to myself, I couldn’t help it.”
“I think I was in love with you too. I know you made me feel safe. For the first time since I was a kid, you made me feel safe. I don’t regret giving you my innocence.”
“I never felt this way for any other woman before I met you,” he admitted. “Before you came along, women were for relief only. I used them just as they used me. I never meant anything to them and I never led them on. But when I met you, I knew you were going to mean something to me. My heart came alive for the first time in my life.”
“Now we’re having a family,” she whispered.
“Now there will be more of you for me to love. I have you and the baby to love and I can’t wait for him or her to be born.” He snuggled into her. “But before the baby is born, I need for you to marry me. I want both you and the baby to carry my name.”
“Are you sure?” she asked while trembling in his arms.
“I came down here to bring you home. The baby is pure gravy but I want it, same as I want you. I can’t imagine living without either of you.”
“And we can live here with my family?”
“We can live wherever you want,” Bastian assured her. “I have no ties anywhere but with you.”
“What about what you do?”
“I’m not going to do that anymore. Since the time I took you three months ago, that life became meaningless to me. I just don’t want to do it anymore.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I don’t want to force you to change just for me. That never works out good for everyone involved.”
&
nbsp; “Honey, you aren’t changing anything. I know what’s right for me and what isn’t. That kind of life just got old for me. I’m the one who changed not you. I’d really rather do something else now. I want to be a husband and a father from now on. As far as I am concerned The Priest is dead.”
“I know you said you had money but can we afford for you not to work? I can always get a job you know.”
Bastian chuckled. “Sweet Sayer…I’ve got more money than I’ll ever spend. You won’t have to work unless you really want to. And from this moment forward, whatever I have is yours. I don’t want to wait for a minister to link us to assure you of that.” He paused then added, “But I do want to get married before the baby is born. I want him or her to have my name along with his or her mother.”
“I’d like that. I’d really like that.”
“So why don’t you carry your father’s name?” Bastian wanted to know.
Sawyer shrugged. “I’m not sure that I don’t. I do know they were married before I was born and he never got the divorce she asked him for, so they have been married all this time. After he left, mom just started calling me by her name. I think she was protecting him and me from Max. She never did marry Jordan’s dad, so he carried her name too.”
“Would you mind very much taking his name for the wedding? I think they both would like that and it would make a statement that he’s important to both of us.”
Sawyer smiled. “Of course I will. He is my dad. I would be honored to do that.”
“How soon can you make arrangements?” Bastian felt excited about this new change in his life. “I want to claim you right now but I can wait at least a few days, if I have to.”
“I know the guys are working on a new case, do you think that will interfere with our wedding?”
Bastian shook his head. “I won’t allow it to. The wedding doesn’t have to be big, it just has to be legal. I’m sorry if it’s not going to be your dream wedding but you can have that after this case is done, if you still want it.”
