by Lucy Kelly
“I hear ya, buddy. Carrie and I never did the kid thing, so I can’t answer that for you. The only thing I can think is that she wanted to prove something to you. Maybe she believes she’s holding you guys back? None of the boys have married, you don’t date. Maybe she wants you to have a chance to get a life?” he said.
“I’m coming home anyway. I’m too worried to enjoy a vacation.”
“Okay. I’m going to turn off this phone and leave it on the kitchen counter. Obviously she learned enough growing up in your house, to know you could have tracked her with it,” he said.
“Matt, we can track her computers and tablets too as soon as she turns them on. She probably didn’t think of that,” said her father.
“In that case you’ll know where she is within twenty-four hours. She can’t go very long without being online, computers are her life.”
“All the more reason to come home, I’ll be back tomorrow.”
*****
When Doug Donahue arrived home, two of his sons, as well as his friend, Matt, were there too. They tracked down her computers. She’d replaced all the hard drives with new ones and donated the old ones to a local middle school. She would likely be buying new hardware as she traveled. With her advanced skills, she didn’t buy computers anymore—she built her own. By the time she got to wherever she was going, she’d have the components necessary for a new set-up and it would be untraceable, he was sure.
Aaron was able to get his orders changed without too much trouble for which he was surprised. When he’d found out his sister had left, he was determined to return home.
All the Donahue men were planning to come together to find their girl.
Chapter Four
Driving most nights and sleeping at campgrounds during the days, it took Laura two weeks and two days to arrive in Montana. She was so excited about her trip. She traveled west on Highway 90 until she turned north on Highway 89 heading toward the Lewis and Clark National Forest. She stopped in Niehart, which was the closest town to her property. It was a very small town and she believed that it was populated almost entirely by shifters. There was a post office and a general store. She had arranged for dry goods to be stored along with necessities like toilet paper. But she wanted to pick up some fresh vegetables, meat, and other groceries before heading up to her new home. The only downside was being a small town they rolled up the streets early and all the stores were closed. She pulled into the parking lot at the grocery and then after locking up the camper went in back to try to get some sleep. She saw from the sign on the door the grocery opened at seven in the morning so she set her alarm for six and using the grab bars hoisted herself into her bed that Monday night. Picking up her tablet computer, she sent an email that would trigger another email and another before the final email went out to her dad. Afterwards she went in and shut down all of the various email accounts. She would go back in to the various email hosts in the morning and completely erase the accounts so she couldn’t be tracked.
When the alarm went off Tuesday morning, she first went to work on the computer, then she dressed carefully in dark clothes made with thick cloth. She added gloves and a hoodie. She pulled a ski mask over her face and added polarized goggles. She knew she looked weird but it was necessary. She couldn’t afford a period of sun illness today and she would be driving during daylight. Once she was ready, she moved her chair into position and hitting the door opener, she used her lift to lower her chair to the ground.
The front of the store had a sidewalk but she’d long ago learned to pop a wheelie in her chair to get over such obstacles. When she got to the entrance, there was no automatic door. Luckily the owner was there unlocking the door to open up and so she held the door open for her.
“Good morning! I apologize for my appearance,” she explained, “I have a severe reaction to sunlight. I’m not a criminal really,” Laura said.
“Now that’s alright, come on in and we’ll move to the back of the store. Then maybe you can tell me what you need. I’m afraid our aisles are rather small and some of the shelves are tall. I’d be happy to help you shop,” explained the woman.
“Thank you! My name is Laura and I’m going to be moving into the area. I have a list. Do you think there may be someone local that would be available for hire? I’m going to need some help getting settled in,” she said.
“I’m Margie Bell. My husband and I own the store but he’s out right now. Whereabouts are you moving to? I know most everyone in town and I don’t think any of the houses have sold recently.”
“I had a house built to my specifications. It’s right below Hoover Ridge at the end of San Miguel road,” she said, handing her list over to Margie.
Margie worked hard not to show any reaction. So this was the one the Alpha was waiting for. “I tell you what. Why don’t you wait back here away from the windows and I’ll make a few phone calls. I’m sure I can round you up some help. Then while we’re waiting for them to get here, I’ll go around and gather up your groceries.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Bell. I really appreciated your help. I was going to contact a moving company when I arrived. This will make things a lot easier for me. I’m looking forward to meeting my neighbors.”
“Of course, dear, now you wait right here.”
Margie hustled around the counter and picked up the phone. Her first call was to the Alpha. “Hello, Marshall, is that you,” she said. She wasn’t worried about the alpha getting angry at her informality. He would understand there were humans nearby. Just to make sure she talked fast. “I have the newest resident of our area here in my store. She’s asking about hiring some temporary help to get settled into her place off San Miguel road. Do you know of some teenagers who would be interested in making a few dollars?”
“She’s there now?” he asked.
“Yes, that’s right. She seems a sweet girl,” she said with a wink at Laura. “But she has some health issues and is handicapped. So carrying all her groceries into the house and getting all her boxes unloaded would be very hard for her. So do you know anyone? I told her we could find some people who would be willing to help. I know it’s not the weekend…” Margie trailed off.
“Don’t worry, Margie, I understand. I’ll send over Mara with a couple of the guys from her pack or from the wider clan. I’ll clear it with their alphas. They should be there within an hour.”
“Thank you, Marshall, I’m sure Laura will be happy to hear that.”
After she hung up she turned to Laura. “Good news, Laura. Marshall knows some people that are willing to help. They’ll be here within an hour he said. Do you want to wait here or do you want to wait in your camper. I gotta say, you don’t look that comfortable.”
“Do you know how long it will take me to get to the house from here?”
“As the crow flies it’s not that far, but you’ll need to travel north and work your way east and then south again. That’s the only place where the road goes through. Depending on how fast you drive it could take nearly an hour. The people that are coming to help you, live over that way so they’ll follow you back.”
“Margie, do you think I could arrange to have my groceries delivered? I figured I’d stock at least six months of frozen and dry goods. But I’ll need fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and dairy on a fairly regular basis.”
“Well, you can freeze milk but not eggs. And I know that during the summer we all crave fresh foods. During the winter though you’ll need to stock up, it’s not unusual to be snowed in for extended periods.”
“I see what you mean. I’m planning to have a greenhouse and some indoor hydroponics for a few fresh things. I like to cook with fresh herbs but will make do with dried,” she mused, “I’ll go and wait in the camper. Here’s some money, after you ring it up you can let me know if it’s not enough. Please keep any change for all your help,” she said, handing Margie a couple of hundred dollars in twenties from her billfold.
An hour later there was a knock on the camper door. Sh
e had monitored the arrival of the three people from inside. She had hooked up cameras to view the exterior since she didn’t have windows. It made reversing much easier too. Donning her gloves and mask she opened the door.
“Hi, I’m Mara. Tom and Ben here have all your groceries. Do you want them loaded in your camper? Or we can put them in the back of the pick-up,” she said.
“Hi, Mara, I’m Laura, why don’t you put them in the pick-up, it would be easier. Would you like to drive up with me? You can be my navigator?” Laura asked.
“I’d be happy to. Let me tell the guys to load up and then I’ll come around and climb in.”
“Okay, I’ll move up front and unlock the passenger door for you.”
Laura knew the woman Mara was most likely a shifter. So she used the trip up the mountain to explain about her decision to go off on her own and not contact her family for six months. She went into great detail about how sneaky she had been.
“My dad is practically director of the NSA now and Uncle Matt, who’s not really an uncle, just dad’s best friend, is a director in the FBI. With Aaron and Steven in the Army, David and Benji in the Navy, Josh in the Marines, and Evan finishing law school before joining the FBI too, well let’s just say I’ve been surrounded by alpha males my whole life. And since the accident they’ve taken such good care of me, I love them to death, but I really needed to see if I could live on my own. Please tell me you understand, I’ve been feeling really guilty since I left,” pleaded Laura as she navigated the mobile home around the mountain curves.
“Sweetie, I know all about dealing with alpha males. You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. Are you sure about living this far up the mountain? With your handicap, you’re not going to be leaving your house to hike the woods or go skiing. Why come here?” she asked.
They were almost to the house and explaining all that was going to take a long time.
“That’s a long story. How about you and the guys stay for dinner this evening and I’ll tell you then,” she said.
“Okay, do you mind if I ask another friend over for dinner? I was supposed to go over to his house and this way he can hear the story too. He’s the biggest businessman in these parts and a good friend to have.”
“Sure, I’d like to get to know all my neighbors. I believe in neighbors helping neighbors whenever they can,” said Laura.
“Now you’ve got me super curious. I’ll just have to hold my questions in until later.”
They had pulled up to the large five-car garage Laura had built at the end of the road. She opened a compartment in the dash and grabbed the remote the builder had sent her. Clicking the button, she opened the large roll-up door on the end and pulled in. She was home—almost. Checking the dashboard clock before turning off the engine she noted the time. Tuesday morning at ten on April 29th, I moved into my own house!
Chapter Five
Three days after Laura left, her father, Doug, paced back and forth in his living room trying to come up with a new way to track down his daughter. He and her brothers had been looking twenty-four-seven and had found nothing. Thinking of his daughter the memories poured forth.
It was Halloween and six-year-old Laura Donahue was wiggling into her little mermaid costume. Halloween was her favorite holiday because all the fun took place at night. When she was a baby, Laura had been diagnosed with a severe form of Solar Urticaria, which meant she developed hives and lesions on her face, arms, and exposed skin when she was in natural light. By the time she was five, her family had renovated the basement into Laura’s world. She only came up into the rest of the house after dark or if all the curtains were closed.
However, tonight she would be able to go out and run around the neighborhood. There would be a lot of other kids running around too. He was still working but Luce would take her around. And then in two weeks, their baby would have her birthday.
“Come on, Mommy, the sun is gone. If we don’t go soon all the candy will be gone!” she whined.
Luce put away her work and shut down her computer. She had been working with her husband at the NSA when Laura’s diagnosis came in. In order to make sure Laura got the care she needed, Luce quit her job and became a freelance programmer. She could work from home and take care of Laura at the same time. They didn’t want to move the nursery her boys had worked so hard on, so they painted the glass in the window black first and then covered the black with a mural of an open window. With lacy curtains in front, you could hardly tell it was a painting and not the real thing. That worked for the first eighteen months, until Laura became really mobile. Then Luce put her desk in one corner of the basement room, and she and Laura spent their days away from the sun.
Aaron graduated from West Point and was away at his first posting. Steven was a senior at West Point, both boys followed in their father’s footsteps. David and Benji had broken that tradition and were attending Annapolis. They wanted to be Navy SEALs. Josh and Evan still in high school, hadn’t yet decided where they wanted to go. All of the boys were protective of their sister and made time to keep her company in her exile from the sun.
Laura was a brilliant child and even at her small age, she already knew how to read and her writing was improving. Her mother had her working on a tablet computer for part of each day and she was already an expert at playing the math and word games designed for children much older. With her platinum hair and petite shape, she didn’t really look like her brawny, dark haired brothers. But that was okay with him, he knew they loved her just the way she was, they told her all the time.
Luce came down the hallway carrying a coat and a plastic candy basket shaped like a pumpkin.
“Mommy, mermaids do not wear coats.”
“They do when they’re on land and its cold outside. Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready forever and ever,” she sighed.
“Evan, Josh, we’re leaving. We shouldn’t be gone too long,” she called out.
“Kay, Mom, I’ll put the casserole in the oven in about twenty minutes?” asked Josh.
“Thanks, hon, that’ll be perfect.”
“Hey, Ariel, have you seen my sister?” he asked Laura, making her giggle.
“It’s me, Josh, I’m wearing a costume!”
He stepped back and put a look of surprise on his face. “Really! Wow, you sure had me fooled! Have fun with your trick-or-treating, okay?”
“Okay, Joshie, but I’m only going to be getting treats. I don’t really want to trick people you know,” she confided solemnly.
“Good idea, squirt.”
With that parting advice, mother and daughter happily went out to walk around to all of their neighbors’ houses begging for candy.
Doug Donahue pulled into the driveway and then entered the house just as his cell phone went off. He hoped it wasn’t work. He looked forward to Laura telling him all about her Halloween excursion. From the good smells coming from the kitchen he knew dinner would be on the table soon.
Seeing the word ‘Luce’ in the window had him raising an eyebrow. “Hey, honey, is the muchkin dragging her feet. She must have half the candy in town by now.”
“Sir, this is Tom Johnson, I’m a paramedic with the county. Your wife and child were hit by a drunk driver while crossing the street. Your wife insisted on calling you but she just lost consciousness,” he explained.
“Which hospital, where are you taking them,” he shouted, causing his sons to come to the doorway.
His heart in his throat he rushed back to his car, his sons on his heels. By the time they got to the hospital, Josh had called their Uncle Matt and put the wheels in motion that would bring his other brothers home. Aaron was somewhere on the other side of the world and probably wouldn’t be able to make it right away but he’d be with them in spirit.
Four hours later the surgeon walked into the waiting room to give them the news. Both mother and daughter would make it. However, Laura’s spine had been severed and she would spend the rest of her li
fe in a wheelchair.
Aaron and his brother Evan walked into the room interrupting their father’s reverie.
“Did you get any more information, Dad?” Aaron asked.
“No, I didn’t. She really covered her tracks. She even donated her car, so I have no idea how she’s traveling.”
“What about her prescriptions, can we track her that way?” asked Evan.
“She told the pharmacy she was going to be traveling extensively and they sent her a six month supply. She’s been taking them long enough that they weren’t worried about her possibly overdosing,” he said, sitting in a chair and running his hands through his hair. “Did I smother her too much? Maybe we should have encouraged her to get an apartment of her own?”
“I might agree with you if it was only the wheelchair, Dad. But how can she manage the rest? She can’t go out in the sunlight. And what about her therapy? I’m so angry with her, she’s acting so irresponsibly!” Aaron said, smashing his fist onto his knee.
“At least she promised to contact us within six months. I keep grabbing onto that like a lifeline. That doesn’t mean that I won’t try to find her in the meantime. How did it go with the neighbors?” he asked.
“One thought an extended cab truck might have pulled into our driveway on Saturday but they weren’t sure. They couldn’t remember enough for us to put out a BOLO and we can’t exactly ask the police to be on the lookout for movers. They haven’t done anything illegal,” said Evan.
Both Evan and Aaron were worried about their father. It looked as if he hadn’t eaten or slept since he’d left the cruise ship and come home.
“Dad, why don’t we all post questions on our Facebook pages. Even if she doesn’t answer, she’s bound to check. We might be able to track her through social media.”
Their father looked up at his son. “It’s against company policy and could get me fired but your right. I’ll get over to the office and set up a search on all social media. I have some guys who are loyal to me, they’ll keep it quiet. I feel shitty about using NSA assets for personal business, but I won’t feel better until I know something. She’s been gone for three days.”
