Maggie's Image (Maggie McGill Mysteries Book 1)

by Sharon Burch Toner

  Maggie started to tell them about the wind and the fallen palm on the deck when Ed rushed in, a little out of breath. Introductions and greetings were exchanged. Ed held Allie’s hand for just a moment longer than necessary and said, “I’m so glad to see you alive and well. I understand you have had several narrow escapes. Please tell us about them.”

  Allie and Maggie told their story together, one filling in what the other forgot. They talked with only an occasional question for clarification for over an hour. As they described their fear, Albright’s gun and the fire, Harry’s face became even more grave. At last, as their story came to an end, they stopped.

  Maggie broke the silence, “I understand so much more now about all our adventures. But you know, one thing still puzzles me. What was their goal here in the United States? What was their next big project? Dr. Albright never told us. And we were so intent on escaping that we didn’t even think to ask him.” Maggie’s brow was furrowed with puzzlement.

  “Oh, I can tell you that,” Harry answered. “Aside from just hating us for being Americans. They wanted to create panic and chaos that would disrupt stability of the government and perhaps eventually cause it to fail. Then they could move in and take over.”

  “But he told us that,” interrupted Allie. “What he didn’t tell us was what their next target was. I had the impression that they had something big planned.”

  Harry and John exchanged glances. “Our questioning of the other people we picked up has given us some insight on their plans. What we had not yet discovered was Albright’s identity. It is interesting how they continued to protect him even when it was clear that it was all over,” John said.

  Harry continued, “One of the reasons we wanted both Andre and Ed here is that we think FLO was their target. Turning to Andre and Ed he asked, “Do you have any ideas about when and where they planned to do that?”

  As Harry was speaking, Ed became agitated, shifting his weight in his chair and breathing more rapidly. When he answered his voice was tight with excitement, “Yes. I think I might. You see, because of the travel expenses, our programs tend to draw mostly well-to-do students. It is true that we have some scholarships, but mostly we draw students from affluent families. We also have very high scholastic standards. So our students tend to be a specialized population—both highly intelligent and representing families of the leaders of our society.

  Andre added, “That is just the population that a terrorist organization would like to hit.”

  Ed continued, “However, because our students go to many different areas around the world, normally they never meet together and so it would have been difficult to attack this population as a group. But this year is different. This year we have a three-day orientation seminar scheduled for the second week in January in the Bay area. All our students are required to attend. They leave from the seminar for their various destinations around the world. We have over eight hundred students enrolled this year.”

  Now Andre was the excited one. “Eight hundred of the brightest and most economically advantaged young people! What an enticing target for a terrorist! It would be hitting capitalism and the whole system where it would hurt most. A bomb placed at one of the meetings would have given them just the type of attention they want. This must be what they had planned. It must be!”

  Harry said, “Good. Those guys will open up now that we know what to ask and especially now that Albright’s gone. They won’t have a reason to protect him.”

  Maggie shuddered, “But what a horrible thing! How could that man have done that? He was an educator. He had worked with these youngsters for years. How could he have sanctioned . . . no, planned. How could he have planned such a horrible thing?”

  Allie squeezed her mother’s hand, “Mom, you saw him. You saw his eyes. He was gone. Somehow, he was gone. We don’t know what happened to him, but sometime, somehow, something must have snapped. That man in our house wasn’t the same one who has worked with this program for so many years.”

  Ed said, “That must be so. I knew him and worked with him for over eight years. In the beginning he seemed inspired, completely dedicated to the program. But in later years it was as if he let up a little. I thought it simply was that he was getting older and was tired. But apparently there was more to it than that.”

  Thoughtfully Maggie said, “So now we know why they kidnapped Allie and me. And we know what they wanted from Andre and Brigitte. But what about Hadi? Do you know why they kidnapped Hadi?”

  Harry glanced at John Landis and said, “Hadi is a very mysterious character. He wouldn’t give us any information about why they were holding him. And he didn’t tell us anything about himself. Clearly they must’ve seen him as a threat. Even now, they refuse to talk about him. When he left here he disappeared. We don’t know even if he still is in the country. Very mysterious.”

  Maggie sighed. After a silence she said, “You know, it strikes me as interesting that Hadi paid homage to Allah. So his religion would be Islam, no?”

  She raised her eyebrows and looked around the table. She was greeted by nods.

  “Well, the religion of Ahmed and Dr. Albright also is Islam. Isn’t it interesting that two different groups can observe the same religion and come up with diametrically opposed conclusions?” Again, nods and silence. “But then, perhaps one shouldn’t be so surprised. It really is what man does with a belief rather than the belief itself that creates either good or evil. I mean, look at Christianity. We have many different believers that call themselves Christian. Some really bizarre things have been done in the name of Christianity. I mean, look at the Inquisition, for example. I suppose man is capable of twisting anything to fit his own purposes, or perhaps, his own sickness. No?”

  Allie smiled at her mother, “Don’t you think, Mom, that how one interprets a belief system has more to do with what is inside that person than with the belief system itself?”

  Their eyes met over the table and Maggie gave her daughter a loving nod, “As with almost everything. Look at the many different interpretations we have of the United States Constitution.”

  The group pondered this for a while. And then the conversation continued until the small hours of the morning. Maggie found it increasingly difficult to hold her eyes open. Harry caught her nodding and gave her a sweet conspiratorial smile. “I see that our guests of honor still are feeling the effects of their ordeal. Shall we call it a night?”

  As if in a dream, Maggie said goodnight to the others. She noticed Allie and Ed talking together in low voices, but she was too sleepy even to feel curious. Upstairs she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

  ***

  The next morning Maggie and Allie lingered over breakfast discussing their options and the mechanics of putting their lives back together. Maggie spent some time on the telephone rearranging her travel plans so that she could remain in California for extra time to help Allie with what seemed the nearly impossible task of starting again.

  Harry Cavanaugh offered them lodging at the safe house until they could find another place for Allie to live. He was helpful in arranging for the replacement of their drivers’ licenses and credit cards. Television and radio reported the full scope of the fire disaster. A short announcement stated that Dr. John Albright, noted educator, was one of the fire casualties. No mention was made of the other circumstances of his death.

  Maggie and Allie took Gabe to the veterinarian for an overall examination. More importantly, they wanted him checked for a microchip that might give them some information about his previous life. They waited nervously in the vet’s waiting room, Gabe snuggled against their legs. Finally the vet appeared with the information that Gabe did, indeed, have a microchip. It was reported that his owners, an elderly couple, had perished in a freeway accident days before he had appeared to them. There was no information about how he came to be a stray. Apprehensively, they contacted the older couple’s family. No one was interested in having Gabe. They were assured that he was
theirs if they wanted him. The search for his former owners had been a trying time, but now they breathed a sigh of relief.

  Maggie and Allie spent long days investigating neighborhoods, answering ads, networking with friends trying to find a new home for Allie. Finally, they found an acceptable place in Santa Monica. They moved in with only sleeping bags and a change of clothes each. The next several days were spent in almost frantic shopping. Allie needed everything. Maggie replaced only as much as she needed to get her back to Florida. The Southern California community rallied around the fire victims, offering free food and discounts on most things needed by them. Everywhere they went they were treated with compassion and generosity.

  Max LaCroix appeared on their doorstep with his arms filled with kitchen equipment. He and Harry Cavanaugh were frequent visitors to the new apartment. On Harry’s first visit he brought flowers. Upon finding that there was no vase for them, he left and returned with three flower vases. At dinner one evening he solemnly presented them with a packet of photos. The photos. Harry had picked them up at the Malibu drugstore. Maggie and Allie were shuffling through them as fast as they could. He smiled grimly and said, “Look at the one taken at the airport.” They found it and stared, holding it first close to their eyes and then far away. It showed Allie, her face averted, but with sunlight shining off her hair.

  With a note of wonder in her voice, Maggie said, “But I can’t see anything except Allie. The limo is out of focus and nothing can be seen inside it. All of that for nothing!”

  They sat in a stunned silence for a while, then Allie said, “No, Mom. Not for nothing. If you hadn’t taken the photo, if John Albright hadn’t felt threatened by it, if we hadn’t gone through what we did, eight hundred young people might not be here in January. Mom, with that snapshot you saved eight hundred lives.”

  Allie’s friends organized a house warming party for her on the night before Maggie’s departure. Over thirty people brought practical gifts that expressed their love and caring for Allie.

  ***

  The next morning Maggie woke early and looked around Allie’s new ‘house’. It was a duplex apartment, larger and newer than Allie’s Malibu house. Maggie lay in her sleeping bag on the soft off-white carpet in front of the green marble fireplace. Upstairs in the loft bedroom Allie slept in her sleeping bag. The high vaulted ceiling contained several large skylights that made the apartment light and airy. At the very end of the long living room was a well-equipped kitchen. Under the stairs was a bathroom. Across the room stood a huge bird-of-paradise “tree” in sculpture-like splendor. A folding table and two wicker chairs stood in the dining area. A sofa and a bed were to be delivered tomorrow.

  Maggie wondered about Allie. Would she and Ed turn their relationship into friendship only? What about Max LaCroix? He still hadn’t remembered Allie from the beach. The two of them seemed to strike sparks off of each other. Clearly Max was intrigued by Allie. Where would their friendship lead? Wherever, whatever, Maggie felt that Allie’s feet were firmly on the ground.

  Yes, Allie would be okay. Gabe was a true gift. It was a relief to know that he was rightfully hers. It seemed that he was heaven sent to help Allie through this time. The effects of the trauma and the loss would be with her for a while, but she’d be all right. Maggie breathed a soft sigh of satisfaction. Maybe she could return in a couple of months and help Allie with the finishing touches. It is strange, she thought, that we take our material world for granted. Really, it is just stuff. But the stuff forms a sort of supportive cocoon from which we order our lives.

  Maggie’s thoughts turned to Hadi. Who was he really? What a mysterious character he was! In a sense he had served as a sort of guardian angel during their escape from the big white house. Some of what he said and did had seemed almost magical. Strange. Would she ever see him again? He had said so. What about the dream of him on the night of the fire? It was a dream of warning—he told her to leave. Was that what he meant by seeing her again? But, how silly to think like that. Magical thinking!

  Harry Cavanaugh. Maggie smiled when she thought about Harry. He had been very present since the fire. But Harry’s life was in Los Angeles and Maggie’s life in Florida was waiting. He really hadn’t talked to her about the future or even about seeing her again after she returned to Florida. It’s the old long-distance relationship problem. Whatever happens, he is a sweet man and he has been a good friend. I am richer for knowing him.

  Before starting for the airport Allie drove Maggie up the PCH a short distance, not to the area of the fire, but just to look at the ocean. As they passed the old Getty, Maggie looked up with longing and resignation. Well, she thought, maybe next time.

  The Miata had been repainted and fitted with a new top. It looked shiny and good as new as they drove to the airport. Allie turned to her mother, “Mom, I don’t know how to say thank you for all you’ve done.” Tears welled up in two sets of eyes. “I couldn’t have gone through this without you.”

  Maggie grinned through her tears, “Honey, I don’t think you would’ve had to go through quite all of this if it hadn’t been for me and my camera. And I don’t know what I’d have done without you. You were wonderful throughout the whole thing. Thank you.”

  Allie smiled at her mother, “I guess we’re a pretty good team, huh?”

  Maggie dabbed a wandering tear, “Yeah, a pretty good team. I love you, sweetie.”

  Allie squeezed her mother’s hand, “Yeah, me too. Love you, Mom.”