by Alec Peche
There was silence for a minute while she thought about the consequences of showing their cards.
“Can they identify who you are?”
“No, just that we're having a conversation and I can send it in confidential mode and have the email self-destruct after it's read.”
“That's pretty cool, the self-destructing I mean. If they can't trace who you are, then you could write them a book of poetry and have that self-destruct so be as verbose as you want. So now the question is whether to respond with more than a simple 'yes'?”
“Exactly.”
“Hmmm. I think a simple 'yes' is really all you need to say, then wait to see where they go next.”
“That was sort of what I was thinking, but since both you and Hermione will feel the ramifications if I get this wrong, I just wanted to get your input.”
“Type in 'yes' now and see what happens. Does the software that destroys the email give you any kind of a message of when it's read?”
“Let's see,” Damian said, and Ariana heard him typing in the background.
There were a few moments of silence while Ariana continued to drive and Damian was watching his screen for some kind of reaction.
Finally, he said, “Nothing. Nothing is happening. I just have to assume that the message hasn't been read yet. I'll call you back if and when that happens hopefully before we pick Hermione up from school.”
“Hopefully. You probably have to wait for someone in SFPD to see the message and then run it over to whomever in the Marshals Service and get their response. It's not like a police officer is going to share his email password with another agency.”
“True,” Damian said and they ended their call, while he checked the time. He had about an hour before he needed to leave to head over to Belvedere for Hermione's soccer game. Time to get some real work done, by checking in with his staff on what they were doing.
By the time he left to go across the Bay, there was no response to his email. He had no idea if the person that sent the message, assuming it was not the detective, had seen Damian's reply. Oh well, it was time to put the email aside and enjoy watching Hermione amaze everyone as a soccer goalkeeper. She was so good that they thought she'd be named to the all-region soccer team. Her soccer skills were definitely going to create scholarship opportunities for college.
Ariana and Damian were watching Hermione play and sharing information about themselves in answer to questions like, 'Who would you have lunch with, dead or alive, if you had your choice of anyone.' Damian felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out and looked at the alert to find a response from his earlier email.
'Why are you looking?'
Ariana was looking over Damian's shoulder at the email and asked, “Can you respond to the account with your phone or do you need to use your super-duper secret computer on your island?”
“Super-duper, huh? I don't recall that being on the list of specifications for my home computer,” Damian said with a grin.
She nudged him and said, “Well do you?”
“No. It's more about where my email overall goes than the physical location on the island.”
“Then respond now with, 'their daughter wants to talk with them.'
He did so awaiting another response. He imagined the recipient calling up someone in Homeland Security and reading the message then hanging up while they thought of an answer, somewhat like he and Ariana were doing. He put his phone away to watch the game knowing another email would be a while coming.
An hour later as they were eating dinner, the next message arrived.
‘Does she have a birthmark on her right inside elbow?’
Damian read it aloud, and Hermione screwed up her face and said, “no, no birthmarks anywhere.”
“Do you have any distinctive marks or scars?” Ariana asked since she hadn’t noticed any.
Hermione pulled back her hair at her skull and pointed to a thin white line.
“I ran into a table as a kid and had to get stitches.”
“That’s a good scar. Your parents know you have it, but the average Joe on the streets doesn’t see it or know of its existence.”
Damian typed back a simple ‘no’ and waited.
The next message came back sooner, “Does she have any marks?”
“I’m going to ask a question of whoever is asking these questions. How about ‘what food allergy does Hannah have and what are her symptoms?’”
Hermione and Ariana both thought about Damian’s question and nodded their agreement. It was a question that fake parents wouldn’t know. There were many popular food allergies that someone would guess first like fish or peanuts. Hermione's allergy of raw tomatoes would not even make it into the top ten probably. Damian typed the question without answering their question.
“I don't know if your parents are near-by whoever is sending us a message, so this might take them a while to get an answer. Let's put this aside for the night, but I'll contact you if we get a correct answer. We still don't know who we are dealing with or if they're in contact with your parents.”
Hermione thought about what Damian said and felt a little deflated as she had so many mixed emotions in regards to her parents. She knew from the bottom of her heart that they loved her. They had even set up the second safe room to keep her safe along with all the precautions they took. However, always living on the run, limiting her after-school activities and friendships, had made for a lonely childhood. She was happy with where she was now. She was enjoying her high school sports teams and her classes and the vacations she had with Ariana and Damian. Then she felt guilty again for enjoying her life so much when she wasn't sure what was going on with her parents.
She nodded, and they returned their discussion about her soccer game, the skills of her teammates, and their standing in their league, as well as the statistics of the top high school players. Damian headed home thinking about how much he enjoyed the company of the two women. They expanded his universe.
Chapter 23
There was no response from the police email account with the answer to Hermione's allergy question. Either they didn't know the answer, or it took a while to reach the email and then reach the girl's parents, or perhaps on their end, they were debating what questions to answer and which of their own to ask. Regardless, Damian put the puzzle aside for the moment and decided to spend a few moments anticipating his date with Ariana in two days. Did he want to re-marry? Did he want to try and have a child with Ariana? She was in her late thirties, and so with a little luck they could have a child. Did he want a second family?
Really, they hadn't had a real date yet, and he had them setting up a nursery! What was wrong with him? It just didn't feel like an actual first date as he knew so much about Ariana. They had vacationed together and raised Hermione together. He knew more about Ariana than almost any first date couple on average did. He wouldn't go into this date wondering if he would like the person more or less as he grew to know them better; he knew he liked Ariana. Oh well, time to put that aside and concentrate on the areas of his life he could control.
Finally, on Friday, the date of Hermione's sleepover and Damian and Ariana's date, he had a response from the email account about mid-day.
'Hannah's allergic to raw tomatoes and her mouth gets itchy.'
OMG, thought Damian. Hermione's real parents must be in the background of this email. That meant they were alive. He felt a wave of depression roll over him at the thought of losing Hermione in his life, mixed with happiness for her to find her parents alive.
He dialed Ariana’s number after looking at the time. He’d been so lost in thought, he couldn’t remember whether it was day or night. It was just before noon, and he was in his office in Richmond.
“Hey. Are you calling to cancel our date tonight?”
“Ur, no. I got an email regarding Hermione, and I think her parents might be alive.”
“Oh,” Ariana said and then paused as if she was trying to construct her thoughts. “I’ll
say this only to you, I wanted the mystery of parents to continue. I enjoy being her pseudo-mom. What are our next steps?”
“Tell Hermione for one, perhaps after school today. Then I’ll go about arranging a meeting, and I suppose we’ll have to let her go,” Damian said with sadness in his voice.
“Yeah, I suppose. How do we safeguard her if say the answer to the question was tortured out of her parents?”
Damian paused to think a moment and said, “We’ll handle a call just like we did for the two people that weren’t her parents. We could ask about the scar in her hairline – does Hannah Sherwood have any marks, and force the parents to answer live on the call. I would hope that since this connection evolved through the SFPD, that whoever is at the other side of the video call is not a Malaysian drug maker, or another group that wants the child of the parents that caused them financial distress,” Damian said still thinking about the situation. Then he added, “Well they supplied the correct answer.”
“Okay, let's go about arranging a call. The next three nights Hermione doesn't have soccer practice or a game. If this really is her parents, then they should be anxious to have this call occur. See you later, and I'll keep you posted if I get a response.”
Damian found himself composing a response to the email a few moments later. He edited several times before settling on the reply.
We should arrange a meeting. I want to be sure that her parents are in a safe position to take care of her. I'd like to arrange a video call first. Hannah is free the next three nights after five. Please confirm a time.
It pained him to hit the send button. He had such fun being a parent to the teenager. He wondered if they would receive a response today or tomorrow? Meanwhile, the three of them would have the call hanging over their heads. He finished up his work day and traveled back to the island to head over to Ariana's later. Their date might be on hold depending on what Hermione's parents did and whether she still went on a sleepover.
Again they met Hermione at school. Seeing Damian in the car on a day she didn't expect him to be there meant something was up and she asked.
“I got an email today around noon with the correct answer to the question about your allergy. I think your parents might be behind whoever is emailing us.”
Hermione was quiet in the back seat thinking she wanted to stay with Ariana and Damian. They were stable and protected her, and for the first time she had friends to do things with. She didn't want to go back on the run with her parents.
“Okay,” was all Hermione could think of to say.
“Sweetie, that's exactly my thinking,” Ariana said. “I'm happy for you that your parents appear to be alive, but I love you and love being a fake mother to you. Let's get through this call and then we'll worry about what's next.”
“Ditto for me kiddo,” Damian added to the silence.
Hermione thought for a while and then said, “Can I still do the sleepover at Megan's tonight or do you think the call will be arranged for tonight?”
Damian thought for a moment and then replied, “I replied about four hours ago and had no response. I told whomever to schedule a video call for any of the next three nights after five, so I think you're good tonight for the sleepover as I have no response. If push comes to shove, we can bring you back from Megan's house, but I don't think it's going to happen tonight.”
“Why are we doing a video call? I thought you were convinced it's my parents?”
“I'm convinced your parents provided the answer which means nothing more than they're alive, but I want to watch them on a video call to determine if they are in a position to take care of you. If they're on the run, and hiding, then personally I think you're better off staying with us.”
“You're not just going to arrange a meeting in a parking lot and turn me over to them?”
“No, they lost you once, and I need to make sure they won't lose you again, so that means that Ariana and I will determine if they're in a position that's safe for you.”
“Okay. Good. If I have a choice, and if they are on the run from someone, then I'm going to choose to stay here. I'm making my mark on the world, and I don't want to have to disappear before I'm labeled the greatest high school goalkeeper in the State of California.”
“Kid, hang on to your sense of humor. I think you're going to need it over the next couple of days,” Ariana said as she reached back to fist-pump Hermione, while Damian smiled.
Thirty minutes later they were saying goodbye to Hermione as she walked five houses down to her friend Megan's. Ariana knew there were six to eight girls at the sleepover and Ariana rather felt sorry for Megan's parents. The teenage giggles would go on for hours that night. She rejoined Damian on her pool love-seat with two glasses of wine. He'd been outside playing fetch with Manuel while Hermione packed her bag for the sleepover.
“It's convenient that she's only five houses away.”
“Yeah, this is her first sleepover ever, and she was both excited to be a part of the sisterhood and dreading admitting to the girls that she had never done that before.”
“I don't remember doing that as a teenager.”
“It's more a girl thing to do. We like to chat. While you boys were out hunting and gathering and killing meat, we women stayed behind, tended the fires, made bread and chatted. It's in our DNA.”
Damian laughed out loud at the picture Ariana painted of herself as a prehistoric woman.
“Somehow, I think you left the cave and were out hunting yourself.”
“Probably. You don't seem discouraged over the impending loss of Hermione.”
“I've been thinking about the email and her response, and I don't think we're going to lose her. Her parents are in some kind of difficult situation, and I think Hermione is going to choose not to join them. It would be nice if we created an open line with her parents so she could contact them on occasion, but I suspect she's going to choose to stay here.”
“Okay,” Ariana said and then pausing for a few moments added, “So we're going on a date tonight?”
“Seems that way,” Damian replied smiling.
She reached over and chinked her glass to his.
Chapter 24
Deputy Marshal Cindy Gregory and Deputy Marshal Thomas Kinnear entered the apartment kitchen in Redwood City after they ended the call with their contact in the San Francisco Police Department. It was too bad they couldn't see the email trail. After the first disappearing email the SFPD had learned to take a picture of the email message. They had concluded that whoever sent the emails was tech savvy and likely had control of their protectees Jason and Amy Sherwood's daughter.
The Sherwoods looked up, and Amy asked, “Does the source have Hannah? Is she okay? When can we see her?”
Gregory and Kinnear briefly looked at each other before answering. They'd been paired together to take the lead on this couple. Attempts on their lives had been made several times and their daughter Hannah had been missing from the start. They were up against a pharmaceutical firm which was originally founded in the Ottoman Empire's Syria with their first drug deliveries made by camel. Now a $22B international company they were a mighty foe for the U.S. Marshals Service. They had through their history, they had protected people with ties to the mafia, foreign agents, and drug cartels from Mexico, but never had they had such a wealthy sponsor with unlimited funds to hire hit-men or women. The government had almost lost them the previous year when they had been kidnapped and thrown overboard from a ship in San Francisco Bay. Now, the Marshals moved the couple around the State of California every week to secure their lives.
Fortunately, the college sweethearts had been collegiate swimmers and had no problem swimming ashore after untangling ties around their feet and arms. They had swum ashore, called the police and eventually had been connected to the Justice Department for the prosecution of the pharmaceutical mesh company and provided protection so they would be alive to testify at trial. The unknown for them this past year had been what had happened to
their teenage daughter. They were sure she had sheltered in the safe room inside her bedroom, as they heard their kidnappers talk about it, but they heard nothing after that.
The marshals had visited their old house and used the code to unlock the safe room, but there had been no Hannah. There was evidence she'd been in the room, but no indication of where she's gone. Then the Justice Department caught wind of the murder at the Pier and its connection to a yacht owned by the very company they were prosecuting. The SFPD passed on the message linking the Homeland Security agent to the yacht owner to the Justice Department and Homeland Security to make sure that someone investigated it, and that was when it trickled down to the two marshals.
Their first effort was devoted to finding out who sent the message to the SFPD. After a week, the department made no progress. The email bounced off many servers before landing at the SFPD, and it disappeared after being opened. That was unexpected. However what was really crucial was the allergy of the kid. It was something that wouldn't be the result of a wild guess.
“We gave the right answer to the allergy question, and now whoever is behind the email wants to do a video call,” replied Marshal Gregory.
“We like that idea as it allows us to protect you two,” added Marshal Kinnear.
“So you think it sounds like someone has Hannah and that's she's safe?” Amy asked with teary eyes. She'd worried about her daughter for the past year constantly asking herself what they could have done differently to keep their daughter safe.