The Girl From Diana Park

by Alec Peche

  “I'm not going to answer that question.”

  “It's against the law to lie to us,” Abbott said.

  “I haven't lied. I've said nothing.”

  Abbott and Tausher looked at each other and passed some message between them.

  “May we see where the child stays?” Abbott asked.

  Ariana looked at the time on her phone and calculated, “Hermione's class hasn't started yet, let me see if she'll give you permission.”

  Ariana texted Hermione explaining the FBI's appearance and them asking to see her room. Did she grant them permission?

  Ariana waited a beat, and Hermione texted back, 'Yes, call me on my next break between classes.'

  Ariana looked at the two agents and said, “She's given her permission.”

  She let them inside, and Miguel let out a growl at the two strangers. Ariana reassured her pet that all was well, but loved the unwelcoming glare the dog continued to give the agents. She walked down the hall and showed them Hermione's room. They looked inside and nodded.

  “Why was Hermione held at knife-point a few weeks ago? This doesn't sound like a safe environment from what I read in the police report,” Tauscher commented,

  “If you read the police report then you know that the knife holder was released from prison and stalking me. As Hermione and I came home from school, he was near my garage, and I didn't see him hiding there. I have an excellent security system, but he came by boat and then used the opportunity of me leaving to drive to school to pick up Hermione to move onto my property. I turn the system off when I go up and down my driveway.”

  “Why do you turn off the security?” Abbott asked curiosity in her voice. “Is it a shrieking alarm?”

  “No. I debated leaving the security system on for you two, but I didn't want to risk my dog.”

  “I don't understand. Why would your dog be at risk?”

  “My security system would have spayed the driver's side window with pepper spray. If you lost control of your car, because you couldn't see, you had the potential to crash into my living room where Miguel might be lying down taking a nap.”

  “So why do you have such a strange security system?”

  “Because since Hermione has come to live with me, we have had multiple attacks on ourselves. This time I was the target.”

  “Have you been on vacation with her?” Special Agent Abbott asked changing tactics.

  “Yes, we've been sailing to Papau New Guinea and Australia, London for a week to watch several soccer games, and Fantasialand.”

  “What's she going to do in the coming year? New skills, vacations, etc.? Can you brag about her?”

  Ariana's mind was racing a million miles a minute trying to protect Hermione and herself, yet demonstrate that she was in a loving home and happy. This last question seemed to be out of left field.

  “At school, I think her soccer team is going to go to the state championships – they're really that good. In the spring she'll be back on the swim team, and she made the regional qualification last year. In the summer, she wants to work at Damian's business, so we're going to teach her to drive a boat so she can reach his island or the Richmond dock and then she'll get a car service from there to work. We're working on a program for kids to grow them into inventors like Damian. I've filed paperwork with the state so we can hire kids. We'll also take her somewhere on vacation. Next fall will be her junior year. She has her eye on UC Berkeley, she wants to swim for them and get a degree there. Maybe if she's really a good swimmer, she might go to the Olympics in 2020. How's that for bragging.”

  “She sounds like a good kid with a good life and someone that loves her,” Abbott remarked.

  “We do love her. Isn't that a part of what any child needs to thrive in this world?”

  “Where is this island in the San Francisco Bay that Damian Green lives on?” Tauscher asked ready to move the conversation on to the next interviewee.

  “Would you like him to come here? His island is too far from here to see from my dock. It's about fifteen minutes by boat.”

  “We would like to go there. Is it possible that you would take us?”

  “Just a moment, I'm going to have a conversation with him, he may already be at his office.”

  With that Ariana walked down her hallway to her bedroom and shut the door and locked it, then went into her bathroom and closed the door. Then she called Damian.

  “Hello,” he said when he answered.

  “Hi, back at you. The FBI was here when I returned from school. I don't think they believe our story of how Hermione came to live with me, but they have nothing to counter it. Now they have asked me to take them to see you. Are you still on your island and what do you think?”

  “I want Hermione to be approved by them to continue living with us. I don't want either of us to be arrested for not reporting her appearance last year to the authorities. I hate having anyone on my island, but after last week's shootout, it probably doesn't matter. They've probably seen the tapes from the SFPD with agency cooperation. I'm still here, so go ahead and bring them over. I'll meet you at the dock. How's your interview gone so far?”

  “It's been weird. The agents asked why Hermione's name was changed from Smith to Knowles and I explained, and they said they could find no record of us filing a name change with Marin County. Then they asked to see her room and what our hopes were for her for the coming year. Weird. They also asked how she was held at gunpoint and remarked that I have a weird security system. Wait until they see yours.”

  “So I should expect some weird questions. Okay, I'll see you in about twenty minutes. Text me when you're five minutes out.”

  “Will do.”

  Chapter 31

  It had been a rough crossing of the bay, and both agents were looking a little green by the time they slowed to approach Damian's dock. He was standing outside looking like a man ready to defend his castle from invaders. He assisted Ariana tying up the boat and helped her off of it, then let the two agents stumble without assistance onto the dock. As Damian raised and lowered the dock, it wasn't as solid feeling as the average dock, and he secretly smiled watching the agents move on to land as fast they could.

  Introductions were performed, and Damian studied their badges and used his cell phone camera to take a picture of each.

  “Why do you need a picture?” Special Agent Tauscher asked.

  “I don't know you from Adam, and I don't know if your badges are real, so I'm going to check you out.”

  “We have guns, are you sure you're safe?” mocked Special Agent Abbott, in a bad mood after the bumpy and nauseating ride to this remote island.

  “I am. This entire island is full of modifications, and I could have you screaming in pain in no time,” Damian said in a hostile voice.

  Ariana thought to bridge the gap and said, “But you won't pull your guns, and he won't cause you pain. Let's get on with this.”

  Tauscher regathered himself and asked, “Where does Hermione stay when she visits you on the island?”

  Damian said, “Follow me and don't touch anything as you walk by.”

  The agents were so busy looking around that they barreled into each other when Damian stopped at Hermione's room at the back end of his lab. Ariana had to cover a laugh when that happened.

  “There's not much room here for the teenager. And she has no window.”

  Damian hit a button, and the “window” showed the choppy waters of the bay outside and the sky above.

  “Wow. Why doesn't Hermione have a real window?” Abbott asked trying to imagine the layout of the island.

  “My lab is surrounded by stone. When she came to live with me, I only had the single bedroom upstairs. So with her agreement, I added this room downstairs as well as a toilet to the lower level.”

  “Ah,” was all Special Agent Abbott could say as though she understood how hard it was to build on this island.

  “Let's see the rest of this place. We would like to make sure it's s
afe for a teenager. How do you keep her away from stuff in this lab? You just warned us not to touch,” Special Agent Tauscher said.

  “She's a smart kid, she doesn't touch anything I haven't shown her to be safe,” Damian said implying that the agents weren't smart.

  Ariana thought score three for Damian. The wobbly dock, the lab, and now the comment about brains.

  Damian steered the agents upstairs to the main living level of his house. The agents saw a door to a bedroom open partially, a kitchen and a living room. It was a million dollar view no matter the weather.

  “How often does she stay with you Damian?” asked Special Agent Abbott.

  “Perhaps once a month, whenever Ariana is out of town for business. If she stays with me more than that, it adds twenty-five minutes to her commute to school.”

  “How often does she see you each week?”

  “Depends on our schedules but at least twice a week. Ariana and I are at all of her sporting events, plus parent-teacher events.”

  “As she ever spent a night away from both of you?”

  “Once,” they both said at the same time and smiled at each other. “She had a sleepover with a girlfriend down the street last week. The first in her life,” Ariana finished.

  “Have you joined vacations with Ariana and Hermione?”

  “Yes. I organize our vacations.”

  “The SFPD mentioned that she operated water cannons when your island was attacked recently. Is that appropriate for a child?” asked Special Agent Tauscher.

  “No, but then it isn’t appropriate for Ariana and I to have to defend ourselves against a shipload of hooligans, right?”

  After a brief pause, the agent replied, “I guess not sir.”

  “Would you mind waiting a few minutes while Agent Abbott and I step outside and talk?”

  “No, but knock hard when you want back in. The door won’t open for you,” Damian said.

  The agent looked puzzled by Damian’s comment and stood staring at the door briefly after they exited.

  After the door closed, Ariana and Damian looked at each other, and Ariana said, “This is the weirdest verbal dance I’ve ever done. If we could be straight with them and not hurt our guardianship of Hermione, I would just come out and say what I really think.”

  “Yeah, I know. This is the largest elephant in the room that I have ever tried to talk around.”

  “So what do you think our next steps are?”

  “Let’s see what they say when they come back in. They’re trying to do a background check, but I have them blocked on all angles if they do a computer search. They can’t prove that Hermione isn’t exactly who we say she is.”

  Ariana looked over at Damian’s phone which showed the camera view of the two agents outside. First, they chatted, then Special Agent Tauscher called someone on his cell and turned his back on the camera. Special Agent Abbott stood looking towards the Golden Gate Bridge, perhaps reliving the rough boat ride to the island. After about ten minutes he ended the call and turned back to Abbott saying something to her and then the two of them turned to knock on the door.

  They could barely hear it inside and the motion was superfluous as unknown to the two agents, they'd been watched on video the entire time they were outside.

  Damian approached and opened his front door and the two agents returned with a gust of wind behind them.

  Special Agent Tauscher said, “We just spoke with our contact in another department of the government about investigating you two and the child. That department assures us that the kid known by the name of Hermione Knowles is really Hannah Sherwood. However, after a week of trying to check you two out on our various computer systems, we are coming up with a big fat zero on how you came to be her guardians. We know who both of you are and your background. We know that you've both lost spouses.”

  “And children,” Damian said grimly.

  “And children in your case, Mr. Green. We think the two of you are hiding the child's real identity, but likely for good and altruistic reasons. We feel fairly sure that Hannah Sherwood is well cared for, happy, and doing well in life. What we can't determine is whether you're a threat to her parents.”

  “Contact the SFPD officer handling the attack on this island last week. I think you'll find if you read the interviews of the men arrested from that boat, that their target was Hermione, not Ariana or myself. If we were a risk to her or her parents, we would not have kept her safe through multiple attacks over the past nine months. Take a look at those records and interview Hermione. She might provide some insights to you. She's a smart kid.”

  “So are you admitting that she's Hannah Sherwood?” asked Abbott.

  “No. She's Hermione Knowles,” replied Damian.

  The two agents sighed and said, “We'd like to interview her. When is she free today?”

  Ariana pulled out her phone to look at her calendar and said “School's over at 3:30, but she has soccer practice after that. Why don't you return to my house at 5:30 this evening and you can speak with her.”

  Abbott asked, “Is there a way to return to our car that doesn't involve getting on your boat?”

  Ariana smiled and said, “Not really. Damian has a little speedster boat that seats two and he could get you to the Richmond side in about five minutes on smoother water, but then your car is in my driveway, so one of you needs to come with me to move it.”

  Damian added, “I could brew you some mint tea before you go and keep your eye on the horizon to reduce your nausea.”

  Abbott sighed and said “I'd appreciate some mint tea. If you have a go-cup, I'll leave the cup with Ms. Knowles once I return to her home.”

  Damian took a few minutes to brew both agents some tea and then he saw them off his island and cruising back to Ariana's home. They should be grateful that Ariana had a pontoon boat as it actually usually reduced the seasickness compared to other boats. He'd follow her across the bay later today to be on hand for the interview with Hermione.

  Chapter 32

  Damian was at his desk in his office in Richmond when he got a call from Ariana.

  “How'd the ride back go?” Damian asked.

  “They both sipped your tea while facing ahead and looking at the horizon and there was no puking. They managed to make it to my dock a little less green than on the way over.”

  “Good. Does Hermione know about the interview?”

  “Yes, and you know her. Game on.”

  “Did you caution her about saying little as far as we were not her real parents?”

  “Oh yeah. She's happy living with you and I and doesn't want that changed. It was her opinion based on the call last week, that where ever her parents are, they're confined in some way, and she would rather not join them in their confinement.”

  “Like we told the agents, she's a smart girl,” Damian said. “I wonder if she'll at some point get to see her parents in person if she chooses to stay with us.”

  “Certainly, they could land on your island and spend some time together before any bad people had the chance to reach them out in the middle of the bay. Even if those bad people got word of where they would be, your island defenses are such that the parents would be safe there.”

  “The least they should do is set up a permanent line of communication with her. I could give the Marshals Service an IP address for a satellite which would provide cover for their physical location.”

  “The next few days are going to be interesting. They could go horribly wrong, or perhaps be incredibly boring if we don't hear anything after the interview. I'll make a pitch to the FBI agents about landing on my island, and we'll see where that goes.”

  After they ended their call, he looked around the office assessing things. He had a huge smile over what a weird life he had currently. He was sort of dating a woman he really liked and could see a future with. He got to be a knight in shining armor to two women he swore to protect, and he got to do an awkward question and answer dance with two FBI agents. What m
ore entertainment could a man want?

  Soon his brain was back to the problems his staff was having with their projects. While Lily was in charge of his temporary tattoo with GPS for children, she knew he was also working on the item of how to get the tattoo to melt away after five years. They kept their notes on what they tried on a spreadsheet online, so he took some time to update what he'd worked on in his own lab on the island. He read her notes, and liked the direction she was going. Between the two of them, they'd solve this question and very soon they could significantly reduce child abductions nationally.

  He checked on other projects that his staff was working on and then went to see Haley regarding the drone software. He'd learned a few things while steering the drone swarms during the attack on his island and he wanted to incorporate those insights into her project. After an otherwise intellectually stimulating day at the office, he left to return to his island and on to Ariana's house to support Hermione in her upcoming interview.

  They were waiting outside her school when she exited the girl's locker room. She opened the door and got in the back seat of Ariana's SUV.

  “I like that whenever I'm facing any kind of problem, you two show up together behind me. You don't tell me what to do rather, you lurk in the background letting me know you're with me. Kind of like my soccer team.”

  Damian watched Ariana try to drive while gulping back her emotions at Hermione's insight.

  “We wouldn't have it any other way,” he said. “Both of us have never raised a teenager before, so most days we're walking through the wilderness while trying to do the best job possible.”

  “Well, I'd have to say you've been spot on. In fact, you're so good that some of my friends wish they had you two as parents.”

  “Wow, with compliments like that, I'd think you were buttering us up to get a car or something,” Damian said with a laugh.

  “Seriously, I want to have a party at Ariana's house, and share you with my friends, then perhaps you two could melt away before you do something that shoots my opinion of you all to pieces.”