by J. J. Jones
“Years,” Logan said. “To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I felt this much freedom. I mean I’ll still need to lay low for a while. This is not over yet.”
I smiled at him. I realized that things would never really be the same for me. I would never really go back to my old life. I would never really have contact with my old friends or family. That was okay with me. My family wasn’t really family anymore. I’d never really been close with any of them. I’d been closer with my friends than most of my family. And to be honest I was more sad about losing some of my friendships than the relationships with my family.
“What are you thinking about?” Logan said. “Your facial expression just became real sad.”
“Oh I was just thinking that I’d never see some of my friends and family again,” I said shrugging my shoulders.
“I wasn’t ever that close with most my family. My parents split when I was real young, and I haven’t seen my father in years. My mother re-married a guy that I never really liked. So when I moved out of the house at eighteen I never really went back home. I think I was a lot more like my dad than my mom, but my dad lived so far away, that I never really had the chance to get to know him. I’ll really miss my friends more than my family, but I’ll get over it.”
“I’m sorry about those relationships,” Logan said. “I’ve never had close relationships to understand losing them like that. I’ve always been such a nomad that I’ve never had close friendships that I cared about leaving. I’m sure that is hard for you. I hope that being with me is worth it,” he tried to smile a reassuring smile.
“Yes, Logan. I’ve made my choice,” I said smiling back. “It was just something I was thinking about. I don’t want you to feel guilty about it or anything.”
“I think we are almost to the dock. Can I take over the driving?” Logan quickly changed the subject.
“Yes, of course,” I said grateful for the subject change as well.
I watched carefully as Logan guided the boat into the dock. Once we were at the dock, he instructed me to jump out of the boat and onto the dock. I was terrified to jump out of the boat at first, but with his reassurance, I was able to do it just fine and pull the boat close enough to the dock and then tie her off.
All in all it was quite thrilling. I felt that I had learned a lot about boating for my first day. I didn’t think that I was ready to handle her at all by myself, but I felt much more comfortable on the boat than I had when I had driven into the dock earlier that day.
“Come on,” Logan said, “follow me.”
“More adventures?” I asked.
“Yep, you got it,” he replied.
“I’m in,” I said giggling.
We walked over to a brick wall at the edge of the marina. We sat on the brick wall waiting until the area cleared out and people either left on their boats or drove away in their cars. It took some time, but Logan insisted we be patient and wait until everyone was gone. Logan went and bought us some hot dogs and fries to eat while we waited. I observed lots of different types of people coming and going from the marina in Florida. Some people were just coming for the day to relax on their boats. Others were obviously coming to fish and hoping to catch their daily meal. I wondered if there were some that made their living this way. It was interesting to people watch while we sat there on the brick wall waiting for everyone to clear the area.
Logan finished his hot dog and fries long before I did and left to get himself something else to eat. I watched as a young couple, obviously newly married or soon to be married, came down to the marina for a joyride out on a boat. They didn’t have a care in the world. I wondered what it would feel like to be them. When Logan returned, I wanted to ask him about it, but I wasn’t sure exactly how to bring up the subject without making him feel guilty about our situation.
Finally the area was deserted/
“OK It is time.” Logan said as he bent low toward the brick wall and removed several bricks revealing a briefcase, a small bag and a set of car keys. I wondered what could possibly be in the small bag. It couldn’t have been money, or at least if it was money, there wasn’t going to be a lot of it.
We walked around the parking lot for a minute while Logan kept clicking the lock and unlock button on the keys, watching for a car to blink.
“Here, I have an idea,” I said hold my hand out for the keys.
“What’s your idea?” he asked.
“Just trust me,” I said.
“Okay,” he said handing me the keys.
After getting the keys, I looked down at the keypad and pressed the alarm button. Immediately, the car started buzzing and beeping from a few rows down.
A lady in the parking lot looking over at us.
“Forgot where we parked,” I laughed. “Works every time.”
“I know,” she replied. “I do that, too. It’s a lifesaver, right?”
We both laughed as Logan walked embarrassed over to the car. “I can’t believe you did that,” he whispered.
“Why?” I said. “It worked didn’t it?”
“Because you drew attention to us,” he said.
“Oh and walking around the parking lot up and down the rows for an hour pressing the buttons wasn’t going to draw attention to us?” I laughed. “People probably would have thought we were trying to steal a car if they’d see us doing that. Now they just think we forgot where we parked. It’s no big deal. People do that all the time.”
“Let’s just get out of here,” Logan said as we finally got to the car.
“You’re welcome,” I said sarcastically.
“Thanks,” Logan replied with the same sarcasm.
“Oh come on, just let it go,” I said joking.
“Alright, alright,” Logan said opening my door for me.
“Thanks,” I replied both for him letting it go and for opening my door for me.
I jumped in the car. It had that new car smell. I looked around and noticed that it was pretty standard, nothing too special about it, but it was nice all the same. Although it was outfitted with a nice GPS feature and stereo equipment, at least much nicer than my old car had.
Logan sat down in the driver’s seat and pulled a piece of paper from his wallet. I couldn’t see what was written on the paper, but whatever was written on it gave him some kind of directive. He also used it to punch in an address to the car’s GPS unit.
Logan glanced at me as he punched in the address. I felt a little uncomfortable as I watched him punching in the address. I knew the address was familiar to me somehow, but at first I couldn’t quite place it. I sat staring at the street name. It was the street name that was so familiar.
“Logan,” I said pointing to the GPS, “Logan, I’m not extremely positive, but I think that might be,” I paused trying to chase down an old memory in my brain. “Well I’m not exactly sure, but I think that might be the street my dad lives on.”
I continued to stare at the address. I could see that address written down somewhere. It was like the address was a photo in my mind. I could picture the address from my mother’s address book. I tried to make out the exact numbers and letters of the address. As the letters and numbers became more and more clear, the more I was certain the street was the same and maybe even the house number.
“Logan, I’m pretty sure that’s the street my dad lives on, and that might even be his house number, too?” I looked over to him waiting for some sort of explanation.
“Yes, Tanisha, it is your father’s address. You have a good memory. I am surprised you remember not only his street but also the house numbers. That is impressive, since you were only a small girl the last time you visited there.”
“Hold on, how do you know that? Why do you have his address? Why are we going there now?” I asked confused.
“There is a lot I have not told you yet Tan but right now we need to go see your father.” Logan said without further explanation. And without saying anything else, he started the car, put it into drive and
we drove off into the distance.
The End
#Book2
THE SECRETS OF
THE WHITE BEAR
#Prologue
Lionel stood at the bar, trying to decide what he wanted to drink. After the day he’d had, the dry martini was probably what he needed although a scotch on the rocks sounded better.
“Oh what the hell,” he said to himself, and pulled out the gin and scotch along with two fresh glasses.
He started to prepare both drinks for himself humming an old Frank Sinatra song. Even when he had a hard day like today, the song was able to put him in a good mood. Frank Sinatra had a way of putting people in good moods.
Lionel’s humming soon turned to singing as he shook his martini and poured it into the glass. He paused briefly to take a breath before continuing his personal serenade.
“In other news today,” the television news hummed from the corner, “a Polar Bear was found dead in the streets of New York.”
Lionel dropped his martini onto the floor shattering the glass. He ignored the mess and quickly moved to the couch and turned up the volume on the television focusing all his attention on the news reporter.
“Local officials are still investigating the death of the bear and the reason why the bear was downtown at the time. They are looking into whether it escaped from the Central Park Zoo or was perhaps in transit from or to the Central Park Zoo. At this point this is truly a developing story. We can now go live to Stanley Jones at the Central Park Zoo for more. Stanley, what more can you tell us?” the desk commentator cut out.
“Not much, Jane. A spokesman for the Central Park Zoo is not willing to give a statement at this time, and local law enforcement is telling us that will give a statement later tonight. All we know is that locals in the area of 64th Street saw a dead Polar Bear this afternoon and they don’t know where it came from, who killed it or even how it died exactly. We will wait to hear more from local law enforcement and from the zoo as this bizarre story develops. Jane back to you.”
Lionel turned down the volume and sighed looking back to the bar. “I’m really going to need those drinks now.” He rubbed his temples back and forth a few times before standing and reaching for his phone. He quickly scrolled through the list of saved numbers before reaching the one he was looking for.
It only rang once before a familiar voice answered on the other end. “I assume you have seen the news?” Lionel asked.
He waited for an answer.
“Yeah, uh huh,” Lionel replied. “It’s happening. It’s time. I am going to have to call in that favor.”
Lionel listened to voice on the other end for minute.
“Thank you, Logan,” Lionel replied before hanging up the phone.
Chapter1
I rubbed my temples while we drove. I tried to let my body relax feeling the stress and tension of the last few days. Thinking I had lost Logan, to our reuniting, it had truly been an emotional roller coaster. Now he was taking me to my estranged father’s house in the middle of Florida. I was really trying to relax and let my body at least emotionally recover from the pressure I had put on it in the last few days, but forcing it to relax was only making it worse. I felt this growing apprehension in the pit of my stomach that just rubbed me the wrong way. I tried not to think about it, but the more I tried to clear my head, the more it muddled with thoughts of my past and thoughts of him – my father.
“I don’t know how I feel about seeing my father,” I replied honestly. “It’s just that my Dad left when I was little, and never really made an effort to be in my life.”
“I know that’s how you feel, Tanisha,” Logan tried to explain, “but you don’t understand, your Dad loves you very much.”
He turned to look at me hoping to convey the truth of those words.
“Really? My Dad was never there for me,” I looked out the window at the passing landscape. “I remember nothing about him. My first day of kindergarten, he wasn’t there for me. The day I learned to drive, he wasn’t there for me. The night I went to my first prom, he wasn’t there for me. The day I was kidnapped by this crazy werebear shifter, he wasn’t there for me.” I paused sighing. “I don’t know Logan. I don’t really have a Dad. I mean sure, everyone has a sperm donor. But my Dad has never been there for me, I’ve always relied on my Mom and myself to get through everything.”
Logan looked over at me again, “Tanisha, your Dad would have been there. I’m sure he wanted to be there to do all of those things.”
“How do you know?” I asked maybe a little too accusingly. “The most I ever heard from him were lousy letters every month or so to keep in touch, and I think he sent my mom money. Everyone always told my Mom she should date other men. She tried a couple times, but it never amounted to anything. I felt sorry for her. She was so sad and lonely all the time. I hated him for doing that to her. And I think it affected me too. I’ve never had good luck with men either. I’ve never trusted them. I’ve always thought they would leave me, too. I always thought they would run out on me like my dad did. You are the first man I’ve ever really trusted, Logan.”
“Tanisha, you’re Dad wanted to be there for you, and your mother. He would have done anything to change the way you grew up,” Logan tried to defend him.
“Why are you defending him?” I whirled on him.
“Because, Tanisha, I know your Dad,” Logan replied much to my astonishment.
“But I don’t understand, how do you know my Dad?” I asked feeling very confused.
“There is so much to explain,” Logan began. “I’m not exactly sure where to begin.”
“At the beginning, maybe,” I offered trying to keep myself calm.
Logan laughed. It was nice to see him laugh. Things had been so crazy the last few days that I hadn’t seem him truly relax and smile much. He had seemed so intense and high strung. I didn’t blame him for being that way, it was just nice to see him a little more low key.
“What?” he asked “You are looking at me funny.”
“Oh, I am?” I asked. “I guess I was admiring the fact that you seem a little more relaxed today. I like it. You laughed just now and it made me happy. I like this Logan. It’s nice.”
“Yeah, I guess it has been a little crazy the last few days. It’s nice to feel a little less stressed and not always looking over our shoulders for a change.”
“Okay, so tell me about my father, and how you know him,” I brought the subject back to where we had started.
“Okay, so in order to understand how I know your father, you have to understand a few other things first. So I need you to trust that everything will all come together in time. Can you trust me?” Logan asked.
“Yes, of course,” I replied.
We continued driving as Logan began explaining.
“Years ago, back in 1950s and 60s the government created a secret agency. They were worried mostly about the Cold War developing between the countries around the world and wanted a “secret weapon” in their back pocket that no other country would dream of having. While other countries were working on nuclear warfare, the US government was working on creating an army of shifters. I know it may sound ridiculous, but think about it. We are immune to most nuclear warfare, and in the event of a nuclear attack, we can heal ourselves after it. So of course, other US agencies were working on nuclear warheads, too, but this secret agency was created to find and train an army of shifters. Follow me so far?” Logan paused and looked over to me.
I nodded and motioned for him to continue.
“Even after the Cold War ended, and without any nuclear detonation, I might add, they still decided to continue capturing shifters and training them to fight in their so-called army. I am told that some shifters were used in the Middle East not too long ago. None of this has ever been made public, so you’ll never hear about it on the five o’ clock news, but trust me, it was and is still happening. These people are forcing shifters to work for the government or die. Werewolves are the
most common shifter and the easiest to catch, so you’ll see them most often, but there are others as well. They are brainwashed and then re-trained to become the government’s secret weapon.”
I took a deep breath at all this new information. Could this really be true? I have always been proud to be an American. In conversations at work in the past, I probably would have defended the good ‘ol US of A. And now here I was hearing all these terrible things about my homeland. My head was swimming and swirling.
I put my hand up to stop Logan from continuing.
“Sorry was I going too fast,” Logan said.
“No, it’s just a lot to take in,” I said. “And my Dad works into all this somehow?”
“Yeah, but not quite yet, we can talk about it more later,” Logan said. He reached his hand over and brushed it against my cheek.
“No, I want to hear how my Dad fits into all of this before I see him, so let’s hear about it now,” I said. “I’m a big girl. I can handle it.” I gave him a reassuring smile and motioned for him to continue.
“Alright, just let me know if you want me to stop at anytime. I know this is a lot to take in.”
I don’t say anything, so Logan continues.
“Before you were born, your Dad worked for the program as a trainer. I don’t think he ever worked in the field, capturing or brainwashing, but he trained new recruits. Any shifter that was brought in eventually ended up with your Dad. He helped us become one of the soldiers. He trained us in combat and fighting. He was one of the best.”