Alien Among Us (TJ Steele Book 1)

by L. Edwin Brown

  There were several articles on the bodies that had been recovered, in Colorado. The story said the FBI has identified the area as one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history. A photograph showed the large tent that covered the crime scene. It extended from the east side of the house to the edge of the old orchard. They must have pulled the fencing down on that side of the property, I thought.

  The FBI in a news conference stated there are over a hundred photographs of both boys and girls, found throughout the house. They have recovered almost fifty bodies, buried on the site.

  When I finished the newspaper, I tossed it in the trash. I didn’t want Abagail to read about what is going on, in Mesa County, Colorado.

  When Kala and Abagail returned home, they went straight into the master bedroom. Both Kala and Abagail put on a new small two piece bathing suit, and came out on the deck. Caroline had fallen asleep, on the yoga mat. Both ladies looked gorgeous. I told Abagail the Florida sun is very tropical and can burn the skin quickly.

  Kala went back inside the house and returned with a jar of sun-screen. She rubbed the sun-screen on Abagail’s back and legs while Abagail rubbed it on her arms. The two ladies went out and lay in the sun, on the back side of the pool.

  Sunday evening I took the ladies out on the beach and we walked in the sand. Abagail never knew the beach could feel so good. She and Kala walked in the surf, while Caroline and I stayed in the soft sand.

  I got a call from Sheriff Miller on Wednesday. He asked if I could send him the dental records for Christine. I told him I had her dental records and medical information in my study. He asked if I could FedEx him the items. I said I would do it right now.

  I gather all the documents, the Sheriff had requested, and placed them in a large yellow envelope. I ran down to the FedEx/Kinko store and sent the package overnight next day express.

  Late Friday, I was getting ready to take my girls out to dinner, when I received another call from Sheriff Miller. He said they have recovered Christine’s remains. It looks like she was killed about three years ago, he said. I asked when the FBI would be releasing her body. He said he will schedule it for early next week. I said I would call him back and let him know, what funeral home would be picking her up.

  I didn’t tell the others about my conversation with the Sheriff. I thought I would wait until I knew Christine’s remains, were on their way here.

  Saturday while the girls were out around the pool, I called Avery’s Funeral Home in Venice and gave them the specifics, of what was going on in Colorado. They said they would handle everything. I gave them a number in Grand Junction, where they could reach Sheriff Michael Miller.

  Tuesday, June 3rd, I got a call from Peter Avery, at Avery’s Funeral Home. He said they have made all the necessary arrangements, to have Christine’s remains, sent to their funeral home. He said he would have her, by the end of the day, on Thursday. I told him I would come by and pick out a casket on Wednesday.

  That evening, after Caroline was asleep, I sat Abagail down and told her everything that was going on, including the tragedies in Fruita, Colorado. I told her, every time Douglas locked her and her mother in the attic he was probably hurting and young boy or girl in the barn.

  I said they have found almost fifty bodies on the property. They also know of forty two other young people that were murdered on the property and their bodies were dumped in other states. There is still more photographs of kids that may never be identified, or know where their bodies are, unless Douglas tells them.

  Has Douglas Brighton said anything to anyone, asked Kala? According to Sheriff Miller, Douglas has not uttered a single word, even to his attorney, since he was brought into custody. His father is suffering from Alzheimer and hasn’t long to live.

  I then told Abagail, her mother was being brought to Florida. I said tomorrow, we need to go to Avery’s Funeral Home and pick out a casket for her. I said, her mother will be here on Thursday and we can have the funeral right away.

  Kala had requested that I allow her to handle the funeral arrangement. I remembered the great job, she had done with Lorain’s funeral. Kala said we were not going to rush this. I looked at Abagail and asked if waiting, until next week, for her mother’s funeral, would be okay. She nodded her head and scooted over next to Kala. Will you take good care of momma for me, she asked? Yes sweetheart, I will responded Kala.

  The next day, I drove the ladies to the funeral home. I held Caroline while Kala and Abagail, chose a casket. She took her around the funeral home showing her the chapel and the visitation area.

  Kala explain how the funeral would be handled, right down to the burial. I was surprised that Abagail understood everything, she was being told. She was a lot smarter, than I had thought. Christine had taught her more, than just reading and writing.

  We left the funeral home and stopped at a local restaurant for lunch. Abagail seemed to be handling her mother’s funeral arrangements okay. Caroline had no idea what was going on. She was just happy to be going places and seeing things.

  Kala spent the afternoon in the study, writing an obituary for Christine. She finish in time to have it placed in Friday morning’s paper. The visitation is set for Monday evening from 6:00 to 9:00, at Avery’s Funeral Home. The funeral will be at the Epiphany Cathedral, where Lorain’s funeral was held. Her final resting place would be next to her mother, at Venice Memorial Gardens.

  The next morning, I grabbed the newspaper and went straight to the obituaries. I read one of the most emotional and outstanding dedication, to another human, I had ever read. Kala’s words were so profound they brought tears to my eyes. When she came out of the bedroom, to join me in the kitchen, I couldn’t do anything, but kiss her over and over, with so much passion, I think she may have had an orgasm.

  Caroline’s little adventure into the kitchen, was the only thing that separated Kala and me. I told Kala her words made me cry. Don’t cry poppa, Caroline said. I hadn’t realized she had overheard me. Hearing her call me poppa, almost made me start crying again. Okay sweetheart, I won’t cry.

  When Abagail came down from upstairs, she hugged Kala and kissed her on the cheek and then kissed me on the cheek, saying good morning poppa. Both Abagail and Caroline were starting to settle into their new life and home. I showed Abagail, Kala’s dedication to her mother in the paper. She was also touch by her words. It was as if Kala had known Christine personally.

  Monday evening Kala, Abagail, Caroline, and I arrived at the funeral home, at 5:00. The funeral director went through some of the events of the evening. Most were the same as Lorain’s visitation period. By 6:00 PM, people were starting to file through. The casket was closed, but people stopped, look and wept. I never saw so many people at a funeral in all my life.

  They had read Kala’s dedication that ended up on, The United Press International site, hitting other newspapers, around the country. They had all come to pay their respect. The funeral home wasn’t prepared for this amount of grieving people. The parking lot was completely full and people were parking on the street, as far away as two blocks.

  Abagail and Kala were overwhelmed, by the amount of people that came through and hug them. By 9:00, Caroline had fallen asleep in my arms and people were touching her on the back, saying things like, God bless you child. The funeral director kept the doors open until midnight, when the last few people filed through.

  It was almost one in the morning by the time we got home. We needed to be up at 8:00 Tuesday, in order to get to the funeral home, by 9:30.

  I was up at 7:00 fixing breakfast, when Caroline came into the kitchen. At age two getting up and down the stairs, in the house, can be a challenge, but Caroline likes spending time with me and would probably climb a mountain, to get to me.

  I picked her up and held her in my right arm, while I placed biscuit into the oven. I finally had to put her down on the bar stool, so I could fix eggs and bacon. Once the house was filled with the smell of me cooking, the other two ladies came out from their s
lumber.

  I fed everyone and cleaned up the kitchen while Abagail took Caroline back upstairs to shower and get dressed for the funeral. Kala helped Abagail pick out an appropriate dress for her and for Caroline, to wear to the funeral. I finished in the kitchen and showered and dressed, in a black suit and tie.

  When we arrived at the funeral home, all the men from Kasey Key Fish house were there to carry the casket out to the Hearst. This was Lorain’s daughter and they were here to honor Lorain, as much as they were, to honor Christine.

  The funeral home provided the limousine, the ladies and I, would ride in to the ceremony. The pallbearers placed Christine’s casket into the hearse and followed the two large black vehicles to Epiphany Cathedral. At the church they carried the casket up the front steps and into the church.

  Kala and Abagail were walking behind the pallbearers and I was behind them, with Caroline in my arms. There was an overflow crowd in the church, when we entered. The balcony was full and people were standing in the back and along the sides of the church.

  Abagail was nervous and holding onto Kala tightly. Caroline was looking all around, at the people. When we reached the front and the empty seats, I looked across the aisle and saw Sheriff Miller, FBI Agent Thomas, and Deputy Sheriff Brenda Harcort. Behind them were Fred, Shirley, and Marylou Watson. They had flown in just to attend the funeral. Kala had e-mailed Deputy Harcort and Marylou Watson, her dedication to Christine.

  There were people from all around the country. Some had children missing or kidnapped. Most were there because Kala’s story had made an impact on them. They were drawn to this place and time, because through all the horror, three survivors had made it away from the death farm, in Colorado.

  The media was also in full swing, but kept their distance, out of respect for Abagail and Caroline.

  Several ministers presided over the church ceremonies. Kala, to my surprise, stood up and walked to the podium. Abagail scooted over next to me and put her arm through mine. Caroline who was sitting on my right side, next to the aisle, saw her mother holding me. She slipped her arm through my right arm and put her head on me.

  Kala stood behind the podium with a light shining on her face. My God she is beautiful, I thought to myself. Although she is five foot ten inches in height, she looked like she was ten foot tall. Her slender bronze Polynesian skin tone and long dark hair, large full lips, high cheek bones and soft smooth voice, made her look like an angel.

  Kala stared at all the humanity gather in the church. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. She was poised and in control, when she began to speak.

  September 9th 1959, she began. A six pound eight ounce female was borne to mother Beverly and father Todd Anderson, Captain U.S. Air Force. They named their daughter Lorain, after her maternal grandmother. Before she was one, her family moved to Edwards Air Force Base, in California into a house next door to the Steele family.

  It was there, Lorain met her best friend Theodore James Steele, ten months younger than she. They were best buds until Lorain’s parents moved away at age ten. At age eighteen she married her high school sweetheart and move to Indiana where her husband, Timothy Thomason worked on construction. On Valentine’s Day, February 14th 1978, another female child was born into the Thomason’s family. Her name was Christine and her parents loved her dearly. Tragedy struck the family in 1990, when Timothy was killed on a construction site.

  Kala went on to say. Christine’s love for her father set her on an unbelievable and dangerous course. When she was fifteen she ran away from home on the third anniversary of her father’s death. She turned up in St Louis, a week later, tired and weak. Lorain drove to St Louis and brought her daughter home.

  A week before Christine was to enter college, she left home once again and disappeared off the face of the earth. Concealed and confined to a small farm house in Colorado, Christine lived on. Forced to care for an invalid older male and subjected to unspeakable torture at the hands of his son, but she survived.

  August 16th 1996 brought another child to the Thomason family. A baby, borne with no birth certificate, delivered by a Ute Native American medicine woman, came into the world. The mother, Christine Thomason, named her child, Abagail. Christine never got to meet her granddaughter.

  The driven determination of one man, to find the answers to Christine’s disappearance, has brought her daughter and granddaughter safely to this place and time.

  The valiant lady, we came here today to honor, died at the hands of a mad man, while protecting her daughter. She will be placed next to her mother, at Venice Memorial Gardens, this afternoon. Those were Kala final words before leaving the podium.

  People remained seated while the pallbearers once again picked up the casket and carried it out the front door and down the steps to the hearse. Like I had done when we entered the building, I had Kala and Abagail walk behind the casket, and Caroline and I followed.

  The church emptied quickly and about half the mourners followed the hearse and limousine to the cemetery. The gravesite ceremony lasted about fifty minutes before people began to leave.

  The grass at the cemetery was still wet from the overnight rain. The mourners had left, leaving Abagail, Caroline, and me, standing at the end of the gravesite, staring at the white and gold coffin resting on the brass casket supports. The clouds were breaking up and the sun was starting to shine through.

  The cemetery maintenance crew was waiting patiently for us to leave, so they might finish their task. As I backed away from the gravesite the two females held on to me tightly. I turned slowly towards the large black limousine, waiting to take us back to the funeral home. The hearse had already left, as well as all the mourners.

  I scooped up the two year old and held her in my arms as we walked across the lawn towards the limousine. A gentleman in a black suit, white shirt and black tie, stood at the rear of the limousine holding the wide rear door open. Kala Kealoha waited by the rear door with the driver.

  We approached the limo and I helped Abagail in first, followed by Caroline. I took Kala’s hand and guided her into the back seat, with Caroline between her and Abagail. I slipped into the rear facing seat, across from the three females. The driver closed the door and took his seat behind the steering wheel. I heard the engine start and the big vehicle began to move.

  I looked across the seat at of my three precious passengers. I thought about how I got here with custody of these two females. My life has been somewhat strange to say the least, but caring for these two is going to be a big change for me and Kala.

  The

  End

  Please take a moment to review my web-site at www.palmislandwriter.com.You wilfindquick linkstoall my books as well as information about the author. The books listedbelow are all partofa series. Isuggest you start with Keys, SantaMarta Connection.Look forfuture adventures for TJ Steele.

  Keys, Santa Marta Connection KETS, SANTA MARTA CONNECTION, was the second book I published on CreateSpace and Amazon Kindle. It is the first in a series of four maybe five books with the same characters and location. This book will bring all the primary characters together for all the future stories. - This book is available at CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/5628056 or Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com, Kindle Book Store.

  The Tallahassee Escarcega Affair THE TALLAHASSEE ESCARCEGA AFFAIR, is my third book and the second in the series about the main character billionaire Lyle Brady. Several new female characters join Lyle and his eclectic little group of lovers. - This book is available at CreateSpace: https://tsw.createspace.com/title/6129039 or http://www.amazon.com Kindle Book Store. At the Amazon Kindle Book Store, do a search for any of the three books listed here and preview a portion for free.

  Tropical Rush TROPICAL RUSH, is my third book in the series about the main character billionaire Lyle Brady. Several new female characters join Lyle and his eclectic little group of lovers in this exciting story of murder and corporate deceit. - This book is available at CreateSpace: https://t
sw.createspace.com/title/6322348 or http://www.amazon.com Kindle Book Store. At the Amazon Kindle Book Store, do a search for any of the three books listed here and preview a portion for free.

  Manasota Mystique

  MANASOTA MYSTIQUE, is my fifth novel and the forth in the series about the main character, billionaire Lyle Brady. I introduce new characters to this ongoing series. Also Lyle, Betty, Isabella, and Maria have a great exciting adventure in Cuba. This book is available at, CreateSpace: https://tsw.createspace.com/title/6613104 or https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR6R172.