A lot had happened to Richard O'Connell in the past. He had been turned into a werewolf, discovered that his wife was a reincarnated ancient Egyptian Princess, and found out that his father, who had left long ago, was still alive. That's nothing compared to what happened in Thailand, but that's another story for another time.
I guess the real story started almost 25 years ago in New York City, New York. Little Ricky O'Connell was a happy enough kid; he had a mom and a dad that loved him very much. It happened all of a sudden one day. He woke up that morning and found two suitcases by the door. His father came and picked them up, then he left, just like that. Later that year, Ricky's mom died in a car accident. He went to live with his grandfather in Missouri. His grandpa died a year later. Ricky was adopted by a couple in New York City. He stayed until he was 17 years old; that's when they got the call. The call that changed his life forever. His stepparents came into his room late one night telling him that his biological parents had called and wanted to see him. Now, Ricky wasn't stupid, he knew that his mom was dead and his dad might as well be, too. He ran away.
But that was 25 years ago, and 36 year old Rick O'Connell had almost forgotten, he was married and had a son. And his life was very interesting. He was sitting at home one night (O.K., he was asleep on the couch), when someone knocked on the front door. Rick's wife, Evy, went to answer it…
Evy O'Connell walked to the door. She glanced at her husband as she walked past the couch; it was good that he was finally getting some sleep. She opened the door. Two people were standing there with these big grins on their faces. "Yes?" Evy said.
"We're looking for Richard O'Connell," the woman said, "we're his parents." Evy's mouth dropped…
Rick O'Connell sat straight up on the couch. He had had that dream again, the one where his dad started walking out the door and he chased him, but his mom always held him back. Good thing it was only a dream.
Evy came into the room with two people walking behind her. "Rick," she said, "your…parents…would like to talk to you." She sounded surprised. Rick just looked at the people with his mouth hanging open. Great way to catch flies, he thought.
"Evy, um, can I talk to you…in the other room?"
"Of course." The two of them walked into their bedroom, where Rick told his wife that his mother was dead and that the man in the other room wasn't his father. Evy offered to help him get rid of them, but Rick wanted to see what they wanted. "O.K.," she said, "I just hope you know what your doing." He told her not to worry.
They of course had to tell their son, Alex, to play along. After all, he had met his grandfather and he wasn't stupid.
As it turned out, the people pretending to be Rick's parents were millionaires who had "tracked him down out of the goodness of their hearts." They needed an heir to their estate, and seeing as how Rick was their only son, they wanted him to inherit their almost 2 million dollars, they just needed to make sure he could handle it, first.
So, they started to ask their son a lot of questions. "What is your name?" "Richard Alan O'Connell" "What's your favorite color?" "Gray" "What is your favorite sport?" "Baseball" "What is your wife's name?" "Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell" "Does she have any siblings?" "Yes, Jonathan Carnahan" "What about her parents?" "They're dead" It went on like that for hours.
When their little questionnaire was over, they just looked at each other and shook their heads. "Well," 'Jack' said, "We are going to have to work on some things." I don't like the sound of that, Rick thought.
Alex listened as his 'grandparents' talked about how they would have to improve their son. He went to sleep wondering when his parents would stop these people.
Alex woke up on the couch in a strange house. He noticed two suitcases by the door and a man was picking them up. The man said "See you around, sport." to the kid about Alex's age that was in a woman's arms. The man opened the door, picked up the suitcases, and left. The boy tried to follow him, but the woman held him tight. "Don't follow him, Ricky," the woman said, "he'll only disappoint you." The boy started to cry.
Alex woke in a cold sweat. That boy had been…was… his dad. Meanwhile, Rick was in the kitchen, reading the paper. He was reading an interesting article:
Millionaires go Missing
New York City millionaires Ronald and
Bethy Tiller have been reported missing.
They were last seen boarding a plane
heading to London, England. The
couple had almost two million dollars to their
name, but no heir. Word has it that
they were looking for a child to adopt
but could not find a child old enough.
So that's their game, Rick thought, better let 'em down easy. The Tillers walked into the kitchen and found Rick reading the paper. "What's been going on, son?"
"Well," Rick began, "Babe Ruth had a great season. You remember Georgie, right, dad?"
"Of course I remember Georgie." He said, "And I meant 'what's been going on recently'."
"Oh," Rick said, "Well, a couple of millionaires are missing from New York."
"I don't know anything about that!"
"I didn't say you did…Mr.Tiller!"
"So, you found out. You should know that Bethy and I have grown to care for you."
"Don't give me that crap. I've heard it before. But ya know what? I finally found someone who actually cares about me. Evy and Alex care about me enough that they've risked their lives to save me! Can you say that? I don't think so!"
The next day, the Tillers planed to leave; they had more orphans to lie to. "Why don't you guys go to Thailand, loads of orphans there." They happily went. Suckers! Rick thought…
Alex sat in his bedroom on his bed thinking about what his grandma had said in his dream: "Don't follow him, he'll only disappoint you." His father had said that when the real Jack O'Connell had shown up. He'll only disappoint you.