Nota Bene! Again!

Thank you, again, for your kind reviews. I really appreciate them. Forgive my lack of personal responses, but I usually check my e-mails while I have my morning coffee and I am not at my most coherent at that time.

I apologize for the delay of this chapter. I've spent the last couple of weeks mired in coursework for my Astrology/Parapsychology course (500 page book + four tests = no writing time for me). Oh, and still plugging away at the J.O.B. Can't forget that (as much as I would like to).

Also, my PC decided to go to Hell last month. When Trojans attack older computers, it isn't pretty. I've since acquired a laptop and have reacquainted myself with typing on a much smaller keypad (with less than successful results). Tomorrow, that new wireless keyboard is so getting installed, I tell you.

Disclaimer:

I own my OCs. Disney owns their OCs. Y'all know the drill.

So, without further ado, here's Chapter 4!

Chapter Four

"You can change the words you say, stop the things you do. Throw away your yesterdays, you'll still be stuck with you. But don't be sad. Get a hold upon yourself before you get too far. No matter what you have to learn to live with who you are"

-Tony Banks

It was only about 8 a.m. when Riley reached the Hartford city limits. Usually, he wasn't up this early on any day as he considered mornings to be evil entities, but he hadn't been able to fall back to sleep after his earlier discovery. On the bright side, his nausea had finally abated, even though the cramps still maintained their relentless assault and he now had to contend with sweats and a seemingly sore throat. Riley knew he should be in bed, but the matter at hand was just too pressing. His drive to find out the truth of his origins overrode his physical ailments.

He kept his eyes open for a familiar coffee shop, an old haunt from his teen years. He had regularly escaped there and, for a brief spell, he could forget who he was. He could know what it was like to be normal, not be the rich computer geek that his peers saw fit to exploit.

The coffee shop was a short distance from the highway. He was fortunate to find a parking space right in front. It was too bitterly cold to walk any kind of distance. He stopped the car, pausing only to grab his phone and laptop before heading inside.

The shop hadn't changed much in the nearly thirteen years since he had last stepped foot in it. A wave of déjà vu washed over Riley and he swallowed thickly, wincing at the rawness in his throat. He couldn't help but think of the last time he had been here and who he had been with. He shook off the thought, concentrating instead on the matter at hand. His psyche couldn't handle that trauma, now.

One crisis at a time, please. My brain is full.

The coffee shop wasn't too busy as there weren't many people up at this hour on a Sunday. Riley was relieved. He wasn't in the mood to be around a lot of anything two-legged and breathing.

Giving special consideration to his beleaguered stomach, he ordered a peppermint tea at the counter instead of his usual mochaccino. He headed to the back of the shop and sat down at a table, willing his ears to tune out the New Age instrumental music that filtered through the shop's speakers. He opened up his laptop and started it up. As soon as the laptop acquired a Wi-Fi signal, he opened browser to see what awaited him in his Inbox. He knew he was stalling and he didn't care. He was so absorbed in weeding out the junk mail from the little that was legitimate, that he didn't hear anyone approach him until he heard the voice.

"Sir, I tried calling you, but I guess you didn't hear me. Here's your peppermint tea…," the words died in the young woman's throat.

Riley glanced up, goose bumps breaking out on his flesh. He felt like the fates were truly conspiring against him. Or maybe she was merely a figment of his overstressed imagination.

"J-Julie?" he stammered. He had been certain he would never see her again, but here she was. Standing in front of him. Wearing a barista's uniform. Holding his tea in her shaky hands. Her brown hair was longer than he remembered and she looked a lot older, but he definitely didn't need to refer to the nametag pinned to her blouse to know it was her.

This was quite the weekend for shocking discoveries or rediscoveries as the case may be. Riley sighed wearily. When it rains, it pours.

Julie, who had been staring at Riley agape, pursed her lips together in a thin line. Her voice became cold as she leveled a glare at him that would melt ice. "Do I know you?"

Those four words cut through Riley like the sharpest of knives. Anger and hurt that he long ago buried bubbled to the surface. "We used to be engaged or did you conveniently forget?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else." With that, she set Riley's tea down on the table hard enough to almost shatter the saucer and cup. She spun around on her heel and marched back behind the counter. A coworker glanced at her curiously, as she disappeared into the kitchen. The coworker turned to stare at Riley for a long moment and her mouth dropped open. Riley squirmed in his chair, uncomfortable. What was her problem? She wasn't going to call the cops, was she?

Riley sat back his chair, resting his head on the back and closing his eyes. Before his bruised psyche could even assess what had just happened, his phone rang shrilly, causing a couple of nearby patrons to glare at him for disturbing their peace. Riley opened his eyes and managed a half-hearted, sheepish smile as he flipped the phone open. He pushed the "Talk" button.

"Hello, you've reached Riley. Aliens have abducted me and left my pod person behind. He's not too good with a phone, so leave your message at the beep and I will be sure to return your call when the aliens have finished conducting their evil experiments. Beeeep!"

"Riley!" Ben said, his voice a mixture of relief and incredulity. There was a pause. "Wait…What are you doing awake? You're usually dead to the world at this hour."

There was no fooling Ben with the fake answering machine routine. "Pulled an all-nighter," Riley replied, the inadvertent yawn adding credibility to his claim. "What's up?"

"I've been trying to get a hold of you since yesterday afternoon! What have you been up to? It isn't like you not to answer your phone."

"I had it off. I didn't want to be disturbed while I was working," Riley replied. Man, that sounded weak, even to his own ears. He really needed to take a course in Impressive White Lies to Effectively Dupe Your Friends 101.

There was another pause, followed by another patented Ben Gates exasperated sigh. "If this is about Thursday night, I'm sorry for overreacting…"

"No, it isn't," Riley interrupted. "I've just been busy."

Another pause. "Well, anyway I wondered if you wanted to come over for dinner this evening. Don't worry, the coast is clear. Abigail has crossed your name off her List."

Riley half smiled. "Ben, I'm afraid I can't make it. I still have a lot of work to do here. Maybe another time?"

"Maybe," Ben's voice was flat and Riley knew the wheels were turning furiously in his head. "Riley, what's going on? It isn't like you to pass on home cooked food twice in a single week."

"Just trying to watch that calorie intake. I have to keep my boyish figure for the ladies, you know," he quipped, halfheartedly.

"You know Riley, you don't sound like yourself. If there's anything you need to talk about…"

"Ben, there's nothing to talk about, because nothing is going on!" Riley's tone was a bit more abrupt than he would have liked and he softened. It both comforted and annoyed Riley when Ben would go into mother hen mode. "I just have a bit of a stomach ache. Guess I caught that bug that's going around. Don't worry. It's nothing I can't handle. I just don't feel like socializing. I want to get my work done and get some much needed sleep."

"Riley…" Ben began.

Look, Ben, my battery is getting low. I have to go." Riley hung up and quickly turned his phone off, before his friend could run with whatever thought just entered his head. He hated lying to his friend, but he couldn't bring him into this. Ben would never understand why Riley had never told him before and Riley knew from experience that Benjamin Franklin Gates couldn't abide by liars. Besides, how Riley explain who he was if he no longer knew himself?

He took a sip of his tea, trying to ignore the barista that kept shooting pointed stares in his direction. He braced himself for the long day ahead and logged out of his e-mail program. He started typing furiously.

By late afternoon, Riley was barely closer to the truth than when he started. After searching people finder databases without success, he found a Google listing for a Marjorie Greenburg in Warwick, Rhode Island. She had been reported as a missing person to the Warwick police department in November, 1978.

He swallowed thickly as he remembered the scant details that he had hacked from the PD's mainframe. There had essentially been zero investigation. There was no evidence of foul play. The case was closed. She had been chalked up to someone who had wanted to disappear.

So, she couldn't have wanted me too badly, he thought bitterly. Status quo.

His search hadn't been entirely unproductive, however. The people finder databases had a listing for a Doris Greenburg in Providence. Given the proximity to Warwick and the same last name, he assumed her to be Marjorie's mother, maybe an aunt. The discovery was bittersweet. If his biological mother hadn't wanted him, Riley didn't pin any hopes on the rest of her family.

He took off his glasses and set them down on the table. He was getting a headache. Sleep deprivation, lack of food and annoying music would do that to a person. He leaned back in the chair and rubbed his forehead in agitation. Persistent stomach cramps worsened his mood. The tea had only exacerbated the problem. He rested his head in his hand and his elbow on the arm of the chair as he closed his weary eyes for a brief rest.

He didn't know anyone had approached him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Riley's eyes flew open and he gasped, feeling like he had been scared out of ten years of his life. He thought it was his ex-fiancé's coworker coming over for the billionth time to ask him if he wanted some more tea. He looked up, prepared to sound out the nagging barista, but saw Ben standing there, instead.

Riley's stomach flip-flopped and he gulped, nervously. This wasn't good. Lord knew this wasn't good.

"Ben! What in Hell are you doing here?"

Ben sighed as he took the seat across from Riley at the table. His face was unreadable and Riley couldn't decide if that was good or bad. He fidgeted in his chair as Ben fixed him with his soul probing stare.

"I want some answers, Mister Landley."