Chapter 3

Five days after Julie left

Mike sat in his living room not knowing what to do. 'How do you find someone who doesn't want to be found?' He knew there were ways, but Mike didn't have the resources he used to have. Julie never uses a credit card so she couldn't be traced that way. He wasn't sure if he could get any information about her drivers license or car tags, because he didn't know anyone in those departments anymore. He knew she would probably be working in some hospital somewhere, and he could start there, but there are thousands in the United States alone, and what if Julie had moved to another country? Mike soon remembered that Julie's passport was expired and trying to get a new one these days was exceptionally hard.

Mike went through his address book trying to think of someone who might be able to help him find Julie. He knew he could always hire a private detective, but that could cost a lot of money. As Mike was getting to the end of the names in his book he saw one that popped out at him. Rodney Cane, he was a man who could get anything and could find anyone. At least he use to be able to. Mike didn't know if Rodney was even still alive. So many people Mike knew had died during the war, but alive, this was his man. If anyone could find Julie, it was Rodney.

The first phone number Mike had for Rodney was disconnected. "Come on Rod, please be alive, and home!" Mike said a quick prayer as he dialed the only other number he had for the man. "Hello?" Mike heard the tell tale scratchy voice of Rodney Cane and couldn't believe his luck!

"Rod, hey stranger, it's Mike Donovan. How are you old timer?" Mike was anxious to get to the reason for his call, but he wanted to warm the man up first. He was known for being a bit of a jerk and Mike wanted to get on his good side.

"Well I'll be, Mike how are you? I saw you on the news a few times. I thought the Visitors had captured you, but here you went and saved the world. How could a punk like you do a thing like that?"

"I didn't save it, Elizabeth did, but that's a story for another time, I actually called wanting to see if you could help me with something. You up for some work" Mike tried to intrigue the man.

Rodney's voice got quiet when he answered, "I'm not doing much work anymore Mike, I'm not doing much of anything anymore. Those stupid lizards burned down my house with me in it, I barely survived. Not much of me is left and I haven't worked since. I'm sorry Mike, I wish I could help, but I just can't.

"I'm sorry Rod, I didn't know. Is there anything I can do to help? Do you need anything buddy?" Mike was crushed inside, but he owed it to the old man to help him if needed. Mike knew Rodney had saved his career once or twice and he wanted to repay him.

"No, thank you. I have my daughter here, she takes good care of me. What was it that you wanted anyways?" Curiosity always got the best of Rodney, he was never shy about asking anything..

"It's nothing Rod, I was just hoping you could help me find someone." Mike knew Rodney probably knew someone who could help, but he was always so secretive about his contacts, "Do you know anyone who is good at finding people? I need the best there is Rod, got any ideas?

"Looking for someone lost in the war? Everyone seems to be looking for someone these days. I can't tell you how many people have called me asking to find a lost loved one. I usually tell them to look at the stars at night, they have a better chance finding their loved ones up there than on this planet.

"That's harsh Rod, it may be true, but we have to let people have hope. Not everyone missing was up there." Mike knew so many people shared Rodney's attitude, but Mike refused to let himself get caught up in it. "Besides, I'm looking for someone who was here about a week ago. She left without leaving her forwarding address and I need to track her down."

"Your wife leave you again Mike? Haahaa, how many women have you run off? Three or four?"

"Very funny Rod! She wasn't my wife, at least not yet. I need to find her so we can change that." Mike stifled his annoyance, "Do you know of anyone who could help me out or not Rod? I am serious about this, I'm even willing to pay."

"OK, OK, I think I know someone, let me call you back. I will see what I can do. Don't run off another woman before I get back to you!" All Mike could hear as Rodney hung up the phone was a gruff laughing. That phone call painfully reminded Mike why he never liked the man.

Five days after leaving

Charleston, SC

Julie pulled into her new driveway and parked next to her friend Thomas' car. The house she was going to rent was a cute little yellow house. It had a big covered porch and Julie smiled when she saw a couple of rocking chairs already up there. There was a small yard and window boxes under the windows. Julie knew she wouldn't have much time for yard work, but maybe she could hire someone to keep the place looking nice. She loved flowers, and thought it would be nice to open her windows and let the breeze fill her house with their sweet aroma.

Julie got out of her car and stretched before walking to meet her friend on the porch. "Were you waiting long?" Julie gave her friend a hug and he motioned for her to sit in a rocking chair.

"No, I actually just pulled up and got out before you pulled in... Welcome to Charleston Julie. You'll find it's a lot different than Los Angeles!" Thomas sat rocking looking out into the driveway. "Do you guys need help unpacking the van? Where is Mike anyways? Is he coming behind you with the moving van?"

Julie didn't want to talk about Mike right now, but she knew she had to answer her friend. She decided to give a short but honest answer and hope Thomas didn't ask any more questions. "Mike's not coming. He needed to stay in L.A. so I came alone. I don't have much in the car so I can unpack it myself." Julie smiled at her friend. "Thanks for offering though, and thanks for finding this place for me." Julie got up out of the rocking chair and went to the front door. She saw a questioning look on Thomas' face that she didn't want to answer. Julie tried the knob but found it locked. She turned around to see Thomas holding a set of keys out to her. "Thanks," Julie took the keys and unlocked her front door. She went in to explore her new house.

"Julie? Where are you hiding?" Thomas slowly went from room to room trying to find where Julie disappeared to. He heard a muffled scream come from the far bedroom and ran in there to find Julie frozen. She pointed to a rather large bug in the corner of the room when she noticed Thomas. "Palmetto bugs Julie, you will get use to them." Thomas went into the bathroom and gathered some toilet paper. To Julie's disgust, he caught the bug and squished it between the folds of the paper.

"That is so disgusting, don't they spray the houses out here?"

Thomas just laughed at Julie. "It doesn't matter if they spray, you will have bugs, this is South Carolina. You need to get use to them or you will be very unhappy. Here have this one!" Thomas reached his hand out to Julie, but she made a face and ran out of the room. Thomas snickered to himself, "And she lead the Resistance?"

"I heard that!" Julie wasn't amused by that comment. She did not like bugs and she wasn't going to stand there while Thomas taunted her with one. "I lead people Thomas, not bugs." Julie yelled back to Thomas but he was walking down the hallway when she turned around.

"I'm right here, there's no need to shout Ms. I lead people. Are you hungry? There's a Cracker Barrel down the road. I could use some food before my shift starts. Wanna join me?" Thomas wanted to find out more about Julie coming alone so he was going to use food as an excuse to talk. He really was hungry, but he wasn't going to tell Julie he had a lunch packed in his car.

"I could eat, I don't think I ever eaten at a Cracker Barrel, what do they serve?" Julie hadn't eaten much during the drive cross country. She has a hard time eating when she is stressed out, but she was relaxing a bit now and her hunger was kicking back in. She just hoped Thomas would leave Mike out of their dinner conversation. She was not in the mood to start crying, especially over food.

"You are just going to have to wait, it's more fun that way. Do you still drink iced tea?"

Julie was a bit surprised that Thomas could remember something so mudane about herself. "Yes, it's still my favorite, is it good here?"

Thomas smiled and reminded Julie to order unsweet tea or she might get more than she bargained for. Thomas looked at Julie and for a moment he swore he felt a connection between the two. He averted his eyes when he realized he was staring at her. "Um, like I said, it's different than L.A."

The two friends were seated at a window table and both ordered unsweet iced tea. Julie loved the decor in the place. She didn't know how to describe it, but it felt homey. The wait staff were very

nice and Julie noticed people smiling at each other as they walked by. "We are definitely not in L.A. People don't look at each other there, I guess people are afraid of getting mugged or something. I am not sure why it's like that, but it is so refreshing to see people make contact with one another. This may sound corny but I feel wanted here, like I am part of the crowd somehow. Does that make sense?" Julie felt her cheeks get hot with embarrassment. She didn't know why she was running her mouth the way she was, she just felt so comfortable here with Thomas.

"Don't be embarrassed Julie, I totally get what you are saying. When I moved back here from Los Angeles I noticed those type of things too. And I'm from here! This is what makes the South so special. So like I said before, welcome to Charleston Julie, and welcome to the South!"

They ate their dinner with light conversation, and as they walked outside together, Thomas brought up what Julie was fearing he would. "So what happened between you and Mr. War hero?" Thomas had to be honest with himself. He has always liked Julie more than just a friend. She was always dating someone else so he never told her. Now that she is here, alone, he hoped for a chance.

"I don't want to talk about it Thomas. It's over between us and I have moved on. There is not much else to say." Obviously Julie was upset at the question and Thomas smiled inwardly. He could be just the man Julie needed to get over Mike.