Chapter 7

Tracking Thomas Olsen

AN: Hey, guys, so here's chapter 7! Thanks so much for your support! It means so much! Enjoy! And just to be clear, from a review I got, I mean NO offense to anyone who lives in Detroit. I've never been there, but I understand it has a lot of historic background and value. I have created a FICTIONAL area in Detroit where the Olsens live. My apologies to anyone who was offended. I'm sure Detroit is a very nice place to live. But again, I wouldn't know, because I've never been there. God Bless You, fellow writers!" :)


Mary came up sputtering and gasping for air. The water was colder than she'd expected, and it took her breath away. She didn't even want to think about how much of the green-Brown water she'd swallowed.

Luke had his hand over his mouth, and was trying to keep from laughing. "Are you okay?" he asked her, stepping onto the board.

Mary looked madder than a wet hen. "Just go to the bureau," she commanded, taking a Dee breath and swimming to the other side of the room.

Luke walked across quickly, and when he was safely on the bureau, reached down to help his sister. Then he crawled through the window. Mary did the same. The two sat in the snow, panting.

"You okay?" Luke asked his sister.

Mary nodded. "You?"

Luke nodded.

Mary faced him. "Gee, I'm sorry, Luke," she said. "I had no idea Miss Grand's maid would be there."

Luke looked confused. "Her maid?"

Mary nodded. "She comes every so often just to make sure no one breaks in. She has a projector. That's what she used to scare us."

Luke looked confused. "Then why were you scared?"

"That maid is mean," Mary said. "She's chased me losta Times, but I ain't ever seen her do anything like that."

Luke was silent for a moment. Then he stood up and offered a hand to his sister. "Come on. We better get going."


Franklin ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He was sitting at a desk in the hotel room he had rented in Detroit.

"Did they send you the warrant?" a voice asked behind him.

Franklin turned. Morgan was leaning against the doorjam, his hands in his pockets. His hair was disheveled, and the bags under his eyes were huge.

Franklin shook his head. "No, not yet." He turned in the swivel chair. "Come on in. You want some coffee?"

Morgan shook his head. "Nah. He sat down on another swivel chair near the desk.

For a few moments, the two were silent. Then Morgan leaned his elbow on the desk and put his head in his hand.

"Do you have kids?" he asked Franklin quietly, his voice shaking with tears.

Franklin nodded. "Mr. Ross," he started.

"Morgan," Morgan corrected him. "You make me feel old."

Franklin chuckled a little. "Morgan," he began again. "I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine what you're going through."

Morgan ducked his head. "He's such a good kid," he said, rubbing his face with his hands. "He always tries his best, too."

Franklin put a hand a Morgan's shoulder. "Morgan, you'll only make it worse."

Morgan tried to collect himself. "I know." He stood up. "Just promise me one thing?"

"What?"

Morgan took a deep breath. "If it was Thomas Olsen, and if he does anything to Luke, you won't press charges against me for what I do."

Franklin was about to reply when the telephone on the mahogany desk rang. Franklin picked it up. "Hello?"

After about a minute, he hung it up. "Someone knows where Luke is."


Luke turned over in the bed and groaned. He didn't ink he'd be able to stand today. When Mary and Luke had gotten back to the house, after Mary had changed, she had pulled out Luke's old bed from the closet. It was old, broken, and the entire night, a spring had been digging into his back.

Sitting up, he realized that Mary's bed was empty. Then he noticed a note taped to the frame of his bed. It read:

Luke,

I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you that today is my day to go in early. I didn't want to wake you. There's cereal in the pantry. If you wanna stay home, that's fine. But if you wanna come to work, just follow my map on the back.

Mary

Luke sighed. Though he knew Mary couldn't be late for work, she should've woken him up. He had no idea how to find the pizza parlor, even with Mary's map. Which wasn't really that legible, to be honest. He stood up. Oh, well.

That's when he noticed Mary's writing on the mal side.

Just follow Buddy. He knows where to go.

Mary, Luke thought. You're a genius!


Luke pushed open the door of Cappelupo's pizza parlor and hurried to get out of the cold wind. A new layer of snow was on the ground, and the air was frigid. Luke pulled off his coat, tossed it on the seat of a nearby booth, and glanced around. Mary was at the other side of the restaurant, wiping tables.

Luke approached her. "Hey," he said. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

Mary sprayed more cleaner on the table. "You were asleep," she said. "I didn't want to wake you." That's when Luke noticed how tired his sister looked.

"You okay?" he asked her.

Mary nodded. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."

"What do you mean?"

Mary moved onto the next table. "I was thinking."

"About?"

Mary shrugged, then yawned. "Anyway, I was up until about 11:30, and I got up at 5."

Luke looked at her like she had lost it. "Mary, are you crazy? Jessie won't even let me stay up past 10!"

"Hey, Olsen!" said a voice behind them. A girl about their age was standing in the doorway that led to the kitchen. her blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and an apron was tied around her waist. "Why don't you go home? Wednesdays are supposed to be your days off, anyway."

Mary shook her head. "Sarah, if I don't work, I don't get paid."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Mary," she said, staring Mary down and boring through her with her eyes.

Mary huffed. "Fine," she said, untying her apron and handing it back on a hook. She pointed her finger at her friend. "You win this time. But next time, you're going down!"

Sarah laughed. "Have a nice day," she called, heading back into the kitchen.


Mary sighed as she dropped her coat on one of the wooden chairs in the kitchen. She hated missing a day of work, even if Wednesday was her day off. Signore Cappeluppo had agreed to pay her extra to work on her day off, knowing Mary needed the money. This was the first time in the five years she had worked at Cappeluppo's Pizza Parlor that she went home in the middle of the day. And she didn't like it one bit.

She leaned against the counter.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, sitting down in one of the chairs.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked him sarcastically. "You wanna know what's wrong? I've never missed a day off work in five years. Signore's gonna take today's wage off my paycheck on Friday."

Luke was confused. "So?"

Mary scoffed. "So?! You don't get it, do you? Oh, wait. Of course you don't. You have everything!"

"We do not!" Luke exclaimed.

Mary snorted. "Oh, really?! When was the last time you worried about money, Luke? Or food? When was the last time you had to worry about the fact that your dad could be arrested and you taken to foster care? Or how about the fact that you could be on the streets in a matter of days? Huh? When was the last time you thought about that?"

Luke was baffled. "Mary, I-"

Mary started to cry. "I'm the one who provides the money in this house, Luke. Normal kids don't have to do that. I take whatever money I can get. Mainly because I don't know how much dad's going to steal to gamble. And he never wins, Luke. He never wins."

"Mary-"

Mary interrupted him. "When was the last time your concern was for someone other than yourself? When?!"

Neither spoke for a few moments. Buddy, who was laying in the corner of the kitchen, panted. It was the only sound in the house.

Finally, Luke tried to find his voice. "Mary, I-"

"Save it," Mary said, opening the fridge, getting out a half gallon of milk, and taking the lid off. "Just leave me alone."

Luke stood up. "Mary, come on. You're not really going to-"

Buddy suddenly let out a huge peal of barks and stood up. A second later, the front door was broken open. It bounced against the wall, revealing Srgt. Frankling and Officer George, both in a defensive stance with their guns aimed. Behind them stood Morgan and Christina Ross. The shock on their faces couldn't compare to Luke's.

Mary only said three words. "Hello, Foster Care." She took a swig of milk right from the bottle.


AN: So, this, I thought, was a kind of scattered chapter. There were a lot of bases I needed to cover, so I'm sorry. Just to let you know, chapters 8 and 9 are going to be some of the biggest of the story! Definitely not close to the end, though. so, please review, and have a great day! God Bless You, fellow writers! :)