Disclaimer: As in ch. 1
1000 Local Time
US Embassy, London
Grace Webb-Russell dropped the telegram in disbelief. Her father's word echoed in her mind. 'Trey is alive. Trey is alive'. How was that possible? It had been more than twelve years. Vaguely, she heard her son's concerned voice.
"Mommy? Mommy?! Are you okay?" Ryan looked worried as his mother's face turned ashen.
"Wh...what?"
"Mommy, you ok?"
She forced herself to smile at her son. "I'm ok, sweetie. You go on with your drawing and after you finished it, we can have lunch."
"'K" Reassured, the boy happily back to his jet.
His mother, meanwhile, numbly picked up her phone and dialed a well-known number.
0500 EST
Alexandria, VA
The phone began to ring, waking up the annoyed occupant of the bed it sat next to.
"Colonel Webb. This had better be worth waking me at five in the morning!"
"Jeremy, it's me." Came the soft reply.
"Who?"
"Grace."
That certainly got his attention. "Grace? What happened? Are you okay?" He quickly switched from "annoyed Marine Lt. Colonel" mode into "concerned brother" mode.
"Trey is alive."
He could only stare at the phone in disbelief for a moment. "What? What are you talking about?!"
"Dad sent me a telegram this morning saying that Trey is alive. You sound as if you didn't about this."
"That's because I don't know! Where is he now?"
"Okinawa Naval Base Hospital"
"How...?"
"Where is Dad?"
"He went to Japan two days ago with Uncle Harm, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Sturgis." He answered flatly.
The silence stretched for a little while before Jeremy broke it again. "Okinawa is in Japan. He called me last night, and he sound really weird."
"I guess the only way to find out what's going on is to go to Okinawa." Grace said, sounding remarkably calm.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I'm going to take Ryan with me." Her voice was determined, and even the brave Marine Lt. Colonel didn't dare contradict her.
"OK, just kept me informed."
"Fine. I'll talk to you later, Jeremy." Grace said quietly before hanging up.
Her brother sat up in bed, staring at nothing. His best friend...he was alive. Twelve plus years...and he was still alive.
"Who was it, Jeremy?" His sleepy wife asked, turning to face him.
"It was Grace."
"Grace? How is she doing?"
"She's going to Japan as we speak."
"Mmm."
Jeremy glanced at his wife and saw that she was snuggling back into her blankets, ready to go to sleep again. "Honey...Grace said Trey's still alive."
"Oh, really? That's great!" His wife mumbled.
"Did you hear what I just said?!"
"Yeah...you said that Trey's still alive...Trey?!?" She suddenly bolted upright. "You said Trey? As in Trey Rabb?"
"That's what Grace said. She thought I knew about it, so she called me to ask some questions. Apparently, Dad sent her a telegram about the news. However, I don't know anything more than she does."
"What the..." She leapt out of bed, ignoring how early it was.
"Where are you going?"
"To find out what's going on." She called over her shoulder as she headed for the phone in the living room.
Her first phone call was to her parents' home, but as she predicted, no one answering the phone. Suddenly, the "reunion dinner" was making a whole lot more sense. Picking up the phone again, she dialed her sister's number.
After two rings, a sleepy voice answered. "Hello?"
"Nic, it's me, Jessi."
"Jessica Webb!! This had better be good. Do you know what time it is!?" Nicole Roberts asked, furious at being woken so early.
"0500." She replied, her overly-calm voice making her sister worried.
"OK, I don't like this. What's going on?"
"Nic, Trey is alive."
"Who??!"
"Trey." She repeated softly, hardly believing the words she said.
"Trey as in Trey Rabb?!"
"Yeah..."
"My god! How did you know? What happened?"
"I don't know. Grace called Jeremy a couple minutes ago. She said that Uncle Clay had sent her a telegram. I tried to call Mom and Dad, but nobody picked up the phone. Nic, what should we do?" Jessica bit her lip as the realization of exactly what this could mean set in.
"You stay there. I'll be at your house in thirty minutes, max!"
TBC….
Reviews time, guys! J