Four little soldier boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.
Stephanie sat on the couch in their stateroom. She chewed on her thumbnail as she thought of how to tell Cal what she uncovered. His heart was going to break. How was she supposed to do this?
"I can hear you thinking," Cal said from across the room. He sat at the table, researching his parents. "Can you check something for me?"
"Sure, Freddie. What do you need?" Stephanie joked. Cal rolled his eyes. He regretted telling Stephanie he called his tattoo Flamin' Fred.
"Check Calvin Holden," he replied. "I think it was my dad's name."
"Oh, sweetie. You found the red herring. Calvin Holden, Calvin Hobbes and Calvin Hastings isn't your father," Stephanie replied. Stephanie had searched everywhere for Cal's family. She stumbled across a newspaper article involving the search for an infant. The birthdate of the missing boy matched Cal's birthday.
"What do you mean?" Cal demanded. Stephanie answered by patting the spot beside her.
Edna was sleeping on her bed. The festivities from the ball the previous night exhausted her. Stephanie noticed her grandmother slept more during the day. She was worried but prayed they would complete the bucket list before it got too late.
"You're going to spin your wheels trying to find a connection through your first name. Cal, your birth name was Callahan, not Calvin. However, you were named after your biological father," Stephanie explained. She placed the laptop on Cal's lap. He read the information.
Stephanie leaned over to wipe a tear off his face. "What does this intel mean?" Cal reluctantly asked. He flipped through the various newspaper articles Stephanie had on the screen. Calvin and Sadie aren't his parents? What? How could that be? Who was he?
"Your birth parents are Callahan and Siobahn Peters. They had searched for you since you were three months old. Nobody was able to find you," Stephanie explained. "Calvin and Sadie Hobbes don't exist. Their names were Finnigan and Maeve O'Reilly. Cal, they kidnapped you and moved to another state. You were born in Chicago, not Newark."
"Why did they stop looking for me?" Cal asked.
"They died in a car accident after your fifth birthday. Your parents never gave up on you. I know they loved you, Cal," she replied. Stephanie leaned over to type something in the search bar. "Siobahn's brother, Liam, is the executor of their estate. He could have declared you dead, but he's hopeful you'd turn up eventually. Email him."
Cal logged onto his Rangeman email account and sent his Uncle Liam a message. "Liam O'Malley, my name is Calvin Hobbes. I work for Rangeman Security LLC in Trenton, New Jersey. My friend, Stephanie Plum, uncovered some information regarding my childhood. She suggested I am your long-lost nephew, Callahan Peters Jr. I will visit the infirmary on the vessel and send a sample to the local lab in Haines, Alaska, for testing. Please, advise on how you wish to proceed. I would love to meet my family if our DNA matches. Thank you, Cal."
"Does that sound okay to you?" Cal asked.
"It's fine, Cal. We'll send a photograph too." Stephanie styled Cal's hair to showcase his tattoo. She didn't know why it was necessary, but her spidey sense guided her. Stephanie took a picture for Cal to attach to the email. She told him to also add his mobile number.
Within an hour of sending the message, Cal received a response. "Cal, thank you for reaching out to me. Many men have claimed to be my sister's son, but they were only after the estate. You are the first man to offer genetic testing to prove your identity. I will accept your offer for a DNA comparison. I look forward to meeting you in Haines, Alaska. Liam."
"Woah." Stephanie had no other words. How much money did the Peters family have? Stephanie hoped she wasn't setting Cal up for disappointment. "When do we arrive at Haines, Alaska?"
"Tomorrow afternoon. It's the last stop before we disembark," Cal replied. "I hope you don't mind taking a detour."
Edna walked into the living room. She sat on Cal's other side. "I overheard your discussion. Cal, I want to help you find your family," Edna said. "Stephanie and I will gladly accompany you on the detour."
"Are you up for dinner with the captain tonight?" Stephanie asked her grandmother.
"You bet I am. He's quite the silver fox," Edna said with a laugh. "He's frisky."
"I think he's hoping you leave them a huge tip," Stephanie joked. "He reminds me of you."
"We're a lot alike," Edna admitted. "It's a shame my time is nearly up. I could have a lot of fun with the man." Stephanie and Cal laughed.
"He asked if you were available for a date tonight. Captain Stu doesn't mix business with pleasure. You wouldn't have to worry about him being inappropriate. He wants to spend time making you laugh," Stephanie added. She passed her grandmother a handwritten invitation.
"Ain't that a pip. I'm hungry," Edna replied.
Cal logged off the laptop, then locked it into the safe. He was nervous about meeting a potential family member. Stephanie understood how he felt. She, too, was nervous for Cal.
~~~~~~~~~~
Liam O'Malley reread the email he received from Calvin Hobbes. He couldn't believe another person sent him a message claiming to be the long-lost heir of Callahan and Siobhan Peters. Liam searched every lead but got nowhere. The people who kidnapped his only nephew and heir to the Peters estate used aliases.
He nearly deleted the email before noticing there was a photograph attached. Liam's hands shook as he enlarged the image. Staring at him were his sister's ice-blue eyes. His blond hair got styled to show off the flaming skull tattoo on his forehead. "Surely, not," Liam said. He searched through the images on his computer until he found the one he wanted. Liam compared the two tattoos. "Kyla," Liam shouted.
"Yes, Mr. O'Malley?" she replied. Liam smiled whenever his wife called him Mr. O'Malley. She remained professional at all times in the office. Kyla shut the door behind her. She suspected her husband wanted a private word.
"Sweetheart, look at those two tattoos. Please, tell me what you see," Liam asked.
"They're identical. Didn't your brother-in-law design it?" Kyla asked.
"He did. What are the chances of someone creating the identical one?" Liam wondered.
"It all depends, darling. Ask Cal where he got it done," Kyla suggested. She sat on her husband's lap as he sent Cal a text message. It took a few minutes for Cal to reply. "Inked in San Diego, California. The artist said he had the perfect tattoo to fit my description."
"Shit," Liam replied. "That's where Callahan got his tattoo when he served for the Navy SEALs."
"Wouldn't it be amazing if Cal unknowingly followed in his father's footsteps?" Kyla asked. Liam remained silent. It was a discussion for another day. He was too surprised that Calvin Hobbes could actually be Callahan Peters Jr.
"One could only hope," Liam replied. "I need a private charter to Haines, Alaska."
"I'll take care of that right away. You may have to leave right away," Kyla warned. "You're lucky I packed a bag for you."
"What? How?" Liam asked.
"Liam, you know how accurate my mother's predictions are. She told me to get a bag ready. Mom offered to take the kids so I could join you." Liam stared at his wife and nodded. He refused to travel without his family, but a trip to Alaska with the children during a school week wasn't wise. Liam kissed his wife and watched her sexy hips sway as she exited his office.
He was a lucky man. Kyla encouraged him to wait for Callahan and Siobahn's heir to surface. She didn't care to receive an inheritance that rightfully belonged to someone else. Kyla was content working for her husband's law firm as his secretary. Money meant nothing to her.
~~~~~~~~~~
Edna, Cal and Stephanie enjoyed their dinner with the Captain and crew. Stephanie laughed when Captain Stu danced with her grandmother. Captain Stu and Edna were laughing as they moved around the dance floor.
"May I have this dance?" Cal asked. Stephanie giggled and took his hand.
"Is dancing a requirement to work at Rangeman?" Stephanie joked. "I don't know any of my Merry Men who can't dance."
"Have you danced with Chester?" Cal asked.
"Which one?"
"Deuce."
"No. He never joined us," Stephanie replied. Cal laughed and explained Chester Deuce had two left feet. The last time Chester went dancing, he broke his partner's foot. They enjoyed the time dancing and partying with the Captain and his crew.
Stephanie and Edna didn't want the adventure to end, but the show must go on. They had more places to visit and Merry Men to help.
"What do you think is Ram's story?" Stephanie asked Cal when they settled into the stateroom for the final night.
"Never asked," Cal confessed. "We don't exactly sit around braiding each other's hair as we share the experiences of our past."
Stephanie slapped his arm as she laughed. "I know that, silly. Don't you guys know anything about each other?"
"Not really. We mainly keep to ourselves and work. The only time we hang around as a large group is when you join us," Cal replied. When the Batman theme song played from Stephanie's phone, Cal went through the patio doors to sit on the deck. He gave Stephanie some privacy to speak to the boss.
"Babe," Ranger groaned when Stephanie answered.
"Ranger," she replied. Two could play at that game. She could almost see him smile. "What's up?"
"Everything after seeing your picture," he replied.
"What picture?"
"The blue dress," Ranger growled. "Dios. You looked sexy. I can't wait to see that dress on my floor. Tell me, were you wearing panties?"
Stephanie giggled. "No." Her face flushed red as she imagined Ranger peeling the sexy dress off her body. It was too tight to wear anything underneath. Stephanie knew the dress made Cal horny, but he never crossed the line. Cal knew Stephanie loved Ranger.
"Dios! Do you know what you do to me?" he groaned.
"Awe, Ranger. Did it raise your soldier?" Stephanie teased. "It's a shame you're so far away. There's nothing we can do about it right now."
Stephanie thought Ranger mumbled, "Like hell, there isn't." Oh my gosh. Is that his zipper? Her phone beeped with an incoming video chat. She connected to the call. Ranger's face appeared on the screen. He angled the phone down to his crotch. "This is what you do to me, Babe." Stephanie licked her lips. She moaned as Ranger stroked himself. Stephanie pushed her hand inside her pyjama bottoms before remembering Cal was on the deck. He could see her through the patio doors.
"I'm going into the bathroom," she breathlessly said. Stephanie closed and locked the door. She set the phone on the floor as she pleasured herself for Ranger. It wasn't the first time they had sex over a video call. Stephanie moaned his name a second before he screamed hers. "Shit! Ranger, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
"Babe," he said with a laugh. "We've done this once a week since the first time."
"I know, but I'm still embarrassed."
"You shouldn't be. I wanted it as much as you," Ranger replied. Stephanie didn't understand why he didn't seek out a woman to satisfy his needs. "There's only one Stephanie Plum. You ruined me for all other women." How was that possible? Ranger could have any woman he wanted. Why would he want her? "We'll have that discussion once we're face to face," he promised.
Stephanie washed her hands, then returned to the living room. They talked for another thirty minutes before she started to doze off. "Good night, Carlos. I love you," she said, then hung up. Her eyes popped open when she replayed her last words to Ranger. It was the first time she told him that she loved him. Crap! She turned off her phone. Stephanie put her head in her hands and cried.
Cal chanced a look into the room. He saw Stephanie's body shake as she cried. Cal quietly opened the patio doors, then sat beside Stephanie on the couch. She turned into his embrace and sobbed on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Angel? Did something happen to your parents?" he asked. Cal pulled Stephanie onto his lap.
She shook her head. "I ruined my relationship with Ranger," Stephanie sobbed.
"How?"
"I said, "Good night, Carlos. I love you," before hanging up. What did I do? He'll never talk to me again," Stephanie explained. Cal smiled. It was about time she confessed to the boss. Hopefully, her confession would spark Ranger to step up to the plate.
"Steph, you didn't ruin anything. Ranger knows you love him," Cal consoled. "So what if you said the words? Does it change how you feel about him?"
"No," she cried. "I love him so much that it would kill me if he rejected me." Cal knew it wasn't the time to fix Stephanie's problems. He had to let Stephanie and Ranger work through their emotions and feeling for themselves.
"Hey, can you help me get a bead on my kidnappers?" Cal asked. Stephanie hiccuped before her tears subsided.
"Sure. It would take my mind off everything else," she replied. Cal rubbed Stephanie's back until she wiggled to move from his lap.
After an hour of research, Stephanie said, "I'm surprised someone didn't ask for your birth certificate."
"What do you mean?" Cal asked. "You need it to register for school."
"Not necessarily. When Valerie registered Angie and Mary Alice for school in Trenton, she only had a photocopy of the document. Valerie eventually had to replace the certificates that Steve possessed, but she could still send her children to school. I'm sure the school needed one when our parents sent us to school, but I don't know if they needed an original copy," Stephanie explained.
She went through Finnigan and Maeve O'Reilly's history. They used an alias created through the black market. Cal read over Stephanie's shoulder as she picked through the pertinent information. "How did that birth certificate pass the scrutiny of the government?" Cal asked. "Even I can tell something's wrong with it."
"Someone rubber-stamped it without checking? You grew up in the foster care system. I know birth records could easily get lost. It seems the child protection services entered the information they knew and got the record created. Someone, I'm not sure who, though I doubt it was a government worker, got your current name and birthdate registered in the system. When you joined the Army, they researched your birth records to confirm you were a citizen and of age to legally join. I doubt they dug any further into your history," Stephanie explained.
"When was the record created?" Cal asked. Stephanie clicked on a few keys but couldn't find the date. She sent Hector a text to hack into the database. He returned a reply within thirty minutes. Cal read the message. "I was sixteen on June 15th of 2002. Hector said the record got created on December 1st of that year."
"Who could have done that?" Stephanie rhetorically asked.
Cal found the need to answer. "One of the boys in the foster home was a computer whiz. He used to hack into government servers all the time. I think his name was Jimmy Stoddard." Stephanie typed the name into the computer. She showed Cal the picture. "Yup. That's him."
"It looks like they caught him," Stephanie replied. She sent the name to Hector, who confirmed Jimmy had altered the records. "Hector said he knows Jimmy. He bragged about adding records for the kids in his foster home. Jimmy taught Hector how to hack."
"Small world," Cal said. Stephanie couldn't help but agree.
"So, I tracked down another name that lines up with the DMV photos for Finnigan and Maeve. They're using the names, Roger and Victoria Paisley," Stephanie said. "The Paisleys live in Portland, Oregon and raising their grandson."
"Thanks, Steph. I'm going to hunt those fuckers down. I can't wait to make them pay for taking me away from my family."
"Figure out if you're Callahan Peters Jr first, okay?" Stephanie asked. "Promise me, Cal." He reluctantly promised. Stephanie felt the "grandson" was another kidnapped child or product of one.
Stephanie used the time to change Cal's flight to an open departure date. "What did you do?" Cal asked.
"Changed your flight to a voucher. Fly first-class to Portland, Oregon, when you figure out who you are. You can always cancel the flight. The airline would return the money to the account," Stephanie replied.
"I don't know how to thank you, Steph. You and Edna made me feel like I have a family."
"Cal, you are family. We may not have the same parents, but you belong in my life as my chosen brother. However, you're joining my band of brothers containing Bobby, Zip, Tank, Woody, Hector and Binkie. Do you think you can handle it?"
"You bet I can," he said with laughter. Stephanie suddenly felt sad. "Hey, why are you gloomy?"
"I'm losing my edge. You're the second Merry Man I can't help during the trip."
Cal looked at Stephanie as though she was crazy. "Sweetheart, you helped more than you realize. I know resolution won't happen within the next week, but I will have an answer one way or another. You replaced my despair with hope." Cal grabbed the laptop to put on the table. He lifted Stephanie onto his lap.
Pressing his forehead against hers, he said, "You gave me the best gift of all."
"What?" she whispered.
"Family," he replied. "Even if Liam O'Malley isn't my uncle, I still have you as my sister. That will never change."
"Cal, I know you're escorting us to the two airports tomorrow. Ranger would have your ass in traction if we don't catch our flight to San Diego on time. Do you have a panic button for me to carry?" Stephanie surprised Cal by asking. Cal smiled and passed her the device.
"Squeeze the front and back together."
Stephanie kissed his cheek. "Thanks, brother," she said.
Edna smiled from her bed. She knew Stephanie could help Cal. Stephanie may think she didn't do anything, but telling Cal that he was her chosen brother gave him the family he craved. Edna would be proud to call Cal her grandson. "Proud of you, baby granddaughter," Edna whispered.
