1800whereryou Chased

by Susie Madison

One night someone breaks into Jess' house and leaves a note threating our lightning girl. What happens when she goes away and leaves her past behind but her past doesn't want to stay behind?

2. Chapter 2: Goodbye

Chapter: 2 Good-bye

I woke up at 11:00 AM the next morning. All I wanted to do was hide in this bed wait until this was over and I could go back home and see Rob and my family. Even so, I desperately wanted to tell Rob what happened, so I got up and looked around my room. Nothing had really changed. I still had the same bed, the same TV, and the same wall colour. Yes, everything was still the sa- THEY TOOK MY PHONE! Sheesh, I guess they don't really trust me..

I went to the desk, opened the drawer and took out a piece of paper. I sat down and plucked a pen out of the little holder and put the pen to the paper, but I stopped abruptly. This was probably one of the hardest things I would have to do in my life. I am telling the man that I love, and was dreaming that when we got older he would ask me to marry him. I know that it was a dumb thing to wish for but I love Rob so much, and I think that he loves me to (even though he has yet to say it). I thought about how to open it. I finally decided on 'Dear Rob' but where to begin? Maybe someone already told him what happened. Would he even care? It was just too difficult. I just started to write everything that he should know. Who cares if he doesn't care Okay, so I would care. And I think he cares, right? After all we've been through... god, this is so hard.

Dear Rob,

I am so sorry that I couldn't call you last night. Dr. Krantz, Jill and Alan didn't think it would be a good idea. I am actually writing this letter without their permission, but then again, when have I ever asked for permission to do something? Why start now? I am writing this from Crane (hopefully you won't have to bust me out this time). You probably want to know what happened to me last night and why I'm at Crane. When we arrived at the police station last night, Jill asked for just me and my parents to come with them so we could talk. When we got in the conference room Dr. Krantz told us that they had found a letter addressed to me. When they showed us the note my mom freaked out.
The note said:

I stopped. I can still picture that note was still in my head. How could I forget it? I could still see the plastic bag around it with the XXX's signature at the bottom. I could see that note being slide across the table every time I closed my eyes. I could also picture my mother reading the note and crying after reading it. Although I had only looked at the note for a couple of seconds, I feeI like I've seen the note thousands of times.

Lightning girl,

You're going to regret the day you got hit by lightning

If you don't disappear and STOP finding kids.

XXX

P.S. This is just a warning. The next time, one your family won't be so lucky..

That note that changed everything.

I went on to tell Rob about what happened and what I decided to do. I also told him that I love him.

I will always remember all the 'adventures that we had rescuing kid's and bringing them back to their loved one's. I will remember watching the movie at your mom's house last night. I want you to say goodbye to her and to Gary for me.

I wish that I could say one last good-bye in person, but I guess this will have to do. Rob, I want you to know that I love you and always have. This is the hardest yet the most obvious thing I have had to do. I want you to go on with your life and get a new girlfriend that doesn't have a stupid gift that almost gets you killed every time that you go out. You deserve so much better.

I finished the letter and at the bottom I added a PS that said

Whatever you do, please don't wait for me.

I hope that he wouldn't try to find me and that he doesn't get hurt along with my family. I fold up the letter and try to find an envelope but there was none in the room. I decided that even though I didn't want to I was going to have to tell someone that I wrote the letter and hoped that they would let me send it.

I was walking around Crane looking for Jill. I had decided that if I was going to tell someone then Jill would be my best bet. I feel the closest to Jill and she has been the nicest to me here and all. So I was walking around trying to find her office when she came around the corner.

"Hey, Jess, you're up already? I was just coming to get you," she said with a smile on her face. "Should I take a guess what is in your hand?" she said referring to the letter to Rob in my hand.

"Well...um Jill I was kinda wondering if you know if it was possible for me to send a letter to Rob" I said, giving her puppy dog eyes.

"Well Jess-" she started to say but I cut her off.

"Jill, I promise that it doesn't say anything that could tell him where I am going. I don't even know where I'm going or what my name will be or even when I'm going," I said in one breath. "And nothing in it says anything about Rob coming to rescue me," I said. A look of relief appeared on her face.

"Well, I suppose that wouldn't give away anything right? However, you are going to need to put that in with all of the other letters that go out of Crane," she said. I said 'yes!' in my mind, did a little victory dance, that if anyone saw would have humiliated me so bad that Rob would most likely just ran away in horror.

"When do they come and pick up the mail?" I asked her. She looked at her watch and then said, "In about 10 minutes." I turned around and started to run in the opposite direction towards the front gate. But before I got very far I remembered why I was looking for Jill. I hurriedly turned around and ran back to the hallway only to find that Jill wasn't there anymore. I went down the hall and saw that the last door was open. I looked in and found Jill there with her hand held out and in it was an envelope and a stamp.

"Thanks," I said and she only laughed and waved it off, saying, "Come back here after your done".

I ran back down the hall and towards the gate. When I got to the front gate I looked around trying to find the mail box thing or whatever it is that they use for a mail box, when the gate opened and a truck came in and stopped right in front of me. This guy got out and went to a box right beside the gate. I realized that this must be the mailman and that must have been the mail box, so I ran over and asked him if it was to late to put a letter in. He looked at me, and my jaw dropped. He was some old guy, maybe in his thirties (ok not that old), wearing a trucker hat and the stereotypical uniform letter carriers wear.

His hair was shaggy and had a greasy look to it and was black. His face had a bunch of scars on it and one going right though his eye. In his mouth was a toothpick and after he gave me a look over and I must say that his eyes lingered at my chest area for a bit to long if you ask me, and said "For you darlin it's ain't too late" and gave me a smile that would turn even the strongest of people to the point of gagging. I handed him the note and said thank you, and hastily began to walk back to Jill's office. As soon as I was out of sight from the man I broke into a run and made it back to Jill's office in record time.

As I came sliding to a halt in front of Jill's door (which was now closed) the door beside it opened and Alan stepped out. "Why, Jess nice to see you" and he had a smile on his face.

"Yeah, nice to see you too" I said thinking that this was a little weird.

"So are you and Jill going to go shopping today?" he asked.

"Um I dunno yet, she asked me to come to her office when I was done," I said then thought that it might have been better if I had of kept my mouth shut because I didn't know if Jill would get in trouble for letting me send out a letter to Rob.

"Oh and what did you have to do?" he asked me. I had a second to think of a good excuse.

"I had some girl problems," was the first thing that came into my head.

"Oh," he said, somewhat nervous. That gets them every single time. Males don't like hearing about female problems. "Well, Dr. Krantz and I are off to talk to your family and answer all of the questions that they may have. Is there anything that you want me to tell them for you?" he asked me

"Um...Wait!" I yelled "I don't get to go too?"

"Well no unfortunately, but you and Jill are going to go shopping for all of the things that you will need. That is why you said your goodbyes last night or early this morning if you will."

"Oh," was all I said to that and instead of arguing I asked him to ask my mom and dad to let Ruth know about what happened or makeup an excuse for her so that she isn't worried, and to let them know that I love them. He said he would, and then I knocked on Jill's door and she called us in. Alan said that he had to leave, and hurriedly left, while Jill told me that I could sit down in one of the chairs across from her.

"So did you make it on time before the postman came?" she asked me.

"Yeah, I-," I said but I was stopped in mid sentence when her phone rang. She excused herself and picked up the phone.

"Yep, uh huh". When she was done, she told me that our car was ready to take us to the shopping centre to buy clothes and other stuff for my new room. I asked her if I was able to get anything from my old room and she informed me that most of my belongings were destroyed, besides the fact that they didn't think that it would be a good idea to have anything that would remind me of my old life. I nodded in a forced agreement and together, we walked to the gate.

"So, why do we need a car. What's wrong with your car?" I asked Jill.

"Oh well, Dr. Krantz thinks that we should have agents come with us in case we run into trouble," she explained

"Oh that's going to be fun for them" I said. She laughed. "So who is paying for all this? My mom and dad?" I asked her. I really hope that they don't have to, because now they have to fix the house and wouldn't it just be the topping to there day to have to bye me all new clothes and all.

"Nope, we are paying for all of it. Your parents have enough to deal with. Without worrying about the money." I was very happy to hear that my parent's didn't have to pay, but hearing that they were paying was kinda weird. I wouldn't think that they would pay

"Oh, that's good I wouldn't want them to have to be bothered with all of the money and other stuff" I said. and then we came up to the car and hopped in.

We drove for a while in the opposite direction of my home town. Throughout the whole trip I just listened to music on the radio while Jill conversed with the two male agents in the front of the car. When we pulled up to a mall and got out the agent who was in the passenger seat handed me a thing that looked like a pager and told me to hock it to my pants but make sure that it's not visible to people. I asked him why and he said that it was a tracking device and if anything happened I should just press this button (and he pointed to a button on the top) and they will come get me. But if for some reason they don't get there in time then they can track me from it. So basically I can't lose it. Jill and I got out of the car with the agents and we went one way and they (whose names are Paul and Tom) went the other way. I asked Jill why they don't stay with us and she said that they are just supposed to stay hidden so no one suspects anything.

Jill and I went to a couple of clothing stores and tried on some different skirts and pants with different shirts. It was a lot of fun just hanging out with Jill. She would go into a dressing room and I would keep throwing clothes into her and she would try them on and then she would do that for me and we would model them for each other. I liked to see Jill like this, it made me wonder if she had a boyfriend and what she did when she didn't work. It was a sham that she spends most o her time at Crane.

I bought two pairs of pants and a skirt that matched 4 shirts (which I also bought) at one store then we went to a everything store and I bought shampoo and a brush toothbrush and toothpaste and all of the other necessaries and then we went back to the clothes stores. It was pretty fun watch

We shopped until 5:00 and then ate supper at the little food court in the mall. I had a Subway sandwich and Jill had a Big Mac from MacDonalds And after supper we went back to the car where we met Paul and Tom and went back to Crane. At Crane I helped Tom and Paul bring my purchases my room. I looked at all the stuff that I got and hung up all my skirts and folded all of my pants and tops and put them away in the little set of draws, and then I had a shower and climbed into bed and before I fell asleep I thought that this is moving so fast and then I fell asleep.

The next morning I woke at 9 but stayed in bed thinking about what Rob was doing and what he was thinking and whether or not he had received my letter yet. I was thinking about this until there was a knock on my door and Jill came in and told me that I needed to get dressed and explained to me everything that we had to do today. We went to breakfast and Alan and Dr. Krantz came in and they told us how it went yesterday. Alan told me that he delivered my message and they said that they loved me too. I almost stared to cry right then and there. I could feel the tingly feeling at my nose but I managed to hold it in. After breakfast, Jill and Alan brought me to a room and in the room was a man that had a bunch of hair stuff set up in front of a mirror. He came over when we came in and held out his hand and introduced himself. His name was Jacques and he was so French that you could hardly tell what he was saying. He shook my hand with such force that it felt like it was going to come right out of its socket after he was done shaking my hand he brought me over to his chair and then said excusez and left to go talk in hushed voices with Jill and Alan. Then he came back and started to fuss with my hair then he told me to stand and then took me over to a sink and sat me down again. He washed and washed my hair before getting me to go back over to the chair in front of the mirror. He then proceeded to work at my hair. I just kept my eyes focused on other stuff not being able to watch as he started to cut my hair. Jill brought me a magazine and I read that while Jacques cut my hair. When the blow dryer came on it shocked me I wasn't paying attention to Jacques anymore and the pieces of my hair flying and when he announced that he was done I looked up and liked what I saw.

My hair was a tiny bit shorter (Ok so it wasn't that much hair that went flying) but he informed me that my hair can grow back but he had to give me a trim or I might get split ends. He had added blond highlights to it that looked natural and layered it then shaped it to my face. I really liked it and when Jill came forward to look at it she said that she liked it as well. After that, Jill and Alan took me to Dr. Krantz's office to 'talk' "Now Jess," Alan said "we have found you a new family that has agreed to take you in and let you live with them as their niece."

"Already? It's only been like 2 days" I was shocked and surprised and scared that they had already found me a new home. If I thought that it was going to fast before now it was really going to fast.

"Yes we do find that it has gone by fast but Mr. Drew has been with us since he graduated high school and is a very respective agent. He jumped at the chance to help us out. Anyway your background story is," and then he proceeded to go though this nice, long talk that lasted about an hour, but the gist was I was going to be Mr. Thomas Drew's niece from New York. His sister (my mom) and her husband (my dad) died in a car crash, and they were my only other living relatives in the states so I was sent to live with him and his wife my aunt Julia and there two kids Matt 12 and Lucy 10 in-get this California. Carmel, California to be exact. My name from here on would be Alexandra Deville (who came up with the names I have no idea), but a nick name that I have decided to use is Alex. My birthday is June 15th, 1988, which made me 17 (which you know was good that something was going to stay the same-my age I mean). My mom's name was Caitlin Drew but she changed her name to Deville once she was married and she was American. My dad's name was Davet Deville and was French. We lived in Brooklyn New York in a condo. My dad was a business man and my mom was a stay at home mom.

And that was my past from now on I was to think of myself as Alex and not as Jess. I was to think of Dave and Caitlin as my parents and not my real parents, I was a single child not the youngest of 3. 'Man this was gong to be hard' I thought as Dr. Krantz told me all this. And with that Dr Krantz let me go back to my room while he made some calls to get a newspaper article made up that announced the crash that killed my 'parents' and to get me a new birth certificate and medical records. I personally never knew that there was so much to do to get everything changed, but I suppose that they can't have any holes in my new life.

ROB'S P.O.V

It's been three days since Jess' house has been broken into and even though she said that she would call, I have still yet to hear from her. I have gone to her house and called her house but nobody is there. The front door of her place has been fixed and there are trucks outside her house that say stuff like 'construction' on it yet no one from her family is there. My mom goes to work everyday but says that Mr. Mastriani is never there. All the work is being called in and the assistant manger is running it. I have tried calling Jess's cell but a message just comes up and says 'the person you are trying to reach has their phone disconnected' I feel like I am going to go crazy not knowing what has happened to her.

I was out in the barn working on my bike trying to take my mind off of Jess for a minute when I heard a car pull up into the driveway. Thinking that it was my mom getting home from the grocery store. I go out to help her bring in the groceries. To my surprise when I walked out I saw a white truck with 'MAIL' written on the side. I walked up and saw a man that looked like he has gone though more then his fair share of wear and tear. The man who looked to be only 35ish walked to the back of the truck, opened the door and disappeared for a couple of minutes. When he came back out he was carrying a letter in his left hand. He started to walk to the front door when I called out "Can I help you?"

The man turned around and looked for me. When his eyes finally landed on me he called out "Are you Mr. Rob Wilkins?" he asked me.

"Yes," I said not liking the way that he was looking at me. He had this smirk on his face that mad me feel like he knew something that I didn't.

"This is for you" he said walking closer to me holding out the letter.

"Thanks" I said looking at the top left hand corner for the return address, trying to find out who it was from. There was no address the only my address in the center of the envelope the man turned and walked back to his truck, hopped in and drove away. I took the letter into the house and sat down at the kitchen table. I tore open the envelope, unfolded the letter and read the first line.

"Dear Rob,"

right then I know who this letter was from. After three days of waiting I can finally hear from Jess. It's not the best way to hear from her, I would have liked to have seen her in person or at least talked to her in person but this was going to have to do. I read the first paragraph and the note. I couldn't believe it. I knew that she was right that there was going to be a letter in the house. And what it said, I thought that, that so called XXX must be really sick. He didn't even give a reason as to why he was threatening her. But well I suppose that, that would give away who he was and then they could find a picture of him and Jess could just find him and then this would be all over. I went back to reading the letter.

I have to say that it gave me the creeps. After they showed us the note they gave me the news that the letter wasn't the warning. The real warning was Chigger, they killed him. I couldn't believe it, that freak killed my dog. This XXX guy didn't leave a finger print or anything to identify him. They think that he might be a pro or already convicted of a felon. I personally don't know what he could be, but I do know what he is, he's a life ruiner. How else other than the obvious reason?

I can't believe that the maniac killed her dog. Jess loved that dog so much, even though I never really got why she liked it so much but she did.

Well, Dr. Krantz gave us 2 choices, the first one was that we could just go along with our life and act as nothing happened. The only thing was that everyone in my family would have to have bodyguards with them everywhere they went. The second choice was that we could be put in this thing like the witness protection program and be given new names and all of that stuff with a new location. My parents didn't know what to pick. They were saying all the pros and cons for everything. I couldn't stand it anymore so I went to go find Dr. Krantz and asked him if it was possible for me to just get relocated. My parents weren't happy about this but they agreed and now I am at Crane waiting for all the paper work to be done and for them to find me a new family type thing to go live with.

I can't believe it. She chose to go. She's gone. That's why no one is at her house. I felt so bad I never got to tell her how I felt-feel, about her. She knows that I like her but she doesn't know that I love her. It scares me so much. Whenever I am around her she makes me want to do things that I really shouldn't be doing. We're both too young. Look at how far we got last time we were together! I really don't think I would have been able to stop if my mom didn't come home and the thing that scared me the most is that I don't think I wanted to stop.

That is how he is a life ruiner. As far as I'm concerned, I might not see you or my family or friends again. I know that this really sucks and you are probably thinking that I am stupid to go walking back into Crane willingly but Rob this is my family that we are talking about, I couldn't make them move just because some freak is after me. Mike and Doug are doing so good and Doug, well god knows what will happen with Doug if an FBI agent had to follow him around 24-7. They did post people around the house for a bit but they will go away soon.

I know that she would do anything to make sure Doug is safe but I never thought that she would stop her life here and start over in a new place. But then again Jess alway's puts other people first and doesn't care if her own life is put on the line. She is always running to help kids who have been kidnapped or are lost, even if there is a chance that she could get hurt in the process.

I want you to forget all about me and once you find the right girl then marry her and love her like I love you. Even though you won't know where I am I will always know where you are and I am hoping that you will be happy. Who knows if we will ever see each other again, they may never find this guy ever. But then they could find him in a week, a month, or even a year. I hope it doesn't take long, but it might take forever. I love you Rob and hope that I will see you soon.

Wishing you the best and always loving you

Jess

I finished the letter just as my mom walked in the front door. "Rob, honey is everything alright?" my mom asked me.

"Yeah, mom everything is alright" I said folding the letter back up "Why wouldn't everything be alright?" I asked her back.

"Well Rob, one I am your mother and I know when something is bugging you and two, you're crying" I never even noticed that I had started to cry.

"Oh...well it's nothing. I just got word of where Jess is," I said and while wiping my eye's.

"Oh, and where is she?" my mom asked.

"She got a threatening letter, and she has to leave."

"What do you mean she has to leave?" my mom asked.

"It's like the witness protection program she said. And it's just her that's leaving, not her whole family" I said.

"When will she be back?" my mom asked me.

"She said that she could be back in a week, a month, a couple of years, or never" I said then added "Mom I can't believe what she asked me to do" I said looking my mom in the eye.

"What did she ask you to do?" my mom asked me while taking a seat next to me and wrapping her arms around me.

"She asked me to move on from her and find another girlfriend. One that is better then her. She said that I deserved so much better then her but she is wrong. She is the best and I was lucky to even have that" I said crying some more I can't believe me crying. I never cry but yet here I am crying-and in front of my mother no less. "I never even got to tell her that I love her" I said and my mom lifted her head off of my shoulder and looked me in the eye.

"You have never told her that you love her?"

"No" I said sheepishly

"But Rob she has said it to you. I have heard her say it to you every time that you two split apart for a minute" she said shaking her head "I never even realized that you have never said it back to her."

"I wanted to, but I was just to scared" I said and broke the eye contact.

"Why were you too scared?" my mom asked me.

"I really can't say why. It's not like I don't love her and it's not like I think that she doesn't love me it's just...I dunno. I just...can't say" I said and we talked for a little bit more and then my mom got up and wen to start supper while I went for a drive on my Indian. Or tried to go but it just didn't feel the same riding without her arms around me. I felt like she died because I might not get see here again.

And this is the letter that Jess/Alex wrote to Rob

Dear Rob,

I am so sorry that I couldn't call last night. Dr. Krantz, Jill and Alan didn't think it would be a good idea. I am actually writing this without their permission, but when have I ever asked for permission to do something before? Never, so why start now? I am writing this from Crane (hopefully you won't have to bust me out this time). You probably want to know what happened and why I'm at Crane. When we got to the police station Jill asked for just me and my parents to come with them so we could talk. When we got in the conference room Dr. Krantz told us that they had found a letter addressed to me. When they showed us the note my mom freaked out, the note said:

Lightening girl,

You're going to regret the day you got hit by lightening

If you don't disappear and STOP finding kids.

XXX

P.S. This is just a warning. The next time, one your family won't be so lucky.

I have to say that it gave me the creeps. After they showed us the note they gave me the news that the letter wasn't the warning. The real warning was Chigger, they killed him. I couldn't believe it, that freak killed my dog. This XXX guy didn't leave a finger print or anything to identify him. They think that he might be a pro or already convicted of a felon. I personally don't know what he could be, but I do know what he is, he's a life ruiner. How else other than the obvious reason?

Well Dr. Krantz gave us 2 choices, the first one was that we could just go along with our life and act as nothing happened. The only thing was that everyone in my family would have to have bodyguards with them everywhere they went. The second choice was that we could be put in this thing like the witness protection program and be given new names and all of that stuff with a new location. My parents didn't know what to pick. They were saying all the pros and cons for everything. I couldn't stand it anymore so I went to go find Dr. Krantz and asked him if it was possible for me to just get relocated. My parents weren't happy about this but they agreed and now I am at Crane waiting for all the paper work to be done and for them to find me a new family type thing to go live with.

That is how he is a life ruiner. As far as I know I might not see you or my family or friends again. I know that this really sucks and you are probably thinking that I am stupid to go walking back into Crane willingly but Rob this is my family that we are talking about, I couldn't make them move just because some freak is after me. Mike and Doug are doing so good and Doug, well god knows what will happen with Doug if an FBI agent had to follow him around 24-7. They did post people around the house for a bit but they will go away soon.

I will always remember all the 'adventures that we had rescuing kid's and bringing them back to their loved one's. I will remember the last night that we had together watching the movie at your mom's house. I want you to say goodbye to her for me and to Gary.

I wish that I could say one last good-bye in person, but I guess this will have to do. Rob I want you to know that I love you and always have. This is the hardest yet the most obvious thing I have had to do. I want you to go on with your life and get a new girlfriend that doesn't have a stupid gift that almost gets you killed every time that you go out. You deserve so much better. I want you to forget all about me and once you find the right girl then marry her and love her like I love you. Even though you won't know where I am I will always know where you are and I am hoping that you will be happy. Who knows if we will ever see each other again, they may never find this guy ever. But then they could find him in a week, a month, or even a year. I hope it doesn't take long, but it might take forever. I love you Rob and hope that I will see you soon.

Wishing you the best and always loving you

Jess

p.s. What ever you do, don't wait for me.