Chapter 4
Sticking to big cities and blending in worked to keep them safe. It cost more, but with both himself and Fi, they could pool their talents and resources to make it work. As Sean and Shannon McKellar, they slipped into an Irish neighborhood in Indianapolis, found jobs that paid the bills, and settled in for awhile until it was time to meet Sam, or someone figured out that they weren't who they said they were. So far, it seemed to be far too easy to take on new identities, forge documents, and use the new Social Security numbers that he'd obtained through a trusted source. Ever day, he lived with the fear that someone would figure it all out, and the CIA would be knocking on their door. That's why they had to move. In a few days, they would be leaving to meet Sam in Topeka. After that, he had no clue where they would go.
"Sean, I'm home!"
He turned and smiled at his wife as she entered the sunny kitchen. That was one thing he'd done right. When he and Shannon were in Buffalo, they got married. It was a bittersweet ceremony because none of their family or friends were there. He'd always thought that Sam would be his best man. His mom would have been crying her eyes out with happiness. He shook away the sad thoughts and kept the smile on his face as he took her into his arms. "Good to see you, my love!" He kissed her, pulled away, and studied her. He knew without her saying a word that she had a rough day. She nestled in his arms. "What happened?"
"Just tired, sweetheart. Workin' in a factory is not my cuppa tea, but we do what we must to get by." She responded as she looked up at him. "And you?"
"You should have joined me workin' at SecureTech."
"Aye, but sittin' around all day starin' at computers isn't exactly my idea of a job. 'Tis more like a chore." She patted his stomach, where a slight bulge formed. "'Tis takin' a toll on your physique, my dear."
"What's your excuse," Sean asked teasingly as he placed his hand on her stomach and rubbed it.
"Ah, you're a sassy one, aren't ya?" She laughed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him deeply.
Sean broke the contact and muttered, "'Twas that very thing that got us into trouble." He laughed and he held her closer, effectively hiding the fact that he worried about their future, and now, with a baby on the way, even more so.
"Hello. I hope I'm not interruptin' anything."
Sean and Shannon turned to look at the old woman who stood in the open door. "No, Mrs. Flannery, Shannon just got home. Anything we can do for ye?"
"I was wonderin' if ye'd like to have dinner with me? Corned beef and cabbage, with those little potatoes that you love so much, Sean." She smiled at them.
He and Shannon tried hard to not get too familiar with people, and through most of their journey they'd been quite successful. But then they made the mistake of renting the upstairs flat from Mrs. Flannery, an old, lonely widow. She took them under her wing, gave them useful tips for getting around the city and finding jobs, and generally made herself a useful asset. Over the past couple of months, she efficiently wormed her way into their hearts, which made leaving at the end of the month painful. The only thing that hurt more was leaving his mother behind in Miami when they went on the run.
Shannon said, "We'd love to, Mrs. Flannery! Thank you!"
"We'll be right down, ma'am," Sean added.
"Alright." Mrs. Flannery gazed at the hold the two had on each other, and her eyes filled with memories and longing. A soft sigh came out of her, and she turned and descended the stairs.
"Sean, I feel so bad for her," Shannon whispered. She blinked away the tears that seemed to come too easily these days. "I'm going to be sorry to leave her. Maybe we should stay. We'll go to Topeka and meet with Sam, then come back here."
"No, Shannon. We've got to keep moving," Sean replied softly. Even in private, he held staunchly to them using their fake names to avoid the chance of slipping up public. "Now, let's go have dinner with Mrs. Flannery. Enjoy the time we have left with her."
Shannon nodded, swiped at her eyes, and moved toward the stairs.
Later that night, after they went to bed, Sean and Shannon discussed their upcoming trip. "It should take only about nine hours or so to get to Topeka. If we leave the day before, we can stay overnight and be sure to get there in plenty of time."
"Sounds good." Shannon said. She let out a breath and snuggled into him more. "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Sam. So many times I catch myself wondering how he's doing. How your mom's holding up..."
"Jesse..."
She let out a small laugh. "Jesse is safe, I'm sure. He couldn't have gotten that job in the Caymans at a better time." Then she sobered. "I hope your mom isn't worrying herself sick over us."
"We'll figure out a way to contact her one of these days." He swallowed the emotion rising up in him. He never thought he'd miss his mom as much as he did. For so many years she was insecure,needy, and tough to be around. His being in Miami and getting her involved in their cases gave her confidence. She'd become a stronger person, and he thought she could handle staying behind. The CIA had no reason to harass her. They might observe her for awhile to see if he came home, but otherwise she should have been left alone.
"I wonder how long we'll have to run. I hope it's not forever."
"Aye, Shannon. We just have to find a place where we can stay permanently, where people won't be into our business." He paused. "And I can ditch this accent."
She laughed. "I used to think I sounded like a leprechaun. I know I've got nothin' on ye, Sean!"
He growled and nibbled on her ear, causing her to laugh out loud. She attacked his neck with kisses and set him on fire, and he loved her until they both tired and fell asleep in each other's arms. He heard thunder, and rain tapped on the window. For a moment, he wondered where Sam was, and if he had shelter from the storm. For some reason, he couldn't get it out of his head that something was wrong, and the thought wouldn't vacate his brain as he drifted off to sleep.
A loud roll of thunder interrupted one of Jake's nightmares and woke him from a deep sleep. He bolted upright in bed, and pain caused his breath to suck out of him so fast, he suddenly felt as if he were being suffocated. Lightning illuminated the room and someone who stood in the door watching him. Jake suddenly found a breath to cry out, and he rolled off the bed, got down on the floor, and fought to get out of the covers as he searched in vain for his gun.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, Jake." Daniel came around the bed and turned on the lamp. He looked down into a pair of terrified brown eyes full of pain. He gave him a reassuring smile, grasped his arms, and helped him to sit up on the bed as he spoke to him calmly. "Settle down, Jake, you're safe here. Nobody's gonna hurt you."
"Who... who are you?" Jake sat on the bed and wrapped his hands around his arms as if he were shivering from the cold, but it was in fact fear and shock that gripped him.
"My name is Daniel. You're on my ranch. My wife Madeline, and our daughter Jolene and son Billy Ray are here. Nobody else."
"M-Madeline? Maddie's here?" He looked around the room, his eyes darting about, trying to find her. "Where is she? Maddie! Maddie!" He tried to get up, but Daniel held him down.
Madeline came running, but when she entered the room, she discovered that it wasn't Daniel who called her.
Daniel spoke. "Maddie, I think we better call Henry now."
"Alright." She stared at Jake, and his eyes never left her even as she turned and left the room.
"Dan... Daniel?" Jake turned to him, and in the lamplight his eyes glistened. "Daniel, that's not her. That's not Madeline." He sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
Daniel gave him a soft smile. "That's my wife." He got off his knees and gently pushed Jake onto his back. "You should lie down and relax. Our friend is a doctor. He'll come and take a look at you, and hopefully we won't have to take you to the hospital."
Jake struggled again, only he quickly ran out of steam. "No, no hospitals! No doctors. I-I can't... ahhh..." He fell silent, lost in unconsciousness again.
"Henry's coming, even in this storm."
"Thanks, Maddie."
She came into the room and stood beside Daniel. The stranger lay on the bottom sheet, but the covers were still pooled on the floor. She reached down, pulled the sheet and blanket up and over his body. When her hand touched him, she pulled back. "Daniel, he feels warm." She leaned over and rested a hand on his forehead, just beneath the bandages that covered the wound on his head. "Yes, he's definitely warm!"
"I know, darlin'. That's one of the reasons I wanted you to call the doc. I think Jake is a very ill man."
Henry agreed with Daniel's diagnosis. "I'd be happier if we could take him to the city and get a CT scan and all that, but he's probably just better off staying here and not being moved."
"My thoughts exactly, Henry." Daniel glanced at his watch and his eyes moved up to the cathedral ceiling and the wooden rafters. "Sounds like the storm is over."
"Good. Maybe that poor boy can get some rest now." Henry got up and stretched. "Y'all want me to stay, just in case?"
"If you wouldn't mind, Henry." Maddie smiled. "I've got the second guest room ready for you."
"Thank you kindly, Maddie. I'll see y'all in the mornin', or sooner if our patient wakes up."
"We'll take turns watching over him," Daniel said. "I'll do first watch." He turned back to the room where Jake lay.
Madeline went to bed, but Jolene stayed up a little longer. She found several hits on Jake Baldwin, but nothing matched. One obit on a guy from Ohio who died a few months ago, but he didn't look anything like their Jake Baldwin, and he was too young, in his 40s. Their guy was easily in his 50s, and his driver's license confirmed it. Tiring of her fruitless search, Jolene finally went to bed well after midnight. She could sleep in if she wanted to the next day, but she had a feeling she would be up bright and early, searching again. Momma was right. If there was someone out there who knew him, they needed to be told that he was in their home, injured. He needed his family, if he had one.
In the morning, Jolene went through Jake's baggage, which consisted of a large, worn duffel. It looked as if he'd had it a long time. The first thing she noticed was that near the handle a series of light gray splotches ran the length of the material. It looked as if it had been bleached. Below the line, a larger circular stain revealed minute traces of something else, lettering or a design, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Inside, she found t-shirts, jeans, a pair of khakis, a couple of cotton shirts, and underwear and socks. It all fit in neatly and everything was folded precisely. She'd never seen anything so efficiently packed before, and certainly not in a duffel. She also found a small folio that contained a passport and a Social Security card. They matched the name on the driver's license, and the passport had the same address. It was recently issued and none of the pages had any stamps in them. However, she couldn't find anything that provided a contact. Very strange!
Jolene placed everything back into the duffel the way she found it, zipped it, and went back to Jake's bedside. He never once woke up while she went through his things. But when she sat in the squeaky rocking chair, his cheek twitched, and slowly, his eyes opened. He squinted at the light in the room.
"Is it too bright? I can close the blinds if ya want."
"No, it's fine." He turned his head carefully to glance out the window. A wide open field with trees on the horizon greeted him, the lush greens accented by drops of rain left behind from the night before.
"How're ya feelin'?"
"Like I'm on fire. My back... stings. And my head is pounding. I need something for that." He looked around at the night stand, hoping to see something there. "I've got some Percocet somewhere, just can't remember where I left it."
"I didn't find anything in your bag, and even if I did, you can't have it," she answered gruffly. "You have a head injury, so we can't give you anything stronger than aspirin. It's too dangerous."
"Well then, please, give me what you can."
Jolene felt sorry for him. She remembered how much she hurt once when she fell off a horse as it was jumping and she was about ten feet in the air. She broke her leg, and it was excruciating. After helping him sit up to take the aspirin, she helped him burrow into a pile of pillows and half sit up in bed.
"Does that help?" She smiled at him.
"Yeah. Thanks." He looked around the simply furnished room. "Where am I?"
"You're on our ranch. We're about ten miles away from Alberta, Texas."
He closed his eyes and swallowed. "Yeah, I remember that sign. Just before..."
"It's okay. Do you remember anything else? Like where you're from? Do you have anybody that we can contact?"
"No. Nobody to contact. I, uh, I just wander around the country. Looking for a place to settle down, that's all."
"I see." She swept his hair back from his forehead. "You feel cooler today. Maybe you're a fast healer." She smiled. Her hand went back to his hair and she combed through it with her fingers. "You've got nice hair, Jake. I don't know why you think you gotta color it."
Jake seemed to enjoy her touch, but at the mention of his coloring, he frowned. "Long story. It's just better that way."
Jolene nodded. "Well, if you're that set on it, maybe we can touch it up while you're here. Your roots are showing and along the sides here, you're gettin' gray."
"Thanks. I'd appreciate that."
"Jolene. My name's Jolene."
"Ah, Jolene." His eyelids grew heavy and he fought to keep them open, but it was a losing battle.
She stood as Madeline entered the room. "Looks like my shift is over, Jake. I need to run into town, so I'll go get some color to cover all that up, and if you're up to it maybe this afternoon I can take care of that for ya."
Jake nodded, wondering why Jolene was being so nice to him. He was too tired to think about it. Madeline fed him some soup, and afterwards he took a nap. While deep in dreams, he murmured in his sleep. His voice came out choked when he softly called her name. "Elsa. Elsa, baby!" He woke up, and Madeline was stroking his forehead, soothing him with soft sounds, like he imagined Mike's mom would do if she were there.
"Who's Elsa? Is she your wife?"
He kept the panic out of his voice as he answered. "Uhhh, no, just a friend."
"What's her last name? Where can we find her? Is she from Ohio too?"
Jake looked at her and lied. "I... I can't remember. I'm sorry, Madeline." The distressed look on her face made him sad. She was nice, and he didn't want to hurt her.
"Shh, it's okay, Jake. When your head gets better, you'll start to remember things again. Just sleep right now. That's what your body needs." She managed to soothe him back to slumber. As he drifted off, he remembered how good it felt with Elsa, and a new pain sliced through his heart. "I love you, Elsa," he mumbled.
Madeline sighed. Poor man! He's so lost! While he slept, she prayed that some day he would be found.