Chapter 1

It was a strange feeling to step on American soil again. They had been traveling for almost a year. Europe in particular had long captivated them. They had spent two months in Ireland alone, the soft hills of Connemara and the myths that dominated the country had particularly fascinated them. Now Steve and Catherine were standing at Los Angeles Airport, looking out for Mary, Steve's sister, who was supposed to pick them up.

Steve had promised to come to Joan's birthday, and he had kept his promise. Spotting Mary's car in heavy traffic, he called Catherine's attention and shouldered his duffel bag, throwing it into the back of the old Jeep Wrangler moments later. After a brief greeting, Catherine and Steve sat in Mary's car and she threaded her way back into the oncoming after-work traffic.

"Sorry I'm late folks, but the traffic at this hour is really hell. I already know why I usually avoid those times."

"Don't you have to go to town?"

"No, I have a pretty well-paying job right around the corner from me now. And right next door is Joan's school."

"Where is she, anyway?"

"At a friend's house, she invited them to her birthday party on short notice. I haven't even told her yet that you're arriving today."

Mary glanced at the clock.

"So in three hours I have to collect them in Oakwood."

"I could do that, couldn't I?"

"That would be great Steve, thanks."

Deftly, Mary continued to steer the car through the masses of vehicles until they finally entered somewhat calmer waters. Finally they reached the Linnie Canal in Venice and Mary parked the car in front of the house.

"Come on in first, you must be tired, right!"

Steve and Catherine hadn't said anything for a while and their eyes looked dull.

"Yeah, a few minutes couldn't hurt. What time do I have to be at Oakwood? 9:00?"

Mary nods. "Yeah, I'll wake you up when you need to go, okay? For now, come with me."

She climbed the stairs to the upper floor and opened a door.

"Small but mighty."

It was a cozy little guest room with its own small bathroom. Catherine and Steve fell exhausted onto the soft double bed and were asleep shortly after. Quietly, Marie closed the door behind her.

She was glad that her brother was finally near her again. Despite the fact that she lived in Venice and he in Hawaii, they saw each other quite regularly. Almost a whole year without him, only via video chat, phone or text messages had been unusual.

Mary glanced at her watch again. She still had some time, so she sat down on her terrace for a while with a fresh cup of coffee. Sometimes she missed Hawaii, but she had grown up here and had her friends here. Her cell phone snapped her out of her musings.

"Yes?"

"Mommy can I stay a little longer? We want to watch another movie. Pleaseeee."

"Until what time?"

"Until 10:00?"

"All right. Uncle Steve will come get you then." She heard a squeak.

"Is he here yet?"

"Yes, I just picked him and Catherine up from the airport."

"Yay, see you later mom."

"See ya."

Mary shook her head. It was fine with her, so Steve could sleep a little longer and get rid of the jet lag.

Just as Mary was about to wake Steve, she heard footsteps behind her.

"Weren't you going to wake me up?"

He still looked tired, but fitter than a few hours ago.

"Joan is allowed to stay a little longer, her friend wanted to watch a movie with everyone. I would have woken you up now."

She handed him her car keys.

"She's looking forward to seeing you."

Steve beamed. He loved his niece and was looking forward to seeing her again. Steve gave Mary a fleeting kiss on the forehead and then left the house.

He was always amazed at how well the Jeep still did despite its advanced age. Maybe his sister should have been a mechanic; she kept her car in great shape. Steve clipped his cell phone into the cradle on the dashboard and called up the address Mary had sent him. Then he followed the directions on the device and was on the scene in about twenty minutes. There he parked Mary's Jeep and walked up to the house. He hadn't rung the doorbell yet when the door was already yanked open and Joan flew into his arms.

"Uncle Steve!"

"Joan, hey, big girl!"

His muscular arms wrapped around the slender girl. Excited, she quickly disengaged from him.

"Pam! Kim! Ashley! This is my uncle, the head of the famous task force we were talking about at school the other day."

Confused, Steve looked at her.

"You what?"

Her blonde hair flew in her face as she began to nod vigorously.

"Yeah, we had the topic of 'what to do when you're approached' and stuff like that. And that's where we got into the different police departments. L.A. has a task force like that, and the model was the one in Hawaii, and that's when I told them that my uncle runs it but is on sabbatical!"

Somewhat embarrassed, Steve blushed as the other girls looked at him with wide eyes. "Did you bring your gun?"

"Can I see the badge?"

"Is your team there too?"

"Girls, now please let the poor man come in first. Hey, I'm Brad, Pam's father."

The man held out his hand to him and invited him inside.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you, that's very kind, I actually just came to pick up my niece."

Then he turned to the girls.

"Sorry, I don't have my team, badge, or gun with me."

Looking at their disappointed faces, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through the photos. After a lengthy search, which was met with impatient grumbling, he found a picture of himself and the team and held it out to the girls.

"Wow."

"That's a big gun, though."

"Is that your girlfriend?"

"Cool."

After Steve had answered some more questions, he was glad when he finally sat in the car with Joan. Joan could tell that something was bothering him.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Steve, shouldn't I have told you that?"

"What, sorry, my mind was just elsewhere. What did you ask?"

"Shouldn't I have told my friends about your job?"

Lovingly, Steve smiled at Joan.

"Yes, of course Joanie. I ..., you know, I haven't been on O'ahu in a long time now, and someone else is in charge right now, and I don't even know what's going to happen yet." Thoughtfully, Joan looked at him from the side.

"But Mom says you always liked doing that and just needed some space."

Steve gave Joan a nondescript look.

"Yeah, maybe. Maybe your mother is right about that. We'll see. So now tell me, what all did you guys do today and what's planned for your big day tomorrow?"

Joan excitedly told him about the pool party, the movie, and that she was going to celebrate her birthday tomorrow with her friends on the pier. The twenty minutes to Mary's house flew by in no time.