Page 110 of Irons

“One of them looked so much like my Robert.” She broke down again and sobbed. “So handsome, but I only got a glimpse before the General wrapped me in his arms and carried me away. I screamed for you.”

“I remember a woman screaming.” Travis said.

“He told me you were on a mission. That you were detrimental in saving lives, and I could not distract you. I screamed and yelled at him. He lied and said you were separated from the military. He denied lying and said you were a part of a secret community of special ops agents. That you were contracted and part of such an elite task force that he couldn’t share any other details with me.”

“Pennington did the right thing.” Travis remarked.

“He said the people involved, like you, recovered missing people in foreign countries and took military contracts. That you could do things the military couldn’t because of certain treaties and laws. That the only way you could do this work was as a civilian. That you were okay and with good people.”

“That’s true.” Travis agreed.

“Alistair’s son had hit the news not long before this. He attended a premier with his now wife and they said he was former military. He later married Morgan Rossi, and it came out that he was black ops, this was within days or maybe weeks of the attacks. I had searched for your photos online, the ones your father found, and they must have been taken down fromthe internet. When he died Emma destroyed a lot of his things. But she didn’t know I stole one.” She reached for her purse then pulled a photo out. “I once told Wrenly I had something for you. This is what I had.” She handed him the photo and it was all the Originals in the Army fatigues. “One of those men was Alistair’s son.”

“How does this story end, mom?” Travis was looking down at the photo.

“It ends with a few Google searches. I researched Alistair’s son and Morgan Rossi. The media said she lived with her husband in a very private and heavily guarded community. I remembered what Cal Pennington said about your team, but I couldn’t find anything current to link you to the Creed’s, until you became President of Creed’s Motorsports.”

“What did you mean about my file?” I asked.

“I could hope and pray he would come to me all I wanted, but that didn’t seem to be working. I couldn’t search him out, like Robert said, I had no right. His last wish to me was that I not bother you, Travis, and just wait for you to come home. He said forcing myself on you would just drive you away further.”

“And?” I asked.

“I’ve been friends with Heather for years. She married Clint. I heard all about your friendship, how heartbroken you were over Travis, and of course I attended your sons funeral and I saw your pain. That hit me right here.” Paula put her fist against her chest. “Seeing what toll, the death of a son did to you. It scared me, because I was slowly accepting the fact that Bobby would never have a funeral. Your loss was sudden, my loss and finally my acceptance took thirty years. After seeing the pain on your face, you stayed with me. I kept wondering if Travis could have healed your wounds.”

“And…go on.” Travis prompted her.

“Heather called and told me you were coming home for a visit. I immediately called my friend Dee and begged for a favor. Somehow I needed to get you and Travis to cross paths. I thought if I did that, you would lure him home. I didn’t ask for anything but that one favor. Somehow for the FBI to get you to Cold Springs. It could have been an assignment or a case, anything, I didn’t care. I knew Travis was there and it was a very small town. Dee called me back within a few hours and told me it was taken care of. She knew our story because we were in that bunker together.”

Her Story

Travis

She was right. If she would have showed up at Creed’s Lake, I would have shut her out. She had no right to come searching for me after all these years. Her story was insane, but I could see truth in it. But it also didn’t matter. She got what she wanted and also some things she didn’t want. Like memories and bottled up feelings. That doesn’t mean I could invite her into my life.

“We had lunch before you left for Indiana, Wrenly. I planted a little seed of knowledge in you when I said I wanted to find Travis.” Mom said.

“You still haven’t answered how you know about my work, who I do it for and everything you said earlier.” I needed to know, for the sake of Creed’s Lake.

“I’m not unfamiliar with private contractors, Travis. There is a group I was approached by concerning Bobby’s case. I signed a non-disclosure, and they told me how it works, typically by working outside the law. Of course that is pretty much all I can say about them. Well, that and I couldn’t pay their price. I would have cut off my right arm for their help, but I simply couldn’t come up with that kind of money. They said they wouldfind him, but I would never know the details of how they found him.”

I growled under my breath. Deacon Alexander’s group, competition of ours. They liked missing kids cases but never adjusted their prices for the middle class. People sold their livelihoods, their homes and everything they had to pay the price of their contracts.

Suddenly it hit me. “That’s why you did all this? You learned about me and lured me home to help you find Bobby.”

Her eyes jerked up to meet mine in a panic. “No! Not at all! I swear to you, that’s not it at all. It didn’t cross my mind because of what Cal Pennington told me. He never once mentioned investigations or missing children. He said you recover missing people from foreign countries. That you took military contracts. He also said I could get you killed if you were ever identified by some very bad people. The only reason I know you have knowledge of Bobby’s death is because of what you said. You weren’t making a guess, you were making a statement.”

I looked down at my hands, then leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I looked at the floor. Some people say Magnus and I have the gift of empathy, but sometimes it’s a curse. I’m sitting in front of a woman, never mind that she gave birth to me, she’s a woman that has searched for her baby for thirty years. I have the answers she needs to find some sort of closure or peace finally. I’m not sure it’ll give her closure. Is that even possible for a mother who lost a child? I’ve been told what kind of woman she was before I came along. I’ve heard the stories of her kindness and how much she loved us. Hell, her kindness saved my life and hers. She showed kindness to the boy that took Bobby, and she has no idea.

“Please, Travis.” Mom begged.

Wrenly put her hand on my arm. “Maybe go drink a beer, call Creed, just take a breather.”

I nodded as I looked at the floor. “Yeah, how much time do you think we have before your family comes home?”

“I’ll shoot them a text right now so you can have all the time you need. It’s still early, maybe they can catch a movie.”

I looked at Wrenly as I went to stand. “Thank you.” I left the room and grabbed a beer. How dare that woman come to me and ask for anything? This wasn’t just some selfish secret I was keeping. It could destroy Creed’s life and my own. We could go to prison or face the death penalty. There are protections put into place, but not for this. There was no contract, no orders given, and it wasn’t self-defense. It was murder, hell it was three murders.

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