Page 18 of Jack Raider

“Hello,” she said.

“Mable, this is Jack Raider. I wanted to ask you about the man who looked like me. Do you think he could be my father?”

“Jack, he could be your twin, just a little older. If you'd like to speak with my daughter, I can arrange that.”

“Where does she live?”

“She lives not far from here, but as often as I see her, you would think she lived on the other side of the country. Why don’t you come early on Thursday, and I’ll take you to her?”

“Thank you. I’ll see you Friday morning.” As soon as I hung up, I knew she would call Grandma, who would call Eloise, but I needed to know if my father hadn’t left me.

Was he in an accident and didn’t know who he was, or did he recall having a son? He told me he would return for me. Maybe he had lost his memory.

Thirty minutes later, someone knocked on the door. I knew it was Nate before I saw him standing there. I’m going with you to see this man when you go because I know you’ll want to see him for yourself.”

“I don’t need you holding my hand,” I said.

“I know you don’t. Fraiser is going with us,” Nate said. “We are having a meeting in ten minutes.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I give Wolf his medicine. I swear he knows I put those pills in his food. I have to provide him with steak before he will eat it.

I almost had to wrestle Wolf to get him to take his medicine. He had already eaten the steak when I saw the pill lying next to his bowl. I wrapped it in cheese and ensured he swallowed it before leaving for the meeting.

The meeting was always held at Frasier Motorcycle Shop, mainly because that’s where we all hung out.

I’m going with Nate and Jack to Southern California. If anything comes up, don’t hesitate to call me,” Fraiser said.

“Wolf will have to stay with someone brave enough to feed him his pills. Who will watch him for me?” I asked.

He can stay with me,” Axel said, I enjoy having a wolf at my place. “Do I need to carry him outside to use the bathroom?”

“He should be okay with that. However, he needs to take his medicine, and I’ll have to show you how to apply the cream to his injuries. Which reminds me, has anyone heard anything about someone setting traps?” I asked.

“I heard some people talking about the additional traps they had found on their property. The law is currently investigating the matter,” Max said.

“I hope they find someone soon. I don’t want a child stepping into a trap,” Fraiser said.

Call me if you hear anything else, and be cautious while you're running. I would have stepped in that trap if Wolf werebehind me. Instead, he got caught in it. We’ll find out who’s responsible for this, and when we do, we’ll take care of them. The police will issue a warning, and they’ll continue to do it,” I said.

We were up and ready early Friday. After reaching Kalispell, we headed to Mabel's. I saw Grandma pull into her driveway. I hugged the ladies, and they were ready to leave. They both climbed into the back with Nate and gave me directions.

“Do you think she has any photos I can look at?” I asked.

“I asked her the same question, and she’s putting together the photos she has. She did say she had some of the boys for sure. She said she might have a couple of their dad. Are you anxious about looking at the photos?”

“No, I don’t allow myself to become anxious. I fight hand-to-hand combat, I fly fighter jets at sixteen hundred miles an hour; I can’t afford to be anxious ever.”

“How do you keep yourself from becoming anxious?” Grandma asked. “I would love to learn that trick.”

“It takes training and learning how to control your mind when that feeling starts creeping into your head.”

“I doubt I would ever be able to control my mind, I can’t even control my mouth,” Mable said, and we all laughed. “Jack, I don’t want you worrying about what kind of man this person is.

“I asked my daughter,” Mable said, “and she told me he’s very kind. But she’s a little worried about you reaching out.”

“She doesn’t have to worry about me,” I said. “If heismy father, I’m not looking to upend his life. I still have doubts that this is even real. But if he is... I won’t bother him. He’ll never know I asked about him.”

“I don’t think that’s what Mable meant,” Grandma chimed in. “What people are wondering is—what kind of life did he have before he lost his memory? Was he married? Was he on the runfrom the law? Did he hit his wife? Leave someone who needed him?”

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