Untraceable (53 page)

From that point on, and sworn to secrecy, he
was slowly allowed to delve into what had been the career and lives
of previous generations of Gavarreens. He was, rather alarmingly,
fascinated. Micah and I both worried what he would conclude from
all this knowledge, (especially when he insisted on having his
father teach him how to shoot) but, looking back now, it was just
another way for him to dig down into his father’s deep
mindset.

I don’t know why I was concerned. I knew my
son well. He didn’t have any criminal bend in his consciousness,
but rather he had sharp discernment toward understanding criminal
minds. He used this information to excel in his chosen career. He
was in his third year at FSU and making top honors in his field.
Job offers from the CIA, FBI, and NSA had been plentiful, but he
was taking his time in deciding what he would do with his
life.

The part in all of this that I found hilarious
was when we came up to visit him during one of his breaks in his
second year and he told us all about this extremely intelligent
professor Williams, whose class he tried to get in his first year,
but couldn’t. He had to wait for an opening his second year. The
first day of class as everyone was being dismissed, the professor
asked Joshua to wait. He’d been going through Joshua’s records and
noticed, as he put it, “Your parents are pretty famous.”

I still remember my shock as my
son looked at me and said, “So, Mom you want to tell me about the
brawl at the beach where you knocked a woman out?” Yes, I knew his
professor very well. Professor
Kevin
Williams and I attended
Pensacola High School together! We had lost touch with Kevin over
the years, but now that once fifteen-year-old brainiac was teaching
our son criminal psychology. How ironic!

We went to visit Kevin, and he still had that
frumpy ‘I slept in my clothes,’ appearance. It made him look more
like the old television detective Colombo, but his mind was as
sharp as Einstein. He said he lost Carlie to an investment banker
who swept her off her feet a few years after high school. He also
said she wrote him many years later and said it was the worst
mistake of her life, and that she still loved him. But it was too
late. Kevin had married a sweet (and equally nerdy) university
science professor, Kalissa Temple. He said there was no way he
would have broken Kalissa’s heart to go running after the bombshell
who had broken his. I cried, but completely understood his
reasons

Our daughter, Annaleigh, or Leigh as we often
called her, was a blushing eighteen year old beauty who was in her
last year of high school. She could be, at times, deep and
unemotional like her dad, but mostly she came across as an
independent young woman who had a zest for life and adventure. She
hadn’t given firm thought to her future career, although she often
said she was leaning toward either being a financial analyst or
working in sports medicine. I wasn’t sure how she came up with such
a diverse pair of occupations to consider, but it didn’t matter to
me. She would decide at some point and whatever she chose, she
would have our full and enthusiastic support.

Our baby was our son Caleb, though hardly a
baby at 5’11” and 180 pounds (and he absolutely hated it when we
referred to him as ‘the baby’). He was a muscular and athletic
sixteen-year-old whose life goal, at the moment, was to become a
coach. He didn’t seem to care whether it was for the NFL,
college-level, or even high school level. He had the knack for
inspiring those on the field to try harder, do better, and work as
a team.

Micah seemed to think those traits came from
his uncle David. Yes, we gave up a long time ago calling him
uncle/grandpa David; it just became too confusing to people who
didn’t know us well. Mom was simply referred to as ‘Nanna’ by our
kids.

And, as much as I loved all three of my
children with every fiber of my being, I was done having babies. “I
think sixteen years is a bit far of a spread, don’t
you?”

“
I’m just warning you; you take
off ten or twenty years and I’m going to be chasing you all over
the place.”

“
Deal,” I whispered and then
covered his mouth for a sensual, long French kiss.

The fishing pole was dropped as his steel
bands wrapped me tightly into his embrace.

“
Hey,” Leigh yelled from the dock,
“get a room!” She burst into laughter and then was motioning us to
come back in.

I sighed and pulled away as he turned the key
and cranked the boat. I loved getting everyone together, but I also
dearly loved every minute with my passionate and sweet
husband.

We weren’t too far so it only took us a minute
or two. I threw Leigh the bow line as she pulled us against the
boat dock and wrapped the rope around the cleat.

“
Nanna and Uncle David just pulled
in,” she said, offering me her hand as I stepped onto the dock. I
stared up into her sweet face. She had her father’s eyes, but the
rest of her belonged to me from the shape of her lips to her silky,
straight, long brown hair. I wrapped my arm around her and gave her
a squeeze. “And when is Hunter arriving?”

She frowned, “I don’t know if he’s going to
come since Daddy and Uncle David scared the crap out of
him.”

Hunter was her newest boyfriend. I really
liked him. He was a senior and quarterback for the football team,
but that didn’t impress Micah. He and David took great delight in
intimidating boys who took interest in ‘our girls.’ The girls
included my sisters/nieces Breelyn and Brooklyn. When the twins
were born, Mom decided she really liked the false name that Celeste
had come up with during their short stint as Canadian citizens;
Brooklyn was her own idea.

Kimmy also had to find a man who was willing
to be grilled and threatened. Andrew Hennesy was the man who stood
up to the two tyrants and persevered to claim her as his wife. They
had been married just over four years now and Kimmy was eight
months pregnant with their first baby.

Bree and Brook were both in their first year
at college, but David refused to let them get too far away. They
wanted (desperately) to move to a four year university anywhere
that wasn’t so close to home that David could spy on them. David
made out like a hard-ass when it came to the girls, but they knew
with just a smile and a bat of their pretty eyelashes he would cave
on almost anything they wanted—except leaving home and boyfriend
approval. Other than those two things, he had a soft spot a mile
wide for his girls.

I poked Leigh in the ribs and motioned to the
far end of the driveway. “I guess they didn’t scare him bad
enough,” I said as Hunter’s race-red Boss 302 Mustang headed toward
the dock.

“
Yay!” she squealed and started to
run down the sun warmed boards toward the car.

“
Hey,” Micah yelled, stopping her
in her tracks.

She turned, “Yes, sir?”

“
You aren’t allowed to
leave—”

“
Dad!” she stated
pitifully.

“
Unless,” he added, “you get
permission from your mother or me.”

She smiled and happily turned and charged for
the car. I knew why she was smiling. After everyone finished the
Fourth of July picnic, she would ask me if she could go for a drive
with Hunter and she knew I would say yes. She had a good head on
her shoulders and I didn’t need to worry about the decisions she
made.

Bree and Brook pulled in next in Brook’s new
shiny, gunmetal Porsche 911.

Micah’s expression showed surprise, “I told
him not to let her get a Porsche—damn boy-magnet!”

I leaned in front of him and rose up on my
tiptoes to look him in the eye.

“
What?”

“
I think you need your eyes
checked, baby. Bree and Brook are the boy magnets; the car is just
a little icing on the ‘cupcakes.’”

“
Hey Aunt Leese,” Brook yelled as
she ran toward me with her arms wide open.

I met her halfway and gave her a firm
hug.

“
So what do you think? Is it like
your old car?”

“
It’s beautiful, Brook. Yes, it’s
really close. I get to drive it, right?”

“
Absolutely,” she said, offering
her key.

“
Hold on to that. Your uncle would
be pissed if I left for a drive right now.”

She looked at Micah and grinned, “Hi Uncle
Micah,” she said sheepishly as she placed a kiss on his
cheek.

He hugged her, but his expression was stern,
“Brook, you’ve got to be careful with that car.”

She sighed. “Trust me, Daddy has
lectured me for
hours
,” she stressed and then rolled her eyes.

“
So, Aunt Leese,” Bree began as
she wrapped an arm around my waist and began leading me away from
Micah’s hearing and toward my mom, “Is Seth coming with Uncle
Ryan?”

All the kids referred to Ryan as their uncle
even though he wasn’t a blood relation. “Seth is barely seventeen,
Bree.”

“
Aunt Leese, he’s the hottest guy
on the planet—I don’t care about his age.”

“
You are so boy crazy,” I sighed.
I knew she was more like my mother was at her age. “I’m pretty sure
he’s coming. He’s sweet and shy; don’t corrupt him.”

She got a wicked twinkle in her eye, “I wish!”
she said fiercely, “But that would mean that I’d have to have
someone keep Daddy occupied—he watches me like a hawk!”

I just laughed. David had good reason to watch
Bree.

“
You could keep him busy Aunt
Leese, at least until I knock off Seth’s halo and burn off his
angel wings.”

“
Bree!” I feigned
shock.

“
Okay, maybe just singe his
feathers and tarnish the halo; I really don’t want Daddy to kill
him,” she giggled.

“
Kill who?” Mom asked as she gave
me a hug.

“
Seth,” I stated.

“
Seth is a good boy,” Mom said,
not getting the gist of Bree’s full statement.

“
Yes, but Bree wants to change all
of that.”

“
Shhh,” Bree whispered as David
approached.

He didn’t say anything as he gave me a hug. I
had my suspicions that he heard most of the conversation. “Did Gwen
and your mom land yet?”

David glanced at his watch, “Their plane came
in about twenty to thirty minutes ago, so they should be here in a
little while.”

“
I wish both of them would move
down.”

“
I know, but Mom isn’t ready to
sell the house in New Orleans. She says there is too much of Dad in
that house to let it go.”

I nodded; saddened to think how painful it had
been when Giorgio passed away five years earlier. Everyone took it
hard, but Micah especially struggled with the loss of his father.
“I’m glad Gwen moved in. I hated thinking of her living alone in
that big place.”

I watched as an unfamiliar silver sedan pulled
down the long, oak-lined drive. I could make out two dark haired
men, so I knew it had to be Ryan and his oldest boy
Seth.

Ryan had changed so much since our wild
beginnings. Once my world calmed, he took off on the adventure of
his life and became a pilot in the Air Force. His love for his
country, his father, and for flying had taken him all over the
globe, and into many conflicts that caused all of us to spend time
on our knees praying for his safety.

He was now a Lieutenant Colonel and was
temporarily training the upcoming generation of pilots at the base
in Colorado Springs. His relationship with Candace had its ups and
downs. She loved him, that was obvious, but at times his job was
more stress on her than she could take. They were currently
separated. She was living in the Tampa area after refusing to move
when he left his assignment at MacDill for the training academy.
Colorado may have been her home state, but she really liked
Florida. Their youngest boy, Dylan, was thirteen and living with
Candace. Seth made the tough choice to go with his dad to
Colorado.

Ryan was still so handsome, but he had evolved
from that tender, heartthrob-type to a man with a more angular, and
chiseled face, and his body went from the surfer physique to
square-shoulders and carved arms. He no longer dyed his hair, but
it was naturally black anyway. But one thing never changed; he
still had the most stunning blue eyes, they just saw the world
differently than they did from the days of our youth.

Seth was his dad all over again.
He was 6’2” with the black hair and blue eyes, although his were a
little bit darker blue. I was torn in trying to decide if they were
prettier than his father’s or simply more intense. Either
way,
all
the
girls fawned over him.

I left the group crowded at the dock to greet
them as they got out of the car. Seth was the first to
emerge.

“
Hey there handsome,” I
stated.

He was grinning as he looked toward Leigh,
Bree, and Brook. “Hey,” he said, but he was obviously distracted by
the bevy of beauties. He watched Hunter place his arm around
Leigh’s waist. “Crap, Aunt Leese, don’t tell me Leigh has a
boyfriend!”