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Description
Chapter Two

—Just Business—

The warm sun fell onto his face through the window. He squinted as he sat up and looked at the window. He hadn’t noticed that the night before, then again, it was dark outside. No light would have been coming through the window. It would have been perfectly hidden except when the occasional lightening bolt hit. He turned around and looked at the mirror. He was in the same clothes as the day before, but he was most definitely not the same. His stomach was still doing summersaults where that crazy light had tossed him around.

He got up and walked over to the mirror. The air closest to it was no longer cold. He moved his hand to about an inch away from the mirror, a spot that before had been near freezing. Today it was at normal room temperature. He slowly put his hand to the mirror, and nothing happened. Then, almost instinctively, he looked at his eyes’ reflection. The color in his eyes had changed. The night before they were the menacing icy blue, but today they had become a deeper and softer. These eyes were a lot more welcoming than the ones of the day before.

He removed his hand from the mirror. Simultaneously, he heard something move outside. Someone else was up. He walked out to the back yard of the house. It was a beautiful summer morning outside. Hannah stood out on the grass smoking a cigarette. Her curly red hair was done up and she was wearing a loose T-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. When Caleb saw this, he thought to how stressful the previous day must have been. His snappy attitude didn’t help matters. He joined her.

“Smoking, huh?” Caleb remarked. Hannah jumped. She didn’t hear him walk up, and she looked at him. He was looking out in the distance. When he looked over she noticed that he almost seemed like a different person. Gone was the cold demanding character of the day before. Today he was much friendlier. He spoke much softer too, “How long have you smoked?”

He’s actually pretty cute, she thought. She looked at his light brown hair, and his deep blue eyes. These eyes were different, not so menacing as yesterday. When she realized she was starting to stare she looked away. She still felt the need to answer though. “For two or three years now,” she said.

“Why would someone like you want to smoke?” he asked.

“Like me?”

“Hannah, you’re beautiful and smart. That’s fact, not flattery.”

Hannah was taken aback by this remark, “I’ll agree with the smart part, but I’m not really that attractive.”

“You must have an interesting definition of attractive.”

She smiled, “Well, beautiful or not, it doesn’t make my life any easier.”

She saw him look up at the sky out of the corner of her eye, “What’s made it so hard?” he asked, “If you don’t mind telling me of course.”

She didn’t mind. If anyone else had asked this question, she would have blown them off. Something was different about Caleb though. “I hate to play the depression card, but my life sucked for a long time. This is my second year of not wanting to kill myself.”

“That bad?” he asked, a little surprised.

She took in more of the smoke, and exhaled it a second later. “My first boyfriend cheated on me with his third-cousin, I couldn’t have text messaging for a long time because I got sent mean messages, and for awhile half of my emails were messages like ‘why don’t you just go ahead and kill yourself? you’re too damn ugly to do anyone any good.’” She inhaled and exhaled the smoke again, “surprised them when I came in ninth grade actually looking half-decent. Now they’re all buddy-buddy with me.”

“You’re friends with those people now?” Caleb asked in half disbelief.

“They think I am. I’m going to get them back eventually,” She said bitterly, “No my true friends are a few people here and there. Pretty cool crowd.”

“Sounds like you’ve done pretty well considering.”

Hannah abruptly threw her cigarette down on the ground, stomped it out, then picked it up and tossed it in a trashcan by the door to the house. “C’mon, dad wants us to meet him at the marina. We should be going.”

The town of Cape Baltimore was the kind of town where you can leave and come back fifty years later, and everything would still be the same. The businesses that existed on Main Street had always existed on Main Street. It was the proverbial rock in the stream of time. As Hannah expertly drove down Main Street at a steady pace, Caleb looked at the buildings on both sides of the street. Some were tall and some were short. However, these buildings each had a unique quality in them that he could not label. He guessed that it came from the fact that these buildings came before the time of mass production and industrial revolution. Although some had been modernized, they still had the same aged quality. This was a quality that Caleb found comforting. No matter what happens somewhere else, he thought, this place will not feel the blast. But he sighed, If only that statement were as feasible in practice as it is in theory.

As Hannah turned onto Third Street, Caleb noticed the town church. It sat on a hill in the near distance, overlooking the town. This church also had a similar aged quality to it, but it also had something else. While he looked at the church he felt something pull him towards it.

The feeling soon left him when Hannah made a left turn and the road made the transition from cement to rocky dirt. The old marina seemed a little newer and less sturdy than the rest of the buildings. However, it did survive the storm, Caleb thought. Hannah turned onto a concrete peninsula which was in a sea of sand while Caleb looked out the window at the beach. She stopped for a moment and just sat there. It wasn’t long, but it got Caleb’s attention.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

She resumed taking a parking spot in-between two cars that were already parked, “There are two cars here.” She said as if it was obvious.

“So? Maybe someone came to help clean up?”

She looked over at him and said sarcastically, “Because this town is really that helpful.” They both got out.

To the left of the blue Honda they drove up in was a red F-150, her Dad’s truck. To the right, however, was a black Lexus, and a new one at that. Caleb tried to peer into the windows for some hint as to who it might be, but he couldn’t see in because the windows were too tinted. The car was definitely a good one. It wasn’t this that didn’t sit well with Hannah and Caleb. Even though they had seen a few Lexuses in town, this one was out of place. Why would someone bring a car of this class, which probably has a full leather interior and a load of electronic gadgets, to the marina where you would probably get wet? Caleb walked around and checked the license plate as Hannah started in.

“Westchester County, New York.” He said, “Know anyone from New York?”

“No one,” She replied, and they both went in.

When they walked in, David was talking to someone. He was definitely the New York business type. He was wearing a blue pinstripe suit, with black tie and black shoes. He had red hair, fair in build, and was about six feet tall. His skin was horribly pale though. He most definitely didn’t belong. They walked in on their conversation as her Dad was talking.

“It’s just your average building, little bit of water damage. Nothing big-“

“Hey dad,” Hannah interrupted.

David and his guest looked over at the two of them. “Oh… hey Hannah,” he then turned to face his guest, “Mr. Marsh, this is my Hannah and… her friend Caleb.”

He smiled, “Please David, call me Edward.” With every word that Edward Marsh spoke Caleb’s mouth began to fill with the familiar stale taste of the night before. He almost shuddered as Edward turned toward them, “Hello Hannah,” he extended his hand to Caleb, “and to you Caleb.”

Caleb shook his cold hand and resisted the impulse to leave immediately. No one noticed how tense he was. Something about this guy screamed slime ball. Caleb looked over at Hannah and saw that he wasn’t the only one who thought so. Her eyes were beginning to burn holes in Ed’s suit. Ed ignored her.

“So David, you’ll have the blueprints in the mail to my office tomorrow I hope. They’ll be in New York by Monday if you do.” Edward said.

“I will do that.” David replied, they shook hands and Ed made his way out the front door.

As soon as the door shut Hannah launched into interrogation, “Who was he?” she asked.

“He’s from a group in New York who is thinking about buying the shop and this old marina-“

“YOU’RE NOT SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING SELLING?” she exploded.

“Hannah… it’s not that I want to-“

“Then don’t!”

Caleb could tell that his patience was beginning to wear thin. “Hannah-“

“Holy shit! You’re serious! DAD! This marina has been in our family-“

David finally snapped. “I don’t need you to remind me how long this damned marina has been in our family Hannah! You think it’s hard for you? I worked in this marina since I was FIVE!” he shouted.

Hannah stood there for a moment, in almost complete shock. Caleb interpreted this to mean that her dad doesn’t yell at her often. He noticed what was happening to her first. He’d seen this happen before. First their breathing speeds up. Then the water comes in their eyes. Hannah was beginning to break down.

David, who immediately felt guilty, broke the science, “Hannah… agh… Go see your mom and tell her everything went OK for me will you?”

“Whatever” Hannah replied almost about to burst, and then ducked out as quickly as possible.

Caleb stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. That didn’t last long.

“Well go make sure she doesn’t kill herself!” David ordered.

“Yessir,” Caleb replied submissively and left just as quickly as Hannah had. He didn’t want to be next.

When he arrived out at the car Hannah was bent over the driver’s side of the car. Caleb walked over to her and put his hand on her back, “Are you ok?” he asked. She turned around and started crying into his chest. He just hugged her for a minute.

When she stopped he pulled her away and leaned down to look at her eye-to-eye. “Are you going to be ok?” he asked again.

She sniffled. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. C’mon, we should get going.”

“Are you sure you can drive.”

“Yeah I’m fine,” she broke away from him and dried her eyes, “really, I am. C’mon, let’s go.” Then she got in and started the engine. He got in also.

The boating supplies shop had the same old quality that Caleb had come to expect of the stores in this town. It was a small shop, one front door placed right in the center of the building and a big window on both sides. If it were not for the rusted sign above the door, one would think it was a house. When Hannah opened the old wood door a bell dinged. Caleb walked in after her and was amazed. For such a small building it held a lot! There was a front register just a foot away from the door, and Jasiel was standing there.

“Hey babe you look… like you’ve been crying,” she paused and looked at Hannah and then at Caleb, “What happened?”

Caleb didn’t notice. He drifted off a bit still in the initial shock. This was like Radio Shack on steroids for fishermen. It had seven aisles, going almost to the ceiling. The sock wore off quickly enough and he rejoined Hannah and her mom.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me y’all are selling the marina?” she asked, and started crying again.

“Oh baby, come here.” Jasiel came from around the counter and hugged her daughter, “We should’ve told you.”

“Yes, you should have!” Hannah was about to start another fight, Caleb thought.

“Hannah, we didn’t want to get you upset if it didn’t go though.”

“MOM!”

“Hannah.” Jasiel replied firmly.

A tear ran down Hannah’s cheek, “We can’t-“

“We must.” Her mother replied, in complete control.

Hannah stopped breathing so rapidly and nodded her head. Her mother asked her to go get some things from the back for her. That didn’t go as Caleb had expected. Hannah left and Jasiel turned her attention to Caleb.

“I’m sorry about that. We’re not usually this dramatic, I promise.” She said light-hearted. Caleb laughed. Then her face twisted into a more serious look. “So have you remembered anything?”

Caleb took a deep breath. “Yeah, last night I had a crazy…” he paused, unsure what to call his experience, “dream… but whatever it was, yeah.”

Jasiel had a much more confident posture than she did the night before. Maybe last night removed whatever about him that scared her. “Do you remember where you come from?”

Caleb paused to think about this answer for a moment. “No” he lied. He wasn’t sure if she’d buy it or not. I mean, why wouldn’t she? People who have amnesia don’t have to remember everything at once. He hoped she would buy it.

She looked at him awhile, then nodded. “Well, if you think you can handle us, you’re free to stay at our house for awhile.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to do that. I mean, I can find somewhere to stay. You’ve already done more than enough.”

“What are you going to find somewhere to stay with? And don’t think your getting out of this without getting checked out by a doctor.”

“I saw a church up there-“

“Trust me, the people who live in the church shelter, are hardly holy people. But since you mentioned it, you should go up there and introduce yourself to Pastor Simmings.”

“I should?”

“Everyone who’s going to a church every Sunday should meet the people there when they can. And if you’re living under my roof, you’re going to church every Sunday.” She smiled.

Caleb chucked, “Fair enough. It’s right up the road isn’t it.”

“Yes it is, just continue on up the road you walked in from, maybe half a mile to get there. Stay on the road. I’d love to come but I think I’d better make sure Hannah is alright.”

“Right,” Caleb looked over to make sure Hannah wasn’t in hearing distance, “Excuse me for being blunt, but I never really put this much care into my parent’s work from what I remember. Why is this such a big deal for her?”

She sighed, “She’s changed a lot over the past two years. We know that she’s been though some rough stuff, even if she thinks we don’t. It’s why we let her get away with smoking. Yes, we know about it, but quitting is something that she needs to decide to do on her own. If it were anything more serious I would be involved as quickly as possible.”

“So where do the marina and store fit in?”

“Whenever she had a problem, one she needed to think about, she’d go to the marina and sit out on the docks. Complete seclusion. It was her safe haven. Even if she doesn’t go there often, I’d be worried if she wasn’t bothered by this.”

“You sure do have a lot of insight into your daughter’s life.” Caleb observed out loud before he could stop himself.

“Yes, I make it a point to,” she said in a more personal tone, “because I think every parent should be like that, but not enough of them are.”

—Excerpt from the personal Journal of Mortimier—
10th May 2005

Well the Bronx was about as big of a bust as you can have. My source sent me chasing a schizophrenic moron who claimed he could see the future. He also claimed that Saddam Hussein was his nanny when he was a baby. I have to say, with his behavior, I’m more inclined to believe the latter than the former.

Anyway, other than that, I have another lead. Last night while I was still away there was a large amount of paranormal activity that came onto the scopes. My team only managed to trace it back to somewhere in Mid-California. They said it was a vision that was catalyzed by a supernatural generator. I have no idea what any of that means, but if they do, then more power to em.

While I have been rather light-hearted for me during this whole entry, let’s see if this breaks the trend. The Organization has a lead as to who murdered that guy on the Board of Directors. Of course, no one in The Organization knows the name of this board member, because their names are all kept secret. So they get to boss us around and we have no clue who the hell they are. Nice deal. Makes them a lot harder to kill, but someone still managed to do it. Oh well, I guess the saying is true: evil will find you if it wants you bad enough.

Description
Chapter Two

—Just Business—

The warm sun fell onto his face through the window. He squinted as he sat up and looked at the window. He hadn’t noticed that the night before, then again, it was dark outside. No light would have been coming through the window. It would have been perfectly hidden except when the occasional lightening bolt hit. He turned around and looked at the mirror. He was in the same clothes as the day before, but he was most definitely not the same. His stomach was still doing summersaults where that crazy light had tossed him around.

He got up and walked over to the mirror. The air closest to it was no longer cold. He moved his hand to about an inch away from the mirror, a spot that before had been near freezing. Today it was at normal room temperature. He slowly put his hand to the mirror, and nothing happened. Then, almost instinctively, he looked at his eyes’ reflection. The color in his eyes had changed. The night before they were the menacing icy blue, but today they had become a deeper and softer. These eyes were a lot more welcoming than the ones of the day before.

He removed his hand from the mirror. Simultaneously, he heard something move outside. Someone else was up. He walked out to the back yard of the house. It was a beautiful summer morning outside. Hannah stood out on the grass smoking a cigarette. Her curly red hair was done up and she was wearing a loose T-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops. When Caleb saw this, he thought to how stressful the previous day must have been. His snappy attitude didn’t help matters. He joined her.

“Smoking, huh?” Caleb remarked. Hannah jumped. She didn’t hear him walk up, and she looked at him. He was looking out in the distance. When he looked over she noticed that he almost seemed like a different person. Gone was the cold demanding character of the day before. Today he was much friendlier. He spoke much softer too, “How long have you smoked?”

He’s actually pretty cute, she thought. She looked at his light brown hair, and his deep blue eyes. These eyes were different, not so menacing as yesterday. When she realized she was starting to stare she looked away. She still felt the need to answer though. “For two or three years now,” she said.

“Why would someone like you want to smoke?” he asked.

“Like me?”

“Hannah, you’re beautiful and smart. That’s fact, not flattery.”

Hannah was taken aback by this remark, “I’ll agree with the smart part, but I’m not really that attractive.”

“You must have an interesting definition of attractive.”

She smiled, “Well, beautiful or not, it doesn’t make my life any easier.”

She saw him look up at the sky out of the corner of her eye, “What’s made it so hard?” he asked, “If you don’t mind telling me of course.”

She didn’t mind. If anyone else had asked this question, she would have blown them off. Something was different about Caleb though. “I hate to play the depression card, but my life sucked for a long time. This is my second year of not wanting to kill myself.”

“That bad?” he asked, a little surprised.

She took in more of the smoke, and exhaled it a second later. “My first boyfriend cheated on me with his third-cousin, I couldn’t have text messaging for a long time because I got sent mean messages, and for awhile half of my emails were messages like ‘why don’t you just go ahead and kill yourself? you’re too damn ugly to do anyone any good.’” She inhaled and exhaled the smoke again, “surprised them when I came in ninth grade actually looking half-decent. Now they’re all buddy-buddy with me.”

“You’re friends with those people now?” Caleb asked in half disbelief.

“They think I am. I’m going to get them back eventually,” She said bitterly, “No my true friends are a few people here and there. Pretty cool crowd.”

“Sounds like you’ve done pretty well considering.”

Hannah abruptly threw her cigarette down on the ground, stomped it out, then picked it up and tossed it in a trashcan by the door to the house. “C’mon, dad wants us to meet him at the marina. We should be going.”

The town of Cape Baltimore was the kind of town where you can leave and come back fifty years later, and everything would still be the same. The businesses that existed on Main Street had always existed on Main Street. It was the proverbial rock in the stream of time. As Hannah expertly drove down Main Street at a steady pace, Caleb looked at the buildings on both sides of the street. Some were tall and some were short. However, these buildings each had a unique quality in them that he could not label. He guessed that it came from the fact that these buildings came before the time of mass production and industrial revolution. Although some had been modernized, they still had the same aged quality. This was a quality that Caleb found comforting. No matter what happens somewhere else, he thought, this place will not feel the blast. But he sighed, If only that statement were as feasible in practice as it is in theory.

As Hannah turned onto Third Street, Caleb noticed the town church. It sat on a hill in the near distance, overlooking the town. This church also had a similar aged quality to it, but it also had something else. While he looked at the church he felt something pull him towards it.

The feeling soon left him when Hannah made a left turn and the road made the transition from cement to rocky dirt. The old marina seemed a little newer and less sturdy than the rest of the buildings. However, it did survive the storm, Caleb thought. Hannah turned onto a concrete peninsula which was in a sea of sand while Caleb looked out the window at the beach. She stopped for a moment and just sat there. It wasn’t long, but it got Caleb’s attention.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

She resumed taking a parking spot in-between two cars that were already parked, “There are two cars here.” She said as if it was obvious.

“So? Maybe someone came to help clean up?”

She looked over at him and said sarcastically, “Because this town is really that helpful.” They both got out.

To the left of the blue Honda they drove up in was a red F-150, her Dad’s truck. To the right, however, was a black Lexus, and a new one at that. Caleb tried to peer into the windows for some hint as to who it might be, but he couldn’t see in because the windows were too tinted. The car was definitely a good one. It wasn’t this that didn’t sit well with Hannah and Caleb. Even though they had seen a few Lexuses in town, this one was out of place. Why would someone bring a car of this class, which probably has a full leather interior and a load of electronic gadgets, to the marina where you would probably get wet? Caleb walked around and checked the license plate as Hannah started in.

“Westchester County, New York.” He said, “Know anyone from New York?”

“No one,” She replied, and they both went in.

When they walked in, David was talking to someone. He was definitely the New York business type. He was wearing a blue pinstripe suit, with black tie and black shoes. He had red hair, fair in build, and was about six feet tall. His skin was horribly pale though. He most definitely didn’t belong. They walked in on their conversation as her Dad was talking.

“It’s just your average building, little bit of water damage. Nothing big-“

“Hey dad,” Hannah interrupted.

David and his guest looked over at the two of them. “Oh… hey Hannah,” he then turned to face his guest, “Mr. Marsh, this is my Hannah and… her friend Caleb.”

He smiled, “Please David, call me Edward.” With every word that Edward Marsh spoke Caleb’s mouth began to fill with the familiar stale taste of the night before. He almost shuddered as Edward turned toward them, “Hello Hannah,” he extended his hand to Caleb, “and to you Caleb.”

Caleb shook his cold hand and resisted the impulse to leave immediately. No one noticed how tense he was. Something about this guy screamed slime ball. Caleb looked over at Hannah and saw that he wasn’t the only one who thought so. Her eyes were beginning to burn holes in Ed’s suit. Ed ignored her.

“So David, you’ll have the blueprints in the mail to my office tomorrow I hope. They’ll be in New York by Monday if you do.” Edward said.

“I will do that.” David replied, they shook hands and Ed made his way out the front door.

As soon as the door shut Hannah launched into interrogation, “Who was he?” she asked.

“He’s from a group in New York who is thinking about buying the shop and this old marina-“

“YOU’RE NOT SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING SELLING?” she exploded.

“Hannah… it’s not that I want to-“

“Then don’t!”

Caleb could tell that his patience was beginning to wear thin. “Hannah-“

“Holy shit! You’re serious! DAD! This marina has been in our family-“

David finally snapped. “I don’t need you to remind me how long this damned marina has been in our family Hannah! You think it’s hard for you? I worked in this marina since I was FIVE!” he shouted.

Hannah stood there for a moment, in almost complete shock. Caleb interpreted this to mean that her dad doesn’t yell at her often. He noticed what was happening to her first. He’d seen this happen before. First their breathing speeds up. Then the water comes in their eyes. Hannah was beginning to break down.

David, who immediately felt guilty, broke the science, “Hannah… agh… Go see your mom and tell her everything went OK for me will you?”

“Whatever” Hannah replied almost about to burst, and then ducked out as quickly as possible.

Caleb stood there for a moment, not sure what to do. That didn’t last long.

“Well go make sure she doesn’t kill herself!” David ordered.

“Yessir,” Caleb replied submissively and left just as quickly as Hannah had. He didn’t want to be next.

When he arrived out at the car Hannah was bent over the driver’s side of the car. Caleb walked over to her and put his hand on her back, “Are you ok?” he asked. She turned around and started crying into his chest. He just hugged her for a minute.

When she stopped he pulled her away and leaned down to look at her eye-to-eye. “Are you going to be ok?” he asked again.

She sniffled. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. C’mon, we should get going.”

“Are you sure you can drive.”

“Yeah I’m fine,” she broke away from him and dried her eyes, “really, I am. C’mon, let’s go.” Then she got in and started the engine. He got in also.

The boating supplies shop had the same old quality that Caleb had come to expect of the stores in this town. It was a small shop, one front door placed right in the center of the building and a big window on both sides. If it were not for the rusted sign above the door, one would think it was a house. When Hannah opened the old wood door a bell dinged. Caleb walked in after her and was amazed. For such a small building it held a lot! There was a front register just a foot away from the door, and Jasiel was standing there.

“Hey babe you look… like you’ve been crying,” she paused and looked at Hannah and then at Caleb, “What happened?”

Caleb didn’t notice. He drifted off a bit still in the initial shock. This was like Radio Shack on steroids for fishermen. It had seven aisles, going almost to the ceiling. The sock wore off quickly enough and he rejoined Hannah and her mom.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me y’all are selling the marina?” she asked, and started crying again.

“Oh baby, come here.” Jasiel came from around the counter and hugged her daughter, “We should’ve told you.”

“Yes, you should have!” Hannah was about to start another fight, Caleb thought.

“Hannah, we didn’t want to get you upset if it didn’t go though.”

“MOM!”

“Hannah.” Jasiel replied firmly.

A tear ran down Hannah’s cheek, “We can’t-“

“We must.” Her mother replied, in complete control.

Hannah stopped breathing so rapidly and nodded her head. Her mother asked her to go get some things from the back for her. That didn’t go as Caleb had expected. Hannah left and Jasiel turned her attention to Caleb.

“I’m sorry about that. We’re not usually this dramatic, I promise.” She said light-hearted. Caleb laughed. Then her face twisted into a more serious look. “So have you remembered anything?”

Caleb took a deep breath. “Yeah, last night I had a crazy…” he paused, unsure what to call his experience, “dream… but whatever it was, yeah.”

Jasiel had a much more confident posture than she did the night before. Maybe last night removed whatever about him that scared her. “Do you remember where you come from?”

Caleb paused to think about this answer for a moment. “No” he lied. He wasn’t sure if she’d buy it or not. I mean, why wouldn’t she? People who have amnesia don’t have to remember everything at once. He hoped she would buy it.

She looked at him awhile, then nodded. “Well, if you think you can handle us, you’re free to stay at our house for awhile.”

“Oh no, you don’t have to do that. I mean, I can find somewhere to stay. You’ve already done more than enough.”

“What are you going to find somewhere to stay with? And don’t think your getting out of this without getting checked out by a doctor.”

“I saw a church up there-“

“Trust me, the people who live in the church shelter, are hardly holy people. But since you mentioned it, you should go up there and introduce yourself to Pastor Simmings.”

“I should?”

“Everyone who’s going to a church every Sunday should meet the people there when they can. And if you’re living under my roof, you’re going to church every Sunday.” She smiled.

Caleb chucked, “Fair enough. It’s right up the road isn’t it.”

“Yes it is, just continue on up the road you walked in from, maybe half a mile to get there. Stay on the road. I’d love to come but I think I’d better make sure Hannah is alright.”

“Right,” Caleb looked over to make sure Hannah wasn’t in hearing distance, “Excuse me for being blunt, but I never really put this much care into my parent’s work from what I remember. Why is this such a big deal for her?”

She sighed, “She’s changed a lot over the past two years. We know that she’s been though some rough stuff, even if she thinks we don’t. It’s why we let her get away with smoking. Yes, we know about it, but quitting is something that she needs to decide to do on her own. If it were anything more serious I would be involved as quickly as possible.”

“So where do the marina and store fit in?”

“Whenever she had a problem, one she needed to think about, she’d go to the marina and sit out on the docks. Complete seclusion. It was her safe haven. Even if she doesn’t go there often, I’d be worried if she wasn’t bothered by this.”

“You sure do have a lot of insight into your daughter’s life.” Caleb observed out loud before he could stop himself.

“Yes, I make it a point to,” she said in a more personal tone, “because I think every parent should be like that, but not enough of them are.”

—Excerpt from the personal Journal of Mortimier—
10th May 2005

Well the Bronx was about as big of a bust as you can have. My source sent me chasing a schizophrenic moron who claimed he could see the future. He also claimed that Saddam Hussein was his nanny when he was a baby. I have to say, with his behavior, I’m more inclined to believe the latter than the former.

Anyway, other than that, I have another lead. Last night while I was still away there was a large amount of paranormal activity that came onto the scopes. My team only managed to trace it back to somewhere in Mid-California. They said it was a vision that was catalyzed by a supernatural generator. I have no idea what any of that means, but if they do, then more power to em.

While I have been rather light-hearted for me during this whole entry, let’s see if this breaks the trend. The Organization has a lead as to who murdered that guy on the Board of Directors. Of course, no one in The Organization knows the name of this board member, because their names are all kept secret. So they get to boss us around and we have no clue who the hell they are. Nice deal. Makes them a lot harder to kill, but someone still managed to do it. Oh well, I guess the saying is true: evil will find you if it wants you bad enough.