The Bounty Hunter's Trilogy: Chosen By Fate

Chapter 22. The Half Dead House

The topic of Marcus was rarely left alone after that. I mean a four year old giving off his type of energy? It obviously wasn't safe to return him. Yet Audrey always reminded us that he at least had a mother if not a father and siblings. We'd have to find them and tell them something.

We began searching by taking his picture and looking through the missing person's data base. Paisley found him in seconds. The paper with his information printed out of the copy machine and I picked it up to read it out loud.

"According to this, Marcus' mother is Tiffany MacIntosh. She works as a Pediatrician at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and Denali Center. And his father is Clyde MacIntosh. He works as an Oncologist at the same hospital. They live in Denali, Alaska. They have two other kids. Apparently Marcus has been missing for almost two and a half years."

"Guys we can't keep him," Stan said. Audrey looked at her husband completely shocked.

"Are you insane? He could be killed if we give him back."

"Audrey what if it was our baby? What if somebody had our baby and didn't give them back to us?" He put a hand on her belly and she put her hand on his. "He's been gone for over two years. He probably doesn't even remember what his parents look like." Lacy raised her hand. "Yes Lacy?"

"If his parents are so smart, does that account for how advanced his skills are? Because Little Dude freaks me out when he talks like a seven year old." Little Dude was her nickname for him.

"It must be his ability. That's probably how they found him so early and why they took him." Stan tapped his chin with his free hand as if that would bring the right words to his train of thought. "Maybe he has an advanced memory."

"Maybe it's wisdom?" Lacy suggested.

"You two are just proving my point." Audrey took the paper to read it. "Okay, so if we can't take him home, and I don't feel right about just keeping him here, then we go to his parents. We go to Alaska, talk to them about it, and then we bring them back here for protection."

"Audrey, as a father-to-be," nobody missed the way Stan's eyes lit up when he said that, "I can already tell you that they won't go for that." She raised an eyebrow at her husband as if trying to figure out if he had really had the audacity to say that to her.

**********

"This is absolutely insane." Lacy was driving the rental minivan. The two of us were going at this alone. Well not totally alone. We had Marcus in the back seat with us to see his parents. "They are never going to listen to us." I was royally ticked off at Audrey for making us do this still. "Heaven forbid we go to save her freaking husband and best friend from the enemy. But sure, let's just hop on an airplane, go to Alaska, and convince a couple of random people that we have their son and they'll be safe with us. Yeah, this will go really well, for sure."

"Are we there yet?" Marcus had asked that question a billion and a half times already.

Lacy looked back at him in the mirror. "No, not yet buddy. We're almost there. Just give us a few more minutes."

"We've been in this car for years!" He complained.

"No, just a few hours. It'll be alright." Lacy reached down beside her, looking away from the road.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" She looked back ahead and put both hands on the wheel. The car swerved and almost hit a tree before she corrected the steering and slowed down.

"Daniel, holy cow! Calm down! You almost just made me wreck!"

"No, these roads are icy and have really sharp turns! You keep both hands on the wheel and look at the road at all times! There is a child in the back seat!" The silence lasted for a count of ten seconds. "I'm sorry for freaking out. I just don't fully trust cars yet. Ever since what happened with dad and-."