Page 41 of Red, White, and BearCat Blue

“Michaels?” Mickey asked. “We see you driving in.”

“Is that you, Mickey?”

“Yep. Hey, Beth. I’m here with Mars and Mrs. Demarco’s son, Cam. We’re in Mars’ black Camaro.”

The headlights on the Beemer flashed briefly. “I see you.”

“Who’s that with you?”

“I have Kindness with me.”

“Good,” Mickey said. “We weren’t sure who Candy was going to send, but I’m sure Mars will agree we feel better now that we know it’s you two.”

I wondered if they worked with the two women in Los Angeles. If they did, maybe that would mean they’d take my mom to L.A. I hadn’t asked, but it would make sense. Clearly the agents were capable, if the relief in Mickey’s voice was anything to go by.

Mars was unusually quiet. Yesterday he’d been quite talkative, but today he just seemed like he was lost in his own thoughts. I hadn’t meant to upset him by sending him away as abruptly as I had last night, but thinking back on it, I had to conclude he brought some of that on himself. We’d both gotten off, shared some incredibly intimate kisses, he’d said it was a one and done, then I’d pretty much kicked him out of the room.

Then the phone call to Josiah which had been awkward with Mars.

So, yeah. But I’d been quiet myself, lost in worry over how this operation would go with my mom, and fear of how Josiah would react once he learned his plans were blown all to shit.

“You ready?” I heard the agent say.

“Yep,” came a soft voice.

I watched as the front doors of the car opened at the same time. The two women who stepped out looked as different as night and day. One was tall with a blonde ponytail sitting high on the crown of her head, and the other was short and slight, Asian heritage, with long, straight, black hair that hung halfway down her back..

They were dressed in jeans and casual tees with tennis shoes. They looked just like who they were supposed to be, a daughter coming to pick her mother up for a short vacation and a friend tagging along. A brief look in our direction before the blonde gave a slight nod, then turned and walked into the facility.

“Here we go,” one of them said. I was pretty sure it was the agent Mickey had referred to as Beth.

“Good luck,” Mars said.

“Should be easy peasy,” the other agent replied.

I listened as they approached the front desk first.

“Good morning,” the receptionist said.

“Good morning. I’m Beth Michaels, here to visit with my mom, Mary Demarco, and pick her up.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I don’t know if she’s finished with breakfast just yet. Our residents usually get an early start here, but it is Sunday, so she might be in the chapel.”

“That’s fine. We can wait.”

“Oh…okay.” I heard the clicking of keys. “I need to check with Mr. Ranger, our administrator. He’s not normally here every Sunday but let me check his schedule to see if he’s planning on being in the office today.”

“Thank you.”

My heart began to race. I hadn’t thought about whether Mr. Ranger would be at the facility. I thought it might make things easier if he wasn’t since the only other person who could sign off on someone checking a resident out was the head nurse. I knew her and liked her demeanor the few times I’d talked to her. She wasn’t condescending and judgmental like Mr. Ranger. She was generally pleasant and seemed to like my mom a lot. I listened to the receptionist placing a call and then another. When she finally spoke again, I felt relief wash over me.

“I’m sorry, but Mr. Ranger isn’t here today. And we don’t have you listed as family.”

There was a short pause before the agent spoke again. “My brother. Didn’t he call in and explain this? Cam usually takes her on day trips but since he’s out of town, I thought it was a good time for me to come.”

“I see…well, this seems irregular.” There was a long pause. “And no, we didn’t get a call from him that I’m aware of. Let me call Bernice Guerra. She’s the charge nurse.”

“I really appreciate that. We’ll wait.”