Second Chances (The Extinct Race Series) (17 page)

He waits another hour checking his email frequently and Kaiden’s account.
So far there is nothing and he begins to panic. He stands from his desk and starts pacing the floor. The urge to vomit hits him once again so he runs to the bathroom. When he is done he makes himself a small sandwich and gets a drink. He walks back to his office and sees that he has a new email. Before he checks it he checks Kaiden’s bank. There he sees that there is a transaction for ten million dollars to be paid to an unknown off shore account. So he checks the email. There he finds instructions. Since he listed New York as his address, they want to meet him in New York. They will send him the details tomorrow at six a.m. and he will be able to get the girl then.

Mr. Steinman quickly calls the airlines and gets himself a flight to New York.
There is only one seat left on a flight that leaves in an hour, it has him arriving at five thirty a.m. in New York. He packs a quick overnight bag and is out the door. He calls Kaiden on the way telling him to meet him in New York. He gives him the address of his friend’s house, informing him he won the bid then apologized for spending ten million dollars.

The
y both agreed to meet at the house. Mr. Steinman drove like a mad man to the airport. He pulls in a spot and runs through the airport. He checks in as fast as he can then runs to the gate. Mr. Steinman finds his seat, fidgeting until the plane takes off. Once they are in the air Mr. Steinman relaxes, he places his head against the back of the chair and he is asleep within five minutes. When he wakes he notices the man sitting next to him. The man is asleep, but something is familiar about him. He is dressed in a black sweater and black jeans. As they begin the decent the airline attendant wakes the man, he looks over to Mr. Steinman and smiles. Mr. Steinman immediately notices his eyes. They have red flecks.

Was he followed?
He was unsure because he left in such a panic. As they left the plane the man in black stood, joining two other men once they all got off the plane. None of them looked at Mr. Steinman, but he made sure to keep an eye on them. He also made sure to stay behind them as they walked to the main area of the airport. The three men went to baggage claim, while Mr. Steinman went to get a car. Once the car was rented, he went outside to retrieve the car, which is when he saw the three men again. They were getting into a SUV farther down the lot. They never looked his way as they drove off. Mr. Steinman got into his car and went the other way. He knew New York well, making sure as he drove the back way to the house that he was not followed.

When he saw a similar SUV in front of his friend’s house he began to panic.
He slowly drove by, looking into the SUV. There he saw Kaiden in the front seat and breathed a sigh of relief. He parked the car in the driveway and pulled out his laptop. There was an email with further instructions. They were to meet at an amusement park in the middle of town, lots of people and lots of witnesses in a couple hours.

Mr. Steinman stepped out of the car and approached the SUV.
Kaiden climbed out and they shook hands.

“How are you doing Mr. Steinman, you look like a wreck.”
Kaiden said

“I have been better.
This whole thing has really unnerved me. I cannot stop puking my guts out. I just don’t understand how people can sell children and other adults. It truly sickens me. I truly apologize for spending so much of your money, but all I could see was my daughter, I couldn’t lose her.” Mr. Steinman said

“I am glad you did, hell
, I would have given it all up to get her. So what is the plan?” Kaiden asked

“Well there is an amusement park on the west side.
They want to meet there. Also Kaiden, those men that were at my office, they were on the plane with me. I did not see them board, I sort of passed out as soon as we took off. When I woke up one was sitting next to me. They didn’t seem to know who I was and they didn’t follow me. But I thought you should know that they are here in the city.” Mr. Steinman tells them

Chapter 17

Getting Abby

“Tia, John and Gabe
, we got company here in the city. It won’t be long before we start to feel them. Keep your heads up even though they won’t be able to feel us until they are within a couple feet.” Kaiden said to the SUV.

Mr. Steinman looked at him confused as all the doors to the SUV were closed and the windows were up.
“Who are you talking to Kaiden?”

“I brought some family with me.
I would like you to meet them all. Then I am going to have to tell you our secret now, as this situation has just changed.” Kaiden says as he leads Mr. Steinman to the SUV. The doors open and Monica and Brad step out along with Gabe, Tia and John, Alexi and Gosha climb out last.

“Everyone this is Mr. Steinman he has helped with locating Zoe and in turn Justine.
He also tracked down the envelope that was left for Justine. Mr. Steinman this is Monica and Brad, they are Justine’s parents.” They shake hands and Mr. Steinman looks confused. “They had to send Justine into hiding for reasons I will explain to you. She thought they were dead, and well, here they are.” Mr. Steinman is shocked into silence.

“
This is Gabe, Justine’s, for all intents and purposes, Husband.” Mr. Steinman smiles and shakes Gabe’s hand. “And these two young kids are our bodyguards. Tia and John, meet Mr. Steinman.” Mr. Steinman looks even more confused at this introduction than the others. These two were still teens, barely sixteen in his eyes. “And these two are Gosha and Alexi.”

“Nice to meet you all, but I am more confused than ever.”
Mr. Steinman says

“Well I am going to answer those questions now.
There is no one awake and listening to us now, so it’s as good a time as any. You may not believe us, but we are not going to lie to you. You see all of our eyes right? See how the flecks in mine are a pearly color. See how Monica, Brad, and Gabe are all black flecks, just like Justine has. Tia and John have sand colored flecks in theirs. Then how Alexi and Gosha have red flecks?” Kaiden asks, as Mr. Steinman looks closely at all of their eyes nodding his head.

“Yes I see but what does it mean?”
Mr. Steinman asks

“Well sir when we need to
, we can change into Dragons and our eyes give us away to what race we are. I am a Pearl, the black flecks reflect an Onyx, and the sand color flecks reflect and Fury. There is also four other colors. You have seen the red flecks, those for all we know, are the bad guys. Alexi and Gosha here, we know are good people. But all the others we are unsure of. For the last twenty four years they have been going around killing all of us. They killed my parents and Zoe’s mother. They captured her father, who we recently saved. But there is a way that they can find us and quickly, there is a feeling all of us feel when we are close to one another. We call it a pull and with our soul mates that pull is very strong. The men killing us are half-bloods, their father is manipulating them and they do his bidding.” Kaiden explains

“So if these red
fleck guys get close they will try to kill you all?” Mr. Steinman asks

“They will try to kill them and capture me.”
Kaiden says

“Why do they want you?”

“Because in my Dragon form my bite will turn them into their Dragon.” Kaiden answers

“I see
, so we get the girl then get the hell out of here as fast as we can?” Mr. Steinman asks

“That’s the plan.”
Gabe answers

“Am I going to go get h
er alone and leave you all here or….. what’s the plan?” Mr. Steinman asks

“I think
we will have Brad play you sir and the rest of us will be fanned out in the park. We won’t be far at all, as we will be able to feel this girl as soon as she arrives. We just need you to tell Brad all the information you have. Like the name you used and everything.” Kaiden says

“Alright, but can
I still go so that I can see this little girl safe?” Mr. Steinman asks

“You may stay with me and we will watch from a distance.”
Monica tells him

“Alright, I have all the information on my laptop.
Let me grab it and we can head that way. They want to meet at nine and it is seven now.” Mr. Steinman says

They all load up into the SUV and Mr. Steinman tells them where to go.
Brad is looking over everything on the laptop and soaking the information in. Once the park is in sight they pull over. Tia and John hop out and go into the park. Gabe is driving and he drops Monica and Mr. Steinman at the other end. Gabe then pulls into a spot and Brad gets out. Brad knows what he is looking for and heads in. Gabe and Kaiden wait a while then go into the park. Alexi and Gosha wait until nine to go into the park.

The pull was very easy to follow and they all ended up around the Ferris wheel.
There were not many people here yet, but they could all feel the little girl. Brad stood looking all around waiting. Gabe and Kaiden were near, playing a game at one of the booths. Monica and Mr. Steinman were pretending to eat scones at a bench nearby. Alexi and Gosha were on the opposite side drinking coffees and talking. Tia and John looked like any teenage couple, they were hidden in a corner and it looked like they were making out. Everyone was ready though.

There was a building directly in front of the Ferris wheel and there was a black door with a little window on it.
They could all feel that the little girl was inside that building. The black door opened and a man walked out. He stood there for a while looking all around. Brad was the only single man standing by himself. Everyone else in the park were with another or their children. The man that came out the door walked over to Brad. He smiled at Brad and Brad nodded his head. The man then came closer to Brad and began to pat him down. Brad looked confused then it dawned on him that police might do stings like this. When the man was finished he pulled out his cell. He must have sent a text to someone, as the black door opened and two more men came out. Following them was a small girl and a woman. The girl looked up and right at Brad. Then she turned and looked at Monica and Mr. Steinman. She in turn turned and spotted each and every one of their party. A smile crept to her face and you could see her body relax.

“Are you Tuckerman?”
The woman asked

“Does a dove fly?”
Brad responded

“Very good Tuckerman, here is your daughter.
We had a very nice time babysitting her for you. She is a tough little one and doesn’t say a word.” The woman said

As the woman was urging the girl to walk Tia and John’s heads snapped up.
They immediately walked out of the corner they were in, scanning the crowd. They nodded to Brad and split up. Brad grabbed the little girl up and ran. The men tried to give chase, but Kaiden and Gabe were on them. Brad ran to Monica and they ran to the car with Mr. Steinman hooked between their arms. They felt the half-bloods and then heard them yell for them. Brad handed the girl to Monica ushering her to go faster.  Brad’s arm was still hooked in Mr. Steinman’s arm, but now they ran faster. Tia and John were there waiting. They opened the back doors and let Brad and Monica, along with Mr. Steinman inside the vehicle. They then walked to the back of the SUV.

Gabe and Kaiden were running after the three half-bloods while they were running after Monica and Brad.
Gosha and Alexi were closing in from the sides with their hands outstretched. The three half-bloods only saw the four Dragons in front of them though. Tia smiled as they got close and that smile slowed them down a little. The three of them were used to others cowering when they saw them and then running away. Not standing there waiting for a fight.

As the three half-bloods reached the SUV they stopped and pulled out large knives.
Gabe and Kaiden were now walking as silently as they could behind the men. Gosha and Alexi were doing the same, hands still outstretched waiting for contact.

“Well
, well, well, what do we have here? Four adult Dragons and a baby, oh and let’s not forget a human. A human that we happened to have sat next to on the plane here. Could have saved a ton of gas if we had just followed him.” One of them said

“Awe so sorry you had to waste some money.
I think we would have been really happy if you had just followed him too. Would have made it a lot easier to get rid of you.” John cackled

“Yeah now there is
going to be a mess. I mean really a knife? I am excellent with a knife. So why don’t you be a good boy and hand one over?” Tia teased

“Bitch, shut your mouth.
You women are no good for anything, but cooking and spreading your legs.” The smallest of the three said

“Bitch huh?
I will show you a bitch, you asshole.” Tia said as she leapt at the biggest one of the three. The other two stood there staring at John who was laughing hysterically.

“Wow she is
going to whoop all your asses. The one word you don’t call that one is a bitch, trust me she is not a dog.” John laughed even more

“You let this little bitch fight all your fights?
Wow you are a real pussy.” The small one said.

“Look out.”
John said laughing. Tia had the large guy on the ground passed out she looked to the small guy, the loudmouth of the group and smiled. She didn’t have a scratch on her. She also held the larger man’s knife now. Just as the two remaining men were about to attack her, they crumpled to the floor. Alexi and Gosha had snuck up behind them.

“We are going to make their hearts stop.
It will look like they all overdosed on something, at least until we can get out of here. John get their belongings, we don’t want them to be identified right away. Also take their cells.” Gosha tells them

John grabs everything and stands smiling at Tia who is grinning
ear to ear. They kiss and hop in the car. Gabe and Kaiden move the men and then climb in. Once everyone is seated they go back to Mr. Steinman’s car. Kaiden walks him to the car and says good bye. Mr. Steinman hugs Kaiden and thanks him for the truth, even though he still doesn’t really believe him and for making sure that little girl is safe. Mr. Steinman gets in his car and drives off. Kaiden hops back in the SUV and drives to the small field Kevin landed in. They all climb aboard the jet and are headed back to Ireland as soon as they were all buckled in.

The little girl hasn’t said a word the entire time.
Monica has been holding her mostly, since Brad passed her over. The little girl’s eyes are bright with wonder and she just stares at them. She smiles when anyone smiles at her, but she doesn’t speak. Tia moves to the seat in front of Monica and looks at the little girl.

“Hi little one
my name is Tia. What’s yours?”

“Abby.”
She whispers

“What a beautiful name
, that lady holding you is Monica. The man that grabbed you in the beginning is Brad. Monica and Brad are husband and wife. That guy over there, that’s John he is my husband. Then you have Kaiden and Gabe over there and Gosha and Alexi behind them. The other man, that was Mr. Steinman, he helped us find you.” Tia says. She had pointed out each and every person as she said their names to Abby.

“You all are so bright, I knew
you were good. I knew you were gonna save me. Those other people who had me, they were all dark.” Abby says “And you all feel funny.”

“That is the
pull Abby. You see we are all family. That funny feeling means you are near people who are the same as you.” Monica says “Can you tell me what you mean when you say we are bright?”

“Well I am only used to some of the kids being bright and everyone else dar
k. The kids that did bad things and who would hit us little kids, they all had dark bubbles around them. You guys have bright bubbles. Only the good kids had bright bubbles, so I think it means you are good.” Abby explains

“
Abby can you tell us how you ended up with those people?” Monica asks

“They always told me they found me on the street.
I was with that woman always. But she wasn’t my mommy. I knew that always. I don’t know where my mommy and daddy are. I was always in a room full of kids. That lady was mean to all of us. Every once in a while a kid would leave and never come back. Then a new kid would be brought in. I am five though I knows that.” Abby says

“Oh Abby I am so sorry you were treated so badly.
You will never have to go back there. We are taking you home honey. There are lots of people there that should all have bright bubbles and they will all feel like us. They are your true family.” Monica says “Are you hungry Abby?”

“No but I am sleepy.
They gave me a pill to take before we came out the door and I am feeling very sleepy.” Abby says with drooping eyes.

“Abby, honey may I touch you?
Just on your arm? I want to see if I can see what they gave you.” Alexi asks

“Okay, but how can you see the pill in my tummy through my arm?
Abby asks