His Daddy's Car

"Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?" Katie giggled.

Bobby smiled and went on, "I see our biggest challenge to a "new" relationship being two things. First, I know I will have a hard time calling you 'Katie'. It's just not something I'm used to. If I slip and call you Patty, that could be a problem. 'PattyKat' would be even worse. I think I'll need to stick with calling you endearing little names like 'Sweety', 'Babe', 'Honey'... What do you think?"

Katie frowned ,"I'm not thrilled with any of your suggestions, but the idea sounds good in principle. Let me think on it some and I'll get back to you. What's the second thing?"

Bobby nodded and continued, "Your parents. They will definitely know of our past history, and while I always thought your parents liked me, that was a different time and under very different circumstances. How do you think we should handle them?"

Katie thought for a minute before responding, "My parents worshipped you Bobby. They know better than anyone besides you and me the sacrifice that was made when I was forced to join them in disappearing. They both see you in JR, and have commented several times when he wasn't around how much they want him to have the chance to know you. I have to believe my parents would want me... want us to be happy, and would keep our history secret in order to provide that for us. In fact, I am so certain of it, I want you to come with me right now to go visit them. They're only a few miles from here, and then we can go pick up JR from school and spend some time with him after practice. Are you game?"

Bobby had his reservations, but he stifled them and simply said, "You know I could never say no to you. Lead on my lady."

The skilled nursing home was affiliated with one of the large hospitals situated in the Medical Center district of San Antonio, and was located only a few blocks from the heart of the district, next to a professional building for doctors of every persuasion.

Bobby and Katie made the quick trip from his home and were parking outside the facility after only a ten minute drive. Katie asked Bobby to wait in the lobby while she went to see if her parents were in their room, or having a treatment somewhere else.

Bobby stood by the front door gazing out into the parking lot while he waited. He spotted the two men sitting in the car watching the front of the facility, and then headed towards them. He kept his hands away from his body and tried to maintain eye contact with at least one of the men as he approached. He noticed that the passenger was talking on a cell phone, but the driver kept his attention on Bobby as he stopped about 3 feet from the front of their car and simply nodded to them.

The driver stepped out of the car and identified himself as a U.S. Marshal.

Bobby said, "I know who you are. That's why I came over to introduce myself."

Bobby extended his hand but the driver made no move to accept it. The passenger finished his call and also stepped out of the car to face Bobby. He said, "Sir, could you please identify yourself and tell us your business here?"

Bobby replied, "I could certainly do that, but if you were to call Kirby Wallace and ask him, it might serve your purposes better. I'll wait right here while you call him. Be certain to mention the car I am driving so Marshal Wallace knows who you're speaking about."

The passenger deputy looked at the driver, then climbed back into the car and started dialing his cell phone again. It was a short conversation before the passenger deputy once again slid out of the car.

He said, "Thank you sir, speaking with Marshal Wallace was definitely advantageous in understanding who you are. However, we still have the unanswered question of what your business might be at this particular facility."

Bobby nodded, "I assume that you saw me arrive?"

The two Marshals both nodded. Bobby continued, "Then I assume you saw that I had a passenger. Said passenger is one of your protectees and asked me to drive her to this facility to visit her parents who are patients inside. Any other questions?"

The passenger deputy said, "Once again, thank you sir. From my conversation with Marshal Wallace, I believe you understand our role as it relates to your passenger and her parents. With that role in mind, please understand that when your passenger is "off the grid" so to speak with no one on our team knowing her whereabouts for more than 12 hours, things can start becoming tense."

Bobby nodded once more, "I can definitely understand if in fact the passenger was actually "off the grid" as you say, and if she was, then the U.S. Marshal Service needs to re-examine your resources and technology. I know that the passenger had her cell phone with her and turned on from the time I picked her up yesterday, and it is still on and in her possession. I also know that no calls were made to the cell phone from anyone, least of all strapping U.S. Marshals who might have been concerned for her welfare. Then there is the matter of the GPS chip in her cell phone and your ability to track it. You do have that capability, don't you?"

The passenger deputy replied, "Yes sir, your points are valid. We should have attempted to contact the lady or at least tracked her location through her cell phone. I didn't mean to imply that you were the cause or in any way contributed to our situation."

Bobby said, "Great to hear. Well if there is nothing further, I am going to rejoin my friend and hopefully meet her parents. If it helps you plan your day, when we leave here, we will be picking up her son from school and returning to their home. Nice meeting you."

Bobby turned and re-entered the lobby just as Katie was coming back to collect him. She had a glowing smile when she saw him. As she reached up and kissed his cheek she said, "They both just finished the hydrotherapy and the staff is helping them dress for lunch. Let's start heading towards their room and they should be ready by the time we get there."

Bobby smiled and nodded his agreement as she took his hand and led him down the hall.

Mr. and Mrs. Freeman shared a two-bed room with a northern exposure. Besides the two beds, the room had a circular table with four chairs and two rocking chairs facing the television mounted on the wall. When Katie led Bobby into their room her parents were just sitting down at the table to play some cards prior to lunch being served.

Katie made a point of pushing the door to their room closed as she and Bobby passed through. As the door clicked closed, both of her parents looked up at their guests. Naturally, their eyes settled on Katie first, and they smiled warmly. Bobby watched as their looks shifted towards his face, and noticed confused recognition on both of their faces.

Before they could say anything, Katie rushed to them and said, "Please keep your voices down and I'll explain."

Bobby thought that was funny because it didn't look like either her mother or father currently had the power of speech. Katie pulled Bobby over to one of the chairs and then she sat in the other. Once all four of them were seated, Katie smiled and asked her parents to close their mouths so that flies wouldn't get in.

That didn't seem to affect them, so Katie then said, "Mom, Dad, you remember Bobby don't you?"

"Bobby Brandt?" her mother whispered.

"Yes Mam," Bobby said. "It's great to see you both again."

Mr. Freeman found his voice, "How? Do the Marshals know?"

Katie took one of each her parents' hands and said, "Your second question first dad because it's the most important. The answer is 'no', the Marshals don't know and we need your help to make certain that they don't find out. Let me explain..."

She glanced at Bobby and said, "Please help me fill in anything I miss." Bobby nodded and Katie continued. "You both know our neighbors, Jason and Francis Reid and of course their son Joey."

"Certainly," her mom said.

"He's a detective and she's a nurse," her father added.

Katie nodded and went on, "What you don't know, and what I didn't know until a couple of days ago is that Francis is Bobby's older sister."

Her mother gasped while her father just grinned and mumbled, "Damn small world... damn small."

Mrs. Freeman then voiced her realization, "That makes the Reids relatives! JR is her nephew and Joey is yours."

"I know," Katie said. "But the story is just beginning, so bear with me. Bobby just moved to the San Antonio area for his work, which we'll get into later, and drove out to visit with his sister and her family. He met them originally at the boys' baseball practice where Joey noticed that Bobby's car resembled the pictures I have, and he brought that to JR's attention."

Mr. Freeman chuckled, "You still have that Corvair, son?"

"Yes sir," Bobby replied.

Katie resumed, "Bobby followed the Reids back to their home and parked along the side of the road. Because there were thunder clouds in the distance, Bobby decided to put a canvas cover over his car in case it rained, and JR helped him."

"How precious," said Mrs. Freeman.

Katie smiled and said, "I know, right! So anyway, when I pull up a few minutes later, all I see is a canvas covered car and have no idea what is beneath the cover, so I just blindly walk into the Reid's home totally unprepared for what I was going to see. As soon as I saw

Bobby's face I fainted dead away. I mean comatose, no blood in my head, body failed me fainted. Francis revived me with some smelling salts and helped me to their guest room. It wasn't until then that it dawned on me that Francis was actually Bobby's sister Franc, whom I had never met when we were dating.

I confessed everything to Francis and begged her to keep my secret. She happily agreed, and then shortly later, Kirby took JR and I home."

Mr. Freeman interrupted, "My God, does Kirby know?"

Katie said, "I already told you dad that the Marshals do not know, so hang with me here. That night, JR came to me and wanted to see all the pictures of his dad's car to compare it to Bobby's. He was pretty quick to pick up on a difference that I didn't learn about until yesterday."

She kissed Bobby on the cheek and continued, "JR also said that Bobby had agreed to give him a ride in his car if I gave my permission, which of course I did. So the next day Bobby returns to the baseball field to help Jason run the practice and then he once again goes over to his sister's house for dinner. When I arrive this time, the cover is off Bobby's car and I can see the difference that JR had mentioned, and it almost made me cry."

"Well, what was it?" asked her mother.

Katie smiled and said, "Vanity plates that read 'PATTYKAT'. Anyway, I composed myself and met Francis in the house. Bobby and Jason were on the deck watching JR and Joey play in the pool. I followed Francis out to join them. Francis sat down next to Jason, leaving the only spare seat the one next to Bobby. Francis asked how the practice went, and as Bobby was replying, I started to sit down next to him. My movements apparently caught his attention, exactly why, you'll have to ask him..." she squeezed his hand as she said this.

"Regardless, he is now paying more attention to me, looking me in the eyes for the first time in 10 years. I said to him, 'I gave JR permission to ride in your car'. Bobby's expression suddenly changed and he asked me to repeat what I had said. Mom, Dad, I don't know that I'll ever be able to describe what happened next. Everything around me turned gray, but there was this very clear circle with Bobby's eyes in the center. The love displayed in them was instant and truer than anything I have ever seen. It seemed like an eternity, but it must have been only a second or two before he smiled at me and said 'Hello PattyKat'."

Mrs. Freeman was openly and freely crying, and Mr. Freeman had tears running down his own cheeks.

"What do you need from us?" her father asked, and her mother nodded.

Katie turned to Bobby and he took over for her, "Patty... oh crap, see what I mean?" he said smiling at Katie. "I mean Katie and I want to appear to be just a man and a woman in a brand new relationship without letting our past be known. Basically we just need you both to go along with that premise."

"It won't work," said her father. "The Marshals are sure to check out any man that Katie dates, and when they find out who you are and where you were raised, they'll do everything they can to prevent it -- up to and including relocating us all again."

"Dad," Katie interrupted, "Please let Bobby finish".

"Sure honey," her dad said, so Bobby went on, "Mr. and Mrs. Freeman, I can't go into the details, but I sometimes do some very sensitive and secretive work for the government. As Marshal Kirby Wallace learned when he inquired into my background, he -- and all Marshals -- do not have the authorization level required to get anywhere near mine or my family's background data. In reality folks, if you can play along with Katie and I having just met, there is nothing that the Marshals can access that would tell them otherwise.

"Consider it done!" said her father.

"With pleasure," agreed her mom.

Katie burst into tears and went around the table to hug both her parents. "Oh I want you two to come home so we can all be together," she cried.

"Well this is definitely a motivation to finish off the therapy if I ever saw one," said her dad.

Her mom was trying to stem the flow of her tears as she said, "What about JR?".

"Well he already knows Bobby as Joey's uncle, and thinks the world of him," said Katie.

"That's not what I'm concerned about," said her mom.

When Katie and Bobby looked at her questioningly, she continued, "What about his name? Bobby and he have the same name for crying out loud. How are you going to hide that indefinitely?"

"Hmmm," Bobby said. "Very good point. We're going to have to think on that one Katie."

"Let's discuss it on our way to pick him up. Mom, Dad... thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to be together. I love you both so much."

Her mom replied, "We're just glad that the opportunity finally presented itself for you Katie. You'll never know how much we shared your pain over all these years, and wished we could find a way to ease it for you. We'll do whatever we can to make this all work out for the three of you. Now go love on my grandson for me."

The same two Marshals were still holding vigil in their car outside the nursing home as Bobby and Katie returned to his car. Bobby gave a mock salute, which was returned with a wave from the driver.

Katie asked, "Do you know those men?"

Bobby told her, "We sort of met earlier when you were looking for your parents. It appears that someone took issue with you not being home last night."

"Oh crap!" she said. "I would have been courteous of me to inform them, but I kind of got caught up in the moment."

"I wouldn't sweat it," Bobby said. "They didn't expend too much effort trying to find you so it can't be that big of a deal for them."

"True," she said as she pulled out her scrunchie and got her hair pulled back.

"So navigate me to our next stop," Bobby said and he headed for the highway back to Wilson County.

They still had enough time to stop for lunch at a Red Lobster near Walzem Road before they had to pick up JR. A quick bowl of New England clam chowder and a salad was the perfect meal to hold them until dinner.

Bobby held Katie's hand as they stood along the pick-up lane at JR's school. Katie had called Franc to let her know that they would be picking JR up and asked her if she would like them to pick up Joey as well. Franc said that it wasn't necessary, but if they were driving the Corvair, Joey would probably love to ride home in it instead her car. Katie told her that they would be happy to drop Joey off, and also give him a ride to baseball practice if she wanted. Franc thanked her and accepted the offer, more for Joey's thrill of riding in the Corvair again than anything else.

JR and Joey came out together, looking for Francis' car but pleasantly surprised to see Katie there with Bobby. JR ran up and gave his mom a hug, and then turned and shook Bobby's hand.

"Hey JR, Joey," said Bobby. "I heard that you guys might like to ride in my car, so JR's mom and I thought we would pick you up today, take you home to change, and then drive you to practice. Are you up for that?"

"Yeah!" said JR.

"Cool!" replied Joey.

If the boys noticed Bobby and Katie holding hands as they walked back to the car, they didn't say anything.

"Does the front seat fold forward so we can get into the back?" asked JR.

"It sure does," said Bobby as he opened the door for Katie. "But I always thought it was more fun to just crawl over."

Bobby then ran around to the driver's side and hopped over the side of the car and settled into his seat. JR and Joey started laughing as they too clambered over the sides of the car and fell into the back seat.

Once both boys had their seatbelts fastened, Bobby hit the road. Katie hadn't said a word, but simply smiled and squeezed Bobby's hand tighter and tighter.

Katie had forgotten that she had left her car on the road in front of Jason and Franc's home, but as Bobby parked in front of her car, there was no denying it.

Joey and JR whooped and jumped out of the back seat of Bobby's Corvair almost as soon as he had brought it to a stop.

"Awesome!!!!" yelled the two boys as they ran into the house to get changed for baseball practice.

Katie turned and smiled at Bobby. She couldn't remember when she had smiled so much.

"I probably should get my car off the street. Can you pick me up at my house once the boys are ready?" she asked.

Bobby returned her smile and said, "If you haven't figured out by now that I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, then our GPA scores were obviously rigged and you're nowhere near as smart as you look. Not to say that you still aren't beautiful..."

Katie giggled and said, "I'll be waiting for you, and missing you every minute."

Bobby jumped out of the car without opening his door and ran around to open the door for Katie. She was laughing so hard it took her a minute before she could take his hand and let him help her out of the car.

The first words that popped into her mouth as she looked into Bobby's eyes were, "I am alive!"

She gave Bobby a quick hug and walked to her car. As she drove down the road to her house, her mood couldn't have been brighter.

***

The black Suburban parked across her driveway didn't surprise Katie. What did surprise her is that it didn't move as she approached in her car. As she stopped at the end of her drive, Kirby Wallace stepped out of the Suburban and walked over to her car. When Katie rolled down the window, he said, "We need to talk."

Katie looked up at Kirby and said, "Certainly. Move your beast mobile so I can pull into my driveway, and then you can join me in the house."

Kirby returned to his vehicle, backed it out onto the street, and then followed Katie up the driveway. Katie was exiting her car by the time Kirby parked beside her.

"I don't have a lot of time," Katie said. "I need to change before I go to JR's baseball practice." She started walking towards the house and Kirby followed her. She entered the house through the side door into the kitchen and placed her purse on the island in the middle of the room.

"So what's up Marshal Wallace?" Katie asked.

"I have some concerns," Kirby answered.

"Concerns about what?" asked Katie.

"Your sudden 'behavior' changes," Kirby said.

Katie looked at Kirby and couldn't read his emotions at all. He seemed so 'cold', or just blank.

"What behavior changes in particular might be of concern to the U.S. Marshals, pray tell?"

"Behaviors that are uncharacteristic of the profile for a protectee built upon ten years of documented observation and analysis." He continued, "For ten years you have led a solitary and from all appearances a celibate life. Now, we're not complaining because your desire not to date anyone or enter into any type of relationship has definitely made our lives much easier."