1. Alpha

Chapter 1

Alpha

“ E xcuse me, Angel, Angel Jackson, isn’t it?”

That was how it started. Angel was at her son’s preschool waiting for the class to be brought outside by their teachers. “Yes, and you’re Ciara’s mom, aren’t you?” Angel asked, shifting her one-year-old daughter, Johanna, to her other hip.

Angel didn’t get to pick her son, Sammy, up after school every day. She was able to make it a few times a month, so she recognized the other parents or caregivers whose children were also in Sammy’s class, but she didn’t know many of them well. Her best friend Elizabeth Williams, who babysat when she was at work, picked Sammy up the remainder of the time.

Angel had never said more than a hello to this woman. She didn’t even know her first name.

“I’m Maeve, Ciara’s aunt; her guardian,” the other woman said.

“Hello,” Angel said.

Maeve and Ciara both had strawberry-blonde hair and light gray-blue eyes.

Maeve dropped her voice to a whisper. “You work for a private investigator or a security agency of some sort, don’t you? ”

“Why do you ask?” This question took Angel off guard. The fact that she worked for Shepherd Security wasn’t common knowledge. She merely told people she was an office manager and rarely mentioned the name of her employer.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your privacy. I work in the preschool office a few days a week. Your file was out last week when they had to call you when Sammy hit his head and I saw the name of your employer on it.”

This statement confused Angel. She had not written that on the enrollment form. She swept her black hair back from her face and placed a kiss on the top of her daughter’s head, also covered in black hair. “I don’t recall writing it on that form.”

“I think someone in the office noted it,” Maeve said. “Anyway, I’m glad Sammy was okay.” She paused for a moment and summoned her courage. When she spoke again, her voice was a mere whisper. “I need help.”

From the look on her face, Angel could tell it was a serious matter to her. “What kind of help?”

“It’s kind of a long story, but I need to find Ciara’s parents.”

“Okay,” Angel said. “I think it would be best if you came into the office and talked to one of our investigators.”

Even as she said it, she wasn’t sure about suggesting it. The head of the agency, Colonel Samual Shepherd and his wife were out of town. Shepherd had to sanction all cases. Angel’s husband, Jackson, was the number three in charge at the agency. He was in the office running things in everyone else’s absence this week.

“How much would something like this cost? I have several hundred dollars saved, but I don’t have money to burn.”

Angel, being the office manager and Shepherd’s personal assistant, saw all the financials. She knew that the prices billed to customers varied greatly. And knowing the agency may not take this case, she chose her words carefully. “Well, we’d have to take a look at the case to first determine if we can take it on. And then it’ll have to be determined how long it might take, or how difficult it will be to find them to even give you an idea of the cost.”

Maeve was disappointed. “I see.”

“You know what, to keep this informal, why don’t you come over to my house tonight and talk to my husband and me about it? The kids can play out of earshot.”

“Your husband works for the agency, too?” Maeve asked.

“Yes,” Angel confirmed. She pulled her cell phone out. “Give me your number and I’ll text you my address.”

Maeve was on time. She came right after the Jackson family had finished dinner. Maeve got extremely nervous after she was introduced to Ethan Jackson, who just went by Jackson. He was a solid man with dark hair, a mustache, and a full, nicely trimmed beard. Even when he smiled, he looked imposing. Or perhaps that was Maeve’s imagination getting the better of her.

But she knew she had to find her sister and Ciara’s father. This was probably her only chance.

They sat at the kitchen table while the kids played in the far corner of the living room. Maeve smiled, watching Ciara play. She hoped she was doing the right thing for her niece. “I’m not sure where to start,” she confessed.

She pulled the advertisement from her purse and set it on the table. It was a flyer for a strip club, Gentleman Jerry’s. It was located in the suburbs of Chicago; Lombard to be exact. It was sparkly green with a four-leaf clover cut out and a woman’s eye wearing heavy makeup peeking through the clover. It advertised drink specials for the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Both Angel and Jackson waited until she spoke again. They were both used to giving people the time they needed to tell their story.

“My sister Quinn, Ciara’s mom, wasn’t ready to be a mom when Ciara was born. She didn’t even tell Ciara’s father she was pregnant, not that either of us knew where he was when she found out she was pregnant. I don’t blame him for walking away when he did. Quinn creates drama wherever she goes, and he’d had enough. I’ve taken care of Ciara since she was born. Before Quinn split, she at least made me Ciara’s legal guardian.” Maeve paused, and the silence continued for nearly a minute.

“Why do you need to find her now?” Jackson asked.

“I’ve been kind of trying to for several years, but I never had a lead until this.” She tapped the flyer. “That’s my sister’s eye. I’m sure it is. She has to be back in the area if she’s on this flyer. This was left on my car Friday evening, in Lombard.”

“We’re going to need the whole story,” Jackson said. “And I’m going to need to see your ID and Ciara’s birth certificate. I need full names and dates.”

Tears filled Maeve’s eyes and her heart dropped. “This was a mistake,” she muttered. “Never mind.” She shot to her feet.

Angel stood and stepped in front of her. “We can help, but we have to validate everything you’ve told us. And I get the feeling there’s more to why you want to find your sister.”

“And Blain, Ciara’s father. I need to find him. Look, he doesn’t even know about her. And she’s been asking about her dad recently. If anything happens to me, Ciara has no one. I’m sure Quinn is no more able to be a mom to Ciara now than she was when she left. So, hopefully Blain will.” She ended her words abruptly.

“You know, if you find either or both of them, they could challenge you for custody,” Jackson said.

“I don’t want to lose her, but I need there to be someone there for her,” she began. Her lip quivered, and the tears streamed down her cheeks. She couldn’t continue her sentence.

Angel wrapped her arms around her and drew her in for an embrace. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, we’ll help you, Maeve.”

“You have to trust someone,” Jackson whispered. “And you chose Angel to be that someone. Come on, finish what you started.”

Maeve re-took her seat. She told her story, the whole story. For her it was cathartic, letting it all tumble out of her mouth. She told them how her sister lied to Maeve’s boyfriend, Blain Sullivan, got him to break up with Maeve, and then she seduced him. He realized he’d been lied to and wanted to reconcile with Maeve, but the damage was done. Maeve couldn’t trust him and wouldn’t take him back. The relationship between Quinn and Blain lasted less than a month, a tumultuous drama-filled month. And then, in a flurry of typical Quinn-drama she tried to get him back. That’s when he stopped all communication with them both and left the area.

Quinn was five months pregnant before she realized it. She never considered an abortion, but did consider giving the baby up for adoption. In classic, selfish, Quinn style, she brought the baby home but never stepped up to be the mother Ciara deserved.

Maeve was the one who stepped up, and she loved Ciara as if she were her own. When Ciara was two months old, Quinn returned to her party life. By the time Ciara was six months old, Quinn was rarely home. On Ciara’s first birthday, Maeve suggested she be named legal guardian. Quinn agreed. Shortly after, Quinn broke off all communication after telling Maeve she was moving to California with a new boyfriend.

Angel still felt there was more. “So why try to find her now, Maeve? There’s something you’re not telling us.” She reached across the table and took Maeve’s hand.

Maeve swallowed hard and glanced up at the ceiling, her eyes full of tears. “I need surgery. It’s a dangerous surgery. If anything happens to me, I need to make sure Ciara is taken care of.”

“Do you have any other family? What about your parents?” Angel asked.

“Both are gone. My father died of an aneurism when I was a child, and my mother died in a car accident a few years before Ciara was born.”

Angel glanced at Jackson. He nodded. “We’ll help you find Ciara’s parents, and if anything happens to you we will take care of Ciara if they won’t,” Angel said .

Maeve now had tears streaming down her face. Angel handed her a box of tissues.

“It’s called an abdominal aortic aneurysm, a triple A. And it’s a big one, nearly seven centimeters. They told me it will most likely rupture within the next year and then I would bleed to death.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks again and blew out a shaky breath. “Even if the surgery is successful, the recovery comes with more risks.”

Angel rose from her seat and went to Maeve, embracing her again. “Oh, honey, I am so sorry. You have to schedule that surgery as soon as possible. Between us and my best friend Elizabeth Williams and her husband, we’ll take care of Ciara while we look for her parents.”

Jackson reached across the table and took Maeve’s hand, which gripped the table. “A triple A is nothing to mess with. Angel’s right. You need to schedule that surgery ASAP.”

“I know,” Maeve said.

“How and when was it diagnosed?” Angel asked. She hoped Maeve hadn’t been walking around with this life-threatening condition for too long.

“A few weeks ago. I’d been having stomach pain. I thought it was just my stomach not handling acidic foods well. My doctor sent me for an ultrasound and that’s when they found it. The treatment is relatively simple. They insert a catheter into an artery and then they put a stent inside the aorta where it’s bulging to reinforce it at the weak point to prevent the pressure on the aortic wall from rupturing it. The downside is that blood clots can occur, which can cause strokes. There’s also a big risk of bleeding and infection. There are scarier life-threatening risks that happen in a small percentage of these surgeries. I’m trying not to think about that, but I did read on the internet that nearly thirty percent of people who have these surgeries encounter significant issues.”

“Yeah, don’t think about the worst-case scenario,” Angel said.

“Okay, here’s what our next moves are,” Jackson said. “When you and Ciara leave this evening, I’ll follow you to your place. I’d like to get copies of all the documents we’ll need to for the agency to look for her parents. Then tomorrow you need to add both Angel and Elizabeth to the school pickup authorization so they can help you.”

“We’ll share what you told us with Elizabeth and her husband, so they’ll be ready to help as well. Her husband also works for the agency,” Angel said. “I’ll share her phone number with you in a three-way text. You should reach out and plan to visit her in the next day or two. Certainly before your surgery.”

“I’m not even sure how soon I can schedule it,” Maeve said.

“As soon as possible,” Angel said.

“Now tell us everything you know about your sister and Ciara’s father, so we can start looking for them,” Jackson said. He had a pad of paper and a pen in front of him now.

Jackson followed Maeve back to her apartment when she and Ciara left. He waited in her kitchen while she put Ciara to bed. Then he took pictures of her driver’s license, her birth certificate, and Ciara’s birth certificate, which had no name listed for the father. She also had her sister’s birth certificate, and he took a picture of that as well.

She had one photo on her phone of Ciara’s father. She text messaged it to him. She didn’t know his exact date of birth or his Social Security Number. She had an address he’d lived at four years ago. No current address though. She was able to provide the name of his employer from when they dated. That was it, all she had.