Treasure Ch. 15-20

"Oh honey," her Mom said. "Where would we go?"

"Away from here," she said. "Look at this place. It's too much for us, and what is really keeping us here anyway? We have no relatives here, most of your friends were friends with Dad, and I can go to college anywhere. I miss Grandma, and I sure won't miss that six inches of white stuff out there."

Dawn thought about it; she had her husband's survivor benefits, her nursing license would easily transfer, and she missed her mother too. "Let me call a realtor in the morning," she said. "You're right, even if we stayed here, this house is too much for me anymore and has too many memories."

"Mom? Can we go back to your maiden name, and legally change my name to Rea?"

"I'll call our lawyer in the morning, honey." She brought her daughter into a hug; this town had hurt her just as much as they hurt her daughter. She'd never get a break, and she never would escape the whispered comments and looks. "We'll just disappear together."

Ch. 20

It turned out that getting our names changed legally wasn't as hard as one might think. Dawn called Chief Clarke and asked him about it; he quickly agreed that Treasure was eligible for a name change under the Minnesota Victim Protection Program. He wrote a letter to the Courts stating that she had been the victim of two attempted abductions and was still in danger. He further explained the police still had an open investigation into the identity of the driver of the SUV in the hospital parking lot, and the reason for the abduction attempts were still unknown.

Dawn called a lawyer, and with the Chief's help they got a Court hearing a week later. By that time, they had already accepted an offer on the house and donated or sold most of their belongings. The things they would take with them to Florida were packed in a short container and hauled away. Dawn closed her accounts, arranged to have the pension checks routed through her lawyer, and cut all other ties to her life in Minnesota.

Rea had even less to deal with, since she had already graduated from high school. Her graduation certificate was from the State Board of Education, not her local district, so no one at her old school would know when the certificate when her new name was issued. Her medical records were printed out, and they spent a night going through and blacking out her name and social security number wherever it appeared. When they arrived in Florida, her new doctors could scan in what was needed, under her new identity.

The lawyer was given authority to complete the sales and was the only person who would know their new names and location. By the time the two were done at the government offices, they had new names on new birth certificates, Social Security numbers and driver's licenses. The next stop was the bank; they opened new accounts in their new names, transferred the money over, and closed the old ones. Rea got a new debit card, attached to the account her Social Security survivor's benefit would be deposited in, and an investment account that held the proceeds of the lawsuit. They also applied for passports with their new identifies. It took about two days to get everything done, and what was left their lawyer would handle for them.

---

Charles was getting very nervous as he saw the realtor place the "SOLD" sign on the suburban home they had been watching for the past week. In the week since Treasure returned home, she had rarely ventured out, and only in the company of her mother. Now there was more uncertainty.

The three men were watching in shifts; cameras had been placed around the house, and a GPS homing device had been planted in their car when they were at the grocery store. He picked up his laptop and went to his room before opening Facetime and calling his son. "Hey Dad, how's it going?"

"They're leaving town," he said. "The house has been sold, and we can see boxes stacked in the living room. They've got a bunch of stuff for sale on Craigslist, priced to sell."

"Where are they going?"

"I don't know. I had Billy stop and look at some bedroom furniture she had advertised; he tried to start a conversation with her Mom, but she wasn't forthcoming with anything. She just said they were downsizing."

"You know this, but we can't let them get out of our protection," he said. "There's no telling where they might go or who might find them."

"Relax, Martin. I'm not about to let anything happen to my only granddaughter." They caught up on some other Pack and Council business, then he hung up. He went out to talk to his men, they needed another way.

"Why don't we just go up and tell her what she is," Billy said. "Her wolf will confirm it. She has to be wondering about her Mom and how it all happens, if we tell her we know she will listen."

"And the first thing she does is go tell her Mom," Nate replied. "You know the rules, we can't let humans gain the knowledge of our existence. How would it work if we told her about us and then had to kill her mother to keep the secret? What if she doesn't believe us? Are we supposed to just shift and let her run off in fear?"

"We need a controlled situation," Charles said. "Not here, but away from her mother. Preferably on Pack lands where we can freely shift and let her discover her true nature without humans around."

"How do we do that?"

"We play the long game here. The only way it works is if she WANTS to go to our Pack lands, and the only way that happens is if she is invited by someone she knows and trusts." Charles thought for a while. "She only has one friend, and that friend is human. When they move, we need to move with them to watch and protect them, but she will need to make new friends. That new friend has to be Pack." He took his phone out and called Martin, hoping he would let the teenager he was thinking about join them.

Dawn let Rea drive her to the rental car place; their car would not be big enough, and it was still registered in their old names. "Clean break, right Mom?"

"Clean break, baby. New home, new names, new lives." The decision to change their identities had been liberating for both of them.

She rented a full-size SUV with unlimited mileage under her new identity, taking the optional insurance. She then followed Rea to a used-car lot where the Ford Focus was sold for cash. Her father's car and motorcycle had already been sold, since Mom didn't have a motorcycle license and the big Harley was too heavy for her. They drove home, taking only an hour to load up all the boxes they were taking with. The real estate agent and the buyers took a walkthrough and then the keys, and they were finally free of their old life. Dawn merged the big Excursion onto I-90 east, heading for Chicago and their new life.

They decided to stop for dinner when they saw the road sign for the Cracker Barrel near Madison. "I don't know if I'll be able to stop calling you Treasure, Rori," she said. They had picked their names off lists on the Internet; Rea wanted something that sounded similar. She found the name Rori on a list of Irish names she was looking at because her hair color and freckles had people thinking she had Irish origins. Rori was the female version of Rory, which meant "red-headed king." Fitting, she thought, since they had picked King as their new last nam; it was fairly common and Rori liked it.

"And I will need time to think of you as Donna, but at least I can just call you Mom," she said with a laugh. She looked in the mirror as Mom started to exit; the silver Jeep Cherokee had turned its blinker on as well. She had seen it before, several times, always a few cars behind them. They reached the bottom of the offramp, and it was now behind them. She moved the mirror on her side to get a better view; there were two men in the front seat and one in the back. Her unease grew as they turned right, then left onto the frontage road, and the Cherokee did the same. As Mom sat in the left turn lane for the entrance, she breathed a sigh of relief as the silver Jeep kept going.

She looked over, taking a good look at the middle-aged male who was driving. He was big, broad-shouldered, wearing a flannel shirt and with black hair tinged at the temples with silver. He glanced at her, their eyes met, and she felt like her chest was being squeezed and she moved her head to the side, quickly looking away. It was only a second or two and then they were gone. "What the hell was that," she thought to herself.

She was debating whether to tell her Mom or not as they got out of the rental car and walked inside. She'd always loved this place, especially the little store they'd hit after they ordered for snacks for the road. They were seated, and she decided on breakfast for dinner; chicken-fried steak, eggs and pancakes, while Mom went for shrimp. "Are you going to let me drive," she said after the waitress left.

"Rental car agreement says no drivers under 21," she said. "When we get to Florida, we'll get you a new car."

"I don't want a car, Mom. I want a motorcycle."

"You'll have to get a new license, and I don't know what they'll require in Florida for a motorcycle endorsement."

"I already looked, Mom. I have to take a state-approved motorcycle safety course, then it gets added to my license."

"No riding without a helmet, boots and leather, I don't care what they ride with or say down here. I've seen too many..."

"Mom, I'm required to wear a helmet by law. You and Dad have both taught me never to ride without one." She put her hands on her Mom's. "You could learn too."

She shook her head no. "I loved riding with your father, but I never wanted to do it by myself. I'll be nervous enough with you riding around. Now, what kind of motorcycle are you planning to get?" The meal went quickly as she showed her Mom the models that were in her price range.

---

"She spotted us," Nate said as Charles turned right at the bottom of the ramp. "I can see her looking at us in the side mirror, she's moved it." To wolf sight, the move allowed Nate to watch her just as easily, the small mirror was clearly seen by him.

"We have to get the tracking device back on," Charles said. "We have to see where they are going then we'll just stay out of sight." The rental SUV signaled to go into Cracker barrel, and he stayed in the lane and drove towards the Home Depot instead. He couldn't resist glancing over, his wolf HAD to know his granddaughter was all right. It was a mistake; their eyes met, his wolf reached out to her and she reacted. Her eyes lowered, and she exposed her neck to him, her wolf submitting to his dominance even though she had no idea they were related. A wave of protective feelings rushed through him as he continued driving.

"I screwed up, she saw me, and her wolf recognized me for what I was," Charles said as he pulled into a spot near the back of the lot. "Nate, you get out and take the tracker with you. Wait until you are sure they can't see you, then place it under their car." When they had seen the two women sell their car, Nate had to go in and retrieve it while pretending to look at it as a customer. "We'll go get some Arby's while you're gone."

They would have to depend on GPS from this point on to track the pair, they couldn't risk being spotted again. They filled up their tank, then went to get the food. By the time they picked up Nate, he reported the two were eating their meals and would probably be done in twenty more minutes. Charles made sure everyone had taken a bathroom break, and they took turns stretching their legs. He sat in the back seat, the laptop open to a map that showed the GPS coordinates of the tracker.

His mind kept going back to the brief moment he had shared with his granddaughter. She was beautiful and strong; his wolf had felt her power just before she submitted. The confusion that went across her face showed him the real problem, her wolf and her human weren't talking.

They stayed at least a mile away from the pair as they drove southeast, staying in different hotels, eating at different places. They watched as they stayed in her Grandmother's apartment for a week before they moved into a large duplex, backed up to the pine forests and swamps north of Orlando. Charles quickly rented a unit nearby, the upstairs windows providing the perfect spot to maintain surveillance.

Ashley had arrived, and it was time to put their plan into action.