Chapter 51

I followed 'Lady Samantha' into the living room, to the nearest phone. I saw her glance back at me and give me a threatening glance at the 'Lady Samantha' thought. I don't think she had any idea what she was doing or how she was acting. Something important needed to be done, so she took over and did it.

Amy, Cindi, Julie, Sarah, and Victoria were in the room when I arrived. By the grim looks on their faces, I knew this was not good. None of them would give me a hint what it was about, though.

"Hello?"

"Patrick?" A shaky, tentative voice answered. I immediately recognized it as Kim, although she certainly didn't sound like the self-assured girl I had met earlier.

"Kim? What's up, honey? You sound upset," I asked. That was more than she could handle, and she broke down completely.

"Oh God, Patrick, I'm so scared and they won't tell us anything and I just don't know what to DO!" She got out between sobs. As incoherent as she was, it got worse as all I heard was crying. Finally, I heard someone else take away the phone, and I heard the mixture of scared little girl and mature teenager that I remembered and had learned to love so much.

"Patrick? It's Lisa. I'm sorry, Kim is really upset. Can you come out here to help us, please? We have no one else and we're afraid they're going to break us up and put us in foster homes or something. I don't like the way they've been talking about us like we aren't even there!" She was trying, a little more successfully that Kim, to keep it together, but I still had no idea what we were talking about.

"Of course I'll come out there anytime you need me, sweetheart, but I need to know what is going on. Can you tell me what's the matter, honey?" I asked her patiently, as my heart thumped loudly in my chest.

"Oh. Sorry. I guess we're all a little freaked out here. We don't know much. Daddy had an accident of some kind. We're all at the hospital here. They won't let us go home and they won't tell us anything about what's going on, because we're just 'little girls'!" She spit out contemptuously. I smiled as I heard the real, normal Lisa show through for a moment. I suspected that whomever they were dealing with was not having a good time either! "The way they're acting, we're afraid that he is... that he's... would you be our Daddy if he's... gone? We have no one else!" She whispered softly, finally breaking down and crying softly into the phone. She was still easier to talk to than Kim, however, bless both their little hearts. I knew her 'we have no one else' remark didn't mean I was their last choice. It meant I was special.

All of my girls knew exactly what to do; Amy just got to it first. I heard her softly talking to my Dad on the phone, arranging, among other things as I was to find out later, for a helicopter to pick us up and take us to the nearest Air Force base where a plane was already standing by to take us to Arizona. I saw Sarah talking into her phone also. Julie was talking softly to someone on her phone.

"I'll be there in a couple hours, Lisa. You guys just try to stay calm. No one is taking you anywhere, or splitting you up, or putting you in any homes except this one, if it comes to that. Of course I'll be your Daddy and all these girls will be your sisters. We will be even if James is all right. You just hang in there, dear; we'll be there in an hour or two.

"Can't you just... do your thing and get here sooner?" She whined plaintively, whispering to keep from being overheard. Poor thing; she - all of them - must be really scared.

"I'd love to, dear, but I don't really think that would be wise. If I'm going to show up there to whisk you girls off as my adopted daughters, I don't think I want to give them questions to ask about how I got there so fast. They're not going to like this as it is. You all just hang in there another couple of hours; I'll be there soon. You just remember, dear, and tell the others — I love you, Lisa. I won't let you go anywhere else but here."

"I... we love you too... Daddy," she whispered, sounding a little upset. Now it was tears in my eyes when she called me Daddy. "But... how are you going to pull it off? The woman taking charge of us, Ms. Hanson... she's a real bitch!" Lisa whispered conspiratorially, with a nervous little giggle afterwards. "Sorry, Daddy," she apologized for her language.

"You just leave her to me. I'll take care of her. No one is going to keep my daughters from me." I heard a little sob as I called her my daughter. "Besides, if I can't handle her, I'll just turn Amy loose on her. Or maybe..." I dropped my voice an octave dramatically, and whispered, "Lady Samantha. That'll do it!" Lisa giggled in spite of her distress. That's what I was aiming for. Then she quickly sobered. Lady Samantha was like a goddess or something to this family, and you didn't giggle about figures like that. I sincerely hoped she never expressed that thought to Sammi. Lisa had such a cute little head, and I would hate to see Sammi hand it to her on a platter.

As I was speaking, two helicopters approached our front lawn. My eyes widened in surprise as I noticed one was the type affectionately known as a 'Jolly Green Giant', painted Marine green. There was only one person I knew of that would be flying in that. My supposition was partially confirmed when the second helicopter gave it a wide birth, letting it land first. I wasn't completely accurate as to who was inside, however.

As soon as the 'Jolly Green Giant' landed, the door opened and the staircase locked in place, I saw two tall, pretty, auburn haired girls run down the stairs toward the house. Valerie and Christina! I grinned as I saw Russ running after them, cussing up a storm as he tried to catch up to them and assure the area was safe and clear. He relaxed somewhat when he saw Victoria, Rhonda and John come out of the house, surround them and slow them down. Christina gave several pieces of paper to Rhonda, who saluted crisply and hurried off to give them to Amy, who was near me. The two First Daughters just stood around there, looking lost until both Victoria and Rhonda grabbed their arms and said something to them, something I couldn't hear because of the distance and the noise of the rotors. They both beamed a smile and headed towards the house.

Meanwhile, I was still trying to distract Lisa and keep her calm when Amy handed me the pieces of paper that Christina had given to Rhonda. At the same time, David appeared and whispered into my ear. As I listened to him, and looked at the papers Amy handed me, my mood lightened considerably. I kissed Amy and thanked her profusely. She grinned and pointed towards Sarah, indicating Sarah was the one I should be thanking. David grinned and backed off; I guess he didn't want a 'thank you' kiss from me. I had an idea he would get his somewhere else! Finally, Julie slipped up next to me and handed me a piece of paper. She saw my expression fall in dismay and gave me a nice kiss, before smiling at me sadly and walking away. I turned my attention back to Lisa.

"Lisa, honey, let me talk to the bit... er, Ms. Hanson," I said, slipping up intentionally to try to calm Lisa down. Her giggle was evidence it worked and payment in itself.

"This is Ms. Hanson, of the Child Protection Services Section of the Social Services Division of the State of Arizona. To whom am I speaking and how may I help you?" A no-nonsense voice asked next. I was going to enjoy popping this bubble!

"Good morning, Ms. Hanson. Or may I call you Ruby?" I asked her. There was a short, heavy silence on the other end.

"Do I know you, sir? I don't believe I told you my first name," she replied, even more officious than before.

"I don't believe you did either," I answered calmly, ignoring her question. "My name is Patrick Phillips. I won't bother to ask you the condition of James, the father of the girls you are holding, as I assume you will not tell me, as I'm not a member of his family. However, I am a very close friend of James and his daughters, and I wanted you to know that I will be there in the next two hours or so, to see Kim, Heather, Lisa and Lori, and to make arrangements for their accommodations." My voice left no room for argument. That would never stop Ms. Hanson, though.

"Then I will save you a wasted trip, sir. You will not be allowed to see them. They are wards of the court at the present time and are not allowed visitors at the present time that are not direct blood parents. Since they have none of those living, no visitors. I'm sure you are a busy man, sir; please don't waste your time on a useless trip," she replied condescendingly. Lisa was right. What a bitch!

"Ms. Hanson, please listen to me closely, as I will only say this once. I will be there in the next few hours to see those girls and talk to them. When I arrive, they had better be exactly where they are now, or you will be immediately arrested and jailed on child kidnapping charges. To help ensure that doesn't happen, within minutes from now there will be a Captain of the Arizona State Highway Patrol and an FBI agent at the hospital there, to make sure the girls are not removed from the premises before I get there. Their instructions are to immediately arrest you if you attempt to leave the hospital grounds with those girls." I stopped to give her time for the protestation that I knew was coming. I was not disappointed.

"You can't do that! I'm merely doing my job!" She sounded indignant.

"You're probably right, ma'am. I probably can't make it stick. However, you will be locked up and I will ensure that you are not released on bail until the charges are dropped. I can assure you that will take several days, at least. Is all of that worth it just to keep me from seeing and talking to those girls on some technical twist of the rules? Especially since I will have lots of time to talk with them while you're in jail?" Ok, time to end with the 'bad cop' and start with the 'good cop'. "I'm sure, Ms Hanson, that we both have in mind what's best for those girls. Don't you think it would be nice for them to be able to talk to someone they know and like during this awful time? If you have any doubts about my meaning well, ask the girls if they would like to talk to me. Please don't make this any more difficult on them than it needs to be."

"You might be right about the importance of the girls meeting with someone they know," she allowed, thawing a little. It was short lived. "However, our policies and procedures state that the girls need to be taken into our custody immediately in these cases, and if my supervisor insists that happen, I will not refuse to do so," she announced importantly.

"If you receive orders to do so, please have your supervisor contact me directly, or contact the FBI agent there at the hospital. Her name is Victoria Costello. Alternately, they can contact the Arizona State Police Captain that will be there also, if they need a local authority rather than the FBI. His name is David Mitchell." I heard her gasp of surprise.

"Victoria Costello?" She asked

"Yes. Do you know her?" I asked innocently.

"Not personally, but everyone knows who Victoria Costello is. You have some interesting friends. I thought she wasn't with the FBI anymore," she commented.

"She still works with them on a limited basis, on a few very special cases. This is a very special case. Few people know she still is connected with them," I responded. Yeah, so few that even the FBI didn't know she still worked for them! Oh well, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Or us. I hoped. I was glad my Dad was who he was. He could get me out of a lot of jams I got myself into. Or maybe the President would help.

I asked her to give me back to Lisa. As I was waiting, I motioned David and Victoria to get going. They stood next to Sarah, there was a bright flash, and they were gone. I wondered briefly if Arizona knew that David was a Captain in the Arizona State Highway Patrol, or was he becoming as crooked as we were? The President might not want him back by the time we were done corrupting him. Not to mention what Victoria was doing with, or to, him. I tried not to think of that.

I talked some more to Lisa, making sure she was as calmed down as was likely under the circumstances. Then I talked briefly with Kim, Heather and Lori, assuring each of them that I would be there shortly and we would take care of them. I assured each one of them solemnly that they would not be split up, nor would they go to any other home but mine. Then I let the girls talk to them for awhile; I had some other pressing things to handle.

I finally got back to Megan on my cell phone. She was still there, bless her heart. I asked her to get Becky and Katie on with her. Shortly, I heard the distinctive tone of a speaker phone.

"Girls, as of right now you are on emergency alert. Apparently, something has happened to James in Arizona. I don't know what yet. I don't even know if he is still alive, although it does not sound good that he is. Preliminary indications are that it was some type of accident, but we all know how that goes. Katie, Becky, defending Megan is your primary responsibility. If you have any doubts at all about a situation, get her out of there. If that is impossible, use your own judgment, but don't hesitate to shoot if the situation warrants it. You all have good heads on your shoulders; I trust your judgment. We will handle any fallout later. Megan, this is new; you have all the qualifications for a Protector and Guardian and for all practical purposes you are one. I want you in turn to protect Katie and Becky. They are precious to us all and I don't want to lose them. Look after each other, girls." I heard deafening silence from the line.

"Is this the beginnings of Bandor's move?" Katie asked. Her voice was as calm as anything and as cool as a cucumber. That little girl was fearless. I guess she had been around Amy too long.

"I don't think so, honey. It wouldn't make any sense to start there. No offense to the girls there, I love them to pieces, but they're not even on the radar scope as far as players in this game. We didn't even know they existed until recently. At most, this could be retaliation by Bandor for them interfering in his energy scavenging operation, but even that doesn't make any sense. They've been pecking away at that for years. Why go after them now? Why not go after us? We're the ones that really shut down his operation. My gut feeling is that this is truly an accident. The only thing I don't understand is why. It's very unusual for one of us to die unless we're killed by Bandor or someone like him. We seldom if ever die of an accident. I'm actually not sure that James is even one of us. I didn't sense much from him while we were there. He may have just been a normal human trying to help some sweet girls that needed a parent. I'll know more when I get there."

"But he helped sense Megan's problem when we were there. How could he do that if he wasn't one of us?" Katie asked. I shrugged my shoulders, then realized they couldn't see a shoulder shrug over the phone! I didn't have an answer. I didn't even know he wasn't one of us. Maybe we were not as safe from accidental death as I thought. Maybe this was the beginning of Bandor's play, starting in a way to throw me off.

"I don't know, Katie. I have lots of questions and no answers right now," I responded. Megan changed the subject to one more practical. That's Megan.

"Can we get the girls to come live with us, if need be?" Megan asked. I heard the chorus of "Yeah!'s" in the background from Katie and Becky.

"That's my intention, honey. I think I can swing that. I, or the girls actually, have come up with some high-powered ammunition in the last few minutes that makes it possible, even likely."

"So, we don't know anything about James and we're not even sure at this point that this was action against us?" Becky summarized.

"That's correct. I'm putting you guys on alert just in case. Don't take any chances. If you can, stay indoors until I get back to you with more information. Megan, I know you're going to ignore me about that and continue going to the site, so just be very careful. Take Katie and Becky with you anywhere you go. All of you stick together; don't go anywhere alone. Don't take chances; I don't want you to kill any innocent civilians, but I know you'll be careful about that. I would rather you kill someone that is shady but maybe not after you than lose any of you. Legally, I can get you out of any mess you get into. Just use your good sense; I don't want any of you, on the other hand, to not be able to sleep at night or be scarred forever emotionally because you killed an innocent person. Be careful, girls." I didn't know how many more ways I could say it. I also knew that by now Utah was probably crawling with Dad's men, providing behind the scenes protection for Megan and the girls. I probably didn't need to worry about them.

By the time I got off the phone with Megan and the girls, we were ready to go. Yeah, we. I'm sure you're as surprised as I was that all the girls, everyone, was going with me. I mean, duh! There's just no use in arguing with things like that. To make it worse, Christina and Valerie announced triumphantly that their Daddy, whom they reminded me just happened to be the President of the United States, had said they could stay for a few days. As if I needed reminding about that. They were quick to assure me that this was not their visit that they had been promised, but was just a little special extra visit because they had been such good girls. I glared at them. That meant they were going along, as I couldn't leave them here alone. They did have the decency to give me a sympathetic smile; they knew this wasn't the best time for this, but I think they were desperate for some real, normal friends to visit with. I immediately thought two not so nice thoughts that I almost regretted afterwards. The first was 'I wonder what the hell these two were so good about?'. Julie and Sammi looked at me sharply and then giggled. Cindi's mouth opened in a round little 'O' of shock and she put her hand over her mouth, looking at me with surprise. Yes, Cindi, I can be mean sometimes. Stay out of my mind if you don't like it, dear. That earned me a hurt little look and the sound of a door slamming in my mind. Loudly. Amy gave a loud cat meow and sharpened her imaginary claws on the seat. It was actually a very credible meow, especially from someone who wasn't crazy about cats and was scared of Cire. Her smile slipped a little when she 'heard' that, and she glared at me.

The second random thought really got me in trouble. It was 'my girls, normal???' They all looked at me with the same little hurt look that Cindi had given me. Cindi actually had tears in her eyes. That made me feel really small; even though Cindi cried about just about everything, it still made me feel bad if I was the cause.

'Cindi, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way, ' I thought into her mind. She immediately broke into a big grin and wiped away her fake tears. 'Neither did I!' She sent back. Little shit. 'You deserved it, Daddy!' She laughed back at me. I shut up. I wasn't going to win that one.

Either Amy and my Dad knew that Valerie and Christina were staying with us, or they were just lucky, because the helicopter that Dad sent to take us to the Air Force base was a really big one. We all fit in just fine, with room to spare for a few more. I quickly buried that thought; I didn't want to give my girls any ideas. Julie looked at me and laughed. I guess I buried it fast enough, as the other girls just looked confused as to why Julie was laughing at me.

It was a short trip, thankfully, as I hate helicopters. Too noisy, although that did have some benefits; it shut the girls up. Well, I guess that was technically not correct; they still talked, but I couldn't hear them. I don't think being heard was a requirement for them to talk. It was just something teenage girls did. All the time. I had actually ignored Amy for long periods of time before, just saying 'uh huh' periodically, and it seemed to work just fine. I don't think even she expected me to listen all the time, as sometimes she looked truly surprised when I answered or showed somehow that I was actually listening, showing an interest in what she was saying.

When we arrived at the airport, we were met at the front door, escorted through the security routine quickly (there isn't much for private flights), and hustled aboard a private jet. I'm not sure what kind it was, as I had never seen one like it before, but it was big enough to hold us all and it was comfortable. Once we were airborne, I discovered it was fast too. I was going to miss the projected time I had given Lisa to be there, but not by much. I only hoped they would not panic if we were late and would trust that we would be there.

The flight to Arizona was fast and smooth. By some common consensus that I have never understood, it was somehow arranged that Christina and Valerie would sit on either side of me on the flight. Just as at the dinner at the White House, they were the epitome of proper behavior. Proper, that is, except during the times when they were flirting with me, which was pretty much all the time. They were careful to keep it subtle, however, so I couldn't complain. About ten minutes into the flight, Amy came over and was rummaging in the area where our carryon luggage was stored, looking for something. Her eyes brightened as she found what she was apparently looking for.

"Oh, look! Blankets. Daddy, are you and the girls cold? Do you want a blanket?" It was all she could do to keep from breaking down into terminal giggles. Cindi wasn't as strong willed, and practically fell out of her seat laughing. Katie had to throw her two cents in too.

"It's ok, Daddy. You can go to sleep. I'm watching over the plane, to make sure we get there ok!" Very funny, little imp! I answered quickly.

"No! We do not need blankets. The girls are just fine, thank you. Take your seat, Amy, please." All the girls dissolved into giggles, while Valerie and Christina looked on, not understanding the joke and looking lost. I decided my girls were not going to let it go until I gave them a little of what they wanted to see, so I kissed the First Twins softly, pulled their heads down on my shoulders, and told them to get some sleep. They smiled prettily at getting to snuggle with 'Uncle Patrick' (where did they pick that up?), kissed me softly on the neck, and pretended to go to sleep. They pretended so that they would seem innocent as their hands periodically strayed in their 'sleep' onto my lap. I finally held their hands all the way to Arizona. Maybe holding hands was all they really wanted anyway, as they behaved the rest of the flight. Well, except for stroking my wrists and the palms of my hands with their soft fingers, in their 'sleep' of course, driving me crazy. I remember thinking the first time I laid eyes on these two that they were going to be trouble. Yeah, right after I thought how stunning looking they were. Of course, there might have been a chance that they might have behaved better if my girls were not there stirring the pot constantly. Well, it could happen!