Chapter 4

They were lying quietly—even Abby—when Mac's cell phone rang. He saw it was Ethan and handed it to Abby. "Ethan, Abby. Go ahead."

"Hello?" Abby knew she was holding her breath. This was going to be good news; it had to be. She could only hope that Ethan had both found her parents and convinced them to come with him. "Did you find them?"

"You sound way too pretty to be Mac," Ethan said, exhausted. "They're safe with me, Abby. They're fine. It got real bad all of a sudden down here. The levees are going. So, I'm gonna go to ground with them, drive at least as far as Baton Rouge tonight. Abby, your mom said that whatever you do, don't you come down here. Soon as I can get them to DC, I will, but it might take me a couple of days. I'll be reachable by cell though."

"Tell Gloria if she had just answered the door, I never would have had to consider going down there." Abby felt like she could really breathe a sigh of relief. "Take your time getting them to DC, just knowing they're on the way out of the city is enough for me and I'm sure my brother. I can't thank you enough, Ethan."

"Oh you can. We'll find a way, Abby." He looked at the deaf couple where they sat in the backseat holding hands, and signed to them that Abby would stay put. He turned away, covering his mouth. "I'm just sorry we couldn't get more of their memories out."

"Ethan, you got them out. Do I wish you had gotten my grandmother's tea set and great grandpa's rifle? I suppose, but Gloria and Dad are much more important. The rest are just things, and pictures can be replaced. My parents can't."

"They took a box full of pictures, and some jewelry, but the levees are going and I couldn't wait any longer," he explained quietly. He watched Gloria signing. "Apparently I'm a nice boy and a handsome devil too," he said with a small laugh.

"Do you have a place for them? If not, Mac and his DC buddies should be able to work something out. They're too independent to live with you happily. By the way, nice ink. I've seen some pictures of their gorgeous daughter. We'll have to swap ink stories."

Pictures and jewelry, the only things that she knew for sure would be left of her childhood, but she had her parents, and that was really enough. "Tell Gloria to stop trying to fix me up. You have to watch out for that one. She was showing you pictures? Means she sees a potential son-in-law in you."

Abby knew that her mother meant well. And at least she was picking men who had a tattoo or two; she was getting better. Didn't mean that the former SEAL was her type. "They can stay with me for a few days while I work on housing for them. I have a friend who might let them come stay with him until something permanent can be worked out. He has a huge house and he and his father take care of his mother. At least my parents are self-sufficient if nothing else. We're going to have a lot to discuss, if I plan on convincing them to move here. Just don't let them drive you crazy. You've got a long drive and they can be chatterboxes if given the chance. Also, don't believe a thing Gloria says about me, and I wasn't born blond."

"They're fine, Abby. I really like 'em and I'm glad to help out." They looked exhausted, the ordeal clearly taking a toll on them. "See how things shake out down here. It could be something minor or it could be a mess."

"You're right. Maybe in a couple weeks, I'll be driving them back down. But if it's even half as bad as it looked on the news..." Abby trailed off, remembering the pictures of the live coverage. She didn't think it was something that looked worse then it was. "I'm just not counting on it."

He had the radio on and it was getting a lot worse by the minute. "I think I got them out just in time. Mac treating you okay?"

Abby looked over at Mac and Gibbs, seeing two sweaty and tired men. "Yeah, Mac has been treating me great. Never knew he was friends with my boss, but I'm enjoying getting to know him. I think we're going to be really good friends by time you get here. I'll convince him to stick around in case he thought he was heading home before you pull in. And you've got a place to stay until you figure out if you're going back down south or if you're heading off to someplace that might be blown off the map."