Collision Course, Chapter Nine
 

Ethan looked over at the picture of his youngest sister. He said a silent prayer that she would be OK when his parents got there.

He stood in the middle of the Crane Living Room, and thought about what he had to do. He was so confused. A part of him wanted to leave, take Theresa, and never look back. He had read enough fairy tales. Had listened to Ivy go ‘on and on’ about true love. What a crock. If his mother had believed in true love, then why had he been raised a Crane? Why had his entire life been a lie.

Ethan shook his head. He did love Theresa. But, he loved his family too. He loved his mother. He loved his siblings. He loved Julian. And, he was proud of being a Crane. He wasn’t strong enough to be cast away from them. He wasn’t  that strong. He knew that Alistair had counted on it, and he cursed him. Yet, he couldn’t blame Alistair for this. Alistair had presented him with a decision. Ethan could easily choose Theresa, as long as he accepted the consequences. No. Whatever he does, no room for regret or recriminations. He’s a grown-assed man. Time for him to accept it.

Ethan picked up the phone and dialed.

" Gwen. It’s Ethan. I would like to see you. Call me as soon as you get this."
 

Ivy had read the same paragraph seven times, and still didn’t know what she had read.

Julian sat across the aisle from her, drinking some brandy.

Ivy was about to yell at him for drinking, but, she had seem him earlier, when he took too long to fix himself the drink. She found him, at the bar, in a corner, looking at a picture of Penny, wiping a tear from his eye. She had been struck by it. She could tell that this was Julian’s way of coping. He was so scared. The gentle way in which he stroked her picture, Ivy knew that this was destroying him. Of all their children, Julian had openly showed more affection towards Penny than any of the others. He adored her, and even Alistair’s derisions didn’t stop him.

" You think she’s OK?", Ivy asked.

Julian snapped out of his daze. " Huh…Oh Yes. I’m sure that when we get there, she’ll have some colorful story to tell us."

Ivy smiled. " She certainly knows how to spin a tale. It’s a true talent of hers."

Julian smiled. "Remember when she took my American Express and ordered herself a horse? The lie she told to try and get out of it was so inventive, that I let her keep the horse."

" Puleeze, Julian. Even if it had been lousy, you would have let her keep it. You don’t deny her anything."

" I denied her when she wanted to come home, instead of going to that damned boarding school.", Julian said bitterly, his eyes, full of fury at Ivy.

Ivy looked away from Julian. Not because she was afraid of him, but because her guilt was getting to her. Ivy hadn’t known why it upset her so that Julian was forming such a special bond with Penny. It wasn’t like she had put so much effort into Penny herself – she hadn’t. But, she resented that Julian could form an obviously loving bond with one of  their children. It just didn’t seem ‘right’. Julian wasn’t like Alistair when it came to their other children, but, the obvious devotion towards Penny was just so unusual. She had to admit that she had chosen Switzerland because she wanted to break their bond. And now, her decision might have brought about her daughter’s death.

" I’m sorry, Julian. I don’t want her to die!", Ivy said, tears in her eyes. Julian looked over to his wife. Though there was no love between them, he believed she loved their children. Ethan more than their daughters, but, he never doubted her love for them. Seeing her cry, Julian got up out of his seat, and went over to the couch where Ivy was.

" Ivy, I was just thinking out loud. For Pete’s sake, I don’t blame you. I know that you wouldn’t want Penny dead. You love her. You love all our children. I know you would never have chosen the school, if you remotely suspected that this would have happened."

Ivy stopped sobbing to look into Julian’s eyes. He believed what he said. He knew she didn’t want to harm Penny. That she loved her.

" What are we going to do?", Ivy asked quietly, as Julian handed her a handkerchief to dry her eyes.

" We’re going to get to Switzerland, and we’re going to find our daughter if she’s not already found by the time we got there. I’ve got all the heads of Crane Industries Europe on notice, and our man, Gustav, will meet us there. He’s a former Olympic skier as well as moutain climber. He knows all about snow, ice, and avalanches, having survived 4 himself. I told him to spend whatever he had. Get whatever manpower or equipment needed. By the time we get there, it will be totally underway. We’re going to save our baby girl."

Ivy leaned into Julian’s chest. She needed the comfort that she thought he was offering. Julian didn’t know what to do. So, he tenderly tried to reassure Ivy that everything would be alright, by stroking her arm. His voice had been so commanding. So Crane. Ivy needed to believe that. The possibility of losing her daughter was too much to bear.

" It will be alright, Ivy. I promise."

And, Ivy knew, when it came to Penny, Julian kept every promise.
 

Bobby had his ear up at Rebecca’s door.

" Do you hear anything?", Gwen asks.

" Nothing."

" Bobby, what if something is wrong? She seemed totally torn up earlier."

Bobby took his ear off the door, and pulled out of his pocket a pass key that he had made on the sly. His mother would slap him if she knew. He slowly unlocked the door, and opened the door a crack. His face dropped when he saw what was inside.

Rebecca, in the fetal position, asleep on the bedroom floor.

He closed the door and locked it, and walked away. When they had gotten down the hallway, Gwen spoke up.

" Well?"

" She was asleep, Gwen. I don’t know what was in the letter from Dad, but, it obviously shook her up. Some things should be between a married couple. We need to leave it be. Sooner or later, Rebecca will tell us. Or not. That’s how it works with us, Remember?"

Gwen nodded. " I know she’s a mess. But, I love her, Bobby."

" I love her too. We gotta give her ‘space’. I KNOW if the circumstances were reversed, she wouldn’t be giving us ours, but, that’s why we’ll be able to feel morally superior to her at this moment."

Gwen laughed. " So true." Gwen kisses Bobby. " This has been quite a day. I’m pooped. I’m going to bed. Nite."

" Nite."

Eve Russell sat on the bed in her hotel room. With tears streaming down her face, she had four documents in front of her: the DNA test from the hospital, the birth certificate of her son, the ‘death’ certificate of her son, and the report from the lab which told her that they didn’t match.

Eve had muttered: " It’s not possible " all the way back to her hotel room But, she had seen enough of  the old Sherlock Holmes movies to remember the phrase he loved: ‘ When you eliminate the impossible, the truth is whatever’s left, however improbable. ‘

Fact: She had a baby boy.
Fact: Chad Harris was an abandoned baby boy.
Fact: A computer, which had never made a mistake up until now, had deemed her and Chad Harris a DNA match, with over 95% certainty.
Fact: The death certificate doesn’t match the birth certificate of her ‘son’. Whatever child was cremated, wasn’t the child born to her.

Eve gets off of the bed and goes to the window. As she looks down on the city, her mind goes back to Orville. Back to a night where he gave her a warning.

" Keep your daughters away…..far away…from Chad Harris. Don’t let them fall in love with him. "

Eve shook her head some more. Did Orville know? And, if he did, how could he know? What did he have to do with any of this?

Eve didn’t know what to do. Her world was crashing down around her, and she had no one to talk to about it. If Chad was the son she had mourned so hard, what would she do?

Eve sunk to the floor, sobbing, feeling all the pain she had bottled up inside. She cried because of the son she lost. She cried because she might be on the brink of losing everything. She cried because she felt it was the only thing she could do outside of opening up the window and jumping. How had it come to this?