Baby Seals: Part 3

By J.W. Bloomfield

Baby Seals: Part 3 is the third in a series that follows the lives of two children, Jeff and Danielle, who meet when they are six years old and decide that they are brother and sister. Their further adventures, now as thirteen-year-olds, begin when they meet Anna, a seventeen-year-old artist on the run from her abusive parents. It continues with new sky diving skills, rescues including one underwater, life-and-death experiences, and another new sister. Will Jeff’s head explode?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512790764

J.W. Bloomfield

J.W. was raised on a farm in the Texas Panhandle, along with his four siblings. Living eight miles outside a small town gave him a lot of time with his imagination. He wrote his first story when he was seven. J.W. resides in Texas with his wife, cocker spaniel, and horse.

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Copyright © 2017 J. W. Bloomfield.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9077-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9076-4 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/23/2019

Other books in the Baby SEALs series:

Baby SEALs Part 1: Beginnings

Baby SEALS Part 2

Dedication

This book is dedicated with love to my wife, Christy, who encouraged, advised, and supported me in the writing of this book.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Part 2

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Part 3

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Endnotes

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to all of you who gave me feedback and information during the writing of this book. Special thanks to my wife and sister who proofread the book and made suggestions. Any errors are mine. I may have changed a few things after they read it.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Follow me on my website, www.jwbloomfield.com.

Prologue

As all such events build when Murphy is involved, this one took more than one incorrect step to reach its final result. First, the tumor in the brain of the emergency parachute packer reached a size where it noticeably affected his performance. First, it affected his balance, and he dropped his bin of seals, mixing them with those of the packer next to him. They carefully separated them back into the correct bins, but one was missed. By the end of the day, the tumor caused the packer to make obvious mistakes, and he was pulled from the packing table, only to collapse. He was taken to the hospital where subsequent tests revealed the brain tumor. Meanwhile, as a precaution, all of the emergency parachutes he had packed were pulled for repacking. The one with the seal from the next table was missed and went back to its owner with a one hundred percent chance of failure if it was deployed. Statistically, it had a very good chance of reaching its expiration date and being repacked properly without ever being used. The final step in the Murphy equation guaranteed this would not be the case.

Chapter 1

O n a cold and windy Saturday, the second week of February, seventeen-year-old Anna White stood with her back against the wall of a beauty supply store, pinned in by a dumpster on one side and three men closing off the other two sides. She had only arrived in the city an hour ago, and already she was in trouble. She couldn’t believe it. The three men were dirty and un-shaven and were saying things that might be mistaken for kind if it wasn’t for the look in their eyes. Come on, it’s cold out here. We can take you somewhere warm, get you out of the cold, and get you something to eat. We can have some fun. Anna searched for some place to run, some way past them, but saw nothing. Then the three men looked to their left and stiffened.

Jeff Mitchell and Danielle LeBeau were walking from the back of the City Motel towards Seton Street, passing between a machine shop and the beauty supply store. The thirteen-year-old self-declared twins resembled each other; at least to the extent that it was believable they were related. Both had the same brown hair cut in short, military style (although Danielle had decided on their 13th birthday that she was growing her hair out), and solid features.

Their lives had been very tough since the age of seven, and they appeared older than they were. Both were 5'7" tall and sturdily built, Jeff at 150 pounds, Danielle at 145, unusually large for their age. However, Jeff’s stare came from sapphire blue eyes while Danielle’s was from emerald green. As they had since they had been shot the previous November, both were wearing body armor: Kevlar plates inserted front and back on their jackets and in the thighs and shins of their cargo pants which were tucked into their customary combat boots. They wore leather gloves that were not entirely legal as they had lead shot sewn into the leather across the knuckles. When anyone asked, they just said it was all for riding motorcycles. As they walked, they discussed their recently completed conversation with Baber Dristi whose family owned the City Motel. They had been coordinating with the Dristi family since the previous year when, working through their foundation, they had made arrangements for the motel to provide rooms at a reduced rate to families who brought their children to the nearby hospital for cancer treatment.

The alley was remarkably clean, the brick of the buildings lining the alley untouched by graffiti, the cement drive free of litter. This was partially due to the Baber family and the owners of the stores whose rear entrances were on the alley. It was partially due to Jeff and Danielle expressing their displeasure forcefully to anyone defacing the alley in any way. As they saw it, the families who brought their children to the city for treatment and stayed in the motel had enough on their plates without disagreeable scenery as well.

Approaching the end of the alley, always alert, they saw the three men ahead just past a dumpster, apparently speaking with someone they couldn’t yet see. Knives dropped into their hands from their arm sheaths and flicked open with a series of snicks, the sound clear in the space between the two buildings. As one, the three men ahead glanced in their direction, and, seeing who was walking towards them, turned and walked quickly towards the street, glancing frequently behind them, breaking into a run as they turned the corner in front of the store and sprinting away. Jeff and Danielle recognized them as the three men they had left unconscious the previous year behind the mail store when they had tried to mug the two youths.

Their silent strides took them to the edge of the dumpster where they stopped to glance around the edge before proceeding, giving them a glimpse of Anna as she stood staring after the three men. She looked up as they stepped in front of her, gazing at her questioningly. What they saw was a pretty, scared looking young woman, 17 or so, with long, straight blond hair, blue/gray eyes, and Slavic features, dressed in nice but dirty and rumpled jeans, ski jacket, and ski hat. She asked with a faint, Russian accent, Who are you? Why did those men leave when they saw you? You’re just children. Danielle answered, I’m Danielle. This is my brother, Jeff. Things didn’t go well for those men the last time we met. Who are you? Where were you headed? Anna shrugged. Nowhere. I just got here an hour ago. Jeff said, Runaway? Homeless? Anna shrugged again. Danielle said, We were just on our way to get something to eat. Want to join us? Our treat.

Anna didn’t reply but followed them as they continued on to Seton Street. The three men were nowhere in sight, having scurried away like roaches in a kitchen when the lights are turned on. Jeff and Danielle did not feel sympathy towards them, did not think of them as God’s children as much in need of salvation as anyone else; more like vermin to be crushed. Distressing the girl walking beside them as they had did not help them feel any better towards the thugs.

They turned left and walked to 13th Street, turned left again and walked half a block to a set of steps that led between two large lilac bushes, through the gate of a white picket fence, to a two-story white house that had been converted into a tea room set well back from the street. Turning to Anna, Danielle said, We like this place. It’s quiet, and the food is great. Anna continued to follow them as they walked up the sidewalk, onto the porch that covered the front, and in the door which jingled as it opened. They were met inside by an older woman dressed like a gypsy in bright clothes and scarves who smiled when she saw them and led them straight to a table in a corner, leaving them with menus and a promise of a waiter. Jeff and Danielle took seats against the wall, although not until Jeff had held Anna’s chair for her, which seemed to startle her. Danielle smiled at her and said, I know. He has manners. It surprises me, too, sometimes, which earned her an eye roll from Jeff. She and Jeff pushed their menus aside, but Jeff said, We know what we want, but pick whatever you’d like. Anna looked suspicious, wondering what all of this would cost her, but too hungry at the moment to care. Their waiter appeared and took their orders, promising to have everything out shortly, and then disappeared again. Jeff and Danielle removed their gloves and stuffed them in their jacket pockets, sat back, and examined Anna. Danielle asked, What’s your name? Anna. Where are you from? The answer was a shrug. How did you get here? Hitchhiked. Where are you headed? Another shrug. How old are you? Eighteen. Eighteen by when? A pause. In May. Are your parents looking for you? That question brought a look of terror to Anna’s eyes, and for a moment she looked ready to bolt. Jeff said, Relax. No one is coming through the door.

Jeff and Danielle told her a bit about the city until the waiter returned with their food, and all three set about eating. Under Jeff and Danielle’s gentle questioning they discovered that Anna had been orphaned in Russia at age three and had lived in an orphanage until she was seven. Then she had been adopted by a couple from the US who had brought her home with them. Almost immediately her new father had begun abusing her, and it had continued until two days before when she had run away. She had hitchhiked her way to the city, been dropped off, and had walked to where Jeff and Danielle had found her. By the time she finished telling her story, Anna had eaten all of her food and stuffed leftover rolls in her coat pockets. There were crayons on the table, and she picked one up and began drawing absently, creating a picture of their waiter. Jeff and Danielle watched this with interest as they spoke with her, and Jeff raised an eyebrow at Danielle. Another answered prayer?

The previous week, Manuel Ortiz, the artist who had been completing the artwork for the patches for the cancer patients, had received a job offer from an advertising firm as a commercial artist. The job would pay more and came with benefits, and Jeff and Danielle were excited for him. He would still help out as he could, but with a full-time job he could no longer do all of their artwork, and they needed a new artist. They had been praying about it ever since Manuel had told them the news, and now they were wondering if Anna was the answer to their prayers. Danielle began the interview process, asking about Anna’s training, what she enjoyed drawing, and finally, pulling a box of colored pencils and the preliminary sketch of their newest cancer patient from her messenger bag, she asked Anna to create a picture based on her color suggestions. With a questioning look, Anna took the box of pencils and sketch pad, and following Danielle’s directions, completed the drawing. Jeff and Danielle examined the drawing and smiled at each other.

Danielle said, Alright, first question: do you want to file charges against your parents? Anna shook her head no. They are very popular where they live. No one would believe me. It would be awful. Jeff said, Do you think they’ll look for you? Anna smiled grimly. Yes, to make sure I don’t say anything. Danielle said, Then you’ll need to live off the grid until you’re eighteen. We can help with that. Have you graduated yet? Anna shook her head no. Jeff said, Then you’ll need to get your GED. Do you have anything anywhere like clothes? Anna again shook her head no. Danielle said, Okay. Let’s go shop. Tears began running down Anna’s cheeks. I don’t have any money. I don’t know where I’m staying tonight. I don’t have anything. I just couldn’t stay there another day. Danielle gave her a hug, and Jeff said, We’ve got you covered for now. We’ll get this straightened out. Besides, we may have a job for you. Or two. And a place to stay for now. So, like Danielle said, let’s go shop.

Jeff paid for the meal, and the three of them walked to a bus stop where they caught a bus to a shopping center, Jeff and Danielle using their bus passes, Danielle putting cash in the meter for Anna. As they piled into seats Anna asked, Is that padding in your clothes? Danielle said, Sort of. For riding motorcycles. Anna didn’t look totally convinced, but she didn’t make any further comments. Instead she asked, Why did you have me draw that picture? Jeff said, We have an artist who draws pictures that are turned into patches. He just accepted a job as a commercial artist, and we need a replacement. Danielle was seeing if you might be that replacement. Anna looked excited. And? Danielle smiled and said, Maybe. We’ll see. There are another couple of things to check out. We can do that later.

They arrived at the shopping center, grabbed a shopping cart, and Danielle headed off with Anna while Jeff looked around the store at sporting goods, books, CD’s, and tools. At times like this, he really missed having a normal home. There was no way to keep even the simplest tools around, even a hammer or screwdriver, without his mom pawning it. It was annoying, knowing he would have to travel to the McAdams’ or the Jacobs’ or Mike’s to build, make, or repair the simplest thing. With a sigh, he continued down the tool aisle. Things were what they were.

After an hour or so, he received a text from Danielle telling him to meet them at checkout. He walked up to find the two girls with the basket filled with clothes, shoes, toiletries, and other things they thought Anna would need, including a cell phone, heavy duty shopping bags, and a backpack. The clerk rang everything up, Jeff paid for it with his debit card, and they pushed the basket to the exit, packed what they could in the backpack, and the rest in the heavy-duty bags. Then they placed everything back in the cart and pushed it to the cart return nearest the bus stop, and when they saw the bus coming, carried everything over and boarded for the return trip.

As they sat in seats, Anna asked, I don’t know why you bought all this stuff for me, and what am I going to do with it now that I have it? I still don’t have a place to stay. Danielle said, That is the next stop-getting you squared away, at least for a while. They arrived back in front of the City Motel, and Anna followed them to the office where they greeted Baber for the second time that day. He smiled when he saw them and asked, Did we forget something? Baber was a small man, barely taller that Jeff and Danielle, with a short beard and warm, friendly eyes. Originally from Pakistan, his family had bought the motel two years earlier, and he, along with his wife, two sons, and daughter, ran it. They had been struggling until the previous year when the foundation Jeff and Danielle had started guaranteed a certain number of rooms each day, year-round, to provide a place for cancer patients and their families to stay. The steady income had helped push them into the black, and volunteers the two young people brought over from the church to help with projects such as painting or replacing carpet in the rooms had also helped immensely.

Jeff answered his friend’s question, Our friend, Anna, needs a room for a while. And do you have a job for her? Baber, familiar by now with the way Jeff and Danielle worked, just nodded in agreement. Room, no problem. She can help clean the rooms and set up the breakfast in the mornings. We’ll work something out. Danielle looked at Anna and asked, Is that okay for now? We will keep evolving the plan. Jeff and I have to go, so you can get settled in your room, and Mr. Dristi can show you where you can do your laundry. We’ll be back later.

Anna was filled with a mixture of feelings: gratitude, suspicion, confusion, loneliness, and others she couldn’t even identify. Still, she had gone from homeless and afraid to apparently having a place to stay, a job, clothes and stuff, and even a phone. She guessed she would just have to see where this led. She could always run again. She nodded and said, Okay. Thank you for everything. Jeff handed her a card with two phone numbers on it. This has our cell phone numbers. Call if you need us. We may not be able to answer right away, so leave a message. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can. With that he and Danielle walked back out the office door, and Anna saw them climb on two bicycles and ride away. Baber smiled at her and said, They’re something else, aren’t they? He showed her around the small eating area with the counters for food and beverages, microwave ovens and toasters, and along one wall a tall, glass-fronted freezer with a wide variety of frozen entrees and snacks, priced barely higher than a local supermarket. Come on, I’ll show you your room and the laundry. Anna asked, Who are they, and why did they help me? Baber just shrugged and said, That’s the kind of thing they do.

Baber took her to a second-floor room near the office. It had everything she would need to stay there on her own, including a small refrigerator and microwave. After explaining that she could eat breakfast and frozen meals for free by showing her room key to the attendant, Baber waited while she dropped her bags and backpack in the room and took her to the laundry room, explaining how she could get whatever cleaning supplies she needed and change for the machines from the office. Then he left her and returned to the office to call Jeff and Danielle for instructions.

The twins were almost to Mike’s house when Jeff’s phone rang with Baber’s call. As he and Danielle rode along the bike path, he explained that all of Anna’s expenses could be charged to her room and his debit card, that she might be there for three months, not to tell anyone she was there, and to let him or Danielle know if anyone asked about her, especially strangers. Accustomed by now to their strange requests such as the freezer full of frozen entrees in the dining area and knowing he would not lose any money, he happily agreed to the request. He was perhaps not quite as happy when Jeff added before he hung up, If anyone tries to take her from her room or force her into a car, take pictures and call the police to report a kidnapping. Then call us. We’ll take it from there. Still, a certain number of guaranteed rooms per night year-round were a strong incentive to cooperate.

Jeff and Danielle continued to Mike’s house. Mike had been their main instructor since they first met him at age seven. They had just been released from the hospital after Danielle’s mom and step-dad had tried to kill them, and for some reason known only to him, he had taken them under his wing. The ex-Navy SEAL stood over 6 feet tall, weighed 230 pounds, and was heavily muscled. Usually in need of a shave, his blue eyes stared out of a hard face under long, brown hair. He and former members of his team who lived in or near the city had spent five years teaching the two young people everything they knew, from unarmed combat to weapons, SCUBA diving, parachuting, and combat first aid. Even explosives. It was something of a miracle the two had survived; but survived they had, and thrived. Now they rode with him to Stuart’s ranch east of the city where they had begun, and continued, their training.

Stuart was a former member of Mike’s SEAL team. After leaving the Navy, he had retired to these 1,000 acres of trees, brush, fish ponds, and gullies. Shorter and leaner than Mike, his appearance was bearded and scruffy, and he could switch very quickly from down home friendly to cold as ice and was fast and sneaky as a weasel. He took great delight in calling Jeff and Danielle the baby SEALs, and they took it with friendly resignation. Since Stuart loved SCUBA diving as much as they did, he often helped Mike with their SCUBA training.

A second former member of Mike’s SEAL team was Travis. He was tall and wiry, and Danielle thought he would be called homely. When she thought of stories of Davy Crockett, Travis is who she pictured. Sky diving was a favorite sport of his, and he assisted Mike with their parachute training. All three men were in their early 40’s, having joined the Navy right out of high school and serving twenty years, much of it in combat.

For the next three hours Jeff and Danielle fought in a rolling paintball fight from one end of Stuart’s property to the other with Mike, Stuart, and Travis against the two of them. Mostly Jeff and Danielle won. Mike’s team needed one more member to really make it even. Jeff and Danielle were just too fast and could move quickly and silently through any type of landscape. They also seemed to have the ability to turn invisible which annoyed Mike’s team to no end when they walked right past without seeing them, only to be splattered with paintballs seconds later.

The sun was starting to set when they finished for the day, so Mike only stopped by his house long enough for them to store the gear and pick up the bicycles. Then he drove them to the McAdams’ house where they spent another five minutes cleaning up before riding their bicycles back to the motel. Tom and Audrey McAdams were Danielle’s second set of foster parents. The couple had joined 2nd Street Bible Church and been baptized on the same day as Jeff and Danielle and had taken her in when her first foster parents had decided they had had enough of foster parenting when she turned twelve.

Anna had spent the hours since they had left her washing her new clothes, storing them in the drawers and closet in the room, and helping Baber clean the dining area and prepare it for the next morning’s breakfast. Jeff and Danielle found her loading napkins in a dispenser while Baber cleaned table tops and put chairs back in their places.

Jeff spoke to Baber, Can we take Anna with us? The Walkers are going to pick us up soon. Baber nodded agreeably. We’re finished here. She has been a great help. Anna regarded them questioningly. Danielle explained, Jeff’s girlfriend and her parents are picking us up to take us to dinner. Jeff didn’t even try to correct her as he had lost this battle with Danielle and his other sisters. Rachael was a girl, and she was his friend. And they did hold hands.

Anna changed into some of the nicer clothes she and Danielle had picked out and returned to the office just as the Walkers pulled up in their SUV; waving goodbye to Baber, the three of them walked out to the car. Jeff opened the back door; Danielle waved Anna into the third seat and followed her with a smile at Rachael, while Jeff slid in beside Rachael, who smiled at him questioningly. He gave her a smile which she had grown familiar with over the months since she had met him. It meant, I’ll explain it later. As he sat down and took Rachael’s hand he said, Hello, Mr. Walker. Hello, Mrs. Walker. That’s Anna in the back. Danielle thinks she might be able to take Manuel’s place with the patches. From the back Danielle chimed in. Hello, Mr. Walker. Hello, Mrs. Walker. Thank you for picking us up at the motel. Anna is staying here until she finds an apartment. She nudged Anna who also said, Hello, Mr. Walker. Hello, Mrs. Walker. Evan and Alexandria (Alex) Walker said hello to everyone. They had been warned by Jeff when he called to ask them to pick everyone up at the motel not to ask Anna any questions, so they didn’t, although they were burning with curiosity.

Jeff and Danielle had met Rachael the previous year while working on a women’s shelter. Rachael had asked him to a school dance which resulted in Jeff and Danielle eating dinner with the Walker family before the dance so the parents could get to