Chapter 258 - 258 An Old Search

258 An Old Search

We began to arrive at a beach, which was blocked by a metal gate. I could already see people sunbathing, and people in the sea, swimming and swaying in the water.

I could see little floats floating on the ocean, and children laughing as they created sand castles. Reminded me of the old days, when me and my dad went to beaches. My mom just decided to go to the nearest food truck.

Somehow we live in California, but yet don’t go to any sort of beach there. Funny.

“Alright, where do you guys want to search? Or should I assign an outpost for us,” she said, looking at us.

“Outposts,” Tisiah chose, and everyone else agreed with him. She nodded. “Alright. Connor, you will be at the heart of the beach. Nikki and I will search close to the gate. Malachi and Tisiah will look at the nearby streets.”

“How are the nearby streets a good idea?”

“Because it’s nearby.”

We exited the truck, as we began to head towards the gate. I looked around, enjoying the fresh and sunny air. I walked through the gate as everyone began to disperse to their own positions.

“Alright, where are you Gerard?” I muttered to myself, looking around. I looked ahead in the ocean, seeing kids smiling and laughing through the air.

.....

But no Gerard.

I walked through the sand, dirtying my shoes, and seeing kids finish up their creations. I saw women and men sunbathing, with their umbrellas hovering over their heads.

But no Gerard.

I saw food trucks nearby, with lines waiting in front of them for a good quick meal. I heard the island music that was blaring in the distance. I smelt the fresh air of flowers and oranges.

But no Gerard.

My radio was suddenly connected, and September’s voice was going through the radio. “Do you have any sight of him?” she asked.

“No, ma’am,” I said, looking around my sides. “No, I don’t.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m walking around the beach in the sand,” I said, shaking off some dust on my black shoes, “yeah, and I don’t see Mark Gerard. You?”

“I’m at the parking lot, trying to search through the windows and see any sort of sign of Gerard being here,” she said. “No sign of him.”

“Have you asked Malachi and Tisiah?”

“They had the same answer,” she said with a sigh. “In fact, they told me to ask you.”

I nodded, understanding what she was saying. But that slowly began to fade away, once I saw an agent—a TSA agent—ahead in the distance.

“Uh… guys,” I said on the radio. “I have sight on a TSA agent. The TSA is here.”

“Okay, we can confirm with Nikki, but I think we should be cautious,” she said.

“We shouldn’t wait too long for them to get here,” I said on the radio, my eyes peeled on him. “I’m going to follow him, and see if he can find Gerard.”

“Yeah. See if you can lose them in the process. Do not reveal yourself. Be careful, Connor. Just stay alert, alright?” she said. I nodded. “I promise.” I turned off the radio, and now have a new objective in mind. The agent was looking at me. He had an Adidas hat on, with a black leather jacket and some black boots. That looks suspicious already.

I looked around, trying to sneakily look behind him without him noticing. His hands were in the pockets of his baggy jeans, and my eyes caught him. He began to move, walking towards the stairs which led to the beach. He looked around once more, and once he looked in my direction, I caught cover behind an umbrella.

I saw him turn around, searching for someone. Then I heard a voice—the female TSA agent.

“Yes, hello?” she said in a friendly voice.

The man started to approach her, and I watched as their eyes locked.

“Hey, do you know where I could find Mark Gerard?” the agent asked.

“Mark Gerard? Oh, of course,” she said, turning towards him.

Her face was friendly and full of confidence. She smiled at the male TSA agent, and he seemed shocked for a moment, until she showed up.

“Of course. Let me take you to my team. They can give you a better report than me.”

The TSA agent followed her as she led him away.

I got on my radio immediately, my heart pouncing in fear, but also excitement. “There are now two confirmed TSA agents. I repeat, two confirmed TSA agents. They’re heading towards the parking lot, right now. I’ll be hiding. Stay hidden, please. It doesn’t matter whether you’re seen or not, just don’t be noticed at all.”

I could see Malachi and Tisiah on the radio, and they both agreed to keep this under wraps for a while until we found Mark Gerard. I saw September and Nikki on the radio, and they were ready to go for their search near the gate. And I began to hear sirens approaching, so I pulled out my wand, and put it in my pocket.

Now was the time to use this thing for good.

I waited for the sirens to pass by, then I hid myself behind an umbrella. I was slowly approaching them, and now I found myself seeing a group of TSA agents, right in the parking lot by a red van. One of the agents took out a camera, and aimed at us.

I tried to avoid being seen, and then I could see the man who had been following the female agent, walking towards them. I hid behind the pillar behind the gate, as my chest breathed in and out aggressively, before I calmed down and peeked at them again. There had to be four, maybe five of them or something. I needed September and Nikki to get here quickly.

I had my wand out, and I was moving around to look for their position. I could feel that my wand was starting to burn with energy inside of it, as if I was really getting used to using it. Maybe it was just the sweat in my hand that was coming from the fear that was heating my palm. “Alright, do you have any sight on Gerard?” a TSA agent asked.

“No, sadly I don’t,” another TSA agent said. “It’s like this man is purposely hiding from us.”

“Haha, no, that’s far from the truth,” he said in a calm tone.

“What do you mean?” the female agent asked, her voice full of anger. “How can we not see a retired man, who is spending his time on a beach?” The male agent chuckled. “Let’s focus on ‘retired’ for a moment. He was literally a TSA tracker before he decided to retire, so he probably knows that some people could possibly be looking for him. Just saying.”

“Well, let’s hope that your ‘say’ isn’t true,” the female agent hissed back. “It’d make him a real fool, I’m sure.”

I saw the male agent shake his head. “Oh, please.”

I noticed the female agent glaring at the male agent, as she turned to the side and said, “This has to be fake. How can it be anything but a fake? Why would a person like him try to hide? You know, unless they are in the middle of something. But then I wouldn’t even bother with finding Gerard because I would assume he was in the middle of doing something important that’s worth the risk of being found by the TSA.”

But as she was ranting, her eyes widened. “I have sight of him.” That’s when my eyes widened. I got on my radio and updated, “The TSA agents have sight of him. Following them now.” I started to run towards the parking lot, while dodging around vehicles, and people, and everything else. I found myself running behind two of them—the female agent and the man who had been following them. The other five were all the way upfront, and they were moving with speed. And I mean real speed, like that speed as if a firetruck was after you. My feet hit the sand, and my sneakers began to slip as I did my best to keep up with them. I was about ten feet from the two agents right in front of me, as I got my wand ready in my hand.

“Do you have sight on them?” I asked September on the radio.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Got you,” I said back.

I dived from behind one of the cars nearby.

I fell on the ground, my left hand grabbing onto the sandy floor. But soon enough, I saw a man who had white hair and this white mustache that went across his lips. He was wearing a solid blue shirt and khaki shorts with sandals.

That was Gerard.

The TSA didn’t notice him yet, meaning the opportunity was literally in my hands. I needed to approach Gerard, and then get out of here. All I needed to do was avoid detection from the TSA, and I would be golden.

I turned, facing the group of TSA agents. My heart was racing.

I took a step forward, and then another.

I reached him.

I looked at him, and I saw him turn and look at me. He gave a slight wave, as if I was some boy exploring the beach. But I was clearly here for a different matter. I approached him, and he turned to look at me. “You’re such a young fine boy,” he said. “How do you do?”

“I’m fine, but listen, I need you to come with me. There are those muggers that are trying to mug you because you look rich, so I’m trying to keep you safe,” I lied, as the man looked at me with concern. “I don’t want you getting hurt, okay? I just don’t.” The man seemed confused, and my heart leapt into my throat.

Why wouldn’t he trust me? I had to find a way to convince him.

“Okay, I guess I’ll follow you then, because I don’t want to get robbed,” he said. “What’s your name?”

“Levi Williams,” I lied again quickly. “Follow me.” I ran, while running around several cars and trees before I came to a stop. I knew that the agents were behind me, watching from a distance, and trying to see I wasn’t doing anything weird. I looked behind me, and I saw the man following me closely. I sighed.

“What should we do?” I heard a woman’s voice from behind me, and I turned around and found one of the agents behind me.

“Why would they want to rob me?” the man asked again, messing with his white hair.

“As I said, you look rich,” I explained once more. “You just seem like a regular old guy, who looks unassuming, but really isn’t. So people might try and mug you to take a big slice of your riches.”

“Alright.”

I got onto the radio, and dialed in the number to connect to their line. “Hey, listen,” I said. “I got Gerard, so I need you to get the truck ready and parked over here, okay?” September responded. “Got it, I’ll tell the others.”

I continued to walk, and I could see that the agent was about ten feet behind me. He must have been walking slowly because of all of my excitement.

I looked at him, and he smiled at me. “Thank you, young man,” he said. “I owe you a lot.”

I shook my head. “Oh no, this is nothing,” I replied. “It was my job to keep you safe from those guys. You’re very lucky that I took a detour here because of that woman, so you wouldn’t have gotten hurt. I’m glad that I was able to save you. And I’m sorry for the long way.”

“You know,” the man said, “I was a tracker at one time, and I was a good one too. I didn’t think I’d ever retire. I mean, I still remember how things used to be. I worked with an amazing team back then, and we were a family.”

“Hmm,” I muttered. But he just continued on, like those men that have stories galore, and never run out. “But, since I retired, I’ve come to understand that it isn’t always as great as I remember. Back then, I looked at my fellow agents as brothers and sisters. I looked up to them, respected them. Even the ones that seemed a bit more experienced or that I thought were better than me felt just as important and awesome as me. But now, they were just a bunch of punks. Big-minded fools. Complete imbeciles. So I decided to retire. I figured I’d spend the rest of my days relaxing at the beach and enjoying life. Now look. Here I am.”

“Amazing story, but we gotta go,” I said, looking behind me, and seeing the rest of the TSA team gain up on us.

“You don’t wanna hear it, huh?” the man asked, and there was a hint of sadness in his tone.

“Yes, yes, yes I do!” I said, with a smile to make things a bit brighter. “Just right now is a bad time. My people are gonna get us and take us away from the muggers,” I said, as I nodded my head.

The TSA team drew closer, and I really needed September and the rest of the team to pull through.