******152:

Michael sat back and pondered. Cell phone out of service, said the recording when he dialed. She might be somewhere in Montana, but actually, he'd checked her build site for service, and had a repeater put in, also land lines to the private runway. This place was secluded, but not unreachable. His only thought was that maybe she'd gone ahead and chosen to drive up to Missoula, and then caught a small plane out to the place, but he couldn't find any record of her. No plane ticket, no credit card use.

He dialed Jake's number. "Michael here. Hey, you on duty?"

"Just got off, actually. I got home a little while ago. Caleb's on. I talked to him before I left." Came the sure and steady voice of Tracy's faithful bodyguard.

"Both Austin and Tracy at the place?" he queried.

"Yeah... Lisa left before they got snowed in. But the snow in wasn't all that bad, just one day. By nightfall, they were out playing in it." He chuckled.

"You think Lisa left because of Tracy being there?"

"Oh yeah, it'll be in the paper, it's already online. Big media suspicion... lover's triangle. That girl's had a big week, I can tell you!" said Jake who knew the truth about his boss and friend, the little singer church girl, who occasionally made wacky decisions and got herself into trouble.

"Okay, well, I'll call Caleb."

"Is something up, boss?"

"Not yet. Just checking. Can't reach her cell, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything." Michael laughed as if nothing mattered but an old guy's over reactions, and left it at that.

He dialed Caleb, a weird feeling of impending doom suddenly hanging over him. Caleb answered on the first ring. Curt, quick, harried.

"Michael here. You got Tracy and the kids?"

"In the house, boss." Caleb said.

"You've checked in recently? Are they sleeping?"

"What? Naw, Jake said they were in there, and the only one who's left is Austin since I been here. You want me to go check?"

"Yeah, her phone's out of service, tell her to call me." he clicked off and sat there, now tracing Caleb's stepsin his mind. He will have driven around to the front of the house... or the back kitchen door, the driveway went all the way up there. He would get out.... He had keys. Were there lights on? If someone were there, yeah, if not.... He fumbles for keys??? No, he knocks, he wouldn't just walk in.... he knocks again. He really fumbles with key's, it's dark.... He inserts the key, disables the alarm with the password identification.... Turns the key. Yells for her, enters.

His phone rang. Caleb, breathless, very harried.... "Boss?! Yeah, they're not here, they freakin' aren't here! Jake told me they were in there, and I didn't check the way protocol requires, cause, you know, it's Jake...." His sounded like he might cry.

"Is her car in the garage?" Michael said calmly, pushing a button on his land line. "Phil, yeah, Michael, hey. Find Tracy." He went back to waiting patiently for Caleb to check. He thumbed through the roll-a-deck and pressed another button, but Austin had already boarded his plane. He was out of service for another hour. He dialed Jules. Caleb came back on the line. "Her car isn't here, boss. She's not here. What do I do?"

"You have protocol, call your up-line, who's your superior?" Michael clicked off in exasperation, had they hired a non-professional?

His line beeped. "Itinerary.... She's supposed to be in Montana. Her phone is out of service." Phil said calmly, a monotone. He sat at a desk after all, with about five computers....

"Trace her phone. Should be able to get a location." Clicked off, answered Jules.

"Tracy call you, bro?"

"Michael? No." he said, thick accent prevailing, he must have been busy, or not talking for awhile.

"All weekend? You haven't talked to her?"

"She's been avoiding me, typical Tracy, when she feels likes she's out of control, she backs off from me."

Michael wanted to hang up, try the next person, someone will have heard from her, but a saner side argued, she just might have encountered something she wasn't prepared for. He needed to rule out any and all fights or psychological disturbances. "Why's she feeling out of control?" Michael asked the easiest question. He pulled a notebook page close and scribbled dates and times of calls made so far, realizing the need for a record, just in case.

"Paris. She went off with Blaze Phelps, left me babysitting, we doggie piled, I told her I was jealous. She doesn't like to believe she appeals to me that way. She wants to keep me relegated to little brother."

"Do you feel more for her, Jules?" Michael said in his gentlest, father-type voice, having known Julian for almost ten years.

He worried about these kids. They'd missed the normal childhood preparation that got people to think smart in the world. These kids thought differently. And he, Michael was uniquely qualified to understand them, having worked with first Bob McKelner, and then exclusively with Jules and Tracy. He'd been there, he'd seen it happen. And he had a right to worry.

"What's up, Michael?" Julian changed the subject abruptly, unfortunately telling Michael what he needed to know. He wrote on his pad, problems with Jules. Then he thought about it specifically: insecurity. Challenged her ability to cope.

"Tracy's either taken off someplace by herself, or she's in trouble. Not sure yet. I may have to physically go check the Montana site."

"That's probably where she is. I was out there a week or so ago, there's a lot of snow still. I didn't have cell service." Jules said.

"I had it routed. There should have been." Michael said, jotting a note down to check about the repeater.

"Well, there wasn't." Julian said bluntly. "She's probably out there."

"If Austin's going to California, what would she be doing out there?"

"I have no idea. There's nowhere for her to stay."

"At the tower. The tower's in. She could feasibly sleep there, if she got stuck, or something."

"If she were at the tower, she'd have access to a land line."

"Well, and there's the original homestead place."

"Infested, rat-trap fire-hazard?"

"Not without its charm." Julian said. "Good Luck Michael, if she calls me, I'll let her know to get in touch with you."

Michael sat there for a second with the phone in his hand and tried to figure out Tracy. He glanced at his watch, thirty minutes had passed. Thirty more till he could talk to Austin again. He fiddled with the roll-a-deck and dialed another number.

"Hey, Blaze, Michael Gage here, we met a few weeks back. Tracy McCaffrey's manager?" Just to refresh the young actor's memory. But he was right on it.

"What can I do for you, Michael?" The immediate industry familiarity.

Michael sighed gruffly. "I've misplaced the girl. Any ideas? Has she called you?"

Blaze's laugh was catchy. Kind of a 'huh, huh, huh.' "Misplaced her eh? How so?"

"Is she there with you?" He had no patience at all right now, his normal patience was very thin anyway.

"No. She wouldn't be, now would she? I drink and smoke and laugh at dirty jokes.... I think that's a song, you know?"

"If you hear from her, give me a call."

"I'm concerned for her." Came the slightly slurred voice now.

If she's hanging out with you, I am too, Michael thought. He picked up the tabloid someone had left on his desk. Pictures of Tracy jamming with the guys, how'd they get that one? Her in a wet- suit with Blaze Phelps, another on the beach with the kids and Archer, looked like they were making out.... He dialed Archer.

"Yeah?" came the sleepy voice, and Michael glanced at his watch to see if it had somehow gotten later in the five minutes he'd had since his prior glance. No.

He explained who he was, and what he was after in short-clipped verbiage.

"Well, I hung out with her yesterday, no, the day before... well, it was a couple of days ago. Yeah, we hung out at the beach."

Michael glanced at the tabloid again, I can see that, he thought in annoyance. This kid didn't have anything. He clicked off without saying good-bye, his rep was once again being reaffirmed. He'd been called an evil prick.... That about summed it up. When I have to deal with....

No. Stop it.

Worry is doing this. Anxiety about what can happen to these naive little super -tars when they got a wild hair up their....

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