*****156:

She lathered the twins with the highest sunscreen she could find, she kept them in shorts and hats and sandals, and Danny had to wear a shirt now that he had resisted the sunscreen and was a little too pink. But Tracy was tanning! She hadn't tanned in ages! Real stay in the sun, play in the sun, tanning! They'd passed the bowling alley yesterday, and agreed to only do indoor things when it was dark, and so reserved a time that evening to come back and bowl. But right now, tennis courts were challenging. She played herself, against a wall, and taught Danny, but mostly played herself, over and over and over.

Tomorrow was another island. They'd really enjoyed the one they'd disembarked on yesterday, fun, fun, fun. And all kinds of batik skirts, shell leis, straw hats, and beautiful coral earrings. Beaches, interesting animals, jungle tours, and pirate stories permeated their timeless days and sleepy songwriting and singing nights. No thinking, just having fun, and getting the music back.

Freedom....

*****

"Phil here." Ray had answered Michael's phone while he was in the bathroom.

"This is Ray. What do you have for us?" the office at Rocks that Michael used was at best, sparse and unused.

"She's not in Florida. She's not at Disneyworld, or Epcot, or any of the surrounding tourist attractions. It's possible she's caught a connecting flight using a different alias, or perhaps she's not staying at any of the hotels in the surrounding areas. But Michael was so sure that she was here. I wonder if she's headed down to the keys. Tell him we are picking up her lead at the airport, and smaller condo rentals. Maybe she's just holed up at the beach somewhere, that would be like her."

"Like her, but not likely." Ray said. "She's definitely hiding. She's definitely trying to stay out of sight. Even the paparazzi can't find her." He hung up with Phil, knowing they were doing the best they could to sort through all of the possibilities. He didn't want to call Richard, but it seemed that was the only option at this point, so he lifted his cell and searched through it till he came to the number he wanted.

It was eight hours ahead. It would be four in the morning. Ray instantly regretted calling so early, and almost hung up, but knew Richard would see his number and be worried anyway, so he stayed on the line, until the deep male voice, gruff with sleep and slightly accented from being in the country for a year, answered.

He explained quickly who he was and what had happened to the best of his knowledge and then waited.

"Okay." Richard said, seeming alert. "Tracy disappeared to Florida with the kids and is out of cell phone reach?"

"Yes." Ray answered. "We've searched all her favorite and not so favorite haunts, and have had no luck except that she's writing a boat load of music every day. We can track it on her blog spot."

Richard yawned. "What triggered it?" he asked forthrightly, much to Ray's relief, liking the calm, not jumping to conclusions attitude Richard displayed.

"From what we can tell, she had a falling out with Austin up at their place in Park City over the weekend." Ray said.

Richard seemed to digest this news and then answered with the best possible answer. "If she's writing and you can track it, she's fine. Why do you have to locate her? Nothing horrible has happened, she's simply staying out of touch. Has she missed appointments?"

"No, she was supposed to be in Montana this week, she had no other obligations." Ray saw where this was going and was a little chagrined that he hadn't thought of it himself. Not liking to jump to conclusions, he'd done just that, allowed himself to be sucked into the vortex of uncertainty created by Michael's near hysteria. Now, a continent away from home, he felt foolish.

"Well," Richard drawled. "Seems to me that a grown woman at twenty-two with three children and an almost unlimited bank account, can pretty much do what she wants and isn't necessarily accountable to her parents anymore."

He guessed he deserved to hear it, Ray surmised uncomfortably, realizing too, that he had called a missionary, which Tracy had always forbid, saying that it was a huge taboo in her church and that missionaries were to focus on their work for two years, and not be dragged into home problems. She would be more than chagrined to find out that he had called Richard.

He agreed, and asked politely how the mission was going before getting off the phone, and telling Michael, when he came back in the room, that with the clues that they currently had, there was no need to keep up the search. Even with the last incident in Paris fresh in his mind, she didn't have to account for her every move. He needed to view her as an adult, and independent.

Still, he decided then and there, to keep a closer watch on his children, and know where they were before they disappeared, so as to avoid this kind of complication.

*****