Dead By Dawn (16 page)

No, what really worried Ellen about Ally’s new passion was Gabe’s offer to take the whole family to the AVP event down in Hermosa Beach. Gabe had gotten Ally excited about seeing volleyball great, Tracy McCarthy and her current partner, Amy Wright, on tour. Gabe had bought tickets for all of them a couple of weeks before. Ellen already had a sick-day planned. There was no way she could show up at that tournament and risk being recognized.

Gabe Collins bought tickets to all three days of the AVP tournament. On the first day, his wife woke up with a sore throat. Gabe decided to take his daughter, Ally, even though her mother wasn’t coming. The drive south on the congested 405 Freeway took about an hour. When they arrived in Hermosa Beach, parking was an obstacle. The Hermosa Beach AVP was considered the crown jewel of the beach volleyball tour. Finally, Gabe found a parking spot about a quarter mile from the pier.

Gabe and Ally walked down to the pier. When they got down to the sand, it was wall-to-wall people; men, women, and children dressed in beachwear. Some rode bikes and skateboards. Others walked with friends or with their dogs. There were a few roller-bladers along the cement pathway connecting the Southern California beach communities of Redondo, Hermosa, and Manhattan Beaches. They walked down to the sand through the entrance to the tournament. The walkway was surrounded by colorful booths. Some of the booths were selling souvenirs; mostly volleyballs, hats, and t-shirts. Other booths were occupied by sponsors, giving out samples of their latest products.

Father and daughter made their way to the gate at center court. Once their tickets were cleared, they walked into the courtside ticket area and sat down in the bleachers that were right down on the sand; the best seats in the house.

Dan McCarthy was sitting in the front row with his daughters. Shana and Savannah were down in front of the stands with their shovels and pails, building and burying toys in the sand. Dan’s wife Leann walked up to her family, juggling hot dogs and sodas.

“Phew, that line was long,” Leann said as she sat down.

The girls came and sat down next to their mother. “I want ketchup,” Savannah said.

Leann got the girls to settle in next to her and she started handing out food. Dan got up to grab some mustard from the bag. That’s when he saw the little girl sitting next to Savannah. He tried not to stare, but he couldn’t help himself. Leann saw the look on Dan’s face. “Is something wrong, honey?” she asked.

Dan realized that he was staring. “No, nothing,” he said and went to her side to sit down. Dan finished eating.

An event coordinator came over to their section and walked over to the girl that Dan had been looking at. “Hi, I’m Michelle,” she said to the little girl and her father. “We are short a ball-shagger for the next match. Would you like to do it?”

Ally Collins looked at Michelle with a confused expression. “What’s a ball shagger?”

“Like a ball girl. You get the balls and give them to the players during the match,” Michelle responded.

Gabe Collins asked, “Like a ball person in tennis?”

“Yes, exactly like that. It would be fun,” Michelle said in a chipper voice. “You get a t-shirt the players will autograph and you’ll have the best seats in the house. You’re on the court.”

Ally looked at her dad and asked excitedly, “Please? Can I do it dad?”

“She’ll be right here in front of me?” Gabe asked skeptically.

“Yes, you’ll have an eye on her the whole time,” Michelle assured him.

“Okay, I guess you’re in,” he said to Ally.

Ally jumped up from her seat. “Yeah, what do I do?”

“Follow me and we will get you a t-shirt. Then, I will bring you back here and the referee will tell you what to do.”

Twenty minutes later, Tracy McCarthy and her partner came in and started warming up. The game started, but Dan could hardly watch. He kept finding himself staring at Ally Collins. He turned to Gabe Collins. “Your daughter looks like she’s having fun.”

Gabe smiled. “Tracy McCarthy is her idol. She’s probably having the time of her life. I’m going to have to frame that t-shirt after she signs it.”

“Where are you guys from?” Dan asked casually.

“Santa Clarita,” Gabe said. “I’m Gabe Collins.”

“Dan McCarthy. I’m Tracy’s uncle.”

“Nice to meet you,” Gabe said.

Tracy McCarthy and her partner won easily in two games. Ally Collins got her shirt signed and ran over to her dad squealing with delight. “Dad, I actually met Tracy McCarthy. Look!” She was pointing at her shirt.

Dan got up. “Gabe, maybe I could ask Tracy to send you an autographed ball?”

“That would be great. I hope it wouldn’t be too much trouble,” Gabe said.

“Not at all. Are you going to be around today?” Dan asked.

“We will. I think we’re going to walk around and watch some of the qualifiers that aren’t in the stadium,” Gabe said.

“Tell you what. I’ll meet you back here at three o’clock with the ball,” Dan said. “Do you have a card on you?”

Gabe pulled out his wallet. “Do you have a pen? I’ll write my cell number on here in case we get lost.”

Leann pulled a pen out of her purse and handed it to Gabe. Gabe wrote his number and handed the card to Dan. “Thanks. I really appreciate this.”

“I’ll see you at three.” Dan said.

Gabe and Ally walked away. Leann was looking at her husband strangely. “What was that all about?” she questioned.

Dan shrugged. “What?”

“You never tell people that you’re related to Tracy. Let alone, offer to get an autographed ball,” Leann said sternly.

Dan gave up the innocent act. “She looks like Shana did when she was that age.”

“Your sister?” Leann said, surprised that he would think about her after all of these years. “It’s been a long time since you’ve seen your sister. Why would you think that?”

Dan reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it up and fished out an old tattered picture and handed it to Leann. “Do you see the resemblance or am I crazy?”

Leann looked at the faded photograph for a moment. She sighed and looked back at him. “It does look like Shana,” she conceded. “What are you going to do now?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll meet them back here at three with the ball. Maybe by then I will have a plan,” Dan said.

“Make it a good one. If you go about this the wrong way you’re going to look like a major asshole,” Leann said.

Dan smiled. “That’s what I love about you. You always tell me what you really think whether I want to hear it or not.”

Ally Collins ran into the house when they got back home. “Mom!” she yelled.

Ellen came into the kitchen. “Hey, Sweetie. Did you have a good time?”

Ally held out the volleyball. “It was awesome. I got to be a ball shagger for Tracy McCarthy. She signed a volleyball for me.”

Ellen took the ball and looked at the autograph. “What’s a ball shagger?” she asked with interest.

“Kind of like a ball-girl,” Ally responded enthusiastically. “I can’t wait until tomorrow. We met her uncle and he’s going to introduce us.”

Gabe came in from the garage. “Are you feeling better?”

Ellen said, “No, not really. Ally seems like she had a good time.”

“Oh, she had a great time. We sat next to Tracy McCarthy’s uncle and he met up with us later in the day and gave Ally the autographed ball.”

“I saw the ball,” Ellen said.

“Are you coming with us tomorrow?” Gabe asked.

“You know, I don’t think the hot sun would be a good idea,” Ellen said. “Why don’t we call Kara and see if she wants to go with Ally?”

Dan McCarthy was bothered by the encounter all the way home. When he had asked his niece to autograph the ball she was surprised. Dan got home and went into his office. He sat down at the computer and googled Gabe Collins. He was a dentist in Santa Clarita. Dan logged onto Facebook to see if Gabe Collins was on it. Gabe was, so he decided to make a friend request. Dan looked at the pictures on Gabe’s page. A picture of Ellen Collins caught his eye immediately. He called out, “Leann.”

“What!” Leann yelled back from downstairs.

“Come here. I want to show you something,” Dan said, excitedly.

Dan could hear Leann running up the stairs. She stood next to him, breathing heavily. “What?”

Dan pointed to the picture of Ellen Collins, “That’s Shana.”

Leann looked at the picture closely, “Are you sure?”

“I am positive,” he answered quickly.

“What are you going to do?” Leann asked.

Dan stared at the picture. “I don’t know.” Doubt crept into his voice. “What if I’m wrong?”

Leann said brightly, “What about the P.I. you met at Tracy’s party?”

Dan hesitated before answering, “I guess I could call her. What about Tracy?”

“I don’t think you should mention anything to Tracy until you know for sure,” Leann said.

“I’ll have to ask Lindsay to keep this from Tracy,” he said. He stared at the picture again. “Okay, I’ll call her,” Dan said reluctantly.

“Hurry, I’m going to have dinner ready soon,” Leann said as she left the room.

***

Lindsay picked up on the first ring. “Lindsay.”

“Hi, Lindsay. I don’t know if you remember me. Dan McCarthy, Tracy’s uncle,” he said shyly.

“Of course. Hi Dan. How are you?” she asked in a friendly tone.

“I’m great. Listen, this is a business call,” he said.

“What can I do for you?”

Dan explained the events of the day. “Can you get more information on this woman without letting Tracy know?”

“I think I can do that,” Lindsay said. “You want background on her?”

“Is that the normal procedure?” Dan asked. “I’ve never done this before.”

“We’ll start there and see where it leads. Can you Email me the picture from Facebook?” Lindsay asked.

“I’ll do that. Give me your address,” Dan said. “Listen. I asked Tracy for sponsor seats tomorrow. I got Gabe’s cell number and I was going to ask if they wanted to sit with us. Do you want to come?”

“That would be great,” Lindsay said. “Tell me where to meet you.”

***

Gabe’s cell phone rang a few minutes later. “Gabe, its Dan McCarthy.”

“This is a surprise,” Gabe said.

“Listen, Tracy got us sponsor seats for tomorrow and I wanted to invite you and your daughter to sit with us,” Dan said.

“That would be nice,” Gabe said. “Do you have three tickets? Ally invited a friend.”

“Sure, no problem. I’ll meet you at the entrance at ten o’clock,” Dan said.

Lindsay met Dan McCarthy at the entrance to the event a couple minutes before Gabe and Ally Collins were due to arrive. “Do we have a game plan?” Dan asked.

“Let’s see how the day progresses and what kind of information I can get,” Lindsay said.

“Were you able to get any research done last night?” Dan asked.

“Not much,” Lindsay answered. “I pulled a driver’s license and credit report. Her maiden name was Jericho.”

Dan shook his head. “That can’t be right. I’m sure this woman is my sister.”

“I haven’t gone very deep,” she said. “Dan, I am going to take the conversation into some odd places today.”

“Okay,” he said perplexed. “Why?”

“It will help me get information to investigate without making these people feel like I’m interrogating them,” she answered.

“I understand,” he said.

“Just play along and contribute to the conversation where you can.”

Gabe and Ally Collins met with Dan and Lindsay. Dan introduced Lindsay and explained that her husband was Tracy’s agent. Gabe introduced Ally’s friend Kara. Dan handed them all passes. “You need to wear this around your neck, so security knows you are supposed to be there.”

He led them inside the gate and over to seating that was purchased and reserved by the tournament sponsors. Ally asked, “Can we be ball shaggers?”

Dan responded, “Maybe. Let me take you girls to the booth where you can ask.”

“Cool,” Kara, the bubbly 11-year-old said.

Dan led them over to the booth and asked the woman who was running it if the girls could shag on center court so their parents could keep an eye on them. “I don’t see why not,” the woman said. “What size t-shirts do you wear?” she asked the girls.

Dan walked the girls back to the stadium and over to the referees. When he got back to their seats, Gabe and Lindsay were conversing about how much Santa Clarita had changed. “Hey,” Lindsay said to Dan brightly. “Gabe and I both grew up in Santa Clarita.”