Limits of Protection Read online

  Limits of Protection

  A George Hartmann Novel

  Kelly Utt

  Limits of Protection is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  2019 Standards of Starlight E-book Edition

  Copyright © 2019 by Kelly Utt-Grubb, writing as Kelly Utt

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  www.standardsofstarlight.com

  ISBN: 978-1-7337712-0-7

  Cover art by Justin Carolyne

  For

  Sam

  my love

  Contents

  Preface

  I. Recovery

  1. Within Reach

  2. Beginnings

  3. Control

  4. Seeds

  II. Duty

  5. Active

  6. Brotherhood

  7. Patriots

  8. Security

  III. Fade

  9. Miles Away

  10. Darkness

  11. Meaningful Pursuits

  12. Collateral Damage

  Enjoy this book?

  Also by Kelly Utt

  About the Author

  Free Short Story

  Acknowledgments

  Preface

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  Part I

  Recovery

  1

  Within Reach

  “I’m proud of you, kid.”

  I’m still fast asleep as the morning sun shines through the windows of our vacation rental home, but I hear the words loud and clear. It’s Dad’s voice. I’d recognize it anywhere. He always called me kid. To a guy who lost his dad at sixteen, these words mean everything. I want desperately to make my father proud.

  “I’m proud of you, son.”

  This time, it’s my grandfather’s voice. When Dad left, John Wendell took to calling me son. He, too, is dead and gone from sight now. But in his case, it’s been less than a year. This is the first time I’ve heard his voice since he passed. It’s music to my ears.

  I smile as I feel myself waking up to greet the summer sunshine. Dad and John Wendell are with me, yet just beyond reach. They’re probably close by because of what happened last night.

  I open my eyes and look over at the other side of the king-size bed. My beloved Alessandra isn’t there because she’s still in the hospital, but our three kiddos are. I wanted to keep them near me. After what we’ve been through, I’m not sure I’ll let them out of my sight ever again. I know that isn’t realistic. But it’s what I feel right now. I need time to heal. We all do.

  Little Will is snuggled tightly beside me with his back up against my chest. He’s warm and soft with that sweet, distinctive baby smell. He’s beginning to stir and I know it will soon be time to get up and prepare a bottle of infant formula for him to drink. It still pains me that he can’t nurse from Ali’s breast like he’s used to. She and I had been planning to start him on solid foods this month anyway, so I’m going to go ahead and do that today. We’ll begin with some rice cereal and pureed vegetables. It will be fun to see what flavors our littlest guy prefers. Maybe his older brothers will want to get in on the action and help prepare his food. We can make it a family affair. At least, what’s left of our family, anyway.

  I asked Liam to take a trip to the grocery store for us this morning. He’s probably at the Bi-Mart now. The thought of my uncle casually shopping for groceries seems odd after all that has transpired this week at that very same store. Life can be strange, that’s for sure. Liam is scheduled to fly back to Ithaca, New York this evening. He said he wanted to get me and the boys set up as best he could before he goes.

  My little buddy Leo has casts on both of his legs from breaks he sustained during the vehicle accident. Dr. Paulette Adams assured me it was okay to take Leo home and that the casts would protect him from further injury. She said a two-year-old will heal quickly. He’s laying on the other side of little Will, sleeping soundly. I figure he needs extra rest after yesterday’s surgery to repair his fractures.

  On the far side lays my dear Ethan. He’s sleeping at the moment, but has been tossing and turning. I don’t blame him. He went through a nightmarish ordeal last night. It’s more than any four-year-old should have to endure. He’ll be five soon, but still. I plan to make an appointment to get him in to see a counselor right away. I’d even be willing to let Joe work with my boy, if he’s willing. To hell with the fact that Joe is Mom’s boyfriend now and here in a personal capacity. Joseph Epstein is a top-notch psychologist and I trust him. I don’t know whether or not he’ll agree to help us out, but I’ll ask.

  I would have expected to have been dazed after last night, but I’m not. I’m remarkably clear. I feel strong. I’m proud of myself.

  In spite of my fears, I jumped out on a literal ledge to save my boy. I pursued his kidnapper to the roof of a four-story building, then I took on two guys who were bigger and stronger than me with my bare hands until, finally, I grabbed Ethan’s shirt as he dangled over the edge, pulling him to safety in the knick of time. It feels good to have been so useful. I feel like a real hero.

  But something else about last night is piquing my interest this morning.

  It’s Clive. I can’t get him out of my mind. I can’t help but wonder if he’s the one who murdered Ethan in Ancient Greece.

  How many people get a chance to look one of their enemies right in the eye? How many get to stand shoulder to shoulder with them while working together towards a common goal?

  I'm not sure whether it is a good or a bad thing, but it’s what happened to me. Clive and I were apparently adversaries in a past life which we lived together in Ancient Greece. I only remember fragments and I'm still working to piece them all together, but what I do know is significant.

  We both loved the same woman. She's my wife now and I'm connected to her deeply. I've been connected to her through time and space. But I remember a period in Ancient Greece when Clive Roland was also connected to my Alessandra. The two of them were lovers. I don't know the rest of the story, but I saw them together, intimately, in my memory. Though it pains me to admit it, there was also a stretch in this life when she and Clive apparently had some sort of relationship. There's a picture of the two of them together, taken around the time Ali became pregnant with Ethan.

  Clive claims he is Ethan's biological father. I don't take his claim lightly, but I haven't asked my wife about it yet. Because I can’t.

  Ali has been through one hell of a nightmare recently. She and our three little boys, along with her mother Marjorie, were run off the road and pushed into a ravine where they remained for many hours. Marjorie and the boys were eventually able to leave the crash scene and walk to find help, but my wife was pinned by a tree which entered the vehicle upon impact. She was found alive, thank God. But she’s in the intensive care unit at t
he South Lake Tahoe Community Medical Center in critical condition, fighting for her life.

  It's been quite a week. And it isn’t the first time this year that my world has descended into a tailspin. The first time was back in January. Seemingly out of nowhere, an intruder broke into our house through a second-story bedroom window where Ethan and Leo were sleeping. The guy got his hands on Ethan and carried him out the window. I was alerted to what was happening through a dream where my long-deceased father warned me to wake up and be ready. With the help of our German Shepherd, Lady, and my father-in-law, Roddy, we saved Ethan as he was just feet away from being placed into a getaway vehicle and taken from us.

  Less than a week later our beloved patriarch, my grandfather, John Wendell, passed away, but not before our youngest son, Will, was born. We named the baby John William after my grandfather. Thankfully, we were able to place little Will in John Wendell's arms before he passed and we had a chance to tell the old man that the baby was named after him. It was beautiful. For sure, a cycle-of-life moment.

  A lot of good came out of that week. Our family learned that we can count on each other. We came through the cold and the dark and the terror, stronger together. We emerged wiser. We’re more whole. More of the best parts of ourselves.

  That was also the week I first remembered having lived a past life in Ancient Greece. Those memories were a jolt to the system, but at the same time, they felt natural. Like they had always been there. The psychologist who hypnotized me and facilitated those memories coming to the surface, Dr. Epstein, initially treated me like he thought I was crazy. And I do mean certifiably mentally ill. It was a lot to take in at once.

  So, I spent the better part of six months avoiding the break-in trauma, the grief from losing my grandfather, and the past life memories altogether. I knew there were things I should have been doing. On the plus side, I strategized about my business plans to protect my loved ones through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. My uncle Liam and I are both aerospace engineers and we've spent the better part of our adult lives working on aerospace technology in the Air Force. Our technology is sound. I expect the business to be a success once we get it going. But regrettably, I didn't move fast enough in making that happen. We came out here to Lake Tahoe for a vacation, thinking that life was back to normal and we would be safe. We had only been here a few days when my family was run off the road and our world descended into chaos again.

  The forty-eight or so hours after the accident were some of the most intense of my entire life. I thought I had known difficulty, having been in Special Operations in the Air Force and all. But nothing could have prepared me to withstand what happened to us this week. For an entire day and over an entire night, my wife, my three little boys, and my mother-in-law were missing. I had no idea what was happening and no idea if they would ever be found and returned safely. It was maddening and heartbreaking. I felt like I nearly lost my mind at a few different points. I passed out twice and had a huge panic attack in front of a lot of people I didn't even know. If it weren’t for the other close family members and friends in my life, I don't think I would have gotten through. My father-in-law, Roderick Davies, my uncle, Liam Hartmann, my friend, Duke Hale, and my friend, Taye Jackson, are the best. They held me up when I literally couldn't stand on my own. They used their training to get involved in the investigation and to do what they could to assist. I’m incredibly grateful to have those guys.

  Recently, I came to learn that my father-in-law used to be British Intelligence back when he was a young man. Roddy was a field agent and was well trained for all kinds of espionage-related tasks. Most people who have known him as a famous playwright in New York City all the years since would have no idea about his dangerous background. Our friend Duke is a police officer back home in Ithaca, New York. He just so happened to have a friend on the South Lake Tahoe Police Department who allowed Duke to get involved with the investigation after my family disappeared. And Taye is former FBI. He worked for the Bureau in Albany, New York for many years before moving to the Gold Coast of Connecticut. He now owns and operates a private security firm that helps high-end, wealthy clients secure their multimillion-dollar homes.

  Roddy and Liam came to Tahoe with me for the family vacation. But Duke and Taye came out to talk business. The business idea began as a venture between me and my uncle Liam, then expanded to include Roddy. But the three of us agreed to bring Duke and Taye into the fold soon after. The five of us conducted our first meeting in the waters of crystal-clear Lake Tahoe on the afternoon my family went missing. Aside from those horrors which the guys and I were blissfully ignorant of it, the business meeting was productive. It left me excited about the possibilities and feeling sure about my future.

  But it all came crashing down when I received a call to inform me that someone had placed a tracking device on our rental vehicles. That information tipped us off and we instantly knew the ladies and the kids were in trouble. What followed has kept me from moving forward on the business as planned. But at the same time, it’s made me think perhaps I should accelerate that progress and get things moving immediately.

  It wasn’t a total win, but we experienced relief as my mother-in-law and little boys were found alive. Ali, unfortunately, was still missing. My mother-in-law, Marjorie, had to leave her daughter to get help for herself and the boys. They were becoming dehydrated and hungry. Leo had broken his legs in several places and he needed immediate medical attention. Marjorie had no choice but to leave Ali, really. I understand that. Marjorie was able to free herself and get out of the wrecked vehicle with the boys, but Ali was pinned by a tree trunk which had entered during the crash. She had lost a lot of blood and her mom didn't think she’d make it out alive. Selfless as always, Ali insisted that her mom take the boys and go to save them.

  I experienced a roller-coaster of emotions as I was reunited with my boys while thinking Ali was dead. Until, against all odds, Ali was found alive later that night and brought into the hospital clinging to life.

  It's been a day and a half now that Ali has been in a medically-induced coma, but later this afternoon they're going to try and wake her up. Dr. Wong remains cautiously optimistic, just like he has all along. He gave me the whole speech about how Ali might not wake up right away. He also told me we don't know what kind of toll the trauma she’s experienced will have taken on her body and mind. He told me to prepare to be disappointed and that anything better would be a bonus. But I'm expecting better. I'm an optimist. I can't help it. When they first brought Ali into the emergency department, Dr. Wong didn’t think she would last through surgery. And he didn't think she would last through the first night. And now here we are, still going strong. Her healing has exceeded his expectations.

  Most notably, our baby growing inside Ali’s womb has hung on despite the overwhelming odds against its survival. I was elated when Dr. Wong first told me Ali was pregnant. We've always wanted four kids. Even though we didn't expect the fourth to come along so soon, it's always been a part of the plan for us. Dr. Wong repeatedly told me that a fetus won't typically survive when the mother has been through all that Ali has. He told me to expect a miscarriage at any time. But it hasn’t happened. Our baby is hanging on. At this point, Dr. Wong is cautiously optimistic about that, too. He estimates the baby at about eight weeks gestation. He says that if the pregnancy lasts past the end of the first trimester at twelve weeks, then odds are good for a full-term birth. Four more weeks to go until that milestone and I'm counting down the days.

  As for what’s happening now, the boys and I are going to stay put right here in South Lake Tahoe to be near Ali. We're staying at the same vacation rental house. Luckily, the realtor who helped us lease it in the first place was able to get our stay extended for as long as we want. Given our unusual situation, she was more than happy to juggle reservations and place the guests who would have been coming in after us in alternate properties.

  My in-laws, Marjorie and Roddy, are staying in Tahoe as well.
They want to be close to their daughter, understandably. And they're a big help with the boys. Ever since Leo's surgery on his broken leg, the poor little guy can't get around like normal. Between that and little Will being an infant, it takes two people at any given moment to care for the group of boys. Taye and Duke are planning to head home over the next couple of days, but Mom and Joe are also going to stick around awhile.

  I don’t prefer being stuck here like this. Who would? Ethan is supposed to be starting preschool in Ithaca soon and I’ll bet he’s going to miss it. But it can't be avoided. I’ve considered sending the boys back home with Marjorie, Roddy, and Liam to watch over them, but I think it's too much to ask of my extended family members. Besides, I feel most comfortable being around to protect those little boys myself.

  Ali's brother, Nicky, is in town and plans to stick around for several more days as needed. Nicky and Roddy stayed at the hospital with Ali last night. The two of them said they wanted to watch over her, just in case Clive and his accomplice tried to get to her at the medical center. Marjorie came home with me and the boys, as did Liam, Mom, Joe, Duke, and Taye. I’m glad we rented a large house.

  I hear someone rustling around in the kitchen now. It’s probably Marjorie trying to make us breakfast. She and Roddy love to cook and I imagine it's therapeutic for her, even when she's exhausted or the circumstances are difficult.